ASCIIvader final Update: Complete!

So here is a link to the game! I realize I am posting this past midnight but I didn't start til 2, took numerous breaks and had it done before midnight, but had to upload to MochiAds :)

http://games.mochiads.com/c/g/asciivader/ASCIIvader.swf

This is the 6 hour version (all work completed in under 6 hours, including concept and planning). Will make a better version at a later time: ASCIIvader 2 - Revenge is a Dish Best Served Square!

ASCIIvader 18:15 Update: Enemies oh my!

Look out, those things are bouncy and they go all over the place! And they just keep coming, geez! How long can you survive? Need to make the timer and health work and make a game over screen, but that'd do it! Still plenty of time :)

ASCIIvader 16:22 Update - Squareface Moves!

Squareface now has four boundaries and can move around. Up next: Enemies! But first, a word from our sponsors - coffee drinks to be made and drank! And a movie to pick to watch...

ASCIIvader 16:03 Update - Squareface is Born!

And here is an image of you, the player, Squareface! My first piece of ascii art! The little plus thingy in the upper-left is from Flash, it's not a part of him.

15:50 update - Some Quickly Made Screens

Here are a couple quick screens for the game, had to do them quickly to get a real start on the game.

Self-Challenge: Game in a Day - ASCIIvader!

Over at ExperimentalGameplay.com the monthly challenge is ASCII. It's actually a very interesting one, and the idea there is to make a game in a week. I'm pushing myself even harder, I'm going to make this one in a day! I came up with a concept that should be doable - simply avoid bouncing pieces and the like as long as you can. Survive a level to move on. Beat all 10 levels and you rock! Don't, and... well... :)

The game is titled ASCIIvader! Get it? Plus it kinda looks like Vader, Darth Vader, so that should be a draw too. I'll be updating this blog as I go. Here goes nothin!

Contests and Experimental Gameplay Jan 2011

One of my challenges to myself this year is to compete in as many competitions as possible! Ludum Dare (LD) and Experimental Gameplay (EGP) are two major ones; EGP is monthly, and LD usually does at least a "mini" challenge monthly, with a "real" competition every few months. I figure that, at worst case, this would mean 24 games this year, right? That alone is pretty sweet! Plus I'll be doing others inbetween...

EGP challenges each person to pick a week of the month to make a game (no more than the 7 days), which has to be based around the theme, which this time around is "inanimate." Quite a broad theme, but I guess that'll be what makes it interesting!

Experimental Gameplay October Challenge: BOYS AND GIRLS

http://experimentalgameplay.com/blog/2010/10/boys-and-girls-in-october/

Experimental Gameplay is a website based around making games in a week. They all did it when they were in school and now they challenge others to do the same. This month is the first month I found out about the monthly challenges, and figured I'd give it a shot! The challenge is a tricky one though: make a game for girls (/women). It's a challenge because in my past, I never really looked at games "for females" or "for males" or "for glowing orbs" as they say, it was always a question of "I don't like 3d so my games end up being the casual fare, and I don't like crazy violence, and I just want to make games I like, cuz I'm sure other people out there will like them too." I guess I make games for Charlie, and I'm not a girl, so it doesn't help anything.

It seems, in my "interviewing" (ie: "you're a girl, what games do you like?"), women like adventuring, they like puzzles, they like quests and checklists and unlocking stuff just as much as we guys do! It also seems cute graphics outweigh badass ones, although I laugh every time I realize that women will construct death traps for their Sims just as often as men do!

Now the trick will be coming up with an idea that's doable in about 2 days (since that's all I actually have in free time, not working...)