Comments Off February 6th, 2009 • Posted in GP2X Wiz
Sqdef 1.5, on its way
Sqdef’s moving forward! I’m currently bringing all the code up to date with my latest API so that it’s as bug-free and maintainable as possible. Since I first started working on it in February 2007, it has grown into over 9000 lines of C code weighing 246KB.
In comparison, the current Sqdef 1.5 source code weighs only 200KB, and I suspect there’s still plenty to be trimmed and be replaced with re-usable functions that will also power some of my other future projects.
Comments Off January 25th, 2009 • Posted in GP2X Wiz
Nothing like a new W.I.P.
This one’s with zombies! The gameplay will be simple: the player (white jacket) has to mow down zombies and collect various items which he needs in order to increase his strength and advance to the next level.
As I continue to add more features to my API, I make quick game mockups like the one above to try them out. Those which I like, I add to the never ending backlog :-)
Update February 26: I got back to this, and the GP2X seems to be able to handle it well at full resolution (instead of halved like in the first screenshot :-) Being a mindless shooter game, I figure this will benefit from procedural map generation, so I started playing around with some simple cellular automata.
Comments Off December 31st, 2008 • Posted in GP2X
Pentominos 0.5
This is a Pentomino puzzle game, the goal is to tile the entire board with the 12 pentominos. Read more about this on Wikipedia.
The game is in its early stages, but is feature complete. You can save your current progress and browse all the solutions you found for each board (the 6×10 grid has over 2000 solutions, have fun with that :-)
1.0 will have sound effects and the polish it needs here and there. Have a Happy New Year by the way :-)
Comments Off September 28th, 2008 • Posted in GP2X Wiz
The GP2X Wiz, Upskyway, Squaresliding V, and Sqdef
Howdy, it’s about time for an update. Here’s what I’ve been up to since last time:
Upskyway
Upskyway is my main pet project now that Sqdef reached version 1.4 which is pretty close to final. It will be an all-fun arcade game in the spirit of SkyRoads, with a GP2X and WIZ release hopefully sometime this year.
The GP2X Wiz
Gamepark Holdings were very kind to send me a Wiz prototype in order to port Sqdef over, which will be one of the handheld’s 12 built-in games. It is a very solid upgrade to the GP2X, and I look forward to writing more software for it in the future. The touchscreen and accurate control pad are especially nice.
Squaresliding V
After the Wiz Sqdef port was all sorted out, I ported over another one of my GP2X games, Squaresliding. I finally got to try the touchscreen controls for myself (no F-200 here), and I noticed that the boxes were too small to be easily touched, especially while riding on a train which tends to move you every which way.
I decided to re-make it with the Wiz in mind, meaning larger boxes and a vertical orientation. Not having a battery bulge, the Wiz lends itself to portrait mode much better than the GP2X.
Sqdef
I have a couple of fixes and optimizations for what will be Sqdef’s final release, version 1.5. But before I’ll make it public, I want to write a nice online manual that explains in detail all there is to know about the game. I learned a lot about game development while working on Sqdef, so I’d like to tie all the loose ends before finally saying goodbye to my dearest project yet.
I can feel my eyes closing now. Time to get some sleep before going back to course work… and eventually, to more homebrew coding :-)
Alex