Wednesday 14 November 2012

Another update!

Well the great news is we have now finished putting together the levels. What remains to be done is decorating the last few and finished the level script for each. We are hoping to have the game up in playtest by the weekend. We didn't do that initially with Lemmy Lizard which is partly where we went wrong. This time round no friends or family are testing, only strangers/fellow developers who have always been very helpful and willing to give advice where needed. The AppHub is indeed a vital part of the process!
It would be nice for the game to do better than the last but one can never tell. I think that's one of the hardest parts of the game development: constantly asking yourself whether it'll be all worth it, whether this game will be more successful...especially as your last game was not so much!! Once playtest is done and any tweaking implemented it'll be peer review time and then the sales begin...hopefully! What a delightful Christmas present that would be :)
On another note entirely D and I have both been playing Halo 4 everyday since it came out. We are currently making our way through the co-op campaign on Heroic which is proving very exciting indeed. Better than ever I'd say! I'm definitely getting more enjoyment out of the deathmatch than I did last time, maybe because I'm getting better at it this time round as oppose to sucking constantly. I'm not saying we are master assassins but any improvement is good improvement, right?! We have also been playing all of the chapters in the Spartan Ops Mode although we haven't yet started Episode 2 that came out recently. I don't personally enjoy those as much as the war games or campaign but they are cool if you only have time to have a quick bash on Halo rather than a 2-3 hour sesh!
Anyway for me next month means Lego Lord of the Rings so I don't know where that will leave Halo 4 but I imagine I'll find time for both. I haven't yet finished Lego Batman 2 and D is still working his way through Dishonored so Halo certainly does have an effect!
Obviously Exploding Imp takes priority but you've got to play games to make a game, right?!

Thursday 4 October 2012

Progress report!

Well the past few weeks have been a bit slow going due to an epically exhausting house move! We are only just getting a regular work pattern going with Imp again as well so we have fallen a little behind on any sort of deadline. Nonetheless everything major is pretty much in place bar the levels for Exploding Imp which I have yet to design and implement. When we did Lemmy Lizard the levels were the last port of call and the same has been done this time round also. We've decided on fewer levels this time round, approximately 20, so between us we are expecting to bash them out pretty promptly. Unfortunately life tends to get in the way and there always seems to be some kind of house-related issue to resolve. On top of doing our data entry in order to pay the bills general Imp production has been slightly slower than expected hence the lack of blog update. I waffle enough as it is, no one wants to hear that on a weekly basis!
On a non work-related note I have still been playing a lot of Lego Pirates and D is making his way slowly through Mass Effect 3. We have our eye on Halo 4 and D has pre-ordered Dishonoured (or is it Dishonored?!) so that should see him through until Christmas. I have Lego DC Heroes waiting in the wings so I'm legoed right up!!! And don't get me started on Lego Lord of the Rings! Excitement of immense proportions! We went to see Looper at the weekend also. I would recommend but I'm not sure how impressed D was. I'm not sure I'd rave about it but it's definitely worth a 'Love Film' grab. Gordon-Levitt certainly does a good Bruce Willis (In the non-biblical sense, of course!)
Anyway I'll keep you updated on our progress. Hopefully next time I write Imp will be in Peer Review...One can dream!!

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Exploding soon...

Haven't updated the blog in a while as life seems to get in the way! We've had birthdays, a family wedding and a broken exhaust pipe...and that was only the last week!
Regarding Imp D is putting the finishing touches to the enemies and I have been finding suitable sound effects before we sit down together and design the remainder of the levels. As I've said before we are only doing  about 20 levels this time round so we'll have to make each one count.
We've got a lot going on this month ie another wedding, holiday, moving house so there'll be no way we can finish the game this month however we are hoping for a release date at some point next month, October at the latest. I think by Christmas we want to be well into our third game so one can only hope that the second game is a better success than the first! Alas Lemmy was not received as well as hoped and our confidence took an epic bashing, live and learn though!

Friday 29 June 2012

And so it continues....

Well we entered into the competition but left it so late I'm not sure whether our entry went through or not. All the same we achieved what we wanted to achieve and are now well on our way with Exploding Imp. Again we are saving the level design for the last task so at the moment D is working on the mechanics and finding small problems that need fixing and amending. We've found that one of the most important elements of the game is to keep it engaging and interesting so we're going to take a fair bit of time designing the levels together and rather than 50 they'll be 20 long ones. We have an artist on board to do our box art this time which is encouraging! We're hoping to finish the game by the end of next month give or take. We have a very very busy August so ideally we want the game up and running so we don't have to worry about it in the summer. We'll see how things go though. We've learnt that things never go to plan!

Friday 1 June 2012

Oops!

Oops! I've just noticed that it has been pretty much a month since our last post. We have been incredibly wrapped up in working on Project Imp and tweaking it in time for DreamBuildPlay. I say tweaking but we still need to put some levels in. 11 days doesn't give us much time but we like a challenge and the deadline keeps us motivated! D has been doing some programming today, along with graphics as well. I've had to do data entry at the mo in order for us to pay our bills!! We're hoping that Imp might do a little better than Lemmy Lizard but you can never tell...We have been working late nights and weekends recently as well in order to cram everything in! We're hoping it will pay off in some way, be it the competition or sales afterwards. Imp won't be ready immediately after submission, maybe a month give or take...This time round we are making a conscious effort to right any wrongs that are pointed out to us and will be efficiently using the Playtest function on the App Hub!! We'll keep you posted on our submission which is due on 12th June at the latest!
On a non-work related note D and I have just started watching 'Dexter' after many recommendations. We're only watched 1 episode so far but already it shows a lot of promise. Also eagerly anticipating the season finale of 'Game of Thrones', especially after the last episode. Down with Joffrey!!!

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Project Imp!

Project Imp is now well under way! Our main character is drawn and animated and we've got him on a test level. D has been doing some graphics today and is putting some of my music & sound effects in as I type. More coding has been inevitable and I can never really tell whether D is enjoying it or not...We're still looking to make the DBP registration deadline although we aren't going to register unless we have something playable. That gives us a fortnight so fingers crossed!
On a non-work related topic D and I went to see 'Avengers Assemble' last week and we were absolutely blown away. It 100% surpassed all expectations and we cannot wait to go and see it again. We went to the late late showing and it was still fairly busy! We didn't go and see it in 3D initially so maybe next time will be a 3D visit! The next night we watched 'The Grey' with Liam Neeson which was quite a contrast. We wanted to watch something that was going to be completely different to 'Avengers Assemble' and it certainly managed that. Very grim!
D has been trying to get through 'Dead Island' recently while I played through the new 'Walking Dead' first episode. D seems to find 'Dead Island' immensely stressful. I have already played it and did find it frustratingly buggy but still thoroughly enjoyed it. 'The Walking Dead' was really fun and you really get your money's worth! I started playing 'Fez' recently as well but found a rather annoying glitch so have put it on hold for now...

Friday 13 April 2012

DreamBuildPlay!

So now that Lemmy Lizard is out there D and I have been working on our next project & DBP entry! We won't be revealing the title or details of the project just yet and we haven't registered yet either but things are going well. I have been working on the sound effects & music and D has been doing the graphics. We've had a few brainstorming sessions and have learnt an awful lot from making Lemmy so we are pretty hopeful that things will go smoother this time round. Obviously there'll always be some programming to do but a lot of it was done last time round with Lemmy so that'll save a huge amount of time :) This time we are aiming for fewer levels but better content. We're trying to fill the game with humour, colour and loads of fun! We entered DBP last year but didn't get anywhere but still thought we'd give it a go anyway. Previously it really pushed us with regards to how much we got done in the space of time we had & I think we worked so much harder knowing we had a tight deadline. We're hoping to get the game out a month or so after the DBP deadline but you never know with these things. There always seems to be one more thing to do...We'll keep you posted on progress and perhaps even reveal the name of the game at a later date!

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Pain of an update!

Well we have decided to update Lemmy Lizard...The controls were proving to be too slippy and seemed to be spoiling the game experience. In all honesty we should have changed this before release but after 3 failed gos in peer review I think we got a bit too eager to get it up on the marketplace. I think we'll definitely be learning from our mistakes for the next game, which we're going to try and squeeze in to the DreamBuildPlay competition. Who knows how that's going to work out though. Getting the update through peer review this time round is proving to be tough. It feels like an eternity despite being only a few days! Hopefully the improved controls will make all the difference though :)

Tuesday 13 March 2012

ON SALE!

Lemmy Lizard vs The Mecha-Eggs is officially on sale! We are very excited here at Wytchlight HQ as we saw an article on the App Hub mentioning a delay in publishing. We had only recently published the Publish Now button and so thought we'd be waiting a few days. I was twiddling my thumbs so thought I'd take a peek at the Indie games list and there it was! Lemmy Lizard for sale!! It's so awesome I don't know what to do with myself! Such a great feeling to have it up on the marketplace after 9 hard months of work. Lets hope it pays off!

Friday 24 February 2012

Additional features

Well, unfortunately we were pulled out of peer review again but it appears to be a blessing after all! We put the game up in playtest as per the last time we were pulled and have had two people playtest Lemmy in quick succession! Both made some valid suggestions and we have now set about implementing them. D is currently working on a new feature, a mini guide of how to play the game which you can pick up in game. We've also changed the jump/land animation within the game as several people had commented on the fact that you couldn't immediately jump after landing! The weeks in between putting the game back up for peer review have proven to be incredibly valuable :)
On a non-work related topic D and I went to see 'The Woman in Black' last week. It was very good. We both like a ghost story and Harry Potter, I mean Daniel Radcliffe, held the film up really well. I'd highly recommend it! We also bought a game on Steam on the cheap called 'Killing Floor'. Basically you're in a team and you kill lots of zombies. There are lots of different maps, lots of baddies and lots of guns! It is immensely fun!

Sunday 5 February 2012

Playtesting

Well, decided to put the game in playtest after all as we've had to wait longer than originally expected to put it back up for peer review. Unfortunately we haven't had anyone playtest it yet and are due to take it down on Tuesday for peer review so it hasn't thus far been as beneficial as we had hoped. We have playtested 4 games so far and D is doing our 5th as I type. Interesting mixture in lots of different stages of the process! Again it's nice to help out fellow developers and offer suggestions.
Had a bit of  a disaster yesterday with our car. It was snowing and we skidded across the road. Fortunately it was fairly quiet and there was nothing coming the other way. It has now transpired however that there is something wrong with our brakes, you can tell when they start to make a clunking sound like they are being dragged across the road, so a trip to the garage is in order. Not the best timing as we are looking to move house soon but I'm hoping it won't be too costly...No snow today though, in fact you'd never know that it had been snowing at all! Alas our cat was all too aware that it was snowing and therefore proceeded to literally crap where she ate!! Just goes to show how alien snow is to the UK when your cat is afraid of it...then again, our cat is a bit of a wuss :)

Monday 30 January 2012

Peer Review

The game has been in peer review for just under a week now and someone has found our 1st bug :( Good to catch it quick but disappointing all the same. Seems to be fixed now so fingers crossed there'll be no more problems...I must confess this is proving to be one of the hardest parts of the whole game-making process. I know D and I have to be patient but after 9 hard months of gaming we just want it done and out on the marketplace. Luckily App Hub members are very supportive and more than happy to offer suggestions. There's a really nice sense of community. We didn't realise that there was a PlayTest option until the 11th hour so next time we may just put the game straight on there rather than ask our friends to test it.
We have enjoyed peer reviewing other people's games this week also. Knowing that they are in the same situation it's nice to help out. Really cool variety of games up as well! We'll keep you posted about our peer review. We've got to wait a few days now before we can put Lemmy up again, not sure why but hey ho!

Tuesday 24 January 2012

......

Following on from my previous post we have just posted Lemmy Lizard up for peer review so if any App Hub members fancy giving it a gander do feel free. We have got the champagne open and are currently enjoying the moment!

And it's done!

Believe it or not the game is going off for peer review tonight! Even got a bottle of champers on stand by!! Posted a last minute vid of Lemmy Lizard on YouTube if anyone is interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei57b2oJDiM&context=C37cbfafADOEgsToPDskIn0WtuEzh38SHpMlKjsdIS

Should be out in a month or so! We'll keep you posted!!!!

Thursday 19 January 2012

Soooo close...

I'm pleased to report that the high score table is now finished and implemented into the game!! D has been finishing off the end sequence of the game today ie when you successfully complete the final level etc. He's going to jazz it up tomorrow and iron out a few minor points and then, fingers crossed, we'll be all set! Think one of our friends is going to test it for a final time and then it'll be sent off. Yay!!!!!
Not much else to report since our last post...Been doing the data entry still to pay the bills. Hopefully have some fun time coming up when the game gets sent off for peer review. I think that usually takes a couple of weeks....
The next step after peer review is releasing the game and advertising like crazy!

Friday 13 January 2012

High Scores

Hey there! Doing some last minute programming this week and next. D is currently working on the high score table for Lemmy which will allow you to put your score in and monitor how well you've done. It's proving to be more of a pain than expected, but still seems to be going well :) I've been searching for some sounds effects for the table which it didn't occur to me to find previously. Oops! Very much a bits and bobs week next week...there always seems to be just one more thing to do. I'm sure fellow developers can understand that!
We're planning to try and get our game on Steam at some point so we have been in contact with them about doing that. It seems surprisingly straightforward which is really great! We will still have to change the controls on Lemmy though as they currently work for the XBox and nothing else ie keyboards. Hopefully once it's launched on the XBox though, we can get cracking on the PC version. Also saw an article on Eurogamer that was very encouraging towards Indie developers which was nice to see...
On a non-work note we watched about 20 minutes of 'Highlander' last night, and, granted we came in during the middle of the film but still, how awful!!! Isn't he meant to be Scottish?! D mentioned I may want to avoid the 4 other Highlander films...

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to everyone! Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Me and D had a great one...although we did stuff ourselves somewhat. If you can't do it at Christmas when can you...New Year we went to a house party at a friend's. Lovely to have everyone together, much prefer it to going out in town. Soooo busy!
D is just sitting across from me at the moment doing some last minute programming. Fingers crossed we have someone else coming to test the game this week. We've only had one game tester so far and it's quite difficult to gage a reaction. Unfortunately we have no one else to test on apart from our friends and family. We have been advised by some that friends are the worst testers but not been informed as to who the best people are! We cannot afford to pay people to test it!!! I'm hoping now that by the end of next week we'll be able to send the game off for peer review...
Will keep you posted!