My next game project

Now that 8-Bit Agent is finished, I am beginning work on my next game project. It may be my first commercial game, and will likely be released on Windows and Mac, with Linux and Android under consideration. It is being developed in the programming language Processing, which I have previously posted about. If it does go commercial, it will be very cheap, probably in the $0.99 to $2.99 range. This game is in an extremely early prototype, but progress is moving along fairly quickly. I'll reveal more as the game progresses, but for now, I will say two things: (a) It is a combination of two classic arcade games, and (b) the working title is Tuokaerb Invaders. See what you can figure out.

8-Bit Agent: Finally finished!

It's official! 8-Bit Agent is finally done! The last boss has been added, and the game has been polished a bit. Now I can move on to other projects, but I'm not sure what I'll do yet. But I'll worry about that later. For now, download the final release!

8-Bit Agent: Final boss preview!

The progress on the 8-Bit Agent final boss is going slower than expected. It may debut anywhere from tomorrow to this weekend. In the meantime, here is a preview of the boss:

           

8-Bit Agent: Achievements bugfix, feedback/bug report forms

This update to 8-Bit Agent fixes a bug where earned achievements are not submitted to GMechanism. It also adds two options in the settings menu, "Report a Bug" and "Send Feedback." Each of these will bring up a form for the appropriate action. Reporting bugs and sending feedback will help me improve the game and make it a better experience for everyone, so please check out those options. If you don't want to open the game, you can access the Bug Report form here, and the Send Feedback form here. Download the update now.

8-Bit Agent: Sky High Building Boss!

The Sky High Building boss in 8-Bit Agent has been released! This will be the second to last boss in the game. All that's left is the final boss! Here are some screenshots of the Sky High Building Boss:

Download 8-Bit Agent now!

8-Bit Agent: Final non-boss level!

A new level has been added to 8-Bit Agent. This will be the final non-boss level, next comes the Sky High Building boss. Then comes the final boss, and the game is finished! Play the new level, and download the update now!

8-Bit Agent: Score submit bugfix

This minor update to 8-Bit Agent fixes a score submit bug where the player would sometimes be asked for a guest name even when signed in to GMechansim. I am working on a new level, which will be the final normal level in the game. Then there will be the Sky High Building Boss, then the Final Boss. But that's for another update. Download the update now.

8-Bit Agent: Auto updater (sort of)

The latest update to 8-Bit Agent is out. It doesn't have any major changes from the previous version, except that it now will alert the user on launch if an update is available, The user is then given a choice weather or not to download the update.

Download this update now?

Yes                  No

8-Bit Agent is one of the highest rated games on GameJolt!

8-Bit Agent has become one of the highest rated games on GameJolt, and is on the front page! Special thanks to jstryke78, Debels, and hyperman123, who all rated it 5/5! If you haven't yet, download 8-Bit Agent now and see what all the fuss is about!

Update: Aww. Someone rated 8-Bit Agent lower, dropping its rating to 4.5/5, and dropping it off the homepage.

8-Bit Agent: Settings menu, more bugfixes

The latest update to 8-Bit Agent has been released. The biggest change? A settings menu. In this menu, you can activate or deactivate GMechanism, you can edit your GMechanism username or password, and there is a link to download GMechanism if you do not have an account. There is also an option to clear all data, which will erase all locally stored game progress, achievements, and settings data. Any achievements associated with your GMechanism account and any scores you have submitted to the leaderboards will remain intact. Also, there are a few bugfixes. Firstly, the last update introduced a bug that would prevent anyone from submitting a score to the leaderboards. That has been fixed in this update. Secondly, the achievement display area was a bit buggy when the user was signed in to GMechanism. This has also been fixed. So download the update now!

8-Bit Agent: Leaderboard display bug

8-Bit Agent has been having a bug where, after playing a level, the leaderboard would not display correctly, instead showing all zeros and freezing the game. This issue took a while to track down, but it's fixed, and the update has gone live. Download the update here.

8-Bit Agent: Better GMechanism integration, leaderboard improvements, and bugfixes.

Yet another update to 8-Bit Agent has been released. In this update, I have drastically cleaned up the game's integration with GMechanism. You still need to download the GMechanism client to set up an account, but you no longer need to sign in every time you play 8-Bit Agent. You just enter your info once, and the game will sign you in automatically every time after that. Also, the leaderboard can now display the top 10 players, instead of just the top 5. Since not all 10 players fit on the same screen, you use the arrow keys to switch between the two pages of highscores. And lastly, the "This sound does not exist." error that occurs whenever the player runs out of health (it doesn't occur when the player dies from falling off the level). So what are you waiting for? Download the update now.

My first Processing program

Yesterday, I began learning a new programming language, Processing, and I have just finished my first program, a simple space shooter game. It was fun to build, and I learned quite a bit.

Download

Windows: http://www.host-a.net/u/RandomAnimations27/SpaceShooter%20Windows.zip
Mac: http://www.host-a.net/u/RandomAnimations27/SpaceShooter%20Mac.zip

I'll release it for Linux as soon as I have a chance to test it on a Linux machine, just to make sure that the export worked. One of my computers is dual booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu Desktop, but Ubuntu doesn't seem to be booting properly at this time.

8-Bit Agent: OpenAL32.dll bug

Recently, it has come to my attention that 8-Bit Agent has begun throwing a massive error at launch on several computers, due to OpenAL32.dll missing. After investigating this problem, I discovered that it was caused by my switch to the audio engine Caster. As it turns out, I forgot to include the required DLLs in the game files, and this caused Caster to fail. I have re uploaded the game with the required DLLs, and it should work now. Download the update here.

8-Bit Agent: Ogg files, Better GMechanism integration, new level, and more!

The latest 8-Bit Agent update has hit the streets! The biggest change in this update is the addition of a new level. Also, the leaderboards have been redesigned and the achievements have been integrated with GMechanism. In addition, the file size of the ZIP archive containing the game has been drastically decreased by switching the music from the WAV format to the OGG format. In order to play the OGG files, the game now makes use of  the audio engine Caster, developed by MoaCube. There is some sound quality decrease, but the entire soundtrack in the OGG format is lower in size than one track in the WAV format. The download size for the game has been decreased from 95MB to just 11MB! So what are you waiting for? Download the update now!

8-Bit Agent: Achievements!

The latest update to 8-Bit Agent has been released, and it has ACHIEVEMENTS! I've been wanting to implement achievements for a while, and I'm so glad that it's finally working! When you earn achievements, they will be saved locally on your computer, and, if you're signed in, submitted to your GMechanism account! The achievement viewer is just a text list of the achievements you've earned, but I plan to add a better achievements gallery soon. Until then, visit the 8-Bit Agent webpage to download the latest update!

8-Bit Agent: Online highscores update

8-Bit Agent has been updated, and the biggest change is that the online leaderboards system has been switched from Clockwork to GMechanism. To download the GMechanism client and get an account, click here. Also, 8-Bit Agent has a trace implementation of Achievements, meaning you may get an "Achievement Unlocked" banner, but achievements aren't really working yet. The next update will focus on fully implementing achievements, and integrating them with GMechanism. Download the new update here.

Riptide GP - iOS Review

A few days ago, I purchased a new iPhone game, Riptide GP. This game has been available on nVidia Tegra II devices for quite some time now, but, as I do not own one of these devices, my experience with it has been limited to installing the free demo on one of Best Buy's Tegra II enabled tablets, and trying it for a few minutes. Now that it's available on iOS, I've been able to play it more and give it a more in depth review.

Gameplay: Riptide GP features very fun and addictive gameplay in vein of the 1990s arcade game Hydro Thunder. You race in fast jetskis while doing stunts to get boost and increase your speed. The water physics are good, and crashing across the waves feels satisfying. You can do stunts by swiping each of your thumbs in various direction on the bottom of the screen. There are eight types of stunts you can perform. For successfully performing a stunt, you are awarded boost. You can use this boost to temporarily increase your speed by pressing the right side of the screen. If you perform a stunt unsuccessfully, you are thrown off your jetski, and must tap the screen to recover. You will still take a few seconds to regain your speed, and it can impact your result in a race. The gameplay is mostly fun, but it can get boring after awhile. Play Riptide GP in short sessions, though, and you can't go wrong. However, the overall replay value is hindered greatly by the complete lack of multiplayer.

Controls: The main control scheme is "Tilt to steer, touch bottom left of screen to brake." You can turn auto accelerate on or off, and, when it's turned off, touching the bottom right of the screen accelerates. The tilt sensitivity is adjustable, but I've found that the default option works fine. The final control option is weather or not to enable camera tilt. This basically selects weather you want the camera to tilt when you tilt your iPhone. I prefer to leave it turned on, but this is really a matter of personal opinion.

Graphics: The models and animations are fairly detailed, but the textures are low res. There is some pretty bad aliasing as well. However, the water mesh looks very nice (despite some pop-in), and it's impressive that something like that can be done on a mobile device. The game features a resolution setting, which allows it to run at a lower resolution to achieve a better framerate. However, I've had no problems with framerate, even on the highest settings. Aside from a massive framerate drop for the first few seconds while the game was connecting to Game Center, it ran at a fairly fluid framerate on my 4th generation iPod touch. It also ran fairly fluidly on my 3rd generation iPod touch, but it did have framerate drops more frequently, and experienced the same massive drop while connecting to Game Center as my 4th generation iPod touch. Both iPods were running iOS 5.0.

Sounds: The in game music is very frantic, and it fits the speed of the gameplay well. The techno style fits the game's futuristic theme, and the sound effects convey the sensation of fast jetskis. The big dissapointment here is that you cannot play your own music during gameplay. That one issue brings this game down significantly in the sound category.

Conclusion: Despite a few glaring gameplay and presentation issues, Riptide GP is a fast and fun jetski racing game in vein of the 1990s arcade game Hydro Thunder, and the only game of its kind on iOS. Much like Hydro Thunder, it's most fun when played in quick sessions, and is well worth $1.99 if you like this type of game and can deal with the lack of multiplayer.

Final Rating: 7.5/10

Info
Publisher: Vector Unit
Developer: Vector Unit
Release Date: May 20, 2011 (Android), October 29, 2011 (iOS)
Platforms: iOS (reviewed), Android
Price (as of 1/3/2012): $1.99 (iOS), $2.99 (Android)

8-Bit Agent Update: New level and more

I just released the latest update to 8-Bit Agent, and the biggest change is that it contains a new level. This new level is also part of a new area, titles Sky High Building. My current plans for this game call for three more levels and a boss in the Sky High Building area, and a final boss to beat the game. However, you will still be able to go back, even after you beat the final boss (when it is finished and added into the game), and play earlier levels. Your score isn't finalized until you lose all your lives. For now, just play through to the first level in the Sky High Building area, as that is where the game currently ends. The new update also features a number of other enhancements, such as the ability to view the leaderboards from in the game, and the fact that the game now remembers the name you use for online highscores, and uses that as the default for the "Enter
name" prompt. If you use a different name in that prompt, the default changes as well. Enjoy the update. Grab it now at http://randomanimations27.webs.com/game_8bit_agent.htm.

8-Bit Agent: Online leaderboards

I am in the process of uploading the latest release of 8-Bit Agent, and, though it has no new levels, it has a number of new features. The biggest new change is the inclusion of lives. Previously, if you died during a level, you would just restart the level. You could do this as many times as you wanted to. Now, you still restart the level when you die, but you lose a life too. When you lose all your lives, you go to a game over screen, where you can submit your score, which now accumulates between levels, to the all new online leaderboard. This screen also has a button to just go back to the title screen without submitting your score. When you get a game over, all of your progress, along with your score and lives, is reset. If you dig through the ZIP file, you may notice that there is a new audio file labeled "level7_bgm.wav" There is a new level in the game, but it is incomplete, and I really wanted to get the leaderboard running ASAP, so I removed all methods of accessing this incomplete level. I had to leave the audio file in there, though, because the game will throw an error otherwise. So, what are you waiting for? Download the new version of 8-Bit Agent at http://randomanimations27.webs.com/game_8bit_agent.htm now.

8-Bit Agent: Monochrome Hills Boss

The boss of Monochrome Hills has been added to 8-Bit Agent. Here are some screenshots:

8-Bit Agent: What happens next?

As regular visitors of my website may know, I have been developing a platform game called 8-Bit Agent (yes, I stole the title from the iPhone game 1-Bit Ninja, but the rest of the game is completely different). The most recent update of 8-Bit Agent added a pause feature (finally) and restructured the way 8-Bit Agent is packaged. Previously, I added a sound resource in Game Maker for each new sound, and everything was included in one executable file. This made for a very large executable, and long loading times. Now, the sounds are stored as separate files, and the executable file loads them as needed. The whole thing is stored in a ZIP file, which must be extracted before use. When the game is finished, I will probably use NSIS to create an installer, but for now, you must extract the ZIP file yourself. Also, I am considering releasing 8-Bit Agent as a commercial game on IndieCity, and having the free version have only the first three levels. If it were to be released commercially, it would be cheap, probably less than $5 USD. If so, then all subsequent betas will expire after a certain amount of time.

8-Bit Agent Website:

http://randomanimations27.webs.com/game_8bit_agent.htm