AudioCube release

AudioCube is finally finished. You can find the download links below, but there are a couple of announcements first.

First of all, I have decided to remove AudioCube from IndieDB. If I were to add every game I made this year to that site, I would crowd it. It could be considered spam and I personally hate spam. There's way better material on there, and they deserve every bit of publicity they can get. In due time, I will make my own website on which you will be able to find all my games. In the meantime, this blog will (still) be the place where you can find all information.

I will be blogging about my thoughts on Unity somewhere early February, in case that interests anyone.

There will be less posts about the upcoming game early February, but more posts by the end of the month. The reason for this is that I would like to keep this one a secret for longer. A lot has changed in the development of AudioCube (such as the fact I didn't decide what it actually was about until near the end of development) and I'd like to do that behind the scenes for my next game. When it's close to completion, I will post more details about the game itself.
I might post some of the details on how I implement certain features though - in a 'semi-open source' mentality.

Finally, here are the download links to AudioCube, along with a small summary of what the game is all about.

AudioCube - my first game - is a game in which you need to use your ears. By listening closely, you will be able to find the musical cube. Your vision is impaired by the snow and fog in the mountains of Audoria - so you better hope you have a good pair of ears!
AudioCube is played from a first person perspective. You control your character using WASD/ZQSD/Arrow keys and look with the mouse. You can even sprint using SHIFT and jump using SPACE, or rebind these keys in the launcher menu.

The game mechanic is a new concept for most gamers and has recieved a lot of praise from external testers. If you want to see what the fuss is about, you should try it for yourself!
It's totally free and it's only a couple of MegaBytes. What do you have to lose?

 Download links:

• Mac OS X
• Windows (64 bit)
• Windows (32 bit)

Tiniest blog post ever (RELEASE DATE)

The Mac and PC versions of AudioCube are going to be released on the 30th of January 2013. Due to a bug with the Linux version, it has been delayed indefinitly.

AudioCube is almost finished

As I've implemented everything I wanted to implement, I can almost call AudioCube finished. All I need to do now is iron out the bugs a bit more and then I can release the final version. It's been a great experience - expect a blog post early february where I talk about what I liked and disliked during the development of AudioCube.

Just be patient a few more days and then you will be able to try out the full version of AudioCube, including Infinite mode!

Tiny update

I've been very busy the past week, but I'm still working on AudioCube. My main focus is to have 4 levels before I can release the game. By then, it will probably be around the 31st of January, which is just in time to release the game as "finished". So here's what will be in the game by then:

• Highscores (already implemented)
• Normal mode (already implemented)
• Infinite mode (already implemented)
• Settings menu (already implemented)

I must say, I never thought I would be able to make a game in a month, but I'm almost there and I'm not planning on stopping now!

So, what's going to happen in February?

I haven't fully decided, but it's probably going to be a hotseat turn based strategy game. While I haven't played a lot of them, I do enjoy the genre. I actually enjoy it more as time passes.


I said this was a tiny update, so this is it for now. When I see you next time, AudioCube should be finished. Exciting!



Meanwhile, check out the latest version of AudioCube on IndieDB!

AudioCube Alpha 3

What better day to release the third alpha than on a snowy day!
As soon as the downloads have done uploading over at IndieDB, you will be able to download the third and final alpha of AudioCube.

Find the webplayer here

Progress update

Let's start off with a bang.

The game is almost in a stage in which I can say it's ready to move on and go from alpha to beta. I've got quite a bit of news though.

First off: I've changed the name of the game. "No big deal", you might think. Well, you would be mistaking. The name change reflects a much bigger change. This dwarf no longer has guns. In fact, you're not sure it's a dwarf anymore. There are no more enemies and there will be no shooting in this snowy landscape.

Why did I make this decision? Well, as you might know, I gathered information from people who visit my blog, like you, my friends and awesomely supportive girlfriend and in other ways, such as on reddit. Turns out, people really liked the main mechanic - which is to find stuff by listening. What they also liked - I'm paraphrasing - was the atmosphere, the loneliness and the relaxed feeling the game gives you, even though you're on a time limit.

That's why I decided to scrap features and make this game revolve all about that one mechanic. This means I can focus on improving it, instead of risking of having a crappy FPS with a crappy gimick as its main selling point.

Now, on to the actual progress update.

Things that have been added and that I'm working on are:

• A settings menu, which consists of
• graphical settings
• gameplay settings
• Highscores (!)
• Difficulty settings
• A more intuitive graphical interface.

That's pretty much it for now, but once those things are in, it's time to start adding more content and it's time for the beta of...

AudioCube!

(which is the new title, as you might have guessed).

Alpha 02

The game has been patched to Alpha 02. Here are the changes:

• Re-added the Quit button to the main menu. Gave it some cookies if it would remain there now, thank you very much.
• The Resume button should now work in the escape menu.
• Added a basic settings screen to the menus.
• Placed the player character on the ground.
• Added snow particles.
• Updated fog and fire graphics.

Here's a comparison between the old and new version:

And last but not least: a screenshot of the (very basic) settings screen:

The client is up for grabs here:

• Windows (x86)
• Windows (x86_64)
• Mac OS X
• Linux (x86)
• Linux (x86_64)

Cheers!

IndieDB page and incoming fixes

Third and last blog post for today!

I've created an IndieDB page for the game, which is where I will post updates on content - on this blog I will focus more on the technical side of development. Here's a nice little button for you to click on that will bring you there:

In other news: we will add enemies and first person shooter mechanics in the coming weeks and a bugfix is coming in tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Prototype release 1

It's here! You can download the first prototype now. Your objective is to listen carefully and catch the grey floating cube before time runs out.

The game is best played with headphones. However, read this before downloading:

HAZARD: Do not turn up the volume too much, since volume will increase when you are closer to the cube. We are not responsible for ear damage. If you can hear the music in the beginning, even if it is silent, that should be loud enough to play the game.

Big thanks to Tom Peter for the music!

You can find the webplayer here (outdated).

Or alternatively, download the client:

• Windows
• Mac OS X
• Linux (x86)
• Linux (x86_64)

Controls: (Movement keys can be altered in the game launcher)

• WASD to move
• Mouse to look around
• Shift to sprint

Have fun!

First prototype

A first prototype is going online in about an hour or so. There will be a link to a Windows, Mac and Linux version on this page, as well as a web player - which will require you to download the Unity Web Player application. There will be no enemies involved. It's mostly a test of the game mechanic involving orientation by sound.
You will be able to run around in the first level. Try to find the floating blue sphere before time runs out!

A blog post will follow when the game is uploaded.

Second day of development

And there we go, another day has passed, some more work has been done.

Let's see, what happened today?

Well, I modeled a gun - and it's probably the worst looking gun ever made, but it serves its purpose.

I've implemented a timer system, about which I will talk later.

Lastly, I've created some sort of pathfinding. In its current state, it's very primitive: it does not account for obstacles or height differences. However, it does precisely what it needs to do. Before I get into what that is, let me elaborate on the timer system and the general idea of the game.

Here's what it is:

This game, which I will refer to as 'TDHG' from now on - the working title happens to be '[T]his [D]warf [H]as [G]uns' - is about retrieving an artifact stolen by a goblin, as you might remember if you read my first post. This goblin, after stealing the artifact, got a bit confused and is lost! This means he is wandering around there somewhere. However, after a certain time, he will find his way back and you will lose the game if you haven't captured him yet. This is ofcourse where the timer comes in to play: according to the difficulty level the player selected, they will have less or more time to find the goblin thief.

Now that you know about the general idea of the game, I can tell you what my pathfinding system needs to do. The goblin must simply wander around, seemingly without a clue. How I achieve this, I might reveal later. It's a pretty simple algorithm.

I haven't completely thought out how you're supposed to find the goblin yet. Playtesting should sort that out.

I haven't really got any new screenshots to show, so I'm sorry for those hungry for pictures. However, feel free to leave a comment!

Until next time!

First post

So I just joined #OneGameAMonth...

And boy is it fun! It's the first time I participate in such an event. I like how it forces you to think small. Usually, I dream big. Very big. But this time, I'm making a smaller game.

January is a particularly busy month for me, but if today is any reference, I'm thinking I will be able to make this work. I've already created a fully working (though rather ugly) main menu and started work on a first level.

So what's my january game about? It's an 3D  First Person 'Hunting game' in which you, a dwarf, must recover an ancient artifact stolen by a goblin. That's pretty much the whole game. I got the idea from another game I was working on, which was a sidescrolling action game in which you could create your own spells.

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked here... While I'm not the greatest artist and while most of this is still placeholder 'art', I think this is looking pretty good already... So without further ado, here are two screenshots!

Yeah, Blueball entertainment. I had a spare image of a blue marble which I made a while ago... ;)