Knife That Guy: The Delay!

So, it's looking like the planned release date for Knife That Guy (about this time tomorrow) isn't going to happen. I had pretty much been on track until this week, but right now I'm trying to wrap up some important freelance work and I haven't had time for programming anything that I am not contractually obligated (and paid) to do. I figured I could release the incomplete version of the game tomorrow, but I think it'll be worth it to break the rules of my challenge in exchange for a more refined game. The new release date for Knife That Guy will be next Wednesday, December 5th. I promise this will not slip. Unless it does.

Knife That Guy: End of Week 3

So it's the end of the third week of Game A Month #1. I have to say, way more got done this week than the last. I finished watching the rest of Avatar and, for some reason, I made the unfortunate decision to watch the movie. Oh, and I got sprites for the game done and the functionality to pause and a how to play screen and some other stuff. But no amount of progress will cool my rage over the abomination that is The Last Airbender film.

The game looks more or less like it did last week, but without pictures this post would just be a bunch of words (and who honestly reads those?) so here's a look at the enemy sprites that I've made this week:

Here's Normal Guy. He'd rather not be knifed.

Here's Sad Guy. He wouldn't mind it.

So yeah, those will be the two enemy types for Knife That Guy. Normal Guy tries to avoid This Guy, and Sad Guy attempts to run into him. I had wanted to have a few more enemy types in the game, but last week's distractions ended up reducing the amount of time I had for making the sprites.

The goal for this last full week of development is to implement the visual effects and sounds that will really work to sell the game's mechanics as well as adding the other necessary game infrastructure stuff like an options menu, high score saving, and credits. I've also coerced a friend into contributing a couple of music tracks for the game, so I can fill the uncomfortable silence in the game without risking a copyright infringement lawsuit.

I've also put together an early build of the game to get some gameplay feedback. If you'd like to be a tester, just let me know and I'll hook you up.

Knife That Guy: End of Week 2

Hey everybody. So today marks the end of week 2. Well, technically yesterday was the end but due to spending the past three days binging on the first two seasons of Avatar and trying to figure out what's up with DOTA 2, my schedule has gotten kind of shifty. So I haven't accomplished all of the goals that I had wanted to for this week. Although I have made most of the visual assets that I am going to need for the game, there is still a lot that needs to be implemented. This means that I will be saving releasing the early test build for the beginning of next week. I know getting early feedback would be helpful but I feel like all of the missing elements would be too distracting to really get anything valuable out of it right now.

That's enough negative stuff, so now it's time for some positive. I'm really happy with the sprites that I've made so far as I put a quantum of effort into them instead of scribbling them all out in a few hours. I also managed to get the camera to show an angled view of the game instead of the head-on flat view I had before. This was something that I wanted in the original student project version, but I could barely get my mind around working a 2D renderer so anything 3D would be double impossible. 

Here's a look at the changes to This Guy:

...and after!

   

Before...

And here's a shot of the current state of the game:

Look at that rectangular goodness.

So for this next week, I will have all of the sprites for the game made and have the additional animations that are needed (i.e. everything that isn't just walking). I will also try to get as many of the necessary sound effects as possible so that next week's test build will actually have some player feedback to go along with all of the knifing. This week's looking pretty good as I don't know how it could be less productive than the previous one.

Knife That Guy: End of Week 1

So it is now the end of the first week of development of Knife That Guy HD 3D Deluxe. I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far. I managed to meet my goals of having the design and rough gameplay prototype done and I've had time to dream up plenty of further complications and refinements that I will hopefully have the time to implement. Here's a little peek at the state of the game so far:

Right now, it's a bit more like "Knife That Primitive."

That's right, the game can both start and end.

So yeah, it's not the prettiest game on the block, but it's a start. I have the core gameplay of zooming around as This Guy, knifing That Guy, and avoiding everyone else as well as some placeholder UI elements and it's already feeling pretty fun. The goal for this next week is asset creation and integration. By the end of the week, it should look roughly like what the final product is going to be. There may even be a sound effect or two. 

The goal is to have the game far enough along by the end of this week that I can give a demo build to anyone interested in being a playtester. If you'd like the opportunity to provide me with feedback and stomp on my fragile ego in return for a place in the credits of a freeware game, let me know!