Lexaloffle Games Blog

Show Me The Sales

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:40:14 EDT

[Jerry Maguire Voice] SHOW.. ME.. THE SAAAA-ELES!

Until the 18th of May, Show Me The Games is orchestrating a collective sale of 32 indie games. Show Me The Sales games include Voxatron (50% Off), Scoregasm, Darwinia, Gratuitous Tank Battles, and Offspring Fling. If you haven't grabbed a copy of Voxatron, you can get it this week for just $7.50 (along with a bonus copy of Swarm Racer 3000 Prototype).

The interesting thing about SMTS is that it is not run by any particular portal or distributor; all of the discounted games can be purchased directly from the developers. It has become usual and expected to buy games through some kind of store (e.g. Steam / App Store), and it's easy to forget that there was a time not so long ago when most indie developers didn't need to rely on such middlemen. Apart from allowing players to support devs without losing a big chunk of each sale to the reseller, being able to sell direct has a great influence on diversity and reduces the need to design games around potential sales channels. In other words, allowing indie developers to really be independent.

The current state of the market is not terrible -- it's still possible to sell indie games via channels that treat developers moderately well, and for niche games to find their audience. However, this could turn to custard very quickly and without warning! SMTG is just a way to fight back a little and keep the most indie-friendly channel alive and in the collective consciousness of indie game supporters. That channel is ... The Internet!

>>> View the games on sale.

Some posts by other developers taking part:

Positech
Charie's Games
Kyle Pulver
Winter Wolves

Voxatron 2P Test

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:50:32 EDT

A preview of local multiplayer. The co-op mode follows typical arcade rules: player bullets don't hurt and when one player dies the other is left to play out the game solo. Bullets push the players around quite a lot, so it pays to coordinate your efforts to some degree to avoid inadvertently pushing your comrade into hurty things.

Competitive modes are still on the cards but will probably deviate from the obvious approach of transplanting existing characters into a death-math scenario. Pitting the default robot characters against each other results in quite chaotic play where the best strategy is often to spam bullets and leap around randomly. It might turn out better to have quite a separate set of characters and rules for this purpose. In any case, it will also be possible to invent silly 4-player party games using the editor.

Uchu-Zero

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:38:17 EDT

An abstract action game made for LD48#26. The theme was "Minimalism".

Press SPACE or Z to start. Move with cursor keys or WASD.
To complete each stage, merge all of the dots including yourself.

(Wait to load and then click for focus)

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Voxatron Table

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:10:50 EDT

This is something I've been working on for a while and have hinted at a couple of times, but can now finally post some solid details! Yesterday at NY Tech Day, Voxon showed one of their first working prototypes of a volumetric display called Voxiebox; a cuboid light field that can be viewed from any angle.

This is exactly the format that Voxatron is designed from the ground up to run on: a 128x128x64 block of voxels. Until now the game has only been viewable on a virtual, simulated display that is projected onto flat screens. That is about to change!

Voxatron Table is the working title of a collaboration between Voxon and Lexaloffle. It is an arcade table supporting up to 8 players facing a volumetric display fixed in the center. The game is based on multiplayer Voxatron, allowing both co-operative and competitive styles of play. We don't have any footage to show yet, but I have mocked up this little visualization aid that shows roughly the format of the table. Unfortunately the mockup is also made in Voxatron, leading to a kind of Russian Doll situation -- the resolution of the real display is much higher than is shown here!

Voxatron Table is initially aimed at the arcade market, but in the future Voxon aims to also produce lower cost home editions. Of course, Voxatron will also support future Voxon displays, and so with the addition of scripting will become a complete stand-alone unit for developing arbitrary volumetric animations, games and visualizations.

Coverage: Techhive

Voxatron Soundtrack Sketches

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:01:22 EDT

Some of Voxatron's soundtrack is composed entirely digitally (using MilkyTracker), but most of it is starting out as sketches on acoustic piano. Here's a quick sample of music in development for the adventure mode, and at the end you'll hear the title theme for Zoot -- a new demo level coming in alpha 0.3. All of these pieces will eventually become 100% chip-tunes, so the finished product may sound quite different (and usually less melancholy!).

Picotachi Vol#1

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:36:53 EDT

Picotachi is a show and tell event for designers and researchers in Tokyo with a focus on experimental, unusual, personal, half-finished and tiny projects.

Pico Pico Cafe / Friday April 5th 2013 / 20:00pm~ / 500 yen entry (w/ drink ticket)

Swarm Racer v2.2

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:10:03 EDT

Swarm Racer builds are back up for Mac, Windows and now Linux and Web.

Go here to download / play in your browser.

Gero Blaster (Studio Pixel)

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:36:37 EDT

Something to look forward to on iOS.. a sweet platform shooter by Daisuke Amaya.

Voxatron 0.2.5

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:08:03 EST

Voxatron 0.2.5 builds are now up, and will shortly be up on Humble Store (check the version number in the filename). If you don't have a lexaloffle account (Games > My Games) and would like one, see this thread. To update from a Humble Store account, search your email for the download page link, or request a new one here

This is a quick bug-fixing update. To see a list of the recent features, see the v0.2.4 post

v0.2.5 Changes

Fixed: Crash caused by monster property: spread out
Changed: Monster chasing player ignores axes that are locked

Monster Editing Tutorial (v0.2.4)

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:44:46 EST

How to make a basic monster with v0.2.4..

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Voxatron 0.2.4

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 18:14:40 EST

Hi All

Voxatron 0.2.4 builds are now up, and will shortly be up on Humble Store (check the version number in the filename). If you don't have a lexaloffle account (Games > My Games) and would like one, see this thread.

To update from a Humble Store account, search your email for the download page link, or request a new one here

v0.2.4 is the first update that exposes many features of the second (and final!) generation of the Voxatron engine. It introduces new tools for designing simple monsters and pickups, which all run on a new physics engine. I've retro-fitted the old monsters to work roughly as they did before, but you might notice a few differences -- for example, monsters jumping on each other, or carrying fruit around on their heads.

Some example monsters can be found here:

v0.2.4 demo

Voxatron Level #7098

EDIT: Monster editing tutorial.

Everything in the game world is now collidable and can be stacked, pushed, stood on, picked up, carried and thrown. If you want to try making a monster, make sure you have the first 4 interaction boxes checked or none of this will happen! (And also make sure the width and height is not zero).

Next up in 0.2.5 will be a player editor similar to the monster editor, and then custom attacks & bullets.

Voxatron Physics Test: Snail Hurling

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:00:28 EST

A quick test of pushing, carrying, standing on, stacking, hoisting and throwing actors using some crates and the good old snail.

Swarm Racer 3000 Prototype

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:25:08 EST

A prototype of Swarm Racer 3000 is now available to all Lexaloffle customers! Log in and check your My Games page to get download links for Mac, Linux or Windows. If you need to activate purchases from the Humble Store, see this thread.

I prototyped Swarm Racer 3000 in 2009 for the Tokyo Game Show, and I'm releasing this brushed up version of that so that it doesn't gather dust for too long. I'm hoping to do 1.0 at the end of the year, after Voxatron's engine and arcade mode is finished. It won't be a massive game -- around 40 tracks, a simple designer and some guest composer's music would round it off nicely I think.

This preview version has 8 tracks and the trophy system of the original Swarm Racer (which is offline right now -- I need to update the builds). I haven't put an online score system in yet, as I'm working on a better system that Voxatron will also use. If you want to get competative, feel free to post your times here!

I'm not sure if I'll keep lasers and the fairy character, but left them in to play around with. I also left in some debug keys -- F & N for fast forward and slow motion, and PAGEUP, PAGEDOWN move the camera (try zooming in and watch the renderer fail beautifully)

More screens:

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Reworks That Matter

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:07:24 EST

Reworks That Matter is a collection of remixes of Morusque's excellent Blocks That Matter soundtrack. It's free and you can listen to it right now on Bandcamp!

Due to an administrative error, Swing Swing Submarine also gave me the opportunity to submit a track (Ore). This was a welcome opportunity for me to reply to Morusque's earlier reworking of Chocolate Castle tunes (for the Blocks That Matter Chocolate Update). The piece I chose to remix has similar arpeggios and chord changes, although I dragged the tune quite far from its soft, ethereal origins and into caustic chip territory. Because -- you know. That's something I know how to do.

The album is well worth checking out, with contributions including Disasterpeace (Fez), Romain Gauthier (EDGE) and Souleye (VVVVVV).

Happy New Year [ ^_^]b

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 17:14:06 EST

Welcome to 2013, Year of the Snake!

Here's a little preview of an old prototype I decided to dust off recently. Swarm Racer 3000 is the sequel to Swarm Racer, with new visual style and some new elements.

I ended up going nuts and making 8 new tracks & some audio. It was great fun! I'll be releasing it shortly as a bonus game for Lexaloffle customers.

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Dirtbag

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 18:11:16 EST

A platform shooter originally made for LD48#25. The theme was "You are the Villain".

This is a two-player game. Player 1 controls a space trooper and Player 2 controls the enemy characters. If you'd like to play single player, just ignore P2 and the enemy A.I. will kick in. The goal is to reach the end of the level with the most gold -- with 2 players, take turns being the trooper and compare scores.

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Lexaloffle Holiday Pack

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 17:40:17 EST

Grab 4 lexaloffle games for $12 / or 2 packs for $18!

Next week I'll also be adding a prototype of Swarm Racer 3000 -- but this will also be available to any existing Lexaloffle customers. So if that's you, and you're only interested in SR3K, all you have to do is wait! Click on the image for more information.

Voxatron 0.2.3

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:12:07 EST

Voxatron 0.2.3 builds are now up, and will shortly be up on Humble Store (check the version number in the filename). If you don't have a lexaloffle account (Games > My Games) and would like one, see this thread.

To update from a Humble Store account, search your email for the download page link, or request a new one here

This is a quick bug-fixing update. There is better compatibility with older BBS levels, the weird monster-controlling ASDW bug is fixed (aww!), and I've made some improvements to the editor file loading / saving scheme to reduce the chance of accidentally saving over files.

I also added a journaled backup for editor files. Any previous version of the file you save over will be appended to filename.bak. You can't easily do anything with the .bak files yet -- they're just for safety! In the future I'll add some simple tools for inspecting and restoring backups.

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Voxatron 0.2.2

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:10:07 EST

Hey All!

Voxatron 0.2.2 builds are now up, and will shortly be up on Humble Store.
If you don't have a lexaloffle account (Games > My Games) and would like one, see this thread.

To update from a Humble Store account, search your email for the download page link, or request a new one here

v0.2.2

Added: Animation object type
Added: Object paint modes: solid, empty
Added: Camera-independent objects
Added: Resource tree with folders / Objects referenced by global id
Added: Undo/Redo resource structure operations
Added: Load/Save any branch of the resource tree (replaces vobs)
Added: Select multiple custom objects and delete/copy/cut/paste
Added: Crate (for testing physics -- not exposed yet)
Added: Wider side panels and extra palette slots for future expansion
Added: Model Data Exporters (obj, pov, txt, png)
Added: Water Test

This update contains new resource management, tools for making animated objects, and model data exporters. Not much of the new code is exposed yet, and over the coming months I'll trickle out new object types (pickups, doors, players, monsters, music) and roll out the new physics (throwable, stackable, pushable actors).

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Raytraced Voxatron

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:40:18 EST

Testing out the new exporters coming in 0.2.2. Voxatron currently supports .pov, .obj/.mtl, and .txt (raw data), and either the current voxde item or an in-game scene can be exported.

This scene was exported as a .pov and rendered in POV-Ray (click to bigify)

Next update coming on Monday! [ ^ _ ^]