Hello once again everyone! I'm back for one more quick update, because I found the time to make those changes to some of my #1GAM games the I mentioned in my previous post. Specifically, I wanted to release all the games I made as free/open source software! Today I'm pleased to announce that I manged to update all the games that it was possible to do that on!
The games that I released as free software are my December 2015 #1GAM game Torso Ninja, my February 2016 #1GAM game Plitka, my March 2016 #1GAM game Keyro: Arena Lockdown, and my May 2016 #1GAM game Torso Ninja II! All those links will lead to GiHub repos that contain the source of the games. Grab copies for yourselves if you'd like!
On a secondary note, I want to discuss the reasons why I didn't release certain ones of my #1GAM games as free software. Here are the reasons by game as follows:
1. Cargo: January 2016 #1GAM game - This game was made with the Construct Classic engine, and though that engine is technically free software, I was not able to release Cargo as free software because I unfortunately lost all the data files in a hard drive crash this past summer.
2. SKRMSH: April 2016 #1GAM game - This game is already released into the public domain, and the source is already available here on my blog. The source code is in the format of an image file of course :)
3. Star Fall: June 2016 #1GAM game - Star Fall survived my hard drive crash, but the images included in the game were not made by me. I decided against releasing this game as free software for this reason.
4. RUNNERMAN: July 2016 #1GAM game - This game also did not survive my hard drive crash.
5. Chroma Road: August 2016 #1GAM game - This game was also lost to the hard drive crash. I probably am most disappointed by losing this one :(
6. Tic-Tac-25: September 2016 #1GAM game - This game was lost to the hard drive crash as well.
7. Annotated Rock Paper Scissors: October 2016 #1GAM game - This game is also already available in source code format. Check out this post for a download!
9. Corridor: November 2016 #1GAM game - This game is made with RPG Maker VX Ace, so I am not at liberty to release it as free software.
As you can see, most of these games were lost to a hard disk crash. This was actually a major impetus for my release of these games in source code format (along with my personal opinion that it is the right thing to do). Backup your data kids!
So that's about it! See you when I see you!
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Surprise Update
Wow! Has it really been nearly a year since I last posted here? Time sure flies! Though I doubt very seriously that anyone still checks this blog, I thought it was time for a little update on how things have been going for me these past
 |
| This about sums it up, to be honest. |
Those of you who read my last blog post probably saw where I mentioned that I was going to have a go at being a professional indie game developer at the start of this year. Well, unfortunately, that prospect fell through. I worked hard for several months to develop a game, and though I made much progress, it simply wasn't meant to be. I came to the realization that I could probably earn more money working a minimum wage job than what I could expect to see from the sales of my game. Coupled with the grueling schedule sapping all the enjoyment out of the game dev experience, and this was enough to dissuade me from becoming too invested in indie development as a solo career. I had a lot of fun with the #1GAM challenge, but fun was sorely lacking from the experience of making my commercial game. With no fun on the horizon, I looked to economics, and was disappointed by what I found. I thought I had prepared myself for the reality of being a game dev, the long, thankless hours, the lack of monetary rewards, the isolation, but I was wrong. I failed utterly. To all the legit solo indie devs out there, you all are better than me :)
Right around the time I abandoned my indie game dev ideas, I decided to try another goofy dream I've had for years: being a YouTuber! I never really took the prospect of making YouTube videos for a living seriously, but I decided to try it anyway. Unfortunately, literally days after I started my channel, YouTube decided to create an extremely steep barrier to entry for newcomers hoping to earn a living on their platform. I continued to make videos for fun for a while, and I really did enjoy it, but that too eventually fell through.
However, it was around the time that I was forced to accept that I would never be a Game Grump that an amazing opportunity sort of fell into my lap: a chance to go and work at a startup, right here in my own backyard, that was on the cutting edge of emergent technology. Specifically, I would be working on blockchain technology and related concepts, such as cryptocurrency trading and distributed databasing. I was excited to say the least! That's how I became associated with Procryptix, a software development house that is focused on blockchain tech. Its a wild new distributed world out there, and we at Procryptix are blazing the trail of the future, one block at a time!
It has been a crazy year for me, but I have not stopped being passionate about game development, even if my career is taking me in a different direction. Recently, I have been looking back on my #1GAM games. That's what led me to revisit this blog and make this post, to give any potential readers an update on what has been going on with me. I still hope to make and release games (as a hobby) in the future. Suffice it to say, I may be dormant in this area, but I am not dead :)
So there you have it! I don't know when or if I will update this blog again. There are some changes I would like to make to some of the games I released last year. Maybe at some point I'll get around to that.
Until next time! Good luck with whatever may come your way!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Corridor - Part I Released!
Hey everyone! Wow, it's already been a month since I last posted here, huh? So sorry for the delay! School has switched into high-gear (as it tends to do near finals) and, as such, I've let my blogging slide... But that's really not a very good excuse, huh? :V
Anyway, I'm back now with some exciting news! Though I may have been lax with my blogging, I've decidedly not been lax with my game dev work! I'm here to present you with the culmination of my development efforts over the past month: my twelfth and final #1GAM game, Corridor - Part I!
Here is the link to the MediaFire download!
As is perhaps obvious from the image, Corridor is an RPG Maker game (made with RPG Maker VX Ace, specifically). In this game, you play as a mercenary who has been hired to venture into a dangerous labyrinth to rescue a group of kidnapped children. You are accompanied by an official from the village who hired you, who is hoping that negotiation is still an option. But things aren't always what they seem, and this grim cavern might just hold more secrets than you can handle...
I sort of hashed this game together through trial and error, and learned a lot about RPG Maker on the PC in the process. When I was younger, I used to make games on the PS2's RPG Maker 3. In fact, that program was in large part what inspired me to be a game developer in the first place, so returning to RPG Maker (even this new version) was a special experience for me.
Corridor is made with only the default resources that come packaged with RPG Maker VX Ace. I used the built-in character editor to make the portraits. The game is quite short, and mostly narrative. Also, as the title implies, it is only the first part of a series of games that I hope to work on in the future. RPG Maker is a lot of fun, so I definitely want to return to it later :)
Also, as I said, this is my final #1GAM game! WHOOOHOOO!!! :D
I've officially made 12 games in the past year, all of different kinds. I learned so much that I can hardly believe it. I'm so very glad that I took this challenge! I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to McFunkyPants, the architect of the #1GAM challenge. If it wasn't for what he does to keep the ball rolling, I probably never would have completed even one single game, let alone 12! Thanks so much also to all the people who play my games, and especially leave comments and ratings! You all are what keeps me going!
Now, in the upcoming months, I'm going to be getting to work on my ultimate dream: creating a commercial (read: sell-for-money) game. I'm in the late planning stages for what this game will be. I can reveal that it will probably be pretty small (and have an appropriately small price tag), as well as that I hope to have it out sometime around the middle of next year. Things can change though, so please don't think of that date as set in stone or anything!
In the next little while, I will probably continue to post erratically on this blog. I hope to have my own website online in a few months, so I will probably shift this to being a more personal blog where I can post my thoughts on games and maybe the odd tutorial or two. My final semester of Junior College ends in about a week and a half, and after that, my attempt at making a career of being a game developer begins! Wish me luck :)
See you all later on!
Anyway, I'm back now with some exciting news! Though I may have been lax with my blogging, I've decidedly not been lax with my game dev work! I'm here to present you with the culmination of my development efforts over the past month: my twelfth and final #1GAM game, Corridor - Part I!
 |
| The title screen! |
Here is the link to the MediaFire download!
As is perhaps obvious from the image, Corridor is an RPG Maker game (made with RPG Maker VX Ace, specifically). In this game, you play as a mercenary who has been hired to venture into a dangerous labyrinth to rescue a group of kidnapped children. You are accompanied by an official from the village who hired you, who is hoping that negotiation is still an option. But things aren't always what they seem, and this grim cavern might just hold more secrets than you can handle...
I sort of hashed this game together through trial and error, and learned a lot about RPG Maker on the PC in the process. When I was younger, I used to make games on the PS2's RPG Maker 3. In fact, that program was in large part what inspired me to be a game developer in the first place, so returning to RPG Maker (even this new version) was a special experience for me.
Corridor is made with only the default resources that come packaged with RPG Maker VX Ace. I used the built-in character editor to make the portraits. The game is quite short, and mostly narrative. Also, as the title implies, it is only the first part of a series of games that I hope to work on in the future. RPG Maker is a lot of fun, so I definitely want to return to it later :)
 |
| Hooray for #1GAM!! |
Also, as I said, this is my final #1GAM game! WHOOOHOOO!!! :D
I've officially made 12 games in the past year, all of different kinds. I learned so much that I can hardly believe it. I'm so very glad that I took this challenge! I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to McFunkyPants, the architect of the #1GAM challenge. If it wasn't for what he does to keep the ball rolling, I probably never would have completed even one single game, let alone 12! Thanks so much also to all the people who play my games, and especially leave comments and ratings! You all are what keeps me going!
Now, in the upcoming months, I'm going to be getting to work on my ultimate dream: creating a commercial (read: sell-for-money) game. I'm in the late planning stages for what this game will be. I can reveal that it will probably be pretty small (and have an appropriately small price tag), as well as that I hope to have it out sometime around the middle of next year. Things can change though, so please don't think of that date as set in stone or anything!
In the next little while, I will probably continue to post erratically on this blog. I hope to have my own website online in a few months, so I will probably shift this to being a more personal blog where I can post my thoughts on games and maybe the odd tutorial or two. My final semester of Junior College ends in about a week and a half, and after that, my attempt at making a career of being a game developer begins! Wish me luck :)
See you all later on!
Monday, October 31, 2016
Annotated Rock Paper Scissors Released!
Hey everyone! Long time no see! I'm here on this fine Halloween night to announce the release of my 11th #1GAM game! This time its a game I made a while ago, a simple implementation of Rock Paper Scissors! But that's not all...
I decided to rehash this older game (which I made about a year ago, but never released) and to release it in source code form. I also went through and heavily commented the code, so that any up-and-coming pygame developer should be able to learn at least a little something from it :) I didn't edit my code much, so some of it is still quite sloppy. Nevertheless, I feel that it is a pretty good representation of what I cobble together each month, and I hope it is useful to someone :)
Here's a MediaFire link to the source code (in zip format): http://www.mediafire.com/file/ppq8u4ia6ex6rsp/Annotated_Rock_Paper_Scissors.zip
The game was made with Python 2.7 and pygame 1.9. Check it out if you have the time!
That's all for today folks. See you when I see you!
 |
| The (non-transparent) title image! |
I decided to rehash this older game (which I made about a year ago, but never released) and to release it in source code form. I also went through and heavily commented the code, so that any up-and-coming pygame developer should be able to learn at least a little something from it :) I didn't edit my code much, so some of it is still quite sloppy. Nevertheless, I feel that it is a pretty good representation of what I cobble together each month, and I hope it is useful to someone :)
Here's a MediaFire link to the source code (in zip format): http://www.mediafire.com/file/ppq8u4ia6ex6rsp/Annotated_Rock_Paper_Scissors.zip
The game was made with Python 2.7 and pygame 1.9. Check it out if you have the time!
That's all for today folks. See you when I see you!
Monday, October 17, 2016
Here's the Plan
Hey, folks! I'm here to give a brief update on my #1GAM endeavors here lately. I'm currently in the process of developing a game, but I'm not quite ready to officially announce it just yet. Instead, I figured I'd let the curious in on my plan for this month.
I actually want to release a different game for this month than the one I'm currently developing, because this one will take a bit of time to get finished. So, later on this month, my plan is to release a very small game that I finished about a year ago (before I started #1GAM) but that I never released. This game was made in about two days, and is quite small. My intention is to go back over the source, comment it heavily, and then release it here along with a tutorial that explains how to create it from scratch. I figure that will make this simple game at least a bit more interesting :)
The game that I'm making right now, then, will be my twelfth and final #1GAM game, and is set to be released in November. I'm going to try to get it out around Thanksgiving.
That's about all I had to say today. School has stepped up a bit, so I may slow down somewhat on my blog updates until this semester is over. I've also been pretty much dead on Twitter. Unfortunately that will probably continue until the end of the semester as well.
See you later!
I actually want to release a different game for this month than the one I'm currently developing, because this one will take a bit of time to get finished. So, later on this month, my plan is to release a very small game that I finished about a year ago (before I started #1GAM) but that I never released. This game was made in about two days, and is quite small. My intention is to go back over the source, comment it heavily, and then release it here along with a tutorial that explains how to create it from scratch. I figure that will make this simple game at least a bit more interesting :)
The game that I'm making right now, then, will be my twelfth and final #1GAM game, and is set to be released in November. I'm going to try to get it out around Thanksgiving.
That's about all I had to say today. School has stepped up a bit, so I may slow down somewhat on my blog updates until this semester is over. I've also been pretty much dead on Twitter. Unfortunately that will probably continue until the end of the semester as well.
See you later!
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Vacation
Hey folks, I'm gonna keep this brief because there's really not much to say on the gamedev front. I'm just making this post to let everyone know that I'll be out on vacation over the weekend. We're going to the Smokey Mountains! I'm pretty excited :)
I'll have an announcement regarding this month's #1GAM game (hint: I plan to make it in RPG Maker). I think you'll be excited to hear what I have planned :)
See you when I return!
I'll have an announcement regarding this month's #1GAM game (hint: I plan to make it in RPG Maker). I think you'll be excited to hear what I have planned :)
See you when I return!
Friday, September 30, 2016
Tic-Tac-25 Released!
Hello hello! I've returned to the blog after a short hiatus to bring you my tenth (TENTH D:) #1GAM game, Tic-Tac-25! That's right, after untold delays caused by yours truly, I've finally got this game out! Check it out!
This game is an Itch.io exclusive! Play it here: https://hellamagellan.itch.io/tic-tac-25
Tic-Tac-25 is an expanded version of the classic game Tic-Tac-Toe (or Noughts & Crosses) that features a 5X5 board, but still only takes 3-in-a-row to win! It allows for four players (the shapes X, O, Square, and Triangle), with all non-human players being controlled by a very simple AI. It works in both desktop and mobile browsers (though you may have issues with certain browsers/screen sizes).
This game was mostly meant as an experiment for me to learn how to make an HTML5 game using HaeFlixel. I learned a lot, but I still have some ways to go.
If anyone reading tries the game, let me know what you think in the comments here, or on itch.io. Particularly, if you have any problems displaying or running the game, I'd like to know the details, along with your device and browser info. This information will help me improve the quality of cross-platform web games I make in the future :)
Thanks for reading and playing! See you again!
 |
| The slightly-blown-up logo! |
This game is an Itch.io exclusive! Play it here: https://hellamagellan.itch.io/tic-tac-25
Tic-Tac-25 is an expanded version of the classic game Tic-Tac-Toe (or Noughts & Crosses) that features a 5X5 board, but still only takes 3-in-a-row to win! It allows for four players (the shapes X, O, Square, and Triangle), with all non-human players being controlled by a very simple AI. It works in both desktop and mobile browsers (though you may have issues with certain browsers/screen sizes).
This game was mostly meant as an experiment for me to learn how to make an HTML5 game using HaeFlixel. I learned a lot, but I still have some ways to go.
If anyone reading tries the game, let me know what you think in the comments here, or on itch.io. Particularly, if you have any problems displaying or running the game, I'd like to know the details, along with your device and browser info. This information will help me improve the quality of cross-platform web games I make in the future :)
Thanks for reading and playing! See you again!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)