UFHO2

After a long time, I am back to work on a project very dear to me. It is the sequel to UFHO, the Flash game I made in 2008 while working at Visual Creative Studio.

This time, with UFHO2, we are trying to build something bigger and better. While the game will retain the basic mechanics, it will be enhanced by the addition of a single player experience complete with AI, a new dynamic soundtrack, leaderboards and whatnot.
Furthermore, it will be published on Facebook, so players won't even have the need to subscribe or create a profile: they only have to add the application! And this also means more social features.

The estimated time of deployment is March 2010 (maybe.. the end of March). I am working on graphics, programming and such, while Alessandro of Visual CS will work on the marketing and promotion, and Francesco D'Andrea will compose the music and the sound effects. We will get the help of another one who will give me support with the AI.

We have setup a development blog , and prepared a teaser for the game. I am very excited to launch into this new adventure, let's hope it turns out as expected!

Wii Internet Channel Update

Just what I was waiting for. Well, actually not, but it's important all the same.

Nintendo released today an update to the Internet Channel for Wii, with an updated Flash Player. I haven't yet tried which version it is, I guess it's 9 or 10. (edit: read below)
The incredible news is that now Wii will be overwhelmed with GOOD Flash games rivaling Wiiware offerings. Is Nintendo crazy? Waiting for an answer, I hope that the good folks at Wiicade will update their Flash APIs for the Wii to ActionScript 3.0

Moreover, the channel is now free to download and the ones who bought it will get a refund. They will download a NES game worth 500 Wii Points for free. This is really kind from Nintendo.

EDIT: The Flash Player has been updated to Flash Lite 3.1, which means it can play Flash 8 movies or lower. No AS 3.0. WHAT A SHAME.

Shift

Shift is a wonderful game I just discovered. As usual, the most marvelous and innovative games are Flash...
In Shift you play the part of a monochromatic man who runs in black and white labyrinths, trying to get to the exit. What sets the game aside from the rest is the ability to press Shift to turn the world upside down, and go where you couldn't before. If you're white you're walking on white blocks into black space, and vice versa (if you're black you stand on black and can move into white space).

The author, Antony Lavelle, has made three of them. I recommend playing the third first if you only want to give it a quick go, otherwise start from the first (they tend to repeat the first tutorial levels).

Shift 1
Shift 2
Shift 3

Amazingly, the second and third games also have a level editor! I love level editors!!

Will Flash 9 ever arrive on Wii?

Everybody knows that Wii has got a browser, that the browser is Opera, and that it can only play Flash movies up to the version 7.
Now everybody knows that Flash 7 is old now, there was 8 who added filters, enhanced video playback, there was 9 (the current standard) that brought ActionsScript 3.0, and now there's 10, which brings to the table some nifty features like 3D APIs, image processing effects and so on.

I am investigating into making some games for Flash on the Wii, thanks to some great APIs created by the guys at Wiicade, which let you use the wiiremote in awesome ways even in a Flash game. You could use buttons other than A, you could read the rotation of the wiimote, the distance from the sensor bar and wether or not it's pointing at the screen. This is all good things and actually I already made a small game, although it's incomplete.

The problem is that with Flash 7 we're not going anywhere. I'm tired of ActionScript 2.0, and besides, I can't even port things to the Wii easily from now on. So Nintendo should really let Opera update the browser, and a rumor has it that they are just doing that. The rumor appeared in December, so it's a bit old now, but I'm not desperate yet. Some things point at the fact that while that rumor is not accurate and the screenshot provided is a fake, the Wii could receive a Browser Channel update sometime soon.

1 - There was a post at the Opera forums that told people why the browser could only play Flash 7 movies. That post was sticky, meant to be seen from everyone, but not it's not the case. Maybe the Opera team means to bury that thread because it's becoming old? Will this be a hint that the browser will add Flash 9 or 10 soon?

2 - The PS3 can play Flash 9 movies. They haven't got an exclusive, so there's no reason Nintendo couldn't have them.

3 - Adobe released some sort of kit of APIs to let everyone port Flash to every device. They mean to spread the player even more, to conquer more than the PC scene. This could mean that Nintendo doesn't need a deal to use Flash 9 on his browser, but I can't bet on it.

Some people think that Opera has a new version of the Wii Browser already, they are only waiting for Nintendo to give the green light. Let's keep fingers crossed.

IGF has come and gone, for me at least

Some time back I entered UFHO for the Independent Games Festival. Yesterday the finalists were nominated and we aren't among them. I can't but feel a little disappointed, but after all I wasn't expecting too much. Don't get me wrong, I love UFHO and I still really believe in the concept, but I think it needs a little bit of polish still to get noticed. Oh well...

Anyway at IGF the judges tend to prefer smaller concept games, but this is not a critic! There are wonderful games among the finalists, I just tried The Graveyard by Tale of Tales, a Belgian developers duo. It's kinda poetic.
There's also You Have to Burn the Rope! It's a crazy game, very very long, it takes five months to beat it. Play the game first, and if you get struck read the manual and the complete walkthrough.

UFHO has been entered for the Independent Games Festival

UFHO, my Flash game, has been entered as a contestant for the 11th Independent Games Festival. The entrance fee was 95 dollars, that's why it took so long for us to submit it, we're stingy (whenever I say "we", I mean me and my boss, it's a "company we").
I can't say I think it could win in any cathegory for there could be spectacular games out there, but deep in my heart I know UFHO has a great concept and if it was managed in a better way could have been a big hit as far as puzzle games go.

The Retro Remakes 2008 competition

Some time ago I discovered this competition about making retro games. Well, not every category is retro, but 5 out of 6 are, so... It's called Retro Remakes Big Competition, and is hosted by the Retro Remakes site. You can see the rules and all on the competition blog, and everything else on the forums.
They accept games in almost every form, for every platform, but the deadline is December the 2nd, so hurry up.

I'll be entering with a game in the Games For Helen category, that is games that can be played by people with physical difficulties. There's two subcategories: one for games that have a one-button control scheme (if you can call it a scheme), and games that are controlled with the gaze of the eye. Yes. Gaze, you read it well. Look here (look, ah ah).
My game will use Flash as platform of development and will be called Paper Circus, it's a game in which you are a boy that dreams of his paper circus becoming real, and the player must perform a circus show to please the public. The game will be made up of very small mini-games...
I can't share much for now because I just started, but more will come soon.

A custom class to draw dashed lines in Flash

Ever wanted to draw a beautiful dashed line in Flash with a single line of code?... Well you can't do it yet, but my code needs only three or four to intialize the object and then one for each line.

I made a custom class called DashedLine, which is an extension of the flash.display.Shape class. With it you can create a DashedLine instance that has the following methods:
drawDashedLine - Draws a dashed line between to points. You have to provide four coordinates.
drawDashedLineP - Draws a dashed line. You have to provide two Point objects.
drawDashedRectangle - Draws a dashed rectangle. You have to provide the two coordinates of the left top corner, and then width and height.
clearAll - Deletes all the lines

I wrote every explanation at the top of the class file DashedLine.as. Don't forget to import the file, I put it in a package called ccontinisio (so you'll remember me when you use it).
Don't bother to quote me when you use it, I'm not after personal glory :D

Here's the file:
DASHEDLINE_CLASS (.zip)

(manually copy this link if the above doesn't work...
http://ccontinisio.altervista.org/varie/DashedLine_class.zip)

UFHO

Is there a better way to start one's blog rather than talking about his first real game in the role of designer?

UFHO has been launched three months ago on http://www.ufho.it. It's a puzzle game online, where you can (and ultimately must) play with a friend in a game that is so tactic that it reminds of chess. The concept is simple: move through a maze of hexagon shaped rooms and head for the gem that randomly appears from time to time.
The game is turn-based, so you have to think of the possible moves the opponent is going to make, and plus there's a timer of 20 seconds to execute yours.

Now for the summer UFHO experienced a bit of a stop, but I hope he won't quite die. We plan to do an iPhone version soon, although that version is not mine in programming. I will check that the design stays intact even on the small screen.

Meanwhile I invite you all to try the Flash game, you can find me as ness in the lobby from time to time. You can login in the game as guest - guest, or you can sign up freely to retain your gaming stats after each match.
I advice however to login with a friend to play together, since users come and go...