I’m not quite sure how to bring this up, but I figure I should probably say something sooner rather than later. Annabelle and I were aiming to submit a demo of Ciellus to the IGF; we’re no longer doing that. We’ve done a serious amount of work on it over the last two months; particularly over the last couple of weeks, but Ciellus is quite a big project – making this deadline was always something of a long shot. The game’s just too big, too complex for us to have enough ready by this Saturday.

In addition, we’re putting it on hold for a little while. I’ve been working full time, incessantly on this for the last couple of weeks and I’m kinda burnt out, so I’m actually kinda looking forward to the change. Working on a big project is hard 🙁 I’d really rather be working on lots of little concept driven games… In fact, I’ve decided to spend this time away from it on rapid prototyping.

My first goal is to sit down and finally learn how to use flash, which is something I’ve been meaning to do for a very long time. I started on Sunday evening and things are going quite well; I probably already know enough to make a little shooter or something like that. Right now I’m trying to work out how to translate concepts like map tiles from the way I’m used to doing things into the way things work in flash…

I should also be a lot more open about my projects from now on, so expect this blog to be a bit busier!

12 thoughts on “A small announcement”
  1. Ooohhh, that’s sorta sad to hear. But if it keeps you from total burnout on the project, I guess it’s for the better. I just hope that Ciellus doesn’t go the way of myriads of projects that went on a hiatus and never came back; this is a game I’m really looking forward to.

  2. Deadlines are good, but it seems to me that your taking the right course of action. Visually what you both have put together is a marvel. This and whatever the hell ICO team are working on are the only games I’m looking forward too. PLEASE finish! Don’t give up! Take your time! Have fun with flash too. So much fun to animate/program in….

  3. I’d be interested to hear what you are using resource wise to learn Flash (books, websites etc.) if you don’t mind sharing. Is it ActionScript 3 you are using?

  4. Thanks for the understanding 🙂

    Matthew: I don’t mind sharing at all, but I’m still learning the ropes myself, and I’m sure I’m making all manner of mistakes. I’ll collect a few links on this site once I know what’s been helpful and what’s been useless 🙂

  5. No problem, I always think it’s nice when people share their learning experiences as well as their development experience. In the end, we all need books and online tutorials to learn.

    I have heard good things about the new Kongregate Labs where they teach you flash. Only problem being they focus on AS 2.0 and not 3.0. Still, you may find it useful if you haven’t found it already:

    https://www.kongregate.com/labs

    This book also forms a good learning resource:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/ActionScript-3-0-Game-Programming-University/dp/0789737027

  6. Kongregate Labs are probably by far the best tutorials I’ve come across, if for nothing else than clearing up for me how things work and fit together. I’ve gone through all the ones they’ve currently released; they were excellent for getting started 🙂 I’ll probably have to relearn a load of stuff for AS3, but I figure learning AS2 at least introduces me to how flash itself works, which is my main problem really. There’s still loads of basic stuff I don’t know how to do yet, but I’m working it out… silly things like how to go about importing spritesheets or tilesets instead of just single images 🙁

    That book looks excellent, thanks for the link – I think I’ll pick up a copy if I see it locally 🙂

  7. Ah, I saw that one 🙂 Unfortunately it seems geared towards teaching experienced flash designers what tiles are and how they’re used in games, rather than teaching anything to newcomers to flash – as a result it goes into lots of detail about things I’m already very familiar with, and it skips over a lot of stuff that I’m having trouble with – like the best way to handle big spritesheets, for example.

    Thanks anyway, I’m making progress 🙂

  8. Hi Terry,

    Any ideas as to when this project might be started again? Ciellus is a game that I’ve been eagerly awaiting news on – as one of the posters said above, the artwork is amazing and the concept is sound.

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