Choosing UQ's Platform

     I chose Android first and foremost because that's where my experience lies. It's the most fun for me to develop for and I feel like the market desperately needs more games with substance like Unicorn Quest. It's also a platform with hundreds of millions of users. I'm hoping a small fraction of that population catches wind of my little game and at least gives the demo a try.

     I'm not releasing on iOS because I don't have a Mac with the latest OS which I need to publish games. That's why DragCore isn't on the iTunes app store. I want to release both DragCore and Unicorn Quest on iOS as soon as I can afford a computer that costs over $1000 (which won't be for a long while). I also have vague dreams of porting Unicorn Quest to Playstation Mobile, Ouya, Desura, and Steam so it can reach as many people as possible. It'll be the same price across all platforms too. No more than $3.

    My focus right now is finishing the game at all. Launching on something like Steam is a project in its own right. I'd need to address the right press, make additional promotional art, and test out literally everything to fix bugs. Once I have a product, I can give it the focused porting and marketing it deserves. That's just the kind of mentality I have. Make the most awesome thing ever, then try to get a reward when it's finished.

     Unity let's me easily build to so many platforms. Why not take advantage of that?

Gushing About: Fighting is Magic

     This is the game that made me want to become an indie developer. This is the game that made me start looking up how to make games myself instead of relying on school to do it for me. This is the game that showed me that it's possible for a small group of fans to get together and produce a work with professional quality. This is the form off creative brony work that showed me just how powerful mixing my two favorite things in the world could be.

     This is a post about Fighting is Magic.

Equica's New Collision System

     I tried coding this thing with simple boxes that touched each other and executed whatever methods I wanted. What seemed simple turned into a complex and messy web. After doing research I found that Unity once again has something to do it for me. The character controller component let's top-down characters move around and collide dynamically with walls (or anything with a non-kinematic, non-trigger collision box).

   I had to rewrite how moving clover around works but the result was wall collision that didn't look buggy. The sacrifice was taking out the bounce effect I had for Clover's movement. I loved that bounce. I needed it. So I spent a day trying to get it to work with the new controls. The solution was simple so of course it took forever to realize. I could just use both my collision schemes together. One box for the walls detects the wall itself and another box outside the edges tells Clover to stop bouncing so she doesn't clip through walls.

    Then just to be extra safe I mad it so that if anyone broke through a wall, they would hit a net that sends them back to where they entered the room from on contact.

Spring Break 2014 Is Over

     Well, last week was pretty fun. I got a lot of things done and I've never felt better about the Adventures in Equica project. I'm just kind of dreading the endless stream of homework and projects headed my way now that I;m back in school. The hours of college work I'll be doing will cut into game development big-time. My grades are dropping a bit as I care less about class and more about real life problems (finishing Unicorn Quest and starting a company). I really need to pick it up a bit and finish the semester strong for my parents' sake.
 
     I'd say the best parts about going back are seeing my friends again (probably all talking about Dark Souls 2) and relaxing with my girlfriend (the highlight of every week). I'm betting on going back to 2 hours of game development a day but the game will be done eventually. A big thing I keep telling myself is to relax. Sometimes I feel like I need a lot of things done within a week but truthfully there is no deadline. I just need to make the game incredible and I have about a year to do it.

      I really am looking forward to my school hiatus next fall. Once summer school ends (August 14) I get to take the fall semester off and finish up Unicorn Quest with no distractions.