Another year goes by, and not a huge amount done… Well, actually, I tell a lie. The Badgers actually released a couple of things!

First up is Sploosh! http://arcadebadgers.itch.io/sploosh This was done for the LowRezJam, and I went for a Gameboy like aesthetic. It placed relatively well, but I botched the controls up pretty well, so it didn’t get as much of a play as it perhaps deserves. Should probably have another look at this later, and fix up the controls.

Then there was Snake-A-Roid http://arcadebadgers.itch.io/snake-a-roid This was a Mini LudumDare entry, which was to mash-up a few different games to see how it worked. As you can guess, I went with Snake and Asteroids. It had no right working as well as it did, so I set about updating it and released a newer version ( for $1.50 ) with multiple arenas, couple of game modes, different controls, and more powerups. Still adding to it - I’ve plans for two more large updates, as well as porting to other platforms - so may bump the price up a bit.

I also attempted the 1bitjam.. had a good idea for it, and some design work laid out, but the quick turnaround and lack of time sadly killed it off. Still have the design stuff so would like to have another look in at it.

Also… GameMaker:Studio 2 launched! That took up quite a bit of time as of course, the day job comes first. But it’s more or less released now, and it’s just some finishing up work on it before final release ( we’re in Open Beta just now. ) Seems to be doing good though, and proud of the small part I’ve played in it!

What else? Oh yea.. illnesses… I gained a new one! Cluster Headaches! Though I suppose technically, I’ve always had them, just didn’t know what they were… now being medicated for them and they’ve not bothered me since. I also thought I’d avoided the seasonal flu… until it hit me a week before Christmas break, and is only now clearing up. Seems like it decided to go for my chest and sit in there. So hasn’t been the best of Christmas/New Year breaks in that regard. Stupid flu…

So, plan for this year. As always, try and make the Badgers self sufficient… this requires actually releasing things and making a bit more noise about it. Both of which I find difficult with time constraints, but will be giving it a damn good go as always. Main plan is to add two large patches to Snake-A-Roid this month. One adds a set of Bosses to the end of each arena - plus a boss run mode, naturally - and another adds yet another mode, in the vein of an “Arrange” or “Black Edition” - and stashes off the powerups until you explicitly use them. Certainly adds that strategic edge. After that, it’s porting to various other platforms.. likely Mac, Linux and Android to begin with, and go from there.

I’d also like to try and push out some other games - ideally one a month, starting from February, but we’ll see.

At any rate, here’s hoping 2017 has things settle down a bit.