A lot of elements are currently coming together, and things are getting a little more chaotic than I'd like them to be around Xmas time.
If the past 2 years of Xmas themed chaos (12 games of Xmas, Advent Collection) have taught me one thing, it's not to EVER plan anything around Xmas!
Presents, family visits and the general filling of my face with Xmas cake, will usually get in the way of the coding time, and as such I decided not to push myself into anything moronic this year.
I apologise...

It's September.
My boss is about to go on his hols, and I'm more or less at a nice "Not too much" level of codey work.

It's a great week for disliking spikes!!
There's plenty of free spikes, all over the place!

Although I haven't yet started to code anything, I have spent the past few days wondering how best to tackle redefinable keys in the PlayMyCode.
I'm unsure whether to go for a menu based thing, or not.

This week, I started a game on a grid.
It started well enough, with a lovely grid-doodling method making nice colourful griddy squares, and a simple circle on the top for the player. Then I got to the point where I had to do character movement, and my head just kinda went "Ugh.. I just can't be arsed!!"
(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NoGoA.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NoGoA-300x236.png" alt="" title="NoGoA" width="300" height="2...

<a href="https://agameaweek.spreadshirt.co.uk/stroke-my-munky-A10741539/customize/color/4">I just thought of a really good game..</a>
but... .. Not entirely sure how doable it'd be.
.. hmm.. another time perhaps..
Anyhoo, Monkey.

No normal AGameAWeek this Tuesday, but worry not, there's still some games to be played!
<img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/xmasxompo_480.png">

54 games. Last year I only managed about 30-odd, so I think that's pretty good going.
Sure, it might not have truely actually been A Game "Per" Week, but I did at least keep the ratio up.
If I hadn't taken the time out to build the framework, I probably would've actually achieved the target a little better
The stats show I was pretty much on top of things up until that point, but then things got slower and slower until my buffer zone was all dried up.
Anyhoo, this is a n...

54 games. Last year I only managed about 30-odd, so I think that's pretty good going.
Sure, it might not have truely actually been A Game "Per" Week, but I did at least keep the ratio up.
If I hadn't taken the time out to build the framework, I probably would've actually achieved the target a little better
The stats show I was pretty much on top of things up until that point, but then things got slower and slower until my buffer zone was all dried up.
Anyhoo, this is a n...

August 26th 2009
That's the last time I did a Mailbag post!
Blinkin' eck!
Over the past 6/7 months, I've occasionally dipped into the mailbag and plucked out little snippets, but I figured it was about time I did a proper one.

Centipong has been wrought with issues since day 56. It's been a bit of a pain, but for a whole bunch of obscure reasons.
I'm up to my last day, and I just wanted you folks to expect something slight odd with this release.
See, the thing is, as much as this IS Centipong TWO, I didn't really want to tread the exact same path.
I've already done Centipong, and Centipong Jr in Java, and Centipong DS as well.
And starting this project seemed like a great idea, but it'...

Engine's now ready for any and all future word-based games that I might randomly decide to build. The wordlist adds 970Kb to a game's exe when added, and when asked it spends about 100milliseconds hunting through the complete list for a word.
Luvly.
So, with that out of the way I'm heading back to Centipong.
You'd think, about 4 weeks into the whole Framework thing, that things would be more or less finished.

For something that just looks like this..
<a href="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/bmaxtesting_game.png"><img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/bmaxtesting_game_thumb.png"></a>
.. I have actually but a heck of a lot of work into the framework, so far!
Take a peek inside to find out some nice nuggets of info, and take a look at the future of AGameAWeek!!

The AGameAWeek 2008-2009 Retrospective

(URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-one/">Part One), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-two/">Part Two), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-three/">Part Three), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-four/">Part Four), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-five/">Part Five)

The Home Str...

The AGameAWeek 2008-2009 Retrospective

(URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-one/">Part One), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-two/">Part Two), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-three/">Part Three), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-four/">Part Four), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-five/">Part Five)

10 weeks, 3 ...

The AGameAWeek 2008-2009 Retrospective

(URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-one/">Part One), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-two/">Part Two), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-three/">Part Three), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-four/">Part Four), (URL "https://www.agameaweek.com/2009/08/agameaweek-2008-2009-part-five/">Part Five)

AGame...

Another nice subtle title for Google to pick up, along with the odd sprinkles of text within.
Last time we posted LG Cookie KP500 Java J2ME Free Games to Download *cough* we had the following 3 games.
#1. Hangman
#2. Slots

Sorry!!
With all the time spent playing around with Java and MidletPascal, this week, along with the time spent on H~S~R, we seem to have hit a bit of a low point.
Still, no matter, here's a "fun" game!
Dusty.

Next up, Countdown..
Or, it's meant to be, but I can't seem to get it started properly..
I've grabbed a batch of Carol's letters and numbers, and I've got the vowel/consonant packs ready, the number solver's working as it should, but so far, those bits haven't come together to make a full game.. It's just bits here and there.
Needs work, but with Xmas literally days away, I'm not sure that it'll get any.
If it doesn't turn up on Tuesday, assume I'm taking the week off, from AGameAWe...

This week's Wednesday Workshop <a href="https://socoder.net/index.php?topic=1206">#166</a> asked for us to create a game that uses lots of Balance.
I couldn't come up with anything!
So, instead, here's JNKPlat DS 08.
<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/dsdev/platds8_menu.png" align="right">
It's a complete restart of the engine, coded wholly from start, but using the old sprites so as to keep the good old fashioned style of the last one! (Although, had...

For starters, let me just point out that Alien Deathmatch has still been slowly updating over the past couple of weeks. It's strange that a single game has taken up so much of my time. I guess that once you find the right type of game, you're more motivated than usual.
Still, more weeks playing with 1 game = less time to get some actual new games coded.
As such, there's not really been a whole lot to report over the past week or so.
No new games, no new ideas, nothing.
I had initia...

This month, Socoder are having a "Make a game with Pickups" challenge.
It took me a bit of a while to decide what game to do, but I think I've finally settled on one.
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/windev/mum_01.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/windev/mum_01_thumb.png" /></a>
Greenie - The Eccentric Egyptologist.. Named so it fits alongside Greenie - The Helecopter Hero.
It's a remake of Oh Mummy but with a couple of tweaks here and there, including th...

I'm currently working on a nice shooter game. A "take it in turns to kill each other" type blaster.
Like Scorched Earth..
Or, if you prefered the Amiga version, like I did, Scorched Tanks.
Anyway, this game isn't exactly like either of those!

Week 22 of the Wednesday Workshop was <a href="https://socoder.net/index.php?a=12&w=22">Racing</a> week.
The first game I attempted was a UFO Fly game, the game you see entered.. But after I'd done that, I attempted a couple more engines.
#1 was a mess, and never really got anywhere. It was a nice graphical effect, but nothing more than that.
#2 however, was a Ball Bouncing AI Racing grand prix game!
Here it is, as it sits on my hard drive. Unlike last week I ha...