Awesome

Terry May 25, 2012 4 Comments

The last couple of days of work on the new Hexagon thing have been very exciting – I’ve got two game modes finished now, and two more in the works. After that, it’s just GUI stuff and playtesting, and it’s done.

Earlier today, I was playing a bit of the old version of Hexagon for comparison, and honestly I can’t even look at it anymore. Compared to the new version, it just feels so rough and broken. It made me really glad that I’m taking the time to do this properly.

Obligatory Ice Level, #ScreenshotSaturday

Terry May 18, 2012 5 Comments

This week doesn’t feel like it was quite as productive as last week was, but I did get a lot of work done on the new version of Hexagon. It’s been a surprisingly techy project, this – a big part of the first week was largely spent relearning how to do low level 3D; and this week was largely spent trying to get my head around Stage3D, Adobe’s GPU powered addition to Flash.

Anyway, I’ve made progress: I’m still using my software mode 3D code, but I’m now rendering most of the graphics as 2D polygons with Stage3D, which speeds the whole thing up massively. This game should work on pretty much anything now. Even an iPhone.

This project’s been fun, and educational, but I think I’ll be wrapping it up fairly soon. Now that all the tech stuff is out the way, I can finally focus entirely on the gameplay.

Announcing TIGJAM UK 7

Terry May 17, 2012 1 Comments

We’ve announced our summer game jam here in Cambridge! This time it’s on the weekend of the 3rd-5th August. For more information, see the TIGSource thread.

Das Hexagon

Terry May 13, 2012 5 Comments

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.

Please enjoy these repeats

Terry May 10, 2012 10 Comments

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. 🙂

Begin

Terry May 8, 2012 1 Comments

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…

The Perfect Six Sided Hexagon

Terry May 6, 2012 11 Comments

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.