• Music Theme for Fingeance

    The music theme for Fingeance has been an extremely tricky proposition. Normally when I am coming up with music that is for something, I get a feel for what I need to do pretty quickly. I could look at what I was making music for or it be described to me and I could get a basic […]

  • Plethora of Parts for Your Perusal

    It’s been a little while since we’ve gone over parts in Fingeance, but since I’ve been working out a few designs I wanted to share some of the more finalized ones with you. Keep in mind that they may not be exactly like this in the final product. Frenzy Engine This gadget will increase your ship’s rate […]

  • Out of Commission

    This past week has been rough… I have had a major set back. My computer charger died on me and I haven’t been able to work on Fingeance since last Saturday. I was able to finish up that menu system that I mentioned I was working on last week, but other than that I haven’t […]

  • Level Design Part 2: Underwater Boogaloo

    So guppies, you love ’em, you hate ’em. They aren’t much of a threat though. Even in large groups, you can just plow through them with enough damage (or a cooperative team!). But what happens when you strap a couple of cannons on their sides? Enter the guppy gunners. These guys move slightly faster and […]

  • What is Love, part 1

    Last week, I started covering the broad-strokes design goals for Fingeance. One of those goals is to build a MMO-like level of attachment, glory, and drama in the fastest time possible. To get there, we’ll be building in three elements: Stakes – Win big. Lose big. Cohesion – Teamwork is paramount. Everyone pulls together. Attachment […]

  • Updating the Menus

    Recently, I have been working on reworking how the menu system works in the game (yeah, I also code as well). So I thought I would take the opportunity to show what the menu actually looks like in its current iteration.   The splash screen has a simple animation where the all the characters slide in […]

  • Level Design Part 1: Guppies and You

    These little guys, called guppies, are like the goombas of the sea (yes, I’m aware that cheep cheeps are the goombas of the sea, shush): they appear in a variety of situations all over the game, but are very easy to dispose of. Don’t let their cute appearance fool you, contact with these guys will […]

  • One of These Fins is not Like the Others

    On Monday, March 30th, I knew I had forgotten something. We’d spent the last two days at GlitchCon, and things had been just one pixel away from awesome. Technically, things had gone fine. Socially, well, Minneapolis devs warmed our hearts and chilled our bones (seriously, check out Moribund in that second link). Our game was chugging […]

  • Lighting Adds So Much

    One thing that I feel doesn’t get the recognition it deserves is lighting, and up until recently I didn’t give it that either. Lighting can really effect the mood and tone of a setting, changing something from looking friendly and approachable to menacing and repulsive. Again up until recently I didn’t really give it much […]

  • Everything That Glitters is Not Gold, Except Underwater

    Last week, I left you with an image (as I tend to do): These are called scrap. When some enemies are destroyed, they may leave these tiny trinkets behind. Being the creative fishes that you are, you’ve developed a way to use these scrap to your advantage. Players can collect scrap and use them outside […]