Sometimes you have really productive days. Occasionally, though, those really productive days seem to drag on and on, and not actually produce much at all! Here's what I've done today. 1. We're up to 5 skins, since I added a plain rock+lava one. Plenty of graphical variety, but only as much as it's still a bunch of squares making up a maze! 2. Added the nice filter down level drop effect back into the game. It's a nice enough effect. No need to jazz it up, nor remove it. It ...

<a href="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/KingPelLittsTomb.png"><img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/KingPelLittsTomb_thumb.png"></a> Poor Blockman, all alone in a gigantic maze. If only there were a way to zoom into the action..

A nice and simple game, this week, inspired by this week's Wednesday Workshop (#224) Board Game challenge. Rather than having plain Questions and Answers, I've taken all the results from Socoder's daily polls, and rounded them up into the game. Can you select the option that the most people at Socoder did?! <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Guesstimates_20091027A.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Guesstimates_20091027A_thumb.png"></a> Pick the best to ...

Blockman Gets More is coming along nicely, with one slight issue to be aware of. I've got the bloomin' Swine Flu, so don't expect a miracle super game by Tuesday. Dangit.. I should have a game done by Tuesday, but it won't be Blockman Gets More, that's currently waiting until such a time that I can actually think straight, and not struggle to type! Flu sucks, especially once it's got into your head. Bah! This week's game will be probably be the poll-based board game tha...

This week, due to popular demand, Blockman's Getting More. As you may have read, I attempted a new art style (fweeDee!!) last week, which really didn't work out at all. So, this week I'm aiming for the Pseudo popped-out-a-bit art style, and all seems happy in the world of Blockman. <img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/blockmangetsmoreb.png">

Prepare for disappointment! This week's been a bit of a disaster, really. I started with Arcade Slots, and actually managed to get quite far into it, but eventually realised there wasn't anything new to add to the mix. So that got scrapped. After that came a brand new Blockman graphic style, which was far too angled, and resulted in the maze being completely obscured. No good! So, after those two, you'd think I'd suddenly come up gold. Third time lucky, right? Nope. <a hr...

If you're currently coping with a bad bout of depression, it's probably not a great idea to download this week's AGameAWeek game, because.. quite frankly.. it sucks! As I type this, the game currently consists of a badly drawn dog, a badly drawn bit of grass, and a few badly drawn birds. I've hit a dead end as far as this game goes. I also hit a dead end with Arcade Slots, and I even hit a major blockage with Blockman Gets More. All in all, this week has sucked! I've got practically nothing imagina...

I got the basic slot machine reels working. A couple of nice functions. 1 to fill them up, 1 to draw them. Nudges work, Holds work. Everything vaguely important works.. Then I added the Pacman sprites. <img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/pacslot.png"> and started to get that "I've already done this, there's nothing new I can add..." feeling. I think I'm done with Arcade Slots. I've already done it.. There's nothing new to add. :sad face:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Socoder Newsletter -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-      "GET IT OUT OF MY EYE!"           #025 - 16th October 2009                      <form method="get" action="https://groups.google.com/group/socoder-newsletter/boxsubscribe" target=_blank style="background-color: #ffc; width: 320px; padding: 2p...

Thursday 8th of October 2009 01:46:19 PM Name : Nam Idea : May I suggest a "Tower of Druaga" mode for Arcade Slots? It's been a long while since I played inside the Arcade Slots source. If I remember rightly, there was some odd little issue in the code that made adding more stuff a little difficult. Can't remember entirely. Who knows.. I do remember trying to come up with drastically different gameplay styles for each game, so that the pla...

The last time we tried Munky Blocks we had 1 munky and many blocks. Munky had to collect the blocks, piece them together to form coloured areas, and blammo, they vanished. This time, we only have one block. Munky needs to pick up that block, and place it on top of the red button, to open up the red exit, and then he can leave. A simple enough concept, but one that took so long to build I didn't really have time to build a decent set of levels. A shame. <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/M...

<img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/munkysblockb.png" style="float:left;"> Munky's Block is graphically coming along nicely, but unfortunately I've yet to actually start making levels. So far it's all been "Niceness" stuff, and as a result things are lacking a bit. Probably should've stuck to the blocky background like last time. Oh well, no matter. With only one day remaining, I'll be spending tomorrow messing around with the blocks, and trying to come up with some ...

Ok, let's try that Munky thing again, shall we!? I've scrapped the "Portal" style stuff, and am instead focusing on a Munky Blocks styled affair. Munky's Block seems an apt title, so we'll stick with that. Currently I have only 1 setpiece, and 1 silly simple test level. Woo! <img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/munkysblock.png"> But the engine's up and running, and Munky's hopping around about the same as he did in the last game. So, yeah, things are definitely ...

Same game, different system. I started working on the Munky Portal thing this week, but it didn't really happen. A shame. No matter, because it gave me just enough time to remake Blockman Gets and pop it onto the DS. <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Blockman_Gets_20091006B.png"> <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Blockman_Gets_20091006A.png"> (Note, those are two different levels! Screenshots are single-screen so that they fit in the archive better!!) I've rem...

I think that's everything!! hmmm.. I added the last (earliest!) stuff into the archive today, and I think I've pretty much done all the PC stuff, now. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=159"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/JNKFruit2K3_20030818B_thumb.png"> JNK Fruit) (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=157"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/JNKCar_20020925B_thumb.png"> JNK Car)...

I've tried to come up with an interesting gameplay method, but nothing's immediately apparent. I've still got a couple of ideas to try, but with only a day and a bit left to try it, it's not worth trying it now. So, what else? Well, I've not done a DS game for a while, let's try that. And what better game to try than Blockman Gets! Tuesday's release will be exactly that. Nothing special, nothing magical, just a port of last week's game onto a different system. In...

Friday 25th of September 2009 12:15:21 AM Name : Thunderskull 4024 Idea : Sokoban-like game with hex-based grid. OK, first off, not really sure what all the loving of Hexagons is about, but the word Hex is in the suggestion bag about 20-odd times! People appear to really like Hexagons! The Hexagonal Maze is in the archive. It's a half assed game, but I like it. Sokoban kinda needs specific controls, since you have to be able to move ...

(URL "https://agameaweek.spreadshirt.net/"><img src="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/platshirts.png"> Simple enough idea, not sure why it's not happened sooner. There's a handful of little t-shirts online right now, and I'll be adding plenty more as time goes on. And, maybe not just T-Shirts!! Any requests?

And so another week trundles by. I had hoped to finish off the ever elusive games, this week, (the RPG and the Patent Wars), but that doesn't appear to be happening at all. Oh well. If they happen, they happen. If not, carry on. Instead I started a whole new game on Friday morning. <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Blockman_Gets_20090929A.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Blockman_Gets_20090929A_thumb.png"></a>

This week's Wednesday Workshop suggests we should make a Pacman game. I've already done "Blockman Forever" this year, so I'm going to avoid retreading old ground. Instead I'm going the Puzzle route. Already I've got a lovely little set of graphics going, and am obviously reusing Blockman because.. .. well, why not!!! A few mazes are set up, ready to go, as well as the first of the neat little puzzle mechanics... I'm now trying to come up with a nice batch of extra puzzle e...

Having done the DS and Windows editions of JNKSokoban and since the shooty game wasn't really happening, I figured, what the hey, might as well do a phone Sokoban, too. (hmm.. I never did release the DS one, did I!?) So, here's the phone one.. <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/JNK-Sokoban_20090922B.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/JNK-Sokoban_20090922B_thumb.png"></a>

Trying to add puzzle elements into a shoot-em-up never seems to work out as well as the idea in your head. I should know that by now! And yet, this week, that's what I tried to do. <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Webdings_Fighter_20090922A.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Webdings_Fighter_20090922A_thumb.png"></a>

Tuesday 15th of September 2009 03:07:08 PM Name : redmoth Idea : invent a new gambling/casino game A few years ago (2004!!) I created Kasino Green. It was supposed to sit alongside StringyThings (a nice collection of Word games), and be a similarly nice collection of Casino games. <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=137"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Kasino_Green_20041024B_thumb.png"> Database Linkage! Go...

Awww.. I was thinking of doing some sort of fruit machine thing, but I didn't really have any kind of plan for it, so it didn't really get off the ground. Poor thing. Maybe this week for that? Or the RPG! Oops, forgot about that! It's getting the Patent Wars treatment!

I'm sat here at 11pm on Sunday night, trying to think of a game for Tuesday. It's not happening.. I've spent all week long adding games to the archive. That's to say, I've spent all week playing all my old games, and having a whale of a time.. I guess that has a disadvantage, being that I haven't coded jack all, all week. Oh well. We can miss one, right? Just means I need to make up for it next week. Can't have the ratio dropping!

I managed to get the Archive up to 100 games. Counting subgames it's all the way up to 126! woot! That's games from May 2006 up to now. Not a bad count, but certainly not AGameAWeek. I've overhauled the look of the Archive (which is now going by the less temporary title of "The Jayenkai Archive") so it's now a little more readable if the images don't load. Other than that, though, it's the same as before. You can look <a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?&...

The big-ass catalogue is now up to 68 games, and I've reached a bit of a stumbling block. If you search for (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?Find=multiple+games">"multiple games"), you'll find a few games that have more than one internal game. Today I'm tweaking the engine so that it counts each of those seperately inside the nice ever growing total. I wasn't going to do that, at first, but then I came across Platdude's Retro Collection, and decided to do it. It'd be a shame to have PRC ...