The much anticipated, only-two-days-late Goldwingu 2: Episode 1; Means to End v.0.6 (3.44MB) is now released! Screenshots.
Straight from the Release Notes:
– Campaign mode added!
– Firing missiles now requires locking targets by using the tactical display.
– Stronger bullets (at the moment Supershots) can now destroy more than one weaker enemies.
– Some optimization and other fixes.
Under new Release Management, Goldwingu 2: Episode 1; Means to End v.0.5 (3.42MB) is now released!
Things to expect:
– Two-player co-op game mode added.
– Missiles added to the arsenal.
– Small GUI changes.
– A bit of extra challenge for all you ninjas out there…
Yesterday I noticed that the released version of Goldwingu v.0.4 was broken. I fired my Release Manager on the spot. The executable was as it should be, I had the previous version of the assets-file on the package which didn’t work with the new version. When I checked the package, I just tried that the game actually launches.
The broken version will be saved for prosperity as a constant reminder to not be bad.
The highly anticipated new version of Goldwingu is out: Goldwingu2: Episode 1; Means to End v.0.4 (Codename Aatos) You have no chance to not download! Make your time!
Release notes snippage:
– Added menu-buttons for basic navigation in the start GUI.
– Added an options page were you can change key-bindings.
– Changed how explosions are handled.
– Fixed pausing to really pause the game (including internal timers for the game objects).
I have finally figured out what is the most precious resource in Finland. It’s toilet. It’s almost ridiculous to what lengths various instances are prepared to go to stop un-worthy people of using their toilets. Even if you are a customer at a shopping centre, you’re faced with the humiliating task of asking for a token from someone so you can use the toilet. If you are not a customer, you pay!
Some even go further than that. The biggest movie theater complex in Helsinki has their toilets secured with a keypad. The passnumber is written on all the movietickets. Although it does make you feel slightly jamesbondish, that tight a guarding of your precious toilets makes it all feel a bit weird.
You have to ask why this is the case, why lock down the toilets like that? I think it’s another form of tragedy of the commons. If everybody else doesn’t allow anyone to use their toilet, then everyone and whatever side-effects they might bring, real or imaginary, will pile up on the few that do allow it. Everybody knowing this, will just relieve themselves to the nearest gateway.
Yet another day, yet another version: Goldwingu 2: Episode 1; Means to End v.0.3
Snippage from the poorly written Release Notes:
– Medals now displayed at the top of the screen and listed after Game over.
– Tactical display shows Shield recharge rate and marks enemies that are one shot away from being reduced to their constituent particles.
– Players ships representation (sprite if you like) is now read from file (assets).
– Revised the short game help text as well as added a mention about the author.
I was careless, there were patterns. I really don’t know what I was thinking.
No-one is that fast. She had emptied a half a clip before I had even raised my hand. Of course they wouldn’t send a human.
I called the ship. It was on the other side and it had to jump, which is a big no-no for them. It told me I was in 5 distinct pieces when I was collected. This timeline obviously wasn’t for me. You know how it goes, in order to convey a message, it’s always someone you love. Another mistake of mine.
The new version of Goldwingu 2: Episode 1; Means to End v.0.2 is now out. Get it while it’s still lukewarm!
Snippage from the Release Notes:
– Added the fundamentals of a tactical display. Currently shows just accuracy rating for the player.
– New enemy types appear first on the level, until a new enemy type is introduced.
– Slowest speed for player has been increased to 6 from 4, medium speed slowed down 14 from 16 and fastest speed slowed down from 32 to 30.
– Added medals (=achievements) for accuracy and another for clearing every enemy on a bonus level.
Now that I have (at least) solved my personally biggest gripe about Goldwingu, I’ll concentrate on something that is slightly more embarrassing from a game design point-of-view but slightly less embarrassing from a programmers point-of-view; balancing and rhythm.
As it stands now, Goldwingu has almost no rhythm to it. Balancing is purely just adding more stuff until the player or his machine croaks. The games needs to have rhythm to itself within a level and between levels. On the latter I’ve thought about adding a special level every 5 levels that really just offers a short breather and bonus points (and maybe a chance to calibrate your weapons).
Within a level I think the rhythm should be rising. It starts out slow and builds up, first slowly. On later levels the build up would reach absurd levels, dying down shortly before the end. I wouldn’t put it past me that a level might contain a number of these build ups all within one bigger build up. Done like this, the problem will seem almost trivial. I have a bad feeling this won’t be the case for real though. At least the order of the enemies (and shuffling of) will need thinking.
Balancing is, thanks to the many factors involved, slightly less trivial to solve. So far I’ve made the following choices:
Part of the balancing is also the rewards, which includes the blessed explosions, plenty to tinker there. Also coming up are achievements or medals, which will provide a way to get better weaponry and equipment.
The first official post-Assembly version of Goldwingu is now released!
Celebrate this moment by listening to some Professor Elemental.
Bitches!