*: It will be updated, improved, etc., but it’s functionally complete.

It’s finally back up on FlashGameLicense, up for bidding. Unless you have a game on FGL yourself, you won’t be able to use this link, but here it is just in case: Minerbot.

It has been a long time in development, but it’s finally finished. I can’t think of anything I didn’t improve since the last time I posted a link to the game publicly.
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A while back, MiniLD 24 took place. I didn’t make an official entry, but I did partway finish a game called Danger Love. A few posts back I linked to the most recent version of it, which is right here.
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Recently I saw this offer of a free BlackBerry PlayBook to developers who put a game on their market, App World. I was already thinking about porting the game 0xC0A57ED I had made for a Mini Ludum Dare competition to a touch-screen device, and the possibility of a free PlayBook convinced me to go with it.

Title screen of 0xC0A57ED's old Flash version, back from the minild.

I’m sure nobody’s asking this question, but I think it deserves answering.

First of all, I renamed it Minerbot. After someone on the #ludumdare IRC channel pointed out that “A Greedy Profession” was unwieldy, I had to agree. I’ve been shortening it to AGP forever, and in my opinion, my game isn’t cool enough to be called by an acronym. WoW, CoD, etc. are able to get away with it because they’re really well-known. If I say “AGP” to anyone, it either means nothing or (to the technologically-inclined) a type of motherboard expansion slot. Therefore, Minerbot.

Secondly, I gave up on the big graphics overhaul, but I still made some neat additions in this area. A little more glow, a lot more font, and an overlaid pattern to give it some texture. I think it helps.

What I was first trying to do was add graphics everywhere–on the tiles, on the miner, on everything. It didn’t work, for technical and gameplay reasons. (I had to zoom in to make the textures possible, yet this made the game difficult for those who were used to it as a full-view game.) This brief foray caused frustration and anger, and delayed the game until recently. Next time, I’m adding graphical capability first.

I also started to use Kongregate’s API for high scores and statistics. Obviously, this means I plan on putting it there. And hopefully soon.

First thing you’ll notice when you go to the entry page for Mystery of Yrevoc Sid is that it’s unfinished. Although it is partially due to ambition (and chatting on IRC), I blame most of all my incomplete entity system (ES) basecode.

(In the Ludum Dare competition you are allowed to have some code ready, as long as you release it to the other competitors, ideally so that they can use it for the competition themselves if they want to.)
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I’m going to do the next Ludum Dare.

So, what does this mean for my entity system articles I plan to make? Even though it looks like I’m using up one of my precious weekends for non-ES work, I’m planning on doing this 48-hr game with the engine I’m coding. The base is at a point where I think I could finish it in the 24 hours between my last final and the LD. Then I could code the game with it.

With the LD done, I would be much better off writing those articles. Right now I have the theory I want to present understood pretty well (and have the documents to prove it!) but hands-on experience coding using an ES will really help. Also, being forced to release my source with the entry will make what I’m explaining tangible.

I’m not going to do 3d graphics for this game (in fact, not going to use hardware acceleration at all!) so hopefully I’ll be able to really utilize the ES for what it’s worth.

Wish me luck! Or don’t. Whatever you want.

I just put A Greedy Profession on FlashGameLicense.com, after a little trouble with their preloader/encrypter. Turns out they weren’t joking about removing references to the stage object, so I just put in my own preloader I had been using earlier so I could grant my game stage permission.

As soon as AGP gets sponsored, expect to see a link to it! Hopefully it won’t take too long, but really, I’m just happy that a site like FlashGameLicense exists, just so I can enter the market.

EDIT:
It’s up for sponsorship! Let’s see if anyone bids.

Nine months and 22 days later, I’ve picked up work for A Greedy Profession again. I’ve been very busy with academics, and through my short bursts I’ve been able to get the game nearly complete.

One of the first things I did was try to make it less easy to misinterpret the game. This meant making the “fog of war” black instead of static-y, and the cave floor semi-textured. I also made it so you can shoot while staying still–this was also a major complaint.

This is a screenshot from the game, showing a few of the features. I added some effects for when the collectors collides with a surface (interior glow the color of the ore, exterior the color of the player) and a reticle so you can easily see where collectors will be shot.

I started to make some AI (and I got pretty far along) but I discontinued that because I didn’t really think it was adding much to the fun.

I’ve got a few game ideas I’ve been thinking about making after this game’s done. I wonder how much free time I’m going to have in the near future, though.

(Also, notice the new Games page! About Me is going to get a revamp sometime soon too.)

I decided to do another Ludum Dare, and I think my game came out nicely.

It’s called A GREEDY PROFESSION, in all caps like that because of the font renderer I wrote only having capitals. You can find the entry page here, and at that page you can read instructions on how to play.

I did it! My first full Ludum Dare. Also, my first relatively complete 3d game.

Go over here to look at the compo entry page, or click here for a direct link to a zip with the game files. Instructions on the LD entry page. (Just use the mouse.)

That was fun. Even though I started late, I got something done. Admittedly, it was coded as if it were made of pasta (look at the source if you really want to), but it was so much more than I expected to be able to make. I even succeeded in making a little tune, and non-distracting sound effects!

On the downside, the gameplay was a bit… lacking. At the very end I hastily increased the number of levels in the game by a factor of two, adding three levels without making the game worth those three levels. If I’m to work on this game again, there shall be cities and increasing numbers of gameplay elements rather than just more terrain to eat.

But for now, to continue development of my old LD16 entry into something palatable by the Kongegrate crowd. I haven’t got much done yet, but I added some particle effects that look pretty cool. I’m currently reorganizing the code, though, so beware of bugs.