Closing Out 2012

It was a pretty big year this time around! With the Mayan Mystery finally completed, I was fortunate enough to have it hosted on some websites, as well as have it part of a recent Indie Royale bundle, and (will also be) part of IndieGameStand and their excellent promotions! The game has also been entered in the 2013 Indie Game Festival. It might be a bit of a long shot to win anything, but you never know unless you try, right?

Of all the things I learned while creating the Mayan Mystery (and the list is very long!), probably the most important thing is to not shoot for the stars on your very first attempt. I wanted to go all out with the Mayan Mystery, and while being ambitious is fine, setting goals really high when you're just starting out can be murder! What I'm planning on doing in the next game, is to tone it back a little bit. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that I really want to keep making games, and starting a project that is too much above one's skills will generally end in disaster.

So, what's next?

If you've followed the blog, you'll see that in the beginning, the focus was on an illustrated story more than a video game. The story was intended to be a series that follows Mitch and Otis as they try and track down Horatio Hawk before he can steal any more priceless or magical items. I'm not going back to the storybook, but I am going to follow the same overall concept. That means that there will be a continuation to the Mayan Mystery...and am currently working on a little game that takes place during the Mayan Mystery.
If you recall, Mitch and Otis were called into Dr.A's study with urgent news, but Otis hit his head and was forced to recover, while Mitch went off on the Mayan Mystery. Otis' recovery didn't take too terribly long (mostly due to the fact that his brain is tiny, and head trauma doesn't affect him like it does the rest of us), and was soon sent on a mission of his own!

For this particular game, I've decided to change things up and use hand drawn graphics instead of the retro-pixelated graphics in the Mayan Mystery. I love drawing, and if I can incorporate more of it into my games, that's what I'll do:) Anyhow, here is a recent screenshot of the upcoming game...




I'm thinking of redoing the HUD to something a little easier to understand, as it is rather cryptic right now...

Adventure Apes and the Mayan Mystery is Released!

A little over four years ago, I had the idea to make a video game that would follow along a series of illustrated stories. Each story would have its own theme, but the main plot line would remain the same: The Adventure Apes try to stop Horatio Hawk from stealing various treasures/magical/mythical items from different eras and locations. Soon after I began, the reaction to the video game was stronger than that of the story, so I switched gears to focus on the game, during which time the goal of the game changed a few times. It was just last winter when I began this latest (and final) version of the Mayan Mystery, using all I had learned along the way to make what I hope is an entertaining game! It has been a very long time getting here, but I can finally say that the Mayan Mystery is complete and ready to be played! The past month or so has been a hectic time. Although the game was done, I needed to set up a way of selling the game, as well as try to make some inroads with people who work in the (indie)gaming scene to get a little exposure. It is most definitely a learning experience, but so far the reaction has been pretty positive, and am hoping that what other exposure there is will help build a decent base of people who enjoy the project. Right now, I have the game available through three sites:

The Adventure Apes website

 Indivania

IndieCity




The hope is to have the game land on a few other sites, as well as get bundled up in packages for a little extra exposure! I hope that you've enjoyed watching this project progress over the years, and am sure that like me, you're ready to see something new in the works. I'll be starting the next game soon, so keep your eyes peeled (double potato reference intended) for what's next!

Instruction Booklet Doodles!

I thought that a new instruction booklet was in order. There previously was one with super detailed drawings of each item and bad guy, but it didn't quite jive with the overall theme of the current iteration of the video game. This time around, I went for large, colourful and cartoony drawings with a nice simple presentation that I hope will prove easy on the eyes :) The majority of the images are what you see below, and the instruction booklet even includes little maps of each level to help players out a little. If you want to see how the finished product turned out, feel free to download a copy here!

FINALLY, it's done! (Well, sort of...)

After years of toil and trouble, the Mayan Mystery Demo is finally complete!

Full of colourful illustrations and graphics, a funky Latin inspired soundtrack, and 60+ rooms to explore, this game is sure to bring a smile to the face of any fan of the metroidvania genre!

The Mayan Mystery Demo is available from the Adventure Apes website (of course), as well as at these sites:

Adventure Apes ...
Added: 5 May 2012
By: ScaryPotato

And after all that, there are still two more levels to be polished off, along with the end poem/illustrations. This is one heck of a big step in the right direction though!!

Teeny Weeny Drawings!

Here's a few little images that I'm using in the intro story/poem for the Mayan Mystery game. These are the last three you'll see before the game starts...blank space below is for the text that accompanies each image.


 "...the evil plot will be revealed..."


 
 "...time is wasting away..."


 
 "...put your gameface on and get ready to play!"


There is also a massive update of the game itself ready to go on the website, better music, a finished introduction, and a proliferation of skulls. Download it already!

A Riddle...What is Smokey, Hot, and Jewel Encrusted?

Level five of the Mayan Mystery, that's what! And you won't find it in the demo version of the game. This is just a quick little teaser video to pique your interest...

Mayan Mystery Trailer Released!

With the demo version getting closer and closer to being complete, I thought it'd be a good idea to put together a little trailer to show the levels and bosses found in the game. So, without further delay, here it is:




As always, the most up-to-date version of the game is waiting for you at the Adventure Apes website, just click the link below for your copy!
Direct Download Here

Adventure Apes: Jetpack Justice Mockup

This is an ultra-early sneak peek at what's next for the Adventure Apes, once the Mayan Mystery is done! Everything is still in the concept stage, but it's planned to be a fast-paced sidescrolling game set in space (picking up where the Mayan Mystery leaves off)

Stay tuned for more!

Updates

After thinking things through about the style of the game, a comment made a LONG time ago when I was just starting the project was what I needed to make up my mind. Someone said that they wished the drawings were more representative of what you saw in the game(regarding the illustrations in the instruction booklet). It may haven taken three years, but I agree with them now! So, rather than trying for ultra-detailed images, something more on the cartoony side will be done for the planned cutscenes and instructions....not to mention the main start screen. Not only does it more closely fit the style of graphics in the game, but it is a lot more representative of the game itself, instead of the old start screens with Mitch and Otis mugshots on either side of a banana logo. This new one was done with a Pentel brush pen, then scanned and coloured. It's fun to do, and I think it gives a more natural feel than using the pen weight type options in photoshop.

That isn't the only thing that I've been tinkering away with all this time though. The game itself has gone through some really cool updates, lots of blocks and items have had their graphics updated, and I've even gone and tightened the controls to (hopefully!) prevent the player from getting stuck against any of the blocks. An updated demo of the game will be up on the Adventure Apes site soon! At this point, it's a matter of finding things and fixing/fine tuning them so that everything runs smoothly. Here's some screenshots in the meantime:

Onward and upward!

Happy Valentine's Day!

As mentioned way back at the beginning of the month, I was bustin' my butt to try and get a demo version of the Mayan Mystery ready for everyone to try out by the 14th. Well, after many trials and tribulations with this project, it is finally ready to play!

Yeah sure, it's a beta version, so it's not 100% perfect. What it IS though, is four of the six levels in the game, complete with tons of enemies and freakish bosses!

You can get yourself a copy of the game on the Adventure Apes website, but if you're feeling lazy, you can download it directly here. When it's extracted, the file should be about 5mb.

Okay, so now you know where to get the game, but you are probably curious what it looks like! It has been completely redesigned from the original PC version (this is essentially the version the was originally to me made into DSiWare), and is full of twists and turns...I made a little compilations to show the levels in the demo file, and here it is!



Feedback is always welcome, so if you have any suggestions or comments, make yourself known!:)

New Look Website Up!

Whew! Well, that was kind of hectic, but things seem straightened out form this end now. After uploading all the contents to the hosting site, it quickly became apparent that almost NO images would load. Stupid me for trying to get things done before heading to work this morning. So if anyone went to the website between about 7am and 7pm PST today, I apologize for the weird patchwork of working and non-working images/links/content! It turns out that the majority of the "/" symbols in my directory call-ups were actually "\", so nothing was being called up. Embarassing.

Anyways, that is all sorted out, and now everything should be working smoothly (if you're using Firefox). If you are using Explorer and notice any funky glitches, PLEASE let me know! Better yet, if you happen to know html and know how to optimize what I've slapped together, I'd be forever grateful for any help!! :)

So, without any further ado, I present to you, the brand spanking new Adventure Apes website!

If you check it out, be sure to let me know what you think. I'll be adding/updating/improving things on a regular basis, so any feedback would be awesome. Thanks!

A super sneak peek at the game!

Take a look at this...it is the Level 5 boss of the Mayan Mystery in hot pursuit of Mitch! Magmatoro is 50% magma, 50% toro, and 100% raging inferno! In other words, he's one bad dude.

There are a bunch more screenshots at the Adventure Apes' facebook page, so make sure you check it out. Like it, if you dare :) Everything is just getting started up, and more content will be coming soon, quite possibly some new videos of the game in action....keep your eyes peeled!

Progress Updates...

LOTS of items have been crossed off the list since Christmas, and it's a really good feeling to see how things are starting to take shape!

The biggest piece of the puzzle (that being the video game itself) has all the levels in place, and the enemies and bosses are all there waiting, except the dreaded final boss. There is still a lot of fine-tuning to do with the game, so I've not updated the downloadable file, but am confident that something resembling a playtest version will be made available on the website before Valentine's Day, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Several functions won't be available in the playtest version, such as the "T for Tips" system, but it won't by any means make the game unbeatable, just more difficult. I am also planning on adding some cutscenes and things of that nature to help tell the Adventure Apes story, rather than plunging the player straight into the action without knowing which way is up. Anyhow, the game is very, VERY close!

Another big update (and what I've been spending the last week and a half on) is the Adventure Apes website. The current one looks really cool with the big logo taking the top 75% of the page, but it is almost completely lacking in functionality. All the good stuff is crammed down at the bottom, and really doesn't display anything other than a few lines of text at any one time. The web hosting company I'm using provides free templates, so I looked through them, but decided in the end to try and come up with something that fits what I want exactly. The only trick is that I've got to take bits and pieces of code and patch them together...time consuming when you don't know anything about html !:P It is coming along though. My concept is to have something that is really clear and easy to navigate, and clean in a visual sense. Just to make it unique and more personal looking, I'm making all the images/buttons etc etc. It's a frustrating undertaking, but in the end, I thik it will really tie everything related to the Adventure Apes together, having a common scheme (being somewhat cartoony looking). Here are a couple screen captures of what I've got so far, enjoy!