Happy Pixel Day 2021, everyone!

I hope you enjoy the day by either publishing your works or enjoying others' works here, appreciating the magic of pixels and its effect towards your spirit. Today is a special day for me, a sacred occasion for remembering why I keep sticking to making 2D pixel games although the modern technology has provided us the means for making 3D games and other sophisticated ones. Maybe I am just being nostalgic, or it is a boomer thing, haha. I do not know. I do enjoy playing modern games. But when it comes to a matter of labor of love, and self-expression, pixel games are my "the most right and click" means.

I am thankful that I managed to publish my fist crappy game in 2021. It is Nightstalkers, some weird action-platformer that allows players to explore its weird world and its weird dwellers.

Be sure to check it out here.

Cheers!

Nightstalkers First Blood

First of all, Rest In Peace, Flash. You will be missed and loved always.

Secondly, this is my first non flash game. I have been spending 2020 for getting used to the new game development software and this game is one example which I considered good enough to be published here. Please check it out and tell me what you think!

Thirdly, have a good time!

Hello, everyone.

Currently I am developing a simple game for Halloween Day 2020. It is an action & adventure game with spooky theme. The game completion progress is 70% . Since the game has Gameboy aesthetics, I need a music composer who could provide several 8-bit chiptunes (loops and jingles for levels, prologue, epilogue and game over screens, etc.). He/she will get:

1. get credited in the game as music composer
2. receive 25% of any prize if won
3. other stuffs which may or may not emerge later

If you are interested please post some link of your previous works here or via private message. That way I could assess them. Looking forward to working with you.

Cheers!

The possible loops, tracks and jingles needed for the game:

UPDATES

-17/10/2020

Thank you all for your interest in this project. Currently I am examining the sample musics you have provided. It may take one or two days to determine the chosen ones. Since there are several tracks needed and only two weeks left I think I will need two people.

-18/10/2020

I have chosen the people that will collaborate with me. They are Druox and John. Thank you everybody for visiting this post. Now it is closed.

Happy Pixel Day 2020, everybody! Here is my gift for you to enjoy:

I have been practicing using several game development programs so my future games will be playable both in browser and android. But once a while I missed Flash so yeah i made this one. It was made in two weeks for Robot Day 2019 event.

Here is the link:

i am satisfied with the outcome, albeit it had many flaws. I am even inspired to make other small games like this for the rest of the year, if time permits.

It has been two weeks since the publication of my first game in 2018, Full Metal Mom. It is a simple, click-to-shoot game where you play as a suburban pregnant mom who is trying to stop the legion of Noobots from kidnapping your daughter.

The game was actually one of those projects which belonged to the ‘unfinished’ folder. But due to the spirit of Pixel Day 2018, I managed to finish it although it was published several days later after the Pixel Day.

The chiptunes used in the game were composed by ozzed. He’s got a library of awesome chiptunes that you can use for free. Check them out at his personal site http://ozzed.net.

If you haven’t played the game do enjoy it now:

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/705910

Any comments, criticisms and feedback are welcomed.

Cheers!

Harlemblack

Introduction

Samhain Fever! is my fourth personal project of the year and dedicated to Halloween Day 2016. It is an arcade game where player collect score points as high as possible while avoiding several Indonesian ghosts. There are 5 stages in one loop and the game’s difficulty keeps increasing as the loop number increases.

Haven't played the game? check it out here:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/683485

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The game idea and design

At first, I wanted to make a frightening game. But after seeing Ghosbusters film series and being overwhelmed by its inspiring sound theme, I decided to make a lighter, funny one. I used Indonesian ghosts because I wanted to promote them to the world. Maybe someday they will be as famous as Valaak, Bughuul, and Babadok (lol).

Regarding the design, I still used pixel theme for my games. But this time, I wanted to try building an arcade game engine which was new for me. So, there are few specific principles that I embraced in shaping the game design, taken from several forums in the Internet:

1.      Easy to learn, hard to master

2.      Fast-paced or frantic gameplay

3.      Simple story

4.      Playable in short spans of time

5.      Having no definite end

6.      Having a steadily increasing difficulty level,

7.      Employing a scoring mechanism.

One of the principles (number 7) gave me an opportunity to try incorporating Newground scoring system to my game.

What went right?

I managed to create a simple, fun game incorporating new engines in just 15 days. That was a great achievement for me, considering that I had messy planning and several important life matter that could not be abandoned and the fact that generally it would take more time to build and test new engine. It may be due to the structure of arcade genred engine that I made, which was versatile, generic, and easy to tweak. For the graphics, I created them all myself, focusing on the characters only. I did not draw any backgrouds because it would take more time and effort. In fact, a blank, black background suits the theme and atmosphere of the game very well. I also managed to created simple SFX using software sfxr and found a generous 8bit chiptune composer who provided free musics. Listen to his albums at http://ozzed.net/.

What could have been improved?

Some players reported several bugs which were actually intentional to increase the game’s difficulty. But after considering the rationale behind their responses, I decided to eliminate and tweak them a bit. This shows me the importance of having beta testers. Maybe next time when I have a longer span of development time.

Concluding remarks

Overall, I am very satisfied with the game. It was my first try on arcade genre and did not suck. And I am grateful for the feedbacks from several players, especially pixel lovers, who examined the game very throughoutly and showed their enthusiasm. I hope in future I may refine and expand the new engine. Thank you for reading and I hope you could learn something here. Enjoy the game and tell me what you think!

A new game for the Halloween Day!

Hit it:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/683485

V.F.C. II is my second messing around with fighting engines. It was made for Pico Day 2016. I have improved the AIs based on my studies and observations on numerous fighting genred games and added some new features based on players’ feedbacks and some ideas which came out from nowhere. Still, there are many things to improve and to try. I am excited that I have come this far. It’s a hell of adventure!

There is new idea to make its sequel, but still raw and vague. Any suggestions?

Link:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/674365

I started developing this game from a scratch since Feb, 01 until Feb, 25. I had to watch some love films and listened to some love songs to stimule my brain in order to regenerate the theme, mood, and tone of the game. The gameplay was inspired by Urban Champion (a classic NES game!) and the mini game on the credit section of some Kamen Riders game that I forgot in PSP console. As the progress reached 80%, I searched for some chiptune musics and  found some of Anderson’s really fit. It was as if they were meant for my game. In fact, some improvements were inspired by them. Check out his works here. They are awesome. Overall, I enjoyed the development process and  am satisfied with the result. I have learnt many lessons from it, especially about handling the urge of deviating from the plan as new insights and ideas appear and tickle.

Below is the link:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/671106

Let's see what's on your mind :)