Ludum Dare!
Ludum Dare this weekend. I have got a brand new keyboard because my old one had several keys missing and it was full of the weird crap that only seems to get stuck inbetween keyboard keys!
I will be programming the game using FlashDevelop and art will be done in Photoshop & Flash CS3. As for music, I will probably chuck together something in FruityLoops then use bfxr for beep-bloop sound effects.
I *might* timelapse the entire thing like I did with Ludum Dare 21, but I will probably forget.
OLYMPICA!
So, I decided to call the game Olympica instead of Athletica. Yeah, its a small difference, but I think its a bit better, who knows. Anyway, I should probably actually make the game, huh?
Athletica (Temporary name…)
So, I have been working on a game called Athletica. I don't really like the name that much, so will probably change it later on. I am aiming to create a sort of simulation career athletics game, with homage to the old Track & Field Konami game of 1984. I had already started work on this a few months ago in Flash (AS3), however I kind of forgot about it a little bit, even though it was virtually finished (I think I had 100m, 400m, hurdles, long jump, javelin, hammer throw and swimming done?).
I decided to write the game in Monkey without really knowing much about the language, and its limitations. So far, my largest gripe is mainly the lack of graphic features. I guess working with Flash, I was spoiled here, as I could just create all my sprites, animations and fancy crap in the Flash CS3 editor, then code my game with the super-duper FlashDevelop IDE. With Monkey, I am using the Jungle IDE (Which is quite good, although not as good as FlashDevelop IDE if truth be told), and using a large sprite sheet, or "image atlas" and then drawing from that sheet. Im still trying to get to grips with it, but the syntax is easy to understand, and although documentation on some of the finer elements is a little scarce, it works great and can port a single project file to multiple platforms with little-to-no hassle.
I would reccomend checking it out, here!
1MonthGame
So, a few days ago I entered this @1MonthGame contest/jam/thing and I have been working on a small Track & Field clone from 1984 (?), and to be honest its shaping up very slowly. Hopefully I can really get cracking next week and maybe even release a few little demo's or something? I dont know. Anyway, thanks to the NSG community, as my NSS4 Editor just hit 5,000 downloads! HOLY DAMN!
Kongregate API Monkey module!
I made a Kongregate API module for the cross-platform game development language called Monkey!
Try it out!
Android Development
So, I finally have found a neat way of getting games onto the Android platform, and also potentially the iOS platform (iPad/iPhone) with relatively little code difference.
The answer is a programming language called Monkey (www.monkeycoder.co.nz). It offers a neat language with extremely easy cross-platform support. After a little setting up with relevant SDK's and required tools, you can build a project to Flash, HTML5, XNA, GLFW & Android (On Windows). If you have a Mac you can also build to iOS.
I purchased a license after hearing some feedback from somebody who uses the program, and have been playing around with it over the weekend, and must say I really like the whole syntax and way everything feels. I already made an app on my Android phone that makes a monkey's head spin round really fast and plays monkey sounds when you tap the screen. Surely I can sell that on the Market and earn $$$, right?
ALSO
As far as the Flash game is concerned, I began coding the main "Game" class on Friday night, and got quite a lot done really. Of course, I am still not sure what type of game I want to make it, whether it be a tactical strategy type game, or more of an action game, but we can figure that out at a later date....right?
What Am I Doing?
You may be wondering?
Well, I have mainly been working on some different prototypes for a new Flash game I have been brainstorming for a few weeks now. I am still not sure how I want to implement & create certain things within the game, but hopefully I can get cracking on getting something together soon.
ALSO
I have been working with a friend of mine about starting to develop some mobile phone apps. We are currently testing various ways of developing apps (Not just games) mainly for Android, however iPhone/iPad app development is definitely on our radar.
ALSO
I have been messing around with the website and changing things. No doubt it will have changed more when you actually read this (I hope I didn't change the font to Comic Sans). I will be adding pages and things to links to my Twitter, various projects and applications I have created (And moving my DL links all to this site), and also my games (Of which there are only like 2 good ones, so all the rubbish ones will be exiled from my site).
My New Website
Hello people!
As you may have guessed, this is my brand new website (Still has that "new-website" smell!). I will be updating and changing this around quite frequently in the next few days/weeks/months, adding content and things related mainly to do with Flash Game Programming, but will also talk about other things including Gaming & Programming in general.
Until then, feel free to drop me an email (dpbrad@dpbrad.com), or send me a tweet (@DPbrad)!