Final Post: It's HERE!!!

Well, I haven't posted in quite some time!  That's because I've been working on the finishing touches, and ironing a few things out.  At long last, Cipher is completed!  Feel free to download it here!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsdeejv47m5fwjp/Cipher.exe

I made this game with the intent that as many people as possible get an opportunity to play it.  So if you like it, tell your friends!

It's been a wild ride getting here, and I can't say it wasn't hard.  This whole process has been quite a learning experience, and I don't regret a single minute I've spent working on this.

Now, though, it's time to rest...

New Trailer for Cipher! Gaze upon it with your eye holes!

Ta-daaaa!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlmL8Ed_Q4w

For some reason, Blogger isn't finding my video with the Youtube search function, so here's the link anyway.

The release dates coming up.  Prepare thyselves...

(...gotta get back to work...)

Progress: 7/26/13 - 8/1/13 (GAME FINISHED!!! WHOOOOO!)

It's done!  The mechanics, levels, and story are all done!  My game has a CONCLUSION.  Holy SHIT!

Now I just have to work on the soundtrack and sound effects and add a few finishing touches.  T-20 days until release...

Progress: 7/25/13

Finished the final "non-storyline" level.  Just two more levels to go to wrap up the story and I'll officially be done with level design!  I plan to spend the bulk of August doing sound design and minor tweaking here and there.  I can see the finish line from here...

You better believe I'm going to be having a massive celebration for when the technical game stuff gets finished.  Hoo boy...

Progress: 7/15/13 - 7/20/13

Spent the last week giving the story a MASSIVE face-lift.  I'd like to believe that it's at least 70% less angsty now.  Made the shift from 1st person to 3rd to help make the story hopefully at least a little more relatable.

Also fixed up a bug I accidentally created in my most recent level that continuously spawned an infinite number of characters...Whoopsie!

Progress: 7/14/13

Did some level cutting.  Trying to shorten the game up to have a nice, focused experience that doesn't get too dull.

Also fixed the bug that was plaguing one of the powered up characters.

Progress: 7/10/13 - 7/13/13

Working on one BITCH of a level.  Had a bunch of stuff going on with it, but it's finally all done!

Having some troubles with some new character movement, though.  Gonna try to fix that up soon.

Progress: 7/9/13

Storyline brainstorming.  When am I not doing that, though?  Seriously, I've probably changed this thing like a half a dozen times...

Progress: 7/8/13

Making headway on the next level, which has yet another power-up that I need to consider.  Coming together quite nicely so far.

Progress: 7/7/13

Did some story based stuff with the character programming (can't talk about it too much, per spoilers).  Things are shaping up quite nicely!

Progress: 7/6/13

Made level 22.  I think I'm actually nearing the end now.  My list of brainstorming story points and level designs are slowly dwindling.  I'm hoping I'll have at least a few weeks near the end of this process to do some minor tweaking and polishing up.

Progress: 7/5/13

Yet another Feedback Friday over at Reddit.  Not getting too much reception there, though.  I think I'm going to opt to use the Game Maker forums every now and then, now.

Progress: 7/4/13

Whoo, popped out the majority of another level today.  I actually really like how this one turned out.  Just have to translate it and I'll be all set!

Progress: 7/3/13

Was pretty busy with other things today.  Still, I managed to tweak the story at the beginning of the game in order to drive home the fact that the couple in love is indeed a young teenage couple.

Progress: 7/2/13

Finished translating "Redemption."  Now it's finished!  Whoo, time to move on...

Progress: 7/1/13

Still messing around with Redemption.  Got the power-up looking like I want it to.  Now I just gotta translate the level and I'll be on my way!

(Deadline is less than two months away...yikes...)

Progress: 6/30/13

Tweaking around with Redemption still, getting all of the bits and pieces in order.

Progress: 6/29/13

Made a good deal of progress on a level entitled "Redemption."  Act II is drawing to a close, though in this point in the game, the lines between Act II and III are kinda blurred...

Progress: 6/28/13

Put the finishing touches on the level I'm working on.  Translated and everything.  Onto another storyline level!

Progress: 6/27/13

More tweaks made to the level.  It's deliciously spikey and not bad in terms of challenge.  I kinda like it!

Progress: 6/26/13

Got a basic level layout working for the next level.  Liking how it's looking so far.

Progress: 6/25/13

Finished translating level 19 and adding wind effects.  Maybe I WON'T get Act II done by the end of this week, but I'll damn sure try to get it done by the end of the month.

Progress: 6/24/13

Did a little tweaking to the level I just made.  Some translating stuff was kind of wrong, so I fixed it.

Progress: 6/23/13

Got started on the next level.  It's actually turning out a lot better than I had thought.  Hurray for challenging levels now!

Progress: 6/23/13

Finished a big storyline level!  It took a whopping 2 days to finish, but I actually really like how it turned out! Slowly chugging away through Act II.  Hope to be done with it by the end of the month.

Progress: 6/21/13

Back into level design!  Programmed some falling letters into this one.  I actually like how it's turned out!

Happy summer, everyone!

Progress: 6/20/13

More brainstorming.  It's getting a little tricky to progress where I am right now...

Progress: 6/19/13

Translated and finished up level 17.  Looking a little better than I thought it would, which is good!

Progress: 6/18/13

Did a little brainstorming on what to do with Act II going forward.  Progress is slowing down a bit, but I intend to get right back on it as soon as I can.

Progress: 6/17/13

Almost finished making yet another level.  My morale had a bit of a dip this evening, but I think I'm back on track.

Also managed to capture a few good thunder booms from last night's storm.

Progress: 6/16/13

Did a little touching up on my first level of Act II.  I feel it looks a little...sharper.
(Hint, I added spikes...)

Progress: 6/15/13

Jesus H. Christ, it's been a while since I've made a new level...
Act II is officially under way, and should be finished by the end of the month!  (aka. about 2 weeks...Gulp!)

Act II is going to be significantly darker than Act I.  It's mostly going to focus on descending platforms and dampening wind (blowing down and left).  It's also going to have a few hazards, like lasers and spikes.  Here's what the spikes look like right now!

It's a tad rough.  The spikes won't be moving ALL the time...

Progress: 9/14/13

Feeback Friday down at Reddit's r/gamedev provided some interesting statistics.  Did a little more brainstorming, but more or less I seem like I'm on the right track for what I want, which is good!

Progress: 6/13/13

My game has a soundtrack now!  Granted, it's probably not something I'm going to keep, but still!  Music plays a big part in games, and can help keep them engaging.  I'm hoping what I was able to drum up will have a similar effect...

Progress: 6/12/13

Tried to record a thunderstorm for ambiance.  Didn't work out too well.  Might just have to engineer my own storm making my own sound effects...

Progress: 6/11/13

More story editing.  I'm hoping to polish up Act I this week, so I can start Act II next week.

Progress: 6/10/13

Completely revamped the story (again).  Now it's a lot more personal, and hits closer to home for me.  Still not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  I want to tell a story that players can connect with, but I want to avoid coming off too "angsty."  It's tougher than I thought writing a story that keeps people engaged...

Progress: 6/9/13

Tightened up the jump mechanics a little bit to give the player a little more leeway in terms of getting off a platform.  Seems to work well, from what I can tell.  Guess I won't really know until it gets playtested again.

Progress: 6/8/13 (Massive annoying bug fixed whooooooo!)

Finally was able to fix an incredibly annoying bug that would cause the player to get stuck on a corner when jumping up stairs.  Feels good to get that out of the way.  Feels damn good.

Progress: 6/7/13

Evidently my game isn't interesting enough for players to get all the way through what I have right now (Based on the people who have playtested it so far).

So, I decided to a a prologue using In Medias Res in order to make things more interesting to the player, then drop them down into the beginning of the game.  It's my hope that they'll be compelled at that point to continue playing.  I suppose I won't know if this works until my next playtest session...

Progress: 6/6/13 (Sound Effects, baby!)

Three cheers for ingenuity!

That's right.  For the first time in months, HAYAH has sound effects!  Some of them I like better than others, and there's still plenty more to do.  But still!  My game makes sounds now!  Hurray!

Progress: 6/5/13

Applied the "DECODE" finish line to all of the levels and tinkered with it a bit.  Then I decided to take a little break.  This game's been wearing on my mind a bit more than I'd like it to.  I'll be absolutely sure to finish it by August 20th, but I'm going to have to juggle myself too, it seems.  Pity...

/angst

Progress: 6/4/13

Finished decoding all of the levels for the player to see after the "?" box has been collected.

Also decided to make a neato little animation signifying the player's awesomeness for getting the box.

Cor' Blimey!

Progress: 6/3/13

About halfway through decoding my current levels for the player to see.  I'm sure there's an easier way to do this, but I haven't tinkered around too much with it yet.

Progress: 6/2/13

Did a few little tinkering things today.  Mostly aesthetic stuff.

For starters, here's the new and improved item box!

GLORIOUS!

Also, every few seconds, the item box will burst with particles, so that the player can get hinted every now and then where the box is.  It's gonna look something like this:

TANTALIZING!

Finally, I've decided to help the player out a bit in decoding the Baudot code.  So, if the player collects the item block in the level, they'll be treated to a translation of the level that they can read as they roam with the camera.

EXPOSITION!

These are still a little unpolished as of right now.  But I like how it's coming out, so I'm going to be pursuing it for the rest of the game.

Cheerio!

Progress: 6/1/13

Did a little playtest session with a few friends.  Found a LOT of problems that I need to get to fixin'.  Plan to get on that as soon as possible.  I can't really continue moving forward until these issues get addressed.

Progress: 5/31/13

Did a little tinkering with a story animation.  I feel like it gets the message across a little better now.

Progress: 5/30/13 (ACT I COMPLETED WHOO!)

It's been a long road, but I finally have 15 levels down pat and the first third of the story wrapped up.  It's a good feeling, making progress like this.  There's still a bunch more to go, but damn it, I'm going to enjoy this moment.

Progress: 5/29/13

Made yet another level, and it was utter poo poo.  So I re-did it.  Now it's a little more higher quality now.

My next step is to set up my climactic level to finish of Act I.  Wow, I can't believe I'm already here.  I honestly feel like I've come a long way from trying to get squares to glide...

Progress: 5/28/13

Made another level.  Two more to go until Act I is completed!

Progress: 5/27/13

Made another level (which took WAY  longer than anticipated...).  Also did my final cutscene animation for Act I.  Just a few more levels to go until I'm 1/3 of the way completed!  It's a great feeling when you know that everything is going according to plan...

Progress: 5/26/13

Took it a little easy today.  Made a few more elements that are key to story development that I'm not gonna be talking about here. ;P

Act I of the game is almost finished, though!

Progress: 5/25/13

Finished another little animated cutscene!  At 350+ frames, it took quite a while to animate (I won't post it here, per spoilers).

Also managed to pull level 11 out of my ass, but it actually turned out better than expected.  Whoo, progress!

Progress: 5/24/13

Did quite a bit today!  My eyes kinda hurt from staring at the screen for so long.  Let's see, what did I accomplish...

- Added a zoom feature to the camera system, which allows for easier scrolling through the levels.

- Made two more levels, bringing the grand total to 10.  Story's just starting to get rolling now.

- Attempted to record sound effects, but I dun' screwed up and accidentally recorded them in stereo.  Whoops.  I'll have another try at that another day.

Jesus Christ, this game is eating up ALL of my time.  At least I'm making progress though.  August 20th isn't getting any further away...

Progress: 5/23/13

Made two more levels, up to 8 now.  I don't really like how level 8 turned out, though.  So that might change a bit (moving platforms aren't as versatile as I had hoped...)

Also made some more character sprites.  Hoping they help with the storytelling later on.

Progress: 5/22/13

Tinkered around with recording sound effects.  Things look like they're gonna work out the way I want with those.  Yippie!

Progress: 5/21/13

Made another level (up to 6 now).

Also made a new gesture/cutscene thingy.  Here's the two of them playing some kinda leapfrog (really, though.  I can't say I really know what the hell they're doing...).

Oh so glorious.

Progress: 5/20/13

Had a few friends playtest the game.  I noticed a few common hang-ups that I decided to fix.

Did a bit of editing to the levels I had, to make the objectives more clear and the platforms a tad easier to traverse.  Also made it easier for the player to figure out where he/she needs to go.

Also decided to add a checkpoint system, in order to ease some of the frustration.

Progress: 5/19/13

Added text at the end of levels that show the player how the camera works.

Progress: 5/18/13

Made two more levels.  Also fixed a glitch in the moving platforms that would cause them to slowly veer off their designated path.

Forgot to update this yesterday.  Whoops!

Progress: 5/17/13

Did a lot of story brainstorming.  Some of it was kinda painful, but I got a lot of ideas down now.

Progress: 5/16/13

Made another level.  Also spent a lot of time tightening up the functionality of the moving platforms.  They're still fairly limited in their use, but at least they're a lot less buggy...

Also implemented a new respawning mechanic so that the gesture animations don't repeat if the player dies, and question mark boxes don't have to be collected again.

Progress: 5/15/13

Toying around with some level design.  Got the second level completed.  Made another tutorial sign for gliding.

Progress: 5/14/13 (Main mechanics are FINISHED! Yaay!)

Finally got around to learning how to draw text in game.  Now, whenever the player collects a "?" block, a small snippet of text will fade in above the player (this text will remain above the player as he/she moves the character).  After a few seconds, the text will fade away.  Here's what it will look like:

"Hm, what's this little box of magical-ness?"

"Oh dearest me!  I've been granted exposition!"

At this point I've reached a landmark in my game design cycle.  All of the main mechanics I want in the game are now fully implemented (save for a few minor things).  Nothing is stopping me from just designing levels now!  With some more art assets and music/sound effects to create, I'd say I'm well on my way to completing this game by August 20th.  Whoo!

Progress: 5/13/13

Did some tinkering with the song I made yesterday.  Got it to loop pretty well.  Also got the file on my computer (it was originally made on my DS).  Thinkin' it sounds pretty good!

Progress: 5/12/13

I've discovered that I'm no music composer.  However, after fiddling around for a little bit, I've discovered that I'm capable of composing ambiance, at least.  So I'll be focusing on that instead of melodies.  I feel as though this would suit the slower paced nature of the game.

In other news, happy Mother's Day!

Progress: 5/11/13

Did quite a bit today, let's see...

- Added a dynamic camera system that lets the player roam the level after it has been completed, to get a good look at the Baudot code.

- Implemented moving platforms that the players can traverse across.  They're a tad buggy, but otherwise mostly functional.

- Have the first level layout completely finished.

- Implemented my idea for tutorial signs in the level that tell the player how the controls work.  Here's the one for double jump:

Snazzy

- Established a control system that designates how particles will be generated uniquely on every level.  The control system will also dictate moving platform paths as well as roaming camera placement after the level is completed.

- Decided that gestures will be used as short little cutscenes that play at the beginning of select levels.  I found the process of opening doors to be too time consuming to program.  I also felt it would break the flow of the game, and would come off a bit forced.  Nonetheless, the gestures are an attempt to personify the squares, so their inclusion is necessary.

Progress: 5/10/13

Experimented with some level designing.  Starting to get a feel for how much work this game is going to take...Wind mechanics seem versatile enough to get some entertaining things out of.

Progress: 5/9/13

Added horizontal wind mechanics.

Moving in the opposite direction of either wind results in slowed down movement.  This is more prominent when walking in the wind than it is jumping in the wind.  However, gliding in the opposite direction of the wind results in a more extreme slow down.

Moving with the wind results in drastically sped up movements.  The degree of speed up is uniform whether the player is walking, jumping, or gliding.

All mechanics are almost finished!  Now I just gotta do the door opening mechanic and I should have everything I need to start putting together some levels.  Then the real work begins...

Progress: 5/8/13

Got a handle on GameMaker's particle system and added vertical wind mechanics.  When wind is blowing upwards, the player's vertical descent is slowed down.  Players can jump higher with wind blowing upward as well.  Finally while gliding, the player can slowly make themselves float up indefinitely.

When wind is blowing downward, the player's vertical descent is sped up.  Gliding still slows the descent, but the speed up is still significant.  Jumping in downward blowing wind isn't as effective as jumping without wind.

Quick screenshot, to show how things are looking:

With a hint at what the gliding mechanic will look like.

Things are starting to come together.  I have a few level designs in mind, but I'm definitely going to have to brainstorm more.  With all the mechanics I'm adding, ideas just keep flooding in, and I need to start getting them down on paper.

Progress 5/7/13

Lessee, what did I get done today?

I made it possible to use gestures repeatedly, and whenever the player wants, by pressing a single key.  The top character jumps off, the couple does its thing, and then the blue character jumps back on and they continue on their way.  The whole process will look something like this:

All its glory

I plan to add a few more gestures into the mix.  Each one will represent a different aspect of the relationship (and the gestures will change accordingly when things start to go sour).  In other words, there are still lotsa art assets I need to make, and if it's not already painfully obvious, I'm no animator.

On the more technical side of things, I've added a gliding mechanic and animation as well.  I can't say it looks the most natural, but at least it seems to work well.

HAYAH Art (5/7/2013)

Did a basic animation for the couple in HAYAH.  They jump around, talk, then get all snuggly wuggly.

Actions like this can be used to create hearts which open doors to hidden areas.

Default jump off animation

Talkin' and snugglin'

The animation speeds will look more natural in the game, but this is what I have for now.

"How Are You and Her?" in a Nutshell

"How are You and Her?" (tentative title) is a game in which you play as a couple that, at first, seems inseparable.  They are two peas in a pod.  Perfect for each other.

Or so it seems...

As the game progresses, the story takes several dark turns, and raises questions about what truly makes a person happy in life.

The story is told through collectible snippets of text scattered throughout the levels.  It is also conveyed through the interactions between the two characters, the level design, and the music.

This is going to be my first game that I'm making completely from scratch.  All assets will be original content, from the art to the sound effects.

Being my first original game (and going at it solo), I realize this is a pretty ambitious goal.  Hopefully the minimalist art style (inspired by Baudot code) will ease the pain a little bit, but it does add some work in terms of personifying the characters and making them people the player actually cares about.

So far I have tiles made for easy level design, and a few basic animations for the characters.

I'm looking forward to working on this project throughout the summer.  It will be made in GameMaker.

Planned release date is August 20th.