<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;"> In yet another example of AGameAWeek Gold plucking out examples of games I'm currently reworking, here's a great little blast from the past! AGameAWeek Gold is our occasional dip into the pool of previously released games, taking a look at what I've previously released on this day in history.

Over the years, @Spinal_Cord has continued to perfect the stylings of the top-down maze genre. Taking his cues from an old C64 game he once played, Sensitive, he has created a whole host of variations on the theme over the course of his time doing game-dev. His latest effort in this genre sees him using the Monkey language, along with some lovely simple 2D commands, to generate a faux-3D look, which wouldn't look out of place in an old-school tech, or scene music demo.

The great big 1.5 update of SpikeDislike2 is now available from the Android or iOS App Stores. This version brings the HUGE end mode, Choose Your Own Dislike, which features all those lovely options that the original game had, along with a couple of new ones. SpikeDislike2 v1.5 is available for (URL "https://itunes.apple.com/app/id604867277">iOS) and (URL "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.AGameAWeek.SpikeDislike2_A1">Android). If you've already got it on your device, visit the ...

Every Single Week

Not Good Advice

The following is not advice, and should not be taken as such. People often ask me how I manage to do AGameAWeek. Particularly, how I manage to cram everything into a single week, and then somehow manage to do exactly the same thing every other week, without going crazy. What follows might possibly help you understand a little more of what goes on in the world of AGameAWeek. Or it might just be a whole bunch of rambling waffling text. Not sure!! ...

Note : This app is included with my Monkey Skeleton, so if you've already grabbed that, you needn't bother grabbing it again! If you're trying to write games for all these different systems that Monkey can handle, you've probably wanted to shout at Apple and Google for having created so many stupid sodding icon sizes. It's enough to drive you crazy!! When I first started building my Monkey Framework, I figured it'd be handy to have a program to create all these silly little things. This is that!

For the past few years, I've been building and rebuilding a silly little experimental shooter thing called "Horizontal Shooter" The basic gist is that it's a bog standard horizontal shooter, but with a weird control scheme, and a tail to catch things in. I also tend to use Horizontal Shooter as a simple testbed, to see what a language can/can't achieve in the realms of simplistic blurry lovelyness. This time around, since we're also focusing on mobile devices, I've decided to flip things around, and ma...

Apologies that this post has taken me so long to publish. I actually wrote most of it about 3 months ago, when I first released SpikeDislike2, but it's been sat on my Mac on a Sticky Note, and I kinda forgot all about it! I remembered it, the other day, when I submitted SpikeDislike2-Lite to Apple. What follows is a checklist/guide for compiling your (URL "https://monkeycoder.co.nz">Monkey-coded) game onto iOS.

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:left;"> AGameAWeek Gold looks back through my archive, digging out any and all games that I've previously released on this day in history. Occasionally the games are absolute garbage. Sometimes, they're fantastic. And then.. Other times.. There are UNICORNS!!!

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;"> AGameAWeek Gold is a daily trip through the Jayenkai Archive, to see if I've previously released any games on this day in history. Sometimes the day is uneventful. Not even I have managed enough to pad out every single day of the year! Oddly, though, other days contain more than one game. And today's one of those days!

During a moment of boredom, I wondered how long it'd take to remake my lovely Testcard Generator. I attempted it in Monkey, and realised it wouldn't work very well given that I can't save an image. Then I tried it in BlitzMax, but that wouldn't allow me to work with images bigger than the desktop. (My Laptop is 1366x768, and I wanted at least 1920x1080) In the end I opted for Blitz3D. Blitz3D lets me work in practically any resolution I can imagine, while scaling it nicely to fit on my screen. Lovely ...

Or to give it it's full name, "One of These Will Kill You!". This week's game is a semi-remake of sorts, but one which feels a little more complete than the original version. Originally created as a PlayMyCode game, this version adds bonuses, along with some more obvious gameplay mechanics. You should be able to follow along, this time around!

SpikeDislike2 has just had a nice big update on the iOS AppStore, and I'm now thinking about what to add next, so I figured I'd make a nice rambling blog about it. That's what this is!! You can buy (URL "https://itunes.apple.com/app/id604867277">SpikeDislike2 in the AppStore)! It's nice and cheap, and full of lovely juicy stuff!

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;"> AGameAWeek Gold takes a look at the games that I've previously released on this day in history. It's basically filler material! But that's ok, because it's usually a nice trip down memory lane.

A somewhat simple remake, this week, as I couldn't even be bothered to add anything new into the mix. To be honest, this is one of those "Desperately trying to keep up a rate of AGameAWeek" games! It's fun, though, and now works lovely on an Android device (assuming your Android device of choice plays nicely with it!)

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:left;">AGameAWeek Gold looks back at years gone by, plucking out games that I've previously released on this day in history. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're terrible. .. and othertimes, there's more than one!!

A half-assed experimental thing, this week. In all honesty, (URL "https://AGameAWeek.com/2013/04/this-week-45/">I did enjoy the idea of this game), but the execution wasn't what I wanted. This week it's a case of "Could this be better?!"

In a change to our regularly scheduled April-Project, I've decided to stop pulling my hair out, and instead do something different. Grrr.. What we're left with, however, is a nice happy little game for up to four players, so that's nice.

Over the past few weeks, a terrible issue has appeared, and it's been quite noticeable. It's caused my Stringy Things project to get stuck, as well as creating multiple issues in lots of other places. The problem is as follows.. Not all devices are the same!!!

Coders Tool Ahead I don't know why I only just realised this, but I don't think I ever posted my Bitmap Font Creator, to go with the Monkey Framework! whoops! Anyway, here's that.

<a href="https://socoder.net/uploads/1/BitmapFontCreator.zip">Bitmap Font Creator</a>

It works nice and easily. You give it a bucketload of .ttf files in the "fonts" folder, then run it, and it outputs a bunch of monospaced bitmap font images in the output folder. Open the associated...

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;">AGameAWeek Gold looks back on this day in history, and plucks out any and all games that I've previously released on this day. It's a fun, adventurous, and seemingly random trip through the Jayenkai Archives. Join us, as we test really old games to see if they still run on our modern systems!

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;">Occasionally, our flick through the Jayenkai Archives fails to pick up any games that I might've released on this day in history. As rapid as my game development is, I'm just not THAT quick! But other times, it'll pick up more than one! Today's one of those days..

This week sees the addition of the "Racks" game into the mix. The object is simply to see what words you can make from your rack. Choose from the same number of time/word options as with Strings, then see if you can beat your highscore. A simple game, with simple mechanics.

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right">Sometimes, our occasional glance back at previous games, released on this day in history, reveals some absolutely abysmal game ideas. Other times, however, it brings about a classic game which makes me wonder why I've not remade it any sooner.

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;">AGameAWeek Gold looks back at releases that happened on this day in history. Journey with us through the mists of time, to find out just how good, or bad, AGameAWeek has actually been through the years! We also occasionally find odd little glitches in the archive!!

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;">AGameAWeek Gold looks back through the huge archive each day, to see if I've previously released anything on this day. There's not always a game to play, but occasionally we'll stumble upon long forgotten gems. Today's is especially nice!

Many many many many many people have asked me how on earth I manage to cram game making into the space of a single week. Ironically, most of those people seem to have forgotten that they, themselves, have previously taken part in Ludum Dare "Make a game in only 48 hours" style competitions. Hmm..! Anyway, today's rambling waffling blog is about the steps I take to ensure I can achieve AGameAWeek.

<img src="https://socoder.net/AGAWGold_128.png" style="float:right;"> Sometimes, stripping things back to their simplest mechanics makes for a strangely more interesting game. Other times, however, it just makes an otherwise vaguely interesting game a little more dull. This is a great example of the latter.