Sharky’s Blog

I never was a big fan of Splitscreen, so Game #2 has…

• 1-4 player coop on the same screen – IMPLEMENTED, tweaks ongoing!!!
• 3D Audio!!! (not really possible with splitscreen) – COMPLETE!!!

I got my coding face on again at last…

Game #2 well under way – full steam ahead.

• Day-Night-Cycle – COMPLETE!!!

Very happy.

So can’t wait to unveil what it is exactly, but for now all you get is tasty morsels.

11 months after launch, “Air Legends” has now been downloaded over 100 thousand times from the Xbox Indie games Marketplace!

That’s downloads, NOT sales. If I’d got 100000 sales I’d quit my day job right now!

Air Legends is currently available for 80 MS Points ($1 USD) on the Indie games Marketplace. Look for it on the Dashboard or Web marketplace here

p.s. and don’t forget to Rate it!

“Air Legends” has been a big success for me since it launched in Jan 2009. Now with game #2 under way (and feeling great), it just feels right to give a little back.

So I’ve reduced the price to 80 Microsoft Points. That’s $1 USD folks.

• enjoy it
• rate it
• tell all ya mates!

I’d also like to remind you that in May 2009 the game was Updated with significant gameplay improvements.
Be sure to give it another try, and please do Rate it either on the Dashboard or the web marketplace.

Cheers all!

Rss for my previous post (first in months) seemed to be buggerised by fvcking spammers – go figure. Let’s see if this works.

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YES, I’m still here!

My blogging (or lack of) is inversly proportional to how busy I’ve been with life in general.

I am happy to report that…

• I do in fact have another Indie game in the works
• all going well, I’ll be able to blog about it sooinish
• …when it is closer to completion
• …in a few weeks / maybe a month or two. Rough guess

Sharky

Exciting news!

The Air Legends update is available now on the Xbox 360 Community Games marketplace.

If you’ve already got Air Legends (thank you), you should re-download the game to get the update. (at this stage Community Games don’t automatically inform you of an update – microsoft are adding that soon.)

If you’ve not tried Air Legends before, or it didn’t appeal, please do check out this new version.

The update adds some great improvements and addresses a couple of common complaints about the game, while retaining the existing gameplay for those already happy with it.

I hope you like it. I’d really appreciate if you also head over to xblcg.info and rate it.

Final change list below…

• new game “Speed” option of Normal, Speedy or MANIC. These will effect the aircraft speed, acceleration, turn rate & increase bullet damage noticably. MANIC in particular should appeal to the more “twitch” gamer types. While Normal is the status quo.
• New “Flight School” mode for learning and practicing the Controls. This is basically a free flight mode with interactive instruction, hints and tips.
• Lastly, due to popular request I’ve added a 2 second invulnerability after respawning. Something that should always have been there, but I shelved to make my new year launch deadline.
• Added animated score +/- for when player scores hits.

It’s immensely satisfying to have this update complete. While I’m not ruling out further updates & features, I feel I can at last shift focus to game #2

p.s. I’ve a little tweaking to do before I can release the Windows version of the Update, so stay tuned.

The Air Legends update I’ve been blogging about is now one step closer to release – now in Peer Review. If you’re a Creators Club member, I’ll be mighty grateful if you check it out. Cheers!

It adds some great improvements that I hope address a couple of common complaints about the game, while retaining the existing gameplay for those happy with it.

Final change list below… includes a cool new feature I’ve not mentioned before.

• new game “Speed” option of Normal, Speedy or MANIC. These will effect the aircraft speed, acceleration, turn rate & increase bullet damage noticably. MANIC in particular should appeal to the more “twitch” gamer types. While Normal is the status quo.
• New “Flight School” mode for learning and practicing the Controls. This is basically a free flight mode with interactive instruction, hints and tips.
• Lastly, due to popular request I’ve added a 2 second invulnerability after respawning. Something that should always have been there, but I shelved to make my new year launch deadline.
• Added animated score +/- for when player scores hits.

Now it’s time I got back to peer reviewing for others – seeing some awesome stuff out there.

Hi all.

Many people visit this blog for my 3D model collision detection tutorial. It’s nice to know it’s still in demand!
I did it way back in the XNA v1.0 days (I think), so people are possibly having a bit of grief getting it working with XNA 2.0 & now 3.0.

So, I’ve finally updated the sample to work with XNA 3.0, and improved it considerably.

Head over here to get the updated sample.

IMPORTANT: The actual tutorials have not been updated to reflect this XNA v3.0 version and refactoring.

The main sample changes are these:

• updated for XNA v3.0
• refactored to make it easier to include your own models and textures
• refactored so that the subdividing info is now contained in handy XML files

G’day.

There’s a new interview of me talking about Air Legends, it’s development, Bionic Shark Studios, sales/pricing, and other stuff at ExL Studios.

Check it out here.

While you’re there check out their site. Besides Developer interviews, they will also be reviewing Community Games! (an Air Legends review will be coming once my Update is complete.)

It’s great to see the community really gearing up, with several Community Games/XNA sites sprouting up lately. (apologies if I missed any – it’s quite hard to keep up, so do let me know!)

While I’m at it, if you’re a fan of Air Legends, get over to http://xblcg.info and rate Air Legends for me.
…and if you’re not so much – well, perhaps hang on and try my coming-soon Update before making your judgment.