You are lovely! Thank you! *sheepyhugs* I will do my very best to make sure you guys love it! The best you can do (which you already *are* doing) is just popping in here from time to time to say 'hi'. I can't overemphasise how motivating it is. While I can always hope that lots of people will play the game, the only *guaranteed* people are those in this thread. So I'm making it for you guys. Which is why I feel so awful taking so long, but also incredibly motivated when you pop in to say hello! It is greatly appreciated! Back to work for me! Cheers! QS =D
Please, take longer! (No really, it's ok!) I'm super excited that you feel you're close, but just remember, if you do need more time, the ones who care the most won't mind waiting a little longer In regards to communication: It means the world to me to that you also come here every day to let us know how the game is, but most importantly how you're doing. It really says something to the wonders of indie gaming (especially you!) that the developer and consumer (hmm, that's a bit if an unflattering term) can have a relationship such as this. No offense to big companies like Gameloft, but it's just not the same when you're speaking to a community manager, rather than someone actually building the game :/ Wow, that turned into a mouthful, haha. Best of luck on these next few weeks!
That's so lovely, thank you! *sheepyhugs* In some good news, I got the asteroid to appear. It's pretty awesome, and a nice callback to Infinite My brain hurts though. :O QS =D
Sorry about the brevity of my last message - my brain was hurting a bit (as mentioned). @JCho133 - with rgerad to communication, I tihnk we udnertsnad ecah oehtr jsut fnie Talking of communication, and of words, I'm not a big fan of the word 'consumer' either. I know it's just a word, but words are important. I prefer the word 'player' - you are playing my games after all. It just seems a lot friendlier than 'consumer' Hope you guys have a lovely weekend - I'm still working hard on the game - will post a new screenshot tomorrow for you all! Cheers, QS =D
If jcho is excited, I am excited! Will there be a way to compete on GC, cause I will kick his booty in the leaderboards in this game.
\o/ The game is ALL ABOUT the high scores! There are two modes - 'Normal' and 'Survival' (as suggested in this very thread). Normal Mode: Normal mode lets you retry the level you are on if you die. Retrying will reset your score to 0 but you can continue. It's essentially an 'easy' mode so you can get used to the game and get unlocks more easily. Survival Mode: In survival mode, you can't 'retry'. If you die, you get sent back to the start screen! The plus side is that your score is *doubled* in survival mode. Those wanting to get high scores will be spending most of their time here. Crucially, both modes share the same high score table. This will hopefully encourage people to try survival mode in an effort to beat other people's high scores! I hope that the game will be fun to play casually (normal mode) but with survival mode also reward those more competitive and, dare I say it, 'skilful' There are a few other surprises in there too, and indeed the 'perks' you unlock and choose will help you either survive longer or get better scores. There's a trade-off, and I like that strategy/rpg element So yes, you'll be able to compete on GC QS =D
Hey all! Another Saturday, another #screenshotsaturday Here's a pic for you: I got teleporters working yesterday - they affect both you AND the aliens so they're a help and a hindrance sometimes It can get a bit tricky/disorientating when using them but they can be incredibly useful. And they're a lot of fun They come in from the top of the screen and land in random places. I've a feeling they'll appear in the later levels of the game, as they really do shake things up a little! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend - I have to get back to the game now! Speak soon! QS =D
I can't remember a game that I've been properly looking forward to so much. Cannot wait for this to drop.
Thank you sir, that's very kind (and kinda terrifying). I'm chuffed beyond belief to know people are waiting for this and it's spurring me on no end! But it also terrifies me because I don't want to disappoint anyone! Having said that, I got stupidly excited by something today/through the night/this morning I'm trying to get all the 'obstacles' finalised this weekend e.g. laser mines, turrets, asteroids etc etc. Most of it's there, I just have a few more bits to add/refine. I was trying to add something, and honestly, it was taking forever. I just couldn't get it to work properly and I was pretty demoralised at one point. I had a cup of tea and long think, and then implemented it better than I'd originally designed it. I think you guys will love it - it's got me all excited and I really should be sleeping by now! So yes, I'm very excited too! But I'm also terrified. It's a weird state to be in Have a good Sunday! QS =D
I'll be honest. I slept through most of it :O It's all good though - woke up mega early (like 4am I think?) and got Sentry guns in and working! Here's a quick look: Just to give you some insight into how much work goes into just putting something like that in, here's a rundown on what I had to do: Make an object. Add a static sentry gun graphic to object. Animate it so that it looks like it's moving in and out of the screen (it looks fab btw!) Put it into my test scene. Put in all the variables that will dictate what it does e.g. collide with platforms, gun health, gun x and y positions etc etc. Make the gun fire every time the turret is level with the screen (i.e. not looking in or out of it) Work out how often the gun will appear. Work out what happens to the gun if its health = 0, a smart bomb goes off, the player's dead, the level's finished, the level's restarted, the boss appears etc etc. Do the same for the gun's bullet! Put gun and bullet into first level to test it 'live'. Test it. Make changes till it's right. Test it more to make sure it plays well with other things in the game. Still worry that something's wrong! I am close to having most of the enemy types finalised, which is good news! Just a couple more to go, then some tidying up of them and balancing/pacing of the levels. When that's done, I'll send the game out to testers to get feedback, which is super important! Meanwhile, during the feedback phase, I'll work on the bosses :O Then I'll look at the feedback, incorporate what I can, then send a build out to testers with the bosses in to again get their feedback/look for bugs. I *feel* like I'm close to finishing, but even when all that's done I still have a bunch of things to do like the intro, the endings, Game Center stuff. And testing. Never ending testing! On an unrelated note, I've promised myself a holiday after the game's done. I haven't had a holiday abroad in years, so it's something to look forward to, and extra incentive to get the game done! Right! Back to work! Hope your Monday's a good one! QS =D
No problem! Had a very productive night/morning. Put in lots of stuff and it's working pretty well so far. Yay! The game's certainly starting to come together and feel like a coherent 'whole'. I was worried for a long time that I was having trouble working out how it'd all work together. Putting in the 'obstacles' (e.g. laser mines, teleporters, turrets etc etc) and pacing them has made the balancing a hell of a lot easier. It just 'feels' much better now Very excited. I need to sleep for a bit as I'm having some of my wool sheared in a few hours, but I'm looking forward to cracking on and making even more progress! Thanks for stopping in QS =D
Hey all! I won't be able to respond much today as I'm deep, deep, deep into finalising some stuff and making a test version for my testers! Before you ask: While I'd LOVE for you guys to test the game, there's a reason I'd rather you didn't. It's simply that, as players, I don't want any surprises spoiled for you. Seriously. I want to preserve the image I have of you in my head: Starting up the game, smiling, smiling, still smiling, still smiling hours later when the latest surprise hits. You're all fully clothed in this 'head image', so no worries there! Seems silly I know - fortunately, the testers I have have helped on my previous games, and they always provided useful feedback (They're lovely!) - so hopefully all will be well! I'd be stupidly excited if I didn't have a mountain of work to do to make the game playable for the testers. I have to remove a bunch of debug stuff and then balance things and then test and test to make sure it's working ok. Fortunately I have sent out test emails to people, and in my experience it takes a day or so for everyone to respond. Which buys me a little time! It's starting, folks! Hold onto your nether regions! (also - screenshotsaturday tomorrow, so I'll be back then with another update!) QS =D
Hello! I've not slept! :O I'm desperately trying to get a build out to testers, but I keep seeing little mistakes here and there and need to fix them! On top of that, not all the testers have signed up yet - the scamps! I should have promised sheepyhugs! Still, it gives me a little time to experiment with which aliens appear when, and how the platforms change depending on the level. It's not hard, but testing it is time consuming Anyway, I hope to have something out to them tomorrow if all goes well (it won't!). In the meantime, here's another screenshot for you for screenshotsaturday: It looks very busy doesn't it? What you're seeing is: We're on Gertopia again! There's lots of aliens! :O (you may recognise them from Infinite!) A UFO has just arrived and is shooting at you! :O Constellation Laser Mines - I've mentioned these before, but this is your first look at them I think. They're the four points on the screen joined with a laser! Gerty's Air is running out! If he can just reach that smart bomb that's about to land on the left platform... Anyway, I think lunch then some sleep, hopefully, so I can wake refreshed and hopefully get the game into at least *some* testers paws! Hope you're having a lovely weekend - the weather is apparently quite nice today.... QS =D
Good luck and keep up the amazing progress. in the meantime we'll all be sitting over here waiting.....
