Hello!
Just a quick post to say that the 10 or so testers that kindly gave up their time to put Apple Jack through it's IBM compatible paces have done an excellent job, and left me with a long list of things to do before I can finally release it.
The first attempt was a bit of a non-starter, since it failed to install properly on all but one computer.
The second version ran properly for the most part but generated the aforementioned list of shame, which I shall work through over the coming weeks.
No more testing is needed now. Thanks to everyone who helped out or offered help once I already had enough helpers; names will be added to the credits menu before release and I'll send the finished games to you once I know better where they are going to end up.
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Testers needed!
Hello!
The PC versions of both Apple Jack games are now basically done, and they both run well on MY computer.
But PCs are a varied bunch, and I'd like to see how they work (in fact, if they work at all) on as many different computers as possible. Would you like to help test the two games? Simply seeing if they install and run would be a great help, regardless of whether you actually play them or not.
Also the keyboard and mouse controls need a good test, and I'd like to see how smooth the games are on lower spec systems.
Testers will get the full versions of both games when they are released, and also I'll put their name in the credits section (buried right on the last page, but still).
If you're interested, please email me at the my_owl email address on the top right, and I'll get back to you.
The PC versions of both Apple Jack games are now basically done, and they both run well on MY computer.
But PCs are a varied bunch, and I'd like to see how they work (in fact, if they work at all) on as many different computers as possible. Would you like to help test the two games? Simply seeing if they install and run would be a great help, regardless of whether you actually play them or not.
Also the keyboard and mouse controls need a good test, and I'd like to see how smooth the games are on lower spec systems.
Testers will get the full versions of both games when they are released, and also I'll put their name in the credits section (buried right on the last page, but still).
If you're interested, please email me at the my_owl email address on the top right, and I'll get back to you.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Hello!
Since I last, er, blogged, I've been s-l-o-w-l-y working on converting the two Apple Jack games to PC. Not a difficult task, you might think, given that they were developed on a PC in the first place, but you reckon without three important factors:
1) I was a bit burned out after the year+ working on AJ2 and haven't been motivated to do much programming.
2) While the games runs perfectly with a controller on PC, keyboard & mouse controls are a different story and 'aim mode' has been a pain to implement. The best I could come up with is a system which uses the keyboard to move and the mouse to jump, pick-up and throw. By holding the throw button the aim arrow appears which you can then move around with the mouse. Takes a bit of getting used to but it works.
3) Reprogramming all the menus has been a proper pain in the arse. It's almost as if I didn't plan ahead when I did them initially and made things ten times harder for myself!
That said, most of the work has been done now, and after a bit more polishing up they'll be ready for testing.
Since I last, er, blogged, I've been s-l-o-w-l-y working on converting the two Apple Jack games to PC. Not a difficult task, you might think, given that they were developed on a PC in the first place, but you reckon without three important factors:
1) I was a bit burned out after the year+ working on AJ2 and haven't been motivated to do much programming.
2) While the games runs perfectly with a controller on PC, keyboard & mouse controls are a different story and 'aim mode' has been a pain to implement. The best I could come up with is a system which uses the keyboard to move and the mouse to jump, pick-up and throw. By holding the throw button the aim arrow appears which you can then move around with the mouse. Takes a bit of getting used to but it works.
3) Reprogramming all the menus has been a proper pain in the arse. It's almost as if I didn't plan ahead when I did them initially and made things ten times harder for myself!
That said, most of the work has been done now, and after a bit more polishing up they'll be ready for testing.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Stuck? Youtube has you covered!
I think we can all agree now that Apple Jack 2 is the best game ever made. A Gameranking of 83.33% is proof enough of that.
However, it HAS received criticism from some quarters for its high degree of difficulty, and while I'd never dream of making it any easier (man up, pussies), a chap called hwogrillo on youtube has helpfully decided to play through the whole game level by level, which may help you out a bit if you're stuck.
Here's his video showing him completing level 30 : Stacking, and one of the more problematic puzzles in the game:
Very useful!
If you need help on another level or just want to watch the ending credits (he uploaded them too) his channel can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hwogrillo?feature=watch
I assume it's a him.
However, it HAS received criticism from some quarters for its high degree of difficulty, and while I'd never dream of making it any easier (man up, pussies), a chap called hwogrillo on youtube has helpfully decided to play through the whole game level by level, which may help you out a bit if you're stuck.
Here's his video showing him completing level 30 : Stacking, and one of the more problematic puzzles in the game:
Very useful!
If you need help on another level or just want to watch the ending credits (he uploaded them too) his channel can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hwogrillo?feature=watch
I assume it's a him.
Monday, 9 July 2012
Review Roundup Vol.2
Apple Jack 2 has had several more reviews since that post a couple of weeks ago, and here they are:
First up, the pleasingly named CHUD.COM do an indie round up every week and their reviewer Robert Ottone was very fond of the game, calling it 'an absolute masterpiece' and placing it alongside Botanicula as one of his favourite indie games of the year. Read it here.
Wesley Copeland at VideoGamesInteractive starts his review with ' Apple Jack 2 is: Zany, funny, beautiful, weird, pulse-racing and most importantly fun!, and continues to rave about the game throughout the rest of the review. And I didn't have to pay him a penny! Read it here
Long term Apple Jack supporters Armless Octopus weren't quite do effusive in their praise, raising concerns about the game's difficulty and hit detection. That said, they still call AJ2 one of the best games in it's genre and award it four stars, which will do me just fine. Read it here.
TheXBLIG had similar concerns about the game's difficulty, although their reviewer Tim Hurley felt that the rewind feature helped in softening it slightly. He then goes on to call the soundtrack 'Coldplay-esque', which I'm not so sure about. Does it sound like Coldplay? I don't immediately want to punch someone when I'm listening to it, so on balance probably not. Read it here.
Lastly, Keza MacDonald gave the game a full, front page review at IGN, calling it 'One of the loveliest things on the Xbox' and awarding it 8/10. Apparently my personality shines through 'in every piece of artwork or puzzle setpiece' so it's almost as if she awarded ME 8/10. I'll take that, frankly! Read it here.
EDIT: Since I posted these reviews, both Eurogamer and Edge have reviewed the game:
Eurogamer loved it, giving it 9/10 and comparing the variety and invention of the levels to Bangai-O, which pleased me greatly (I love Bangai-O). Read it here.
I hope the Edge review ends up in the magazine like the first one, but I can hardly turn my nose up at an online review that calls it 'every bit as inventive and challenging as the original'. 8/10! Read it here
Good eh! A ton of positive reviews overall, including three from major gaming sites. Special thanks to intro artist and professional copywriter Neil W for preparing the press releases.
First up, the pleasingly named CHUD.COM do an indie round up every week and their reviewer Robert Ottone was very fond of the game, calling it 'an absolute masterpiece' and placing it alongside Botanicula as one of his favourite indie games of the year. Read it here.
Wesley Copeland at VideoGamesInteractive starts his review with ' Apple Jack 2 is: Zany, funny, beautiful, weird, pulse-racing and most importantly fun!, and continues to rave about the game throughout the rest of the review. And I didn't have to pay him a penny! Read it here
Long term Apple Jack supporters Armless Octopus weren't quite do effusive in their praise, raising concerns about the game's difficulty and hit detection. That said, they still call AJ2 one of the best games in it's genre and award it four stars, which will do me just fine. Read it here.
TheXBLIG had similar concerns about the game's difficulty, although their reviewer Tim Hurley felt that the rewind feature helped in softening it slightly. He then goes on to call the soundtrack 'Coldplay-esque', which I'm not so sure about. Does it sound like Coldplay? I don't immediately want to punch someone when I'm listening to it, so on balance probably not. Read it here.
Lastly, Keza MacDonald gave the game a full, front page review at IGN, calling it 'One of the loveliest things on the Xbox' and awarding it 8/10. Apparently my personality shines through 'in every piece of artwork or puzzle setpiece' so it's almost as if she awarded ME 8/10. I'll take that, frankly! Read it here.
EDIT: Since I posted these reviews, both Eurogamer and Edge have reviewed the game:
Eurogamer loved it, giving it 9/10 and comparing the variety and invention of the levels to Bangai-O, which pleased me greatly (I love Bangai-O). Read it here.
I hope the Edge review ends up in the magazine like the first one, but I can hardly turn my nose up at an online review that calls it 'every bit as inventive and challenging as the original'. 8/10! Read it here
Good eh! A ton of positive reviews overall, including three from major gaming sites. Special thanks to intro artist and professional copywriter Neil W for preparing the press releases.
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Patch notes
Hello!
Are you enjoying / have you enjoyed Apple Jack 2? It seems to have gone down well, all in all, but one or two issues have cropped up for people playing the game. To that end I've released a patch which makes it more stable and fair to play:
- Fixed crash bug that sometimes occurred when sliding down a hole.
- Adjusted level 2 to work better for people with manky controllers.
- Also adjusted levels 8, 24, 50 & 51 for various reasons..
- Made the saw blade hit-circle more forgiving.
- Stopped the slight stuttering just before a new song plays.
- Added coin, combo and death stats to the pause menu.
- Made spikes speed up during rewind (purely cosmetic).
- Fixed bug that zoomed in to intro art on second viewing.
Nothing earth shattering, but the crash bug especially was annoying. You'll be prompted to download the patch when you next play the game and all your old save data will still work fine. Enjoy!
Are you enjoying / have you enjoyed Apple Jack 2? It seems to have gone down well, all in all, but one or two issues have cropped up for people playing the game. To that end I've released a patch which makes it more stable and fair to play:
- Fixed crash bug that sometimes occurred when sliding down a hole.
- Adjusted level 2 to work better for people with manky controllers.
- Also adjusted levels 8, 24, 50 & 51 for various reasons..
- Made the saw blade hit-circle more forgiving.
- Stopped the slight stuttering just before a new song plays.
- Added coin, combo and death stats to the pause menu.
- Made spikes speed up during rewind (purely cosmetic).
- Fixed bug that zoomed in to intro art on second viewing.
Nothing earth shattering, but the crash bug especially was annoying. You'll be prompted to download the patch when you next play the game and all your old save data will still work fine. Enjoy!
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Apple Jack 2 soundtrack available now!
As excellent and life-affirming as Apple Jack 2 is, you can't play it all the time.
Sometimes you need to go to the toilet.
Sometimes you need to go to work.
Sometimes you have to heave your body upstairs to have laboured, joyless sex with your boyfriend / girlfriend / wife / husband.
None of these things will ever be as good as playing Apple Jack 2, clearly. But with the new Apple Jack 2 soundtrack album, courtesy of This Eden, you can enjoy the acclaimed music of the game at any time, day or night!
What's more, you only have to pay what you think it's worth! Get it here:
http://thiseden.bandcamp.com/album/apple-jack-2-ost
They also have a self-titled proper album available, so buy that too while you're at it.
Sometimes you need to go to the toilet.
Sometimes you need to go to work.
Sometimes you have to heave your body upstairs to have laboured, joyless sex with your boyfriend / girlfriend / wife / husband.
None of these things will ever be as good as playing Apple Jack 2, clearly. But with the new Apple Jack 2 soundtrack album, courtesy of This Eden, you can enjoy the acclaimed music of the game at any time, day or night!
What's more, you only have to pay what you think it's worth! Get it here:
http://thiseden.bandcamp.com/album/apple-jack-2-ost
They also have a self-titled proper album available, so buy that too while you're at it.
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