Crazy Over Goo - Now with Online Scores & More

A fun, simple mouse-controlled platformer with 50 short, gimmicky levels. Also featuring a level editor and tons of unlockables to keep you playing.

Hey, everyone! You probably thought Crazy Over Goo was totally finished and done with... and so did I! But thanks to some help from the esteemed UnknownGamer, Crazy Over Goo now has online scores! I also fixed some bugs and included a brand new secret for getting your click total below 650... I don't want to give it away, but it's pretty damn cool.

Your old save file will still work, so be sure to hold on to it before you update if you were using Instantplay-type browser players.

I'd like to release an extra level pack of user-created levels, but so far there haven't been many submitted! Use this new version as a chance, perhaps, to reacquaint yourself with this game and maybe put together a level. You can upload it and post the link, or email it to banovg at gmail dot com.

Information
Title: Crazy Over Goo
File Size: 3.8 MB
GM Version: GM7
Changes Screen Resolution: No

Mirror 1:
GameJolt
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/platformer/crazy-over-goo/171/

Download Links:
Mirror Two:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/80900

Mirror Three:
Host-A
http://host-a.net/banov/CrazyOverGoo.zip

HIGH QUALITY SOUNDTRACK:
(Save in the same directory as the game exe)
http://host-a.net/banov/COG_Soundtrack.zip



Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)




Credits:
-Banov, as in, me, for ALL sprites, animations, programming, etc
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack

There Will Be Brawl

I really want to spread the word about this absolutely incredible web show called There Will Be Brawl. It's a gritty crime show featuring the cast of Super Smash Brothers Brawl; the drama is intense and believable, the acting and costumes are spectacular, and the show is written with a lot of obvious love for its source material and includes many hilarious references and in-jokes. As far as I'm concerned, it's the most entertaining thing on the internet in recent memory. If you're a fan of Super Smash Brothers or Nintendo games in general, I highly recommend it.



Watch it here.
Due to language, violence, and sexual themes, you shouldn't watch this if you're under the age of 17 (according to the site), but I expect you're going to anyway.

Finally, Some More Dubloon!

Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making. There are dungeons, bosses, sidequests and secrets in a huge explorable world.

My apologies for the slow updates; computer problems and life business had slowed down progress. But I can safely say this is the biggest update to the game yet. Please enjoy and give me back your comments!

Information
Title: Dubloon
File Size: 6 MB
GM Version: GM7

Download Links:
Mirror 1:
GameJolt
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/dubloon/254/

Mirror 2:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/83854

Walkthrough:
If you're really stuck and don't know what to do or can't solve a puzzle, you can consult this.
Walkthrough (For Landlubbers)

YouTube Trailer:



Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)





Credits:
-Game by Banov
-Music by Prophecy

Comments and constructive feedback are greatly appreciated!

New Dubloon Demo

Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making. A swashbuckling story with dungeons, bosses, sidequests and fun exploration.

Finally, the next update is here. The game's even bigger and better than before! Your old save file will still be compatible, if you saved it.

Information
Title: Dubloon
File Size: 5.5 MB
GM Version: GM7

Download Links:
Mirror 1:
GameJolt
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/dubloon/254/

Mirror 2:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/83854

Mirror 3:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=85013


Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)





Credits:
-Game by Banov
-Music by Prophecy

Comments and constructive feedback are greatly appreciated!

Forest Pirates

Hey, everybody! In the last week I've gotten a couple of messages/emails asking if I'm still alive. It certainly has been a little while since I posted anything. Personally, I don't like to make blog posts until I have a LOT to write about, so that each post is meaningful. But, starting from tomorrow and for the next 10 days, I'll be out of country on an exciting trip and so I probably won't be able to put up any updates. Before I go, I want to talk about what I've been working on.


Riley and Ricky, the heroic townboy and his loyal monkey, make their way through a maze-like forest...

Of course my main work has been on Dubloon. I hit a snag designing it, and that lead to a near 2 weeks where I did almost no work on it. I'm usually a very dedicated worker when it comes to my games, so a break that long is unheard of. The issue stemmed from the design of a particular town and the puzzle it was based on; I kept on trying to create a puzzle whose solution was too boring.


A slightly updated battle HUD now displays MP

Originally I wanted to include an item-trading kind of quest where you needed to talk to the right people to trade items until you ended up with the one you needed. My second attempt was even more absurd and involved finding a wig/makeup item and equipping it to cross-dress and then seduce the right person. It wasn't until my third design of the town/puzzle that I hit something that really worked for both me and the game.


When you set sail, rather than a plain old text menu, you select your destination via this large colorful map. As you progress through the game, your map will fill up with islands and the world will seem to get bigger and bigger!

Now the current issue I'm facing is more on the plot/story side of the game, as I'm trying to justify a particularly weak plot point in which an important character is killed before he's even introduced. I'm hoping to find the right solution to that as once I've sorted out all that plot nonsense I'll probably put out another major update. At this point the game has an added 20-30 minutes of playtime from before, though this varies greatly based on how much extra exploration you do.

The farther I get into the game, the more exciting things become as I introduce new ideas and game mechanics. The game as it is now is definitely my largest and most ambitious project to date, and it's not even close to finished yet! When I do finish it, it'll be a momentous achievement, for me and possibly even for the Game Maker community as a whole...

On Inspiration

I'm getting a little jealous.

Every time I take a moment to look at what my indie game designing peers are doing, I see really fantastic ideas for things we've never been able to do in a video game before. They make it look so easy! I for one, have never been a terribly innovative game designer. I have rarely if ever strayed far from genre norms and my games haven't really introduced anything brand new in terms of game mechanics. My ideology has always been to take existing game mechanic tools and use them to build something sharper than what came before. I often wonder if not being able to invent something completely original makes me a bad game designer.

An example; Wolf, a project I finished last year, was a story-driven adventure game which played almost identically to a 2D Zelda game. It didn't try to mask what it was; the game was very bluntly trying to emulate the experience of playing a Zelda game. But the original Zelda was made trying to emulate Miyamoto's childhood excursions into the wilderness around his own home. You see the crucial difference here: by portraying a real-life experience, I think Zelda comes out feeling more "pure." And Zelda was, at the time of its conception, a completely revolutionary game experience. I used to explore the wilderness around my house, too, but until recently it had never even occurred to me that I could translate that experience into a video game, one that could be entirely my own.

What I'm saying here is that I think if we want to find real innovation, we really ought to look not at what other games are doing, but at our own real-life feelings and experiences. When we can portray emotions entirely with game mechanics, the results are bound to be innovative, in the same way that each person's life experiences are unique.

Looking at Wolf again, it's a game about a girl with the werewolf curse, who unknowingly transforms at night and kills all her friends and neighbors. She deals with the loss of her humanity, guilt, and worst of all, she knows that as long as she lives she's still a threat to the people she loves. Those are complex emotions. So then, looking at the game purely from a game designer's standpoint, why did I choose to complement that story with gameplay originally crafted to portray outdoor exploration? To truly do justice to such a story, the gameplay and mechanics too should have portrayed the same conflicted emotions.

Having said that, I have no idea how I might go about doing that. Maybe I wasn't born with that necessary genius, or maybe I'm just inexperienced, but I--like many other game designers--still haven't learned to convey complex ideas or experiences with a video game.

That's not to say that my games lack all emotion whatsoever. Assassin Blue's story is a simple one, about an assassin who gets fed up with mindless killing and turns on his employer. The gameplay, too, portrays mindless violence as you fight your way through hordes of ninjas and samurais, who explode in a shower of blood when defeated. But while the game's end seems to condone such violence, the actual game rewards it, so the story ends up failing to really connect with the gameplay. Dubloon, I think, might be my game that most closely connects its story and gameplay. It's a game about pirates, essentially; and to complement this, the game features a balance of open-world exploration and hidden treasures, combined with a battle system that stresses teamwork within your crew. But these aren't very complex ideas either, and certainly ones we've seen in a game thousands of times before.

I've heard people say games themselves are simply not capable of portraying particularly deep feelings, and as such have limits as a form of expression. I reject that. I want to believe that we can take complex emotions and turn them into a new and compelling game experience. This is something I want to take with me as I continue my pursuit in game design.

Dubloon- Huge Update!

Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making. A swashbuckling story with dungeons, bosses, sidequests and fun exploration.

Information
Title: Dubloon
File Size: 5.2 MB
GM Version: GM7

Download Links:
Mirror One:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/83854

Mirror Two:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/?Action=download&fileid=75322


Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)





Credits:
-Game by Banov
-Music by Prophecy

Comments and constructive feedback are greatly appreciated!

And So It Goes

It's been a little while since I posted up an update! Not because I haven't done anything, but mostly because I'm not sure what qualifies as an update. I don't want people to think I'm dead, though, so I decided to share what I've been up to.

Dubloon: (Peppered with some miscellaneous new screenshots)
Dubloon's very much been a big piece of my work since the last blog post. I actually ran into and overcame some difficulties in working on it. After I put out the first level and boss, I began to feel a sense of misdirection with the game as I continued my work on it.


The new file select screen, allowing for multiple save files.

Ideas that seemed so good before suddenly didn't seem to work, my level designs felt uninspired, and I started to question if the game was really shaping up into anything. I think this kind of crisis can be common with any creative work, especially games, which involve so many different pieces to make a single cohesive work. I took some time off, forced myself back into it, and started redoing a lot of the new maps from the ground up--and I think it worked. As of now I'm back to working on it full-speed.


A town...

So, what's new in the next section? The game will start to open up more and feel a little less linear. You're presented with a clear objective, but I made sure to include some things to do outside that. Players who take a little more time will find some cool extra treasures and even fight a bonus boss battle. The characters still don't have a ship, though, so you're restricted to just one island.


The new map screen. Mouse over colored rooms to view a description.

iPhone:
I recently got my hands an a new MacBook and the iPhone SDK (Software Developer's Kit). This has been an interest for a while, but now I'm finally going to try and learn how to develop games on the iPhone. So far it's been admittedly tough, but I'm determined to make it work. Ideally, I can start making a little profit selling low-cost iPhone games once I have a handle on the development process. Any breakthroughs I have with this will definitely end up on my blog here, but for now I'm still trying to learn the most basic of basics.

Facebook!
Just one last thing! I decided to make a page for myself on facebook to see how many fans I could get. If you're a fan of my work, why not consider joining my page on facebook? The link's here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Banov/91620497321?ref=mf

Not sure how to end this post, so I'm going to just end very abruptly, sorry.

Dubloon - New Demo

Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making-- now with cutscenes, puzzles, and all that good stuff. You can play through the first boss.

Information
Title: Dubloon
File Size: 4.6 MB
GM Version: GM7

Download Links:
Mirror One:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/83854

Mirror Two:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/?Action=download&fileid=68640


Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)





Credits:
-Game by Banov
-Music by Prophecy

Comments and constructive feedback are greatly appreciated!

It's My Birthday! (And some Dubloon updates)

Today's my birthday! Hooray! Despite that, I'm not really doing anything special tonight and instead right now am still working on Dubloon. I can get really obsessive/dedicated to my work; one particularly fond memory was our family Christmas dinner this past winter, where I brought my laptop to and ended up spending the whole night finishing up the programming for Assassin Blue's final boss. "Vacation?" I know not the meaning of the word.

...ANYway, I've been working on Dubloon following comments from the first engine release. Got some cool stuff going right now. The HUD has more effects and some more usability (you can now drag and drop equipped items from one party member to the other, those types of things) and the SPEC menu is now up and running-- items in the SPEC menu are dragged and dropped onto the main screen to interact with the overworld. Right now the only items I have programmed in there are keys (to use on locks, naturally), but I plan to extend it with items like bombs, or ladders, or what have you...

I also made a basic NPC system, and a merchant system. When you're in range, a small prompt appears above characters' heads telling you to click them; clicking on an NPC initiates dialog. Merchants stand in front of a row of items, and you just drag and drop the items from the ground into your inventory to purchase them. To sell an item, just drag it over the merchant. Simple and virtually menuless. I'm rather fond of how the entirely mouse-controlled interface works.

But all that stuff is boring to screenshot, so instead I'll show you some of the nifty attack effects I've been making...




Of course they look much better in full animation, but you hopefully get the gist. I might put out another release once I'm totally satisfied with the engine at this stage, and then I'll get to work actually designing cutscenes and levels and the like. There'll be a big gap before I put out parts of the game with actual plot included.

As usual, working on the game and thinking of ideas for it is seriously exciting for me and I tend to just drift off on intense brainstorms. And then I suddenly remember again-- it's my birthday!

Dubloon: My Next Game?

Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making. Right now this is just a simple engine demo.

File Size: 2.6 MB
GM Version: GM7
Changes Screen Resolution: No


Download Links:
Mirror One:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=66209

Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)



Credits:
-Banov for just about everything
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack

------------
Controls and other notes...
-Use WASD or the arrow keys to move
-SPACE to spawn enemies
-The mouse controls all the interface. Drag and drop item onto the little HUD spots to use/equip/unequip items.
-If you right click on a HUD spot to open up attack info, you can drag and drop to alter each character's moveset.
-Battle works the same. Click to pick your attack and target; right click to go back.
-Sound effects are all TEMP, taken from Earthbound

Ideas for the future:
-SPEC is going to be a special inventory with items you drag and drop onto the screen to use; you could use a key to unlock a door, bombs to clear an obstacle, etc.
-The mouse will also be used to take items from merchant tables and purchase them, or to give items to NPCs.
-You'll be able to name each character, and for the main character ("Captain") you'll be able to allot his stats at the game's start.
-Obviously there's going to be many more attacks with different elements (Fire, Ice Electric)...
--------

I'd like to know if players are interested in seeing this as a full game with a narrative, quest structure, etc. Does this kind of gameplay appeal to you?

Crazy Over Goo

It's finally here! Formerly known as "Yellow Goo Love..."



A fun, simple mouse-controlled platformer with 50 short, gimmicky levels. Also featuring a level editor and tons of unlockables to keep you playing.

Information
Title: Crazy Over Goo
File Size: 3.4 MB
GM Version: GM7
Changes Screen Resolution: No


Download Links:
Mirror One:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/80900

Mirror Two:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/?Action=download&fileid=65457

HIGH QUALITY SOUNDTRACK:
(Save in the same directory as the game exe)
http://tiny.cc/YI4Yf



Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)




Credits:
-Banov, as in, me, for ALL sprites, animations, programming, etc
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack

Yellow Goo Love "Secret"

I've finally finished work on Yellow Goo Love's "secret" section, and I'd like to share it. As some people have already guessed, it's a Level Maker!.


Build a level like this...


And then watch it come to life!

The levels are saved externally with the extension .ygl... you'll be able to send your own custom-made levels to fellow Yellow Goo Love players and the like. I'd go as far as to say that this feature could be the game's killer app.

Though, I'm not actually going to let people get their hands on it until the game's finished. You need to beat 25 levels to unlock the custom level maker, and I don't plan to put out any more than the first 20 levels for now. After I clean up a few loose ends with the custom levels, I'll get back to level designing and hopefully will wrap up this game soon. It's been a surprisingly long process making this game, mostly because I've been working on it very infrequently.

Special thanks to Brod, who gave me the basic structure for the level maker and without whom it wouldn't have been possible for me to tackle.

Yellow Goo Love - WIP Release!

Alright! Yellow Goo Love's first release is out. You can check the GMC topic here:
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=422730

Or here's a copy of the game's topic right here:
-----------

A fun, simple mouse-controlled platformer featuring super short, gimmicky levels. 20 levels are included in this version.

Information
Title: Yellow Goo Love
File Size: 3.2 MB
Developed With: Game Maker 7

Download Links:
Mirror One:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/73267

Mirror Two:
WillHostForFood
http://www.willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=57906


Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)




Credits:
-Banov, as in, me, for ALL sprites, animations, programming, etc
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack

A Wonderful Day

Today was a glorious day. I haven't posted anything for a little while and my understanding is that's looked down on, so here are some things to read.

1- I discovered a coffee shop that's in a great location and serves some really rich coffee. Stoked to visit there a little more.

2- My friend, we'll call him Josh, has been really down on himself lately and pretty lonely. Luckily I took Josh down to the mall today and talked him into approaching a girl we saw reading manga in a Borders, and he got her cell number which is great news for Josh. He says he hasn't been happier in weeks.

3- Picked up some cool stuff for myself! I got a nifty Watchmen poster, and a couple new games... Okami for the Wii and Odin Sphere for the PS2. Can't wait to play either one, might give a full review here at some point.

And Yellow Goo Love has been going smoothly, too, for those who are curious. So far I have about 30 levels designed out of a goal 50. Coming up with fun levels can be a bit difficult, but hopefully if all goes well the game will also have a Level Creator designed by my buddy Brod so you guys can keep the fun going.

I'm hoping to finish the game by April, but, who knows.

------------EDIT------------

I found another Let's Play Assassin Blue, and I found this also to be full of much hilarity.

Yellow Goo Love Update

It's been a little while since I talked about Yellow Goo Love, eh?

The truth is for a while I was stuck in a rut. I ended up spending too much time trying to polish the game and fix bugs rather than design new levels, and eventually each time I came to work on the game I'd end up quitting in frustration over something I couldn't get just right. Luckily, I think I've polished it to the point now where I'm ready to move forward a little more.

I don't think I've talked much about the concept yet, either. In the game, you use a mouse to launch around an elastic ball of goo that drips and splatters every time it hits stuff. The control and movement feels really physics-based, but the levels are all designed as very short platforming puzzles.

Basically the game's main focus is really gimmicky, short levels that make use of a large variety of different mechanics. As you play the game you'll face a really constant stream of new level pieces, but only in bite-sized bits. It's kind of like the game has ADD. You also have the option of browsing through levels with the left and right arrow keys, so you can beat levels in whatever order you feel like, perhaps skipping ones you're stuck on. It's very casual in that way.

And here are some screenies for those who are curious...


In a blue zone, you can jump even while midair... essentially giving you limitless freedom of motion.


In this level, you have to time your way through the razors which open and close at regular intervals.


The black line extended from the circular blocks spins around and around like a really fast clock hand; you can attach yourself onto it by jumping onto it, then launch yourself by clicking again.

4 Games That Defined My Childhood

Here's another blog post! I've actually had a rough draft of this floating around for a couple weeks. Sorry if this one isn't interesting to you guys, but if that's the case, let me know and I can avoid similar topics in the future...

---

So, I've been playing video games since I was a young chap. Here are 4 games that had a large impact on me back in the day.

Super Smash Bros.

Big adventure games were cool, but Smash Bros. managed to single-handedly control 90% of my social life. I grew to be extremely competitive and would play for hours on end--daily--so that I could hold my title as #1 smasher. It's just ridiculously fun--and I've developed a lot of strong friendships out of it. Not only that, but it introduced me to many game series that I later grew to love-- the Mother series in particular, but also Star Fox, Metroid and F-Zero.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Donkey Kong 64 was what got me started playing 3D games, but Ocarina was the first one that really captured my imagination. Some kids grew up on cool movies or cool TV characters or cool comic-book stories, but I'd go so far as to say that Link was one my heroes that I grew up with. The adventures told in this game were just so epic and large-scale... I even dressed up as link one year for halloween when I was a kid.

Pokemon Blue Version

This game was so addicting, it was like they put crack in the GameBoy buttons. I really couldn't get enough of the Pokemon games, despite loathing the show with a passion. The great thing about the Pokemon games was their combination of basic RPG tactics with a great deal of the player's creativity; there were a ridiculous number of different unique pokemon, each with bottomless possibilities in what attacks they'd utilize, so that every one's elite team of 6 pokemon was radically different, and that was awesome. I had a lot of fun starting a new game, planning out who my 6 would be... and although not as significant in Smash Bros. in establishing my circle of friends, it did give me a new way to connect with a lot of people.

Super Mario Land

The story of how I came to play Super Mario Land is the story of how I grew to love video games. Some kids asked their parents to get them their first video games, some kids' parents already had videogames and got their kids into it. My very first taste of video gaming was when my mom won a GameBoy Pocket in some magazine competition by total chance... she hadn't actually tried to enter it or anything, but she got the gameboy and had no idea what to do with it except give it to me. My encounter with videogames wasn't something anybody had ever previously considered or thought of; it was fate. The GameBoy came with 3 titles: Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle, Tetris Plus, and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

And those games kept me busy for a while, actually. But one day I was browsing a friend's bin of old games when I found Super Mario Land. I didn't realize it was a prequel to a game I already had, though I did notice the lower quality graphics and sound. What I did see in it was much more exciting level design and simpler, more intuitive play mechanics; this was my first true Mario game, and I was hooked. I traded Wario for Mario in a heartbeat, and today I'm proud of myself for seeing past the glitz and recognizing a better game, even if it was older. Nowadays when I look back, I realize that those are the same ideas I bring in today, now that I'm designing games.

I'm on Bytejacker!

I'm on BYTEJACKER!

For those who don't know Bytejacker is a weekly video weblog about indie games (and a big deal!) Every week they select 3 games who compete for votes to be indie game of the week. And I'm in it!

Each and every vote would mean a lot! Many thanks!

Mega Man 9: A Review

EDIT: Oh, another interview of me went up at Interview Game Makers. Check it out!

-----------

I haven't done one of these straight-up yet, have I? Let's review Mega Man 9!



Now for a while, I was really hesitant to get this game. I'd been reading reviews of it, and they all seemed to tell me that because I never played a Mega Man game before, I would hate it and its difficulty. But I really, really dig the retro stylings of the game, and I'd already been listening to the soundtrack for a month or two (yep, I got the soundtrack without playing the game--I'm really into VG music)... eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I finally bought it.

And I'm going to be honest: I like this game. A lot.

No I never played Mega Man, but I didn't need to. This is a great game in its own right and a fun introduction to the series. The simplicity in its concept combined with really tight, effective level designs make for a fun package. The levels are all technically short but their life is extended by the array of different unique mechanics you'll be encountering room after room, not to mention the number of times you'll be dying and replaying them before you finish.

And honestly, this game never frustrated me through the deaths. Sure, I might end up quitting after only half an hour of dying, but I always come back; it really does an amazing job at filling my need for some good old gaming once in a while. The game gives a lot to help you overcome its challenge, too. You can buy extra lives and a special item that halves damage for one run, two very useful options that can make up for the fact that you actually suck. Through sheer stubbornness, the game trains you to overcome its challenges the hard way, death by death, until you finally reach the level's end with an incredibly satisfying victory.

And this is old news to all you Mega Man vets, I'm sure, but I really love how the game is structured too; you can choose from any of the 8 levels and bosses to fight at any given time rather than progressing in a linear fashion, and after beating a boss you claim their item to equip whenever you desire. While the game does have its "right" boss order if you want the straightest path to the game's end, having the freedom to defeat each level and collect its item in whichever order you please is really liberating. Being able to play a different level for a change after dying several times on a particularly difficult one is also a breath of fresh air and helps alleviate any frustration.



At only ten dollars, I'd recommend this game to anyone who enjoys simplicity and a bit of retro in his games--NOT just Mega Man veterans. They don't make commercial games like this anymore, and if you don't try it now you're missing out.

Sometimes I Hate People

Well, I'm close to finishing exams for school and I'm a bit tired of studying, so I thought I'd give you guys a bit of an entertaining post. The following are some real messages that have been sent to me on YoYoGames.

----

First, he posted this review of my game:
"Music sucks, plot sucks, animation sucks......... horribly. Sorry, but i'm being honest. Other than that, challenging bosses, semi-complex levels, good enemy AI. I enjoyed the gameplay aspect. but playing the whole game to find out the "secret" was quite annoying. In the future, please invest more time into plot, sprites and the cutscenes at least, even if it means you dont get as much programming done."

Then sends me this private message:
"Hey, i'm currently in the process of making a top down rpg, and your game has a couple features that i've been trying to put into my game for a while. Thing like the combo attacks, dialog windows, charged attacks and counters. I was wondering if i could the editable file for assassin blue to reverse engineer it to get these features into my game. You'll get full credit for your help."

Let him down easy:
"No."

Grasping for straws:
"Way to help a fellow maker."

Trying to be helpful:
"Don't guilt me, there are plenty of existing examples that are far easier to understand than the editable of my game."

To which he says:
"Not trying to guilt you there. Just saying that the game maker community is an accepting community who helps their own. And please dont act like your game is some immensely difficult program that someone like me could never comprehend. As awesome as you might think it is, it still needs alot of work creatively."

So let me just make sure I got this straight: he insults me and my work and tells me I'm shit, and then gets offended when I refuse to offer him my help? Am I being unreasonable here?

----

Hey! I don't know what copyrights are!
"Hello I was astonded by your game "Assassin Blue" It was perfect, but I would like to barrow some the sprites the following characters: Blue, Red, Gunthar, and Riley for a game I'm working on, and figured I'd ask you if you could give me them to save the effort of ripping them, Thank your, please respond.

~(Name removed)"

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't stealing my work was such an arduous task for you! Here, just take it all!

So after I told him "No," he decided to give it another go...

"Hello again, I will ask you again explaining more in-full:

Hi I am making a game called YOYORPG, an RPG game with characters from the best games on this site, I am intending to use the characters' original sprites from their games. I have been intrigued by your game, and would like to add Red and Blue to the cast, I implore you to please make a sprite sheet of said characters for the game, I would also like Riley and Gunthar as bosses in the game. If you give them to me I will not distribute them in any way. If I do not get Red or Blue from you, I WILL rip them. I am asking youout of respect and to make retrieving said sprites easier.

~(Name removed)"

Make entire RPG sprite sheets for you? What makes these people think that I have the time to do something like that? And how is it that he assumes he can just steal my work if I don't give it to him?!

----

I could keep going, but I won't. In closing, I'd like to ask people to stop sending me stupid questions. Thanks.

Let's Play Assassin Blue!

I thought this was hilarious and just had to share it...



A dude from Britain who goes by the name Malefact played through Assassin Blue, recording his commentary along the way. Fun times! I stuck all the videos into a single playlist so you can enjoy them all from the comfort of my blog.

That aside...

I haven't had much time to work on my new game, but I have given it a title: Yellow Goo Love! I think those who enjoyed the likes of Assassin Blue will find this an odd change of pace, but, hey. Now here's a screenshot or two for those who are hungry to see them...


The intro cutscene, from which the game gets its name...


Yeah, I threw in a Super Mario Galaxy level for kicks.

EDIT!
Holy shit, I was featured on IndieGames.com
My life = Rather complete
*___*

My Next Game...

...Looks like it might be this!



No title yet, but this is some kind of puzzle/physics/platformer thing. You hold down the mouse to aim and release to fling the little yellow goo ball through the air. A lot of focus will be on different level gimmicks/mechanics, like blocks you can stick to.

I've been playing around with this for a couple days now, don't know how much time I'll have to work on it in the coming days/weeks. I might skip the WIP release and just put this out when it's finished, at the rate it's going.

Who's Famous? Me.

My very first interview following Assassin Blue's success just went up at the wonderful indie gaming blog MOUSE NO! You can read it here.

I love doing interviews. I'll be putting up more as they come up.

Assassin Blue: Behind the Scenes Part 1

If you're here now, it's probably because of the recent popularity of my game, Assassin Blue. When I made Wolf I included my commentary as an unlockable feature, but there was no such thing in Assassin Blue... so I've decided to talk about the game's development here.


The Origins of Blue

Blue was a character I actually conceived of 2 or 3 years before I even started work on Assassin Blue. He wasn't called Blue, either. At the time I'd been working on a classic-style RPG like Earthbound or Dragon Quest, and I was coming up with character designs for the party. These images have been previously unreleased...

Walking animation

See the third character? That's Blue! And for the record, yes, the fourth party member is Kylie, the one and same heroine of Wolf.

His original design was virtually identical to the one he has today, down to his character. He was a boastful show-off with a strong moral compass, trapped in a promiscuous line of work (in this case, thievery). In addition to having the flashiest sword attacks, he provided healing spells for the party, making him one badass cleric.

Around the time that game was being developed, a big game idea was forming; why not make a Super Smash Brothers game using game maker characters? I was among the first to submit a design...

This was his first time being sprited for a platformer. I think the idea stuck.

Even though he hadn't actually made an appearance in-game, I tried to get him into the Smash Bros game. But as history tells us, both the Smash Bros game and the RPG were eventually discontinued and the mysterious Thief was never known.

...Or at least, until another game came along, called Wolf.

Wolf, my Zelda-esque adventure title.

The story of Wolf involves Kylie, a nice young woman, who inadvertently becomes a werewolf and kills just about everyone in her village. Now the game ends there, but originally I had some ideas for how to continue it. I had plans in particular for my old friend the Thief...


Blue as he was going to appear in Wolf.

His name was Hiro now, a twist on "Hero." He was to act as a foil to Kylie. Officially, he was a monster hunter who caught wind of Kylie's curse and pursued her. He was radically different from the Blue we know, however; he was interested only in his own glory and fame, and thought nothing of justice or the right thing, solidifying the irony in his name "Hiro."

I had his first appearance worked out, too. Kylie was to run into a lady being attacked by monsters, but just before rushing to her rescue--SHLINK! Blue appeared from nowhere, killing the monster and trying to impress the two ladies with his arrogant gloating.


The lady he saves, infatuated with her savior. Kylie was wise to him from the start, though.

But I decided to keep Wolf short and simple, so I cut out Hiro and released the game. Months later I began working on Assassin Blue, focusing the game on the hero I'd spent so many years working with.


Getting the Game Going

Getting the game off the ground proved to be nearly impossible. I spent two short weeks programming the basic engine in April or May 2008, until I had a demo that looked like this...



With the balance of combat and platforming, I knew I was on to something, but I lacked the spriting skills to make decent tiles for the game. So I put out at least 5 team requests across various forums, looking for someone to join up with. I got an early response from a guy called Kindred, who worked with me to make some tiles for the game's level 1.


The original level 1

The game was looking to be awesome, until Kindred suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth. After he was gone for a month I put up all my team requests again, spending weeks looking for a response, slowly losing hope... To keep myself interested, I programmed the first boss, Riley, but even after he was finished I never got a response. Frustrated, I discontinued the project.

Then in July I found the old editable, full of potential but missing decent backgrounds. That was when the idea hit me; if I can't sprite the backgrounds, why not hand draw them? And so was born the Assassin Blue we know today:


The game's very first official release looked like this. Compare to today's:


After about a week of backgrounding, level 1 was finished and was met with great success. With another week of work I turned my very first original demo into level 2, squoze the already-made Riley at the end, and the game's first 3 levels were done. The rest is history.


One Last Fun Fact!

This was Red's original character design. Seriously.

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That's it for now. Next time I think I'll be doing something a bit more analytic, studying the game's level design or story...