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.