A Few General Approaches

Hi! Well, it's a busy week so far for me. I'd like to take the time to talk about how some things are going to be changing overall with my games, or why I have the current ones in place.

1. Manuals - [Change]

TRG - Demo H2P Menu

In the past I've made how to play menus for my games which have every little detail in them. This is most true with Tilly's Rose Garden games. But with the creation of the Blox demo I've come to terms that making manuals are much more ideal for the players. They'd rather look at an organized PDF than click around in complicated menus to find out something. Plus you can go right to what you

TRG - Points Sub Menu

want with the PDF instead of getting out of the game to look for a proper menu.

Blox Demo Manual

My Manuals will have all the things that are needed to make your game experience more pleasant, like points, what the enemies do and gameplay for the player themselves. Along with technical things like programs I used to create the game and proper credits for music and such. I was proud of the manual I created for Blox and it just feels that this would be a better option for the players.

Of course how to play the game will have a menu still for how to move the player and the basic object of the game, but there will be a button for the manual to open in your browser and you'll be provided the PDF file as well. - Possibly in Tilly's Rose Garden's case I'll do both, I'm not totally sure but that sounds like a good compromise.

2. No Re-releasing old games. - [Current Status]

As of now I'm not going to "debug" old games, they are what they are.
My reason for that is that each game marks my progress as a game creator, and the bugs show how I was at that point of my learned capability. - I might in the future but right now I can say for sure that I am not. - I know for sure demos are not going to be debugged. The simple reason why they get full discrimination is because they are in fact demos, they're not supposed to be as perfect as a completed game. I of course polish the best I know how but overall there will not be the same perfection that a full game will have, new knowledge and better work flow will change everything.

3. Not staying in a box for how games are played - [Change]

This is more or less applied to Tilly's Rose Garden, since this has had the most attention overall from me. The simple fact is, every version has been pretty similar in nature. The version I'm working on right now will not be this way, there will be at the very least some foundational differences. The general gameplay will be the same, but there will be some very different approaches.

The main change for Tilly's Rose Garden I'll talk about in this post (New post about the new changes coming VERY soon!) is you will not live for all of infinity and be able to pick up infinite points by picking everything up and dying to get more points, that option will be gone. It will be more strict than the other versions of the game. This is a very big step but I think it will up the challenge and make the game more fun than just a you can't lose and will gain if you do lose.

4.  Sequels - [Just Yes!]

I am going to be a person who makes sequels to games. I know right now that I will be making soon a sequel to Fluffertini's Pizza Constructor! It will have the same general gameplay but will have mor
e options, less buggy drag and drop and be faster.

5. New Frame Rate - [Change]

Before Blox every game has been 30fps, but Blox has broken another barrier and is 60fps speed. This is a change that I will keep, because all my games will have smoother gameplay and be more enjoyable to play. This will mean I have to do more math than I previously wanted but hey, math is healthy for the brain anyway!


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I hope this has been interesting!

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to +1 on Google and check out my latest game release!



~ God Bless ~


~ Firefly

Blox [Demo] has been released, so what's next?

That's right, for those who don't know about it yet, the Blox Demo has been released! But now that it has been, what's next for me? Well, here's my hope for the new agenda.

As a semi rule, each time I release something I like to move on to something else, not abandoning the previous project but making it so that I learn something new and make the releases have more variety as I go.

So far I have been releasing a lot of non-Tilly's Rose Garden based works, and I'd like to stop that and work on the spring version of it more. My main issue will be that each game (for TRG) is almost identical to the other with the exception of graphics. I want to change this but I'm not sure how. There are a few gameplay foundational ideas I'd like to change but in general it's a small change for the overall gameplay of Tilly's Rose Garden. I don't want to abandon the project as it is what got me started so in a way I owe it to the "franchise" to keep it alive and finish all the mini games and finally
create my ultimate master piece of the full version which would probably be 20-30 levels long. I will work on it more however though it'll be on the more technical side of things, the things you don't "see" but making it more efficient for me to work on.

Artwork from the first game.

Other things that I want to work have been mentioned here , but my main next "project" of focus will probably be (though I'm not saying 100% yet) a sequel to Fluffertini's Pizza Constructor. I really loved the first game but it was buggy and I'd like to release a sequel with new knowledge and helps I have received to make it better. I'd of course make it the same concept but with better features and some new ones! I have the ideas in my head but I have to put them down on paper and write out a plan before getting started. This is one of those instances where I actually have a focus and a desire to reach, unlike Blox
where I was floundering for a bit.

That's my general update of my state of mind, I might start working on these two things right away or wait a bit to let the creativity refill itself, if nothing else I'll most likely work on the technical parts of TRG-Spring.

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to +1 on Google and check out my latest game release!



~ God Bless ~

~ Firefly

{Game Release} Blox Official Demo

It's finally here, the demo you've all been waiting for! With 5 levels, 60 fps mobility, and colorful 2D graphics. Introducing....

Download

Bugs:

1.  Sometimes the ball gets stuck going in a certain direction and you can't stop it. This can happen going from the bar to the wall or between walls/blocks. If from the wall to the bar is the case just let the ball die or try to manipulate it (it is possible almost every time). If it gets really bad you can reset the ball by pressing “Enter”, this will act as if you died only you don't lose a life but you do lose the 100 points.

Programs and Tools Used:

• GameMaker 8.0, 8.1 - Putting the game together, minor graphics
• GIMP - All major graphics, images for the manual
• Sony Acid (Free Version) - Sounds
• Goldwave - Volume adjustment, sound editing/mixing, format conversion.
• Word Pad - To make a check list
• Opened Office Writer /Opened Office Draw - Making the Manual
• Calculator - Coordinates, any math needed
• Sketch Book - Concept work
• Markers - Concept Work
• Internet -  References/ Tutorials.
• Snipper Tool - Graphic help, screen-shots
• Mp3 Compressor - Compress music size

Special Thanks:

1. W.Card - Bug Fixes, advice, overall help.
2. K. McKlutz - Grammar Checking
3. Eric Skiff - Music

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Comments welcomed!

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I hope you enjoy my game!

~ God Bless ~

~ Firefly

[Announcement] Blox, Demo, Release Date.

Okey well..It's Official, There Is A Release Date For Blox, Demo!

~ God Bless ~


~Firefly

Crunch Week

Well, it's finally here, "Crunch Week". I have found music to use in the game, 8-bit like I wanted and all from the same person. It feel from heaven after looking for it all over. Thank God, now I can finish Blox. I'm working actually with the project file opened right now as I type this just taking a moment to say. The Music Is Here! I do not promise this will be complete this week but this will be the week that I work hard to get it all finished the best I can. I want to release the demo before July so I can work on other projects for a while. So, with no further ado, I say let the work and games begin!



~ God Bless ~


~ Firefly

Almost done with Blox Demo - Call for help

I'm almost finished with my Blox Demo! The only real thing standing in my way is I can't seem to find the proper music for it. I need 8-bit/Chiptune style music and it has to be legally free. As of right now I have nothing to work with.

If anybody wants to help me with this, this is what I need.

For Blox the style of game just feels like it needs 8-bit/Chiptune type music (Music the style of old arcade games), only problem is I can't seen to find any. I'm very much looking for music by the same artist like a free album (not a mix with random artists) and it has to be legally free. I've been on Jason Shaw's website and his music is good but I don't seem to see songs like that (maybe 2 but I need 5 for the demo and up to 10 to randomize in the full version). So, does anybody know where I can get music like that? It would be oh so helpful.

 If nobody knows that's fine but please any suggestions would be totally appreciated.

In other news, I've started designs on Fluffertini's next game and until I can find music Blox is on hold. I can't finish it without the music (So I can make sounds and music balanced in volume and the like). I might just work on Tilly's Rose Garden Spring some since I'm stuck and that needs some work anyway. So yep!


Updates soon.


~ God Bless ~

~ Firefly

Tools and programs I'm using in "Blox"

Okay I figured I'd do a quick little post on what programs I'm using for my current project "Blox".
If you wanna read a little more about the programs I mention you can go here and read about them.

So with not further ado I'll get on with it!

Graphics:

For graphics I am purely using GIMP 2.8.14 so far, I have GIMP 2.6 but I'm not using it right now.
I have done minor edits in Gamemaker, but as of now nothing in game maker was created there graphically. Only tests.

Sounds:

For sounds I'm usind Sony Acid (free version) to make all the sounds that aren't music in the game. Music I am not composing myself, but going to get via creator commons legally free music.
I also use GoldWave to convert the .mp3 sounds in to .wav.

Technical:

I'm using a few programs and tools for what I would call technical work. Like making lists, making notes, some coordinates and pixel size picking. Things like that.

1. Word Pad

  I know Word Pad isn't the best program since it doesn't even have a spell checker, but for what I need it for it works fine! I use word pad to make my "to do lists" for a game, as I want to do stuff I'll add it to the list. This is good for marking off so I can feel that I accomplished something and typing is much faster than a hand-written list.

2. Calculator

Image Not Mine

    I use this to find coordinates on the (X, Y) axis, it's very helpful and much faster than doing math on paper. I also use this for sprite sizes to keep things in the theme of multiples of 16.

 

3. Sketch Book

  I developed my current points-system in my sketch book using normal tools most people have, it's good because of the freedom I feel when I work that way. The free flow of ideas or in this case a system, lots of things work themselves out using a sketch book.


How I drafted my points system using a sketch book.

Usefulness of Sketch Books

4. Internet

I use the internet to look up how to fix bugs, find out how to create things and for any other research I might need.

Putting it all together:

I use GameMaker to put my games together, it's a reasonably easy program to learn and I enjoy using it. I've recently recieved 8.1 and I'm enjoying it. I also edit minor graphics in gamemaker and crop images and change the angles, you know the little things that are just easier in gamemaker instead of GIMP.




I hope this was helpful or interesting!


~ God Bless ~


~ Firefly

Polishing Stage - Initiated!

So...I have all the framework in place and lots of bugs are being fixed now I'm up to the polishing stage where graphics are fixed up and things are tested, as well as the final touches. As of now it's "almost" done but anything can happen. I have a long to do list, and things come up that aren't even on the list.  I highlight what I got done. It helps keep me sane.

Okay some updates.

One, I have "moved" to GameMaker 8.1, I might go between 8.1 and 8.0 but I will be using 8.1 for sure in level building. The new room creator was made by the hands of angels guided by Jesus himself. For real I love it.

Secondly, lives and a game-over menu have been added. I am right now saying there are 5 lives then game-over but anything can happen and I might up it to seven. There will the option to replay the level or play the game over again....how many points I take away if you repeat level I haven't decided yet, I might make it a flat rate of you restart to get a flat number no matter how many points you received (500-1000 sounds fair to me but I don't know yet).


Also to add, I have updated some of the graphics and made the game much smoother, how? Simple, my Gamemaker mentor schooled me on how to use the parenting feature more efficiently. As well as helped me with other things. Some things I've done won't mean a thing to you because you never knew there was a problem, but lots of bugs/badly created stuff and other things have been resolved!

In a previous post I mentioned some effects I've added using one of the DnD options, now I think would be a nice time to see those. There are sounds that go with them but that's a surprise for when people download the game!

I'm yet to get music, my reasoning is that all the music I've liked by Jason Shaw has been under 3 minutes and I read somewhere that an average level can take 7 minutes, some people don't like looping music so I would like a song at least 3.5 minutes long. So far, I haven't found that. I really want to keep using his music and support him with credit but I might have to find another source for music that has creators commons license.


Last thing, I've made the basic menu and the base for the how to play page. Still have much to do!

I hope this makes you as excited as I am if not more!




~ God Bless ~



~ Firefly