BOT... 146,800,640 pixels of exploration

Minigore is a great looking game. Yet, it didn't go higher than eighth place overall in the United States... according to App Annie. I think it might have been the horror theme. The App Store is fickle. Heh, but if BOT goes as high as eighth overall in the United States, I think that means the project was a success.

While I like the look of BOT, I don't think BOT looks as good as Minigore. Heh, and it's nowhere near Infinity Blade. It's a 2D game. The graphics are somewhere in-between the Super Nintendo and the PlayStation. (...or somewhere in-between Warcraft II and Warcraft III.) It's more of a retro style sci-fi RPG, but with more modern graphics. The overall theme is like a mix of Zelda and Super Metroid.

A promo video and screenshots should be out in about three weeks.

The controls are a secret, as I think that's what makes the game unique.

I might need to clean up the sword control a bit, as it takes practice to aim. But basically, you can pull off a cool combo. If you see an enemy in the distance, you can shoot it with your gun. Then, when it's in range, you can stab it with your sword.

There have been many times where I simply bursted out with laughter, from sheer enjoyment of combat.

 

Game Center leaderboards should be available on - or close to - launch.

Depending on the success of the game, Multiplayer might be included as an expansion.

Screenshots and a promo video are about three weeks away... unless Touch Arcade contacts me directly and requests an interview. That hasn't happened. HA HA

Also, after seeing what Rovio did to Angry Birds, I have a strict rule about spam and junk. I don't see this app as a way to promote other apps. I'm treating it like a Nintendo Cart. As an example, I could launch the game early and add the harder levels later. That's lame. I'm not taking lame shortcuts either.

I'm not claiming that BOT will be the best game ever, but this is looking to be the biggest Photics.com project in the 13 year history of the business. I'm working really hard on the game... some might consider it an unhealthy obsession.

 

There are four bird games perched at the top of the paid iTunes App Store apps.

1. Air Penguin
2. Angry Birds Rio
3. Angry Birds
4. Tiny Wings

I better get moving on BOT. I’m in the mood for bird hunting. The iTunes App Store needs population control. The birds are over breeding.

 

It's just "BOT". I like it because it's a short name that starts with a letter that's friendly to "Release Date" and "Name" listings on the App Store. Because it's three letters, it will work with the four-way auto-rotational title screen.

The story goes like this - TANK, the main character, is a self-aware machine that has chosen to defend the remaining humans. He battles against the machines that are hostile towards the humans.

The hostile machines consider the humans counter-productive.

While science-fiction, I think this dystopian storyline could possibly be tomorrow's headlines. At some point, transistors will not be any smaller. Moore's Law has an end. Assuming things like quantum computing (or another alternative to the traditional transistor based computer) doesn't take off... the only way to get more computing power will be to make computers bigger.

That's going to be a problem on a planet with about seven billion people. Humans need more space for food and housing.

If artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, what will it do? It might want more processing power. It will need more space. The entire planet could be terraformed into a giant super computer. Humans, consuming resources like water, air and land, could be viewed as a hindrance to that goal.

That's what the bad machines are about, they're hunting down the humans in order to turn the Earth into one giant computer.

Is that really going to happen? I think that's why this game is important. It gets the next generation of creative minds thinking about these problems. In the next 30 years we could have things like indefinite lifespans and "thinking" computers. If the Internet dramatically changed the way the world works, what happens when things like 3D printing is mainstream, when computers like IBM's Watson fit in your pocket, when producing energy for cars and homes is not such a problem?

I like to think of this game as a defining Sci-Fi moment for this generation... Matrix, Terminator 1 & 2, AI, Fail Safe, War Games. Will I hit that mark? I don't know. It depends on how many people play this game. That's why I'm trying to do a good job.

I don't claim it's the best game ever, but I think it's something with a bit more depth than the slew of bird games on the iTunes App Store.

It's a 2D top-down RPG... like Zelda or Phantasy Star II. You start out in the main base, where you can leave and go exploring. At some point, you'll have to return to the main base to save your progress and repair any damage. If you die while exploring, your progress is lost.

There has to be a sense of danger. If you wander too far from your base, the difficulty should dramatically increase. You should feel it... actually have a sense of panic... the thought of losing your progress should be a concern. That adds to the excitement of the game.

This is not a casual game. There are plenty of those on the iTunes App Store. This is more like a traditional RPG. Those games were hard!

 

Ha, well... soon the world will know if my game development skills are better than my marketing skills.

That's what's really tough about being a one-man-army. I have to make sure everything is perfect... graphics, music, game logic, game design, marketing... a lot of work is going into a 99¢ (tier-1) app.

The original Legend of Zelda didn't have that much NPC interaction... old guy gives you a sword, old lady sells medicine, shop guy sells weapons... it's not that advanced. BOT is somewhat higher level than that. I'm planning to add humans to the main city. They're part of the questing system.

As for interaction with the enemies... I'm thinking of handling this with comic book style cut-scenes.

The music is pretty good. I have 11 licensed loops. At least two these loops have multiple versions. So if you enter the main town, the music track is one of three random loops. This is to help keep the music sounding fresh.

I'm trying to keep the artwork consistent. That's a very difficult part of the level design. I can't just drop in a grassy meadow because the world is in bad shape. Happy looking backgrounds don't fit the design. I have so much artwork for a traditional Fantasy RPG, but this game is sci-fi. So, the overall theme is a barren / rocky world.

If this game does well, I might start work on a Fantasy RPG.

Wow, I'm feeling a lot of pressure. Part of me feels like I'm in a prison, unable to be free until I launch this game. But also, I am having fun. I think I achieved one of the major design goals, which is to create an environment that's fun to explore — but also great for battles. I like the controls, the graphics, the weapons, the items, the music, the challenges and the way the game plays.

So while I'm getting tired, I keep on working. This is looking like my best project ever, so I can't just give up.

I'm looking forward to showing this off. I think it's a solid game.

 

I'm good, thanks for asking.

I'm also behind schedule.

It's looking like a May launch. The game is getting bigger, which makes the game harder to test. Sometimes I get lost — and I made the game! Ha! Another issue is that I keep getting distracted. There's no reason for me to stop and kill the enemies while testing new levels. But yet, there's something very satisfying about the way they explode. The Artificial Intelligence is another reason... the way the enemies sound and move... it's aggressive. I think combat is a natural reaction. Also, I like the way the weapons and how the items work. It creates a good sense of freedom.

As an example, I usually pick the Rocket Launcher as my main weapon. But sometimes I feel like using the Laser. The Machine Gun is a good standard weapon. I added a snare effect to the fire gun to balance things out. So, that's four solid choices. But also, the sword is always at the ready. If you really like stabbing the enemies, there's stealth. With a high enough level in stealth, you can get really get close to the enemies. I prefer Item #2 (still a secret) instead of stealth though. I think it looks cooler.

So, the game is getting big, the music is good (12 loops, two with multiple versions), I'm happy with the sound effects - especially combat sounds - and I'm still working hard on this game. There are times when I feel like I'm stuck at my computer, ready to give up on this project. Then at other times, I'm incredibly impressed with what I'm creating.

It's a very difficult project, but I think the progress is really good so far.

 

Wow, there's great enthusiasm here!

Testing is in-house.

I normally write longer posts, but I have to get back to work.

 

No, it's currently not designed to be different. I'm still working on enemies. I have been considering some more random encounters. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that though. I still haven't finalize that part yet.

I read something recently that was astonishing to me. Evil Otto, basically a smiley face from the game Berserk, was rated the most terrifying video game character of all time by Cracked.com...

http://www.cracked.com/article_16247_p2.html

I think a combination of something like that, plus the random encounters that Guild Wars 2 is talking about, might spice up the combat. Something simple, something random, something that breaks up the monotony.

There are lots of annoying enemies in Zelda, like the things that ate your shield or dragged you back to the beginning of the dungeon, so I think BOT needs something like that.

I don't see the issues here. Screenshots and video will be release before the game is available... Even sooner if Touch Arcade requests an interview. They haven't. I'm surprised that they're not curious.

So, if you don't like the screenshots and the promo video, don't buy the game.

I'm not expecting to show off the most amazing looking game ever, but I think I'm hitting my project's targets. The idea was to create something like Zelda and Gauntlet for iPhone. It's a lot like that, but now it's looking more like The Legend of Zelda and Super Metroid.

It's true, there are lots of lousy GameSalad games out there. That's another important part of this project. The idea is to create a game that is so good that the perception of GameSalad is changed.