• Jan28

  I Need A Name For This Game

  Flash News 122 Comments

  

  Synopsis:  You crash land your balloon in a monster-infested area.  To survive you must kill bad guys and repair your hot air balloon between waves of cohorts and visits from traveling arms dealers.  In a way it’s a survival game, in another it’s a shooter, and in another way it’s a micromanagement game.  It stars Mr. Top Hat once more in his third performance since Redeye and Next Floor.

  So what should I call this thing?  Should be done soon, just missing a name.  It’s called “Survival” right now but that seems fairly simple.  Best name gets a Special Thanks in the credits.

  122 Comments

  This post was written by John on Thursday, January 28th, 2010. He has 476 posts on this blog.

  Tags: survival

• Jan23

  Mouse Trails

  Flash Notes 10 Comments

  
  

  Click Here for Full Size

  Today I recorded where my mouse went.  Thanks to a small program by anatoliy_zenkov, a fine six hours of programming and art mouse work went documented.  I have discovered several things… first that I open my Spaces a lot to tab to other programs, and that I open the Adium program a lot to IM.  I also tend to tab a whole lot between my different Actionscript windows (a bit tricky to see with these grey paths but its clearly visible since you can’t read the tab names).  The dots on the screen are moments when my cursor is idle, so can see a lot of places where I clicked the Actionscript window and just left the cursor there while I typed things out.

  I’ll do it again another day to see if similar results occur.

  Have a good weekend!

  10 Comments

  This post was written by John on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010. He has 476 posts on this blog.

• Jan22

  OGTDST: Gyromite

  Old Games That Don't Suck 2 Comments

  “BUT JOHN.  Gyromite was terrible.  The NES automatic robot was strange.  It never worked!  The random flashing was annoying.”  TRUE.  Gyromite was terrible with a robot slave, but I truly think its one of the better 2 player games for the NES, and that’s why it is being featured this week in Old Games That Don’t Suck Thursday.

  Once upon a time the NES came bundled with a robot to play with as a second player.  It came bundled with Nintendo Entertainment Systems back in the late 80′s with a copy of Gyromite, one of a couple games the robot worked with.  The robot, R.O.B., was a light sensitive mechanical robot that could pick up objects and drop them onto levers, which then depressed the second controller’s buttons.  You control the robot with your own controller by flashing visual cues from the television to the robot.  Sounds complicated, and it was!

  I need an analogy here.  Let’s see… it’s like having a robot play Frisbee with you.  Finding another human would be much more fun… and once you figure that out the game shines.  Ditch the robot and find a friend.

  Levels are made up of simple platforming.  The first player controls the scientist who runs around trying to collect scattered pieces of dynamite.  The second person/robot operates giant red and blue pillars, which rise and fall like pistons to help aid/impair the scientist towards all the dynamite.  Once the dynamite is fully collected the scientist moves onto the next level.

  The clever twist in the game is that both players play a crucial role in the survival of the scientist.  Pillars have to be opened at precise times to allow the scientist to move on.  The scientist cannot jump or kill bad guys on his own so the pillar operator also has to insure that the scientist stays safe and does not allow baddies into isolated rooms. Working together the two players can make sure the scientist can make it to the end.  It’s co-op gameplay unlike most games found on the NES and it really is fun.  A lot of games had me rolling on the floor laughing from the mistakes and close calls we had during this game.  Scientists become easily crushed or trapped when the two players don’t work together.

  It’s not a long game but its a fun experience, but only for two real people.  Gyromite is available on the NES.

  2 Comments

  This post was written by John on Friday, January 22nd, 2010. He has 476 posts on this blog.

  Tags: nes

• Jan21

  Several Honors

  Flash News 3 Comments

  

  Today I have a few honors to mention from the past month or so.

  First off, This Is The Only Level has been chosen as one of the Freeware Top Experimental Games of 2009 by the Indiegames.com folks.  Thanks!   I appreciate the honor and the ongoing coverage.

  Second, JayIsGames has coawarded me a few different Best Of 2009 awards.  The first, This Is The Only Level, won Best Browser Platform Game along with The Company of Myself. The second, Llama Adventure, won Best Interactive Fiction along with Slouching Towards Bedlam.  JayIsGames has been covering my work since 2005 (I think they were the first) and I appreciate the additional honors.

  Obey the Game has won Best of December on Newgrounds in the Games category.  Yay!

  And finally, Gamasutra contributor Christopher Hyde ranked a few of my games in 99 Best Browser Games of 2009, including This is the Only Level, Rabbit Wants Cake, and I Love Traffic.

  If anything, I am just really appreciative that sites like these exist and provide a way for our content to get featured and gain extra exposure.  I love making games and bringing enjoyment to people and these sites really help me do that.  Cheers!

  And with all this talk about 2009, what was my favourite game this year?  ClickPLAY 2 I think.  I love simple games.

  3 Comments

  This post was written by John on Thursday, January 21st, 2010. He has 476 posts on this blog.

• Jan18

  My 2010 Goals

  Goals 9 Comments

  

  Everyone makes their New Years Resolutions sometime in December, but with me being on top of things (I always am!) I’m making them right here, right now.

  I spend a good chunk of my life making Flash games and sleeping, but there is a good amount of things outside of Flash I want to do.  Last year my goals were to run a half marathon and get married (both of which happened!), and this year I have a few more goals outside my career (and sleeping achievements).  And this year, I have six goals… some smaller and some larger, but overall something to reach for the stars.

  Here’s my six goals for 2010 (in no particular order):

  1)  Ride a Stone Turtle

  This year I want to find a turtle made of stone and ride it. Done.

  2)  Make Something In Real-Life

  I make so many Flash games yet seem to never step outside the comfort zone.  This year I plan on doing something a little bit more down-to-earth and creative, whether that’s a board game, sculpture, or something of that nature.  I need to grow my  skillset beyond the computer and mouse and working with my bare hands in media will be that way.

  3)  Wii Sports Resorts Master

  This is my geeky goal.  I have a goal this year to score 1,000 level points or more in as many WiiSports Resort events as I can, meaning I have pro scores in everything.  I have a feeling this will be incredibly difficult (and strenuous, some of those games are rough!) but I am aiming for the stars on this one.  I will keep a log of my point scores on Google Doc to show throughout the year to help show progress (I’ll figure out a way to post it here).  And if I somehow manage to get 1,000 in everything before the end of the year I’ll be pretty amazed, and 2,000 would be an even bigger feat.

  4)  Run 20 Miles in a Single Day

  I’m working my way up to a full marathon and given that I did a half marathon (13.1 miles) last year, I want to get a good portion of the way towards a full marathon (26.2 miles).  This goal also includes running a half marathon sometime during the year.  I stopped running in September last year so I’ll need to start running again and get myself back into the groove.  I plan on eating right, working out consistently, and striving to make it.

  5)  Make a Kick-Ass Aquarium

  I love aquariums and I have one at home that is saltwater.  However, sometime last year the tank crashed and killed a lot of the organisms inside which made me very sad.  This year I’m going to restore the aquarium and make it even better than it was before, and hopefully have seahorses or something awesome in there.

  6)  Move to a Bigger Place

  I’m happily married, I’m happy at work, and now I’m ready to move out of my small one bedroom apartment into a bigger place.  I think Carlie would appreciate this one too.

  I’ll be updating the website as I hope to figure out how to achieve each of these things.

  9 Comments

  This post was written by John on Monday, January 18th, 2010. He has 476 posts on this blog.

  Tags: new years

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