Hey guys,

Well that's my 3rd year of uni over for the most part, just an exam here and there. That is the reason I put penguin Panic on the back burner since spring as I had plenty to do.

Now I am back and announcing that work back on Penguin Panic has officially started and I have new ideas and improved upon the old ideas. I now have the ability to release the game on the Android market place , so if you have an Android phone look out for this gem!

One new feature I am in the process of adding is a mini game, in which  as you proceed through the mini game you unlock features for the proper game. The proper game does not rely on the unlock features for to advance but they will help with certain puzzles. This I think will give users a reason to keep coming back to the game and improving based upon the unlocks.

Well there you go, just a teaser of what is to come. No definite release date yet but as I get closer to end of development I will throw out a release date. I just wanted to inform you guys that Penguin Panic is indeed still alive and work has restarted on it and I am more motivated than ever.

Tom

Well, unfortunately I didn't get accepted to be a Microsoft university games ambassador but I have had bundles of positive feedback about penguin panic and I know the game as it stands now is very very short but it was done in two weeks for a deadline. Now as I don't have a deadline I plan on completing it fully.

This means adding those new levels, new penguins and enemies the whole lot. unfortunately again I cannot publish my game in google play, iphone market place or windows 8 till I can get a licence and that wont be till the start of april. I will continue updating my game adding new things but full blown development wont restart until I can get the licence.

Any feedback on the game,. Any thoughts that you think might go well in the game, feel free to comment.

...Keep watching this space for more news on Penguin Panic. It's not over, its barely just begun.

Tom

Well that's the game almost complete now, maybe I should have graced you will a little more appearance and more insight on what was going on in the game.

Now there are five levels, each more challenging than the last, I have uploaded a video to youtube, I shall put the link underneath. I must point out that my lack of skill at any game, as my girlfriend so kindly pointed out, has no impact on the gameplay what so ever, I'm just not very good, haha.

So yeah, I have changed it to work with touch screens. It had originally been using mouse controls but as I thought it would be played on mobile and win8 touchscreen laptops I thought I'd better move it to using touch controls.I had some slight problems with the levels, after finishing level 1 it would restart level 1 again, which was not ideal, it has since been sorted though.

I would still like to add in at the start of each level a scrolling mechanic so the player can see how far he has to launch the penguin and what obstacles will be in his way, I will add that within the next day or so.
Also I will need to add in an Instructions tab to the main menu so the player can get an overview on what to do before entering the game.

At the moment I will be happy to submit this game for my entry in the Microsoft Ambassador program, but here are a few features I would like to add later on :

-Saved games
-More levels
-More diverse penguins and levels
-More diverse enemies as well as what they are capable of
-Enhanced leaderboard to encorporate penguins saved and penguins lost, how many seagulls hit and so on and so forth.

I have really enjoyed making this game and it looks really likely that I will want to produce more in the future So keep an eye out :D

Here's the video :

Update 02/02/2013 : I have added in an instructions page and sorted a few background issues, the only thing left now is to get my friend Lewis, to do a voice over for the main menu page :D

Well it has been a few days since I have updated my blog, I have been working on the game non-stop and now I have plenty to show for it.

I implemented the penguins with the proper physics and tweeked the user input so that the force was set fairly upon penguin launch. As I said in my last post I would update the graphics and I have done. The penguin now has animations and sounds to accompany set events.

I also added a Main menu screen, which I was never going to do originally but I felt that you couldn't be expected to launch straight into a game without any warning or instruction. An instructions tab has yet to be added to the main menu but that is next on the list.

High scores have been placed into the game and are stored on a server using Playtomic. I had a little trouble getting my high scores read back onto the game but it has since been sorted.

I have also added a credits tab which credits those involved or credits asset sources.

Oh, I added a second level in with a smaller mainland iceberg, therefore making it harder to reach, requiring more force and if that wasn't hard enough I've added in some flying seagulls, in which if you hit them you get forced downwards, so it may just stop you saving the penguin. Each level will have five penguins to save, this might change later on.

The menu background will also change later on.

That is all for now, Ill post some screenshots below so you can see first hand how progress is going.

Tom

Main Menu

High Score Table

Level 1

Level 2

Level 2

Hi there,

Time to update you all on what has been happening in the world of Penguin Panic. I will largely talk about the graphical elements today.

When deciding on the general theme for the game I knew I wanted it to look simplistic but sharp, clear and good graphics (Obviously :P ). So I decided upon a cartoon like feel for the game and I think it adds to the effect and gameplay. One such way I was able to achieve a good cartoon effect was simplistic shading and putting a stroke around almost every object to make it stand out, I'll demonstrate what I mean later on.

So, on to the penguin, I toyed with several ideas for the penguin. Again I wanted it too look visually appealing to any type of gamer, so I made it plain-ish with big eyes. Hoping that it would appeal to all gamers as a cute/cool combo.

My original idea I thought to be too cute:

Attempt 1

Also it didn't match what the image in my head looked like, it felt took cute and cartoon like, So I went back to the drawing board and produced this:

Attempt 2

I had shown this to a few people and they responded well to it, I think because the bow. Again though I thought "No, this isn't what I am truly after", It was still too cute and still didn't match the image in my head. So I created a new penguin and I have to say I really like it, it gives off an air of innocence and cuteness while stationary and while gliding through the air it looks cool (Please feel free to tell me what you think in the comments below :D) but most of all it matched up to my simplistic cartoon like feel.

Here it is:

As you can see the stroke effect around it gives it a nice sharp edge and would be easily identifiable in a game setting. Note that this is the penguin while in gliding through the air, he will have flapping animations as well.

Sticking with this concept as a base for all future graphics added into the game I decided to create the Orca that would stalk the penguins. I had fun with this one purely because the big white patches on an orcas side are mistaken by children as their eyes and I thought I would make it the orcas eye.

I love the way he came out, he looks rather grumpy.

I have created more graphics for the icebergs and the scenery but i felt they weren't quite right and didn't fit in with the graphical theme, once I redo them I will post a couple of screen shots and then a video of gameplay.

Also I created the logo for the game and you will be able to see it on the title of the blog, let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading,

Tom

Firstly, Hi there my name is Tom Beattie. I am a student at the University of the West of Scotland studying Computer Games Technology. I have started writing a game in the Construct 2 environment as part of my application to the Microsoft Ambassador program. Through out my development of the game I will write short blog posts on my ideas and thoughts behind the creation of my game.

So, Into the good stuff,

I largely got the feeling that the app I was to create was to be unique, creative and innovative, so I had to have a good think on my idea, simplistic design, easy controls, eye catching graphics, great replay value. So naturally everyone I told about my creating a game wanted to put their two cents forward on what they think would make a good game. In the end the idea came to me, a game with penguins that have to slide and glide from an iceberg to the mainland.

Simplistic idea, maybe a little too simple, that's why an orca roams the waters ready to snatch up any penguins that do not make it. The idea is that the player holds the cursor/finger over the penguin that is on the iceberg ( Which is being affected by the pull of the water and has a near friction-less surface), the longer the player holds their cursor/finger on the penguin the greater the applied force is on the penguins launch and the amount of force is depicted by the force bar at the top of the screen. When the player lets go the force will be applied to the penguin and he will be propelled forward by that force.

The penguin must get dead on the mainland ledge in order to be safe, undershooting and overshooting may mean a penguin might be lost, which would affect overall score. I may have it that the penguin could try an outrun the orca via player controls but that is only an idea at this point, it would be very hard to outrun the orca.

The game will feature multiple levels, Powerups and score enhancers.

A possible power up is if a penguin hits a seagull while being propelled through the air he gains the ability to float and control, roughly, where he is to land.

A possible score enhancer would be gaining "Big Air" which would add a certain amount to your score the higher your altitude is.

The level scenarios will play out in an increasing difficulty, you will start off just trying to get on to a rather large platform for the first level and as you progress the platform will get smaller, it might move, you might have to go between some stalagmites and stalactites, moving boats and much more.

The game will be called Penguin Panic. (Subject to change, I quite like Penguin Peril)

I'm looking forward to posting more about the development of this game, It is already well underway and I can say I am having a great time making it.

Tom