Digger Dwarves update.. finally

Long story short - Digger Dwarves has been updated! A big change would be the controls..

Arrow keys move
Down key digs
Spacebar jumps
'Z' throws snowballs

More info available on the WGS blog.

Official We Get Signal Dev Blog

We Get Signal has officially launched a developer blog. It's the place to find information not only about Digger Dwarves, but also other We Get Signal Projects such as Rock, Paper, Zombie.


Check out the We Get Signal Dev Blog, let us know what you think of upcoming projects and sound off what you're most/least excited about.

Inspiration Machinarium

Over the holiday break I had a chance to sit down and do some hardcore coding on Mushroomer!, a circumstance for which I am particularly thankful. A lot of good stuff has gone into it, although I am far from happy with the product. Moral of the story being: good code does not necessarily conceive a good game. There is something more than that, a certain perfection to the art of a video game that makes it real.

As luck would have it, I got a few Christmas goodies that helped me to remember this very phenomenon. Perhaps the most infamous of them all would be Machinarium. Immersive, intriguing, infuriating, inspiring... alright, I'm done with that -- but I simply can't tell you how amazing this game is. If you haven't bought it yet, suck it up and take the $20 hit.

I'll just let you go play the Machinarium demo for yourself.

More on Mushroomer! later: For now, suffice to say I've created a proper level editor, as well as 'event triggers' and some other nonsense. The January 10th deadline looms, and I hope to have something finished by then.

Mushroomer! - Side project #3

I haven't quite gotten around to implementing Brandon's level sketch yet, with good reason.. there is a really cool competition going on right now for all you 'indie' game devs, over at The Independent Gaming Source. If you're into game development (or even just think you'd be into it!) I recommend checking it out.

My entry for the contest is a wee platformer tentatively titled "Mushroomer!" You are an intrepid young feller trapped in a mystical cave. Escape before time runs out, or suffocate on the horrible cave fumes.

Well that's the idea, anyway. Of course I wouldn't leave you without something to tame your fiddling digits, so go ahead and try playing an early alpha of Mushroomer.

sketch results

Updates:
- the companion is now a pet which can't throw snowballs but might be able to growl and stun enemies or make them run away

Introducing:
- vehicles
- slopes
- ladders
- secret room
- level goal point
- a dark elf enemy

Each level is comprised of 2000 x 2000 pixel tiles which will be skinned later. The tiles are black right now for color hit detection.

skin experiment for our current build

I think I got little bit ahead of things with the last castle crashers inspired art test in Flash, and tonight I want to challenge myself and play with the current build art:



my goal is post whatever I come up with tomorrow. I'm using a 6 year old 6" wacom :-D -- maybe next year I'll upgrade to the cintiq.

And hey you -- yes you budding game artist -- if you wish to create fan art, we'll post your skin too.

infinite ammo

Infinite Ammo - New Media Manitoba Business Showcase from BlinkWorks -James Swirsky on Vimeo.

source: blog post from Atract Mode

infinite ammo

I've had a marian image that I think I cut out from a game developer magazine posted on the wall beside my desk for months now without knowing what it was...now I know and its even more inspiring.

lego hoth

from this laughing squid post

Exciting 'discovery'

So apparently I've been way out of the loop. I decided recently to fix the collision code because I couldn't find a good way to do it with pixel-perfect terrain. Well it turns out a fellow named Corey O'Neil has already done just that, with amazing results.

Check out Corey O'Neil's Collision Detection Kit. While it's far more than what I need (check out the real-time collisions with movies!) I can learn from it and that is exactly what I'm after.

diamonds are a girl's best friend