One of those Internet (ISP) Problems

Another short post, though I will try to post again in a few days with a proper month summary. There are current internet issues that I am faced with which were supposed to be solved on the 30th but have not been yet. So to summarize, One of those Weeks episode 41 has been posted and for readers of this, page 5 of making of shut the box (see previous post for link) has been added.

Finished posting hearts and starting to shut the box

I am running late today so sorry. The final pages, official game, and the open source release for Dozen Days of Dice episode 7:Hearts has been posted to Blazing Games. I have also posted the first few pages of the development diary for episode 8 of Dozen Days of Dice which as I said in an earlier post is Shut the Box. The link to this is not linked from any page on Blazing games so only readers of this should be able to get early access. The link is
http://www.blazinggames.com/table/dozenDays/dice/makingShutTheBox/index.php . Sorry for the short post.

The Eighth Day

Just a quick note to let the few of you who read this know that I spent the day creating episode eight of Dozen Days of Dice. It is a game that even though I had the rules for I have never actually played. After writing the game and playing it on the computer I actually found that it was quite a fun game. The game is called Shut the Box and as with the last Dozen Days game, there will be early releases of the Making of article. The article has early builds of the game so you will get a bit of a sneak preview before the final version of the game is released next month.

Making a Dream Fall

I was actually about to post the rest of Dozen Days of Dice episode 7 today but thankfully looked at my release schedule and realized that I was actually suppose to release chapter 23 of the Making of One of those Weeks eBook. This chapter covers the solution to the two part puzzle that makes up episode 23. Of course, for those following from a couple weeks ago, another page of DDD episode 7 was posted, so you can play the beta version of that game if you aren't interested in OotW.

E3 is this week and there has been a lot of coverage of it. I think that the Penny Arcade comic of the E3 2008 keynotes covers it pretty well. Final Fantasy XIII coming to XBox 360 is a major blow to Sony and certainly makes the 360 the superior HD system gamewise now that the biggest PS3 exclusive is no longer exclusive. Still, the PS3 is the best Blu-ray player on the market, too bad BD disks cost twice as much as DVDs and upconverting DVD players do a really good job. I am quite happy with my Wii. For those who are wondering, I am still using Wii Fit, though have not lost as much weight as I would have liked.

The game that I am looking forward to the most is Animal Crossing for the Wii. The non-Wii game that has gotten my attention and may make me either get a new gaming system or upgrade my PC is Fallout 3. The game that I am sill wondering about is Halo Wars, as it will be interesting to see if someone can actually pull off a successful RTS on a console. And of course, Duke Nukem Trillogy must be mentioned, though I have no idea what to say about it.

Modern Monsters

Modern Monster Hunt has been posted on the site. Likewise, the alpha version of hearts (page 4 of the making of Hearts article) has also been posted. If you don't know what I am talking about then see last week's post. A power outage (five hours long) has altered my plans so I am keeping todays entry short.

Putting Day 6 to Sleep

I have posted tomorrow's game and the schedule for July on Blazing Games. The final episode for One of those Weeks Day 6 is the game that we are starting the month with. In addition, I also released a special bonus to readers of the development blog, which you will find the link near the end of this post. The game concludes with your trial. Win the trial and you get a chance to earn your Medusian citizenship. Lose the trial and you will be considered a large pet. Large pets are not allowed on the space station so if you are deemed a pet, you will be put to sleep.

The month of July is actually quite a nice month for releases. What is strange is that the first two weeks contain medusas in them. This was not intentional, and I only placed Modern Monster Hunter -- which was released on the ultimateretroproject.dev.java.net repostitory on Canada Day -- in that particular slot because I wanted it released as close to the classic game as possible. I could have had it released this week, but want One of those Weeks releases every other week and next month has five fridays in it so the release days for One of those weeks were kind of locked in.

Dozen Days of Dice episode 7 was completed on June 28th. This was my first Flex based game that I completed in a single day and only one of a few projects that I have developed in Flex. As such I did run into a problem that happened to strike right in the beginning of development. It is explained in the making of Hearts development journal, which I have decided I will give readers of this blog early access to. You can read the planning section and pre-alpha sections of the making of Hearts right now and additional sections will be released in the upcoming weeks.