Tying different timeslots together

I wish I knew what to say when people ask me what I do.

Sometimes I'll say I write video games, other times I'll say that I write books, or that I help people learn Welsh. Of course I do all three. Even that's getting too complicated, as I'm starting to write books about different things and in different languages.

I thought it'd be nice to have some way of tying everything together. Linking stuff if you like.

colin.cymru is the result. It's not so much a website (it isn't a website btw) but a series of links, which I can redirect over time.

So colin.cymru itself will currently take you to my personal website, while colin.cymru/books will magically whisk you away to my Amazon UK Author page, whereas colin.cymru/us will take you to my US Amazon Author page. That way I can leave links in various places and update their destinations if needed.

Brilliant, eh? For those of you who have an interest in such modern alchemy it's all made possible by a free and open source url shortener at yourls.org

The Return of Nintendo - One question for you all

At last - something to look forward to. The Nintendo Switch reveal made me realise just how much we've missed the gaming giant's presence over the past few years.

Will it be powerful enough to compete with the big 2 consoles? Will the battery last long enough for a decent gaming session? Will those little controllers get lost on the train?

Yes, too many questions right now. But just one question from me:

Do we want Mario back in all his gameplay glory on a decent console, or do we want him prostituting his inheritance in a dodgy series of casual games on the fag end of tablet gaming?

Where do I sign for that pre-order?

The PiMan Speaks!

He wouldn't do it for money, he wouldn't do it for fame, but the total recluse formally known as the PiMan has been coaxed out of retirement. Why? The video explains all.

Slightly Magic Time!

What's the hour, you ask in rhyme - on your Pebble, it's Slightly Magic time!

Potassium Frog. Official watch designer to Bigwiz the Wizard.

Big day today. As well as Deus Ex Machina and Slighly Magic on Steam, we've got a third launch at the Pebble appstore.

Deus Ex Machina - The Final Cut

Quite a nice surprise this morning; an email letting me know that Deus Ex Machina, Mel Croucher's classic video game, had been accepted for inclusion on the Steam store. I programmed the C64 and MSX versions of the game in the 1980's and then agreed to do the same for the Anniversary Edition, which Potassium Frog released very recently.

It feels like we've finally got a proper release for the full desktop version - PC, Mac & Linux. Maybe the world's finally ready for Mel's dystopian nightmare, at least it'll be there for the curious few.

I let Mel know immediately, and we were soon wondering what extras we could add to this, almost certainly, final edition. It's making work for ourselves, of course, but we both want to send this one off with a splash.

Goodbye Slightly Magic?

A very strange feeling came over me last Friday afternoon; a mixture of melancholy and release.

I was uploading Slightly Magic to Steam for late summer release, when it struck me that this would be nearly the last time I'd be working on the game. I do have another format to program, about which I'm sworn to secrecy for the next month or so, but things are starting to feel pretty final.

Slightly Magic is 25 years old this year, and it seems very odd to be working on the game so long after its initial release. I remember at the time being a little uneasy about Slightly's future; I couldn't see that the game would be available for more than 5 years. After all, who was going to reprogram the thing after all the 8 and 16bit formats had died? I didn't expect it to be me, that's for sure.

So that's a Good Thing - that the game is still available, and soon to be given a shot in the arm by PC, Mac and Linux Steam release. I won't get my life back, because Slightly is already alive and well in a new game which is almost nearly ready to start demoing. In an odd way I feel I have a duty of care to look after him, if that makes any sense at all.

Good Things are numerous at the moment, as will soon become apparent, but I'm still feeling pretty down about the EU referendum result. Hard to fathom, for those of you who voted out I'm sure, but true nevertheless. I've also been writing some of the dialogue for Slightly's new game, which I noticed was a little lighter than I'd expected. I think I might be compensating for my general melancholy mood. 

Oh yes, and a funny thing about Slightly Magic. What I've realised, and didn't really expect, is that a lot of new players really appreciate the game. I thought at first they were just being polite, but people have seriously gone out of their way to ensure Slightly's debut on Steam and on Slightly Magic's next, final format. Thank you all, it really does make a difference.

The Making of Slightly Magic

How fast does 25 years pass? In the blinking of an eye, I fear. For it really was 25 years ago that my game Slightly Magic was released. I'm always a little nervous when I release something new, but in Slightly's case I needn't have been. 

He's done me proud over the years, and so I couldn't let this anniversary pass without throwing a magical bean feast. Actually there'll be more than one magical event this year, but I'm sworn to secrecy on the others for a while.

However, as a party-starting taster for the awesomeness that's yet to come, a new full-colour art book is available now on Amazon. It's called 'The Making of Slightly Magic' and features some fascinating insights from myself together with the marvellous artwork of Chris Graham. It's well worth a look if you've an interest in games, retro or modern.

Unfinished News and the Time Flux Paradox

You'll have to bear with me on this, but it's been a surprising few weeks at Potassium Frog.

A couple of quite wonderful things have decided to come together which have almost made me squeal with delight. However, due to the nature of games design, secrecy pacts and the Time Flux Paradox I can't say anything about these things for quite a while yet.

Writing games is a funny business. Anything I'm working on now won't generally see the light of day for a few months, years, or possibly decades. And even some things which I could talk about are probably best left for now, because it's just too early.

The trouble with that box of lice is that I tend to get bored with anything I can actually talk about since I probably finished with that months, years or decades ago. That's the Time Flux Paradox in a nutshell. Ho hum.

This is a lazy game, but what's wrong with lazy?

Something struck me the other day when looking through the comments for Cheshire's Cheese Nightmares on Steam Greenlight. Some people seemed to be implying that it was a lazy game.

That statement probably sums up the game quite well, I thought, but probably for different reasons. 

What's wrong with lazy?

We wouldn't call a musician lazy for recording a song with a single guitar and vocals. We wouldn't call an artist lazy for producing a sketch or a quick watercolour. So why is a video game lazy for not trying to be anything else other than a half-hour or so of easy relaxation? Lazy gameplay; relax and unwind.

Deus Ex Machina, Deus Ex Machina 2

Don't ask me how it happened, but Potassium Frog is launching both Deus Ex Machina and Deus Ex Machina 2 on desktops. Now. www.potassiumfrog.com

Not to mention the bumper package The Book, The Game & The Sequel, but they told me not to mention that.

The end of formats, the return of fun...

Slightly Magic Day is a mere 11 days away, and counting down according to the official website, so here's an update on its progress. After a slight hiccup with the Linux version, I can now report that all the desktop versions are fully complete, uploaded and waiting for release on the appointed day - 7.7.14. That's PC, Mac and Linux, in case you were wondering, and quite a relief for me.

Actually, better than that - they're available for pre-order right now, so feel free to scamper along to slightlymagic.uk to find out more. By some technological wizardry, anyone who pre-orders will be able to download the game as soon as it's released. Plus there's a Physical Fun Bundle option too, which must at least be worth a snigger.

Ah, but what about the mobile versions, I hear you ask? Has the authentic 8bit graphics and original screen ratio fallen foul of the appstore guardians? Erm, well no. Both Slightly Magic and Slightly Magic Lite passed all tests with flying colours. Happy days. Just the OUYA version to go now, unless I sneak another platform past the guards.

Desktop versions have a few nice extras, including the ability to listen to all of Allister's in-game music from a single screen. And the free 'Lite' version (which contains the entire first level) should be available on all formats on 7.7.14 too.

Now I just have to order the postcards, posters and badges for the Fun-Bundle options, and one of those exhibition banner stands for the Wales Games Development Show, which I'll be appearing at on 11th July, if you happen to be around.

Slightly Magic Day: 7.7.14

Counting down to happiness...

Only now can it be told, Slightly Magic is returning on 7.7.14 on a number of formats. How many formats exactly, you may ask. At which point I mumble 'loads' and point at an imaginary distraction just over your left shoulder.

But what the heck. You've taken the trouble to come to this blog post, and it might be a little interesting, so here's where Slightly Magic really is today, and how I dare come to challenge the Fates and predict an exact launch date - that always used to be for publishers to worry about, after all.

It's just over a month to release date, and I've personally played Slightly on PC, Mac, iOS, Android and OUYA. I have complete confidence that the game runs fabulously on Linux too - I'm just not too sure exactly what that is. Hey, what is that over your shoulder, anyway?

All this, of course, doesn't guarantee that my magical friend can jump through all the hoops and dance routines necessary for successful app store releases. Matter-of-fact I wouldn't be surprised if sticking to the original screen ratios (of which there were 2) might cause some problems on certain formats. Time will tell.

But today, as we speak, even now, at this moment in time, there is at least one format ready and waiting for a final press of an on-screen 'release now' button. Other submissions will be attempted this week, but the majestic freedom and speed of the Google Play store submission process means that at least the Android version is sure to be out on 7.7.14. Unless I sleep late, of course.

And I figure that a month should be enough to get a respectable number, judged as a mean sample of all available format ratios, of versions out for Slightly Magic Day. Also, I'm itching to start work on the sequel, Slightly Spooky, and I've finally found that tin of magic beans that's been hiding in the back of my cupboard for the past 20 years. More news here soon, but I should seriously take a look over your shoulder. That just looks weird.

www.slightlymagic.co.uk

my God, it's full of fonts

it's full of fonts.

the internet that is. have you noticed yet? not just verdana and times roman, but all sorts of weird and wonderful typefaces. (and how come 'weird' is spelt that way? whatever happened to 'i before e, except after c'?)

look at the headline above for instance. nice eh? fontain dontcha know, from exljbris. unless you haven't upgraded your webbrowser lately, that is. in which case maybe you should.

it all happened in 2009.

@font-face if you need to know.

my new cupboard

Ooh, space. The final frontier.
Dropbox, an online storage space for your digital whathaveyous has a free account with 2gigathings.

Why should I mention this here, you ponder?
A fiendish viral campaign by the boxers means that for every being who opens a new account using this link:
this link to dropbox

I get an extra draw in my online cupboard, so to speak. No money changes hands, you understand. I think that the person who opens the new account gets extra wardrobe space too, but you'll have to check that one out.

The important thing is that it seems to work nicely between my mac and pc. Time will tell if it spells the end of my dotmac account.

goodbye joomla and thanks for all the fish

Techheads only will be interested to know that this weblog thing has now been transferred away from Joomla and into Wordpress. Joomla's great, but just too slow, unwieldy and confusing for my needs.

Astute readers will notice a timeslot lapse since the previous (movable type) entry. Yes, a few blog entries got mislaid along the way, but to be honest you haven't missed much.