I sometimes find it difficult to keep focused and complete a project. As an experiment I've decided to make one game a month for the next few months. My thinking is that the compressed schedule will help me avoid scope creep and a lull in development from which I might not return. Anyway, it's July 9th and I thought I'd share some of my progress. I'll continue to update this thread as I have new things to show. Alternatively check out my personal site
Another Early Morning where I will be posting updates as well.
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Game Title: Petunk
Gameplay: It's a physics game where you are trying to shoot several metal balls at a target. The goal being to get a bull's eye or as close to one as possible. Each level you'll try to get as many points as you can for each shot. The levels will contain different doodads which make it increasingly hard to reach the target.
When can I play it?: I'm going to finish the game by July 31st and immediately start work on the next one.
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So far I've created a level editor and the foundation for the game -- basically a shell in which you can play the game itself but no title screen, etc. If you'd like to try the initial prototype you can find it here: Initial Petunk prototype.
My original idea was to make a Nok Hockey game (have you played that?). However, I wasn't confident I could add networking or create a competent computer controlled player in just a month, so I ended up generating a few other ideas. Here's an example:
Check out this post to see the rest of them.
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Ultimately things evolved gradually into Petunk. Once I had an idea I was able to create the above prototype and later the level editor, etc. At this point I've got a pretty good handle on the technical aspects of the game so I'm switching over to the art side of things. I'm not 100% sure what art style the game will have, but I'm leaning towards using real world media in the process. Hopefully, I will be able to post some pretty pictures to this thread soon.
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Anyway, that's all I've got to share with you today. If you're interested in hearing more I hope you will check back here or subscribe for updates at my site. And if making a game each month sounds like a fun idea to you why don't you join me? It'd be fun to have some others racing along to share stories with 
.New updates to share! So I've been working on the look & feel for the game and I'd like to share the results.
Unlike many of you on these forums I'm not a great artist. I especially lack the technical ability to create something life-like or realistic. Given my limitations I tried to find an art style that would compensate for that by reducing the need for raw technical ability. Ultimately, I settled on collage/cut outs as my medium. Check out a couple screens I've created:
So, I'm aiming for a colorful, happy style. What I really like about using physical material for the art is that I can capture some great textures and shadows that I would have struggled to produce in Photoshop. I can also do some cool stuff such as fold the paper. For instance, the curtains on either side of the stage are created by folding a piece of paper up. When they close I simply unfold the paper. Check that out along with several other transitions I made using my assets and Photoshop:
(Not sure how to embed YouTube, would love help if it's possible)
Anyway, that's all I've really got to share now. You can read more about the art direction and how I came to pick it at my site Another Early Morning. I'll post here again soon with more updates. In the meantime let me know what you think about this new style. 
Once again, an update! This time I'd like to share a little bit about the process behind the artwork for Petunk. As you can see from the cool screenshots above the artwork is all made using physical materials which I've cut up and scanned into the computer. But
there's a little more to it than that.
First thing's first, the equipment I used. All in all I spent less than $30 to get the different tools I needed:
- 40 sheets of assorted colored construction paper ($3.59)
- An x-acto-knife or equivalent ($5.93)
- Double sided removable tape ($3.59)
- A glue stick ($.89)
- A normal pair of scissors ($2.79)
- Two or three pairs of “funny” scissors with different types of cuts ($2.24 each)
- One ruler ($2.45)
- A scanner
One thing that's worth noting is that you might not be able to find a selection of colored paper with the colors you want. Don't sweat it, I couldn't but the game is better for it. Having to use the colors that were available forced me to use a broader palette.
The physical process itself 
Start the process by grabbing a few pieces of paper and making something completely random just to get the creative juices flowing. Next, piece together an early prototype trying out different colors and shapes. Don’t worry about re-using assets at this point; Just explore what works until you’ve found something you think is strong.
Once you’ve settled on a general style and possibly tested it out with a physical prototype the next thing to do is construct a set of re-usable assets. In a nutshell, each “atom” is created separately, i.e. you might glue two green cut outs for a bush or an orange and red cut out for a wall. In some cases you may not want to glue assets together, for example the game’s background and border. In those cases I suggest binding the two assets together with tape in a way that allows you to move them as needed while still keeping things relatively in place between scenes. Finally, arrange the atoms on the stage using double sided tape to hold them in place. When you’re satisfied put the entire scene into the scanner and import it into Photoshop.
With the basic process down you can start to explore different properties of the medium. For example, you might fold red paper over and over to create a curtain, or roll a blue paper into a tight loop and then unfurl it to create water. Layering elements also creates different affects as you push the paper closer to the screen.
So that basically sums it all up. Overall I found it be very cheap, effective, and good looking. I was able to produce just about everything I needed in a single weekend. Check out
this post for more about the process. I'll update again soon to share more about using Photoshop to complete the style.
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It's July 20th almost three weeks into the month and that means it's time for another update! Last time I posted to this thread I shared some of the background behind the artwork. Hopefully we'll start to see some games with a similar style in the future. Since then I've been focusing on tightening up the levels in the game, dealing with various odds and ends, and finding sound effects. That last one I always underestimate, it's a huge amount of work!
A lot of my energy has gone into moving all of the assets from Photoshop into the game. I'm using Flex as my development platform but ended up using Flash CS to design and layout my assets. Without Flash CS I felt I was reinventing core concepts, think MovieClip, and generally wasting a lot of time on something that's otherwise easy in Flash. Eventually I settled on a workflow where I manage my assets/layout in Flash, export the results as a SWC, and then import them into my game through Flex. I'm pretty happy with this setup as it:
* Allows me to design layout and animations in Flash CS
* Is as easy to export a SWC as a SWF
* Provides code complete and type specific information in my editor
* Doesn’t require me to litter my code with Embed tags
Like I mentioned above I've also been finding sound effects for the game. I think there won't be quite as many flourishes/sounds and overall they won't be as good as I'd like, but that's likely unavoidable when you have such a short period of time to get everything done. At the moment I've been getting most of my sound assets through [SoundRangers.net](soundrangers.net). I'd recommed them if you're looking for inexpensive royalty free sound/music.
Anyway, I'm chipping away and I think the end is in sight. The game is playable and probably about 90% complete. I need to finish the sounds, integrate any services I want, and decide if/how I will make money from the project. Oh, and I've got a new demo available!
Click to play Petunk v0.2 
I'd really appreciate some feedback. The current prototype shows off the final artwork and a complete level. If you try it out please consider answering:
* How fun is it?
* How easy to pick up is it?
* How clear are the rules?
* What would you improve?
* What would you remove?
Thanks, I'll post again soon, Alex.
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