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[Glaiel-Gamer]

UPDATE: New Video:







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Been working on this for a little while, this is the first video I have that is worthy of a "big" post.
Definitely more to come in the future though.





I've launched a blog too
http://www.closuregame.com/blog/

Which will get weekly to bi-weekly updates with screenshots and the current status of the game, along with some tidbits into the actual development such as the current "design dilemma".

And a log
http://www.closuregame.com/Log/

Which will be updated with nearly every screenshot I take of the game (and I usually take a bunch to send to my artist for comments). It's gonna be sorta a timeline of development, where I can see what the game looked like at every new stage in development. Looking at some from a month ago, it came a very long way:

Fun Facts:
Total lines of code I've written so far: ~10000
6000 of which were in a week and a half
72 source files
60 FPS 1080P Fullscreen
Compiles on both Mac OSX and windows XP with no code changes.
This is my first real game outside of flash, first one in opengl, and second one in c++ (next to a crappy school project)

[Edmund]

spotlights = gay

gay = awesome

-Edmund

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

"6000 of which were in a week and a half"

that's kind of amazing to me. the fastest i've ever worked was 15,000 lines in 6 months (for immortal defense), and that was working every day on it for hours at a time. of course lines of code are not always a great measure of productivity and all that, but it's still kind of amazing.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

"6000 of which were in a week and a half"

that's kind of amazing to me. the fastest i've ever worked was 15,000 lines in 6 months (for immortal defense), and that was working every day on it for hours at a time. of course lines of code are not always a great measure of productivity and all that, but it's still kind of amazing.

The average for professional programmers is like 50-200 lines per day.

But ya that was one crazy coffee overdose post-finals week.

Also keep in mind c++/openGL has a lot more boilerplate than flash or game maker (disclaimer: i dont know gamemaker)

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

yes, although indie game developers aren't professional programmers, and often have to do other things in a game too: level design, writing, design, balancing, art, and all that. and it sounds like you're doing most of that for this game (i forget if you had an artist for the last one or not).

anyway, will keep the 6000 in 1.5 weeks record in mind and try to reach it one day (just as a physical test of one's limits thing)!

[Glaiel-Gamer]

yes, although indie game developers aren't professional programmers, and often have to do other things in a game too: level design, writing, design, balancing, art, and all that. and it sounds like you're doing most of that for this game (i forget if you had an artist for the last one or not).

anyway, will keep the 6000 in 1.5 weeks record in mind and try to reach it one day (just as a physical test of one's limits thing)!

Heh good luck with that. I don't think I'll ever hit that much again.

And ya I had an artist for the last one. I don't do art. He's returning for this one, but we're revamping the art from scratch. It'll be less of me telling him how I want it to look, and more of us deciding what looks best.

[esc]

It looks tough to figure out where to go, since the path needs to be lit to see it, then wait for the lightsource to come back, so you can step on it. It's a really interesting concept, but the not knowing where your going part is I think standing a bit in the way of making it a fluid experience.
Perhaps showing the outlines of the walls before you enter the area, or maybe even all the time. I know it may go against the initial idea, but please consider it.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

It looks tough to figure out where to go, since the path needs to be lit to see it, then wait for the lightsource to come back, so you can step on it. It's a really interesting concept, but the not knowing where your going part is I think standing a bit in the way of making it a fluid experience.
Perhaps showing the outlines of the walls before you enter the area, or maybe even all the time. I know it may go against the initial idea, but please consider it.

Believe me I know, I'm trying to get rid of as much guesswork as possible, but at the same time I'm trying to preserve the mood. Its no simple task and there's no simple solution, but I'm working hard on this.

[cactus]

I think I liked the pure monochrome graphics better. The moths are really cool, though, and I liked the puzzles in the vid.

One thing that I think stopped me from finishing playing the flash version was that the levels looked very similar graphics wise, which created a vague feeling of repetition. Aside from some text every now and then, I can't remember a lot of non-practical graphical details. It would be awesome if you could have stuff like bats waking up / flying away when you shine some light on them, and perhaps things like grass and other environmental details.

It'd also be interesting to hear what plans you have for distributing the game now that you're not developing in Flash.

6000 of which were in a week and a half

That's quite impressive

Good luck with the game, it truly has one of the most creative puzzle ideas I've ever seen

[Glaiel-Gamer]

I think I liked the pure monochrome graphics better. The moths are really cool, though, and I liked the puzzles in the vid.

:D I have a "classic mode" option for the graphics. It's mostly gimmicky cause spotlights are really tough to use without the lighting
Graphics are not final at all though

One thing that I think stopped me from finishing playing the flash version was that the levels looked very similar graphics wise, which created a vague feeling of repetition. Aside from some text every now and then, I can't remember a lot of non-practical graphical details. It would be awesome if you could have stuff like bats waking up / flying away when you shine some light on them, and perhaps things like grass and other environmental details.

Ya variation in the art is up there at the top of our improvement list

It'd also be interesting to hear what plans you have for distributing the game now that you're not developing in Flash.

I'm gonna shoot for steam and xbla (which would mean porting to directx   ), and if I can't get xbla, wiiware. It's all up in the air though right now, I'd rather focus on the game until I have something good first.

I also need to find out what distribution channel to use for the mac or if I should just sell it myself.

6000 of which were in a week and a half

That's quite impressive

Good luck with the game, it truly has one of the most creative puzzle ideas I've ever seen

Thanks man!

[Greg Game Man]

this looks amazing so far! its hard to wrap your head around the idea that, because its in the dark it isnt there.. it goes against what we think, its like when youre a kid and you cover your eyes and think youre invisble.. i hope you make the start of the game introduce this slowly and i have you put a ton of personal metaphors into it like braid to make it all arty and deep 

[Glaiel-Gamer]

new video