Flash Game Blogs

July 03, 2009

[Platform: Flash] Escape From the Living Room is a solid, entertaining room escape game. Simply point and click your way through an uncluttered yet beautifully rendered living room, packed with challenges. Or you could just kick back on that inviting couch, relax, and watch some DVDs.

July 02, 2009

Being One - Part One - Escape the Lab

From Free Game News

by Eric on July 02, 2009 09:08 PM

Being One - Part One - Escape the Lab is the latest Room Escape game and the first of a new series created by Psionic.

“You awake inside a vat, liquid bubbling up in front of your eyes…

You have no idea where you are, who you are or even what you are!

Your eyes take a while to adjust to your surroundings.

You must get out of this vat and escape this vile laboratory!”

If you like Psionic’s games, you will absolutely love this one!

Have fun!

Serial Killer - Part 3

From Free Game News

by Eric on July 02, 2009 08:49 PM

Serial Killer - Part 3 is the 82nd Room Escape game from 123Bee. “The Serial Killer continues his awful job of detaining others. This time, it’s you! He locked you in a room, where someone is already detained. His health status is yet to be revealed. The serial killer has hidden some clues and objects in the room. You will have to find and use those objects to escape from the room.” Have fun!

Rabbit Wants Cake

From Jay is Games

by artbegotti on July 02, 2009 07:00 PM

[Platform: Flash] We interrupt your internet viewing to bring you this important news bulletin: Rabbit Wants Cake. That is to say, one little remote-controlled rabbit needs to avoid spikes and furry monsters on the way to get cake. Program the rabbit by recording and tweaking its movements, in this odd little platformer by John Cooney.

How does a Game Sponsor Gain from a Sponsorship?

From Freelance Flash Games News

by Director on July 02, 2009 04:00 PM

Flash game sponsorships can be a great revenue opportunity for developers. Developers can be paid big money to implement just a few logos and bits of branding into our game. I’ve had a couple people ask me lately, what does a flash game sponsor gain from a sponsorship? Here’s my take on it. Sponsors all run [...]

Fragger

From Jay is Games

by LDora on July 02, 2009 03:00 PM

[Platform: Flash] Grenades and baddies and physics, oh my! Adjust your angle to lob grenades from a limited supply at waiting targets to get the best scores and achievements you can across thirty levels and three difficulty settings. Why do they look so happy about getting blown up? Who knows! Just remember; pull the pin, then throw it. It's okay. We get that messed up all the time, too. You should see our offices.

I Don’t Hate Taxes

From Game Producer

by Juuso on July 02, 2009 11:27 AM

Taxes are okay - they keep things rolling. Nothing wrong with taxes. I just hate filling any papers related to taxes. Anyone else agree with this?

I guess that’s why god invented accountants, but still…

If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

Salada Room Escape

From Free Game News

by Eric on July 02, 2009 06:10 AM

Salada Room Escape is the latest Room Escape game created by Parallellove, the author of Cabbage Room Escape, Scallion Room Escape, Bamboo Shot Room Escape, Aspargus Room Escape, Pumpkin Room Escape, Lettuce Room Escape, Edible Burdock Room Escape and many more.

You are trapped in an unknown room, and you will have to collect several “saladas” today…

Have fun!

Alternative link

July 01, 2009

Big Pixel Testing Tonight!

From Hero Interactive

by Steph on July 01, 2009 09:27 PM

Tonight the Hero Interactive office will runneth over with young people helping us to test Pixel! Stay tuned!

Codename: ULTRA

From The Pencil Farm Blog

at July 01, 2009 09:27 PM

![Screenburn at SXSW](/media/0907/sxsw.jpg) _Codename: ULTRA_ is a game concept that I entered into the [game design competition at SXSW](http://sxsw.com/interactive/screenburn/competitions) this year. The game was selected as one of the casual game semifinalists, which means I won a free pass to...

Push

From Jay is Games

by Psychotronic on July 01, 2009 07:12 PM

[Platform: Flash] Run and jump with one hand, warp reality with the other. Ian Snyder's Push is a platform game with an exciting and inventive twist that lets you reshape levels in real-time with an omnipotent force bubble. Plus you can make your own levels for others to tear asunder.

7/1/2009 New Retrogaming Times Monthly article on ST game developer Michtron

From 8 Bit Rocket

at July 01, 2009 06:29 PM

New Atari Nerd Blog Entry :

New Retrogaming Times Monthly (free online magazine) features my first Atari Playfield article on ST game developer Michtron . Richard Davey (www.atari.st and www.photonstorm.com) was invaluable help on this article.

I have been reading this splendid on-line magazine every month for along time, but over the last year, Atari and especially Ataricomputer coverage has been minimal. So, I have volunteered to do amonthly column on Atari ST and Atari 800 games. This month features theearly ST game developer, Michtron.

There are also 18 other articles in this issue, ranging from a tribute to Michael Jackson, to a movie review of the video game inspired film, The Wizard, and all kinds of other goodies in-between for various systems and consoles.

If you would like to contribute to the magazine and see your favorite computer or video game system covered, please contact Bryan Roppolo, the current, very hard working editor of this great, free, web-only magazine. (Squize, that means you and your Amiga).

The Atari Playfield names is a tribute to the long running Atari Playfield column in the great, now defunct, Computer Gaming World Magazine.

To All of Our Canadian Friends…

From Hero Interactive

by Steph on July 01, 2009 02:51 PM

Happy Canada Day! Hope everybody’s having a great summer full of sun and food.

The Several Journeys of Reemus: Chapter 3

From Jay is Games

by LDora on July 01, 2009 02:00 PM

[Platform: Flash] When alien slugs start invading, giant birds are having a territory war, and the giant beast chained in your cave is more teeth than cuddles, who're ya gonna call?... what? No! Not the Ghostbusters! Reemus and Liam are back to save the day, eventually, in the third chapter of this point and click saga from Ringmaster of Weirdness, Zeebarf. "Ghostbusters". Honestly.

When Somebody Whines About Your Game, Check Out This Video

From Game Producer

by Juuso on July 01, 2009 05:00 AM

This was kind of fun. Sort of.

Okay, I actually don’t think whining about whining goes nowhere but you gotta have humor every now and then. Just remember that those who say bad things about your game are actually one of your most precious assets: some of them are whiners that you really need to ignore, but there’s many people who simply would want your game to be better but don’t know how to argument. Listening to “bad feedback” is actually one of best ways to improve your offering.

But I’m sure you already knew that.

If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

The Freewill Cycle - Volume 1

From Free Game News

by Eric on July 01, 2009 04:50 AM

The Freewill Cycle - Volume 1 is the first installment of a new planned Room Escape trilogy, The Freewill Cycle.

Developped by William Buchanan, the game takes place in an unknown place.

“You awake in a room. Could be in a spaceship, could be in a space station, could be just a strange building in East Podunk, Michigan. There’s no way of knowing, because all you can see out of the windows are pretty, pretty moving lights…”

Nicely done, this first chapter suffers from a huge size (30MB!) : as we say in such cases, please be patient while the game is loading!

Have fun!

The Freewill Cycle: Volume 1

From Jay is Games

by grinnyp on July 01, 2009 04:00 AM

[Platform: Flash] The first part of a trilogy, The Freewill Cycle: Volume 1 is in essence a simple point-and-click escape game created in classic adventure game style. You awake in a room. Could be in a spaceship, could be in a space station, could be just a strange building in East Podunk, Michigan. As you explore the story unfolds, giving, in a few short clues, a vivid account of what may have happened and the personalities of the people involved. Who, by the way, are mysteriously missing.

AS3 OOP, without the bollocks, part 1

From Gaming Your Way

by Squize on July 01, 2009 01:27 AM

I've found myself defending oop recently, and at the same time bemoaning the lack of good oop tutorials with regards game development.

Rather than promising to write a full blown tutorial, as to be honest there's no way I'll stick to it, after around 3 parts at most I'll be bored stupid, I thought I'd try and explain the structure behind an existing game which we've already posted the source to. So it may be an idea to open this link in it's own tab.

Ready ? Ok, let's go.

Look at that, made with a free package so you get the watermark, nothing's too cheap for you dear reader.

This at heart is how I've structured all my games since starting with as2. It only varies in that there are sometimes more classes in there, the actual hierarchy never changes.

Ok lots of code here is never that great to read, but there's no way around it, sorry,

package {
    import Classes.Init;

    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.Stage;
    import flash.display.StageQuality;
    import flash.display.StageScaleMode;
    import flash.events.Event;

    [SWF(width="600", height="400", frameRate="35", backgroundColor="#000000")]

    publicclass Main extends Sprite{

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Properties
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        privatestatic var instance:Main;
        privatestatic var __parent:DisplayObject;
        privatestatic var stage:Stage;
        privatestatic var init:Init;

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Static ( Singleton )
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function Main(){
            if(instance){
                thrownew Error( "Singleton and can only be accessed through Singleton.getInstance()" );
            } else {
                instance=this;
            }

            instance=this;
//When we are running from our preloader, comment this out
            waiting();
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Public
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        publicoverride function toString():String {
            return"Main";
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function waiting():void{
            addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE,mainAddedToStage);
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Getters
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        publicstatic function getInstance():Main {
            return instance;
        }

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getMainMovie():DisplayObject{
            return __parent;
        }

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getStage():Stage{
            return stage;
        }

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getInit():Init{
            return init;
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Private
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        private function mainAddedToStage(e:Event):void{
            stage=this.stage;
            stage.showDefaultContextMenu=false;
            stage.scaleMode = StageScaleMode.NO_SCALE;
            stage.quality=StageQuality.LOW;
            stage.stageFocusRect=false;

            __parent=this.root;

            init=new Init();
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    }
}

Hopefully this should be fairly straight forward ( I did actually grab it from somewhere else when looking for an as3 version which matched what I was doing in as2, so sorry original author, I can't tell anymore what's yours and what's mine ). We're basically waiting around until this instance is added to the stage ( If you try and read some properties before it's technically been created then you're going to get errors. ) and then running the mainAddedToStage method. Importantly we have some getter methods set up here, as we need them ( More later ). This is our document class, and as such it has a "direct" link with the swf ( For want of a better term ). From now on throughout every other class, any reference to stage or Main is obtained from this class.
The very last line you'll see we create a new instance of the Init class ( init=new Init(); ), so let's check that class out.

package Classes {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.display.Stage;

    publicclass Init {
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Properties
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        private var gameController:GameController;
        private var attract:Attract;
        private var soundHandler:SoundHandler;

//------------------------------------------------
// System
//------------------------------------------------
        private var main:Main;
        private var mainMovie:DisplayObject;
        private var stage:Stage;

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Constructor
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function Init(){
            main=Main.getInstance();
            mainMovie=main.getMainMovie();
            stage=main.getStage();

            soundHandler=new SoundHandler();

            gameController=new GameController();
            attract=new Attract();
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Public
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function toString():String {
            return"Init";
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Getters
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getAttract():Attract{
            return attract;
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getGameController():GameController{
            return gameController;
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function getSoundHandler():SoundHandler{
            return soundHandler;
        }

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    }
}

This again is a bit of a nothingy class. In theory it could be shoved into the Main class with no real harm, the reason I don't is pure lazyness. I like being able to copy the Main class to every new project without having to think about it, i.e aside from the [swf] tag I never have to alter it. It just feels cleaner having that first class do very little.

If you look at our Init class you'll see we just create instances of each class we need ( Refer to our cheapo diagram to help clarify ), and set up some getter methods again ( Just to clarify, a method is exactly the same as a Function, it's just that if you use a function in oop it's called a method instead. I don't know why either ), so other classes can get a reference to these instance's if they need to.

How do I decide which classes sit on which row of the hierarchy ? Main is our document class, so he's at the top and doesn't really do much. Init is Main's love child, and doesn't do much either, he's just creating the actual game classes.
The next row is more interesting. Attract is our front-end. It deals with the title screen, the game over screen, hi-score entry if the game supports it, instructions etc. Basically everything that happens before starting the game and after the game has finished.
Let's jump over to SoundHandler. This is just what it says. It's here because it's used by both Attract and GameController, as both need to have sounds. GameController is a simple class like Init, it handles the creation of all the child classes needed for the game ( Check the diagram ).

Let me try and rationalise why Attract, GameController, SoundHandler are all on the same row, in effect why they're equal to each other. We've already established that Attract and GameController need to be aware of the SoundHandler class as both need sounds. In the grand scheme of things, the Attract class doesn't really need to know about GameController ( Remember Attract is everything but the actual game ) and conversely the GameController really doesn't give a crap about Attract. If one of these classes is working, then the other isn't doing anything, so it makes sense to me that they're on the same row.
Does that mean they never need to chat to each other ? No, but it's at very key points. For example, when the player presses the "Play Game" button in Attract, we kill off all the Attract mode things and then call startGame() method in GameController.

Now we come to something cool. Quite a few times I've seen people moving over to oop, and it's all going well, until they need a reference to a different class. How the hell do we get the reference we need ? No one wants to pass a reference to a class via a constructor, as that's just messy and nasty and really easy to screw up, and it's not like we can be old school and use _root.myMethod(); when we're oop gods.

Notice all my constructors are the same, eg,

//------------------------------------------------
// System
//------------------------------------------------
        private var main:Main;
        private var mainMovie:DisplayObject;
        private var stage:Stage;

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Constructor
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        public function GameController(){
            main=Main.getInstance();
            mainMovie=main.getMainMovie();
            stage=main.getStage();
        }

We get a reference to our document class, Main and store it in our local var main. We also store away a reference to our mainMovie ( To be honest I don't think I've used that ref. in as3 yet, it's just a throw back to my as2 code, but I'm a creature of habit so it'll stay there 'til as4 ) and the Stage.

So this is the GameController class, and it's game over, so we want to call the Attract class as he deals with that. This is how we get our reference:

main.getInit().getAttract().gameOver();

Check back with our Main class code up there, see getInit() in the getters section ? It returns a reference to our Init instance. Then look at the Init getters, getAttract() gives us our instance of Attract, and from there we're just calling the method gameOver in the Attract class.
Don't worry if this doesn't make sense straight away, it's quite a bit to get your head around in one go. Basically so long as we have a reference to Main in any class, we can get a reference to any other class no matter how far away from the callee class we are. References aren't a pain in the arse anymore, they're as simple as this.

You may be thinking, how the hell am I going to remember all those getOurInstanceName() method calls. Auto-completion. Flex does all this for you so it's never an issue ( And I'm sure Flash Develop does the same ). I don't know about the Flash IDE, I really don't hold much faith in it doing it, so now may be the time to install Flash Develop and have a play with that.

See we've got the basics of oop hierarchy covered, and I've not had to slip into terms like singleton and composition. Feel free to google both terms, see what they actually mean, and hopefully when you read the flowery descriptions you'll realise that you already get them as we've covered them here.

As always feel free to fire over questions or point out glaring errors in what I've done. Like I said all my games pretty much follow this pattern, which makes sharing code between projects a lot easier plus I'm not having to think about how classes are inter-connected. I'm not suggesting you just blindly copy what I've done, but perhaps plan out your next game using some simple flowchart boxes so you can see where classes should be connected and where it'll be a waste of time to do so.

Squize.

June 30, 2009

From refactor to library

From Vortix Games Blog

by Vlad on June 30, 2009 11:40 PM

Or how to refactor the code from your last game to build up your reusable libs. First and foremost, thanks to the people at FGL chat that brainstormed a jolly good topic to write about. This post also helps me to rethink my strategy about an issue I have with our core libs that I’ll hopfully [...]

6/30/2009 Hackers and the Beautiful System

From 8 Bit Rocket

at June 30, 2009 10:14 PM

New Flash Game Development Blog Entry :

Hackers and the Beautiful System

On the heels of Steve's wonderful post on the joys of being a creative programmer, we get an idiotic Infoworld post on why American programmers are so bad...because they are hackers?

I like to think that the Hacker Ethic (creative, open exploring of systems and solutions) helps to create beautiful systems, but Neil McAllister seems to think that hackers are actually 'hacks' - kids with no coding skills or business knowledge that must be streaming out of our university system if he felt the need to write such a long piece on the subject. He got one thing right, most university students can't code worth shit because coding is assumed to be the 'dirty' job in a Six Sigma - like development process system. There are virtually no classes on proper coding in a university IT departments...

You Are Games: Incredibots 2 Mini-Brawl

From Jay is Games

by Psychotronic on June 30, 2009 08:00 PM

[Platform: Flash] In our inaugural entry for a brand new feature, You Are Games, we are highlighting the latest from Grubby Games: Incredibots 2! Now in open beta, we are leveraging the community and level sharing aspect of the game with a mini-competition instead of a review. Announcing the Jay is Games Incredibots 2 Mini-Brawl!

ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds

From Jobe Makar Blog

by Jobe Makar (noreply@blogger.com) on June 30, 2009 08:18 PM

I recently finished writing ActionScript for Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds, my first book since Flash 8! With the help of some amazing contributors I think this is the most useful and geeky-fun book I've ever been a part of. According to Amazon (shameless link) it hits shelves in 8/3/2009.

So what's it about? If the title of the book doesn't give it away, it is a book that focuses on multiplayer concepts and applies them to games and virtual worlds via ActionScript. Some of the coolest topics are those on dead reckoning, real-time movement and time synchronization, loads of information on avatar rendering, and other useful topics like thorough coverage of isometric concepts.

While there are many examples throughout the book, there are 3 major examples. In one chapter we build a real-time multiplayer tank game (top down). In another chapter a cooperative multiplayer games is created, and its a fun one! Then over the course of several chapters we dig into various major topics on virtual worlds to build a complete world.

Here are some screenshots, and I hope some of you check it out and find it useful :)

Virtual world

Real-time tank game

Cooperative multiplayer game

Warfare 1944 - Let the Battle Begin

From Armor Games Blog

by Daniel on June 30, 2009 07:16 PM

Go to ArmorGames.com and Play Warfare 1944 right now. The game features the US or German campaign along with many new features.

Play Warfare 1944

Play the original game Warfare 1917

Warfare 1944!

Gehen Sie Spiel es jetzt!

GamerSafe Review

From Freelance Flash Games News

by Director on June 30, 2009 04:00 PM

GamerSafe is a microtransactions system developed by the creators of FlashGameLicense. But, the system is more than just a simple payment API. It is a place where gamers can store all their accomplishments and gameplay across multiple sites. The thing that makes GamerSafe so neat is that it allows gamers to save their games all across [...]

The Fun Fair

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 30, 2009 03:45 PM

The Fun Fair is the latest Point’n'Click adventure game from Anode and Cathode.

The first part is live and looks very promising; this game will probably keep you busy for a while!

“You enter the fun fair with a strong intention to understand what made you open the gate. Will you find the key to Sophia’s mystery ?”

Have fun!

The Fun Fair

From Jay is Games

by jay on June 30, 2009 03:37 PM

[Platform: Flash] It has been much longer than 8 days (more like 3 years) since Anode & Cathode had us sleuthing the case of The Poison Coffee, adventuring around The Casino, or meandering through The Museum. Today they send us on another adventure in a similar style, The Fun Fair (Part 1 of what looks to be another episodic game like their last game, 8 Days).

Dassyutu 29: Monk

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 30, 2009 03:19 PM

Dassyutu 29 - Monk is the latest installment in the Japanese Dassyutu Room Escape series created by Oshironoshiro. As usual with Oshironoshiro games, you are trapped in an unknown room and the door is locked. This one is more “classical” than the previous one! Have fun!

Cat of Boots

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 30, 2009 03:08 PM

Here is your weekly Minoto’s Point’n’Click Adventure game! Today, Cat of Boots!

If you enjoy this game, don’t forget to check out Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Swan Lake, Three Child Pigs, Children’s Day, Racoon Kettle, Flower Day, Entrance Ceremony, Red Hood, Hansel and Gretel and many more by the same author!

Have fun!

Interview with a real live iPhone dev

From Gaming Your Way

by Squize on June 30, 2009 01:03 PM

Our mate Chris has been working away on his first Unity3D powered iPhone game for a little while, and now it's available for free on the iPhone store his mind turned to pimping, and our's to getting an interview so we could pad things out a little without just looking cheap.

What I do love is the way Chris just ignores the shit in my questions and just answers the core point without rising to my bait, like I'm 12 and best just ignored.

"How did you find moving from Flash to Unity ? They seem to share a common core, but are different enough to make life interesting. How was it for you ( Darling ) ?"

In some ways it hardly felt different at all, as if they were from the same software family, Unity's version of Javascript is so close to Actionscript (for example when working on the Mac now, I even use Unity's code editor 'Unitron' for my actionscript coding) but when it came to structuring the game it really is very different.
Actually building game mechanics, levels, controls etc is really very intuitive in Unity, however there doesn't seem to be any one agreed way on storing things like player data, global game settings.
The way I ended up doing it all is with a 'gameObject' that doesn't get destroyed when moving between scenes (but this
in itself causes problems when testing then, as you don't have to test from the opening scene, and hence the gameObject hasn't been made yet.)
If someone knows a better way way please do tell me :)

"iPhone dev via Unity, sex or a drunken wank ( Maybe with tears. Why did she leave, why ? )"

Considering what it does I really don't see how it could be any easier. It gets slightly complicated when you finally move the project over to Xcode, but then Xcode is complicated and that's nowt to do with Unity, is it wrong of me to think that maybe Apple have purposefully made this bit hard to keep the kids out?
It really is very complicated and parts of it would try the patience of a Saint, but as I said this isn't anything to do with Unity.
Maybe someone out there can let me know, is it always this convoluted when dev-ing for consoles? Are there just always weird things you have to do due to copy protection / code signing?

"Tell us about going through Apples hoops to get the game on the store, was it just like a great big hug, or more a spit in the eye ?"

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be truth be told. From first submission to being live in the App Store took around 14 days. We had one
build sent back to us, as we weren't making it clear that the high score table was storing the user's data remotely and also we hadn't specifically requested the users permission to access the internet.
One amazing achievement is though that we have not received one crash report yet, which is testament to how awesome I really am (or that maybe I am working on a lovely high level piece of industry quality middleware with some brilliant engineers...hmm it's probably my awesomeness now that I think about it.)

"It's early days yet, but how's the game doing ? Any sort of trend apparent or is it getting lost in the zillion new releases every day ?"

It's done well for what it is, which is a first game, proof of concept. It spent around one week in the top 30 free arcade games and is now in the top 60 or so. It's been installed around 12,000 times and we've had some lovely reviews off people (many of whom commented that is it better and easier to control the Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone).
One interesting point is that we may have got more installs had we charged. This is pure speculation on my behalf, but something I didn't realise is that many of the very popular review sites and magazines for iPhone simply won't cover free games, so even by charging only 59p or something we could conceivably got in pocketGamer, Edge, RetroGamer etc. So I guess we will be testing my theory on this for
Snowball's Chance in Hell 2 :)

"If badgers had guns, do you think they'd rob post offices ?"

No they'd rob Mash Potato factories.

I hadn't even considered that, damn he's on intellectual fire.

Now you're wet for the game, here's the all important link http://bit.ly/kill5Snowball

Never one to miss the chance to spread the word Chris told me about Kill5's competition. Let's face it, it's not a competition, it's a bribe, but fuck it, who wouldn't want an iPod Touch ?
Read all about it here, http://www.kill5.com/competition/ but come on, I've kinda earned the iPod with this article, so really don't expect to win.
( What should happen if by some fluke I do win ? Everyone is going to think we're big cheaty cheats, I've screwed myself now haven't I ).

A big thanks to Chris for taking the time to do this interview. I'm sure if anyone has some follow up questions he'll be around to tackle them in the comments.

Squize.

6/30/2009 A Personal Journey To Find The 'Meaning' Of Software Development

From 8 Bit Rocket

at June 30, 2009 06:44 AM

New Flash Game Development Blog Entry :

I believe that I was born to be a computer programmer. Somewhere, deep in my soul, there is a need to organize my thoughts in ways that are both new and interesting, but also foundational and reusable at the same time. I've always felt that there is something atypical about this kind of work, and about the people who have chosen to do it. Not that it is better or worse than any other profession mind you, but that it was very unique, and at the same time both interesting and powerful.

However over the years, I have learned that this is not exactly a commonly-held belief.

How You Want Your Games Served: Digital Or Physical?

From Game Producer

by Juuso on June 30, 2009 06:13 AM

Digital delivery has been getting more and more popular in the past years. I have recently bought 2 games: Assassin’s Creed (digitally via Steam) and Kane & Lynch (physical copy). There is something strangely nice to actually have the Kane & Lynch DVD box here… but it kind of feels like stone age to actually put the DVD inside the computer.

In Steam, I cannot sell my old games, and the 8 gigabytes load times are bit long for my 2 meg connection, but since I really don’t buy nor play games so often it’s okay for me (I’m more interested in how certain stuff works in the game, and then I usually move on… to make my own game).

To me, I kind of feel that the time of physical copies is coming to the final end. I’m ready to get only digital copies from a reliable distributor. I know there can be some issues with digital distribution, but to me it feels like that’s the way how games will be delivered in the future (if they even are delivered, rather played using some master server…).

This is of course just me thinking, and don’t know what will happen - and when. But I prefer digital ones over physical copies.

How about you, how you like your games delivered: digitally or physically?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

Crime Evidence - Part 3

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 30, 2009 04:37 AM

The 81st Room Escape game from 123Bee, Crime Evidence - Part 3, is live! In this new chapter of the Crime Evidence series, your goal is to enter a suspect’s house through a chimney and then “use your detective skills to find the evidences and escape the place!” Have fun!

Bubble Cannon 2

From Jay is Games

by zxo on June 30, 2009 04:30 AM

[Platform: Flash] Bubble Cannon 2 is what the original game should have been, with tighter goals and more thoughtful gameplay. Eliminate balls by colliding them with their similarly-colored mates, but take your time, because each ball is important! Engaging and very addicting!

New Pixel Screen Shot

From Hero Interactive

by Steph on June 30, 2009 01:25 AM

Just another screen shot of Pixel which is really coming along nicely. Here you can get a good view of how your enemies blow apart creating fireworks-like effects. The bar at the bottom shows you your progress through the game (those white bars are save points).

June 29, 2009

6/28/2009 Time Warner Interactive , Midway: The Soul Of Atari Might Still Be Alive...

From 8 Bit Rocket

at June 29, 2009 08:08 PM

New Atari Nerd Blog Entry :

I just read this news story that Time Warner Interactive is planning to buy Midway Games.This would stand as just another boring game industry story for me, if it was not for the 'Atari' connection.

You see Atari was bought by Warner Communications in 1976. When Warner 'sold' Atari in 1984, they kept the arcade business and named it Atari Games.They sold it to Namco in 1985.WhenNintendo struck gold with the NES, Atari Games created a home division named Tengen, and continued to make games...

6/25/2009 Favorite Video / Computer Soccer (Football) game of all time

From 8 Bit Rocket

at June 29, 2009 08:08 PM

New Atari Nerd Blog Entry : Favorite Video / Computer Soccer (Football) game of all time

In support of the USA's remarkable 2-0 win over the vaunted powerful Spanish side in today's Confederation Cup semifinal, I wanted to up the quiz anti with a poll of sorts. I have played a number of Soccer (Association Football) games over the years and I wanted to list my 10 favorites in order. Are your favorites on this list? If you are an American, Soccer hater, then can just say 'Madden is the only Football game that matters', but I would rather you give an answer to the poll. Mind you, this is a list of my favorites, not technically the 'best', but the ones I find the most fun to play again and again.

1. Kick Off 2 (ST/Amiga)
2. Kick Off Player Manager (ST/Amiga)
3. New Star Soccer (3 and 4) (PC/MAC)
4. Sensible World of Soccer (ST/Amiga)
5. Fifa (series) (Genesis / PS2)
6. Winning 11 Series (PS2)
7. Microprose Soccer (ST / Amiga)
8. Pele's Soccer (2600)
9. NASL Soccer (Intellivision)
10. Super Mario Strikers (Nintendo Systems)

Which do you choose? I have surly not played all of the best footie games, so what am I missing?

Barebones! - AS3 Skeletal Animation System

From PixelWelders

at June 29, 2009 08:08 PM

I've been spending a lot of time lately working on a fighting game for a client. It's pretty standard Street Fighter fare, only much simplified due to time and budget restrictions. However, it made me start thinking about the limitations of the old 2D fighters and what a ...

ASIDE- Thru-You

From PixelWelders

at June 29, 2009 08:08 PM

If you have even a passing interest in great music and social media, take a look at Thru-You. Holy crap.

Triqui’s Wordpress Plugin for MochiAds Released!

From MochiLand

by Ada Chen on June 29, 2009 06:11 PM

Haven’t you always wanted your own game arcade? It’s always exciting to see members of our community innovating and helping each other out. That’s why I wanted to give a little plug to encourage you guys to check out the latest creation of Emanuele Feronato, who by the way also writes an excellent Flash games blog. Emanuele has recently announced the release of a Wordpress plugin that enables anybody to create a Flash games arcade using the MochiAds game feed. I’ve included his teaser video below for you guys to check out.

Visit the Triqui MochiAds Arcade plugin for WordPress official page for more details. Note that this plugin was independently developed (kudos to Emanuele!) so please direct any questions you have about it to him.

Add to del.icio.us

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Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Flash Development, MochiLand Topics, Tutorials.

Big List of Ranged Weapons

From Freelance Flash Games News

by Director on June 29, 2009 04:00 PM

Ranged weapons are an integral part of most action games. Whether it’s taking out baddies or defending your base, a game needs a variety of weapons to keep a player interested. Here’s my big list of ranged weapons to use in your flash games. Machine gun Sling shot Pistol Shotgun Blunderbuss BB gun Carbine Uzi Assault rifle Silenced pistol Crossbow Hunting rifle SMG Water gun Dart gun Glock Auto-Shotgun Laser rifle Nail gun Laser pistol Composite [...]

Kidnapped by Aliens

From Jay is Games

by SonicLover on June 29, 2009 04:00 PM

[Platform: Flash] In Kidnapped by Aliens, previously unsung developer Selfdefiant tells the story of a human protagonist who has been kidnapped, and awaits who-knows-what from his captors. By the use of a little ingenuity, our hero manages to escape his cell and explore more areas of the UFO that contains him, with the ultimate goal of returning to Earth... perhaps. The surreal but perfect background sound and puzzles that make sense without being too obvious turn this game into an enjoyable experience.

Random Dynamic Levels - Part 2

From Gaming Your Way

by nGFX on June 29, 2009 02:34 PM

This is part 2 of my collection of articles that'll deal with the theory (and the actual creation) of random dynamic levels for a (space)game. In part one we created a damn pretty maze and in part two we're going to modify it a good deal.

If you take a look at part one's output you'll notice that the code generates a pretty random maze. And there we got out first drawback: it's pretty darn random, way to random to assemble a man made structure and not quite what we would expect a spacestation / space ship to look like.

So the first modification I'm going to add will be a method that can reduce the randomness of the maze.

Part 2 - part 1 - making something not that random

My idea is to qualify the randomness by a percentage value, so a random factor of 0 will give you long straight passages that only change direction if the need to (random at that), while using a value of 100 the method will never (as far as it possible) return the same direction twice.

Of course that tiny little addition causes a lot of fuzz and requieres to rewrite a part of the core maze generator function. In part 1 I used a method to get all surrounding cells of a given point, but in order to use the direction modifier we need to use directions instead.

//... skipped

          while (iCellCount < iTotalCells) {

                // get neighbor cells ...
                aCellDirections = myDungeon.getPossibleDirections(pCurrentCell);

                // set the cell
                if (aCellDirections.length != 0) {

                    /* old way no direction modification used
                    iRndCell = rnd.Range(0, (aCellNeighbors.length - 1));
                    iRndDir = Dir.getDirFromPoint(pCurrentCell, aCellNeighbors[iRndCell]);
                    */
                    iRndDir =this.getFactoredRandomDir(iLastDir, aCellDirections, iDirChange);
                    pNextCell = myDungeon.getNextPos(pCurrentCell, iRndDir);
                    iLastDir = iRndDir;

                    // remove walls
                    myDungeon.cell(pCurrentCell).setWall (iRndDir, WallType.OPEN);
                    // old way: myDungeon.cell(aCellNeighbors[iRndCell]).setWall(Dir.getOppositeDir(iRndDir), WallType.OPEN);
                    myDungeon.cell(pNextCell).setWall(Dir.getOppositeDir(iRndDir), WallType.OPEN);

                    // store for later use ...
                    aCellStack.push(new Point(pCurrentCell.x, pCurrentCell.y));
                    // old way: pCurrentCell = new Point(aCellNeighbors[iRndCell].x, aCellNeighbors[iRndCell].y);
                    pCurrentCell =new Point(pNextCell.x, pNextCell.y);

                    iCellCount++;
                } else {
                    pPopCell = aCellStack.pop();
                    pCurrentCell =new Point(pPopCell.x, pPopCell.y);
                }

            } // while

Some new variables in there: iLastDir (so we can keep track of the last direction used), pNextCell (a point that stores the next cell, basically just a temp. variable), iRndCell has been removed and aCellNeighbours has been renamed to aCellDirections ...

There are two new methdods: getPossibleDirections and getFactoredRandomDir. The first one returns an array that just contains directions that can be used (ie. cells that have not been visited yet), directions are simply stored as 0=North, 1=East and so one (I've encapsulated them into a Dir class to make it easier to read). The second method is a neat example how to make things overly complicated ...

        private function getFactoredRandomDir (iLastDir:int, aListDir:Array, iFactor:int= 50):int {

            var rnd:MersenneTwister = MersenneTwister.getInstance();
            var bChangeDir:Boolean = (rnd.Range(0, 99) < iFactor);

            var iReturn:int= iLastDir;

            // the last used dir is not in the list of possible new directions, so we need to pick a random one ...
            if (aListDir.toString().lastIndexOf(iLastDir.toString()) == -1) {
                iReturn = aListDir[rnd.Range(0, (aListDir.length -1))];
            } else {

                // we must change direction AND have at least 2 choices
                if (aListDir.length > 1) {

                    if (bChangeDir) {
                        while (iReturn == iLastDir) {
                            iReturn = aListDir[rnd.Range(0, (aListDir.length -1))];
                        }
                    }

                } else {
                    // just pick what's left ...
                    iReturn = aListDir[0];
                }

            }

            return iReturn;


        }

AS3 arrays (in CS3) don't have the nice method I know from c#: contains which would have been oh so easy to use here. I toyed for a fraction of a second with the idea to use a loop to check if a given value would be in an array, but then decided to go ... quick and dirty and use toString and lastIndexOf instead.

The code above is quite easy, so I only do a quick run through it...
- decide if we need to apply a direction change
- if we need to, check if the last dir is in the list of possible dirs, if not just pic a random new (this applies to both states: need to change and keep direction)
- otherwise just pick a random dir until it's not equal the last dir used

That's it.

Running the test app with different values seems to produce the desired results:
0% produces the most possible straight halls,
50% produces somewhat random halls
100% produces a maze with no straight hall at all.

Part 2 - part 2 - still way to much filled space ...

Looking at the maze reveals that there are no free spaces in it, of course we could just paint rooms over it, but I doubt it'll look like what I have in mind.
Randomly removing cells from the map is no option (even if we do check if we would just block a passage), but what about removing cells that just end the passage (ie: dead ends).
Looking at the maze again, it seems that we have (depending on the randomness of direction changes) a lot of them, so our next task would be to find those dead ends and remove them. The first "problem" that comes to me is that each time we remove dead ends, we'd create new ones. In order to clean up the map we only run the "removDeadEnds" methods a couple of times and we're done - right?

Not quite.

If we choose some unlucky values, it might happen that we kill the whole maze and that's something we don't want at all.

I decided to use a percentage of TotalCells that I want to be removed, so if we use 50%, the method should remove half of all available cells.

        public function removeDeadEnds (myDungeon:Dungeon, iRemoveDeadEnd:int= 20):Dungeon {

            var rnd:MersenneTwister = MersenneTwister.getInstance();

            var i:int;
            var j:uint;
            var iDir:int;
            var iRndCell:int;

            var iDeadEndsToRemove:int= Math.ceil((myDungeon.iWidth * myDungeon.iHeight) * iRemoveDeadEnd / 100);
            var iDeadEndCount:int= 0;

            var bExit:Boolean =false;

            var aTmp:Array;

            // the worst case may only return one dead end per run, so
            // to be sure we run it as many times as we may max need
            for (i = 0; i < iDeadEndsToRemove; i++) {

                aTmp = myDungeon.getDeadEnds();

                if (aTmp.length > 0 && !bExit) {

                    while (aTmp.length > 0) {

                        // this is to make sure that the cells are somewhat even
                        // distributed if we do not use the whole lot
                        iRndCell = rnd.Range(0, (aTmp.length - 1));
                        iDir = myDungeon.cell(aTmp[iRndCell]).getDeadEndDir();

                        myDungeon.cell(myDungeon.getNextPos(aTmp[iRndCell], iDir)).setWall(Dir.getOppositeDir(iDir), WallType.WALL);
                        myDungeon.cell(aTmp[iRndCell]).setWalls();

                        aTmp.splice(iRndCell, 1);

                        if (++iDeadEndCount >= iDeadEndsToRemove) {
                            bExit =true;
                            break;
                        }

                    }
                } else {
                    break;
                }

            }

            return myDungeon;

        }

The comments should explain quite well what's going on in there. Only thing to mention is that I pic random dead ends if there are more available dead ends than cells to remove.

Compile and test ... and viola well done for today. :)

(I must admid it took longer to type all that than to code, so I had a bit of spare time left and coded something alse ;) )

I think that is enough for today, you can see the result (and from the upcoming articles, too) Random Dynamic Level Creation Test page (or here if the server is down).

nGFX

Ball Bouncing off Line Calculation

From Jobe Makar Blog

by Jobe Makar (noreply@blogger.com) on June 29, 2009 02:38 PM

I'm working on a new game that requires me to dig into some physics and math that I haven't touched in a while. The Vector3D class was introduced with Flash Player 10. I used this as an opportunity to get familiar with that class and see if it could make life a little easier, and it does!

The Vector3D class keeps track of x and y (and z if you want it to) values. It uses the sign on the value to imply direction. You can then perform cross products or dot products and a few other basic vector actions via its methods.

Conceptually, here is how to make a ball (or sphere) bounce off of a line (assuming you can calculate that the collision is occurring).

Use a vector for the ball velocity
Use a vector to represent the line normal (perpendicular to line)
Do simple vector algebra to get new velocity

Step 1
Represent the ball velocity as a vector. For instance,
var velocity:Vector3D = new Vector3D(2, 0);

Step 2
Represent the line normal as a vector (which it is). For instance,
var normal:Vector3D = new Vector3D(1, -1/line_slope);
normal.normalize();

Step 3
Do the vector math when a collision is detected. You can imagine that the velocity vector can be projected onto the normal, and it is only that bit that will be reflected off of the surface. So, we'll project it onto the normal and set the net change to 2 * this value. 1* the value makes the velocity 0, 2 * the value sends it back an equal amount. We then take this reflected vector and subtract from the incident velocity vector.

var reflectionScalar:Number = 2 *velocity.dotProduct(normal);
var reactionProjection:Vector3D = normal.clone();
reactionProjection.scaleBy(reflectionScalar);
velocity.subtract(reactionProjection);

Download source

Best Fast Food Meal Ever - Got 7.10 Eur Lesson About Rewards

From Game Producer

by Juuso on June 29, 2009 07:16 AM

I visited a local hamburger hut (got myself a chicken burger meal, cost 7.10 EUR) and spotted a leaflet about their bonus program. The leaflet was 6 pages long. The text was written with a small font. They tried to hint me, that if I buy loads of stuff from their place (but so that a one-time purchase is big enough), I might get some free food at some point. Maybe. It depends.

The reward program was a pretty complex. There were all sort of rules and systems which would get you to certain level, where you could reach platinum something to get 0.37 eur on something when you bought something somewhere sometimes. And, only if you buy certain amount of stuff.

Or something.

I know that eventually it means that I might get some sort of discount, but I didn’t have a calculator at hand and I’ve only studied Math up until the University so I couldn’t solve the puzzle. Maybe the day when we all carry tiny supercomputers inside our DNA I might figure it out.

Anyway, compare this system with another reward system in a nearby pizza store: “buy 9 pizzas, get 10th for free”.

That’s really simple. No any complex mess. Just simple thing: buy 9 pizzas and the 10th pizza will be free. Simple, and clear. And rewarding.

So, in the case we want to reward some people (whether it’s giving them discounts or rewarding them in game), it’s a pretty good idea to tell them how the reward system works (or at least have some sense in it).

Just think of it: would you play a game where the aim is to get points, but you wouldn’t know how to score points, and the game would just give you a bloody long book that would explain how to get points?

Me neither.

I don’t suggest that you should reveal the player everything in your game… but if the player is clueless (or needs to read a several pages of text to realize how some simple thing should work) about how the basic rewards, then something is wrong. Or maybe it’s just me.

If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

Mobile Monday

From Jay is Games

by JohnB on June 29, 2009 07:02 AM

[Platform: Mobile (iPhone, iPod Touch)] A big bunch o' arcade games have been assembled for this week's Mobile Monday. It was actually really easy to gather them, too. All I had to do was put out a bit of arcade bait and they came a-runnin'...

Castle Corp

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 29, 2009 05:18 AM

Castle Corp New from Nitrome:

“Castleware doesn’t pay what it used to… decorative shields, flags and drapes sales are all down this quarter. The competition is undercutting us every chance they get. There’s only one thing for it… ready the troops for battle!

In Castle Corp send your knights along the castle pathways and fire them off towards the enemy. Pick up gold to spend on upgrades in the shop. Overpower the enemy and save the corporation!”

Another very nice and polished game from Nitrome!

Have fun!

10 Doors

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 29, 2009 05:04 AM

10 Doors is not your usual Room Escape game where you have to find stuff in an unknown place to eventually open a door and escape. No, here your goal is to open a door, and then the next one, and I’ll let you guess how many doors in total must be opened in this game! Have fun!

The Several Journeys of Reemus - Chapter 3

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 29, 2009 04:57 AM

The Several Journeys of Reemus, Chapter 3, Know thy Enemy is the latest installment in the Point’n’Click adventure series Journeys of Reemus created by Zeebarf.

This new episode looks really great, but it is still in a Beta version.

Fans of the series won’t want to miss this one, but be warned: the game is not bug free at the time of writing!

Have fun!

The Unexpected

From Free Game News

by Eric on June 29, 2009 04:32 AM

The Unexpected is a very nice looking Japanese Room Escape game where you find yourself locked in a room for an unknown reason. Your first task is to collect several colored balls, and then you will have to find a way to use them. Select the English version before your start playing! Have fun!

Thoughts on user interaction

From Vortix Games Blog

by Vlad on June 29, 2009 12:00 AM

Doesn’t matter how many games you’ve made or how many tests you’ll perform, you’ll always have a lot of doubts when it comes to how to put the interaction in your game feedback loop. User interaction grows on me in a weird way. Experience should make it easier, but as time goes by I tend to [...]

June 28, 2009

Time Gentlemen, Please!

From Jay is Games

by Kyle E. Moore on June 28, 2009 10:30 PM

[Platform: Download (Windows)] Time Gentlemen, Please!, a direct sequel to Zombie Cow's Ben There, Dan That, is a playground for just about every type of humor that is likely to get you ousted from civil society. It's old school adventuring at its best and manages to both parody and canonize classic Lucasarts games while providing a stiff set of puzzles to solve.

Enlightenus

From Jay is Games

by JohnB on June 28, 2009 03:00 PM

[Platform: Download (Windows)] Enlightenus is a story-driven hidden object adventure game made backwards. Instead of looking for and collecting a list of items in cluttered rooms, your job is to find where items belong and put them back. Compare your inventory with the objects on the screen and decipher which items go in which location. It's a simple gameplay switcheroo that shoves Enlightenus away from the pack and into the spotlight.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28

From Photon Storm Blog

by rich on June 28, 2009 05:00 AM

@pperon my games still target FP9, but my personal projects are FP10 yes #
RT @flashdevelop: FlashDevelop 3.0.1 RTM was just released: http://bit.ly/L8jyB #
just finished my interview with 8-bit Rocket + tech edited Jeff's great article on early Atari ST powerhouse Michtron #
@mrdoob are you there atm? #
@mrdoob ahh right, it's just up the road from our offices #
@JamFactory you sure that isn't your bones now, old man? #
RT @8bitrocket: Interview with Photonstorm's and http://www.atari.st 's Richard Davey: http://bit.ly/njjaP #
@sirflo hope you won't be as disappointed with the book as I was! (it just reads like little more than LiveDocs in print) #
Nothing like being sat in a traffic jam for 3 hrs in 23 degrees with no air con. #
@rosedragoness enable gradient component, custom gradients created in there in reply to rosedragoness #
Stuck in traffic for 5 hours now. M4 still shut. Police handing out water & turned 2 fields into male / female toilets! #
best thing about being stuck on the M4 for 7 hours was hearing Florence + The Machine on the Live Lounge.. amazing! just pre'd the album #
coo.. #PhpED 5.8 release installing now #
RT @joe_carney: LiveLeak.com – MacBook transforms and … well just watch it's AWESOME! http://bit.ly/15fvZa #
@beinteractive Apple don't #
@GamingYourWay you wouldn't say it was naughty if those coins were going into *your* account #
@GamingYourWay it's optional though init.. you don't HAVE to pay – it's not as evil as say coin-locked levels #
@GamingYourWay in a game designed to showcase MochiCoins surely you'd shoe-horn them in anywhere you can! #
@GamingYourWay you and I both know we're about to see a glut of MochiCoin shit hit the fan – but the market will level it out like always #
@stewartgilray page 56? I thought that was you on the cover #
@stewartgilray on the plus side, you have more bottles of beer on your table than any other team #
@stewartgilray the secret of success perhaps? #
@Scarybug that's because you have scruples.. can you say the same for the majority of other devs? #
whoa, I did a tweet search for "michael jackson" and 2 seconds later 746 new results came in! #
(err incase you are wondering WHY apparently he's dead) #
@JamFactory Reuters suit you sir? http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55O6AK20090625 #
time to queue-up Sasha and Digweed's classic Northern Exposure 1&2 and code code code … #
@pperon a 90s classic for sure! but it just hasn't lost any of its charm over the years, still blows me away when in the right mood #
@JamFactory Tommy used to love watching Pocoyo. I love the full-white graphical style. He just loved SleepyBird. #
ok let's try submitting my RSS feed to Adobe Feeds again.. (4th time lucky Adobe?!) #
mmm http://www.vuze.com looks pretty sweet (am a uTorrent fan myself, but Vuze does look nice!) #
@o0Corps0o yeah, probably the same way you can do that already, used to all the time until 360 played divx natively! #
@JGOware talking of which (fun experiments) check out the GYW forum later today #
@n2flash_games thanks for the follow, just uploaded 2 of my games to your site. Hope you like them! #

Bango!

From Jay is Games

by LDora on June 28, 2009 04:00 AM

[Platform: Flash] If you were to ask us, "What is Bango?" we could say a lot of things. "A board game! A breakfast cereal! The newest pop music superstar!" But of course, since Bango! is actually a puzzle platformer, we would be dirty rotten liars. Race across blocks that plummet behind you, trying to clear the screen of them without falling yourself. It's harder than it sounds, and with an extra five levels each of "extra-hard" and "frustrating" difficulty, it's a challenge for everyone!

June 27, 2009

Hollywood Tycoon

From Jay is Games

by JohnB on June 27, 2009 10:00 PM

[Platform: Download (Windows)] Finally! It's about time a resource management/casual tycoon game came along that's more than a fresh coat of paint and a few new tricks! Hollywood Tycoon puts you in charge of a movie studio, giving you the power to buy scripts, hire actors, build sets and much more. As you earn cash you get to upgrade everything from your sets to actor trailers, prop studios, script centers, distribution buildings and more, allowing you to make bigger, better movies that rake in millions of dollars of profit. And it's fun for hours upon hours, too!

Weekend Download

From Jay is Games

by JohnB on June 27, 2009 04:00 PM

[Platform: Download (Mac, Linux, Windows)] It's the weekend!!! That means you have a little extra time on your hands. That means I get to take away some of that time with a handful of free games. That means you get to have fun on your weekend. Don't forget to mow the lawn, though.

Biweekly Poll

From Hero Interactive

by Steph on June 27, 2009 01:29 PM

Note: There is a poll within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Get Free Publicity For Your Game (Maybe. Kind Of. Need Twitter Account By The Way)

From Game Producer

by Juuso on June 27, 2009 04:20 AM

I’ve been testing Twitter for some time now, and have been wondering how to use it for business purposes. Here’s one idea I got.

I took a bit of time and programmed a small experimental system to promote games. The service is located at http://gamestweet.net/. The simple idea of this site is to pull any game tweets from Twitter that contain the link http://gamestweet.net/ in the tweet.

Developers can Tweet about their games. These game tweets are shown at http://gamestweet.net/. More people will go check out the site. People will get totally excited about new cool games and will go download and buy them. Spending tons of money.

The system works so that you just need a Twitter account (like I do) and tweet something game related (possibly with your game link or something) that contains link to http://gamestweet.net/.

Go check it out and tell your friends, m’kay?

If you liked this entry, feel free to visit GameProducer.net to read more similar articles.

Wants Cake

From Armor Games Blog

by John on June 27, 2009 12:04 AM

I’m working on a simple concept right now. I’ll just leave you with this teaser image for the game upcoming (next week even!). Have a great weekend!

Sponsorship, licensing and publishing

From Vortix Games Blog

by Vlad on June 27, 2009 12:00 AM

Like I commented on Freelance Flash Games blog, I disagree with the current definition of sponsorship. I disagree not because I’m some kind of linguistics freak (English is not even my first language) but because I feel that the discussion of the terminology, together with experience and knowledge brought from outside flash game space can [...]

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Part 2 - part 1 - making something not that random

Part 2 - part 2 - still way to much filled space ...

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June 28, 2009

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