Bit Battles: February in Review (Beta!)
by Chris Haigler · 03/01/2008 (5:58 pm) · 0 comments
[Don't know what Bit Battles is? Visit Fanatical Games to find out more!]
February's gone but the fun is just starting. Bit Battles has now reached beta status and I've put out a call to arms for any able (and willing) body to help me test it. If you're interested, hop on over to the sign up thread.
In the meantime, here's what's been happening over the past month:
At the beginning of the month I was hard at work getting Bit Battles ready for the InstantAction contest. This meant tons of testing, miscellaneous cleanups and bug fixes. I also implemented motion trails for the hovertanks which I'd been wanting to do for a while. They not only look nice but aid players in leading their targets. Graphics AND gameplay!
Looking back, the first week of February was all about setting up for the weeks ahead. While development had certainly slowed, things were only getting more chaotic. As it turns out, there's a lot of "stuff" to do in order to get a public release of a game ready. Who knew? To read more, click here.The second week was more of the same. As the IA deadline loomed just around the corner, I began focusing on actually getting a release candidate ready. This meant writing a simple manual, doing some housekeeping on the data directory to make sure only the required assets were shipped, getting the dedicated server working and, as always, testing and bug fixes.
In midst of all of this, I had to come to the painful realization that I'm a one-man team and didn't have the motivation or the time to get the final map ready for either the IA or the MyDreamRPG contest. So, I decided to cut it. With Access Denied off of my todo list, I suddenly found myself with a feature-complete game. To top it off, I had more time to advertise, polish, test and fix. It was a good trade-off in the end.
Apart of the advertising effort was setting up a GGE page for Bit Battles. You can find that by clicking here. Also, Phil Jones of Tank Universal fame stumbled upon the game and liked it enough to setup a link trade. TRON-ish games unite! You can find a link to Phil's website by visiting the Fanatical Games Links section. For more info about this week, click here.
The third week saw the IA contest come and go. No finalist spot for Bit Battles which was a fairly demoralizing turn of events. Nevertheless, the game was better for being entered as it helped push it to beta. Development was halted long enough to start accepting beta testers. Once the logistics of that were taken care of, it was back to the grind. For more info about this week, click here.
And with the month winding down, I found myself back to doing all the other, non-development "stuff" needed before releasing the game. On my todo list: a new manual, a dedicated Bit Battles website and actually conducting a useful beta! To read more about my rush to the finish line, click here.
Well, that's all for me. Remember to sign up for the beta if you haven't already done so. Fanatical Games wants you!
February's gone but the fun is just starting. Bit Battles has now reached beta status and I've put out a call to arms for any able (and willing) body to help me test it. If you're interested, hop on over to the sign up thread.
In the meantime, here's what's been happening over the past month:
At the beginning of the month I was hard at work getting Bit Battles ready for the InstantAction contest. This meant tons of testing, miscellaneous cleanups and bug fixes. I also implemented motion trails for the hovertanks which I'd been wanting to do for a while. They not only look nice but aid players in leading their targets. Graphics AND gameplay!
Looking back, the first week of February was all about setting up for the weeks ahead. While development had certainly slowed, things were only getting more chaotic. As it turns out, there's a lot of "stuff" to do in order to get a public release of a game ready. Who knew? To read more, click here.The second week was more of the same. As the IA deadline loomed just around the corner, I began focusing on actually getting a release candidate ready. This meant writing a simple manual, doing some housekeeping on the data directory to make sure only the required assets were shipped, getting the dedicated server working and, as always, testing and bug fixes.
In midst of all of this, I had to come to the painful realization that I'm a one-man team and didn't have the motivation or the time to get the final map ready for either the IA or the MyDreamRPG contest. So, I decided to cut it. With Access Denied off of my todo list, I suddenly found myself with a feature-complete game. To top it off, I had more time to advertise, polish, test and fix. It was a good trade-off in the end.
Apart of the advertising effort was setting up a GGE page for Bit Battles. You can find that by clicking here. Also, Phil Jones of Tank Universal fame stumbled upon the game and liked it enough to setup a link trade. TRON-ish games unite! You can find a link to Phil's website by visiting the Fanatical Games Links section. For more info about this week, click here.
The third week saw the IA contest come and go. No finalist spot for Bit Battles which was a fairly demoralizing turn of events. Nevertheless, the game was better for being entered as it helped push it to beta. Development was halted long enough to start accepting beta testers. Once the logistics of that were taken care of, it was back to the grind. For more info about this week, click here.
And with the month winding down, I found myself back to doing all the other, non-development "stuff" needed before releasing the game. On my todo list: a new manual, a dedicated Bit Battles website and actually conducting a useful beta! To read more about my rush to the finish line, click here.
Well, that's all for me. Remember to sign up for the beta if you haven't already done so. Fanatical Games wants you!
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