Super Hexagon, 10 years on

Posted in super hexagon

So, hey! Today is the 10th anniversary of Super Hexagon’s original release. I know, I can barely believe it either. I don’t have any big plans today, sorry – but I wanted to mark the occasion here. <3

I still don’t really know how to think about Super Hexagon, sometimes. It was a game that just sort of came along, while I was working on something else, a game I very much made for myself, tuned to my own reflexes. I didn’t expect any kind of reaction to it, let alone the one it got. I would never have imagined that anyone would still be playing it 10 years on. I’m unbelievably proud of this thing.

I released VVVVVV’s source code on its 10 year anniversary a few years ago, a lot of people have been asking me if I’d do the same for Super Hexagon, and… maybe? I do like the idea! But not today. There’s no rush. Super Hexagon is actually still being worked on, with updates coming to keep it running well on modern hardware – so making the source available is a bit messy right now. Maybe in the future!

Anyway. Please enjoy these weird early development screenshots from the game, which I enjoyed rediscovering!

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Super Hexagon is back on Android!

Posted in super hexagon

At last! Been a while coming, but Super Hexagon is now back on Android, fully updated to the latest android OS. This is more than just a compatibility update; as well as fixing the game up for modern phones, it adds a bunch of other nice things, including high framerate and controller support:

  • Game Updated with Android 11/12 Support
  • Lossless Game Music and new audio engine
  • New High Frame Rate rendering on devices with 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz displays
  • New support for Android Fold / Flip Phones and Tablets
  • Touch input response time optimisations
  • Android controller support including Razer Kishi
  • UI Updates and optimisations for wide range of aspect ratios

You can grab the update from wherever you originally got the game – Google Play, Humble, Amazon, and itch.io.

A huge thanks to Dan Rosser, who’s responsible for bringing the game back to life on Android, and Stefan Jonceski and Indium Play, who tested the game across a huge variety of android devices to make sure it all worked perfectly!

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Super Hexagon update on iPhone!

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This is very long overdue: Super Hexagon has been updated on iPhone! If you update today, you should notice a pretty dramatic performance increase, and, at long last, nice smooth retina graphics!

While the original flash version of the game ran great at launch, it hadn’t really kept up with newer phones and new versions of iOS. This update is a port of the openFrameworks version of the game (which is on desktop and android already). With this port, the game should run fast and buttery smooth on everything right up to the brand new iPad Pros! It feels really, really nice to have the game running at it’s best again on the platform where it first came out.

This wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless work of Daniel Rosser, who worked with me on this update. His incredible attention to detail is the reason the game runs as well as it runs now!

Thank you so much for playing Super Hexagon. Hope you enjoy the update! <3

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Wanted: iOS Coder for Super Hexagon update

(thanks for the pic, theverge.com!)

EDIT: No longer looking for help with this. Thank you!

Hey hey – sorry for the boring help wanted post!

Since I got back from Berlin, I’ve been taking a little time out to fix up and finish small things before I dive back into my big roguelike. In particular, that’s meant fixing up copycat, making Elizascript, and a few other tiny things I’m working on at the moment. I’ll have more to say about that soon. Right now? One thing I’ve needed to do for some time is a Super Hexagon update on iPhone.

Every other version of Super Hexagon – desktop, android, blackberry – is based on the OpenFramework C++ port I made after the iPhone version came out. I consider that the definitive, final version of the game. The iPhone version is the original flash version – which is pretty solid, but has some problems.

In particular, it doesn’t have retina graphics, which is something that’s looking more and more dated with each new iPhone.

I’d really love to port the OpenFrameworks version of the game back to iPhones – it would leave the game running smoothly and perfectly on the latest versions of iOS, and would finally upgrade the game to a retina resolution. But I’ve been terrified to touch it – I had a scare with the iPhone 5 update where people briefly lost thier save games, and I’m really worried that an engine change could mean that happening again.

So, I’m looking for help! I’m looking for someone to port the OpenFrameworks version of Super Hexagon to iPhone, and I’m particularly concerned that it picks up the flash SharedObject save file.

If you’re interested, here’s what you’d need to be able to do:
– Have some experience building and releasing games on iOS.
– Be familar with OpenFrameworks on iOS, and port over the current OpenFrameworks version of the game.
– Be *somewhat* familar with Adobe AIR, and dealing with flash SharedObjects on mobile.
– Convince me the the save files will be safe when the update goes live!
– Ideally, have access to several iOS devices for testing.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in, get in touch, and we can discuss it further! Cheers!

EDIT: No longer looking for help with this. Thank you!

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App Store > Games > Terry Cavanagh’s Favourite Games

suphexapp

This morning someone on twitter reminded me that today is Super Hexagon’s 2nd birthday! Gosh 😀

It’s probably a coincidence, but Apple got in touch recently to say they’d like to put Super Hexagon in one of their App Store indie game showcase features that they’ve been doing recently, which is very nice of them and very good timing.

Part of the feature meant that I get to put together a list of iOS games to tell the world about. Here’s the ones I chose:

4nr 4NR

An elegant, fun little platform game that I love the structure of. Still find myself replaying it occasionally, long after finishing it with a perfect score.

80days 80 Days

Probably the most recent game on my list – it’s a great boardgamey interactive fiction take on Around the World in 80 Days. It nails this feel of being on a long trip and getting a fleeting sense of this world you’re passing through.

868hack 868-Hack

A brilliantly designed roguelike-like with a smart take on character progression. I’ve probably played more of this than anything else on my iPad.

bosonx Boson-X

One of the best endless runners I’ve come across – moreso than usual, I got really competitive with this one!

ending Ending

A drod-like of sorts, with a wonderful roguelike mode. Have played this pretty compulsively since it came out.

englishcountrytune English Country Tune

It’s by my flatmate, so, you know, nepotism – but I’m far from the only person to love this one. There’s an astonishing, mindblowing idea in the middle of the game that not enough people have seen.

gamedog GameDog

GAMEDOG! I love Gamedog! It’s this weird broken fake-LCD bootleg game emulator for a machine that doesn’t exist, with lots of weird bootleg takes on pacman and things like that. Charming and really funny.

hoplite Hoplite

Another roguelike-like! I love games that challenge you to purposefully make things harder for yourself as a show of swagger, something this game does very well with its achievement system.

iamlevel I am Level

Like somebody looked at an iPad and said “RIGHT, how can I make a Spectrum platformer work on this?”. The solution they came up with is unlikely and really clever. Hits right at the things I get nostalgic about. Plus the ending’s pretty funny.

kairo Kairo

A mystlike – walk around giant environments and interact with mysterious machines. I originally played this with two friends, passing the controller around and taking turns at the puzzles, which worked great because it’s beautiful both to watch and explore.

keroblaster Kero Blaster

Pixel’s low key follow up to Cave Story, a humble little platform shooter bursting with character and charm. I get a bit fanboyish about Pixel’s work!

mcpixel McPixel

A fantastic take on point-and-click adventure games, and a GREAT fit for touchscreens.

rebuild Rebuild

A really great board-game-like zombie survival game about rebuilding society. When it came out I played all the way through in one sitting.

rss Realistic Summer Sports Simulator

My favourite multiplayer game on iPad – hilarious and really fun. Watch the trailer!

skullpogo Skullpogo

Does tilt controls *really really* well. You play as a skeleton on a pogo stick, hence, Skullpogo. I like Skeletons.

spikedislike Super Spike Dislike

Aaaa I love Super Spike Dislike. It’s a really simple one-jump action game. Like Hoplite, has that wonderful quality of being hard mostly because you’re making it hard on yourself. One of the first games I recommend to people who get an iOS device.

thicket Thicket

Thicket’s a music toy that’s so spongy and great, you touch it and it makes sounds and you can mess with it with all your fingers at once. Ah it’s so lovely.

tumbledrop Tumbledrop

Beautiful and cute and charming and such a perfect fit for a touchscreen device. A thing I often show to people who aren’t sure if they really like games.

There’s a bunch of other stuff I love on the App Store too of course, but hard choices need to made for things like this. Hope it helps people find some stuff they like!

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Ports ports ports

Time for a very imPORTant update! Ho ho ho

VVVVVV’s mobile ports are definitely taking a lot longer than anticipated, but things are finally coming to an end. A few days ago, after weeks of testing and fixing bugs and optimising, I finally submitted VVVVVV to the app store! It’ll be in a review for a while, and going live hopefully not too long after that…

So what’s the next step? Well, there’s also the android version (that’s going pretty well too), and the steam update. And one more thing…

vvine

The OUYA version!

I like the OUYA as a thing quite a lot – last year I even ported 10 of my freeware games to it for fun! And it’s really cool to be able to play VVVVVV on it too – this’ll be the first time you can actually sit down with a controller and play VVVVVV on a telly, which is kind of a big deal. It should be out at the same time as the other ports – not quite sure when that is yet, but I’ll announce it as soon as I know 🙂

That’s not all, though.

suphexvine

Surprise! I’m also bringing Super Hexagon to OUYA! And real soon, too. Like, next Tuesday. Ahhhhhhh

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Happy Birthday Super Hexagon

Posted in super hexagon

(Above: my favourite Super Hexagon Let’s Play!)

Hey! It’s now been a year since Super Hexagon came out on PC and Mac! (the iOS birthday was about two months back, so this is a bit overdue really).

One of the main things I aspire to, creatively, is to make things that will matter long after I’m gone. That’s a lot to ask – I don’t think I’ve done that yet, with anything I’ve made. I don’t know if I ever will. But I think Super Hexagon might be the closest I’ve come so far. I’m very proud of it.

An opportunity came along this week to put the game on sale in a new online store, and I decided it’d be a nice pretext to mark the occasion; one year or so since it’s release. So Happy Birthday! I’m putting the game on sale everywhere! This weekend only, Super Hexagon is available on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Blackberry for just 99 cents.

Thanks for all the support, everyone 🙂

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Super Hexagon on Sale

Posted in super hexagon

hexagonal-awareness-month-240

Did you know that March is Hexagonal Awareness Month? It’s true! I swear this isn’t just something I’ve made up, it’s a real thing that exists!

To help increase everyone’s Hexagonal awareness, I’ve decided to put the game on sale for the rest of the month, on all platforms! Super Hexagon is now just a dollar everywhere – on steam, android, iPhone, and even Blackberry! This is the first time I’ve put the game on sale on all platforms at once like this, and the cheapest it’s ever been on steam. Enjoy!

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Super Hexagon on Linux

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1-cute-penguins-wallpaper

One final port announcement!

Super Hexagon is now available on Linux. If you’ve got the PC or Mac version of the game on Steam, then you should already have it in your library!

I’ve also finally made a non-steam version of the game, for those of you who prefer that. That’s available now from the humble store on superhexagon.com, for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Super Hexagon is now on all the platforms that it’s ever likely to be on! Thank you for your support, everyone 🙂

I know recently all I’ve been posting here is Super Hexagon announcements, sorry – I’m working on something new at the minute that’s starting to take shape. Will post about it soon.

By the way, did you know that March is Hexagonal Awareness Month? Please keep hexagons in your thoughts this coming month.

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