Every game needs to have its bleeps and bloops. It’s a good thing we have our resident music composer, Jerel Limayo, to give Escape of the Minibots its signature tunes.
Here are just a couple of music samples from his music lab. Give it a listen!
The biggest game jam in Manila is back for another year!
The Manila Game Jam is an annual game making event where individuals team up with other people to create a game in one weekend all under one roof.
It is one of my most awaited events as I always get to know a lot of really cool people there. Drop me a message if you are going so we can hang out and maybe event team up together!
Escape of the Minibots was one of the first game ideas that I managed to conjure back when I was just starting with game development.
It started as a Construct project back in 2011 but was later abandoned. It was revived in Flash in 2012 and abandoned again. This time, I am reviving the game in Unity3D. Being more experienced with the platform, I am confident that I can be able to finish the game for a commercial release.
What is Escape of the Minibots?
The premise of the game is simple: You solve puzzles while controlling more than one character simultaneously. Pressing the left button moves all characters on the screen to the left. Pressing jump makes all of them jump at the same time. The challenge is to get everyone safely out of the level.
Here’s a video of a very basic puzzle:
Later levels will have more puzzle elements like switches and moving platforms. Difficulty is increased even further when you get to control three and even four bots at the same time.
What is the current progress of the game?
Game engine is done
Game now has level editor (For now, it can only be used by the developer)
30+ levels. Each showcasing the different puzzle mechanics
2 music tracks courtesy of our music composer, Jerel Limayo.
I also implemented a playtesting system where all replays of playtesters are automatically sent to me for review
What are the things left to do?
Art assets!
Menus and GUIs!
More levels!
Replay viewer (So that I can be able to view and play the replays of playtesters)
Bug fixes and optimization!
Consumer ready level editor (So that people can create their own levels)
Help wanted!
We are striving to release a fun and challenging puzzle game but we are in need of help! We are looking for individuals who are interested in playtesting the game and even level designers who would like to increase their portfolio in level design. Of course, help won’t go unrewarded so be sure to sign up for our playtesters list here and for those level designers, shoot me an email at karlo@accidentalrebel.com.
More details soon!
More details about the game will be revealed soon! For the next few weeks we will be showing off screenshots, videos and even music bits for your pleasure. So stay tuned by following me on the Twitter and Facebook.
Now that 2012 is over, let us look ahead as to what exciting stuff I will be doing for the year of 2013:
The biggest news is that I will be starting my training at a local game dev company starting this January. This is part of my curriculum in school and will last around 3 months. Once I’m finished with this, I am hoping to finally graduate in May.
I have also recently joined the OneGameAMonth initiative. To those who are unfamiliar, it is where devs are challenged to make one game every month for the whole year. My entry for the month of January will be Escape of the Minibots. I have been working on it in silence for the past few months and it is up to the point where I only need to add levels, menus and bug fixes. More will be revealed soon.
I am also planning to collaborate with a friend of mine on their game that won an award at the Global Game Jam a few years back. We have yet to talk in person but I’m hoping I can convince them to help out in developing a commercial version of their game.
More blog posts. I’m planning on making weekly updates on projects and even post articles on my thoughts related to game design and development.
Podcast! Not sure of this yet, but I might do this if I get people interested enough to join me.
So that’s about it. I’m sure these plans will change over time but at least we have a general idea of what to expect for the year.
Here’s a look at what I have accomplished for the year of 2012. Looking back, I must say that I’m really proud of myself.
January: Joined the Global Game Jam at DLSU. My team and I made a point and click adventure full of suspense and intrigue based on the actual event itself.
February: Started learning Unity3D. Internet was scoured for tutorials on both development and 3D modeling. Managed to find a few, but most were learned through experimentation.
March: Felt confident with my newly acquired skills. Started working on the ambitious Run Panda Run. Development started off smoothly with weekly progress updates (Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7).
April: A similar game to Run Panda Run called “Panda Run”got released. I also felt overwhelmed with the art requirements the project and just decided to abandon it.
Jun-July: Worked on several prototypes to improve my skills with Unity3D. I actually have gotten a lot better thanks to these.
August: Joined Ludum Dare 24 with my entry Complexitivity. It was my second time joining the event. This time I was determined to finish a whole game rather than having a half-finished one.
September: Made a post-compo version of Complexitivity at the behest of player suggestions. Added a slick new interface, better controls, added upgrades and made lots of bug fixes.
October: Started working on a secret game project. Also, Complexitivity wins first place in the Kongregate-Ludum Dare contest! Yeah, sweet.
November: My game idea, Monteverde got into the top 10 finalists for the Game On Competition that I signed up for. The one month development period started on October 10th.
December:One month later, Monteverde is presented to a panel of judges in an unfinished state. Naturally, the game did not get into the final three spot.
Still December: Complexitivity got nominated under the Best Indie Game and Best Browser Game category in the Philippine Game Development festival but, unfortunately, did not win any awards. Development on the secret project is continued.
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So there we have it. 2012 in a nutshell. Look forward to all the things I’m planning for 2013!
Monteverde is a game that I submitted to the recently concluded Game On competition. It is a survival multiplayer game where one player controls a boss monster who hunts other players who are controlling survivors.
Sadly, I was not able to win the grand prize due to me not finishing on time. I still plan on continuing development though.
Here’s a sneak peak of how it currently plays:
I will be opening up the game for beta playtesting in a few days so be sure to follow me up on twitter for announcements.
Monteverde is a game idea I pitched to the GameOn game development contest and it was chosen as one of the top ten ideas to continue on to the competition proper where we will be tasked to develop it in one month with the help of assigned mentors from the industry.
I am actually quite surprised that it got chosen. I’ve heard about the contest a few weeks ago and decided to pitch this one which I have been cooking in my mind for quite some time.
So what is Monteverde?
I want to make a survival horror game that has more emphasis on “survival”.
Think of Monteverde as a game version of the film “I Am Legend”. You set up a base somewhere, gather supplies in the daytime, and then defend your base at night from the monsters that roam around. The next day, you repeat the same process all while figuring out the mystery surrounding the mysterious town you are in.
Aside from not being killed, you also survive by making sure you stay fed and well rested. Failing to do so will have dire consequences like weakening or going crazy.
There is more to concept but the above pretty much describes the basic idea.
I will be taking inspiration from movies and games like Silent Hill, Amnesia and Lone Survivor.
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I shall be posting updates about the game here on this blog. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.
GameOn is a game development competition wherein a team composed only of college students are required to pitch a game idea and build it in 1 month.
AccidentalRebel games is lucky enough to have been chosen to continue to the competition proper.
In no particular order, the other teams that got in were:
KAFE – DARYOOO!
8bitgames – Hell Week
Soupware – Grav
Vertigo Productions – Magnetium
Team Peanut – Hillcroft Manor
Ex Dee – The Times
Amazings – The Last Stand
sudo make me a team name – Eden
AccidentalRebel – Monteverde
Infinity Loop Games – Pandora’s Hand
All teams will be given a mentor and one month to finish their game. Winners will receive a cash prize of Php30,000 and will be featured at the Philippine Game Development Festival this coming December 10.
Kongregate has just recently announced the winners for their game making contest which they held in partnership with Ludum Dare.
The actual game making contest was held during the last weekend of August with the voting period encompassing the whole month of September.
To celebrate my win, I have uploaded the latest version of the game on Kongregate which you can play here. Don’t forget to check out the other winners as well.
My name is Karlo Licudine and I am a game programmer at Indigo entertainment as well as an Indie Developer here at AccidentalRebel games. My aim is to create experiences that are unique and fun.
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