Each year, time dependent, I like to do something special over Xmas, and this year I've opted to start early.
If I want a whole Xmas Collection ready on the OUYA (And possibly iOS Store) in time, I need to get onto it quickly enough to have it finished, uploaded, and passed through review, in time for Xmas.
And, if it's an Advent Calendar, then it needs to be ready even earlier, for Dec 1st.
Yikes!!
I started the planning stages of this thing a couple of months ago, when I asked folk...

You may have noticed a slight lack of gaming over the past couple of months. Usually I cut down on AGameAWeek during the closing months of a year, and instead focus on a larger project, but over the course of this year I've already tackled a number of larger projects.
Blockman Worlds, JNK Bombers, Future Classics.. They've all been substantially larger than my standard weekly output.
As such, I'm actually struggling to come up with a decent "end of year project" that would be worth tackling.

It's time to revisit the world of Munky and his many colourful blocks.
Take control, and match three!
<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Munky_Blocks_(dx)_20140908A_thumb.png"> <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/Munky_Blocks_(dx)_20140908B_thumb.png">

This week, I decided that I really oughta get a decent puzzle game onto the OUYA.
My first thought was to do a Tetris game, and recreate TetriPong, but as is usually the case, halfway through the planning stages, an ACTUAL Tetris game was launched, by The Tetris Company, onto the OUYA.
D'oh!
I'll probably save that for another time, then.

Live on Twitch for a long long time, Team OUYA took to the airwaves and streamed a whole bunch of my games, all playing lovely on OUYA.
You can (URL "https://www.twitch.tv/playouya/b/559842278">Watch the Recorded-Steam here).
(URL "https://www.twitch.tv/playouya/b/559842278"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/PlayOUYA_AGAW.jpg" alt="PlayOUYA_AGAW" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4054" />

Sod it, why not..
SpikeDislike meets the Ludum Dare challenge of "Beneath the Surface", as you attempt to make your way past the hidden spikes!
How far can you get!?
<img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/The_Spikes_Beneath_20140426A_thumb.png"> <img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/complete/The_Spikes_Beneath_20140426B_thumb.png">

I love my iOS devices, and I love the iOS Ecosystem.
I also love that iOS has (so far) been the only bloomin' way that I've managed to sell my games in a fruitful manner.
(Android sales have been.. *shrugs* Pisspoor!!)
In order to get a Monkey-x game onto iOS, I first need to transfer the code to the Mac (Drag 'n' Drop over the network) then recompile with a few choice tweaks along the way.
The game then needs approximately 738 different icons, which all look the same, but are margi...

Over on the Monkey forum, a discussion about level data set me off thinking about making this post.
Whenever I put levels into my games, I tried to keep them as small as I possibly can. I've been doing it this way for years, and always figured it's nice to compress my data into something that's easily shareable.
.. True, I rarely ever get around to actually making these things easily shareable, but for the most part I try to keep things as minimal as possible.

The internet is a place for trolls and complainers (like me!) who like to gripe at every opportunity.
For the most part, we tend to ignore these types, which generally means that comments sections have become largely ignored.
Here at AGameAWeek, the opposite has happened. There are apparently no trolls daring enough to even attempt to play my games! I seem to have scared most of them away.
As a result, there are no trollers or complainers here, and since those are the types that make up ...

Late last night, NeonPlat Raw appeared on the OUYA Dashboard for the very first time.
This is kind of a big deal, in that it's the first time one of my games has officially been released on an actual physical home-console.
True, it's not a "PROPER" console, but .. Hey, it's a box with a controller that plugs into my telly.
And it's got my games on it!

I finally wrangled my way through "the big update" over the course of two nights..
Day one was having to upgrade to Mountain Lion (I was in hospital when it came out, and hadn't bothered to upgrade since).. This was swiftly* followed by installing XCode5.
The reason for all this, is that iOS7 devices need XCode5, and XCode5 needs Mountain Lion. It's Apple's special way of making sure all us developers constantly upgrade everything!
* Given that my Mac is at the exact opposite side of the ...

September's over, and I've had a lot of fun bulking up BlastTrax, and playing GTAV!
The plan was, come October, I'd get straight back to business.
I'd upload BlastTrax's big update, and then start doing AGameAWeek again.
The reality is slightly different, for two main reasons.

People keep asking about how I manage to code AGameAWeek, and one thing they all eventually pick up on is that I'm currently doing it all with Monkey.
(URL "https://monkeycoder.co.nz">Monkey) is a fantastic language which allows for all manner of different targets, and does a great job doing what it does.
It isn't perfect, and it's not for everyone, but it suits me down to the ground.
As with any development tool, it all comes down to preference, and whether or not you agree with the me...

I don't give up, very often, but on this occasion, it's unfortunately going to happen to my big Month-Long project.
I seem to have narrowed the problem down to the following issue.
... Wasn't hard enough!
It seems that, nowadays, I can only tackle a project if it's got enough of a challenge attached.

Last night I was asked how I got Monkey to do all the things that I managed to make it do.
I tried to describe it as best as I could, but was already wrapped up in bed, trying to remember it all, whilst only holding an iPad! Not an easy job.
I suggested to (URL "https://twitter.com/retrorusty">@RetroRusty) that he waits until the morning, when I can better write a nice big (BIG) waffling (WAFFLING!) blog-post about it all.
..

Good Grief, it's been a long long time since a little video clip caused utter chaos in my Twitter feed!
I feel that last night's occurrence needs a little explaining, because people are WAY more hyped about it than they probably should be!!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Platdude Gets!!!! <a href="https://t.co/GZcwBtJ255" title="https://vine.co/v/bgVBqEjqld2">vine.co/v/bgVBqEjqld2</a></p>??? Jayenkai (@Jayenkai) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jayenkai...

You're probably wondering, by now, with all this wonderful "Monkey" stuff that I've been banging on about for the past month, where the heck my iOS offerings are.
Well, while it's true that Monkey does indeed make the coding a heck of a lot easier, there's still another matter to attend to.
The dreaded "iTunes Connect" area! ARGH!!!!
You've probably read enough of my rants to know that iDev isn't easy.
There are licenses to deal with. "Provision" codes, Certificates, all manner of s...

Next week's AGameAWeek is already in the works. Yet another remake, this time of a game that doesn't quite appear to run as well as it used to.
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/GameList.php?ShowJust=56">The Heist</a> was coded in August 2008, and does still run on modern PCs. The thing is, though, it runs at about 30fps on most of my current systems.
I'm not really sure why this is, and have tried a couple of things to get it up to speed, but nothing seems to be doing th...

You know what I hate?
Icons.
You might've noticed that very few of my games include icons.
Not only do I hate having to draw icons, I also hate having to create 70,000 bazillion different sizes for every sodding size that might be needed.

I've been delaying a large list of things, but as I continue to make great strides with Monkey, those tough bits are getting ever so close.
Here's what needs doing, as well as explanations as to why they're tough..
(Note : Very waffley, and probably not all that interesting!)

Already!?
Who saw this coming?!
I sure as hell didn't!!
<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/shootybangbang.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/shootybangbang-300x228.png" alt="" title="shootybangbang" width="300" height="228" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2486" /></a>

This is an emergency post.
The future of AGameAWeek may be in jeopardy.
Everything hinges on the decision I make within the next few hours.
Do I do the Board Game thing, or do I do the Pancake thing?

<a href="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Key-Bo-Ard-Too-Screenshot_24-Jan-2012_112526.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Key-Bo-Ard-Too-Screenshot_24-Jan-2012_112526-300x225.png" alt="" title="Key Bo & Ard Too (Screenshot_24 Jan 2012_112526)" width="300" height="225" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2270" /></a>
A sequel for this week's AGameAWeek!
I've been thinking about Key, Bo and Ard since I popped them into...

Bah.. I knew that'd happen..
As soon as AGameAWeek kicked back into action, the "Daily Blog" would take a bit of a fall.
I'm trying to keep up, though! Honest!!

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/jnkplat_Xmas2011.jpeg"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/jnkplat_Xmas2011-300x193.jpg" alt="" title="jnkplat_Xmas2011" width="300" height="193" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2195" />Coming soon, as in probably tomorrow, or maybe Xmas morning!!
This isn't a proper one.
It's only a quick little Xmas minigame thing, but it'll be nice and properly playable, and...

Between insane neck issues, and crazy days trying to cram WAY too much stuff in before Xmas, I've not blogged much, this week.
Last night, as it became increasingly apparent that there was no WAY I could cram it all in, before xmas, I decided to hell with it all..
This morning, I stop attempting to cram, and instead relaxed into something a little different.

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/fuuuuuuu.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/fuuuuuuu-300x170.png" alt="" title="fuuuuuuu" width="300" height="170" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2171" />
Graphene.
'tis a nice theme!
As Year 4 approaches, I figured it was time for a makeover.
It's taken me from 10 at night until 4 in the morning, but I think I'm about 2/3rds of the way there!...