Alright.  Two major pieces of information – one good news and one bad news.  Let’s start with the good news because WHY NOT.

Good News

Alright, so I know I’ve been babbling about this game for what seems like roughly five and a half years, but Don’t Panic will be released this week.

As it stands, the game is 99.99% complete, I just need a unique key code from the sponsor and once I put it in the game, it’s completed and ready for uploading.  Now don’t go ape shit if I’m wrong, but I would say look for the game on Monday or Tuesday.  Either way, I’ll of course make a post / tweet about it once it’s released.

I think I actually can tell you who the sponsor is at this point, but why spoil it?  (As if it’s something to spoil.)

Bad News

You know that other game that I’ve been babbling about, Hero Dude?  Well, I hate to say it, but I’m scrapping it.  (Yes, for the second time.)

I definitely have the story / basic gameplay idea – it’s solid and ready to go.  However, after all of this time working on the game, in hindsight, it’s just not what I was imagining.  It was definitely being gone about the wrong way.  I don’t know what to do from here other than just scrap the whole project and hope to resume it at some point.

I figured I’d upload what I had, which isn’t anything major.  But if you want, take a look.  Just click the window (to give it focus) and use the arrow keys to look around.

In the Meantime…

So yeah, that’s that.  What am I going to do in the meantime?  Well, I actually don’t know.

Probably just chill.

Eh, probably not.  I can’t do that.  I think I’m physically unable to.  If I’m not doing something I feel like a lazy pile of fecal matter.  So to remedy this, what I’ll probably end up doing is all or some of the following:

1. Work on a small animation idea I have.
2. Finally get around to learning how to make stuff in Blender.
3. Learn and play around with Java.  (Intend to eventually get as comfortable with it as I am with AS3.)
4. Develop a small game, nothing big, maybe a month-long project.

I just want to basically not have to worry about anything too much until the end of this semester of college (roughly May 20th).  Once that’s over, I have a few personal things to attend to and then I’ll be back in “action.”  At that point, I may take up Hero Dude again or maybe even something new.

Holy damn, that is one giant wall of text.  Let’s just end it with a picture.

Hero Dude‘s completed progress has progressed (ha ha!) from 3% to 5%.  A big jump, I know.  I spent whatever time I had during the week continuing to work on the main engine of the game.  A few big accomplishments were made which I’m very proud of.

Accomplished

• Optimized level loading time to 0 seconds (from what was a brutal 45 seconds).  Accomplished this by switching from loading directly from the XML files to instead using a secondary tool to do all the loading and to save the parsed XML data (in a ByteArray) to a file which I simply embed into the actual game.  All the heavy lifting is done outside the actual game = no loading time.  Big thanks to the guys at the Mochi forums for helping me with this one.
• Created loads of graphical assets for the first world.  (And the weird thing is, I actually like them!)
• Continued development of the level 1 plan.
• Began researching how to go about collision detection.  At this point, it seems like it will be a cross between classic tile-based collision checking between the player and the world and then rectangle-based collision checking between the player and other entities (enemies, etc).

To Do

• Continue to design the last few remaining graphical assets for world 1 and apply them to the game.
• Begin some sketches for NPC’s, enemies, etc…  Also maybe get a solid drawing of what Hero Dude will look like.
• Add the player to the game and get basic collision checking working.
• Get the BMPLoader class working efficiently.  (Takes Flash movieclips from library and converts them to bitmaps before the level is loaded.)

Looking Ahead

• Animation of the sprites should be fun (no, not really).  It’s going to be a lot of work to get it looking nice.

Screenshots

Here’s an image of what world 1 looks like now.  A lot more colorful and with a lot more tile variety.  With the addition of the player, other characters, items, etc – it’s going to look great.

What’s going on with Don’t Panic?

I know it’s been a while, but that’s how the bidding process goes.  However, I do have good news.  After about one month of being up for sponsorship on FlashGameLicense.com, bidding for sponsorship on Don’t Panic is coming to a close.

If I didn’t completely suck at gauging times and deadlines, I’d bet that I’ll have a sponsor chosen sometime this week.  It’s been a very difficult decision deciding who to go with as all of the potential sponsors are really great people who I’d love to work with.  Anyway, if I do choose someone this week, it’s very likely the game will be released either this week or next (depends on what the sponsor requests).

So yeah.  That’s that about all of that.

Accomplished

• Designed and updated tile graphics, however, I am now leaning towards scrapping all the current tiles and redoing them.  I’m trying to get a graphic style that I can stick to for the rest of the game.  The same goes for the design of Hero Dude himself – I’m still trying to get that right.
• Designed and added a quick HUD to the game.  Look’s good so far.
• Drew up a plan for the entirety of world 1 (which encompasses about 4,000 x 1,400 pixels in size).

To-Do

• Need to optimize loading times.  As it stands, loading level 1 takes roughly 15 – 20 seconds which is unacceptable.  Attempting to understand how to utilize ByteArrays to convert the XML to a speedier format to parse.
• Create tiles and graphical assets for the World 1 plan I drew up.  Build the level completely (at least with tiles, not necessarily objects such as characters, etc…)

Planning Ahead

Same as last week, no changes.

• Need to figure out how I’m going to go about collision detection.  The two possibilities are either 100% tile-based, which will work in most cases.  However, with this method, detecting collisions between enemies and moving platforms will be difficult.  The other possibility is 100% SAT (Separating Axis Theorem) collision detection.  With this method, I completely understand how to detect collisions, however, I don’t yet understand how to resolve the collisions appropriately.

Not bad being that I didn’t work on the game at all until yesterday / today.  College is starting to throw everything it’s got at me being that there’s roughly 1 month left until the end of the semester.  I actually set aside time on Friday to start and complete two different 4-5 page papers that aren’t even due until May.  Why?  Because they were just weighing me down and constantly on my mind.  Feels good to have that out of the way.

Here’s a screenshot of the World 1 plan I just drew up.  Take a look to get the basic idea of level 1.

That’s all for now.  Tune in next week for more amazing news!

Check out the bottom of this post for a playable Flash file of what I have so far + screenshots!

Stats:

So, the development process on this game is relatively new.  I technically started working on this game about three weeks ago, but didn’t get around to making the weekly game update post for the past two weeks.  Why?  Mostly because there wasn’t much to report on.  However, progress is being made, now!

The game is currently 3% completed.  What does that mean?  Not much.  Why “3%?”  Because it’s bigger than “1%.”  Since I did work on the game, I figured it shouldn’t be “1%” anymore, so, yeah.

Accomplished

• Loads of work completed regarding parsing an XML file to build a level.
• After many sketches, came up with a design for Hero Dude.  The design will most likely continue to be slightly altered over the coming weeks.
• Got the level camera working perfectly.  Implements smooth scrolling, shake effect, and ability to zoom.
• Programmed a nice parallax scrolling effect with a repeating background.
• Lots of graphic work with tiles.  Whether or not these tiles appear in the final game is undecided, they will most likely be tweaked over time, if not completely scrapped.

To-Do

• Continue expanding the test level – both adding more variety in the tile graphics as well beginning to add objects to the game world.
• Work on adding a HUD.
• Build the BMPLoader class and optimize it.  This class will load the bitmap versions of all graphical assets of the objects that the level will utilize during the loading process at the beginning of the level.

Planning Ahead

• Need to figure out how I’m going to go about collision detection.  The two possibilities are either 100% tile-based, which will work in most cases.  However, with this method, detecting collisions between enemies and moving platforms will be difficult.  The other possibility is 100% SAT (Separating Axis Theorem) collision detection.  With this method, I completely understand how to detect collisions, however, I don’t yet understand how to resolve the collisions appropriately.

So that’s that.  Lot’s of work getting done.  Here are two screenshots of some nonsense.

And here’s a playable file.  Click here to play around with the camera.

That’s all for this week.  Hopefully I have more good news next week as well!

So far it has had three bids.  The first two were the obligatory nonsense bids, less than even 10% of the game’s value in my opinion, but the most recent bid is more in the serious business range.  At this rate, I can confidently say that bidding won’t last too long and the game will be released  sometime in April.

Meanwhile, I took a break much of this past week.  I spent most of my free time between class just playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and generally just not doing much.  However, the past two days I’ve been getting back into the swing of things.  I’ve been laying the “groundwork” for Hero Dude – drawing some concept art and coding the main “core” files of the game.  Things are definitely going a lot smoother than I imagined.

Even more good news is I have my spring break this week.  Well, good news for me, at least.

That’s all for now.  Next week there will be a real “Weekly Game Update” when I actually have something to say.

Alright, well this is it.  The game is 100% completed.  All that’s left is to put it up for bidding on Monday afternoon.  It should be live on the FlashGameLicense marketplace by Tuesday morning.  I’m very excited for this game, it truly is a lot of fun to play it.

Anyway, let’s get into the final breakdown.  (Check the bottom of this post for screenshots and the trailer!)

Accomplished

• Finish animating the opening cutscene.  (Completed, and may I say, it looks boss.)
• Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.  (Completed.)
• Make trailer, screenshots, and thumbnails.  (Completed.)

To-Do

• Make a “cheat enabled” version and upload it to FlashGameLicense for sponsors to test out.

Planning Ahead

• Start working on Hero Dude concept art!

Screenshots

• Main Menu – http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/9471/ssmainmenu.jpg
• Cutscene Still – http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3599/sscutscene.jpg
• Gameplay 1 – http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/1871/ssgameplay1.jpg
• Gameplay 2 – http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/4964/ssgameplay2.jpg
• Gameplay 3 – http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/4190/ssgameplay3.jpg
• Boss 1 – http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/541/ssboss.jpg
• Interlevel Menu – http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/6734/ssinterlevelmenu.jpg
• Store Screen – http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/813/ssstore.jpg

Trailer

I know I’ve predicted a March release, but I just don’t see that happening now.  I need to stop underestimating how much time is required at the very end of the game sponsorship cycle.  Expect the game out by mid April at the latest!

But technically, the game is done.  All that’s left is to slap the sponsor’s branding on it and then release it to the masses.

Right now, however, the game is receiving some “First Impression” reviews from FlashGameLicense.com.  In fact, you can play it right here.  Of course, you either need to be a reviewer or a developer with a high enough Market Level to view that page

So yeah, I just wanted to get that out there before the usual weekly game update on Sunday.

What’s left to do?  Well I have to make a trailer for the game.  Nothing big, probably just a few clips of gameplay set to some music.  After that I’ll be uploading the game for approval on either Sunday or Monday and the game will officially be up for grabs.  After that it’s just a matter of patience – waiting out the bidding process.

In the meantime, however, I’m going to enjoy drawing some concept art for Hero Dude and getting some planning work done for it.

Accomplished

• Finish animating the two cutscenes. (Almost completed – end cutscene is completely finished and opening cutscene is about 80% finished.)
• Finish programming the two bosses.  (Competed.)
• Put the game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.  (Not completed, will be done on Tuesday.)

To-Do

• Finish animating the opening cutscene.
• Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.
• Make trailer, screenshots, and thumbnails.
• Bug test and upload for sponsorship!

Planning Ahead

• Take a break.

My plan was to finish the game today (Sunday) and bug test it throughout both today and tomorrow.  I was then going to throw together a trailer tomorrow (Monday) and also upload the game on FlashGameLicense for approval for sponsorship bidding.  In hindsight, this was a terrible idea.  I don’t want to rush the final stage of this project after I’ve spent three months on it.

Anyway, sorry about the lateness of this post, too.  I’ve just been very busy today with both game and non-game work.  I can assure you that next week’s Weekly Game Update will be the final one for Don’t Panic.  Then we move on to Hero Dude

Stats:

According to my header up there, the game was 88% complete as of this time last week and currently stands at Final Stages.  That is a… um.  I actually don’t know how much of an improvement that is, actually.

It basically means I’m very close to completing the game.  I can’t guess with numbers anymore.

Accomplished

• Begin animating the two cutscenes.  (Completed – both cutscenes are completely sketched out.  Also, all of the backgrounds are completely drawn.  All that’s left is to do the actual character animation and they’ll be completed.  The first cutscene is roughly 45 seconds long and the final cutscene is about 12 seconds long.)
• Design and program the two bosses.  (Half completed.  Both bosses are designed and I began programming boss 1 last night.  Today I’ll finish programming both of them.)
• Find and apply music.  (Completed.)
• Get “Survival Mode” working.  (Completed.)
• Implement “saving” and “loading” functionality.  (Completed.)
• Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.  (Not completed.  Probably sometime late next week.  Friday is looking promising.)

To-Do

• Bug test.
• Finish animating the two cutscenes.
• Bug test.
• Finish programming the two bosses.
• Bug test.
• Bug test.
• Put the game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.

Planning Ahead

• Need a trailer for the game when it goes up for bidding.

So yeah, as you can see – besides finishing the cutscenes and bosses, my main priority this week is to bug test the hell out of the game.  It’s always one of the most stressful parts of the development cycle.  Sometimes you just don’t want to rigorously test certain aspects of the game because if you do find something wrong you’re afraid you might have no idea how to fix it.  It kinda ruins your whole day.

So yeah.  We’re almost there.  As soon as this game is up for bidding I can’t wait to get to work on Hero Dude.  I have big plans for it.  Feces will be so money.

Stats:

According to my header up there, the game was 83% complete as of this time last week and currently stands at 88%.  That is a 5% improvement in just 1 week.  What does this mean?  I really don’t know anymore.  The game is so close to being completed that these percentages don’t hold a lot of meaning anymore.  We’re at the point where it’s best to start judging progress by how much is left to do rather than how much has been completed.

Accomplished

• Complete upgrade menu.  (Completed.)
• Add all other levels (includes a rough idea of the amount of enemies and types of enemies spawned in each level as well as customized beginning/end menus).  (Completed.)
• Start animating the beginning/end cutscenes.  (Not completed, will likely begin today however.)
• Start looking for music.  (Half completed, been looking, haven’t found anything great.  I’m open to suggestions if you have any.  Preferably from the NewGrounds Audio Portal.)

To-Do

• Begin animating the two cutscenes.
• Design and program the two bosses.
• Find and apply music.
• Get “Survival Mode” working.
• Implement “saving” and “loading” functionality.
• Put game on FlashGameLicense.com for First Impressions.
• Bug test.

Planning Ahead

• Need a trailer for the game when it goes up for bidding.

Screenshots!

Alright, since I never got that video of gameplay up like I promised, I decided to give you guys 3 brand new screenshots.  Hold onto your privates!

(click to enlarge)

Alright, so lot’s of stuff completed and just a few more things left to complete.  Great news.

However, I was definitely wrong when I said in the last Monthly Revenue Report that February earnings would definitely be higher than my January earnings.  I said this because I was under the impression I’d have this game sponsored some time in February, thus boosting my earnings significantly.  I can safely say now that this won’t be the case, but I am 99% certain that it will be the case for March.

That’s all from me, time to get back to work.