distractionware: devlog

New Hexagon thing is shaping up to be pretty cool. I’m trying my very best to ignore the screaming voice in the back of my head that’s trying to convince me to make a Hexagon concept album. (Although at this point, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be at least a couple of different “tracks”.)

Jonas is still working on his big adventure game, so I’ve got a little more time to focus on this before returning to Selma’s Story.

Last time I posted about this game, I explained why I was probably going to ditch the software 3D renderer I’d written and go back to top down 2D – but I’ve since gotten quite attached to the 3D effect. With a more sensible viewing angle (like the one above), it’s perfectly playable, and looks super cool in motion. Also, I like that it gives the game a distinct visual identity from the original one day prototype.

The problem with that, unfortunately, is that I’m really pushing flash to it’s limits to run it. It’s just barely managing 60fps on my laptop. Before I can release this, I’m probably going to port this to something more fit to handle it – HaXe, Stage3D flash, OpenGL and Unity are all options I’m considering.

Big news! VVVVVV is now available in the European 3DS eShop!

This morning, I was finally able to open my 3DS and download the game – for me, it’s hard not to think of today as the game’s real 3DS launch. I know, of course, that the game has been available since last Christmas in the USA – but until now, it hasn’t been available for my 3DS.

I’m really happy with this version of the game too – I think Nicalis did an absolutely smashing job with the port. This would never have happened without them – I can’t thank them enough.

Anyway, to everyone out there who buys the game today, thank you! I’m very proud of VVVVVV, and I hope you enjoy playing it.

Continuing to make progress on this expanded version of Hexagon. I’ve got a big list of things I want to try doing with the game, and I’ve now finished the biggest and scariest thing on that list, which was to “find out what it’s like in 3D”. It’s kinda cool, as it turns out!

That said, I probably won’t continue down this path for the rest of the game. Hexagon becomes something very different in 3D – basically, it makes it a lot harder to see what’s coming in one direction, and a lot easier in another. With the current waves that I’ve implemented, as it stands, all it really does is make the game harder to play. So I’ll likely not turn the whole game 3D, cool and all as it looks.

That said, I’m thinking about making some alternate courses, set to different music. With the right waves, this might find a home as a different level of some kind…

I’m currently taking a short break from a larger project. This is what I’m working on in between – an expanded version of Hexagon.

I work on a lot of jam games; a lot of them don’t work out at all. Hexagon did, though – as jam games go, I think it’s one of my best. But it’s still a jam game – it’s something I made in less than a day, and it’s underexplored, unpolished, and kinda broken.

I keep wondering, what would this game be like if I took it a bit further?

So, that’s what I’m doing. I don’t really know where this is going, or how much longer I’ll spend on it, but for now, I’m having a lot of fun with it.

Time for another quick update, I think.

I’m still working on Selma’s Story. Actually, I’ve finally gotten it to the point where there’s some real stuff to do in it. There are now about a dozen or so real battles in the game, with real numbers – it’s only a fraction of the ideas I’m planning to explore, but it’s enough to prove to myself that there really is something here, with this system. I’m really excited about where it’s going – already it’s a lot of fun, and I haven’t even gotten to the intricate details yet.

It’s shaping up to be a surprisingly big game too. It currently takes about 45 minutes to play through the prototype – already quite a lot longer than the 10-15 minute RPG short story I originally envisioned this side project being… That’s a little scary, but this game is going to be what it’s going to be. So be it.

Jonas is currently finishing up a big adventure game he’s been working on called The Sea Will Claim Everything, and I’m heading home to Ireland for a few weeks, so I’m taking a little break from this game for a little while. I was thinking the next two weeks might be a good time to finish one of those small side things I’ve talked about – before Selma takes over completely…

I didn’t really know what picture to use for this blog post, so here’s some kittens in cups.

So, FreeIndieGam.es is going pretty well! We want to make sure we can keep it running long term, because we all feel it’s an important project. Currently, the site has just three editors – myself, Increpare, and Aquin. We’re looking to take on another editor – ideally, someone who has a similar idea about what constitutes an “interesting game” as the other editors on the site!

Here are some details about how we operate the site:

– We run the site in shifts, to minimise the time involved for everyone. The idea is that you take responsibility for the site for three days at a time, then pass it along to the next editor (so that you get an 9 day break from having to worry about updating it).

– We try to post at least two games a day, and more after competitions like Ludum Dare. We’re mostly focused on posting new stuff as it’s released, but posting older games you like from time to time is fine. We keep a list of blogs and forums that we regularly check for new releases.

– We’re not a review site – we don’t write anything at all about the games we post. All that’s required is that you find something interesting, and share it with our readers by posting a screenshot and a copy pasted description.

– We all have biases, and that’s reflected in the sort of games that we post. So we’re particularly interested in finding an editor that covers our blind spots – do you play a lot of adventure games? Visual novels? Interactive Fiction? Then we’re particularly interested in hearing from you!

– As a rule, we don’t post our own games on the site.

– There’s no money involved, and there never will be. This is a volunteer sort of thing. There are no ads on the site, or anything like that.

If you’re interested in helping out, or even if you just want to know more, then get in touch Thanks!

EDIT: We have since found our new editor. Thank you!

FreeIndieGam.es, a new freeware games blog run by myself, increpare, and Aquin, has now been running for an entire month, and has posted over 90 games. I think it’s going pretty well!

Over the last couple of days, my flatmate increpare made a cool little VVVVVV inspired puzzle game, called MMMMMM. Check it out!

Hello everypony! I guess it’s been pretty quiet around here recently. Time for a quick update on what I’ve been working on!

A couple of weeks ago, I put all my side projects on hold to focus completely on the Nexus City spinoff game (which, for the sake of clarity, is hereafter referred to on this blog as “Selma’s Story”). It’s going very slowly, but I am, finally, starting to make some progress with it.

I’ve spent the last few weeks working purely on the game’s battle system – I’m basically trying to make a prototype version of the game which is just a sequence of battles one after another, at which point I hope to get Jonas involved to work the existing script around it.

The main reason I haven’t been posting about it is that I’ve got nothing to *show* – as in, I’ve got no screenshots to post. I’m trying to keep the system as pure as possible right now, so I’m doing it without any graphical distractions whatsoever – it’s all text!

As for the battle system itself, I’m really excited about it – it’s very pure, very simple, and seems to exhibit a surprising depth. Can’t wait to share it

Hello blog readers – sorry I haven’t been posting much about what I’m working on recently. I’ll do something about that soon. In the meantime, I wanted to draw your attention to a very cool game that came out today – Lone Survivor, by fellow Cambridge indie Jasper Byrne.

Jasper’s been working on this for far, far longer than I’ve known him (the very first version was a point and click adventure game he made about eight years ago). It’s changed a lot since its initial inception, and been called many different things through the years – but the core ideas have been there, driving it since the start.

You can’t talk about this game without talking about Jasper, because it’s impossible to play this game and not be overwhelmed by the personality of the person who made it. It seeps though every detail, every flaw and moment of brilliance – it’s a personal labour of love by its creator. It’s incredible to see something with this kind of singular vision actually come together, and be as good as it is. It’s something I aspire to with my own work.

This is a really amazing game, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you have any interest at all in the idea of games as personal expression, then be sure to check it out.