Matt Makes Blog

Goings On

2010-03-11T13:07:00.010-07:00

A couple quick notes:

I've got a page on 8Bit Collective now, where you can see all the new chiptunes I make before they get used in a game (and probably some I'll never use). As well, I'm on formspring.me - a site that's sort of like backwards Twitter. Basically, you ask questions and I answer them. I've also been on Twitter for a long time now.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about something I've been working on for a while now. I call it Ogmo Editor, and it's looking like it's almost ready for a public release. Here's the standard intro:

"Ogmo Editor is a general-purpose 2D visual level editor for independent game developers. It's an Adobe® AIR™ application and it is cross-platform, running on Windows, OS X and Unix."

With new libraries like Flixel and Flashpunk making 2D game development so accessible, I've felt like the largest barrier for me getting projects off the ground is the lack of a visual editor. So I've made one! Hopefully it will be helpful for people who are also hitting the no-editor wall. It's also something I want to continue to develop and improve, taking into account community feedback.

As for how it works, I don't want to go into much detail here. I'll just say that I've tried to use XML to make the editor's output as portable as possible, and to give the user a lot of control over how the levels are exported.

I'm hoping to make it public pretty soon here. There's a bit more development and testing to be done, and then I need to set up a mini-site with tutorials and the like. Stay tuned!

Eaty Guys and the Operator

2010-02-08T23:53:00.003-07:00

Whoa, I took way too long to post this! I went to the Global Game Jam the other week. Met up with my pal Chevy Johnston, as well as some other awesome developers - PsySal, GregWS, Bones and some kid named Jonathan. All awesome guys. The fruit of our labor? Eaty Guys and the Operator!

I'll just steal Chevy's description of the game: "Live a day in the life of an Eaty Guy, feeding your young and facing the trials of the Operator in this 3-player hotseat game." Actually, that's a terrible description! The game is really about trust. Err... lack of trust. Or, I guess, deception, which... was... the theme of the jam. Okay, this description is even worse. Just play it. It's probably for the best that you have no clue what is happening anyways.

Working in such a large team for a change was a blast (6 people is a large team when you're used to 1 or, at most, 2). You don't always get what you want in a larger team, but the fusion of creative minds or something - whatever, you know what I mean - makes it worthwhile. We only had 48-hours to design and create the game. I daresay that within that constraint we did pretty good! I came out of it with a pretty nasty cold, a testament to either my work ethic or my teammates' personal hygiene.

One of my jobs was to do the music. Like all my other projects, I've uploaded the soundtrack for anyone who wants to download it.

For this project I also got to test out the general-purpose 2D level-editor I've been slaving over for all of February. It meshed really well with our workflow and enabled us to divide duties a bit, which is always nice when you're trying to keep so many people busy. I got some good ideas for it by seeing it in action in a trial-by-fire type of setting, and it has been improved a lot as a result. And I know I know I know - I keep putting off talking about it but... I'll talk more about the editor soon!

In other news: Blogger is pulling FTP support soon. Guess I better figure out what to do about that!

Oh, and I'm working on a new game with Tom. And I'm going to Hawaii for reading week (!!!). Woo!

Global Game Jam 2010

2010-01-28T23:06:00.003-07:00

I'm off to the Global Game Jam tomorrow! I'll be attending the jam in Calgary, but it's happening all around the world. I'm driving down with fellow jammer/TIGSource-member GregWS and I'll be meeting my pal Chevy Johnston there.

Speaking of Chevy, he recently released the first version of his awesome FlashPunk engine for Flash development.

I've also been busy lately finishing up a general-purpose 2D level-editor for myself. It should help speed up my future projects! More info on that later.

Anyways, just a quick update, gotta pack for the trip!

Sad Face

2010-01-05T19:39:00.004-07:00

:(
The IGF finalists are in, and RunMan didn't make the cut. But it's okay, I'll just have to try harder for 2011!

Holiday Cheer

2009-12-20T12:31:00.010-07:00

Holy crap lots to talk about!

Site Redesign

As you can see, the site has undergone a redesign. I'm pretty happy with the new color scheme. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve it, feel free to drop them in the comments.

New Jumper

New Jumper! The title isn't final yet. The fourth game in the Jumper series will be played in your browser with the Flash Player.

Development is progressing smoothly. I'm currently writing myself an editor (also in Flash) for the game, but going a bit beyond the call of duty and making it more of a general-purpose editor. I'd like to make something I can reuse between projects. If what I come up with is polished enough, I might even release it for others to use for their projects.

FlashPunk

New Jumper is being programmed using Chevy Ray's FlashPunk engine. I'm helping him bug-test and offering suggestions as I work. The engine seems to be nearing completion, so hopefully that will see a public release soon and everyone can try it out! Trust me, it's really awesome!

Praise!

It's the time of year for top 10 lists and "best-of" lists and other miscellaneous lists! I've been fortunate this year: MoneySeize and RunMan have both made it onto a list each, with the latter even making it onto two.

Edmund McMillan: MoneySeize 5th best Flash game of 2009

Gamasutra: RunMan 5th best indie game of 2009

Play This Thing!: RunMan 4th best indie of the year

In Retrospect

I'm really blown away by the amount of exposure I've been getting this year! The friendliness of the indie community never ceases to amaze me.

I never expected people to flat-out volunteer their help (and contacts) with marketing and selling one of my games, but while working on MoneySeize I had Edmund McMillan approach me and offer to help me sell a Flash game. I really cannot thank him enough for this, and I've heard tell of him coaching a few other indies through the process as well. Really man, you're the best and I hope Super Meat Boy makes you filthy rich.

Later, I participated in Ludum Dare 15 and that was just a blast. I ended up winning second place with Broken Cave Robot, which was very cool.

And then finally: RunMan! Tom and I had been working on this beast for a loooooong time. I'm actually kind of shocked that we finished it at all. But the enthusiasm and support we've gotten from the indie community has been amazing and I'm super happy to see so many people enjoying it. For the curious, our download counter is sitting just below 35,000. We've also entered it in next year's IGF, so wish us luck!

Well, that's it! Merry Christmas everyone!

Blog Broken!

2009-12-19T14:56:00.002-07:00

Yes, the blog is completely broken right now, as I shift over to a new site design. It should be back (and better than ever!) sometime tonight or tomorrow, thanks for your patience.

RunMan v1.2

2009-12-11T00:17:00.001-07:00

Tom did another new version of RunMan: Race Around the World. Most notably, he fixed a bug that was causing corrupted ghost files to be created.

Fixed ghost file writing

Altered some particle effects and reduced the overall number of particles that get generated

Altered 6-6's architecture to prevent a bug

Altered 1-5's architecture because people tended to get stuck

Fixed a bug that caused the boss to get lost at the end of 3-6

I'm Back!

2009-12-03T13:00:00.007-07:00

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't been very productive on the game development front lately. I've been taking a bit of a break from serious game development for a while, exploring other media and dealing with school.

It's Christmas break now and I have time to get serious about a game project. I'm also planning on participating in Ludum Dare 16, which is taking place December 11-13. Last time I did a Ludum Dare, Broken Cave Robot was the result. So if all goes well, I'll release two new games within the next little while. I'm also working on a redesign of my site, which should be finished sometime soon as well. Lots of progress ahead!

Meanwhile, Raocow has started a Let's Play of RunMan: Race Around the World! He previously did an LP of An Untitled Story and it was a blast to watch.

Elsewhere in the indie world, exciting things are happening! Shaltif's Sill, a C++ 2D game engine, is inches away from an alpha release. And Chevy Ray's FlashPunk engine is a Flash raster-game engine which is also close to a first release. Oh, and Unity is free now for indies (!!!).

Jumper Zero

2009-11-28T21:39:00.002-07:00

Jumper Zero is another new Jumper fangame! This one is by forum-member Kilo and follows the adventure of Nomo, a failed experiment predating Ogmo who must, of course, escape from the lab.

It is very tastefully made and everything seems to stay very true to the spirit of the original game. The presentation is clean, simple and works well. The difficulty curve is also pleasantly gentle, easing you into the harder stages - a stark contrast to the original's "wall" as soon as you hit sector 2, but I think a change for the better. I'd recommend giving it a play!

In barely-related news, I've changed the download link for the much older fangame Jumper: Opposing Forces. It now resides in the fanstuff directory with the other fangames. You can now download it here.

Broken Cave Map

2009-11-19T20:50:00.004-07:00

click to view full map
Spoilers! Forum-member Maple has mapped out the entire cave of Broken Cave Robot down to the pixel. The map includes enemy, gem and power-up locations. He even shows you where and how the cave loops - quite an accomplishment.

Although... I strongly suspect some decompiling of the EXE was involved. And by "I strongly suspect," I mean "I'm absolutely certain." On the map, Maple lists the names I gave each room which are never actually displayed in-game, just used to identify rooms within the source. Really though, it's cool that someone went to the effort to map it all out once and for all, even if they did cheat a bit to do so.

Anatomy

2009-11-15T21:59:00.003-07:00

I recently finished another project - I did a series of 8 paintings for 8 people I know as Christmas presents. I named the series Anatomy, and you can find it here.

I used acrylic paints. It was interesting thinking about people in pairs, and using the medium to compare/contrast my memories and experiences of them. Taken alone, each of the paintings is positive (none is meant to convey negative emotion).

Huggabug

2009-11-07T00:31:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to post this totally awesome (and also kind of disturbing) RunMan: Race Around the World fanart by forum-member kyrotix.

That is all.

Jumper Plus

2009-10-30T16:50:00.005-06:00

Jumper Plus is a Jumper tribute game by MMG forum-member retrogamer. The game is based on the original Jumper game, but features all brand-new level designs.

I feel like the game is a bit more punishing than Jumper - certain gameplay elements such as falling blocks and "shooters" are much less forgiving - but I'm pretty sure this was intentional. Personally, I can only manage to make it partway through sector 4! If you're looking for a super-hard old-school Jumper challenge, look no further.

Retrogamer's blog can be found here.

I Really Like You

2009-10-28T11:15:00.005-06:00

I wrote and recorded an album the other day! The entire thing was done in 8 hours. The album is dedicated to a girl named Rachel.

Tracklist:

Fort of Complete Acceptance
Waking Up Next to You
I Really Like You
Bittersweet
Past & Future

I used the free program Audacity to record everything through a cheap little Logitech microphone. Instruments I played include a Denver quarter-size acoustic guitar with plastic strings, an Epiphone SG electric guitar through a Peavey Rage 158 amp, a MicroKORG synthesizer, a crappy old BluesBand harmonica, and a dirty little toy tambourine I fished out of a lake. All the vocals are also done by me (and I have literally no experience with singing so brace yourselves).

I'm really happy with the result, especially considering the fact that it all only took 8 hours!

You can download the full album for free here.

RunMan v1.1

2009-10-27T21:22:00.003-06:00

Tom recently put in some hours and updated RunMan: Race Around the World to version 1.1. Here's the change list:

Times are now tracked with frame time rather than real time

The game is now using a different music system (SXMS instead of BGM) in an effort to improve compatibility and performance

You are no longer on the clock while reading a sign or while paused

Reduced the number of particles generated at max momentum because it seemed to be crashing for some people

Altered the level architecture of 1-4 to prevent an infinite wallkick bug

Altered the level architecture of 5-3 to prevent a bug with the hangglider

Fixed a bug that prevented a proper ending when beating the last boss for the first time with 108 medals

Fixed a bug that caused an error message when loading a saved game on foreign computers

In related news, we're submitting this version of the game to the 2010 IGF. Wish us luck!

Matt Makes Games Console

2009-10-19T17:13:00.006-06:00

I meant to post this last month but it somehow slipped through the cracks. My friend Jeremie recently made a mini-PC for playing my games on a television set! He named it the Matt Makes Games Console.

The MMGC resides in a hollowed-out XBox.

A fancy custom MMG-themed desktop by Jeremie's wife, Martha.
First we sat down and played some An Untitled Story (I got Jeremie through a part of BlackCastle he was stuck on). Then we tried some Jumper Three for a while. FLaiL worked best, though - Jeremie had modded a few XBox controllers and had them hooked up, and 2-player on a TV set with console controllers was a lot of fun. FLaiL also suits analog stick controls the best out of my games.

I am clueless when it comes to hardware, but it looks impressive.
For all the technical details (and a video!) on the MMGC, as well as Jeremie's other projects, check out his blog. Seriously Jeremie, this thing is awesome. I'm flattered you decided to use my games for this project.

RunMan: Race Around the World

2009-10-01T18:03:00.003-06:00

RunMan: Race Around the World is a collaboration of epic proportions with Tom Sennett. It's a game about loving life and running really fast.

Download it here. Because we love you (and RunMan) so much, we're giving the game away for whatever you think it's worth. Send us some coin through the donate button on the download page when you feel comfortable doing so. But above all, have fun!

RunMan - October 1st

2009-09-21T19:24:00.002-06:00

October 1st.

CONTINUE GETTING PUMPED.

Oh Yeah, And!

2009-09-16T19:10:00.004-06:00

Oh yeah and in other news, Broken Cave Robot won 2nd place overall in Ludum Dare 15! It also got the highest average rating in the "fun" category, which I'm really pumped about. At the LD site you can view the results by overall top 10, or by category. Congrats are also in order for my friends Chevy Ray (1st place overall) and Chuchino (3rd overall)!

In other other news, I just set up a page on my site where you can grab all the game soundtracks I've released. Matt Makes Music. Enjoy!

Forum Draws Ogmo, Wins

2009-09-16T18:41:00.007-06:00

I recently did a reboot of my forum when I switched hosting plans. The Matt Makes Games Forum 2.0 is already very active. One topic is about drawing Ogmo. Here's some highlights (click for full size):

A Really Happy Ogmo, by Maple

Minmay obviously wasn't too fond of Jumper Three

Used car salesman Ogmo? By Badwolf

I have no clue what this is, but it's by Zecks

Broken Cave Robot

2009-08-30T22:08:00.002-06:00

Wow... I'm still shaking from the excitement of that final crunch. I worked on the game pretty much all day today only breaking for necessary bodily functions. Got it submitted less than one minute before the deadline. And I'm really pleased with how it came out! Yesterday I hated it, but today everything seemed to click together like a jigsaw puzzle.

And I had a BLAST making the music. I recorded and edited it all in Audacity. I performed it on a little quarter-size Denver acoustic guitar I bought a couple weeks ago for a camping trip ($100 CAD). I also used a Bluesband harmonica (just a cheap little thing). As for the microphone... it's just a crappy $40 Logitech thing from Future Shop I bought for voicechat in online games. I uploaded the soundtrack as a separate ZIP file as well, for anyone who's interested.

Overall I'm happy with all the weird little ideas I got to try out in this game. The first two days consisted of me dumping every idea I had into the game - today was me sewing it all together.

You can download the game on my games page.

LD15 - The Home Stretch

2009-08-30T19:05:00.001-06:00

My game, now titled "Broken Cave Robot", is nearing completion. 2 hours left! Still need to do one more track of music, one or two more levels, and some testing. Getting tired, but must go on.

LD15 - Bah! Delays!

2009-08-30T13:12:00.000-06:00

Bad news! Yesterday I had to help my aunt move, which took up most of the day. But I'm still slaving away, desperately trying to make this thing fun to play. I started off with just a random assortment of ideas and no real direction, so the final game will likely reflect that. Oh well, some of those random ideas are actually pretty cool! I'm excited to see what people think of them.

Anyways: new screenshot + music to show off!

Broken Cave Robot

LD15 - First Screenshot

2009-08-29T13:17:00.003-06:00

Yeah! Lighting system done!

LD15 - This TRANCE MUSIC is PUMPING ME UP

2009-08-29T11:15:00.002-06:00

This trance music has increased my productivity ten-fold: http://www.philosomatika.com/

So I’ve got a Super Metroid-style map system and a simple platformer engine running in Game Maker. The map system lets me have rooms of any rectangular dimensions fit together in any pattern and lets the player transition correctly from room to room.

Still no clue where I’m going with this, but it seems to be going somewhere! Screenshots as soon as I have something worth looking at (it’s all just colorful boxes right now).