"maintaining attention, not much else, I think you know my habits mr. bull. Though
 your burst is done, you made a conclusion earlier, I think for your sanity, it might be
 good if you were to cancel (sorry). " - Anonymous14z

Its been tempting to call quits considering how life has just constantly been in the
 way here. :P having to help
 the family with an ailing grandpa amongst other things has managed to keep mew
 away from coding, graphics
 and overall planning of this game...

So yes, the thought of out-right canceling Spikes Quest has crossed my mind
 numerous times since the recent
 going ons, that and the feeling that the MLP hype has been dying down
 (in my own life anyway)

Other things I have considered (perhaps for later on) is continuing the game,
 but doing away with the MLP IP
 completely and doing something completely original... this of course is nothing official.

That being said, I still wish to continue working on this. its just going to be
 slow in the coming... I'm rather
 sorry about the lack of updates also... its just been hectic with life here. :(

also the blog editor here seems a bit funky today so bear with me. :P

9-9-15 - Still Alive

This is another update just to let everyone know that this project is still breathing. Progress has been admitedly slow but I'm still pushing myself to get things done.

I'm combining code from all the past attempts hoping it'll push this thing into a fully functionable engine soon.

Again, not a huge update here. just posting this to keep the blog somewhat alive here. :P

8-20-15 - A Bit of Backtracking

those of you who may have checked out the dev page in recent weeks may have noticed that the engine there isn't showing up in the html5 canvas area. some reason my web service has totally stopped supporting the html5 output of Clickteam Fusion (I cant seem to get anything to work... :P ).

I've sort of tinkered around the idea of moving the engine over to Monkey Coder, but alas I see nothing but more programming obstacles the more I play with that language.

So, with all that being said, I've finally backtracked to the point that I decided to keep the project on Blitz Max.

A few other little downgrades also I should note here... I've decided to return the game to the old GBA style resolution and I've decided to cut back on a number of features I wanted to include in the final game. Basically I'm trimming down the fat to make things easier and I find that I'm way more comfortable with working in the classic GBA 240x120 resolution, especially when it comes to tile design for the maps.

I've been revamping the old engine used in demo #4, reworking the code and polishing the old graphics. Maybe I'll have a new demo out in the coming months.

I'll post more as more progression is being made. :)

7-28-15 - The Dev Page is Finally Up! :D

[Link Here]

Its admitedly a bit basic (the Page) and the engine is still early in its transfer from Blitz to Fusion. but there it is for everybody's  testing pleasure :)

Sorry it took me this long, I'll be updating the engine there as it progresses, so keep checking in!

Development Moving to Clickteam Fusion 2.5

I am pleased to announce that production of Spikes Quest will be moving to Clickteam's Fusion 2.5 as a development resource. This will make things far more easier plus it would give me more platforms that I can develop the game for.

this means that I will be able to produce Spikes Quest for:
 - html5
 - Windows XP through 10
 - Mac OSX
 - Android + Ouya

Since I can produce the game in html5, I'll be releasing future demos through that platform so people can play the game in their web-browser. this will be awesome for bug detecting and other things.

I will have a webpage up and running soon for that purpose for anybody who'd like to sample the project or bug test as I work on it.

Stay tuned!

Note: Clickteam Fusion may or many not had been used for popular games like the AVGN the Game and FNaF. don't quote me on that, but I've seen hints that may suggest such.

5-22-15 - Startup Preview

This week I'll be showing a few snapshots of the current game startup. This is still in the works so what you see is not all that you'll get.

There are some launch logos that appear before the main menu screen but I didnt feel I needed to show those off (yet)

I'll post more soonish :)

5-11-15 - Startup Screen Update

Hey, guys, sorry for the lack of updates these past few weeks.

I've been taking a couple of hours a day to work on things like the save system, start-up and start menu screen.

I'll try to post images and/or a video some times this week with the progress.

This post, more than anything, is to just let you guys know that things are still going strong for this project.

Cheers!

4-9-15 - Config System Update (and yes, I'm still alive)

First a response...

You're probably right to begin doubting the completion of this project. I've been failing to post updates after all. And I honestly haven't had much headway since the last progress report. Sure, there were times I've considered calling the project off and maybe finding a team to hand it over to, but deep down inside I really want to see myself completing this thing.

I've felt a great deal of guilt for my lack of work on this project. Life itself has taken its toll on my ability to tackle this mountain and get much done on it. I've felt overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to get it done. And I've been overwhelmed by other projects that have been on my shoulder for a some time.

I've lacked the certain motivation needed for this game.

That being said... No, I'm not giving up on this project just yet. I want to make one final attempt at this. And if that fails, I will throw in the towel.

Now despite all this, there has been some bit of progress that I will report in today's post. I have actually managed to complete the external config system for Spikes Quest. Now it is absolutely possible to set the preferred screen size, set up your control configuration for both your keyboard and game pad and set the preferred sound volume. Here's what the external config system looks like:

I'm looking to get more done in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned.

Other Spike Related Game: Legacy of the Pony

Sure you may consider it a bit of competition to my *cough* project... but at least this one's finished. Give it a look, maybe it'll hold you guys over until the next Spikes Quest update.

It actually looks really cool. Digging the Gameboy style graphics and gameplay here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjPXNfnf5uA 

cheers!

thanks to Sunny Cha for bringing this gem to my attention. maybe it'll encourage me to continue Spikes Quest. :P

Misadventures of Flink Follow-Up

After doing a bit of digging around I found out a bit more about the artist behind the Flink game and found out that he's actually done work on quiet a few other games, each with his own unique style. He's also done work on the DS Shantae titles as well as a few other games on the DS, Amiga, Gamecube, PS2, etc

Again, his work is something to behold and I'm adding him to my list of inspiring things for Spikes Quest. Check out his website, there's some amazing pixel art in his gallery for your viewing pleasure! :)

http://www.henknieborg.nl/

Inspirational Game: The Misadventures of Flink

This game for the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive) is just downright gorgeous to look at! You really must admire the pixel work put into it... Its a shame there's not much out there about this game. I cant even find it on Ebay (or Amazon for that matter)

I sorta wish to know how the artist did his/her work on the graphics.

If you watch the play-through completely take note of the graphics for the interior/ext  of buildings, the forests, the tree-top levels, etc.

I may use this as a study/inspiration piece for Spikes Quest!

8-19-14 - Even More Tile Progress Stuffs

Figured I'd go ahead and show you guys the progress so far. the tileset still needs more done to it, but its looking pretty good.

the tshade tiles are actually to be used globally on all tilesets and is a lazy way to apply shading to some of the background tiles :P

8-15-14 - Still Progressing

Its coming along slowly but I figured I'd let y'all know I'm still trucking along. The tileset looks amazing so far! I'd show more but I feel if I keep showing the same tileset over and over again you guys would just get bored of it :P

Anywho, are you guys even still interested? I know my frequent hiatus status has probably scared quiet a few of you away. :P

I of course acknowledge the one post to one of the recent updates earlier ^-^ but are there any more of you still out there?

8-11-14 - Tile Gfx Progress Report #2

Even more eye candy for your viewing pleasure!

8-8-14 - Tileset Progress Update

Here's an early look at one of the tilesets I'm working on for the game. Looks kinda Blaster Master-ish at this stage. Then again I havent played BM in a while so iunno :P

8-7-14 - Update

I've been working on tilesets for the past couple of days. Just letting you guys know that this project is not dead.

I've just recently recovered from a big move, that's why I havent been posting anything lately. Sorry about that. :P

Pinkies Balloon Trip Officially Released!

The Game is being released today!
Here's the link to the new and official webpage:
http://misterbull.hostkart.net/Games/Brony/PinkiesBalloonTrip/

Pinkies Balloon Trip 1.0 Beta Release

I have a beta version of my current mini-game project up and ready to be tested.

Note: the final version will be on my main website and with its own fancy smansy page (and forum) to go with it. So to anybody out there who likes to submit things to blogs or what-not: this game isnt ready yet. Please wait for the official release before posting/submitting it to a blog.thanks for your consideration and your friendly contributions :3 (I'm hoping to have a final release by this saturday, bells whistles and all!)

enjoy!
http://misterbull.hostkart.net/

2-6-14 - Misterbull's Brony Dev Chat

So I've thrown together a simple webpage that not only showcases my current work on the mini-game projects, but also enables a nice little chat enviroment for people curious about my current activity on all the projects!

http://misterbull.hostkart.net/ (webhost may be temporary until I can afford something better)

I'll be using this to release micro demos on Spikes Quest and Castle Pinkiestein. So if your bored and interested come join in the party!

February Resolutions

The month of January was a bit of a disastrous month for me, both financially and productively. Sure, I got the Castle Pinkiestein project started (and have successfully gotten some very important elements working for it) but I ended up having to abandon Spikes Quest to do so.

For the month of February I've decided to set things straight. I'll begin working on both of these projects like I had originally intended to do so from the start. Alternating between the two on a daily bases. Remember, I still do have a deadline to meet for Spikes Quest (for the month of July) and I refuse to fail that deadline.

So where am I at on Spikes Quest right now? Honestly, I'm still working in the hook-shot mechanics. I've managed to get the code into the game's engine, but there's still a few bugs hindering progress on it. I intend to work out those bugs asap so I can continue to add the other items to the game. For the first two weeks of this month I plan to get the entire item system completed so that I can begin to add sprite-work and animation for Spike done.

Concerning Castle Pinkiestein, I'm just now finishing up on the door system . Applying the need for certain keys to unlock certain doors and I'll soon be adding secret walls that activate via Wolfenstein style that will unveil secret areas.

This past month was pretty rough going as far as it being CP's starter month. I've had horrendous problems concerning slow-downs, collision detection and a huge struggle deciding on which coding language I should use to develop the engine. At the moment I'm still sticking with Blitz Max and the miniB3D module.

The engine is running quiet nicely on my main living room computer but still runs at a crawl on my lower end Acer Aspire One laptop. This problem may not be resolvable, unfortunately. :(

Also, I'll be looking to port this project to Linux and Mac OSX (just like Spikes Quest)

Brony Micro Games Project:
February also marks the beginning of my work on a series of micro game projects that you will be able to play in your internet browser (if said browser supports html5, which if your still not living in 2001, shouldn't be a problem). These games will be rather simple and not as complex as Spikes Quest and Castle Pinkiestein.

I aim to complete at least one micro game project each month. The first game being Pinkie's Balloon Adventure (a bronyafied version of Balloon Trip for the Game Boy) and will have Pinkie Pie floating around a scrolling playing field by balloons and avoiding electrical sparkies. Here's an example of what this game-play will be like: [couldnt find Gameboy gameplay for this so here's the NES version]

Balloon Trip was really an added game-mode on a game called Balloon Kid (for the gameboy) and Balloon Fight (for the NES). there was actually a story mode where you played on actual levels with actual platforming elements, which I may or may not add to this project at some point.

Other Micro Games include other simple games such as Chips Challenge (renamed Snips Challenge) and a few others to be named. I'll strictly be working on these games on weekends (Friday evenings to Sunday evenings). this would allow me to work on the more major projects throughout the rest of the week.

Here's hoping for a successful February!