Infinity Forever Dev Blog

Beta

2009-07-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

The beta is now out. It's been sent to those who signed up, some of whom will hopefully respond with some meaningful insight into it and good suggestions. I think it actually came out pretty damn good, and most people agree with me that I've talked to, but we'll see what beta testers and potential sponsors have to say about it. If you want to test the beta but forgot, just pop and email to cataclysmstudio@gmail.com saying so and it will be sent to you. That's all for now.

Beta soon!

2009-06-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Good news today. I have nearly half the levels designed for the beta, and should have the beta ready by Saturday if all goes well. Captain Spaz has said he'll whip up some more music for the game as well, so the release should be sometime in the next couple of weeks. I leave for a week on the 17th of July, so hopefully sponsorship and everything will be worked out by then so I can release it. Beta testers: check your email late Saturday.

2009-06-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm currently starting work on level design, which is going somewhat fast. I have the first 2 levels done, and will hopefully have all 20 by next weekend if not sooner. At that point beta will be released and everyone can play it. Everything is going along smoothly. Wooooo.

2009-06-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't been posting much on here lately, but don't lose hope. The project is still under way. Moving along slowly but surely. Captain Spaz will hopefully have music done before July, and a non-music beta should be ready soonish.

Level Editor Online

2009-06-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

I just completed the level creator/editor today for the game. I'm currently debating whether or not to add it to the final product, which would take a fair amount of work, but also be pretty cool. It's user friendly enough that it could be used pretty well. So, I'll start working on the level design soon. Hoorah.

Level design to go

2009-06-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

As implied by the title, level design is the only major thing left on my agenda. I still have a few minor things to add, including the music player, but other than that not much left. I think I'm going to try to make level editor for level creation, which should be fun once it's up and running. That's all for now. I'll post again once something interesting happens.

Discontinuation

2009-05-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I realized I can no longer post versions of the game as it comes along, due to possibly voiding sponsorship. Most sponsorships want the game to be exclusive to them, at least for a certain amount of time, and if I went around posting pretty much full versions of the game here, then it wouldn't be exclusive. Sorry. I'll still update on progress as it goes along, and like I said, if you want to beta test then email cataclysmstudios@gmail.com.

Menus

2009-05-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

Menus are beginning to take shape:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/120509/59101_IFnewphysics.php
All I have so far is the level select thing, and that's only a bit done. I did however make it so it saves which levels you've completed. Only one level to save right now, so it's not useful, but it's getting there. Once I get menus done I'm going to make levels, then I'll be pretty much done besides beta testing. Woo. That's it for now.

On Track

2009-05-09T19:56:00.001-07:00

Currently I'm designing the menus, which are coming along nicely. They aren't yet done, so no link to them right now. Once I get them done however (Monday or Tuesday) I'll post them. I've pretty much given up on a level editor for now, due to failing very, very badly at making one. I might make one in the future though. Anyways, that's all, just letting people know there should be a post soon.

Mines

2009-05-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Alright, I finished up the new enemy, which ended up being an exploding mine inspired by hedgehog grenades from Resistance. It ended up pretty well in my opinion, though I'm going to be touching it up a fair amount before release. Any suggestions on it are more than welcome.
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/050509/62130_IFnewphysics.php
Enjoy. My current calendar for release looks something like this:
Tomorrow: Annoy Captain Spaz to make some more awesome music
By Saturday: Finish up everything involving levels and the creation thereof
By next weekend: Get some menus online
Weekend after that: Finish the menus, release for beta testing
Weekend after that: Fix glitches, send in for sponsorship reviewing
Weekend or two after that: RELEASE
So a month or so until release. If you're interested in becoming a beta tester, simply contact us at cataclysmstudio@gmail.com and tell us so. You will be notified/emailed a copy of the beta when it is ready for playtesting. That's all for now.

Trails

2009-05-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Just a real quick update right now. I don't have the new enemy done, but I know what I'm doing for it, and it should be done by Monday or so, at which point I'll post it. All I have at this point for it is this:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/020509/52960_curves.php
It's the trails that will follow the enemy's spikes that it shoots. Click to make one. Should be pretty fun. That's all for now.

Snails Pace

2009-04-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/250409/58642_IFnewphysics.php
Not much progress I know. I've been being lazy. The only visible change is the trails behind the player I believe, which you can disable in the pause menu. I also made it so the levels would be very dynamic in their loading, as well as making some more stuff efficient. I'm going to try to add the last enemy by next week, and start on menus sometime soon as well. Then all it'll need is level design, which should go fairly fast.

Expect and update next week. If there isn't one then feel free to get pissed at me. G'day.

Back To Work

2009-04-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Portland, so I now have a chance to work on the game. I haven't done much, but here's what I've done since I got back:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/040409/76798_IFnewphysics.php
Not much has changed, mainly because I'm working on fixing the existing glitches I know about right now, as well as adding stuff that isn't readily noticeable. As you can see, the turret now has a crappy dieing animations/effect type of thing. I might make it better looking in the future, but I also might noI took out the laser spotter on the turret because it lagged out insanely whenever the turret was shooting any sort of distance. I also added a couple variations of the laser wall thing, which should hopefully spice up future level designs a bit. The last thing I changed is that you can set the quality in the pause menu to save your computer a little bit of processing, if it lags.

The only thing I really need to add before menu and level design is a third enemy, which I have absolutely no inspiration for. If you have any ideas please comment on this post or contact me via other means. If you notice any glitches please let me know about those as well.

New Enemy

2009-03-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

As you can probably tell from the post title I've added another enemy. This one is a turret that targets you, charges, then shoots a laser for several seconds. It's killable, but it takes a lot of shooting.
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/210309/73298_IFnewphysics.php
Nothing much very interesting to report. I'm aware that the turret lags the game out like HECK when it's shooting from a distance, but I'm going to fix that with good level design and stuff. The next update won't be next weekend because I am going to be out of town, but I should get something at some point the week after that, as it will be spring break. I really don't know what else I'm going to add game play wise. Probably some other enemy variation, though I don't know what I'll do for that. I'll also have lava pit type things, but they'll be energy fields...or something. I don't really know yet. The rest of the game development will go something like this: Finish everything that involves gameplay, make the menus and achievement system and level saves, design 10 or 20 levels, find some beta-testers willing to play through the whole game, fix bugs, get sponsorship, release game.

That's all for now.

It's Something

2009-03-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Busy busy busy. Here's the update:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/160309/75101_IFnewphysics.php
Not very much new stuff I know. I really just made it so the proximity mines cost more energy, blow each other up, and hurt you so you can't use them ridiculously.

I'm going to do a bunch of work this week with level design and enemies and stuff, so expect something substantial this weekend.

Systems Online

2009-03-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

Alright, looks like everything I had to do for school is now out of the way and I can resume work. Spring break is soon as well, so expect lots of progress then. There should be a post with a small update later this weekend. Just letting everyone know this is still happening. That is all.

Beginnings of a Soundtrack

2009-03-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

Short post here, just updating with the first song for the soundtrack by Captain Spaz. It came out pretty dang awesome in my opinion, and fits nicely with the game. Enjoy: http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/040309/71418_track1.mp3 .

As I may have mentioned in previous posts, progress is going to be very, very slow for the next week or two. I have a massive art project due in a week, and while it shouldn't be too hard, it's going to eat up all my time. However, fear not, I shall get back crackin' at the game as soon as I can and keep everyone updated on it.

Short Sweet and to the Point

2009-03-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

Just updating quickly with the latest version:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/020309/75480_IFnewphysics.php
New stuff:
Proximity mines. Pretty self explanatory, and they can't damage you. The laser thing between the top and bottom parts. Turns on/off every few seconds. If you go through it while it's on you lose a life. Other than that not much. A fun loading bar type thing, a couple of glitch fixes. That's about it. As you can see I decided not to make the menus yet, that'll come when I have the level creation/game engine totally done. Then levels and stuff.

Short post, but I must be going. Enjoy the new version of the game.

Latest and the Greatest

2009-02-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tada: http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/210209/76273_IFnewphysics.php

New stuff:
The glowing white thing is an energy recharger. Get your character touching it and hold space to recharge your energy a certain amount.
The squares rolling around are enemies. You can shoot them and stuff, but I haven't programmed lives or anything yet so they can't hurt you. As you'll notice the gauss is insta-kill on them, the lightning takes them out pretty fast and they can take quite a bit of punishment from the machine gun. This is generally how things are going to work in the game overall. The gauss will be super duper powerful and can do ridiculous stuff and plow through as many enemies as it likes at a time, but takes a lot of energy and fires slowly. The lightning will be for taking out specific guys because it can only hit one of them at a time. The machine gun is your sort of catch all that you can whip out if you want to save energy.
The only other real thing that I changed is that you can tap W to jump a short distance or hold it to go farther, as opposed to always jumping your maximum distance. Something I've always enjoyed having in a game.

I also made the level save data engine so that progress can be saved and all that good stuff. Surprisingly simple, and good to have done. Don't expect many more interesting posts for a bit. I'm going to start working on the menus and all that stuff, which I'll post, but shouldn't be very exciting. It'll be dull as a spoon to do but it has to get done sometime and I might as well get it over with before I realize that I can't integrate my current level engine in with the menus or something stupid like that and I have to spend 6 hours fixing it.

That is all for now. Expect a post pretty much once a weekend. Maybe more often if I have a Monday off of school or spring break rolls around or something.

New Weapon and Pausing

2009-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Alright, here's the latest version that I spent most of today on:
http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/160209/67885_IFnewphysics.php
You can now press P to pause the game and there's a third weapon, the plasma repeater. As you can see it's your basic machine gun type generic weapon, nothing too special about it. Also, there's ammo, or "energy", now. The idea is that whenever you fire a weapon it uses a little bit of your total energy, which slowly recharges itself over time. I'm also going to add batteries or something along those lines in places so that you don't' have to wait forever to be able to shoot. Oh, and the lightning gun doesn't shoot if the land is too far away. It needs something to ground to right?

I've also come with a plot type thing for the game, which is not so much of a plot as an explanation as to why you're randomly killing a bunch of stuff. You're going to be one of the last circles who are attempting to overcome the tyranny of the squares, and to do so you must fight your way through the tunnels under the city of Cube or something along those lines to get to the head square, who will be an epic boss battle at the end. It'll be fun.

In other news I should finish the HUD in the next update and add quality control and other settings to the pause menu. I might also start working on some super basic enemy AI. We'll see. Anyways, enjoy the latest version and post comments and such on it.

New Physics and a Few Other Changes

2009-02-10T21:16:00.000-08:00

Just for reference, this is probably about how often you can expect updates on here due to school and other stuff that I have going that keeps me busy.

On to the game. Here's what I added: Redone physics engine so that you can't run up the wall and I can actually detect whether or not the player is on the ground, some tentative (and crappy) character animation, and the beginnings of a HUD.

Tada: http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/100209/80191_IFnewphysics.php

Same controls and everything. Next update, (probably this weekend, or maybe Monday), I'm going to add a full HUD, ammo, and maybe a third weapon.

Please comment with criticisms and suggestions and everything.

Day One

2009-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well, as promised, here's the very first, extremely barebone, version of the game. The current controls are:
Movement - WASD or the arrow keys
Aiming - Mouse
Shoot - Left Click
Switch Weapons - Scroll Wheel or pressing 1,2,3 etc (1 and 2 are the only ones that work because there's only 2 weapons)

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/030209/77239_shootergame.php

As you can see there's not much yet, but it's on it's way. In the next version I'll add pausing, a HUD and hopefully a machinegun type weapon. After that, probably enemies and stuff.

That's all for now. Please comment and stuff with ideas, impressions and whatnot.

Starting Off

2009-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hello, and welcome to the Infinity Forever development blog. So far, the plan is to make a sidescroller in which you have to kill lots of robot type things with lots of crazy weapons. There's not a plot so far, but we'll come to that later.

At the moment Captain Spaz has offered to make some music for it, which would be great, because I have no skill at music whatsoever.

Tomorrow I shall post what I have so far.