Bloody Monkey http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.64 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home//nucleus/nucleus2.gif Bloody Monkey http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/ New game: MIRRORMOON http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=61 Santa Ragione and me during the 2012 Global Game Jam.

It's an adventure-puzzle-exploration game, set on a mysterious red planet.

red planet

Dowload it here: WIN - MAC - MIRROR WIN - MIRROR MAC

Linux users: the game is made in Unity so there is no Linux version, but someone reported he was able to play the game on Wine.



Follow @PaoloMonkey and @SantaRagione to be informed about game updates and other indie game goodies.]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=61 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:01:00 +0100 Winnitron IT! http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=58
A group made by Vincenzo Lettera with a bunch of Italian indie developers (Ciro Continisio, Federico Fase, Marco Di Timoteo, Santa Ragione), me included, is trying to build a Winnitron in Italy!

The Winnitron is an arcade cabinet, playable by anyone, which runs a number of fantastic exclusive independent games from all over the world. The first one came from a idea of a group of Canadian developers known as BitCollective, and there are only a few in the entire world.

So we started a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to have the minimum amount of money to build it and to transport it around Italy to the various game development related events.

Here's the link to IndieGogo.

If you donate you will receive awesome perks, such as an exclusive NaaC wallpaper or (this is a) a META game soundtrack. There are also t-shirts, other soundtracks, the preorder of the strategic shooter Syder by Studio Evil, a chiptune EP... well, a lot of things.

Go donate! :D

Artwork by @Mis_BUG]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=58 Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:51:52 +0100 Announcing Pablo Cavarez http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=56 It's just the right time to announce our first iOs game... I'll go just with the title and a artwork. We are working hard on it, and you will have soon other info.

Pablo Cavarez: Sliding Puzzle Explorer]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=56 Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:57:33 +0200 No More Sweden 2011 http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=54 It was an amazing experience, great games and great people, and I wrote something about it togheter with Ciro.
It's in Italian, but there are tons of cool pics:
http://www.indievault.it/2011/08/11/storie-dalla-no-more-sweden-2011/

I also had the opportunity to show a card game/tool inspired by the Gameplay Deconstruction theory that I'm developing with Kurai... I'm gonna talk about it another time.

Layers Design Tool]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=54 Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:49:37 +0200 META game at hòPlay'11 http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=52
You can find us in Bilbao on 16-17 September :D

Here's the list of the selected finalists:
http://hoplaybilbaoenglish.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/selected-videogames-for-the-second-hoplay-videogamedev-contest/]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=52 Wed, 3 Aug 2011 19:18:03 +0200 Bit.Trip Metronome http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=50 Twitter (and my followers too!) because every day they share something incredibly interesting/worth reading.

In these days I was suggested some very useful articles; I'm going to write a comment upon them, one at a time. The first one is a great article written by Bobby Arlauskas.

Bit.Trip Fate by Gaijin Games

A Metronome For Everyone
Abstract: "What I really want to get across is how the metronome event system can help unify the timing of many elements in games, making them feel complimentary."
Link: http://gl33k.com/blog/

This is RAD. It's something I was completely missing when I've been working on my games... even if I perceived exactly this method (before reading the article) some weeks ago, while playing Bit.Trip Fate by Gaijin Games.
In the Bit.Trip series, rhythm plays a very important role and sound effects timing is fundamental to achieve this rhythm. In Fate, every sound (enemy killed, bonus taken) is played exactly in time with the music, using the metronome Bobby Arlauskas is talking about.
When an enemy is hit, it trembles for some moments, waiting the next beat; only then the death animation is played and the melodic sound effect is played.
Actually, however, I found this idea a bit disturbing, while playing. That's why I was able to notice it, because there was something that "didn't feel right". The problem I found is that to kill the same kind of enemies takes different time (and probably a different number of bullets); it could be that the gap between two subsequent beats is too wide.
Anyway, from the same actions of the player, a slightly different outcome was resulting... that caused my disorientation.

In the end, the metronome system is great, but I would pay attention to use it in direct player feedback... I see no problem, instead, to use it in cut-scene, enemy patterns and every other opportunity you have to determine a time interval.]]> Design http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=50 Sat, 2 Jul 2011 15:44:13 +0200 A new META screen! http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=49
To avoid them adds another level of fun :D

META game screen]]> (this is a) META game http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=49 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:16:49 +0200 LUNARCADE: CODARDO BASTARDO http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=47 LUNARCADE FACTORY, and its theme was LINEE (lines).

CODARDOBASTARDO

Since everyone was able to take part remotely, I created a little game, named CODARDO BASTARDO (Coward Bastard).

It's a simple 2-player-only game.
There are two lines moving toward the center of the screen. Every player wants to press his key before the other, but they are allowed to do so only after the moment in which the two lines cross.

Sometimes things happen... such as disappearing lines, fast moving lines... I put a lot of things to make sure you press you button too early, and FAIL.

So, pick up a friend of yours, and try it.

--> DOWNLOAD CODARDO BASTARDO 1.2 <--

Here's the title screen:
CODARDOBASTARDO

LUNARCADE has been organized by Santa Ragione. Great guys.]]> News http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=47 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:03:58 +0200 (this is a) META soundtrack! http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=45
META OST Cover


http://bloodymonkey.bandcamp.com/


Patterns is the main theme of the game... my favourite one is Visuomotor :)]]> (this is a) META game http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=45 Sun, 3 Apr 2011 20:54:08 +0200 Gameplay Deconstruction: Elements and Layers http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=44 this article I wrote for GameCareerGuide about game analysis.

Here's the introduction:

With this article I want to suggest a new way to analyze gameplay and game dynamics, using a visual diagram, easy to create and read.

In the last years many articles have been written with the aim of carrying out a precise gameplay analysis (e.g. MDA Framework or Game design patterns), but no one managed to present a brief and accessible method to represent and communicate their results.

My analysis (called in brief GD:EL) rests upon a decomposition of fundamental gameplay elements and a subsequent reconstruction within an ordered structure founded on layers. The ultimate aim of this process is to understand how game tokens, dynamics and player psychology are linked together.

Here's a sample diagram of PacMan deconstructed:

Pacman analysis

It's not a perfect tool, and I currently disagree with some of its statements, but it can give you some help to understand how games work.

Read the full article here.]]> Design http://www.bloodymonkey.com/home/index.php?itemid=44 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:26:18 +0100