Decided to make the GAMMA version of the game available while I work on the final one.

Note that it has the following restrictions:
No sound
No AI
Locked at 1024×768 fullscreen

Each player uses the A button on their Xbox 360 controller. In order to maintain compatibility with OneSwitch devices (and for hotseat keyboard play), there are keyboard equivalents of each player’s action button:
P1 – Space
P2 – Enter
P3 – Left Control
P4 – Right Alt

Download it here.
Get the final version instead!

Unfortunately I didnt make the cut for the GAMMA IV showcase, but the good news is that I get to release the game early. Early doesnt mean right now however, since I’d like to clean up the GAMMA version by adding audio and AI which werent requirements for the competition. I’ve already completed the AI, made it higher res, and added some audio during the tortuous result waiting period, so it’s close.

The game is titled Playing With Humans, and it’s basically a series of one button mini-games that involve making people’s lives miserable. It supports up to four players and is compatible with Xbox controllers and OneSwitch devices. Here are some screenshots to tide you over:

Been a while since an update, but I’ll get to that. As a solo indie game developer, you have to choose your projects wisely. There is only so much time available, especially when youre dedicated to a full time job. This is normally not a problem for smaller games, but when the scope of a game gets too large you really have to love the project and be willing to put in the time and effort to make it successful (commercial or artistic success, applies just the same I think). To make Robots Always Obey the game I want it to be would require a lot of time developing new features, art and content, and a new art style which means redoing everything I’ve made so far. This would be ok if I loved working on the game, but frankly I lost interest after developing the IGF prototype for a few reasons. In short, there are better ideas I’d like to make into games and if I dedicate myself to a long term project I want it to be something original I feel very strongly about. I’ll make smaller games like what’s on this site now without taking it so seriously because I like short experimental projects, and even if they dont turn out too well it was only an investment measured in weeks. This is not to say that I thought it was a bad game, I got a lot of good feedback from IGF judges on it and the negative feedback I got I fully agreed with since most of it mirrored what I thought I needed to do to make it a stellar game. That being said, I’m making the IGF demo available to everyone and I hope you all enjoy it.

Download Robots Always Obey.

So what have I been doing then, since I decided not to work on Robots? I took most of January to write a one-button game for GAMMA4, which is still in the judging process at this time. Unfortunately, I can’t really say much more since it’s traditional to keep the games secret until the GAMMA party, which is at GDC this year. In the event that my game isn’t chosen however, I’ll put it up here as soon as I hear back. I’m actually very proud of this one and even if I or others dont get showcased, they will benefit disabled gamers since we were asked to make them compatible with OneSwitch one-button devices.

I am also in the process of trying to get Pinky and the Cave and Tentacle Uprising ready for Xbox Live Indie Games. I’m just working out some quirks in getting my codebase running on Xbox correctly then I can submit the games and let you all know soon.