1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - RoRoDejobaan
Starting yesterday and for the next 4 days, we will be crunching on Ugly Baby. That means Amy, Dave, Ichiro, Jonathan, Michael and Rohit all working on the game all the time.
We will attempt to stream some of the action on Twitch. Come by and check out the madness that is Indie game development. (ignore the DRP related title below)
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - RoRoDejobaan
Starting yesterday and for the next 4 days, we will be crunching on Ugly Baby. That means Amy, Dave, Ichiro, Jonathan, Michael and Rohit all working on the game all the time.
We will attempt to stream some of the action on Twitch. Come by and check out the madness that is Indie game development. (ignore the DRP related title below)
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Are you hungry? Amy apparently wants you to be. What’s that, you say? Staying away from the carbs? Well, hopefully this update is just as delicious.
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE: Michael went all crazy with the UI! Brand spanking new graphics to tickle your eyes. He’s a perfectionist, so he says he’s not done yet. How do you think it’s coming along? What can you figure out from it? What doesn’t make sense?
GAMEPLAY: A new stunt has joined buzzes and grooves, because they were getting lonely. Meet the NEEDLE! Can you figure out how to do it? Gameplay has changed slightly, so listen closely. Get near anything to buzz an object. Orient the world to your stomach (bottom of the screen), to groove. If you hit things, you damage your sensor. If your sensor’s damaged, you can’t do stunts! As your sensor detects stuff, you build up a score multiplier, so keep doing stunts!
VISUALIZER: Dave’s research continues to pay off. Play level one with some fast/heavy music. Dubstep, Rock, Death Metal, EDM. That’s all I’m sayin’.
We’d like to personally call out, the progress bar feature in this recent update was due in part to a user suggesting it. I’m an awful person and can’t remember who did originally, so if it was you, thank you, keep ‘em coming!
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and where you think Michael’s running off to next week. He won’t tell us.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Are you hungry? Amy apparently wants you to be. What’s that, you say? Staying away from the carbs? Well, hopefully this update is just as delicious.
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE: Michael went all crazy with the UI! Brand spanking new graphics to tickle your eyes. He’s a perfectionist, so he says he’s not done yet. How do you think it’s coming along? What can you figure out from it? What doesn’t make sense?
GAMEPLAY: A new stunt has joined buzzes and grooves, because they were getting lonely. Meet the NEEDLE! Can you figure out how to do it? Gameplay has changed slightly, so listen closely. Get near anything to buzz an object. Orient the world to your stomach (bottom of the screen), to groove. If you hit things, you damage your sensor. If your sensor’s damaged, you can’t do stunts! As your sensor detects stuff, you build up a score multiplier, so keep doing stunts!
VISUALIZER: Dave’s research continues to pay off. Play level one with some fast/heavy music. Dubstep, Rock, Death Metal, EDM. That’s all I’m sayin’.
We’d like to personally call out, the progress bar feature in this recent update was due in part to a user suggesting it. I’m an awful person and can’t remember who did originally, so if it was you, thank you, keep ‘em coming!
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and where you think Michael’s running off to next week. He won’t tell us.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Michael here, with some more updatey goodness to share with all of you. Check it out:
GAMEPLAY: Stunts have slightly changed. Buzzes now happen whenever you get close enough to any object, exactly how “kisses” worked in AAAAA! Grooves are now only rewarded if you pass by something on your stomach. Rotate with your mouse buttons and orient yourself before you... disorient yourself.
INPUT: We’ve changed how rotation works and feels in the game. How’s it feel to you now?
LEVELS: Dave updated levels 2, 4, 5 and 6. He’s created a new algorithm that blends the patterns that are created based on the stress of the music. This means that similar sections of a song should look similar within the game. Check these levels out again, you’ll find they’re quite a new experience now.
ARTWORK: Jon’s been working hard on some illustrations of our main character. I’ve been working on mockups for the new UI. Check them out here:
Lastly, we think we have fixed the decompression issue a small percentage of users were having. Those who were affected previously, and could not seem to decompress any music, please let us know if this resolves your issue.
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and what other awesome indie games we should be playing this weekend.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Michael here, with some more updatey goodness to share with all of you. Check it out:
GAMEPLAY: Stunts have slightly changed. Buzzes now happen whenever you get close enough to any object, exactly how “kisses” worked in AAAAA! Grooves are now only rewarded if you pass by something on your stomach. Rotate with your mouse buttons and orient yourself before you... disorient yourself.
INPUT: We’ve changed how rotation works and feels in the game. How’s it feel to you now?
LEVELS: Dave updated levels 2, 4, 5 and 6. He’s created a new algorithm that blends the patterns that are created based on the stress of the music. This means that similar sections of a song should look similar within the game. Check these levels out again, you’ll find they’re quite a new experience now.
ARTWORK: Jon’s been working hard on some illustrations of our main character. I’ve been working on mockups for the new UI. Check them out here:
Lastly, we think we have fixed the decompression issue a small percentage of users were having. Those who were affected previously, and could not seem to decompress any music, please let us know if this resolves your issue.
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and what other awesome indie games we should be playing this weekend.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Howdy! PAX and GDC were fantastic and we loved the opportunity to meet with many of our beautiful fans. While the past two weeks were busy, we managed to whip up something for everyone. Dropping the deets:
* PERFORMANCE: We had a few users that needed to kick their resolution down, otherwise the game would stop generating the level at some point in the song. There have been a few important changes that should let you kick the game up a notch. If this previously affected you, please let us know how the game is playing now -- we now consistently hit 60FPS on Dave's AMD Turion II X2 M500/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570.
* FILE BROWSER: Michael got this amazing idea: let players browse their folders on their drives to get to their music, rather than force you to copy into a folder we specify. So, that’s in.
* VISUALS: We made some visualizer updates and tweaks for PAX, you now have those in the cities.
* ANALYSIS: Andy was able to make another improvement to BeatBox, our song analysis tech. This means songs that we’ve previously cached the analysis, the game will need to re-run it. This update helps us *much* more accurately detect beats for slower/less stressful music.
* FRIENDS: We've been including music from indie studios Fire Hose Games, 82 Apps, Part 12, Hybrid Mind, and more. What do you like, and who else do you want to hear?
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and your favorite way to eat potatoes.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
Howdy! PAX and GDC were fantastic and we loved the opportunity to meet with many of our beautiful fans. While the past two weeks were busy, we managed to whip up something for everyone. Dropping the deets:
* PERFORMANCE: We had a few users that needed to kick their resolution down, otherwise the game would stop generating the level at some point in the song. There have been a few important changes that should let you kick the game up a notch. If this previously affected you, please let us know how the game is playing now -- we now consistently hit 60FPS on Dave's AMD Turion II X2 M500/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570.
* FILE BROWSER: Michael got this amazing idea: let players browse their folders on their drives to get to their music, rather than force you to copy into a folder we specify. So, that’s in.
* VISUALS: We made some visualizer updates and tweaks for PAX, you now have those in the cities.
* ANALYSIS: Andy was able to make another improvement to BeatBox, our song analysis tech. This means songs that we’ve previously cached the analysis, the game will need to re-run it. This update helps us *much* more accurately detect beats for slower/less stressful music.
* FRIENDS: We've been including music from indie studios Fire Hose Games, 82 Apps, Part 12, Hybrid Mind, and more. What do you like, and who else do you want to hear?
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and your favorite way to eat potatoes.
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
We’ve been continuing to integrate your feedback into the game. Here's the latest:
GAMEPLAY: We’ve taken two of our levels, and put you in control via the Genetics Lab. When you unlock cities Five and Six, you’re able to control the level's DNA via three variables: FATNESS, SPREAD and SALT. Take some screenshots or videos of what your levels look like; we’re looking forward to what you guys come up with.
FEEDBACK: We’ve temporarily replaced the proximity sensor (the big circle on the screen) with some pretty awesome particle effects that show up when you get close to stuff. We also added some popups to show you when and where you’ve done some stunts. How does it look?
VISUALS: Michael just finished laying the groundwork for a new background visualizer. At its very basic level, it allows us to easily animate the background color of the world as you’re flying through it. It also will let us create some animated and awesome background imagery to further enhance your experience. If you have any ideas for visualizers, please feel free to share them.
ANALYSIS: There was a last minute improvement to BeatBox, our song analysis tech. This update helps us *much* more accurately detect beats for EDM and bass-heavy songs.
One last thing: we’re playing with the idea of letting you rotate yourself within the world. Press the mouse buttons to rotate left or right. How does it feel? Do you think that’d be a fun addition for gameplay? We’ve got a few ideas we’re going to keep under our collective hats right now. Did you notice that Dave was wearing a hat in our video? He always does that.. what’s he hiding under there?
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and what you’re doing this weekend. (We’ll be at PAX East!)
1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby) - mcarriere
We’ve been continuing to integrate your feedback into the game. Here's the latest:
GAMEPLAY: We’ve taken two of our levels, and put you in control via the Genetics Lab. When you unlock cities Five and Six, you’re able to control the level's DNA via three variables: FATNESS, SPREAD and SALT. Take some screenshots or videos of what your levels look like; we’re looking forward to what you guys come up with.
FEEDBACK: We’ve temporarily replaced the proximity sensor (the big circle on the screen) with some pretty awesome particle effects that show up when you get close to stuff. We also added some popups to show you when and where you’ve done some stunts. How does it look?
VISUALS: Michael just finished laying the groundwork for a new background visualizer. At its very basic level, it allows us to easily animate the background color of the world as you’re flying through it. It also will let us create some animated and awesome background imagery to further enhance your experience. If you have any ideas for visualizers, please feel free to share them.
ANALYSIS: There was a last minute improvement to BeatBox, our song analysis tech. This update helps us *much* more accurately detect beats for EDM and bass-heavy songs.
One last thing: we’re playing with the idea of letting you rotate yourself within the world. Press the mouse buttons to rotate left or right. How does it feel? Do you think that’d be a fun addition for gameplay? We’ve got a few ideas we’re going to keep under our collective hats right now. Did you notice that Dave was wearing a hat in our video? He always does that.. what’s he hiding under there?
As always, tell us what you love, what you hate, and what you’re doing this weekend. (We’ll be at PAX East!)