Secrets among friends

So, there are some very exciting things happening with me at the moment. Some of them I can't yet talk about but hopefully will be able to shortly. 

First. There is a secret project in the works. I'm working with another indie game development team and it's going to be fantastic. Hopefully I'll be able to reveal more about this very soon.

NovaraX is being developed but at a much slower rate to make time for the new project. Brian (@StudioWaveland), who's doing music for the game sent me the first track. It's got a great sci-fi feel and it gives the game a great mood. 

I had some inspiration for another side-project. It's a single-screen arcade style platform shooter. I decided to work on a protoype and share it with you. I think I'm going to take this prototype further so I'd appreciate any feedback you have. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28484936/planet_builds/build_0.0.1/index.html

In personal news: my gal-pal got a job in Bronx, NY so it looks like we'll be moving to the greatest city on earth. I'm very excited about this. Living in NY has been something I've always wanted to do. Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet some other NY-based game developers. We'll be moving in late July. In the mean time I'm going to soak up the Virginia sun, fresh air and mountain views. 

That's just a short update about what's going on with me.

Regarding the secret project; I'm sorry I can't tell you more but I'll just say, if you're a fan of my previous work, you will like this.

Comments

[owen]

very weird and confusing jumping around on planets upside down like that, probably the controls could reorient to the direction you are facing? but that maybe even more confusing hmmm

[Ironhead]

Good news. I'm glad to hear you are continuing to do what you are good at.

[Nich]

Very interesting concept. It's reminds me of a 2D version of Super Mario Galaxy. I'm very intrigued to see more.

[Menashe]

Very intriguing so far. I'd love to see this turned into a full-fledged game. It reminds me a lot of Mighty Milky Way from Wayforward, which itself was like a 2D version of Super Mario Galaxy. But, you would probably have a very different take on it than them. They mostly turned it into a puzzler, whereas you would probably make it more more of an action/shooter, platformer. So, I'd love to see what you'd do with it.

If I had to critique the current prototype I'd say the movement is a bit slow. I'm fine with the controls and don't find them confusing. Being upside down is part of the experience, so being slightly more disoriented than when you are upright is ok with me. It's just that the running speed makes it feel very unfluid. I think that if you could run more quickly and the planets were a bit larger, the experience would be a lot more fun for the player to experiment with. It would be something like a regular platformer but with a big twist. As opposed to now where it feels like we're being purposely handicapped, making the basic movement feel a bit tedious.

I like the concept of jumping over gaps and onto platforms while you're circling around the circumference of the planet. If there was some sort of adventure and exploration included it would make it even more fun. For example, if there were different planets with different "themes" and elements and even some secret planets to explore and find power-ups.

All in all, I'm excited to see more.