More Crazy Dubloon Fun Times!

Hey guys! Got a couple cool links to show you!

FIRSTLY, Dubloon is on Bytejacker this week! Those of you who loved the game, please support it by voting for Dubloon!

SECONDLY, Dubloon has an entry on TV Tropes*! I find this be INCREDIBLY exciting!

Also I want to mention that the donations page has gone through a couple changes, pertaining specifically to the Dubloon Deluxe CD. Shipping is far less expensive than I expected it to be (under $5, even internationally!), but I do now ask that the shipping money be included with your donation if you intend to receive a CD. Specific rates are on the donations page.

You should ALSO be aware that I've added a deadline for sending out the CDs (September 2010) and a limited number (24 copies!) so if you're considering getting a CD it's better to it sooner rather than later.

Okay! That is all!


*WARNING: Viewing TV Tropes is likely to monopolize hours of your time and consume your social life for at least one evening, often more. Proceed with caution.

Dubloon (Complete)

Dubloon
It's finally finished! A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game. There are dungeons, bosses, sidequests and secrets in a huge explorable world.

Edit 6/16: Because of last-minute changes, there were some nasty bugs in the initial release. I'm very sorry for those of you who had to deal with my unprofessional mistakes :[ A fixed version is now up (with GameJolt trophy compatibility!) so if you're experiencing errors in certain areas please redownload.


File Size: 29.7 MB (11 MB version also available; see below)
Download Links:
GameJolt
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/rpg/dubloon/254/

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

LowFi Version:
This version has low quality music, but is only an 11 MB download. Not recommended.
LoFi Download

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)

Gameplay Video (First 6 Minutes):




Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)





Soundtrack:
If you're really into the music Prophecy made, you can download the full game soundtrack with high bit rate/album artwork/proper song titles here.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/dubloon/soundtracks/download/254/

T-Shirts:
You can get a Dubloon T-Shirt here! Feel free to send suggestions for designs you want... I like selling shirts.
http://www.zazzle.com/banovg/gifts?cg=196438694018254966

Developer Commentary: http://tinyurl.com/24yw6v8

Credits:
-Game by Banov
-Music by Prophecy

Changelog: In some cases I uploaded a bugfix without changing the version name within a few hours of each other.
1.0.0.1
-(BUGFIX) Error message caused by running in the Navy base of Jolly Roger island
-(BUGFIX) Error message thrown by the Mole boss when he tried to attack
-(BUGFIX) Game would sometimes skip naming one of the main characters, leaving his name blank.
1.0.0.2
-GameJolt trophy compatibility
-(BUGFIX)After opening the last chest before the boss in Treasure Tower, if a player tried to go back to the previous room the game would enter a never-ending cutscene loop.
-(BUGFIX)Some attack effects would appear to aim at the user's crew instead of the opponent's in a secret mode of gameplay.
-(BUGFIX)Error message when using "Avalanche" (this was as a result of the previous bugfix :p)
-(BUGFIX)After completing the game and re-loading your file, the crew would sometimes be missing and leave only the silent protagonist.
-(BUGFIX)On the top floor of the treasure tower, saving immediately after getting the Key but before trying to leave the room and loading later would skip crucial cutscenes
-(BUGFIX)(6/17/10) You can walk on water in a certain room of Pyrite island
-(BUGFIX)(6/17/10) One of the statue puzzles in the final dungeon will not work if you push any buttons outside the correct order (but it does reset when you leave the dungeon).
1.0.0.3 (6/18/10)
-A number of typos corrected
-(BUGFIX)Talking to the viking on Jolly Roger or reading the map on Bowish would let you re-add islands to your map
-(BUGFIX)If a non-boss enemy was killed by poison damage, an error would be thrown and the battle wouldn't end
-(BUGFIX)One of the puzzles in Treasure Tower wouldn't take into account party order when it was supposed to
1.0.0.4 (6/23/10)
-New Feature: an NPC in Pyrite Tavern who helps you find undiscovered treasure
-More NPC dialogue changes after beating final dungeon
-"Save Fixer" auto-fixes common save file bugs (missing/unnamed crew members) from previous versions upon loading your file
-(BUGFIX) Returning to the Golden Key room in Treasure Tower had some weird effects
-(BUGFIXes) Misc/etc
1.0.0.5 (6/25/10)
-(BUGFIX) Characters level 40 or over couldn't easily equip attacks from special equipment items
-(BUGFIX) Saving your game when on a downed "color wall" and loading might find you stuck inside of it
-(BUGFIX) A rare error message thrown by a particular boss' attack
-(BUGFIX) Puzzles in Treasure Tower that require you to stand in certain patterns would not always register your position on the tiles properly

Dubloon Release Date, LPs

Hey everyone!

So today the private beta version for Dubloon went out to just a few people for final testing and proofing. I'll be away on vacation until June 13, and then I aim for the official release date of Dubloon to be June 15, 2010. (Assuming that I don't get so many bugs I can't possibly fix them all in a day, though that is unlikely).

To keep you entertained while you wait, maybe you'd want to check out this brief Let's Play series I did:


I've liked LPs since I first discovered them, so I decided to give one of my own a shot. It's a Game Maker game called Purple, and I chose it because people seemed to like it, I'd never played it before, and there were no LPs of it already. I quit after 5 episodes, but in those 5 episodes I had some fun times. My sister guest starred in episode 5, which is probably the series high point.

Okay! Next time I update, it'll be with the finished version of Dubloon! I can barely contain my excitement :]

Dubloon - Final Demo!

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

This is the final demo; the next time I release an update, it will be the finished game! Please play, enjoy, and share your thoughts!

Information
Title: Dubloon
File Size: 19.6 MB (9 MB version also available; see below)

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

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

LowFi Version:
Recommended for users with a slow connection. This version has low quality music, but is only a 9 MB download.
LoFi Download

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!

Hello February

Hey, guys! So, here are some updates on what I've been doing.

Dubloon

---

CowboyKilla has actually taken up the bulk of my work, but before I get into that, I wanted to talk about Dubloon a little. I'm determined to finish it and get it out this Spring, even if that means cutting out areas I have planned for the game--it already takes hours to beat, so as far as I'm concerned length isn't a primary concern.

I've just made a new title screen for it, I want to get some quick reactions to it. See:


The old one


The new one

This new one looks prettier, I think, and fits the game better... and I have some ideas about how I can transition it into the opening cutscene. I also started drawing out some floor plans for the next dungeon after I got some cool puzzle ideas, but, I'm still struggling to come up with a good tileset for the dungeon. Backgrounds have always been a bit of a weakness/pain for me, honestly. I don't see a new release in the near future yet, and I doubt there will be a major release until CowboyKilla is ready for the competition.

Speaking of which...

CowboyKilla

---

We're now entering month 2 of development, and things are going smoothly. There will definitely be a new release on this one in February. I've been a busy bee on this one, and there are a lot of fun things I can't wait to show you guys. Here's a quick screenshot...

Yes--Custom mode! As you complete levels in the game, you'll be able to access the weapons, enemies and maps and use them to craft your own level. A lot of the weapons are very experimental in nature, so you might have fun just testing the effectiveness of different weapons against different enemies... while causing untold bloodshed and ruin, of course.

We plan to bring you a total of 6 levels next time we update, so you can expect a lot of exciting new content. Do look forward to it!

Misc.

---

Meanwhile!

I've been very active on Twitter after getting one, so if you're a fan and you aren't following me there... I think you should!

Lil Vypa, the fantastic composer behind CowboyKilla, has recently come out with a new Mix tape which I highly recommend! I'm not normally a fan of this sort of music, but Vypa's always surprisingly good and this tape is no exception. Give it a listen!

The Games Just Keep Coming

Happy Two Thousand and Ten!

I'm pretty bad at posting here regularly, so I'm going to give you guys the down low on what I've been up to.

Dubloon

---

Progress has been slow but steady. I have a lot of content planned for the next update, so it's still looking far off from now... sorry to those who are waiting on that. I don't want to talk too much in detail on what happens next in the game, but I will say that the end of the game isn't going to be too far off. After this next release, there will be maybe one or two more before the game's finished. In the meantime, I'll let screenshots speak for themselves.



iPhone

---

I've spent a lot of the month of December trying to make serious progress on my iPhone work. I found a great game development/physics engine called Cocos 2D and I'm going to try and master that. I want to recreate Crazy Over Goo--or something like it--on the iPhone interface and sell it on the app store. Of course, for now, I'm still figuring out how to do simple things like launch objects on the screen. The iPhone is a bit harder to use than Game Maker, I'll say that much.

YoYoGames Comp 05

---

For the first time in my game making career, I'm going to enter a serious competition. You can read the rules here, if you haven't seen them already. What is perhaps most exciting about this next game of mine is that it's going to be a collaboration between me and Andrew Brophy aka Overboy aka AndrewAP. No details yet, but the game we're planning is seriously awesome and will probably win, especially over anything that Brod makes.

Banov OUT.

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!

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...

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?