Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

I haven’t been blogging much lately, but have done a few on Twitter lately. I have been super busy on “MiG Madness” and it’s coming along beautifully. Still aiming to publish on Xbox Live Indie Games before the end of the year. Plus plans for a Windows Phone version naturally!

So just a reminder. Best place to follow my progress right now is on Twitter over here http://twitter.com/sharkyNZ

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 207 user reviews.

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Quick post while I munch breakfast.. So what’s game #2 all about?

I’m happy to announce “Air Legends – MiG Madness”. Still a work in progress, getting pretty polished. My aim is to launch as soon as possible but pre-christmas 2010.

What is MiG Madness?…

  • for the Xbox 360. Coming soon to Xbox Live Indie Games.
  • JET aircraft dogfighting from the Korean War era.
  • 1-4 player co-op (local) on the same screen
  • Survive waves of increasingly difficult enemy
  • Rescue system for dead players
  • Exploded enemies drop their loot. i.e. rockets, health, etc…
  • Threat indicator
  • 3D Audio
  • Day-Night-Cycle

Enough talk, check out the 1st teaser vid…

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 221 user reviews.

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

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!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 188 user reviews.

Friday, October 30th, 2009

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!

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 211 user reviews.

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

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 :)

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 271 user reviews.

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

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.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 247 user reviews.

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

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.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 256 user reviews.

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

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. ;)

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 242 user reviews.

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Hi folks.

Once again I’ve been quiet on the blogging front, but feverishly busy in every other way.

An Update to Air Legends is coming very soon!

I think it will please many, so do read on.

Firstly, I should point out that Microsoft encourage Community Games developers to keep Updates to bug fixes – not features. (I think this is absolutely fair enough too, but I won’t delve into why here.)

In saying that, my update is not so much bug fixes, as addressing a common complaint that must surely be reducing the game’s appeal. So I reckon I’m justified in doing so, even if you could argue the changes are “features”. The core game features are unchanged.

Air Legends has been proving very popular on the marketplace. While it’s clear people are appreciating it, I’ve seen something of a common complaint in good, but not great, Reviews of the game. These boil down to:

  • planes too slow, or turn too slow
  • not everyone appreciates the dogfighting (chase and maneuver, earn the kill) focus of the current game. It seems some would like less chase & more kill, kill, kill
  • some also appear to miss vital controls (like a throttle!), or misunderstand their usage

My update will address these both:

  • 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 practising 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.

With regards to the new Speed mode. It’s amazing how slow “Normal” mode feels after playing Speedy & MANIC. Normal mode will still be the default however – I don’t want to alienate existing happy customers!

Stay tuned. I hope to have the Update released in the next couple of weeks.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 168 user reviews.

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

The Windows version of “Air Legends” is now available over here. Comes in two flavours: Demo (free) & Full game (for donations).

  • functionaly the same as the Xbox 360 version, but with basic Keyboard support for those without 360 Controllers.
  • Xbox 360 Controllers are highly recommended however. The way it’s meant to be played
  • Contains historically accurate insignia on the german aircraft. (this had to be nerfed for the Xbox 360 Version)

You may be familiar with my previously released work-in-progress builds of Air Legends. If so I recommend you try this new version. You’ll find it a considerably more featured and polished version to any you’ve tried before.

Go grab it

Enjoy! :)

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 166 user reviews.