It does seem like most of the other devlogs I look at say they are/were inspired by this one.

Looking lovely in the recent video. The lighting and everything is excellent. The dust effect when landing on the floor feels a bit over the top, I think a more subtle effect would be a bit less distracting.

[Day 9]

Wanda looks pretty cool. I'm hugely in favour of the non-combat angle, hope it works out for you.

Day 9

• worked a bit more on the ice climber sprite

Pondering two core ideas right now, represented here by the scale of the characters. Leaning more towards the right, which I feel is "mine" rather than just a rip of spelunky and archer.



On the other hand, the cuter light-hearted version could be a lot of fun! Hmmmmm... Either way, the idea is to base the game around a grappling hook platforming mechanic.

I like both. The tall one is more unique, style-wise. The short one would be easier to animate though, especially with the grappling hook mechanic. On the tall one I kinda miss the chunky boots from the sketches of her.

@Ishi, yea that's exactly how it will work. What makes that kind of game so exited for you? Any similar games you can recommend?

I like iOS games where I can just look at a puzzle and think about it, and the game doesn't demand my attention. Joining Hands and Trainyard are good examples.

I do know a girl who's about three I think and can do all the walljumping and stuff in Mario Galaxy.

No planned release date, I'm just chipping away at it. If I can keep decent momentum going, then maybe about the middle of next year? Who knows! Probably best not to think about it...

Looks really nice so far. Is it the sort of game where you just take one move at a time? With no real-time elements. Those are my favourite types of iOS puzzler.

Does it have to be realistic? Mario and other games in that style are more abstract with their map architecture and graphics.

Well it doesn't have to be super realistic, but I don't want it to be abstract either. It has to feel like the same universe as Treasure Treasure, and as a Metroidvania I think a more believably detailed world is more interesting to explore.

This looks super cute. I'm sure my niece will like it. She's just learning using computers. She doesn't yet know what _exactly_ she is doing but she can already play simple platformers And very well so! Looking forward to your game (also for playing it myself, hihihi)

Unfortunately this isn't really a simple platformer, though don't let that stop you letting her try it! It's not like it'll use more than directions and a couple of buttons, but it's not just left, right and jump either.

[Update]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've not really had a day of doing nothing for about a month, and ran out of energy. Made some progress today though!

Update

Did a bit of secret code. Secrecy makes for boring devlog updates unfortunately, but I don't want to reveal every aspect of the game or there'd be no surprises.

Also did a first pass on some new tiles. I feel I've been getting a bit bogged down in the idea of keeping the game's setting sort of realistic. I was going for a mediterranean sort of location, but I don't work that well if I have to try and work from references and fit it all into tiles and stuff. So I'm thinking of going for a more fantastical, vaguely tropical feel where I can pretty much do what I want. It'll allow me to vary the scenery up more across the game's map, too.



The background is rather rushed but it should give a general idea at least.

Yay, finally a mockup that I feel is promotional enough! Still, I crave for critique!

I think the house roof could really use different colours on the left / right side of it, as one would be getting more sunlight than the other. Looks a bit flat at the moment. I presume you had a look at the old Secret of Mana pixelling tutorial? Your soil turned out way better than mine ever did.

I did some new tiles. The background's rather rushed but should get the overall idea across.

Two player switching puzzles? Awesome. I've only played as Catgirl so far. BOM! I definitely recommend the game, for £2.70.

Pre-ordered Mario and Mario today.

Catrap on Virtual Console is pretty cool, never heard of it before. Massively stuck on level 14 though.

The music in Catrap is awesome.

Is there only the one tune though? It's a bit drive-you-mad like the Popils one. Which, incidentally, is another platform-puzzler that I've never played that I hope comes to the 3DS someday (they're doing Game Gear VC eventually, right?).

Catrap on Virtual Console is pretty cool, never heard of it before. Massively stuck on level 14 though.

Sexy mockup = immediate interest! Keep it up!

So the next meetup is in Coventry. There's been talk of going to The Aardvark. I've never been there and can't remember who suggested it. It's nice and close to the station so it suits anyone travelling. It's also a nice tradition to go to a new pub for every Coventry meetup. Anyone got any opinions one way or the other?

For the record in the new thread, so far the Coventry meetup has been at Browns, Whitefriars, Inspire, and The Gatehouse. The Leamington meetup has been at the Jug & Jester always.

Well despite the trains being rather screwed it was an excellent meetup!

As I suggested to some people, I've started a new thread where we can better update the thread title etc, and it's less off-topic from the original poster's question about Staffordshire-based devs. http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=22091.0

All further discussion of Midlands Indies should be done there.

If Oshikuru is still keeping up with the thread, sorry we've strayed away from your original suggestion, but thanks for kicking our meetups off. Hopefully you can get something going further north, or make it to ours sometime.

[Midlands Indies]

This thread is no longer used, the new one is here: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=30112.msg823257#msg823257

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Hello!

Starting a new topic for this so it's easier to update with times & dates, and a bit more official, and is less off topic from the original post.

Midlands Indies is a group who started meeting up in about April 2011. Nothing serious, just a pub meetup for indie devs in the West Midlands / Warwickshire area of England. So far we've had meetups in Coventry, Leamington and Birmingham. The current trend is to alternate between Coventry and Birmingham each month.

We meet up on the second Wednesday of each month.

It's just a pub meeting; a good excuse for a few drinks whether you have something to show off or not. Everyone is welcome.

As long as I'm there, our table at the pub can be identified by the presence of the Midlands Indies 1up Mushroom!


Please note: The 1up Mushroom is smaller than you think

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Dates are posted to this Google Group, if you want an email reminder.

We use the twitter hashtag #midlandsindies.

Next meetup: Wednesday 14th November, 6:30pm, at The Post Office Vaults in Birmingham.

Fine with me. We can discuss it on the morrow. If you're on the 6.25 train we should bump into each other.

Jug & Jester it is. Wednesday 5th October. 6pm.

Edit: 6.30pm!

I hope you don't have to update firmware all the time with the Vita, that way emulation will be less of a hassle.

dream on, buddy

This was commented on by the sony brass, I believe they said something to the effect of "We are very aware that people dislike frequent firmware updates" Not that the statement says they will do jack about it.

I read something along the lines of, "There will be firmware updates but they'll be automatic / done in the background so they don't prevent you playing like on the PS3". Or something.

Looks like my kinda game!

Four Swords is out early. Get get get.

Full 3D for the most part, unless I'm on a train or something. I find it pretty spectacular a lot of the time, especially in into-the-screen stuff like Eidge Racer or Starfox. Very immersive. In Pilotwings I genuinely found that it helped depth perception, and I played a level of Mario 3D Land and it seems like the same will be true for that.

Mario was nice, btw. Felt suited to pick-up-and play handheld gaming. Felt good to have real powerups back, too. Also played Mario Kart and it was tasty. No hint of framerate drop in either game.

The controls in Kid Icarus felt a bit clumsy, but I'd like to give it a better try sometime. And my immediate impression of Metal Gear 3DS was that the controls (aiming with the four face buttons) and the poor framerate don't make for a pleasant experience.