Sharky’s Blog

Lately me and fellow XNAer, and good buddy Jeff of 1am Studios have been doing gamedev nights after work. Even though we’re working on our own very different game projects, it’s a fantastic way to keep the motivation up. In fact, I fully credit these nights for getting my Game #2 anywhere close to where it is now. And getting me back into the gamedev “ZONE”.

Before then the most I was managing was a couple of hours a week of gamedev.

That’s to be expected with gamedev being my hobby, not my regular day job.

It’s also a perfect excuse to feast on Pizza, music, and movies – comedies work best.

Anyway, I highly recommend it, if you know other XNAers in your area.

Speaking of Jeff. He’s been bringing new life into classic old games using XNA. Check out his latest project is a Carmageddon remake here. (before that he also did Need For Speed in XNA)

I made great Game #2 progress last night too:

• the Threat Indicator is all polished now and working wonderfully – very happy with it
• more annoying bugs squished
• and refactorings a plenty

And lastly, I’m finally on Twitter. Not sure if that’s a good thing yet. My blogs posts have been pretty short lately, so thought I might give it a whirl.

You can follow my ramblings here…

http://twitter.com/sharkyNZ

until next time, cya

Air Legends had mono sound, so any hint of where the enemy was coming from was suggested by skewing the camera slightly. I’m also a fan of games with minimal HUD. Where more natural cues suggest how damaged you are, where the enemy is. (the Peter Jackson’s King Kong game is a good example of this)

Many asked for a Radar, or Mini-map. A great idea – but I really wanted see if the minimal HUD thing could really work, and stick to situational awareness appropriate for pilots in WWII. Back then radar helped dispatch squads in the general vicinity of the enemy, but once in the air the pilots were largely on their own.

Game #2 will be similar, but with 3D audio which will help immensely, but…

• your enemies will attack in waves – lethal, more types of waves to come
• …so, I’ve added a Threat indicator for approximate direction to the target, but not too precise to ruin the challenge – DONE, applying polish!!!

In Air Legends rockets were earned with scoring streaks of bullet hits. For Game #2 it’s more about the death and destruction now…

• Exploded enemies drop their remaining Ammo – loot! – DONE, applying polish!!!
• You can pick up said loot! – DONE!!!
• tweaked player/enemy engine volumes for better 3D audio – IMPROVED, ongoing.
• stomped a few bugs – definitely ongoing!!!

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!

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.