Developments

Yesterday was spent fixing up little things in SpikeDislike3.
I got Predetermined Layouts working, but still haven't bothered to implement any sort of collision detection!
Still, you can now start a round, have it spawn the spikes in the same place, and then exit back to the menu.

Having the spikes show up in the same place, is of course super important in SpikeDislike, as you learn the layouts of the level, and try not to die for ages and ages. I'll have to add a couple of random modes in there, too, but for the majority of modes, things will be predetermined.



The idea of specific layouts is something that's been in both the original and it's sequel.. For SpikeDislike 1, they made up a lot of the "Challenge Mode" levels, whereas in SpikeDislike2, they formed each mode's first spike layout. (Hence why the Basketball one is so obviously a great big ^ shape! That was "designed"!!!)
If I'm honest, I mostly neglected this feature in SD2, but I'm hoping to make more out of it for SD3.
.. maybe.!

You'll probably notice that the spikes are now numbered. I found myself playing the original SpikeDislike (from the 2010 Advent Collection) and thought the numbers helped push you along a little. Every little onscreen helps, I guess!
Feel free to comment below, if you feel otherwise.

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Daily Doodle : Not a Chicken

Today's @Pixelarf squiggle looked SO much like a Chicken, that I was desperate not to turn it into one.
I think I managed quite well.

Mailbag

Today's mail comes from SoCoder frequenter, and OUYA Game Maker, Rychan.


.. was that last bit a suggestion!? I can't save OUYA by myself! Are you crazy!!!!?

SpikeDislike2 actually took a good few months to complete, but it was mostly all background stuff whilst I worked on AGameAWeek in the foreground. SpikeDislike's like that.. Once you've got the majority in place, you can release it as it is, and occasionally bundle in a few extra gametypes whenever you have time!!
But that was background work, and when you're not focussing on something, it can take forever.

The longest game in memory is of course, NeonPlat Adventures.
For that game, I set aside two complete months, knowing exactly what I wanted at the other end.
I focussed on the project every waking minute, and coded like crazy. I doodles sprites for 50 characters, drew a whole bunch of level graphics, built a level generator, made a proper Minisite for it, and even had time to add in a calendar!!
It really is a fantastic piece of work, and I'm absolutely proud of the achievement, especially when you consider I managed it ALL within just two months.

.. The game then swiftly flopped, and I got super depressed about how utterly lacklustre it's release turned out to be.
Bah, humbug.

That's the last thing currently in my mailbag, so if you're reading this, post something right here, at https://bit.ly/AGAW_Mail .
Anything goes.. Questions, comments, game ideas, suggestions to get a life and stop making crappy games with Spikes that don't particularly look very spiky.
Post away!!