Okay so the next post from the progress of my game Hypno-Joe involves animation. I’m only posting one link today because even though it’s short enough, it’s fairly relevant. If you notice the earliest link I posted was in 2005, then the next two were in 2006, and now this 4th post is from 2007, quite a jump! At this point I was going to use RTSoft’s NovaShell (which I still plan on using for the 3 platforms after I get the xna version done). So without further ado:

http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=119

Keith

I don’t think there are many flying (plane, jet, etc) games on XBox Live Indie Games, but then again, I guess I haven’t played all that many.  So when I heard about RC-Airsim I decided here was something I haven’t tried yet.  Actually that’s not what I thought, the creator was on twitter, so I heard about it through that, and decided to review it for my next XBLIG game.  However I hadn’t tried it yet, so I could have thought that.  But I didn’t.  But I could have.  I could go on forever like this.  Okay so I wasn’t expecting much with the title.  RC-Airsim meaning a simulation of radio controlled planes.  And I didn’t get all that much.  Now before I go on, I’m not trying to slam this, but it’s gotta be said.  This is not a game, it’s a simulation.  That was my first mistake, thinking of it like a game.  So let me give you my thoughts briefly before I get into the details of the review.  Unless you’re a radio-controlled plane enthusiast, you probably won’t care about this that much.  Like I’m not.  Watch the video to get an idea, and if that interests you, go ahead and read the rest of the review by clicking Read More below.

If you are into RC planes, this might be a good way to brush up your skills before doing the real thing.  Notice I said brush up your skills.  This isn’t for beginner RC airplane enthusiasts, it’s more for people who are at least intermediate. Okay, we’ll start with the graphics.  Graphics are ok for what they are.  Just 3d model planes, a simulated “yard”.  Nothing special about it, but they’re not bad either.  There is no music to speak of, and the sound effects are what you would expect.

There are no actual instructions, just the different control schemes you can change to, different planes, and the the actual take off option.  That said the control is not that hard itself.  Although flying and landing a plane is tough if you’re not into RC-planes.  I kept crashing no matter what I tried.  So there are 7 model planes starting with the Back 40 Trainer, Double Helix, Emerald Glider, Master EDF, Slowmowatt, F-15 Regal Eagle, and Super Dee.  I don’t know if you can tell what kind of planes they are from the names, because they seem to be fanciful to me.  In any case there are four different control schemes which I will outline next.

First we have the LS Throttle, which uses the left thumb-stick up and down for throttle, left and right for rudder.  The right thumb-stick serves for the Ailerons (left/right) and Elevator (up/down) – I don’t know if that’s a proper R/C plane term (Elevator) but it sort of makes it go up and down.  The next control scheme is Triggers Throttle, where you use the XBox 360 controller’s left and right triggers for down and up throttle respectively.  Rudder is with the left thumb-stick left and right, the right thumb-stick is like in the previous control scheme.  Next we have RS Throttle-Mode1, in this case things are a bit switched, Ailerons and throttle on the right thumb-stick, while Elevator and Rudder on the Left.  Finally we have LT/RT Throttle-Mde1, which is basically like the Triggers Throttle mode except now the Elevator control is on the left thumb-stick, along with the Rudder, and only the Ailerons are on the right stick.  I don’t know if these are all R/C accurate but I think the author got some positive comments from real R/C guys.  All control schemes use ‘A’ button to reset your plane on the runway, and the start button for the pause menu.

Other than that it’s just a take off.  Really this should have had tutorials and should have had mini-games to help you learn to control the planes.  This could have been taken farther, and perhaps had a wider audience.  I guess you could consider this a niche program (thanks Z-Man ;-) )  It’s not really fun at all since it’s a simulation, and since it only appeals to those who have flown R/C planes before.  This thing could have had flying contests, it could have had some sort of multiplayer.  Someone suggested different plane views as it’s hard to land.  I even haphazardly landed a plane, but do I get any sort of screen congratulating me or at least telling me I’ve landed.  Nope.  That said if you are an enthusiast (let’s see how many times I can say that), and you have flown R/C planes before you will probably want to use this to hone your skills for real life.  There is also a PC version.

Name: RC-AirSim

Developer: Some Call Me Tim

Price: 240 MSP (about 3 bucks US), the pc version is $8.95 USD

Where you can get it:  You can get it on XBox Live Market Place or on the Xbox 360, however I will just direct you to the home page here.

Okay so I was thinking that every free day I would do one old post dealing with my game Hypno-Joe. Only when I went to read the next 3 posts (after that first one I showed on Monday I believe) and it had nothing but “Okay I did this” Basically I had intended to use the “Scrolling Game Development Kit”. In any case I felt that each of the three posts singly didn’t really have any information to impart. So I decided to go ahead and post all 3. You may just decide to go ahead and skip these.

http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=22
http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=36
http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=48

But just in case maybe it will help you understand my mindset. Then again you could consider this just filler.

Yes you read that correctly. I (Keith Weatherby II) am actually playing a Role Playing Game which I said I would never play ever.  Okay that’s not true, I said I never get into RPGs because of their pointless side quests and anime characters.  I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, I hate anime/manga.  However the graphics in here are on point as we would say in the US or “spot on” as the English would say.  Before I get more in depth I gotta say I really dig this game.  The name of the game is Dawn’s Light by John Wizard games.  (The website has a nice easy to read layout with nice colors, but this isn’t a review about websites).  It started out with an easy tutorial.  The controls are simple.  And it does basic hand-holding in the beginning.  I don’t know if it changes later on because my Trial expired.  I feel that I got enough of an idea of the game with the trial, which makes me think you should try it then buy it.  Here’s a video of the game in action:

The in-depth review after the break.

The basic story goes something like this:  Boy is living on an island with his Grandpa and brother (or friend, I don’t remember).  Evil dude named Mordecai comes to take Boy because of something in his blood.  Grandpa hides Boy on another island.  Boy is rescuing some sheep for a neighbor when Mordecai comes and kills everyone in his village (except said neighbor, to tell him what happened).  Boy now a man, flees back to Grandpa’s island.  Grandpa reveals he’s not his grandfather after all, and that Mordecai killed his parents and Grandpa raised him.  Now Man (who used to be Boy) seeks revenge for his parents death.  That’s it.  Pretty standard RPG story fare I think.

The one thing I do like is click-and-point adventure games.  I always considered an adventure game a simplified RPG.  So the beginning was closer to that in that I had a single plot to start with although you do have turn based battles.  Anyway the simplified nature of adventure games and single plot is what makes me like this.  (Not that there won’t be side plots as this is indeed an RPG).  It allowed me to get right into the story and yet still teach me how everything worked.  The controls are very simple, most of the time you use the arrow keys and space or enter (and alternately ‘x’ or ‘Esc’ to get out of menus).  Arrow keys to move around, arrow keys to navigate menus.  Enter or space to select stuff.  This is an example of how game play should work.  I should just be able to start it and play.  There’s only one little issue with the control and that is mostly when you enter a door you can’t just automatically exit by going the same way, you have to move away a bit from the door, and then go back the opposite direction, otherwise it doesn’t think you want to go out.

I have to say the graphics are pretty good.  It’s all tile-based art, but it is an RPG.  It does look like something that could be created for a Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, so for those who really dug RPG’s on old 8 and 16-bit consoles would like it for the nostalgia factor.  But even if you’re not in it for the retro-ish factor, the graphics are clean and colorful.  The only issue with the graphics I had was at a certain point the game seemed to get a little jerky in places, probably due to some things with what I assume are graphics related.  But it’s not enough to kill the game or to even really slow you down.  The music is actually also quite good, and even the interface sounds are not annoying.  In short everything is pretty dang good.

If I ever get into RPG’s on the computer or consoles or whatever, I’m glad it was this game that got me interested in them, because I think I would be missing a whole huge segment of fun.  Now it’s off to find my parent’s killer!

Name: Dawn’s Light

Developer: John Wizard Games

Price: $19.95 (Sorry but it’s Windows only right now, as far as I know.)

Where you can get it: Here.

I want to start promoting my game. It’s not done yet but I want to get some buzz before it is finally. I also want to give more stuff for you guys to read on the days I don’t have reviews or previews. So I decided to start linking articles from my regular blog about the progress of my game to Indie Flux. A Quick Disclaimer: These progress posts are shameless promotions of my game, however it will not interfere with my existing previews or reviews, and I will still try to keep my reviews objective. Also you won’t see me review my own game on here, since if I did that nobody would take me seriously anymore.