Developments

Well, it was somewhat inevitable that I'd keep the "Not Mario, Honest!" theme in the game. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_010.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_010-1024x597.png" alt="SD3_010" width="660" height="385" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4605" /> After a number of tweaks and fixups, the theme doesn't look "too" Mario-esque. It's still got a Mario vib...

Developments

Yesterday, I completely rejigged the "Bounce" of SpikeDislike. Originally, the bounce was a simple Sine-wave, and has in fact been this in EVERY version of SpikeDislike, but this time I'm hoping to add a couple of new elements which have required a minor tweak in the usual ball bouncing mechanic. This isn't something to be taken lightly, as I had to be absolutely sure that the end result still "felt" like Classic SpikeDislike. At the moment it's a teensy bit floaty compared with ...

Developments

Yesterday I found myself trying out a variety of themes, to figure out what does and doesn't work in the new engine. Here's a brief selection of those tested. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_GfxD.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_GfxD-1024x597.png" alt="SD3_GfxD" width="660" height="385" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4591" /> Lava/Rock (URL "https://AGameAW...

Developments

Yesterday I decided to try out something a little unusual for me. I attempted THREE DEE!!! Not "proper" 3D, of course. I'm too lazy for that! Instead, I took the 2D game engine, added a Skew function to tilt everything at an angle, then plonked the standard graphics over the top. I wasn't expecting the result to be playable, but oddly enough, it's absolutely 100% normal. In fact, since the engine sticks to the original 2D principles, the game's entirely playable like this, and...

Developments

Continuing with the new edition of SpikeDislike, and I'm still adding basic elements into the engine. I've a whole lot of work to do on the game, including all the graphical styles and things like that, but for now I'm happy that it's totting up the combos in the way it should be. ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YIwcx9Gcbfs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> Scoring and Death are now both firmly inside...

Developments

Yesterday, someone new registered on my home village's website (LittleLever.info) They, of course, instantly forgot their password, so used the "I forgot my password" button to find it out. At this point I should probably explain why I've mentioned this..! About a year ago, the original owner of LittleLever.info gave up paying for a site that never had any visitors. He stopped payments, and the site fell into disrepair before eventually getting pulled down completely. At this...

Developments

So, after yesterday's realisation that the StarFlips game wasn't going anywhere, I opted to head back to "Larger Project" and see if I could get any more done on it. Whether I continue with Larger Project, or instead switch to a smaller intermediate project, will be dependent on how much happens between now and.. Um.. Unspecified date! (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SD3_003.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SD3_003-...

Developments

Yesterday, I took the phrase "Sleepy Sunday" and worked the heck out it. My cat woke me up at 6:15am, and I managed to stay mostly awake until just after 9, when I realised I was too tired to code, and instead went for a nap.. .. A long nap!! I also had a second nap later in the day, too. Ooops! I suppose when you have little/nothing else to do, especially on a Sunday, that there's no harm in having a short nap. But when you have TWO naps, and they're not exactly short ones, y...

Developments

Not a lot of coding got done, yesterday. I continued to fiddle with the new sprites, and got enemies spawning in the level, but then I started thinking about iOS again. For the past year I've been focussing on OUYA. I've been making all my games controller happy, and as a result, have been neglecting touchscreen controls. I'm not sure why, probably all the AppleWatch stuff that's currently flooding my Twitter feed, but I'm finding myself somewhat nostalgic for the times that I s...

Developments

Not an awful lot of stuff got done, yesterday, as I was having a bit of an off-day! Ho hum.. They're frequent, so expect a fair number of Daily Blogs to be of the "Couldn't do anything!" variety. Still, I did bother to grab the iPad, load up Sprite Something, and doodle some sprites for the new game. I drew a ship, a number of weapons, and some enemies, before heading over to Windows and getting them all integrated into the game. It didn't take very long at all, but it does inde...

The engine's working nicely, an art style has been defined, and things are getting put together. I've started building some proper levels, now, but already the game's feeling like it's still missing something. At the moment, I'm attempting to add wandering bad-guys into the levels, which should help make things a little less lacklustre, but trying to get them to wander nicely within the areas is proving to be much more complicated than I thought, especially when the levels are build up with nothing more t...

( src="https://vine.co/v/OUiq2geYJlZ/embed/simple" width="480" height="480" frameborder="0">><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script> If you played through Alpha Collexion, that should look familiar. For my next game, I'm doing that again! "YBox Drops" or "YBox Falls" or something like that.. I'll be adding optional skins, making the rules a little clearer, and coming up with some new gameplay mechanics along th...

Time to hunt for your floppy disks!! <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Futrino_20150129A_thumb.png"> <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Futrino_20150129B_thumb.png">

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Futrino_001.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Futrino_001.png" alt="Futrino_001" width="640" height="480" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4374" /> I finally seem to have settled on a name for this thing. I think it sounds vaguely like an 80s Shoot-em-up might sound, and nobody else appears to have used it. I've spent today working on the Enemy Types, trying lots...

Enemy one is a bog standard squiggly looking alien creature. ( width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/R9i32sUR9tw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> He moves around the room any-which-way, and turns whenever he hits a wall. He is very boring! Hopefully I can make a few more interesting creatures, later. For now, he simply does as you expect, and also saves his position when you exit/enter rooms, which is handy. More to come!!

Today, I added Barrels into the mix. I figured it best to hide the disks somewhere safe, so I put them inside barrels. A pile of barrels will appear in each and every room, so you'll have to do a lot of blasting to try and find the three disks. ( width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/leuTP0ZOUf8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> I'm also considering putting other items in the barrels, such as extra lives, weapons and even randomly spawnin...

Since I'm spacing out my dev-time, I should hopefully have more time to do Dev-Diary type posts, as the games progress. Hopefully, this will give you a little more insight into the sort of decision making that goes into AGameAWeek. I'll also try to take the time to add odd bits and pieces of craptastic-useless-trivia whenever I get the chance. As frequent players will have noticed, I've been using a strange secondary numbering system for a long while. (Check out the Windows-Downloads to see them!) Th...

I've opted to call Year 7 the "Gap" Year, in the sense that not every week will be a game... There will be frequent Gaps! I'll be trying out the usual crazy ideas, but each game will be given a little more breathing room than I usually give them, in an effort to make games a little more substantial than they usually end up being. The Rules are as follows.. After week one, the game should at least be playable. If it isn't, then I throw it out and start something else. No good forcing bad ideas down p...

It's time to fry some Butterflies! Use the electrical hubs to generate lightning, and Zzap those bugs to oblivion. <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Zzap_Lines_20150113A_thumb.png"> <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Zzap_Lines_20150113B_thumb.png">

OK, I still have lots of stuff to work out in my framework, but I've managed to get the important stuff into the engine, and everything else can be added and tweaked as we go. Although the "Online Scoreboards" aren't even barely started, I have at least made it work in such a way that, in future.. it "should" be pretty simple to head into my old code and bring the stuff to life. .. Hopefully! Anyway, that's all background stuff. What you're really here for is the games, and I'm happy to report that I'...

<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion</a> was AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here</a> for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. All games are now unlocked, and will remain playable forever! woot!

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion) is AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here) for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_X.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_X_thumb.png">

Xplosion Xperiment

Concept An extreme dodging ga...

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion) is AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here) for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_W.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_W_thumb.png">

Warning : Waves

Concept Grab the presents and av...

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion) is AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here) for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_U.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_U_thumb.png">

Urgent Umberella

Concept It's raining. Grab a bu...

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion) is AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here) for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_J.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_J_thumb.png">

Junior Jumpjet

Concept Float around and shoot th...

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Alpha Collexion) is AGameAWeek's 2014 Advent Calendar. You can (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=347">Download it Here) for Windows, OUYA or playable in your browser using HTML5. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_H.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/AlphaCollexion/400_H_thumb.png">

Heli Hover

Concept Avoid the Spikes! ...