After many delays I'm finally close to getting Chester released onto the PC! No definite news on what distribution networks it will be on yet, but once I have any news I'll keep everyone updated through this site and my Twitter.
Hoping to have it released by the end of this month.
Alright!
With my semester being crazy I don't really have much time for real updates so instead I'll just be posting daily(ish) doodles on here instead. Enjoy!(?)
I'll start off with a DOODLE DOUBLE DOSE!
Finished the fancy one up over the weekend, and doodled the other one while typing this up.
So, I've scrapped all of the coding that I was doing for Clyde recently, but for good reason! Switching over from developing in XNA to Unity. This will allow me to have games not only on the PC but on the Mac as well. And if I feel like it web, Android, and iOS (boy howdy!)
The downside of this is that I have to learn quite a bit before actually starting up on my next title. Plowing through tutorials right now, so it hopefully won't be too long until I'm working on something actual. The fun part is with the web aspect of Unity I can post up the small things I'm working on when I post updates! (Excitement.)
Style wise getting closer to something I'm happy with for Clyde. Right now it's going to be a robot world in the same universe as Chester. It will be split up into different regions based on locations in the actual world, just with bizarre and robotic twists. Once I have some actual art to put up I'll do so.
Until then, enjoy a few character and scene sketches.
After many delays Chester 1.1 is finally available on the XBLIG. (get it here!)
1.1 brings a lot of changes and new content to the game.
-Twice as many levels
-Twice as many enemy types
-New playable characters
-New styles
-More unlockables
-A light element system to combat
-New level and world progression systems
-An overall much more polished and complete game
-More things I'm forgetting!
So if you've already bought Chester go grab the update to enjoy it all again and if you haven't bought it yet WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU JERK GO BUY IT NOW!
Nothing really to report today! Worked a little more on the look and style of Clyde but still don't really have anything worth showing.
Last actual class was today (still have some finals next week) so should hopefully have more time to devote to Clyde soon though!
Oh yes, be sure to check out this article by @Duckols over on the Official Xbox Magazine website. Covers up few fantastic XBLIG including Chester!
Woo early Clyde run-cycle that's probably getting scrapped due to changing the style of the game!
Reina Lamour put together a reel of a bunch of songs that will be in the PC release of Chester, be sure to give it a listen! Chester - Soundtrack Show Reel by Reina Lamour
Spent a few hours today trying to get a look together for Clyde, but haven't quite come up with anything I'm too happy with yet. Went through about four or five different looks, right now I'm leaning towards a more cartoonish look. Once I'm set on a look for the next game I'll start posting some images from it. Hopefully going to have enough time over winter break to put a pretty good dent in Clyde!
Besides that nothing too exciting to report, just finishing up some projects before the semester comes to a close.
Nothing too major to report today except for a few minor adjustments to the site.
Changed the sidebar links to the Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube pages to little icons instead of the weirdness I had going on before. Also replaced the old Chester box on the sidebar with the new one and actually added a link to the XBLIG release (probably should have done that a while ago.)
Last change was to the about page, added the sound duo Reina Lamour to that and changed a few other small things.
On the actual game front nothing too exciting was done today. Added a little more polish to some of the menus for the PC build of Chester. Still waiting to see if 1.1 will pass peer review on the XBLIG (such a fantastic review system they have set up there. </s>)
Have this really weird dancing animation of one of my very old 3d models: Airman!
Finally going to try to get back into the habit of daily (or at least semi-daily) updates. I'm probably picking the worst possible time to do so (Yay finals week!) but oh well, I'm not always the brightest.
Plans for the day are polishing up the PC build of Chester a little bit more (really nothing too much left to do) and maybe getting a little more work done on the Clyde engine.
I'll probably be posting another update tonight. Also going back to the fun of making sure every daily update will have some sort of image, because text is boring! (Except for this one, because I said so.)
Chester 1.1 for XBLIG
The 1.1 update for XBLIG is complete, just waiting to get it through peer review, it will hopefully be out in the next week or so. The 1.1 pretty much doubles the amount of content in the game.
-Twice as many levels
-Twice as many enemy types
-New characters
-New styles
-Loads of unlockables
-Learn the strange backstory of the Chester universe by unlocking "Bestiary" pages
-An actual final boss encounter
-A Stamp Shop that allows you to unlock things in any order you desire
-New music and sound effects
-Much much MUCH more polish
-More things I'm forgetting about!
Chester PC
The PC version of the game is about complete as well. Don't have a set release date or any solid news on what distribution networks I'll be releasing it to just yet but I'm hoping to have it out by the end of the year. I'll keep you all updated when I have some more news.
Clyde
Now that Chester is completed I started up on my next project: Clyde. Nothing too concrete about this project yet, have the base for the engine underway and the main character design. It will be another 2D platformer set in the same "Chesterverse" but it will be drastically different than Chester. More customization, more fluid animation, one insanely huge level with seamless loading, and more.
Don't have too much to show for it yet, so have an early idle animation of Clyde.
That is about it for now, going to try to keep the updates on here coming along at a more steady pace!
Cheers.
Woohoo! Most of the work I got done today involved creating new enemies. Code-wise I got about 5 new ones in, but most still need animations (and designs)
Some new flying types, a new walking type, and a new type that hops from walls/ceilings.
Besides that also started up on a list of planned enemies and current enemies, going to be shooting for about 30 unique enemy types (not including cannons) in the 1.1 build. That is nearly double what is in the current build!
And now I sleep, for I have class in the morning. But enjoy this new enemy, that flies with his hands (for now he is simply called Flying Hands...)
Time for another small update!
Didn't get quite as much done today as I did yesterday, but still accomplished a few small things.
The first and biggest change is that I added panning to pretty much all sound effects in the game. So if an enemy is on the left side of the screen, you'll hear it more out of you left speakers, etc etc. Adds a really nice effect, especially when playing with headphones on!
Also started adding some more enemies in. Got a new cannon type that fires a rapid series of bullets directly at Chester that I'm sure will kill you all off at least a few times added in. Sketched up a few Skull cannons as well that I'll probably be using in the games ending FORTRESS levels. Also a new enemy that rolls around like some sort of weird rolly thing, similar to how frogs move but a little less predictable (sort of the Paper-type counterpart to the Scissors-type frogs.) Got started on a new flying movement type of enemy as well, but don't have that quite finished yet to that'll have to wait for a future update.
And now I sleep, so I can wake nice and early and get back to work!
Hello all, going to attempt to get back to posting daily (or at least semi-daily) updates on the bog here!
I've been looking through a lot of feedback I've been getting on Chester and two things are pretty clear:
-Players want styles to be more than just a visual change
-Most players stick to using one character and don't branch out to the others
Encouraging users to switch Styles!
I've come up with a few ideas on encouraging users to switch between styles today, got one pretty much fully coded and the other is still in the designing stages. The finished idea is that I gave every style a slight gameplay advantage that will be useful during some of the more challenging parts of the game. For example, the Sketch style now causes enemies to attack and fire at a slightly delayed rate, the Block style gives you a little extra hang time while jumping, the Hand Drawn style lets you use special attacks for less ammo, and a few other bonuses along these lines. Running low on health or looking for an enemy bio card (more on those later)? Switch to BluePrint, which increases item drop rates!
The other idea for encouraging the use of all of the Styles is adding in secret areas and multiple paths that can only be accessed while using a certain style. There will be visual cues in place to give you a hint as to where these secret paths are. I'll be trying to get this into the 1.1 patch, but that's not a promise!
Encouraging users to switch characters!
I've added a very light elemental system to all characters and enemies. And by elemental system I mean Rock, Paper, Scissors. By switching to the correct type of character you'll be able to deal extra damage to enemies. But switching to the wrong type will leave you open to more damage.
To make this system easier to use each Element is color coded. So Rock-type enemies will be red themed and give off a red Aura as they move about. This aura will also apply to your characters and will grow stronger as you level them up.
After playing around with the new Element system all day I can definitely say it adds a lot of fun and some simple strategy to the gameplay.
Another idea for switching characters up that I haven't quite gotten into the game yet is enemies with "Knockout" attacks. If one of these attacks hits you, your current character will be locked until the end of the level and you'll be switched to a different unlocked character. These attacks will look quite different from normal attacks so they'll be easy to spot and avoid. I'd say there is a good 90% chance I'll have these ready for the 1.1 patch.
That is about it for tonight, and I should probably be off to sleep as the semester starts up tomorrow morning. Hooray hopefully easy classes! =P
Mostly just a lot of bug fixes for this patch, sorry it took a bit longer to get through review than I had expected!
1.0.1 Changelog
Bug Fixes
-Hopefully fixed accidental dropping through platforms
-Fixed glitch where ammo would lower even if special attack wasn't able to launch due to bullet count
-Fixed color not restoring on the map from playing as the mime
-Fixed some enemies doing 0 damage on easy mode (That was TOO easy!)
-Fixed Chesty jumping animation glitch
-Fixed platform movement glitch when using time slowdown
-Fixed moving platforms skipping nodes after returning to a checkpoint
-Fixed cannons stopping firing during some levels
Gameplay Changes
-Checkpoints now also heal and restore ammo
-Added return to last checkpoint from pause menu
-Altered wall jumping. If pressing towards the wall you will not wall jump.
-Made destructible platforms more visible
-Limited number of off-screen fall bounces for Easy mode. Prevents getting stuck in some areas
Character Changes
-Increased most special attack ammo consumption.
-Made it so Ship Chester can no longer fly out of levels
Misc Changes
-Selecting same level as last played jumps right into level instead of loading (Except when you change difficulty)
-Added in tracking which difficulties a level has been beaten on, displays on map for current level
-You can now quit from the game without use of the guide
-Readjusted most enemy damage
-Made intro level a little easier
-Changed "Options" to "Difficulty" on maps
-Added map key to all 3 maps
-Added screen at end if the game (Will be improved in future updates)
After about a year in development Chester is finally out on XBLIG! The current version up features over 20 levels, over 10 characters, and over 5 of the unique Styles that allow you to change the look of the game at will!
That's not all though, I'll be providing free updates to Chester that will include new worlds, enemies, bosses, levels, and more! The first update includes some minor bug fixes and a few minor features and should be out in the next few days.
The next planned update will include an entire new world full of levels and a full-in endgame bossfight!
If you have any feedback about the game send it over to BennFried ( at ) BBG-Games (dot) com!
Peer review has been passed, and as part of the Indie Games Summer Uprising Chester for the XBLIG will be releasing on September 1st for 240 Microsoft Points !!
Chester features 20+ levels, 10+ unique characters, and 6 styles. Check out the press release here for more info!
It's been a long time coming, but this still doesn't mean my work is even close to over. Over the next few months I'll be working on getting Chester ready for the PC market, this means more levels, characters, styles, bosses, and overall craziness. But don't wait on buying the XBLIG because of this, as the XBLIG version will be getting most of these as free content updates as I work on them!
And now it is back to work for me. Cheers and thanks for sticking with me this entire time, ~Benn Friedrich
0.2.2 CHANGELOG
ENEMIES
-Difficulty changes how often enemies attack and spawn
-Difficulty changes enemy speeds
-Difficulty changes cause enemies to have more/less health
-Fixed frog-spawner hitbox
-Fixed \'ghost\' enemies (hopefully)
CONTROLS
-Press B (S on keyboard) to instantly switch to last used character
-Slight air-control adjustment
GRAPHICS
-Fixed city fog glitch
-Fixed clipping clouds/spikes
-Fixed a few misc graphical bugs
MISC
-Loading times should be decreased (Especially for the 360 build)
Changelog from last version:
ENEMIES
-Robo tears are more visible and slightly slower
-Enemies respawn at a slower rate, this will change with your difficulty settings
-Offscreen enemies are now considerably quieter than their onscreen buddies
-Added walking noise to frogs
-Lowered most enemies active distances
-Offscreen enemies fire less frequently
-Readjusted enemy bullet damage
CHARACTER
-Fixed level 5 attacks crashing the game
-Fixed XP bar not filling completely before leveling up
-Fixed d-pad controls
-Corner hopping glitch fixed
-Ammo and health for each character refill at start of level
-Characters now share one common health
-Adjusted special attack costs
-Each characters special attack ammo is a unique color
-Added info for specials when they are first used
-Very minor tweaks to control in the air
MISC
-Sped up the dropping TV screen slighty
-Lowered life of destroyable ground in part of desert level
-Added difficulties back in
--Changes enemy revival rate, damage, bullets destroying eachother
TODO
-Add delay to death/win screens
-Find a new solution for the signs!
Finally got a PC demo (more like a playtest, but oh well) up! It has 7 levels, most of the styles, and 5 playable characters. You can grab it here ! Let me know if you have any feedback/experience any problems! (Also report bugs! Still an early version of the game so some are bound to pop-up!)
Now, enjoy some sweet tunes courtesy of Reina Lamour!
Hazzah! Finally got Chester into playtesting. If you have a AppHub account, head over here and try it out! Has 4 levels, 4 styles, and 5 characters.
I'll probably be releasing a similar PC demo sometime next week, so keep your eyes out!
And it looks like fan voting for the Summer Uprising starts soon, once I know how that voting is done I shall enlist all of my three fans and get not-last place !!
So, I've decided I should start posting updates before I'm 90% asleep. Typed up last nights update and I apparently forgot to hit the actual button to post it... oops. So now you get the shortened version !!
-Worked out some new attack patterns for the Drake boss
-Fine tuned Bit-Chester's charge attack a bit. Still need to make new animations for it though
-Started on a new space level
-Started planning out what I need for a demo/playtest version. Shooting for one of each level type, maybe 5 characters, and possibly a small boss
-Shooting for new week for playtesting, demo will come after
-Started drawing some of the backgrounds in the additional styles
I think that's about it for yesterday. Tonight's update may be a it light on content as I'll be working on finishing many of the things mentioned here, you've been warned!
