Less than two weeks remain in this school semester, and I can't wait to be free.
Project wise, I've been knee deep in two: A game I've been making in Game Design, and a Guitar Simulation I've been coding with three other gentleman for Data Structures. I don't have much to show for either of them right now, but I might post some stuff up in the next few months when I'm not churning out breaking news left and right.
Speaking of which, I'm set to reveal some big news next month. Oh, how I wish I could spoil it early, but we are currently working out the last few details of a months long endeavor. In addition, full production on "Project Zombie" will begin with the end of the semester. I eagerly await the opportunity to give more info on that as well, but all in due time... all in due time...
That's all for now though. Sorry for the slow news months, but I promise, Summer will be worth it. Until then, I wish you all the best!
Development Blog for GBIT Games.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
There's Something Brewing Just Beyond the Horizon
It's April, and as the semester winds down, the work is getting more and more intense. I've found myself leaving the house in the wee hours of the morning, only to return some where around 3 AM, and continue the cycle day after day. I suppose this would make good practice for the inevitable crunch time situation I'm bound to face in the future.
Speaking of which... There is a lot going on as my team and I move into the final stages of preparing to launch our studio. Big things! I've been aching to talk about some of these things for months, but it'll have to remain a secret, if only for another month or two. One of those things will be an opportunity for those talented individuals in the NJ area looking to expand their portfolio or get hands on experience with a chance at making an actual game with us! We're still hashing out the details, but expect to hear something a little more concrete in June.
When it comes to games currently in production, there isn't much to report. 8-Bit Dimension has gone back into stasis until mid-May when the semester is over and I can dedicate time in wrapping it up. Work does continue on our Android game, which has yet to be named, but full production on that won't start until mid-May as well. As the development team and I are terrible at coming up with project names, I'm just going to call it "Zombie" for now until we come up with a better one. No, it has nothing to do with zombies. I just feel like naming all of my games after RPG enemies. Let it be known! Henceforth, Mana Clash shall retroactively be assigned the project name "Skeleton" and 8-Bit Dimension shall similarly be known by the project name "Wolf".
That's all for this month. News may be slow going, but soon I hope to knock your socks off with back to back news announcements of great import! Until next time, I hope you're enjoying what ever game currently has your attention!
Speaking of which... There is a lot going on as my team and I move into the final stages of preparing to launch our studio. Big things! I've been aching to talk about some of these things for months, but it'll have to remain a secret, if only for another month or two. One of those things will be an opportunity for those talented individuals in the NJ area looking to expand their portfolio or get hands on experience with a chance at making an actual game with us! We're still hashing out the details, but expect to hear something a little more concrete in June.
When it comes to games currently in production, there isn't much to report. 8-Bit Dimension has gone back into stasis until mid-May when the semester is over and I can dedicate time in wrapping it up. Work does continue on our Android game, which has yet to be named, but full production on that won't start until mid-May as well. As the development team and I are terrible at coming up with project names, I'm just going to call it "Zombie" for now until we come up with a better one. No, it has nothing to do with zombies. I just feel like naming all of my games after RPG enemies. Let it be known! Henceforth, Mana Clash shall retroactively be assigned the project name "Skeleton" and 8-Bit Dimension shall similarly be known by the project name "Wolf".
That's all for this month. News may be slow going, but soon I hope to knock your socks off with back to back news announcements of great import! Until next time, I hope you're enjoying what ever game currently has your attention!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
8-Bit Dimension Beta 1
The download for the new version can be found here.
In a completely unexpected turn of events, I somehow found the time to wrap up Beta 1 this week. Oh, the wonders of having free time that can be spent on stuff other than homework! Unfortunately, there are a few very minor bugs that I plan on fixing for Beta 2. All of the known bugs involve the "Sticky" item, and while I got all of the major bugs fixed (One of which would crash the game.) a few small minor bugs remain that don't impact game play too heavily. The known bugs will be detailed at the end of the post.
For those of you who play the game, the focus of this version is the inclusion of four different functioning items. Please let me know what you think of them, and their balance on game play which may be tweaked before release.
Here is the change log to Beta 1. It's surprisingly small for an upgrade from Alpha to Beta:
- Added four new items to affect game play.
- The green item will split a single spell into three separate spells. Please note that this effect does not stack with itself, and if you have more than one spell active, you will only earn points for obtaining more of this item.
- The red item will increase the size of your shield by 50%. Changing levels or losing a life will reset this effect. Please note that the effects of this item are not cumulative. Obtaining more red items after your shield's size has been increased will have no effect and only grant points.
- The blue item will slow down the speed of all balls on screen by a fair amount. In order to keep the pace of the game moving, there is a minimum speed in place, thus, obtaining enough blue items will eventually have no effect if this minimum speed is reached.
- The yellow item will make your shield "sticky" and thus, catch any spells that make contact with it. Simply press the launch button again to fire your spells. This effect will fade upon changing levels or losing a life.
Known Bugs:
- Currently, while holding a spell under the effects of the "Sticky" item, if you move your paddle up against a wall, you may notice a small shift in the spells resting on the shield.
- The angle calculations when firing a spell while under the effects of the "Sticky" item are slightly off and may on rare occasion yield unexpected results.
- Speed is reset to it's starting value when ever a spell is fired while under the effects of the "Sticky" item.
Beta 2 will hit sometime over the summer as I know that nothing short of a miracle would allow me to finish it before the end of spring break. Especially when you factor in time to receive feedback and possibly fix any new issues that may be discovered. With Beta 2 I plan on fixing the bugs with the sticky item, and introducing three more, much rarer items. If time and testing permits, I will hopefully also have enemies added to the game, in at least some basic form. Please let me know what you think of the game! Any and all criticisms and comments are welcome as I move this game into its final phases.
In a completely unexpected turn of events, I somehow found the time to wrap up Beta 1 this week. Oh, the wonders of having free time that can be spent on stuff other than homework! Unfortunately, there are a few very minor bugs that I plan on fixing for Beta 2. All of the known bugs involve the "Sticky" item, and while I got all of the major bugs fixed (One of which would crash the game.) a few small minor bugs remain that don't impact game play too heavily. The known bugs will be detailed at the end of the post.
For those of you who play the game, the focus of this version is the inclusion of four different functioning items. Please let me know what you think of them, and their balance on game play which may be tweaked before release.
Here is the change log to Beta 1. It's surprisingly small for an upgrade from Alpha to Beta:
- Added four new items to affect game play.
- The green item will split a single spell into three separate spells. Please note that this effect does not stack with itself, and if you have more than one spell active, you will only earn points for obtaining more of this item.
- The red item will increase the size of your shield by 50%. Changing levels or losing a life will reset this effect. Please note that the effects of this item are not cumulative. Obtaining more red items after your shield's size has been increased will have no effect and only grant points.
- The blue item will slow down the speed of all balls on screen by a fair amount. In order to keep the pace of the game moving, there is a minimum speed in place, thus, obtaining enough blue items will eventually have no effect if this minimum speed is reached.
- The yellow item will make your shield "sticky" and thus, catch any spells that make contact with it. Simply press the launch button again to fire your spells. This effect will fade upon changing levels or losing a life.
Known Bugs:
- Currently, while holding a spell under the effects of the "Sticky" item, if you move your paddle up against a wall, you may notice a small shift in the spells resting on the shield.
- The angle calculations when firing a spell while under the effects of the "Sticky" item are slightly off and may on rare occasion yield unexpected results.
- Speed is reset to it's starting value when ever a spell is fired while under the effects of the "Sticky" item.
Beta 2 will hit sometime over the summer as I know that nothing short of a miracle would allow me to finish it before the end of spring break. Especially when you factor in time to receive feedback and possibly fix any new issues that may be discovered. With Beta 2 I plan on fixing the bugs with the sticky item, and introducing three more, much rarer items. If time and testing permits, I will hopefully also have enemies added to the game, in at least some basic form. Please let me know what you think of the game! Any and all criticisms and comments are welcome as I move this game into its final phases.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Ever Have One of Those Months...
... where you've had a fever for over a week straight?
This is probably the most sick I've ever been over an extended period of time. I've been pretty much bed ridden since March 2nd, and my productivity in all things has essentially hit zero. In fact, the only reason why I'm able to post up this blog entry is because I just woke up a few hours ago and I need to occupy myself with something that doesn't take too much mental energy until I can rest again. Still, at least I can talk about what's been going on this past month.
First up, I have a few screenshots to show for the game I'm working on in my Game Design class. Enjoy!
Here we have a simple terrain.
And the top-down view.
This Terrain I roughed out in a few hours for the tactical RPG I'm working on. Oh how I wish I had more time to work on this game. Sadly, my Data Structures class seems to hog every possible second it can like the greedy class it is. I may have more to show next month, but don't count on it.
Next up, 8-Bit Dimension! The game I wish I had the time to finish already. I haven't been able to put any effort into it since before the semester started, but I'm determined to put some time aside next week when spring break begins. At present due to my illness I'll need to spend significant time catching up on all of my school work, so I expect to bring Beta1 from about 50% done to some where around 75% done. I had hoped to finish Beta1 during Spring Break to allow a lengthy period for Q&A while I wrap up the semester, but it looks like right now I will have to try and wrap up the entire thing in the early summer. On the plus side, I finally found someone willing to do sound for the game, so expect sound some where down the pipeline at or before final release.
Finally, the mystery Android game I talked about last month is well under way. Due to the entire team being students, we're taking a slow and steady approach to working on the game until the semester ends, at which point it will pretty much become a full-time job in the hopes we can meet a September release. We have a studio name chosen which means you can either expect to see the name of this blog change, or a new one crop up in the next month or two, and the project name (which has absolutely no bearing on the final game) should be decided when we meet on Saturday to go over our progress over the past month. I hope to reveal both to the public as soon as possible, but with the matter of studio name that will have to remain under wraps until it's formally established and we purchase a domain for it. Who cares about a studio name any way?
Well, my cough is acting up again so I should be getting back to bed. Sorry I didn't have more to share, but I promise you there's a lot of exciting stuff waiting just beyond the horizon. Now of only the semester were over so I could get to work on all this stuff like a man possessed! Till next time, stay well, and if you have a fever for more than 4 days, well, I hope you have health insurance!
This is probably the most sick I've ever been over an extended period of time. I've been pretty much bed ridden since March 2nd, and my productivity in all things has essentially hit zero. In fact, the only reason why I'm able to post up this blog entry is because I just woke up a few hours ago and I need to occupy myself with something that doesn't take too much mental energy until I can rest again. Still, at least I can talk about what's been going on this past month.
First up, I have a few screenshots to show for the game I'm working on in my Game Design class. Enjoy!
Here we have a simple terrain.
And the top-down view.
This Terrain I roughed out in a few hours for the tactical RPG I'm working on. Oh how I wish I had more time to work on this game. Sadly, my Data Structures class seems to hog every possible second it can like the greedy class it is. I may have more to show next month, but don't count on it.
Next up, 8-Bit Dimension! The game I wish I had the time to finish already. I haven't been able to put any effort into it since before the semester started, but I'm determined to put some time aside next week when spring break begins. At present due to my illness I'll need to spend significant time catching up on all of my school work, so I expect to bring Beta1 from about 50% done to some where around 75% done. I had hoped to finish Beta1 during Spring Break to allow a lengthy period for Q&A while I wrap up the semester, but it looks like right now I will have to try and wrap up the entire thing in the early summer. On the plus side, I finally found someone willing to do sound for the game, so expect sound some where down the pipeline at or before final release.
Finally, the mystery Android game I talked about last month is well under way. Due to the entire team being students, we're taking a slow and steady approach to working on the game until the semester ends, at which point it will pretty much become a full-time job in the hopes we can meet a September release. We have a studio name chosen which means you can either expect to see the name of this blog change, or a new one crop up in the next month or two, and the project name (which has absolutely no bearing on the final game) should be decided when we meet on Saturday to go over our progress over the past month. I hope to reveal both to the public as soon as possible, but with the matter of studio name that will have to remain under wraps until it's formally established and we purchase a domain for it. Who cares about a studio name any way?
Well, my cough is acting up again so I should be getting back to bed. Sorry I didn't have more to share, but I promise you there's a lot of exciting stuff waiting just beyond the horizon. Now of only the semester were over so I could get to work on all this stuff like a man possessed! Till next time, stay well, and if you have a fever for more than 4 days, well, I hope you have health insurance!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
February Update
It's February and school is officially in full swing. This semester has me swamped with even more work than last semester, something I didn't think was possible! In addition, it is beginning to look more and more like my Fall semester will see me going to Drexel University. A frustrating experience as this will kill my independent study time, but necessary as I know my knowledge of the material will eventually plateau without learning from professionals.
Onto news regarding my current projects!
8-Bit Dimension has seen some work since the Alpha v2 Release last month. I managed to get the Beta roughly half way done before the semester started. Sadly, once classes started, all work on that was put to a halt so I could focus on my classes. It's gotten so bad I've had to shelve ALL games to focus on my school work. Next up is my social life and a majority of my non-academic obligations if I find I can't keep up with the work load. Still, I'm hoping I can sneak in a little work next month during spring break assuming my professors don't see the vacation as an opportunity to unload a mountain of work upon me.
I've also done some minor touch ups on my "Ring of Fire" game that I made last semester. Still nothing amazing enough to re-release a new version, but you may see it at some point down the pipeline when I embrace my lack of a life and accept my computer chair bound destiny. This semester in Game Design I we will be working with Unity, and I plan on making a bare bones 3D tactical RPG. I might even have some screen shots to show off next month with my awful Maya modeling skills. I never claimed to be an artist.
There is, however, another game I have not mentioned before on this blog. A game spoken of in hushed tones as not to rouse the creative minds at Zynga. In less than 24 hours I will begin production on my first commercial endeavor with two pleasant and very talented individuals. I would say more, but many of the finer details are still in the works. For now, let's just say it -might- be an Android game, and I -might- need to direct you to a new blog in a few months. Needless to say, I'm really excited and have the support of a few individuals who have much more experience in the game industry than I do.
And that's that. I'll be back next month with some goodies to share with all of you. Until then, be safe, and have fun playing the games you love!
Onto news regarding my current projects!
8-Bit Dimension has seen some work since the Alpha v2 Release last month. I managed to get the Beta roughly half way done before the semester started. Sadly, once classes started, all work on that was put to a halt so I could focus on my classes. It's gotten so bad I've had to shelve ALL games to focus on my school work. Next up is my social life and a majority of my non-academic obligations if I find I can't keep up with the work load. Still, I'm hoping I can sneak in a little work next month during spring break assuming my professors don't see the vacation as an opportunity to unload a mountain of work upon me.
I've also done some minor touch ups on my "Ring of Fire" game that I made last semester. Still nothing amazing enough to re-release a new version, but you may see it at some point down the pipeline when I embrace my lack of a life and accept my computer chair bound destiny. This semester in Game Design I we will be working with Unity, and I plan on making a bare bones 3D tactical RPG. I might even have some screen shots to show off next month with my awful Maya modeling skills. I never claimed to be an artist.
There is, however, another game I have not mentioned before on this blog. A game spoken of in hushed tones as not to rouse the creative minds at Zynga. In less than 24 hours I will begin production on my first commercial endeavor with two pleasant and very talented individuals. I would say more, but many of the finer details are still in the works. For now, let's just say it -might- be an Android game, and I -might- need to direct you to a new blog in a few months. Needless to say, I'm really excited and have the support of a few individuals who have much more experience in the game industry than I do.
And that's that. I'll be back next month with some goodies to share with all of you. Until then, be safe, and have fun playing the games you love!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
8-Bit Dimension Alpha 2
The download for the new version can be found here.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday season! After a holiday break and a nice trip that left me pretty sick, I've put the finishing touches on Alpha 2. I just got back home late last night, so I'm in the process of catching up with every thing that I've missed here in New Jersey since I left. After I take care of that and I do a little recovery I plan on starting work on the Beta version of 8-Bit Dimension.
Unfortunately, I can't give an accurate prediction as to when that might be available. School starts again in roughly 2 weeks, as will my work on another project. I've allotted time to complete at least 25% of the necessary work for Beta 1 before my classes start again. As usual, if I find I have more free time than expected, some of that will be put towards expediting the work on Beta 1. Also, as was the case with the last two school semesters, any development schedule will go out the window once school starts, and I'll be lucky to make ANY headway with the game. As a man of my word, I can guarantee that the full version will eventually be up, and it will be up at the soonest possible point.
Now, as for the change log for Alpha v2, I made the following improvements to the game:
- Added controller support. (See below for more information)
- Added a score mechanic.
- Added a set number of lives. A player starts with 2 and may obtain up to 6 extra lives as their score increases. If the player has no extra lives remaining and loses a ball, it will be Game Over.
- Added a level indicator.
- Added a pause feature.
- Added scaling difficulty. The ball will now increase in speed periodically when it collides with blocks. The silver blocks will affect the speed by a greater measure than the colored blocks. In addition, colliding with the upper wall will automatically set the speed of the ball to a new minimum if it hasn't reached that speed yet.
- Added items. (Note: Item effects have not been added to the Alpha version. Rather, it is currently an empty place holder in an effort to get feedback on item appearance rates.)
Controller support is extremely basic as befits an arcade game such as this. As with Mana Clash, it was designed utilizing a traditional NES controller to recapture the retro feel, and there is no way to re-map the buttons in game, so you will have to use your own button remapping software if you are using a different controller.
D-Pad: Controls movement.
Button 0: Fire the spell.
Button 3: Pauses the game.
Beta 1 will focus on item effects and rates. I plan to have several different effects that items will have on game play, and thus will need lots of time to properly implement and test each one. In addition to managing the items, I hope to implement roaming enemies and perhaps a new level, but that will depend solely upon the progress made in getting the items to work properly. As usual, please feel free to give me any constructive criticism you can so that I can continue to improve upon the game.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday season! After a holiday break and a nice trip that left me pretty sick, I've put the finishing touches on Alpha 2. I just got back home late last night, so I'm in the process of catching up with every thing that I've missed here in New Jersey since I left. After I take care of that and I do a little recovery I plan on starting work on the Beta version of 8-Bit Dimension.
Unfortunately, I can't give an accurate prediction as to when that might be available. School starts again in roughly 2 weeks, as will my work on another project. I've allotted time to complete at least 25% of the necessary work for Beta 1 before my classes start again. As usual, if I find I have more free time than expected, some of that will be put towards expediting the work on Beta 1. Also, as was the case with the last two school semesters, any development schedule will go out the window once school starts, and I'll be lucky to make ANY headway with the game. As a man of my word, I can guarantee that the full version will eventually be up, and it will be up at the soonest possible point.
Now, as for the change log for Alpha v2, I made the following improvements to the game:
- Added controller support. (See below for more information)
- Added a score mechanic.
- Added a set number of lives. A player starts with 2 and may obtain up to 6 extra lives as their score increases. If the player has no extra lives remaining and loses a ball, it will be Game Over.
- Added a level indicator.
- Added a pause feature.
- Added scaling difficulty. The ball will now increase in speed periodically when it collides with blocks. The silver blocks will affect the speed by a greater measure than the colored blocks. In addition, colliding with the upper wall will automatically set the speed of the ball to a new minimum if it hasn't reached that speed yet.
- Added items. (Note: Item effects have not been added to the Alpha version. Rather, it is currently an empty place holder in an effort to get feedback on item appearance rates.)
Controller support is extremely basic as befits an arcade game such as this. As with Mana Clash, it was designed utilizing a traditional NES controller to recapture the retro feel, and there is no way to re-map the buttons in game, so you will have to use your own button remapping software if you are using a different controller.
D-Pad: Controls movement.
Button 0: Fire the spell.
Button 3: Pauses the game.
Beta 1 will focus on item effects and rates. I plan to have several different effects that items will have on game play, and thus will need lots of time to properly implement and test each one. In addition to managing the items, I hope to implement roaming enemies and perhaps a new level, but that will depend solely upon the progress made in getting the items to work properly. As usual, please feel free to give me any constructive criticism you can so that I can continue to improve upon the game.
Monday, December 24, 2012
8 Bit Dimension Alpha 1
The download for 8 Bit Dimension Alpha 1 can be found here.
In order to run the game, download and unzip the .rar file. Then, in the destination you unzipped it to, look for the "8BitDimension v.0.3.6.exe" file and simply double click it to run. Feel free to rename the file in order to make it easier to find, but do not remove it from the folder with the rest of the files. The .exe needs all of those other files in order to run properly.
Future releases will see the addition of controller support, score keeping, power-ups, enemies, scaling difficulty, and sound and a few other surprises I'd rather not spoil yet.
Enjoy!
What is 8 Bit Dimension?
8 Bit Dimension is a Break-Out! style game, where you are a character that has journeyed into the 8 Bit Realm of video games to find the cause of missing and corrupt data. Trapped in the seemingly random assortment of blocks are objects and characters from retro video games that must be saved by destroying the blocks of code that imprison them. With your trusty shield, advance through the levels, gain power ups, and save the games!Controls:
Left & Right Arrow Keys: Move the Shield back and forth to prevent your "debugging" spell from being destroyed.Misc. Notes:
This is a bare bones playable version of the game with two repeating levels. Lives are toggled off in this version in order to allow the player to test bugs without constantly getting Game Over. Currently, there is no pause ability or controller support. Expect them for Alpha v2!In order to run the game, download and unzip the .rar file. Then, in the destination you unzipped it to, look for the "8BitDimension v.0.3.6.exe" file and simply double click it to run. Feel free to rename the file in order to make it easier to find, but do not remove it from the folder with the rest of the files. The .exe needs all of those other files in order to run properly.
Future releases will see the addition of controller support, score keeping, power-ups, enemies, scaling difficulty, and sound and a few other surprises I'd rather not spoil yet.
Enjoy!
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