Besome Games' Development Blog

Loose Ends

2008-03-08T02:54:00.001-08:00

I have been spending the last few days working with Raymond Jacobs on tightening up a few loose ends. Not the most exciting stuff to talk about, but it has to be done :)

(the blocks fill in from random directions, this one coming from the bottom)

When you can't place any more blocks, you lose. The board will pick one of the colors available to you, or a random assortment of them all, and fill in the board. It can be filled in from a few different directions, so hopefully the effect wont become stale too quickly. This image doesn't do the effect justice, you will have to check it out in the demo!

(showcasing the results menu - still undergoing changes)

When the effect from above finishes the game will go into the results menu. It will recap you of your level and score, as well as the lifetime total of blocks you have cleared. Some of the goals for unlocking new content are getting a 200 point total, so its good to see how much more you have to go before you can get there.

Next on the list is the implementation of the music and sound effects, as well as a few other goodies. More coming shortly!

High Scores, timeless

2008-02-22T00:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight saw the completion of a few key things.

The advanced mode was implemented with its final graphics. The top row's goals are to clear a lifetime total of 200 for each color listed. The middles row shows the level goals, the bottom row shows the 10x multiplier and score goals. You can see in the screen shot that all of the goals are locked, except for the last one.

I finished implementing the final block sets, as well as replacing an old set. This is what the final list will be. They wont be available at first, you will have to complete the goals above to unlock them, as well as a few things that I haven't mentioned yet.

All of the menus are now complete and functional, including all of the content. Finally!

High scores have been added for both the Advanced mode and Arcade mode. It starts off blank and as you play it will fill in. The game is never the same so with improvement and good luck you can set some pretty amazing scores. The save files will work per user on the computer, so unfortunatly there is no need to enter a name associated with the score.

Things are pretty much done here. I hope that this game gets the exposure it deserves, its been a blast and is authentically fun and interesting to play. Hopefully I don't get pushed to the dark side of the interweb, and the people that I know will love this game stumble upon it.

Besome Games is defiantly a small start-up company and cannot really afford the multi-million dollar advertisement campaigns that some companies can afford to do, nor can I use my connections to get this game on a console, or a popular website, or use anything to my advantage. If you think what you have read is interesting, and if you think the demo is fun. Tell a friend, please. I'm not exaggerating when I say that if people find Linx0r and enjoy it enough to buy it, it really will save my life. Spending countless nights coding away trying to give myself a better more stable life lead to the demise of my job. I'm living off my savings and my tax return for now. When linx0r goes on sale, if I can get enough money to survive I will be saved from having to find another local sweat shop or factory to waste my talents away in. I've put so much effort into trying to provide a quality fun experience, I just hope that I can achieve the exposure Linx0r deserves.

Either way, if I ramble all day nothing will get done, im off to code. Until next time, thanks!

Artwork A Flowin'

2008-02-20T12:58:00.001-08:00

Last night I was up until 7AM again coding away. The game is so close to done, I can taste it. All I have for now is this batch of screen shots:

A Few More Joining The Party

2008-02-18T21:39:00.000-08:00

Today saw the addition of the rest of the special blocks that will be featured in Linx0r:

The rotation blocks let you move it around the board while a timer counts down. Once the timer reaches zero it swaps the blocks that are adjacent to it according to its arrows.
The clear block can be used as any color, kind of like a wild card.
The heavy block wipes out a stack of blocks.

Implimenting these marked the end of development on Advanced Modes games mechanics. Everything is in and working as expected. The next day or so of development will be the creation of a demo, as well as implimentation of the high scores, credits menu, and the options. Saving and music have to be implemented too, fortunatly all of the content already exists, its just a matter of coding it in. I am hoping to call this puppy finished soon, we will see if I can make it.

Look forward to a demo, its coming very soon.

Kaboom!

2008-02-18T02:43:00.001-08:00

Ive spent the last few days implementing in what has to be my favorite special item, the bombs!

(click the last one to view its animation)

Regular bomb explodes the blocks around where it lands.
Colored bombs change the color of the blocks around where it lands to its color.
The "Disco-Bomb" (beautifully animated might I add) randomly changes the colors around where it lands.

(disco ball falling to its demise)

The way they are introduced into the game is when it's your time to do a special move and it choses to do the bombs, it randomly picks one of these bad boys. The bomb is moved back and fourth with the mouse while a counter ticks down. Three...Two...One... then the bomb free-falls from where it was and ignites, blasting towards the board. There is also a REALLY awesome exploding block particle effect that has been added to compliment this, and it does so very nicely.

(this picture definitely doesn't do the effect justice)

Hopefully the next update is as intriguing as these little buggers are! The final day is getting closer and closer. So far I've spent the last few days staying up as late as 6AM in morning working on things to try and polish it to perfection. It has to be the best damn game I am capable of making if it stands any chance as changing my life as much as I hope it will after its release. If Linx0r becomes know, and even a meager amount of people end up purchasing it, its going to change the world for me. I spend hours nit-picking effects and tweaking speeds ever so slightly to try and maximize the quality before it's final release. I think I might just be too eager, and am slowly killing myself due to lack of sleep. Either way, after eight hours of coding, its 5:24AM here, it's time I hit that dusty trail.