Just finished programming my latest game!

Read all about it...includes an analysis of how my time was broken down.

http://greyaliengames.com/blog/just-finished-programming-my-latest-game/

Congrats GA...

Can I guess the genre?



My guess would be.... HIDDEN OBJECT....

;-)

[edit: Or may not "and the game sounded awesome, like nothing else out there.".... ]

Fantastic...you have just finished your latest program, I just discovered that the LAST TIME I opened my 'current project' was on 12nd July 2008....ahhhhh depression mode ON :(
By the way, congratulations!
You cant' say anymore about the game and we need to wait until next friday-saturday? Well - this world is so cruel...

Oh, its match three, then?

Too many developers love to say "nay" about anything anybody else ever does. Probably the same sort of people who call a crack in the floor "art", just because its different. Personally I like a nice painting. That's art - not a dead sheep floating in a fishtank full of wee.

Anyhoo, point is, proper developers make games that they think will sell. I'm all for innovation, but the bills must be paid at the end of the day and I get sick of people moaning about saturated genres (genres that people are still paying hard cash for).

</mini-rant>

My money is on something to do with relationships.

Very interesting as usual Grey.

Just noticed a typo in "Holiday Bonus just did really well on BFG" which goes "In December Big Dish Games.." Might want to fix that. :)

Could it be... Tea Maid 2009 Extreme Coaster Edition! :P

Serisouly though, I enjoyed reading that over a brew me auld mucker! ;)

Dabz

Thanks all, hopefully this news will motivate others to finish off their stuff.

Well basically if you take any genre and expand upon it with enough ideas it looks like no other game just because of the depth and variety - that's what I meant.

@GfK: Agree with rant.

@markcw: Thanks, fixed. Quite amusing typo.

So I'll post again when it's official out next weekend.

Is it going on Reflexive as well?

No. Maybe I shouldn't call it "my" game, it's BFG's game and nowawadays the portals don't put their own games on other portals. I personally think that's a shame but they must have that strategy for a reason (i.e. to build up their own customer base with exclusives)

What do you mean "proper" developers ?? - I could understand if you said "professional" game developers i.e developers who have to do what the paying public or the publisher want because they make a living out of it and therefore have no choice but to pander to the masses, but does that make all other developers, who are not mainstream and maybe do it for the love of the art or to just make games for themselves, not-proper developers ?

Mystery alien files, I bet.

A hidden object game where all the hidden objects were greys would be delightfully creepy :)

Haha pretty funny idea.

Jake- since this is "BFG's game", what are your % royalties per title sold? Are they higher than a normal independent developer selling on BFG, or lower since you already receive a regular paycheck from BFG? Is this exclusive to BFG or will it go on other portals (minus Reflexive)? [edit- I think I just read the answer to this question above.]

Finally! Can't wait to see it. Can you at least spill what genre of game it is?

@Tachyon: can't give % but it's not my own game and I was paid to make it from the start so any royalties are a bonus...

MGE: No sorry, must not get into trouble ;-)

Grey Alien

WELL DONE!!!

It is great to see what is possible using tools provided by BRL. I have a question. Do BFG accept games written in Blitz3d??

I guess its the same as with any portals - they'll take it if its good, although having a Mac version too increases appeal.

Hello.

I reckon it's a game that's about winding people up on a forum. What can you say that will inflame the most, how can you placate the masses, how can you divert attention from your posts onto another member, how do manage those that rant on one hand and support on the other - the possibilities are endless (well, ok then, there are a few anyway).

Or maybe not.

As always, good luck with this release.

Goodbye.

Talking of hidden object games, one which makes up optical illusions like this hidden cat

would be pretty fun, wouldn't it?
Just define a set of objects that can be generated procedurally, such as trees and animals, and make the generator able to avoid certain areas of the image.

Back on topic...

Congrats Grey.



Sigh...

I don't see a cat...

congrats jake looking forward to finally checking it out.



i found the cat very easy to see, i don't want to say where it is though. just blank out and look past the details of what that picture is suppose to be and look at it for what its not (hmmm sounds kinda wierd, hope you understand what i mean).

Between the bottom two limbs of the tree.

[quote]Do BFG accept games written in Blitz3d?? [quote]as GfK says, sure if they are good enough.

@Warpy: Sob, I can't see the cat!

@SoggyP: I already came up with that game idea, it was called Flamewar and got made into a game (by someone else) http://www.newarteest.com/games/flamewar.html

It's the gap between the bottom two branches of the tree. A white cat.

AH! I see it. I though the entire picture was a cat :oS

Coincidentally, I'm currently reading an awesome book; "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" which teaches you to see not a given article, but the negative space around what you see.

I.e. if you try to draw a tree, you'll draw a tree based on what you know a tree to look like. If you instead draw the abstract shapes which make up the negative space surrounding the tree, you end up with a much more accurate representation because your brain has no pre-conceived ideas about what those abstract shapes look like.

The upshot is, I saw the cat almost before I saw the tree. The tree's 'negative space' is shaped like a cat.

Sounds like a cool book.

/me amazon's

..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..
..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..
..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..
..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..
..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..
..::SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAT::..

Oh *now* I can see it!

Ross C: CLICK.

Wow, never would've clocked that cat....

Congratz on your newest release Grey.... still looking forward to your final release for THE framework... Have been messing in Blitz3d again recently - its just so gratifying doing stuff in 3d in code.

more spoilers below!!



But, good work Grey Alien! :)

Sorry Foppy, you interpreted the upside down one wrong(hehe), if you look a bit closer you'll see its one of those cute dragons lying on its back, its clearer in #31

But back on thread - I enjoyed readin your blog Grey regarding how you spent your time, very informative, thankyou for sharing.

@Blitzplotter: You are welcome. So hopefully the next framework release will be in a month or two, I'm working on it.

"Unwell Mel" I'm assuming this is your new game? Seems to have that classic Jake look to it. ;) I'll hold back my "another match 3?" comments for now. I'm going to give it a spin and see if there's anything new added to the format first. :)

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4677/unwell-mel/index.html

Yep, this is it (Jake's name in the credits).

It's very polished, very flashy. Classic Match-3 with a medical twist. Congrats on another really fun game!

Yeah that's it as Tachyon has detected. There will be match-3 detractors of course (among developers) but it's a great fun and polished game with some unique stuff and sales are already very good indeed. I'll make a proper post about it later and why we did it etc.

This is really nice. Congrats Jake. I have to be honest, if I was BFG, I would put you in a room with a few artists and tell you to bump out a half dozen match 3 varieties. You're like a match 3 money making machine! :)

Thanks, well I joked a couple of years back on my blog that I wanted to be the match-3 king. Certainly I could easily make a sequel and add in all the extra meta stuff we didn't have time for, also I'd love to make a Holiday Bonus 2 (there's also been a lot of people asking for Fairway 2). However, it looks like I'll be working on another genre next but we plan to get than made a lot quicker than 12 months by having a bigger team. I'll keep people posted...

You can read more about the game in this thread now: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=83327

Congrats dude!

First reactions for me and I hate sounding overly clinical when it comes to cosmetics, is the difficult spelling and the true ugliness of poor Mel's diseases (inluding old age). I would have gone with a cutey named Mell and featured before and after images in the title.

Thanks. Those are good points/ideas (but that design decision had already been made - see other thread). Early on Mel looked even GROSSER but we toned him down somewhat :-)

Interesting take on an oversaturated genre.