Good Old January Sales

It's January and everybody has had enough of Christmas and are feeling thoroughly depressed at the idea of going back to work! Fear not friends, Addictive 247 is here to help!

We've jumped on the traditional band-wagon of the January Sales and have set all our game prices to just $1.95!

You can now cheer yourself up with the full version of one (or more) of our games, happy in the knowledge that it cost you less than an over-priced meat pie.

Go and tell all your friends/family/colleagues and enemies now as this offer is only available until Sunday 10th January 2010.

The link to this post-Christmas madness for extremely cheap but great fun games is at http://www.addictive247.co.uk/purchasegame.htm

Cheat!

Ten Ton Ninja was released just over a year ago and in all that time I've failed to mention that there is a cheat code for it. For some bizarre reason I remembered it last night so thought I'd post it here for all you Ten Ton Ninja fans.

The cheat code unlocks all the levels in the game so you don't have to complete one level to move to the next.

On the main menu just type "BIGFATCHEAT" (without the quotes and lowercase is fine) and hit Enter.

You'll hear a ninja grunt and the text "Cheat Activated" will appear in the top right of the menu. All the levels to the game will now be unlocked.

If you haven't tried Ten Ton Ninja before then why not grab it at http://www.addictive247.co.uk/tenton.htm

End of another year

Well it's the last few hours of 2009 and seeing as I'm a sad Indie developer I'm sat at my PC writing this blog post.

Long gone are the days of me going out on New Years Eve for a good drink or 10, starting early in the morning and finishing early the next morning. Instead I'm sat here with a nice cup of tea, the kids are in bed fast asleep and my wife's sat in bed reading a book. Talk about living it up!!

Anyway, I've been thinking about the last year in terms of game development. To be honest it's been a pretty slow and un-productive year.

It is in fact the only year in the history of Addictive 247 that I've started a number of games and haven't completed them. Super Ten Ton Ninja and Colmar (wizard game) were both scrapped.

Two positive things that I've done in 2009 - 1). Started this blog and post at regular intervals and 2). Re-designed the Addictive 247 logo and website.

I suppose the other positive thing is that I've decided to only work on games that get me excited and keep me excited. Anything else can be dropped. Harsh, yes; but it seems to be working out ok, especially with the "Penguin Game".

As for 2010 - I'm not really one for making predictions or resolutions. The main idea is obviously to release a new game. So I'll stick with that as my main "resolution", although you can't hold me to it!

Anyway, I've been sat here too long thinking and writing this post. All that's left is to say Happy New Year and see you in 2010 - have fun!!

Video at last!

Well I managed to find a decent piece of software to record some game footage. In the end I used BB Flashback Express. It's easy to use and free - just Google for it.

Anyway here's a bit of game footage. Quality is crap!



The video basically shows deploying a Gunner, Suicide and Diver penguin. It's not a real level from the game but a test area where I get to throw penguins about!

Seasons Greeting!

Well I've just put out a plate with a mince pie and a carrot on and it's nearly time for the big guy to make an appearence.

So, if you celebrate at this time of year then I wish you a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

No Video!

Well I wanted to put up a video of the game in action but I'm having a bit of trouble recording it.

I use CamStudio which has always worked really well for me in the past but as soon as I start it recording, the game runs at a snails pace. Now I know there's always going to be a bit of lag but this is really bad. Even when I play it back it's like it's playing in slow-motion.

I've played around with a lot of the settings but can't get it to speed up. Seems kind of strange since it's always worked when taking videos of my other games.

Oh well, I'll try again and if it doesn't start behaving I'll have to use another package to record video :(

Penguin Types

So far I have 6 penguin types in the game. They are: Parachutist, Suicide, Diver, Gunner, Girly Penguin (needs another name) and Cyborg!

Now this is probably enough for the game but it's great fun coming up with silly penguins, so I might extend the amount of characters you have at your disposal. Maybe have one or two unlockable penguins which get unlocked after achieving certain things.

Still haven't come up with a name for the game yet !!!!

Making Progress

Steady progress is being made on the "Penguin Game" (hate that name, hate it!, hate it!, hate it!!)

The screenie shows what the whole game area looks like, although this is just a test level for me to play about with, so it's quite empty at the moment.

You can see the "Penguin Deployment Zone" at the top of the screen. This appears once you select the penguin you want to use. You then just click in the zone where you want the penguin to appear and they fall/parachute/dive into the play area.

To the left of the screen you can see some water with fish in. However, it's covered with ice so the first thing you'd need to do is to destroy the ice. That's where the Suicide Penguin comes into play. He can blow the ice up, making way for your Diver Penguin to collect the fish.

A video would show the gameplay much, much better but I haven't got the time at the moment. Will do a short vid over the next day or so.

Hello Kitty meets Pingu !?

Had a great idea today for a girl penguin to appear in the game.

Think of Hello Kitty meets Pingu complete with hair bow and an explosive set of flowers - cool!?

Turn Based Penguins!

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the "Penguin Game" is kind of turn-based. In each level you have a limited amount of turns that you can use and the different penguin types use a different amount of turns.

For example, in the screenie there is a number in brackets next to each penguin type. That isn't the amount of penguins you have but the amount of turns needed to "play" that penguin.

So for example the Parachutist uses only 1 turn and the Suicide and Diver penguins both take up 2 turns each.

This means that the player has to sometimes use a bit of strategy to get the most out of their turns. Run out of turns and the level is over :(

Penguin Screenie

Well here's a screenshot to show you the progress so far on "The Penguin Game" (hate that name!!). Click to enlarge it.

You can see the Suicide Penguin stood at the bottom of the screen near some crates. He's only got 1 second left before he goes pop - awww!

I've been playing around with the display for quite a few days now. I hate doing interface stuff for the score etc. Anyway, you can see that everything sits on the right of the screen. This is where you can select which penguin you want to use etc, etc.

Still not 100% happy with it, but for now it's staying as it is so I can get on with other useful stuff. A lot of the graphics are still programmer art or just temporary so I expect the game to look a lot different eventually :)

Dive, dive, dive!

Adam just sent me through the latest penguin graphics - "Diver Penguin" . . . and they look great.

He wears a diving mask and snorkel and shakes his head at you if you fail to get him in water. If he does land in water then he flips upside down and dives down to the bottom, collecting fish as he goes - lovely!

What's in a name?

I've never had a problem with naming any of my games. The name is usually the easiest part (or one of them anyway).

Skin & Bones, Ten Ton Ninja and Addictive Football all came to me pretty much straight away and I think really fit the games that they became.

However, I'm having problems coming up with a suitable name for my Penguin game. At the moment it sits on my hard drive as "penguin". The obvious choice would maybe be "Penguins"; but that's rubbish!

I've looked all over the net for info on penguins hoping something would jump out at me; but it hasn't. How hard can it be to name a game with penguins in?

All ideas welcome! Please feel free to post them in the comments section of this post or email me at mail[AT]addictive247.co.uk

Best idea wins a penguin (no it doesn't!)

Penguin Fun!

The small screenie shows two of the penguins in the game.
One is the parachutist. He floats down gently to the ground collecting fish on the way. He's probably the least exciting of all the penguins but he does have his uses.

The other one is the Suicide Penguin!
With rockets and dynamites attached, when he lands he does a 3-2-1 countdown (like in Lemmings) before blowing to pieces. Now that might not sound very useful, but he is.

The explosions he creates can break up ice blocks and destroy other objects that are in the way. If the other objects also blow up then you get a nice chain reaction effect.

The Suicide Penguin is my favourite so far. He has some nice little touches like closing his eyes just before detonation. How sweet!

Enjoying Penguins!

No, not the chocolate biscuit kind, although I do love em!

I'm still having great fun playing around with my game engine which involves penguins. I've just added a Diver Penguin who dives down through water collecting fish and a Gunner Penguin who er . . . likes shooting stuff!

The graphics are so far all "programmer art" (or shit as I like to call them) but Adam is now on the case designing the first Parachutist Penguin. I'll post pics soon-ish.