Status Report #56 (Enemies, PCT GameDevs, & Surviving the Common Cold)

     Bidding farewell to Fish Feaster, my very first game. I don't think I ever learned so much about game development at once. I made mistake after mistake and put all the skills I got from my pet projects to work. I went from a dropped Dragon Ball Z RPG, to a joke pony app, to an unfinished DragCore prototype (which was lost in my first Macbook breakdown). I made a bunch of posts a while back chronicling the Making of Fish Feaster along with a bunch of other related things.

    The more I think about it, the more the game means to me. Every project means a lot to me. Each one taught me so many new things and are helping me grow into the developer I still dream of being. As for anyone following me from the beginning, I hope you can remember these milestones along with me into the future.

First PCT GameDevs Meeting

     Our first club meeting was today and it went really well. Plenty of people came (others were held up with a tutoring event) and I finally got an idea of what running a club is like. When you're presenting stuff up there it really helps to have a bulleted agenda to go by and keep things focused. This first meeting was really an introductory one where I asked what people wanted to learn and showed the topics I planned to cover in the coming weeks.

Disappearing iOS Apps Reminder!

     On September 24th my iOS games will be pulled from the appstore! If you're curious about my first completed game project, Fish Feaster, this will be your last chance to get it! I know I'll be treasuring my app data for it as a reminder of how far I've come and how much I was able to accomplish even back then. I'll never forget the feeling of seeing my first game ever listed next to all the other official games that I once considered impossible for a novice like me to make.

    I've been Mac-less for what feels like a year now and it looks like Apple has changed a lot of things on the developer's side. Hopefully they make things easier/approachable the way Google does by the time I get another Mac so I can publish games for iOS faster next year. It's a shame I can't really show the PCT GameDevs how all the iTunes Connect stuff works from the inside. I guess I'll just save it for another time. It may even be easier to explain if the process gets more straightforward anytime soon.

My Candy Catch test app vanished when I moved data to my new iPod.
It no longer exists on iOS in a playable form.

Unicorn Training Enemies: Burstie, Spinner, & Blockwork

     After a couple days of miserable sickness I'm back at it! I got a handful of enemies done and I'll be describing the latest 3 today. Bursties are the brown dudes spiting fireballs. They rotate clockwise on the spot and shoot each time they turn. They do this no matter where Clover is so they can make the entire map dangerous. They pop after just one hit, but on death they will explode and cause damage if Clover is near them. To make up the challenge they are guaranteed heart droppers like Jelwads. Taking these guys out first is a very wise decision.

      Spinners are the ruby eyed orbs floating above little tornadoes. They simply roam within a small space around their spawn position. Every few seconds they'll shoot at Clover if she's nearby. The trickiest thing about them is hitting the small fast-moving collision box around the head orb. Landing a hit while dodging the rapid fire energy balls can be pretty tough in the heat of things.

     Blockwork is the name given to the ruby orb with a surrounding diamond. It can only be harmed when its diamond shield turns off. All the while it fires energy balls every couple seconds if you're within range. An interesting thing I noticed with this enemy is how it can always be harmed by the piercing Cut spell. If you don't want to wait for the shield to go down, switch to Cut and slash away. It gives players a reason to use that spell rather than sticking to a single favorite. I'll keep that idea in mind for future baddies.