The Unsung Code (ECGC 2017)

Hi everybody!

Last week was the East Coast Game Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center. Since we're in the area, this is always a great opportunity for us to meet the fans, showcase our newest games and get a little something back by sharing our experience during sessions at the event.

This year we gave two talks. The first one was called The Unsung Code and you can see the description below.

Rendering is AWESOME! Audio is AWESOME! Gameplay is AWESOME! So let’s talk about everything else instead. We’ll cover all the unsung code that players will never know is there but can make the difference between smooth sailing and development hell. How to tackle the glamour-less “must do” in a way that leaves room for all the fun fluff, or risk the wrath of the bitter hordes of “braindead code that should only have taken five minutes to write”!

You can download the slides here.

If you got a chance to attend the session, or didn't but wanted to go through the slides, let me know your thoughts in the comments! I'd love to hear about your own experience with game flows or with other types of unsung code you'd like to bring to light!

Get the Burn Cream Ready!

Given his incredible ability to injure himself with hot pokey things, something awesome must be in the works if Tony is picking up the soldering iron again. What's it going to be? Come see for yourself at next month's Playthrough Gaming Convention in Raleigh! We'll be back again to meet with gamers, play some Sausage Bomber and show off whatever this new mystery item is.If Tony can stay out of the emergency room.

The Return of Big Red at Playthrough

Let me tell you something. I, Anthony J Marinello, hate soldering electronics. I'm terrible at it. I manage to burn myself every single time. My solder joints are shameful. So why do I do it? Because this big red button brought so much joy to the Sausage Bomber players at the East Coast Game Conference last year. Who doesn't love mashing that big red button to drop a payload of meat down on the enemies of the small, peace-loving nation of Fredonia? And now, just in time for the Playthrough Gaming Convention this weekend, Big Red is back and sporting a new little thumbstick so players can navigate menus and check out all the great levels in Sausage Bomber. Come check it out and say hi to us this weekend at the Raleigh Convention Center - we'll be showing Sausage Bomber and Hello Kitty World of Friends, and maybe even giving a taste of some other fun projects we have up our sleeves.

And oh yeah, we've got another batch of the wildly popular Sausage Bomber pins to hand out. So really, you should come.

Looking Back: Sausage Bomber

One of my favorite parts about making games is when you can take a step back and see the progress that's been made over the course of a project. Sausage Bomber isn't done yet but it's come a long way from the very first prototype. Check it out:

The idea for Sausage Bomber came up at a dinner with friends. Later that night while sitting in front of the TV I cooked up a little app with found artwork. As you can see, back then you could drop as many sausages as you wanted. No enemies, no scenery, just a lot of sausages. But even that was fun and made us laugh so we knew we were on the right track. After several months of tweaking and figuring out gameplay, and with the help of some very skilled artists, we've got something that looks like this:

Looks like a game, right? We're still not done - new art is coming in - but it's quite a difference, huh? But still sausages and bombers, the chewy center of the game.

Hey, Katsu! you say, why don't you show us some images of the evolution of the Hello Kitty World of Friends game? Well, that's because we've teamed up with our friends at Assorted Nuts and Sanrio to make that game, and when we work with partners we only show the game in the best possible way, as a finished product. When we work with you to make a game, folks will only see the best of your game, too.

Sausage Bomber Gameplay Footage

One of the cool things about being a small indie developer is having lots of new experiences. Right now we're in the process of submitting Sausage Bomber to game festivals and showcases. It's still in what we'd consider a "pre-alpha" state, but we had a great response from the crowd at ECGC and are excited about sharing the game with everybody. As part of submissions we've cooked up some gameplay footage for you to enjoy.one of our goals is to design the levels so that they can be (with a bit of luck) completed using only one bomb. Much like rocking a rhyme, it's tricky! But this video is evidence that it can be done if you believe in yourself and never give up. Stay tuned for more!