I’m not the type of guy to make New Year’s resolutions. When I set out to do something, I typically keep working until it’s done. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s the first of January. Yet, I’m a bit behind on the roadmap for Photics.com. Where’s the new book on StencylWorks? Where’s the new Photics Arcade? I’ve been busy with web development work, but at least I’m starting the year off right — with an iStencyl Pro subscription. Since the first day of 2012, I can publish my StencylWorks games to the web and the iTunes App Store.
Category: Development
Arch Fiery
I’ve played some great platformers, like Super Mario Bros. But unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t want to launch their games on iOS. So, I decided to make my own platformer. One of the coolest things about Mario and Luigi’s adventure was the ability to shoot fireballs — but what if you could play as the fireball? That’s the basic premise of Arch Fiery. It’s a game where it’s OK to play with fire!
GameSalad Font Sheet
While working on Arch Fiery, I started wondering about fonts. What should my numbers look like? I’m using the built-in typesets to save on performance. That does limit my options, but GameSalad has improved from the early days. Currently, there are fourteen different fonts to choose from. I decided to create a quick-reference, to show what each of these fonts look like. I put it on Photics.com so I could access it quickly, but it might be helpful to you too. 
Arch Fiery — Wall Jumps
After the disappointing sales with BOT, it took a while to feel that enthusiasm again. For over two months, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my game development projects. I struggled to come up with a new idea for a game. There was a great feeling of futility. How can I compete on the iTunes App store, when so many developers are simply giving away their games for free? Today, that changed. I was excited about a new game project. That project is called “Arch Fiery”.
GameSalad Updated to 0.9.7
At some point, the GameSalad developers are going to run out of numbers. With the 0.9.7 update, the software is inching even closer to the 1.0 mark — out of beta. According to the GameSalad Roadmap, the software is supposed to leave beta this Summer. With less than a month left in the season, will the schedule stay intact? After checking out 0.9.7, I’m a bit skeptical. Only three new features were introduced — iOS Keyboard, Device Clock and Debugger. Although, these additions do create new possibilities for game creators.