Developments

Nothing much worth reporting again, today. I've still been fiddling about with characters some more, and playing around with their various physics. I really oughta be working on the level structure a little, so I might stop faffing about with characters and instead focus on the look of the levels a little more. All the pieces are currently coming together to create something a little less special than the original, so hopefully I can find something magical along the way that brig...

Developments

Tackling multicoloured craziness in HTML5 is NOT an easy task.. Desktop (and/or Android, OUYA, iOS, etc) version (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/NPA2_004.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/NPA2_004-1024x542.png" alt="NPA2_004" width="604" height="320" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4963" /> And by comparison, the HTML5 version (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/...

Melodical Developments

Last night I re-rendered and uploaded the entire (URL "https://archive.org/details/PrecariousAlBum">Precarious Al Bum to Archive.org) Annoyingly, I forgot to trim the tails on the tracks, so they all end with about a half-a-second of silence. Ooops.. I'll have to poke around in Archive.org's settings and see if I can update the files, but I imagine they're probably going to have to stay like that. Aw well.. Meanwhile, I also created a new track for the Liquid A...

Developments

I could've sworn I did SOMETHING, yesterday! ..but can I remember what? I should probably jot these things down, as I go! I know I had SpikeDislike3's source open for a bit, but then I also had BlastTrax's source open, too. If I want to update BlastTrax, I first need to upgrade it's framework, and then add some music. hmmm. Then I messed about with Arcade Slots. I do enjoy Arcade Slots, but other people still hate the "randomness" of it all. Weird.. So, yeah, I actual...

Developments

(URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SyncComplete.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SyncComplete.png" alt="SyncComplete" width="348" height="289" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4884" /> Longest Backup.. EVER!! Finally, SyncToy has reached a point where it's no longer stumbling across oodles of random files that it somehow managed to miss on the previous 80-or-so passes. My B...

Developments

Not a very productive day, yesterday, if I'm honest. I continued to play about with that Lester&Ralph theme, but I'm hitting the same roadblock as the last time, with the Sheep Goes Right theme, in that the characters run at the same constant speed so the entire point of the Combo system is completely ruined. I'm not sure what I can add to mix it up, and am desperately playing with all manner of elements to see if I can find that one little thing that suddenly makes sense. Hmmm.....

Developments

First up.. The SpikeDislike3 v1.5 update is LIVE on iOS. This all new update includes a lovely new menu, portrait mode, Music-Loop option (albeit a bit naff!), the ability to slide your finger on the lefthand wiggly-bar to scroll through the menu quicker, an option to turn off the Parallax, a number of background fixings.. Oh, and Five New Themes! And 50 New Levels!!! Wowsies!!! (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IMG_0326-1.png"><img src="https:/...

Developments

One theme's challenge has been set, and only one more's to go. I've been struggling with these last two themes for a good few days, and suddenly yesterday an idea popped into my head, and the idea is so blindingly obvious that it looks 100% like I planned it like that! And if anyone asks, I'll just say "Yes, I definitely planned it like that!!" (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SD3_042.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/...

(URL "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33502838">RIP : Satoru Iwata) As a kid, I was never a big Nintendo fan. I had a Gameboy and I LOVED Tetris, but much as is the case nowadays, I tend to code and create more than just play. I continue to buy Nintendo consoles and handhelds, even today, because theirs are the games that I get the most fun and enjoyment out of. Mr Iwata was first and foremost a developer, and I can only hope that Nintendo finds another suitably developer-minded helmsman to t...

Developments

Not a whole lot happened yesterday. I mean, it did, but nothing that noticeable. I found a couple of counting errors that were being thrown up by the new Basketball theme, and had to figure out exactly what was/wasn't going on with that. (The hoops replaced spikes, and all manner of crazy scoring events were taking place!!) Took a fair amount of time to fathom exactly what was happening, but I think I've managed to get it to a respectable method of counting! Even if it's not...

Developments

I finally rejigged those basketball-reflections, so they look much better now. Hurray! ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AVwlN0kRMdw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> There we go! Much better!! So, with those done, I turned to the last remaining themes where I have to somehow come up with imaginative ideas for those challenges, too. I've got absolutely nothing in mind for them, and spent a good few ho...

Developments

Still working on getting SoCoder back to full strength, but things are slightly easier now that GoDaddy have finally uploaded that damned backup that I asked for, about 3 days ago. *tsk* Now it's a case of shuffling file about, and making some nice strengthy tweaks to the site. *sigh* So, last night I opened up SpikeDislike's code properly for the first time in about a week. Over the past week I've been battling server outages, and the whole Android issue, so I haven't really...

Developments

For all that I've done over the years, I rarely get noticed. I'm ok with that, but other people see "Made LOADS of games, never got noticed" as some kind of terrible failure. Instead, I see it as just a fun little hobby, and I continue to do what I do because I still get enjoyment from it, after all these many many (many!) years. Recently, somebody stumbled onto my site. I'm not sure how, whether it be via my GameJolt archive, or something to do with SpikeDislike3, or whatever...

Developments

Hurray! (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SD3_036.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SD3_036-1024x597.png" alt="SD3_036" width="604" height="352" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4799" /> An old favourite returns.. Yesterday, I managed to get three themes into the game. Three!! Well, technically one of those was that horrible nasty brightly coloured mess, but rejigged so ...

Developments

One of the new themes sees me playing a bit more with Monkey's Skewing. The Transform and Matrix commands let you do some weird things with sprites. I never bothered to use them in the past because it's generally hard to pull off a good effect with them, that doesn't just look like you're pissing about with fancy effects! But during SpikeDislike3 I decided to experiment with it a little. You can see it used best in the Pseudo-3D theme. No 3D is used, and only simple skewing is...

Developments

I honestly never considered the time it takes to restart a level in SpikeDislike3 to be all that much. If nothing else, it gives you a second to stop, breath, and prepare for the next attempt. But bloody hell, the number of people asking for a "Quick Restart", is MENTAL!!! Yesterday I spent a good number of hours rejigging the way the saves work, and a lot of other things necessary for the new "Quick Restart" to work properly. (Previously the saves only saved when the menu rel...

Developments

HURRAY! After 20 (TWENTY!) days in review, SpikeDislike3 is finally available on iOS! o/yeayo/ And it's about damn time, too. ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KnfnkRnT2Ag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> Feel the full dislike, as you bounce your way through the 15 different themes, and 150 levels of spikes! You can buy the complete SpikeDislike3 (URL "https://itunes.apple.com/app/spikedislike3/...

Developments

Hurray! Another week, another iOS release. This week, ChuckABall shows up in the AppStore, and people go CRAZY for it!! .. ... Probably not, but they should, because it's an awesome game. Lovely and simple, and great for that 10 second wait that you just can't stand waiting through. Jump in, play a level (or ten), jump out. It does exactly what you need from a game of it's type. ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iDJjJXOBGxs" frameborder="0" al...

Developments

If there's one thing I hate, it's waiting for stuff!! I'm a very impatient person, and have gotten used to things moving along at a fast AGameAWeek-like pace. I now have TWO games, waiting for Apple Review, and quite frankly it's doing my head in! All this waiting. I can't hack it!!! I'm now pondering what my next project's going to be. Should I continue on this Gap-Year thing, and make something else that's way bigger than normal? Or should I do a couple of quicky AGameAWe...

Developments

A somewhat eventful day, yesterday, but one that took WAY too long!! As I finished off the last of the levels, and got the game working toa moderately lovely standard, I figured I might as well start throwing bits and pieces into iTunes. I've still got a number of days until Invisible Munky (hopefully) passes AppleReview, so I can relax and take my time with all the iTunesConnect gubbins. Starting with the the description, the screenshots, the icon, I continued on and decided to ...

Developments

A quick video.. ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SUFKcQothYI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>> About a week ago, I booted up the MacMini to test compile SpikeDislike3 onto my iPad. I was SHOCKED by how poor the functionality of the MacMini was. Slow, unresponsive, and certainly not what you'd call "Useful" in any way shape or form. I guess that's what happens when you buy a Mac Mini in 2010, and only e...

Developments

I spent some time, yesterday, playing around with the menu system for SpikeDislike3. It's starting to look fairly usable, now, with it's little bouncing "Next Level" thing, and all the spikes and stars in the right places. I still need to add some sort of boundary to the left, so that the "Infinity" levels are more apparent, but for the most part, the menu is nice enough, and actually functions the way it's supposed to! ( width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/em...

Developments

Ho, Ho, Ho!! (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_017.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_017-1024x597.png" alt="SD3_017" width="604" height="352" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4631" /> I don't know why this theme popped into my head, last night, but there it is! A wonderfully festive xmassy theme. Will this be part of the regular game, or will it only turn up at Xm...

Developments

Yesterday I created an underwater theme. (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_015.png"><img src="https://AGameAWeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SD3_015-1024x597.png" alt="SD3_015" width="660" height="385" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-4618" /> As good as this theme is, I'm not *quite* happy with it, mostly because the visual of a fish "bouncing" doesn't really look all that normal!! Today I'm goi...

Developments

Yesterday I took some time to create a Choon to go along with the dark lava theme, and although it wasn't exactly what I aimed for, it does fit the gameplay reasonably well. ( width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205161863&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true">

Developments

Not a whole lot of news from yesterday, but that was mostly due to me not being in a coding mood. Instead, I did at least manage to create the following ALChoon. ( width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/204825992&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true">>...

Developments

Yesterday, I completely rejigged the "Bounce" of SpikeDislike. Originally, the bounce was a simple Sine-wave, and has in fact been this in EVERY version of SpikeDislike, but this time I'm hoping to add a couple of new elements which have required a minor tweak in the usual ball bouncing mechanic. This isn't something to be taken lightly, as I had to be absolutely sure that the end result still "felt" like Classic SpikeDislike. At the moment it's a teensy bit floaty compared with ...