Miro Karjalainen is a pretentious bastard with a background in punk rock, computer science, linguistics, embedded systems, game development and the noble art of drinking beer. E-mail: info@karjasoft.com
My latest adventure/pet raising game Wildhollow is released and things are progressing fairly well. Many seem to like it, and thanks to Pätr a game-stopping bug was found in time. It could have been immensely embarrasing otherwise…
For the ones curious what Wildhollow is all about, here are two reviews:
Also, I’m constantly googling “Wildhollow” to see what people are saying about the game. One thing I noted this weekend is that a cracked version of Wildhollow has popped up on various file networks. Trembling with fury and sorrow and trepidation and other things I downloaded one of these files to see if it was a bona fide copy of the game. Were people downloading my precious little game and playing it for free? Were people ignoring my hard work for a moment’s instant gratification?
It turns out that the answer is no.
If anyone feels tempted to download the “Wildhollow RIP” that’s circulating on warez sites you should be aware that it’s technically cracked but you won’t be able to play further than Steinheim Keep. You see, for the trial version I made two modifications: I added a time limit of 60 minutes, and I content-limited the game so that nothing from beyond that point is included. The warez version available only removes the time limit but – obviously – cannot add the missing content.
I guess that it’s just a matter of time before a real version pops up, but I feel pretty happy that for now loads of people are going to play the game an hour or two until they realize that they’re playing a trial version after all!
“Karja, you lazy sod! Why haven’t you blogged for several weeks now,” I hear you cry. Well, SOME of us have a full time job while we also try to fit in a wedding (not my own!), beer with friends, TV-series (I love House M. D.!) and casual adventure game development. The latter is what’s been occupying most of my spare time these last couple of weeks.
The adventure/simulation game Wildhollow is about to be released November 27, and I’m trying my best to arrange everything for tomorrow. Full version and trial builds for Windows and Mac, press release, webpage touch-ups, ordering system setup, and on and on and on… The time is now 10 PM and I’m starting to question how much sleep I’ll get tonight.
I have a suspicion that I’ll be releasing a beta trial of my adventure/management game Wildhollow v0.4 later today or tomorrow, if all goes well. I thought v0.3 was relatively solid, but there were still a number of things to improve for v0.4. For example:
More eye candy for the minigames
More eye candy when tending animals
Additional dialogues and items of interest in most locations
Click a button to check for new versions – and if so, download the upgrade
Trial version limitations and nag screens
The upgrade feature is a simple version checker plus redirection to the Wildhollow webpage where some PHP scripts will run. It may be simple but it will be a major time saver when I release updates! If you’re running a trial version, it will redirect you to the updated trial download; if you’re running a full version you’ll have to enter your e-mail address and it’ll authenticate the e-mail with the purchaser database before sending the upgrade.
The last item is trail version limitations.
So far I haven’t bothered with having a trial/full version but from now on the trial versions I release will be limited to 60 minutes, have a nagging screen, and be content limited. There are three reasons why I have content limitation as well as a time limit:
The download will be smaller
Games are always cracked, and with missing content I’ll ensure that it’s slightly harder to get a full version of the game. You can’t just run a patch to remove the trial limitations
Related to the second item, I chose to have a really trivial method to determine trial vs full version. I assume that the game will be cracked swiftly either way so I’m taking the least problematic route for me. Thus I really need to have content limitations – otherwise I’m guaranteeing instant warezing of the game. As it is now a pirate will have to get hold of the full version first, at least
My first attempt at video editing turned out…pretty okay! I gathered a few clips from my upcoming adventure/management game Wildhollow and bunched them together in a suitably epic way. Have a looksie:
I received some good feedback on how to improve the trailer, so I’ve gathered a few things to look into:
Better source clips that show interesting scenes and more variation
Mess around with the music – switch between a few different music clips
Probably keep the sound FX from the game
Experiment more with zoom/rotation/transitions to get dynamics
Things are moving fast… Wildhollow is ready for release soon, and I want to have a nice and exciting trailer for the game before that date!
Wildhollow, the quirky indie adventure game featuring weird humor and bizarre animals to take care of, is slowly starting to come together at long last. The minigames are still not up to par but at least the game is now possible to complete. I still have a few side quests to wrap up, but the main storyline is written and playtested. Up to, and including, the endgame that twists and turns a little but in the end settles into a nice and cozy happy ending.
Here are some tiny screenshots from the late stages of the game. If you’re really sensitive toward spoilers you might want to avert your eyes now. Nothing critical is revealed – I’m just offering a friendly warning in case you really want everything to be a surprise.
Yeah, let’s get it oooon!
I think I smell some fightin’ comin’ up!
Breaking the fourth wall? Guilty as charged!
I went for a very basic credits screen. I think it works, though.
Now, as soon as the minigames are functioning properly and the animal tending sub-game is in order I think the game is just about ready for release. I still wonder how it will be received, and if it will be appropriate for portals. Time will tell I guess.
I simply have to brag about the awesome character art that’s been pouring in lately for my adventure-puzzle-management game Wildhollow! Take a look at the cast so far:
Tiny, tiny samples of the characters in Wildhollow. Tiiiiny tiny tiny!
It’s going to be a whole lot of characters, and a whole lot of fun! I’d really like to write a bit about the story and the characters, but I’ll do my best to not spoil anything. And either way, things might always change before the end, so I’d better not say too much just yet.
One thing I can say though is that I’ve re-thought the beginning a bit. Originally I thought of giving the player loads and loads of things to do from the beginning, but that’s just…a bit overwhelming. Instead I’ll focus om the adventuring aspects first, and maybe some puzzles, before I bring in the management bits. Essentially, you’ll have to progress a little into the game before it really opens up. Not to worry, though – it won’t be like a dull tutorial. Just… Focusing on other aspects of the game, in the beginning.
When you start the game you have to solve a few easy quests and gather enough money for your first ranch upgrade before you can start buying animals. That’s when the game will begin properly; when you’re able to breed animals and create new species. But I have a suspicion that there’ll be quite some adventuring and puzzling even after that.
Enough ranting for now. I’ll just briefly mention that it’s a female dog to find background art that fits…and is affordable. I might have something going now – I’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned for Wildhollow news!
I’m sure you’re dying to know how people have reacted to the Spandex Force beta which was released recently. I sure am, at least! Or, I would be if I didn’t already know.
Overall, I must say that I’m pleased with the reception. I’ve received positive feedback, and people do seem to enjoy the game. Sales from the game’s webpage are up to what Sheeplings sold during six months; granted, I poured more into this second game, but it’s still going better than I thought. I wonder what will happen when I announce the proper release in a little while, along with a photo contest! (Intrigued? You should be. Stay tuned for more information!)
Other positive notes include that the game is mentioned on Gamershell, IGN, Gamespy and other news sites. Still no whisper about it on Gamespot, despite a press release I sent there, but maybe that will change after the real release. Other places have also picked up news about the game; for example Lesbian Gamers and Gay Gamer. Hmm… I wonder if it has something to do with the spandex?
As for feedback, most of what I’ve received comes from forums and e-mails. I won’t toot my own horn, but the concept seems to work very well, and the variation in the minigames works its magic for most people. But – as always – there’s just no pleasing everybody. Here is a list of user reviews, and Spandex Force has received both praise and scorn. And speaking of more scorn, here’s a scathing review from Rock, Paper, Shotgun. I was initially crushed until I started analysing the complaints and compared them to the positive feedback I’ve received. I’m first to admit that my game isn’t as “good” (subjective term of course) as Puzzle Quest; I don’t have the budget or the time for that amount of polish. But I’m not competing directly against Puzzle Quest either - I’m targeting another set of customers. Sure, there’s some overlap – myself for example! I like both casual games and hardcore RPGs. But while Puzzle Quest is aimed at the RPG crowd, my intention is to bring something exciting to the casual crowd instead.
I doubt that this is obvious, though, so I think I’ll have to be prepared for some bad reviews coming up comparing Spandex Force unfavourably to Puzzle Quest.
Back to more positive things, I received a request for a Linux version of the game, and I figured that it shouldn’t be much of a problem. True enough, I’ve done some initial testing and I think I can get it to run on Ubuntu at least. I’ll probably only support Ubuntu, and then have a “see if it works for you – good if it does” clause for other distributions. There’s no way I’m going to offer support for multiple distributions – Linux is simply too problematic. I don’t think I’ll actually gain much from having a Linux version either, but it’s a good learning experience at least. Incidentally, the person asking for a Linux version also mentioned that this game would fit well on Nintendo DS, and even supplied a hint about a publisher working with DS. I’ll see how the game is received after the release, but hey – who knows. Thinking about playing my own game on a DS almost makes me come. Not that you wanted to know that. And not that it’ll happen. But it sure would be nice…
Anyway, I’m feeling positive about the upcoming release. I’ve optimized the game a little, sorted out a Mac bug, received many suggestions for improvements, and the game is slowly coming together properly. The biggest thing left is to playtest the game thoroughly and balance it even more. I really hope people will be pleased about the game’s length – I anticipate that it’s well over 8 hours game play in it, and quite possibly more along the lines of dozens of hours. That may sound cool to you, but for me it sounds like damn hard work, playing through the whole game….again….and again.
The title is from my press release announcing that Spandex Force is officially in beta stage now. It’s been noted that this press release seems slightly confused. “Okay, the game is in beta and they [that is, I] would like to hear comments and suggestions what to do before the final release… But the game itself doesn’t mention much about being in beta state, and you can buy the game! What’s up with this?”
Well… I think the terminology has gotten a bit confused, and I’ve been forced to apply the beta label without much thought. First of all, I was only releasing test builds up to 0.4; people tested it and gave feedback. Not much more to that. But after 0.4 I decided to set up the order page, since a few people had expressed interest in purchasing the game. But lo and behold! It appears that when I accepted affiliates for Sheeplings I’d unthinkingly allowed some people to be affiliates for all my games – which meant that Spandex Force became available for them to sell as well!
One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was receiving traffic from a few sites; quite a few downloads in fact. That’s when I decided to release 0.5 – an in-between release that’s fully playable and corrects most issues - and decided to call it the official beta. I didn’t want people to believe that 0.4 or 0.5 was the final version of the game, so I decided to make a press release to state that there will come a newer version later. But of course, the game itself doesn’t care much about what label I’ve put on it – it just happily states its version number.
So I guess people who expected the game to be more opaque about being in “alpha,” “beta” or “final” are a tad confused.
Either way, the game is both in beta and for sale; I don’t see a conflict there. It’s playable and enjoyable to the end as it is, and those who buy the game now get the current full version as well as the final release once it’s done!
I actually released v0.3 of Spandex Force several days ago, but I didn’t want my blog to look like I’m working away like a mad banshee at this game; it was just a short while ago that I wrote an update, after all. Of course…I am working on the game like a mad banshee, but I wouldn’t admit it. Either way, a lot has happened since the last release:
New map art! This is not the final version – it’s just a preview jpg I received. The final even-better city will appear in the shortly-arriving 0.4 release.
Many more minigames! I realized that the game was lacking variety, so I followed sage advice I’d received from 0.2 playtesters, and added more minigames. A few of these are mini-minigames just to spice things up, but I also made new major-minigames such as getting a cat down from the tree, and stopping an attempted grand theft auto.
More sparkles! I added particles and sound effects to many places – it’s actually getting to the point where I’m unsure if I can add anything else and still have the game playable at low-end machines. For once in my life I find that I have too new computers at my disposal.
Lots of other bug fixes and tweaks and improvements. The problem with making rapid iterations like this is that I lose track of all that’s done. I could compose extensive release notes for each release…but that seems a bit overkill for “internal” releases like these.
Game Info Spandex Force is a unique puzzle/adventure/RPG game that lets you create your own hero to clean up the crime-infested town of Vigilance Valley. Follow your hero’s quest to rid Vigilance Valley of vicious villains such as the Blizzard Wizard, the inept riddler Countess Conundrum, and the mysterious Professor Aphasia.
That’s right, a Mac version is available now! You see, I’ve been pretty busy indeed. Please let me know if you find any problems with either release – and feel free to let me know if it’s working fine as well! Feedback is much appreciated.
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