ES Development Laboratory Journal

The Definitive Definition of being an Indie, Indiependent and Independent Creator

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:37:00 +0000

This post is in response to a forum discussion on 'The Escapist' article regarding Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson comments on Electronic Art's indie bundle as well as a article on RedLynx (creators of Trials Evolution) being acquired and there thoughts on indie / independence dilemma.

I thought I'd address what seems to be a constant re-occurrence of the misunderstanding of what exactly is and makes an entity indie & / or independent. So, I'll risk giving a definitive, full-stop, once and for all definition below (plus it's handy for an excuse to update the long-neglected blog as well! :)

Independent Creator:
So, an Independent entity is someone that creates the product / content they want to create regardless of how they obtain the required finance, distribution and advertising / marketing for that product.

In other words, there is no outside entity having a majority influence over what they make and how it turns out from the original core-organic vision.

Of course, if it's a commercial product the current market and other factors will come into play somewhat when it comes to how much compromise & partnering (publisher, third-party tools etc) is required to get the game to the level of success desired but in this context, it depends on how much of these compromises change the control and outcome of the resulting creation which will also dictate whether it is still been independently made or not.

For example, being published by EA or having a billion dollars to spend on your game does not all of a sudden render the creation non-independent.

Indie / Indiependent Creator:
An indie developer is an entity that is not affiliated, published or reasonably financed by an established / major player be it a partner or themselves.

Indie more describes what promotion / distribution & financial assets are at your disposal rather than how or why you create the product's you create. This also means that if you become an entity that is consider major / established you can no longer call yourself indie.

For instance, Thatgamecompany and it's games have been described as indie and indie-hits. While this was probably true around the time they released Flow 'indiependently' as an online flash game, the moment they signed a contract with an established major player like Sony for promotion, distribution and / or support, in addition to becoming an established major player themselves, they graduated from being 'independent indie' to 'independent' only.

This is also the case for Minecraft creator Mojang (as somewhat alluded by "Notch" himself), no longer indie but still independent and making the content they want to make / play.

Point being indie and independent are not co-dependent on each other. You can be indie or non-indie and still be independent or otherwise, but (especially in the context of growth & commercial endeavours) independent creators should aim to graduate from being indie while still striving to keep their independence on the 'creative' and 'choice' front.

Closing:
In saying this, I think there's also room for at least some other context's of the meaning a little. For instance, the 'garage-developer' / 'homebrew-indie' for the zero budget creator or something, however regardless of this, the base definition still stands.

Making Game Development more FLEX'ible

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Updated 19/1/11 22:59 with new screenshot and name below!

I was going to originally going to just quickly post some in-development screenshots of a Tile Engine (Called 'E-Phoria Tile Engine' for the moment) I've been toying around with previously in Flash (it took ages with the side dialogs and desktop standards based stuff, thus it remains unfinished due to this) and now in Flex Builder and leave a brief comment about the size of this paragraph, but, well, here we are.

I've been tweeting about Flex a bit recently (I've had it for a while but never 'got it' till now) and the reason for this is I believe it will be a lot easier to realise interfaces, applications and in-dialog Flash game stuff in Flex (and specifically the builder) since it does most of the wheel (not reinventing and all that) work for you so can effectively focus on the design of the vehicle (nice analogy no? :D).

Flash version (I'm still using cs4 mind)

Flash Builder version (I'm still on Flex Builder 3)

Flex also has implications on the last post regarding gDn in that it will allow me to replace all the user interaction elements with cleaner (or rich as they like to call it) elements that respond to input in realtime rather then via page refreshes and redirects plus offers optional effects and flare (kinda like using javascript via actionscript if you will).

It should also make creating the module dialogs gDn requires for integration within flash games much more easier and unified, creating a consistent and clean experience (if done right it could be a design / code once deploy everywhere effect). That should lower sign-up friction for you wonderful people and speed-up development for me (and make GUI development more joyous in general).

Some of this is theoretical (in-terms of actual completed practice) but provided I keep my focus and have correctly understood all my study / practical around Flex Builder, it should pan out as above in most if not all cases.

E-Phoria in the design view of Flex Builder, still lots of bits & pieces to add to get it to the Flash version's maturity, but it should be a cinch now.

Update #1 - 19/1/11 22:59
Decided to go with the name E-Phoria TileMason (I was gonna go with TileSmith :S) for the moment and I've also added a file menu that works in Windows & Mac with shortcut keys (no additional code necessary) via the excellent code-once work everywhere Flex native menu, sweet!

New File Menu, real shortcut keys and a snazzy new name (TileMason), well, it's better then that other name, right?

Current progress and the gameDentity network

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Generally I don't do as many of these blog posts as often as I should because I generally take too long to write em' and sometimes find it hard to justify with currently low views / comments etc, however, on this occasion I'll try to be concise and quick!

Lets go back a few months
As you may (or may not) remember from previous posts , I had been working on completing aDance, my physics-based arena dodging arcade game and even did a vlog for it. I also began talking about big ideas of including achievements and an in-game indie music play system.

All of this was well and good, but I came to realise I was very limited in my ability to actually deliver and implement these features in any of my creations due to the fact that my skill-set was limited in the necessary areas to do so. I was stuck with relying on other third-party options (such as mochi, heyzap, gamersafe and the like) to implement some of these features or hack around them to make them work in a non-seamless fashion, not ideal and not good.

Now I'm not bashing these 3rd party options, they save time and enable many developers to earn money and socialise their content which is great, however if you want certain features implemented (such as a proper achievements system rather then the medals in mochi) you have to either hope and wait, hack it around the provided features or (as they rightfully often say) implement it yourself, so that's just what I decided to do! :)

Databases, PHP, MySQL, CSS and all things Dynamic Web
Around the 23rd of August of this year (around the same time 2 years that I started my journey with Flash), I began learning all the necessary web technologies to implement my OWN gaming and community platform (an ability I was always missing in my development tool-kit) for the above (and a few other) reasons.

I'm not gonna go through all the technically terms and details (Wikipedia's real good for that), but I can safely say that PHP was a tough but joyful language to learn and was made all the more easier because actionscript is very similar too it.

The hardest parts to learn were probably things like security (very important), relative file loading / linking and the differences in Class and Object based development in PHP vs Actionscript. Once I got my head around things like this it was simply a case of combining it with Dreamweaver, MySQL and AMFPHP, which results in me having a system that has the capability of doing all the things previously stated and all the things in my head, on the website and off via Flash.

Introducing the gameDentity™ network
And so gameDentity (or #gDn) is born. It will be entering beta 0.01 very soon and in a sentence I describe it as a Premium Social Core-Gaming Network.

The primary goal is for it to be a complete back-end, profile / user link and community system for Eternal Syndrome games and content (online and desktop). It's going to be online gaming's answer to XBox Live which I'm a huge fan of and use a lot (once I implement the online game play module).

The features include (some implemented already):

User Account Profile
Achievements (Currently 6 - 8 types including Titles, Treasures and classic types)
Leaderboards (Fully customisable and can contain many columns of criteria)
Save / Load system
Site and Flash based Login (works anywhere Flash does thanks to AMFPHP)
Native virtual currency (gCash)
Stats via gXP and gPoint (which can be used to get savings on premium content)
And more...

It has the flexibility and capability of allow third-party developers and partners to use the system.

Most of thee above will much easier to understand and visualise once it's out their in the wild, but as an example, a game like Diamond Raider will have treasure achievements for finding limited special treasured Diamond types that are only available dynamically to a limited amount of players and therefore highly sought after, think of it as the achievement only the quick and great get.

Right that's it, this was almost a hour in writing and I've still got a lot of work to do on this, mainly the Flash gDn modules, so thanks for reading and my twitter (@eternalsyndrome) is really the best place for regular / up to minute development updates. Thanks again!

All your musics are belong to us.

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Posted this elsewhere earlier and thought since the image is so awesome and the post became so long, it was worthy of a dev lab update.

So, what I'm thinking of doing is potentially including great indie music artists tracks in-game (with permission first of course). The mock-up image below shows how the music player (called the ES Ra(u)dio Player, pronounced Raw-d-o) dialog will probably look and shows the ability for the user to find out more information about an artist / track as well buy content from them (Your album cover doesn't need to be as dope as Big Dog Mendoza's).

From avoiDance Concept

Basically (to begin with at least) aDance gets free cool music streamed in-game that matches the style / arena theme and musicians get extra listeners / fans for their music, a bit like EA Trax but indie with included artists getting direct links and an opportunity to sell their content to potentially millions of players (that's what a top end flash game gets, I'm aiming at that floor). All content will be served via XML meaning easy live updates of songs, descriptions and links. Artists will have the ability to see how many players do what with your content (ie click the buy button or add to their favourites etc).

This is all brainstorming at the moment and an idea based on the fact that I do exactly the same thing with arena content (xml based data) currently.

Right, that's all, I need to actual get back to game development for some new content to share, back to the carnage I suppose.

If a Picture says a 1000 words how much more does Music say?

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:12:00 +0000

Today I'm showcasing (or rather spotlighting) some of the current music from aDance. Thus far they're 2 tracks (not including bumpers / stingers) but they may be replaced or change depending on where the development goes. Enjoy (or at least try too, ok?).

Main Menu Music

First up, the main menu music for my current game in development, 'avoiDance Concept'. This was my first track in FL Studio and all things considered I think it's pretty good, prior to this I made tracks only in ejay software (great for quick / start level track making).

Adance Concept Main Course by eternalsyndrome

Originally I was using some placeholder commercial tracks that were perhaps better then their current replacements but with my current budget (that being zero) I had to take advantage of my prior wise investments and finally get to learning / using FL Studio and my trusty Axiom 49 (it's a DAW hardware Army knife, serious). 'Hear' before are you the results of such a predicament.

This was my first opportunity to get real serious with it and I look forward to making more tracks and more importantly better at creating the sound that's in my head rather then just what sounds right or is just close enough which to this point I haven't reached yet.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience being a big fan of music and how it can set the scene, feel, mood and atmosphere for an environment, situation and creative work such as games (big fan of the retro / chip music too). It just seems to have a special God-given attribute that makes it special individually and as a part of something.

Ingame Music

Ok, so this is the ingame music track (the music you hear when playing the game, but, you knew that already, right?).

Ingame Action by eternalsyndrome

Overall I think it's pretty good and does it's job well, I'm most pleased however with it's accompanying Stinger and Bumper (I think does are the terms, if not, feel free to use them to make it so) sounds, which play after losing or winning in an arena. The technique is pretty simply really, upward chords for the Bumper and reverse downward for the Stinger (with a black key or two if I remember rightly).

You can find out and hear more tracks (if I've uploaded them already of course :D) as well as other developments of this independent game via here (naturally) and the links below. Thanks in advance for listening, commenting, following, liking, hating, stalking, stealing (ok, don't do a few of those, seriously).

ES Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eternalsyndrome
Dev Lab Vlog / ESTV: http://www.youtube.com/eternalsyndrome
Emmunity Forums: http://www.emmunityforums.eternalsyndrome.com
ES IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/members/eternalsyndrome
ES IndieDB (Game): http://www.indiedb.com/members/eternalsyndrome
ES Flash Game Portal: http://www.flashgamesretreat.com

All your achievement are belong to us.

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:11:00 +0000

A preview design sample of the ingame achievement dialog and achievement icons (as well as some of the actual achievements that will be available for you to gain in-game!)

From avoiDance Concept - Click the image or here for full-fat version!

First ES Dev Vlog by Indie Game Developer Eternal Syndrome for Freemium Flash Game 'avoiDance Concept'.

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:08:00 +0000

First off, sorry for the frame drops and any other dodginess, it's my first, I'll get better with time, your help and patience! :)

The game is still in development at this point and the first vlog features some gameplay from arena1_mc accompanied by my (Leroy 'The 1nteger' Frederick - Developer) smooth vocals to boot talking about the game and vlog in general ;)

avoiDance in a sentence is Unadulterated and Unashamed Core-Gaming, Orb-Dodging, Blood-Pumping Arena action experience!

If you have watched or are about to watch this vlog I really appreciate it, to that end, feel free to Comment, Subscribe, Like / Dislike, Follow, Stalk (ok, don't do that, seriously) etc. Links & the like are below!

ES Twitter: Twitter.com
Dev Lab Vlog / ESTV: Youtube.com
Emmunity Forums: Emmunityforums.eternalsynd...
ES Flash Game Portal: Flashgamesretreat.com

Thanks again and look out for more very, very soon

Overall quick update and info on project 'stronghand'

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:34:00 +0000

General Update
So, I'm back from updating my 'Flash Skillz' so to speak which I've been doing a few months now and have begun putting them to good use. These new skills are fundamentally based on things that have created a better understanding of object oriented programming, creating reusable global classes (e.g. MathES.returnValueWithZeros(55, 3); returns the string (that's text) 055 and can be used everywhere in an as3 project without change) and just being better organised and consistent in Flash / as3 to create and test ideas quickly and efficiently (like using as3 Vectors instead of Array's when valid, I know, very techy speak :S).

I've also been looking at the free engine API's Flashpunk and Flixel where I've been looking to experiment with doing so fan remakes of classic games (they seem to be heavily retro game leaned). I've made good progress with Flashpunk but got stuck with collision (due to send a forum post for that), but thankfully I got it working successfully in the Flash IDE at least (it's meant for originally for Flex / FlashDevelop environments only). This is beneficial of course because if you do happen to have the Flash IDE, doing things like animation / interfaces is a doddle (you have to code all of this with the aforementioned API's which is a little backwards in my opinion).

Project 'stronghand'
I'm now just updating and improving my first premium flash game project aDance, codename 'stronghand' which will involve testing and adding new gameplay elements / environments, complete consistent new look, adding and adjusting elements according to feedback, completing mochi elements such as coins and social API (facebook / twitter etc), adding achievements (got the list already, but some may be arena based, so I need to account for that), improving the menu system (it's sleek already but I want to make it more engaging and entice play, I'll be looking at things such as Burnout 3, Flatout and other arena / track based progression games too) and many other tasks.

I'll have all these done by / before Monday next week and will be adding more info and pictures etc as valid around that time which will in turn help with the context of this update post and future posts regarding aDance, but for the moment here's the sell.

In one sentence:
Unadulterated and Unashamed Core-Gaming, Orb-Dodging, Blood-Pumping Arena action!

In one paragraph:
Unadulterated and Unashamed Core-Gaming, Orb-Dodging, Blood-Pumping Arena action! Avoid, Dance, Duck and Dive your way around the Danger Orbs and get to those score zones in an attempt to make the cut in the various exciting & challenging physics-based Arenas! This freemium game takes great advantage of the high-end Box2d physics engine making for a unique, exhilarating and high energy gaming experience!

Slight of Sight gets Reshuffled!

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:26:00 +0000

Well, I've been on and off on different projects of late (however a lot less so then previous thank God) but I've yet to have one fully complete this year (although a few are near to that and strong projects at too).

One of my main aims for 2010 has been to complete 3 or more games both in the creation and play sense (quality over quantity I know, but still) and thus far I've completed 2 games play-wise (Portal and Half-Life 2, great games, nice job Valve), now I think it's time for the game creation side to get similar treatment!

Time for a Reshuffle!
Over the last few days I've been working on creating a new version of Sleight of Sight (SOS) which incorporates many of the feature requests by many of the thousands of players. In truth, the original was just a tester for my first foray into Flash so most the requested features came as no surprise to me.

In short, the original as intended was very simple, but in turn too simple for repeat plays or anything above 3 Stars (out of 5). You can play it here if you haven't already or fancy a bit of nostalgia Play SOS.

The originals weaknesses came in that it was limited to 3 Covers (I meticulously animated each rotation scenario back then), little variety and the shuffling speed was done via adjusting the frame rate (which caused some speed issues for a small few).

The new version, which will be called Sleight of Sight - Reshuffled, is pretty much a vastly improved sequel.

In actuality I've been working on-it on and off since the updated release of SOS back in August of 09. It was only on about 2 days ago that I finally got my head around how to do smooth angled orbiting rotations in Flash (thanks Actionscript 3 Cookbook), which was the only way (other then rough diagonal / x.y shuffles) to creating an expansive and improved version of SOS. My excuse for it taking so long is in part due to the fact I'm not a super-math guy (yet anyway) and I tend to work best with making technical code work rather then create said technical code in most cases.

The New Shuffle!
To that end, currently I have the following features working nicely:

Dynamically created Covers and Targets which means Covers and Targets are only limited by the users screen size and hardware (3, 5, 10, 20 covers with 1, 2, 5 targets etc).
Math based rotation meaning the speed can now be adjusted based on time rather the frame rate (that's the idea, still got to implement accurate speed increases). This is also why I'm able to have as many covers as desired.
Multiple line Covers. This means I can make you guys and gals suffer trying to keep track of the target objects in 2, 3, 5+ rows of covers
AI bluffing. This means the shuffle can change directions mid way, back and forth
AI Multiple Shuffles. Obviously with 3 covers only 1 shuffle at a time was necessary. With an unlimited set having 1 shuffle at a time would be kinda lame, so there can be as many as available to swap, this also adds to the variety and challenge of the classic concept.

Yet to be Shuffled!
Quite impressive I think for 2 days work, but there's still a little more work to be done. This rapid development has been possible due to the other projects in development's codebase, a sexy in-house framework and more experience on my part in general. Below are some dev screenies, not massively exciting and hard articulate without seeing motion, but hey.

So, still on the To-Do list (disclaimer: None of there are guarantees, so just hope rather then assume ;) are:

Index order of covers correctly on shuffle to insure the right object is above or below the other correctly
New Timer-based speed increase system
Re-Introduce the blur effect in the correct position and with a new time-based system
Custom and / or intelligent zooming in and out of scene for larger cover amounts
Create and Test distractions feature
Decide upon final game modes and features

Now, if you look at the last post, you'd be forgiven for thinking this might not happen (or at least not for a while), but hopefully I can buck this trend of mine this year. Next update will likely be when I have these to-do list features owned! Hope to see you then!

Diamond Raiding, updates and much regurgitations

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:20:00 +0000

Well, as promised, I'm updating the Dev Lab blog and will be doing so regularly this time, honestly! (Assuming anyone cares in the first place)

Overview of the game:

Anyhow, my latest game in the laboratory cooking pot is Diamond Raider. Diamond Raider is based off the classic Atari 800 game Crystal Raider by Matthew Trimby. The aim of the game is to raid all the diamonds in a room without being hit by a foe or hazard. You also shouldn't linger in the same room for too long or your oxygen will run out (mostly due to foe's harsh odour!).

It's being developed in Flash with a premium feature set in mind (not a simple average 3 minute throwaway flash game as many are) with features such as save / loading, open-ended rooms (like the original), profile system, speed run mode and other fuller game features.

It was first announced on Flash Games License (if you have an account, you can try it here) and the mochi forums (both for the purposes sponsorship, so if you happen to be one, don't be shy). Because of this, this issue will be mostly a regurgitation of the aforementioned mochi post (ironically, most of the mochi post is a regurgitation of the FGL post, so I guess the majority of this post is one whole regurgitation of, well, other regurgitations).

It's still in development and I'll be charting it's development throughout, here's a list of the current features completed:

This version showcases the following features:

Complete Classic gameplay mechanic
10 (open ended) Rooms
Original levels as in the original game
Day and Night time modes as the original
Modern elements for the modern gamer
4-Slot local Profile system for saving of username, settings and hi-score (this of course can be replaced with custom valid API(s))
Local hi-score for extra motivation and faithfulness to the original
Pixel Perfect collision

In addition to thee above:

The finished game will include:

50 (open ended) rooms (10 are on display in this version)
Speed Run game mode (Looking for a good solution / api to save username, time and score for each room)
Token-based Save & Load system (awarded for each cleared room for challenge)
Online-Hi score menu for Raider mode (That's featured here and is the default mode)
(Maybe) A choice of characters (female etc)
And obviously any fixes and improvements where valid

Known issues:

May be a delay in sound due to error in flash cs4 compiler (I think)
Exiting through west and east (left and right) pathways while jumping can result in misplacement of player's position in new room.

So why Crystal Raider:

Simple, I think it's the best way for me to knock out a quick game and make a some dollars (or pounds, I'm not fussy) quickly. In addition to this, I... No, no, just kidding. First and foremost, it's one of my all time favourite classic games as well as one I've had a lot of ideas for which makes the development process a lot easier. Secondly for me it's the right level of learning curve, challenge and ease. Thirdly, I think it fit's perfectly into my current focus and strategy for Eternal Syndrome, I'll guess we'll see on that one.

I've got a bigger plan for Diamond Raider then what's on current display (and this is perhaps where most of the premium part lies), but I need to do some proof of concept on the head / paper ideas in the lab and see where they fit (they don't necessarily fit with THIS iteration perhaps).

Anyway, I'll talk more about it tomorrow or something, this social networking stuff is tiring

Updates:

Other then that, I've put a new sexy flash rss news widget thingy on the site courtesy of springwidgets with the idea being pushing content via my forum's rss, so updating news should be a little easier and up to the minute. In addition to this I got a few things on the cooker which I'll blog about when and where valid.

Forgive me in advance if there's a bunch of spelling mistakes or grammatically errors etc, I figured (at least in this context) if I don't stress on these things too heavily as I use to, I might actually keep this up for once, for me (at the least) if not for anyone else, so later!

Just a quick update...

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Wow, well over a year since my last post. I guess for 2009 I'll have to try better at making more regular updates here more often and this is the first attempt.

I've updated the links, cleaned up the place a bit and added a few new gadgets such as my friendfeed on the right which is one of the best ways to keep up with what ES is doing since it auto-updates as I do stuff, like post this very post!

Other then that I'll be posting about the next game on the horizon which is (God / me willing) very soon. In addition to that I'll post some aims for 2009 or something along the line from a game development /business point of view (assuming I remember, I'm sure I will ;))

That's it for now, no pictures, actually, here's a picture from my 2008 game release 'Sleight of Sight' in case you missed it. It's a fun little first effort made in Flash and is free to play online at the new Flash Games Retreat site! Remember, Blink and you'll miss it!

Imitate finally released! (Free demo and new games site)

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:45:00 +0000

Well, it gives me great pleasure to finally announce the official release of Imitate!

What is Imitate?
Imitate is the ultimate memory strain evaluation! You will be given a limited amount of tries, an ever-increasing amount of actions (clicks) to imitate (repeat) and a wild array of tricky click object layout patterns and sizes.

And your successes won't go unnoticed with many features and secrets to unlock, you'll even improve your memory while playing! (non-scientifically proven!).

Where can I find out more and try the free demo?
You can find out more at the new Eternal Syndrome | ENTERTAINMENT website:
http://www.entertainment.eternalsyndrome.com/v1-00/games/imitate/index.asp

What's the Features List?

1 or 2 Players? Play against the computer alone or with a friend off-line!
3 Game modes including Grid and Pattern!
Superb character-like AI including bluffs, diversion tactics and unpredictable movement!
A Selection of Difficulty levels varying the challenge and personality of the AI!
Enjoy and discover a plethora of dazzling scrolling backdrops to aid (or distract?) your imitations!
Unlockable secret content and cheat code access grid system!
Nice selection of fun character avatars to choose from!
Improve your brain without a stylus pen!
Free premium-quality updates & support!
Free premium-quality Emmunity & Forum!
30 Day money back guarantee as standard!

Where do I get the free trial demo and how much does it cost for the full version?
You can download the free trial demo here! This is the full version of the game and it works for a generous 30 minutes which gives you more then enough time to get a feel for the game and it's different modes and features. The normal price is £10.00 / $19.95 / €17.95, but to mark this event with a bang you can take advantage (good until Wednesday 8th August 2007) of a special 15% discount with this coupon code (just enter it at checkout!): 5580BDAD

Thanks to everyone that aided or helped in any shape or form to the development and final completion of this project including friends, family and fellow developers/users at garage games, indie gamer forum and all the other communities/sites! Thank you all! :0)

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHECK OUT/TRY THIS PRODUCT. DON'T FORGET MANY MAN (& WOMAN) HOURS HAVE BEEN PUT INTO THIS PRODUCTION, SO IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT & SUPPORT INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS LIKE 'the E'! IF YOU'VE DONE SO ALREADY THEN GOD BLESS, ENJOY AND THANK YOU! :0)

Imitation Imminent! (Imitate soon suitable for human consumption!)

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:00:00 +0000

Hello again all, (sorry, this one's a biggy!)

Well, I've been a bit slack with the journal updates on this project (last entry was just over 3 months ago!), but certainly not slack with the progress of this and other projects!

So the game (Imitate) has finally been tested and played by people other then myself albeit only f's and f (friends and family), and the overall feedback was better then I expected, not because of the game as such, but rather because of the kind of game it is I guess (different from the usual indie stroke casual fair). It seems the improvements (especially in AI) have given the computer a personality of it's own, and causes you to want to beat it (and your opponent) at it's own game! Because it was f's and f, I decided it would be wise to give them no help whatsoever, in the hope that it would be like anyone of you out-there playing for the first time. This was very fruitful (especially compared to 'The Qube' testing session, where everyone would ask me 'Leroy, how do you do this' and 'what button does this' etc, etc) and gave me lots of pointers on how to improve and make v1.00 easier to play.

So what's different from the last blogged version of Imitate and v2.00, well, in short, LOTS! Here's the science part...

The save and load system is finished and pretty much fully working (still need to fix the quickload). It's a 4 slot (per user profile) save system (1 quicksave slot via F5 key) which allows you to quickly save your game. I was planning to perhaps incorporate the 'casual' game save system (no saving, just maps and dots), but this may delay an already late game and was somewhat unnecessary for this game type (I may switch/add it in an update though).

Game modes have been established and working (3 in all, 1 unlockable). There is no longer a mode that tests your hearing as I just couldn't figure how to make it fly, instead you have Grid (ladder style), Pattern and Mixed.

If you were paying attention last journal, you'll also notice the backgrounds and click objects have been changed dramatically (I'm saving the pd particles images for another project ;)). There are now almost 2 dozen scrolling backgrounds to enjoy and discover while playing (check out the video(s)). There are also new click objects per game mode to give each mode more identity and visual variety.

There is now also the inclusion of incentives (or bribes) and unlockable secrets to keep you interested and playing. I obviously can't say what these are, but I will say your greatest achievements won't go unnoticed and should you ever get impatient or desperate, you can always try the grid access code input facility ;)

The unlockable Goodies window will help you keep up with what's locked and unlocked and how to unlock it when valid, also...

Another new addition is that Trophies are awarded if you successfully conquer a game mode. You also be given difficulty stars depending on which difficulty level you completed the game at.

So the final list of things to do reads like this (no majors bugs on this occasion!):

MEDIUM: Fix the Quickload function (make sure it's loading all save data)
MEDIUM: Add a check to make sure the Top Mimics file exists so data can be written/checked correctly.
MINOR: Correct the save status icon showing as valid in 2 player games.
MINOR: Make sure various message graphics aren't present during computer/player turns.

General clean, update links and a quick final testing.
Complete final touches to new gaming division (www.entertainment.eternalsyndrome.com)
Finalise marketing angles /messages for the game.
Upload to the website and create a dedicated section on website.
Possibly finish and upload major upgrade of main website HQ.
Begin marketing /advertising and submission of product.

Of course, some of thee above may be subject to change, so it can be released sooner. The planned release date is on or before July 1st 2007, so be sure to join one of the communication methods below to be the first to know.

Right, that's it for now, thanks for reading / looking, be sure to checkout some of the links/video etc and feel free to leave your comments :0)

www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/imitate
--- New Invision Power Board Forum (some nice features) - www.emmunityforums.eternalsyndrome.com
--- ESHQ - www.eternalsyndrome.com

--- See another gameplay video and others at ES TV (Gameplay videos) - www.youtube.com/defanual

Just a general update...

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:14:00 +0000

Hiya all,

Just a quick update! Loads of stuff to happening, updated the website a little here and there. Added some new stuff and fixes to the blog(s) (see if you notice them!).

Game Dev wise, a few major things have happened, it is now formerly known as 'MiMic' (for avoidance of potential legal hassles and courtesy), from here on out (unless Microsoft or somebody says they've got the name registered or something) it will be know as 'Imitate'.

'Mimic Sound' as a game mode for now is scrapped. Just can't see it working. Also the game mode structure has generally been changed, but I'm still adding and taste testing the final flavours to this recipe. When it tastes right, I'll let you know. The below screenie shows one of the new game modes (pattern based click objects!).

The game itself has come along real well (apart from being sick for a total of six days, on two consecutive weeks, kinda messed up the schedule). In addition to the new name, the computer AI has greatly improved.

The computer now has the ability to bluff clicks, take up random positions and move a little more fluently which makes for a much better playing experience! Also new background graphics have been created for potential use as well as many, many, many (can I emphasise it any more?) bug fixes and clean-ups!

Below is the obligatory image(s) (loving PD Particles). There's probably more stuff, but right now time is filled, so I'll save it for another day, God Bless and later! Forgive any spelling/grammar mistake in advance!

Progress update

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:31:00 +0000

Hey all,

Well, I got a lot done today so far including pretty much all minor and major updates on the current version (v3 cycle) of ESO (Eternal Syndrome Online) as well as posting the first official ESEm@il Newsletter. You can get more info about these updates at the news page or forum news announcements section.

MiMic wise, yesterday I finally got TGB (Torque Game Builder) to read my click objects (in this case, lights) and recognise which one was being clicked! This is important, because this now allows me to begin HL and ACT/D (Highlight and Active/Down) graphics processing via changing of the image map and then playing the animation through a ready-made custom function.

It also allows me start on the staple food game play elements such as...

Letting the computer select objects to click and move the cursor those objects
Storing the order of those clicks and allow the player to attempt a mimic
Checking if any errors are made or if the mimic was accurate and so forth....

When some or all of these things are complete, I'll post here again to update you. Anyway, that's what I'll be doing after I eat something, but by the grace of God, thus far, thus Good! Later!

New Year, New Blog, New Game...

noreply@blogger.com (The 1nteger) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:16:00 +0000

New Year:

First off, Happy New Year to all and one! And I hope it was a blessing to see through 2006 in one piece (or at least in as few pieces as possible!). 2007 already! Scripturally speaking, 7 is the number of completion, so this year should be a great year for finishing stuff off successfully, at least that's what I'm believing and hoping for ;0)

New Blog:

This is my first blog as you may of gathered from the title and you may of also guessed from the title I'm not just here to unselfishly wish you all a great 2007. It's a new year, but I don't wait for it to make new year resolutions, I do that on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Nonetheless, I do have many plans, goals and ambitions set for the 07, so God willing, this will be the year of the E! And the year of 'insert_name_here' for you!

New Game:

So, now to the game in question. Well, where best to start? I began developing this a few weeks ago now (around 16th Dec 2006). My aim was to get it complete (in a releasable, playable and possibly purchasable state) within a month of that date, and thank God, I'm pretty much on target :0)

The game itself is being developed in the excellent Torque Game Builder (no, I'm not on a payroll), but it started life in another dev environment a few years ago if I remember rightly. Up until now, it's just been gathering digital dust on my hard drive!

Before I get into any more text heavy material, here's a quick screenie to relieve your eye reading and hopefully wet your appetite, then I'll give you some info and a brief description of the game itself.

The game is called 'MiMic' and the aim is to mimic the click actions of the computer or a human opponent by means of what you see or / and hear. As you successfully progress through the levels and stages, the click actions will increase as well as the speed of those actions. Also the size and layout pattern of the click objects will grow and vary!

At this point I'm at the main course of the game (main gameplay elements) such as getting the mouse input working, attempting to move the cursor for the computer to the position of the object it chooses to click at varying speeds and allowing 1-2 players to repeat the action and check that the objects clicked are in the correct order.

Some ideas are still a little experimental at this stage and therefore bits and pieces may be more theory as oppose to definite (trying not to do a Peter Molyneux). For instance there are a few things that can change the difficulty or challenge of the game (modules), such as whether the player is told when they make a mistake instantly or after they've matched the amount of click actions. Or perhaps serving harder difficulty by forcing the player to start all over again if a single mistake is made! (harsh)

Another example is currently game modes are split into the different sense (Sight, Sound and Both) areas, this could change if for instance the sound element doesn't make enough sense or is just too hard.

Modules and ideas like these may or may not make it into the beta/final release version, but nonetheless this won't be known until I hit a few more milestones and have a few games myself.

Here's the brief features (off to top of my head, not definitive) list:

Train your Brain and have fun doing IT!
Play up to 2 players against each other or team up against the Computer
Great selection of dreamscape backgrounds (well I thought it sounded good)
Cool custom Click Object layout patterns
Challenging and varied computer AI

Other stuff to come:

They are many other new and great things to come from the E after the release of this game including more games and products, a major website revamp, a dedicated gaming (Entertainment) site giving ESHQ breathing space, a few other new divisions and some new in-game/product technology that's still only in the mock-up / write-up stage, but lets get this game done first huh?

Links and more info:
To keep a close eye on the development of this (as well as future) projects, regularly check back here. The plan is to post updates tri-daily (every 3 days) or less, but mainly when a milestone has been complete. There will also be exclusive screenshots and the like there too so you know where its at! Anyway, Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

More links:
--- GGE 'MiMic' Game Page - http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/mimic/