I have played a lot of shoot ’em ups.  I’ve played old arcade shooters: Space Invaders, Galaga, Asteroids, Time Pilot, Sky Kid.  I grew up with console and PC shmups: Life Force, Ikari Warriors, 1943, Captain Skyhawk, AD&D DragonStrike, Tiger Heli, Raptor, Star Soldier R, Bangai-O.  I’ve played newer ones: Ikaruga, Desperate Space, Geometry Wars.  And of course I’ve played some Flash shoot ’em ups.  The thing is, it’s hard to find a deep shoot ’em up: one that keeps me interested after I figure out the controls and enemy patterns.

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Needless to say, I’ve been working a bunch on GigaSun Jet. I made it to a real milestone recently, so here are some screenshots of that. The biggest need now is perhaps the story. I have the basic plan laid out, but the script needs to be written and missions created.

Here’s the start of a mission which demonstrates what the objective and trigger systems can do. Some dude is talking to you about protecting these turrets.

This is the welcoming committee at the enemy base…

This is where I lose. Two ships against me after getting blasted by those turrets (because I’m taking screenshots, of course 😉 ).

I finally added a real blog component to the site.  Oh boy, it’s been needed.  I’ve wanted to jot down development details for GigaSun Jet, but it has been too much of a hassle to update the site.

I’m not much into web development, which is why I took so long to do this.  I’m still working on the integration, so hang tight.

More updates to come.  Yay! 🙂

Well, that does it.  I’m done teaching, which means I’ll be focusing on game development for a good while.  The Riot Digital compo deadline is right around the corner (two weeks).  GigaSun Jet is flying along now, with the main gameplay just a couple of edits away from being finished.  Now I’ll have to get the story, missions, ship component list, sound, and finalized menus in there.  Can I do it before the deadline?  Of course.  Can I make it good enough to submit?  We shall see.  I’m not going to be upset if I miss out on the competition, because this game has been a long time in coming and I’m proud to see it to the end.

Ah, lots has happened since the last update.  There was Ludum Dare #20, for which I made a pretty fun little puzzle platformer.  I ended up not submitting it because I didn’t have any real levels created.  I worked on it for a little while longer, but it’s on the back burner for now.  I’ll release some small version of it soon because it really is fun.  The best part of making it is that I got to get used to the new Box2D API.  It’s really very nice!  With a good feel for Box2D, a lot of game possibilities open up.

The biggest thing I’ve been working on is GigaSun Jet.  I’ve stripped down the design so that it will actually get done.  The basic component and upgrade mechanics are finally somewhat settled, which is a huge deal for getting the shop screen made.  A possible story has been written and other important design decisions were made.  Notably, I’m going to try to get something ready for the Riot Digital competition, which means building this game for the Pandora!

There are some other big real life changes occuring, too, but I’ll wait on discussing those…  See ya!

With my first bit of solid free time for a few months, I’ve packed up a demo for GigaSun Jet!  It’s still in the programmer art phase and I chopped out some unfinished features so the demo would be simplified.  Check it out on the GigaSun Jet page!

Whew!  Lots going on lately, but not much on the programming side.  My new teaching career is going well.  It’s tough making all of my curriculum, but I’m past the halfway point for the physics class I teach.  One of the small games I was working on at Muzzy Lane was released.  I would have liked to polish it up more, but you can find it at the ClearLab Project page.  Ahh!  It’s turkey time!!

There goes Ludum Dare #18.  That was fun!  In all, it was another good experience and I got another good game out of it.

The theme was “Enemies As Weapons”, which, incidentally, I suggested!  It’s like I’m a winner before the compo is even over (or something pointlessly motivational like that).  But…  It still took me as long as usual to choose a game concept.

I actually got to help organize and attend an LD Meetup.  We dubbed it the New England Ludum Dare Meetup.  I even took a video!  It was great to get to meet guys on the same wavelength.  We’re already expecting a few more people next time.

Anyhow, on to my game…  I wrote a game called “Fire, fire, where you are, I’m going to fight you with a fire department” (name given by my 4 year old daughter).  The shortest I dare make it without losing the preschool flavor is “Fire, Fire, Where You Are”.  You play as a firefighter burning away grass (fire fuel) before a wildfire comes.  I really think this game is up there near the top of my list.  I’m surprised by how well the fire turned out and that it doesn’t slow down my computer.  The patterns in the burnt terrain are often very convincing.  I can’t wait to see the voting results!

In other news, today is my last day at my summer job.  Perhaps I didn’t tell you, O Internet, that I got a Master’s degree and fled the graduate student scene right quick.  I’ve been at a nearby indie game company, making a couple of science games.  It has been pretty good and I truly got my foot into the game industry’s door.  However, I was offered a job to teach physics at a local high school, so that’s where I’m heading tomorrow!  I’m really excited about it for several reasons, not the least of which is that the standards-free curriculum is almost entirely up to me!  I hope to really get them ready for college-level science and help them understand how a knowledge of physics can help them in any career.

Wish me luck in LD and real life!  See ya around.

I just think this is cool. This is an image of a Meissner Effect demonstration for a lab that I did recently. The effect lets you easily levitate a magnet above a superconductor. That is, if you call attaining temperatures of 80 Kelvin easy (which technically it is – liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K – you just don’t see it every day).