Okay all rested up and ready to go. Last Thursday I had my first programming test at the University, and I felt really good about it. It doesn't hurt that I have years and years of programming experience but I the professor posted the score online and I got an A! Wooohoo! Okay enough bragging... This past week like I mentioned I took it easy but we still got some goodies. Level cap is now 90, and after the 7th gym I believe we will reach 100. My point of view is that I won't raise it past 100 just to keep in line with the games. I also fixed Eruption, a level 85 move that Entei learns, and the sponsor got around to making a code for Tangela so I put that in.
This week we will have a story level involving Gary and one of the legendary birds! I will also make a cooperative version of this same map for multiplayer. A lot of people have been asking for a co-op level and I thought this "boss" level would be a good fit. I'm also going to be having a new mystery gift pokemon, new ability, new achievement, and some new TMs! So I think you guys will really enjoy this update! Also I think a lot of you will ask... you can NOT capture the legendary bird on this level. You will be able to catch them after you learn Surf so be patient :)
PTD First Look by GraphicForce!
Weekly Progress for PTD:
Choose who to trade my Shiny Tauros to (100%) - Account name is samO - Traded Bk for his all Shiny and all level 80 - Nidoking, Charizard, Golem, Gengar, Dragonite, Exeggutor! Choose a new pokemon to trade (100%) - Shiny Mew! Looking for Psychic pokemon! New Story Level (100%)
Intro (100%)
Level Layout (100%)
Level Waves (100%)
Level Ending (100%)
New Co-Op Multiplayer Level - Postponed until next week New Mystery Gift Pokemon (100%) - Will arrive on Monday
New Moves (1) (100%)
Add Graphic (100%)
Add Shiny Graphic (100%)
Add Shadow Graphic (100%)
Add Stats to Game (100%)
Implement TM/Relearn moves (100%)
Implement in Adoption (Battle Ready and Shiny) (100%)
Implement Shadow in Game Corner (100%)
Implement in Trading Center (100%)
Implement in Save Code (100%)
Implement new moves in the Trading Center's Move List (100%) New Ability (100%) - Compoundeyes - Increases move accuracy by 30%
Implement to Butterfree and Venonat (100%)
New Achievement (100%)
Implement in Game (100%)
Implement in Server (100%)
New TMs (100%) - Added Sludge Bomb Bug Fixes (100%)
Made it possible to click on your towers when they are close or under the money and wave info text (100%)
Achievement for Shadow Grimer Typo (100%) - Misspelled Grimer's name
Change in the attack Curse (100%) - When a ghost uses the move, cap the amount of damage done to the target by 1/4 of the users life.
Weekly Progress for HTD: Add Males into the game (100%)
Add male animations (100%)
Add male armor (100%)
Make the focus target apply to all units (100%) - If the focus is out of range then target as normal. Add New Sound Effects (100%) Fixed an issue with doing another move while one is on cooldown (100%) Out of Range text when you target a unit that is out of range (100%) Native skill tweaks (100%) - Increase cooldown and remove all countering type debuffs on target. Range graphic tweak (100%) - Make it an outline instead of large translucent circle. Wand tweak (100%) - Only have one character wield the wand and the sword.
Today was short and sweet, so let me know what you think! Also I'm assembly a sort of wish list for PTD 2 so if you have any ideas as far as what you want to see in the game, post them below! Thanks, and let's have a great week!
I am pleased to introduce the Eisenkern Heavy Trooper. Shown here are the three variants.
On the left, an anti-personnel or AA mount, nothing says suppressive fire like a quad S.A.W.
Center, is an assault specialist armed with a power sword and wearing the fluted commander’s helm and chest armor. To the right, a belt fed auto-cannon to deal with that armor problem.
Quad mount front
Quad mount rear
Assault specialist front
Assault specialist rear
Auto-cannon front
Auto-cannon rear
Here is the optional helm for those that prefer a more unified WWII/Weird war feel.
Here is an exploded view. Note the separate arms, head and shoulders… this will allow the modeler to use components from other miniatures to keep a cohesive look to their weapons, no matter what game they choose.
Here is a scale comparison with a Sturmtruppen.
Here is a scale comparison with another manufacturer’s sci-fi mini.
Note: These will be very slightly taller than most 28mm scale at 33.5mm from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head, about 2mm taller than most minis. Not so large as to look out of place on the table but if your eying them form ground level you may see a differance.
When will these be available? I don’t have a date yet but I hope to start the print and mold process ASAP. I will be posting the Eisenkern Sturmtruppen and Kriegsmarine on my web site next month.
As well as continuing to use the iPads in Maths and English lessons for starters, we have built the iPads into our IPC (International Primary Curriculum) lessons in the last few weeks. We have been learning about heroes and the children started by learning about past heroes and heroines including Florence Nightingale. One of their tasks was to use Google Earthon the iPads, to explore the places that Florence Nightingale visited. They found this task very interesting. One of the children made the comment that seeing the globe zoom out and move made them realise how far Florence travelled from England to the Crimean.
Initially we had some problems getting Google Earth to connect and the app kept hanging. We had to update the app and once we had done this it worked fine. It did highlight the need to check that apps are working before the lesson. With apps still being developed there can be quite a few bugs!
In another lesson the children designed superheroes and had to think about the special powers their superheroes would have. The children were give writing frames to work on but a group of children at a time had the chance to use either Superhero Creator or Make me a Superhero Lite to design their hero or heroine. Although this didn't take them long it got them enthusiastic about creating their super hero on paper.
These superheroes were created with Make me a superhero Lite. My criticism of this app is that there is a fairly limited amount that can be changed to personalise your superhero, however it does allow you to save your superhero. Perhaps the full version allows more variation.
In contrast, Superhero Creator has quite a lot that can be changed but does not have an external save function. The children could only view their heroes within the app. One workaround for this could be to take a screen shot (press the iPad's home button and power button at the same time).
Another week, another new release for HTD (and another late post, sorry about that). Fire is back and Shadow is still here. You will now have a character with all Fire skills, another with all Shadow skills, and the last with a mix. This gives you an idea of how your characters can have different skill setups and allows you to play around with each. The effect of the Shadow skills is now more apparent with it's new graphics, namely the DaT effect of Shadow. We've also added some cooldown visuals so you know what's going on when the skill you're spamming isn't triggering. There are also some new (re-colored, lawl) whelps flying around, they are a little older than the other ones so we've nerfed the younger original whelps to only be able to melee while the new ones can spit fireballs and will melee when someone is close to them.
What's New:
-Re-added Fire skills
-Added Key Bindings, 0 is your Native Skill, 1 is skill slot 1, and 2 is skill slot 2.
-Added new Native Skill graphics for Fire and Shadow, they are no longer just glows that grow
-Made one hero all Fire, another all Shadow, and the last a mix which randomly picks which NS to use and which other two skills to use as well as which skill slots to put them in between 1 and 2 (so sometimes magical skills like the fireball and shadow bite will be in skill slot 1 for example)
-Added new graphics for Shadow skill icons and effects
-Added a new red whelp that is stronger than the original whelp and will attack you with fireballs unless you get close to them
-Nerfed original orange whelp so that they can't spit fireballs anymore and only melee attack
-Implemented Elemental Countering, currently with only two types of elemental skills this isn't going to be very noticeable but the Fire Native Skill (NS) will erase the Shadow NS because Fire counters Shadow (Currently only NS counter eachother, other skills are left alone for now). However, your heroes are clever (well a little anyway) and won't use their NS on a target that already has another NS on it unless it's the same type, otherwise they'll attack the target using one of their other skills.
Each week I'll list and update the descriptions for the current skills available in the game. That way you guys know what they actually do (eventually there will be in-game descriptions). I'll just provide a brief description for now because the actual damage values and such will be changing a lot as we tweak them. You'll be able to see them in the future though.
Key Terms:
Direct Damage (DD) - Causes full damage instantly Damage over Time (DoT) - Causes continuous damage over a period of time Damage after Time (DaT) - Causes damage after a period of time has passed
Here are descriptions for the current skills in the game:
Fire:
Burn (Native Elemental - Stackable DoT - Fire Burning Man Icon) - Sets your target on fire causing it to take continuous damage. Stacks up to five times. Grants the caster a Fire Charge that increases their Fire Damage. A character can hold up to five charges at a time.
Flame Strike (Tier 1 Physical Elemental - DD - Fiery Sword Icon) - Attacks with your weapon ignited in flames.
Fireball (Tier 1 Magical Elemental - DD - Fireball Icon) - Hurls a fireball at your target
Shadow:
Infliction (Native Elemental - Stackable DoT - Shadow Consuming Man Icon) - Inflicts your target with Shadow decreasing it's Physical and Magical Defense. Stacks up to five times. Grants the caster a Shadow Charge that increases their Shadow damage. A character can hold up to five charges at a time.
Dark Strike (Tier 1 Physical Elemental - DD + DaT - Shadowy Sword Icon) - Attacks with your weapon engulfed in shadow, does additional damage after timer runs out.
Shadow Bite (Tier 1 Magical Elemental - DD + DaT - Shadow Bolt Icon) - Casts a shadowy bolt at your target that fills it with darkness till it explodes, does additional damage after timer runs out.
Currently in the Works:
Revised Human Male Water/Nature/Light Elemental Skills Character Customization Character Skill Selection Interface Additions And More!
Kevin currently has a poll going on his blog, KXN @ HTD for determing what order we'll be adding the elemental skills in (Ignore the The Second Element title, he's just extending the time and it won't let him change it). Shadow was winning originally so we did that as the second element already.
On a final note, if you haven't been to Kevin's blog let me provide you with a glimpse of the revised Human Male who will be join the battle soon!
Revised Human Male
Thanks again for all the support guys! As always feel free to leave any suggestions, ideas, or just plain feedback that you might have in the comments!
In Year 2 at Becontree Primary School the iPads have been used on many different occasions. In one of our Year 2 classes we have a child who hardly speaks any English and is at the very early stages of learning her letter sounds. When the rest of the class are completing their handwriting practice, this particular child uses the ‘iWriteWords’ app on the iPad, with the support of an SSA. This allows the child to practise forming letter sounds whilst hearing the sound of the letter as well. The SSA also encourages the child to say the letter sound as well in order for her to try and learn them. The only slight problem with this app is that some letters do not conform to the cursive handwriting style that we teach the children in Year 2. For example a ‘t’ and ‘l’ are slightly different to the way that we teach the children. Now that this child has become familiar with the app, she can use it independently if needed.
The iPads have also been invaluable during Reading and Spelling Workshop lessons, especially for the lower ability group. When the children are working independently in their guided reading groups, one group each day uses the iPads, on a rotation basis. The apps that they use are mainly ‘iWriteWords’ for children who need to practise their letter formation and learn their letter sounds as well as ‘Bubble Spell’ where the children are shown a word, which then disappears, and they need to press the correct letters to spell the word. These apps are perfect for this lesson where the children work in small groups and each child can have an iPad. The children using the iPads often work with an SSA but as they have become more familiar with, and able to use the iPads, they can work independently.
Recently, we had an Ofsted single subject inspection on ICT. As we are fortunate to have 6 iPads in Year 2 at the moment, these were used when the inspector came to observe a Maths lesson. The iPads were used during the starter of the lesson. The children were grouped into 3s or 4s and had one iPad between them. The remaining children in the group were given a whiteboard. The children used the app ‘Eggs on Legs’ which has questions relating to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. There are also 3 difficulty levels for each area. The children focused on addition and subtraction on the first level. These games consisted of normal addition and subtraction questions as well as some missing number sums. This is an area that the children found difficult on their recent test. Once they were shown how to calculate the answers to missing number sums, all children were able to complete the games successfully. Initially, when the children were given iPads to use in groups they did not always work well as a team. The child with the iPad often dominated and the other children did not get involved as much as they could. They had to be reminded that they were working as a team and the children with whiteboards had to write the answer on that first, after discussing the answer with their group, before the child with the iPad pressed the answer. With practice, the children worked very well with the iPads and shared them sensibly.
The children in Year 2 love using the iPads and use them very sensibly. They understand how expensive and valuable they are. They are very good at sharing them, even when they haven’t specifically been asked to. There have hardly been any problems with the children using them. They are very user friendly and simple to operate.
WOW, what that was a crazy week! So many new pokemon to catch! I think we have all been waiting for the Safari Zone just for the vast amount of new pokemon. Many of you wanted a Rock Tunnel kind of level but in the end of it I felt that it wasn't really needed. I thought the "Joey" mechanic would be enough to make the level feel fresh.Granted it wasn't perfect on the first try... Due to the quick feedback of you guys I was able to tweak how it works and I think it's in a pretty good spot. Some of you think it's too easy now but I still think that it's providing enough challenge without being incredibly frustrating.
So last week we also had a poll about shadow pokemon's experience gain. While the results were clearly in favor of giving shadow pokemon the similar experience boost as shiny, there was a big public outcry about it so I wanted to tell you guys how I felt about the whole thing and what I ended up doing.
Okay so what I ended up doing was that Shadow pokemon will earn the same experience as a Normal pokemon. COMPROMISE! Some will say "Sam I can't believe you did that, the poll was clear! Why did you give in again!" To understand my reasoning we have to look at why I added Shadow pokemon in the first place. Shadow pokemon were added so that people that people had something to trade to people that had hard to catch or adoption only pokemon. Also to add another layer of collection, something to reward the player, and to promote trading. So when doing this I thought what can I do to make them different in a way that they wouldn't be overpowered in battle. The reason I don't want them to be overpowered in battle is that I don't want player to feel like they need to use a shadow pokemon to gain the greatest edge in battle. I want the player to choose which type of pokemon they want to use in battle. So since shiny gain more experience I thought wouldn't it be kinda cool if shadow pokemon earned less. It seemed to fit the whole shadow motif. Unfortunately people viewed shadows in a negative light because of the decrease in experience. So I decided to remove this negative factor in them. I hope that explains what is in my head.
After such a long week of things to do I broke a promise.. and this week I will do it! I will finish the Pokemon Center's new look! Besides that we are going to take it a little easy so that I can finish that darn thing and so I can rest a little bit.
Weekly Progress for PTD:
Finding a way to make players be able to get 1 Shadow Pokemon per week on their account (100%) - Essentially the new Daily Gift Rare prizes will enable you to get one in at least 7 days or sooner. Give out my current pokemon that is being traded, Shiny Shellder (100%) - Traded it to "newtothegame"! He traded my Shadow Gyarados, Shiny Starmie, Shiny Goldeen, Shiny Tentacruel, Shiny Gyarados, Shadow Starmie! Put out a new trading pokemon on my account samO (100%) - I put a Shiny Tauros! Give me your best offers! Rework Daily Code prizes (100%)- This is coming thanks to all your feedback! I simplified the prizes, to just casino coins and SnD Coins. That way you can use the coins to buy what you want instead of getting something that you already have.
New Pokemon added on v5.6 (100%)
Implement in Adoption (shiny and battle ready) (100%)
Implement Shadow in Daily Gift and Casino Corner (100%)
Remove Shadow NPC Trade pokemon from the Daily Gift and Casino Corner (100%) - Meaning the only way to get Shadow Mr. Mime, Shadow Jynx, and so on will be from trading a shadow for it in game. All who have those pokemon already will keep them. Remove Shadow Pokemon that you can get from achievements from the Daily Gift and Casino Corner (100%) Pokemon Center new look (85%) Fix a bug with the move Eruption (0%) New Mystery Gift (100%) - Pokemon Tangela!
Add stats to game (100%)
Add Graphic (100%)
Add Shiny Graphic (100%)
Add Shadow Graphic (100%)
Add New Moves (2) (100%)
Ingrain (100%)
Tickle (100%)
Implement TM/Relearn moves (100%)
Implement in Adoption (Battle Ready and Shiny) (100%) - Note that you will need to play v5.7 for Tangela to properly work.
Implement in Shadow in Game Corner (100%) - Note that you will need to play v5.7 for Tangela to properly work.
Implement in Trading Center (100%)
Implement in Save Code (100%)
Level Cap Raised To 90 (100%) - JabXIII asked for it!
New Move: Eruption (100%) - Entei level 85
Implement in Game (100%)
Implement in Save Code (100%)
Implement New Moves in Pokemon Center's list (100%)
Fixed a problem on the Daily Gift, when you win an SnD Coin it would show the wrong message (100%)
Weekly Progress for HTD: Show move cooldown in the UI (100%) Have some units have Fire skills and some have Shadow skills, the last one have a random combination of both (100%) Add new Whelp Behavior (100%) Implement new graphics for the Shadow Moves and Shadow Icons (100%)
Let's keep this going guys, we are close to the end! As always let me know what you think!
Game Description: ★ FEATURED in YoYoGames Competition #5 ★
A beautiful adventure begins! Help the little tiger escape from the zoo.
Sneak your way through 20 beautiful 3D levels. Challenging stealth gameplay. Avoid being detected by the guards. Search everywhere for fruits and coins. Collect all the fruits to unlock the gate for the next level. Push boxes to help you reach higher items. Also collect every coin and complete the level in time to get 3 Stars.
Can you complete every level with 3 Stars?
Features: ★ Universal App! Optimized for both iPhone and iPad! ☆ 20 Challenging Levels to Explore ★ 10 Achievements to Unlock ☆ Beautiful 3D Graphics with a Unique Blocky Style ★ Challenging Stealth Gameplay ☆ Full Retina Support ★ Hours of Fun Gameplay
Surprisingly Addictive!
Support us with your Reviews to keep the updates coming with more Challenging Levels!
Here is one of three troopers for the "heavy" trooper class. The soldier is clad in full power armor and wielding a quad mount machine gun. On his back is an auto-loader system to reload his main weapon as well as a massive power supply for his armor.
There will be three heavy troopers…. More to follow….
TGN has nominated the Leviathan Mortis and Crusader for best vehicle 2011.
If you feel either of these should win, please head over and vote HERE
The tablets were used by pupils in year 4 for investigating the different religions. Children were asked to navigate to a website to find information and then to copy information into a text document. At the same time as the tablets were being used by 6 children the other children in the class were sharing the use of a laptop.
Many of the children were familiar with the idea of using a tablet due to parents, family members having iphones, ipads or similar touch screen devices. Children found typing using the keyboard difficult compared to using a desktop or a laptop, the children also found the lack of mouse hard as this is what they have been used to using for the last 4 years in school and at home.
During the trial I also used the tablets with children with SEN( special educational needs), I asked the children to navigate to a website and begin playing word and spelling games. The children enjoyed the touch screen features as some children with SEN can find small motor skills difficult. Using the touch screen was quicker and easier for the children with SEN. The members of staff who work with the children with SEN thought that they could be very useful as they are more portable and easier to pick up than laptops, The children with SEN also used some of the apps on the tablets, such as maths and spelling activities, again the children found the touch screen easier to use than a mouse. I feel that tablets would most benefit children with SEN, as apps specifically created would enable children to learn in a fun and engaging way. However for children above year 4 I feel that a laptop or desktop is better suited as the children can navigate information and create word documents and PowerPoint’s easier with the use of a mouse.
I will, of course, be using the Ager Proelii rules set recently published in Miniature Wargames (issue 345 January 2012) to fight this Telamon style scenario. After deployment, I rolled D12s for army die and command quality for each side’s command group leaders. The Gallic army came off best with a D12 army die and sequence deck. The Romans got a D10 army die and deck. Leadership rolls were very average for both sides.
Next I totted up the unit integrity of both armies. The Gallic army mustered only 100 unit integrity points. The combined Roman armies mustered a whopping 150 unit integrity. This disparity is largely due to the larger units making up the Gallic army – larger units gain a smaller number of unit integrity in relation to their size than ‘standard’ sized units.
Dividing the unit integrity value by 12 gave the number of army characterisation cards that each army would receive: Gallic 8. Roman 12.
The characterisation cards gave the Gallic army 43 army morale chips (poker chips in the photo) and two characterisation sequence cards – Wild Card and Aggressive.
Note that the pictured sequence cards are not the ones published with the rules in Miniature Wargames (which are quite plain), these are my personal decks (for my own use) that feature pictures downloaded from google images. Covering my arse, I think they might not be all available under copyright permissions – but who knows?
The Romans got 61 army morale chips and three characterisation sequence cards – Like Hail, Deft Cavalry, and By Saturn!!
The game is now set to go. I’ll leave you with a few extra close up shots.
Tablet Questionnaire Class: 4J Did you enjoy using the tablet? Explain your answer. Yes we did. Chn were engaged, loved the idea of dealing with latest technology. Easy to use and small enough to be used at the tables without taking over the whole surface area. Access to internet was good and quick. Ability to enlarge the screen was very useful.
How easy was it to use? Very easy! The chn were shown a brief demonstration and quickly became confident on how to use the tablets. What was the most awkward/difficult thing to use on the tablet? Nothing. What did you enjoy most of all when using the tablet? The ease and compact size. Also used the Maths and English games for SEN children they were really engaged and interested in the activities (simply because it was on the tablet).
What are the features on the tablet that you would tell a friend about? The maths and English games!
If you were a computer designer what would you change about the tablet and why? Would like to be able to access Microsoft office. Would be great if we could get chn to access school network too (don’t know if they already can)
Please save this in Teacher’s shared drive/ ICT / Tablet project Save using your class’s name
I've set up the following battle, which I'm calling Telyermum, to be fought next Wednesday night. I thought is was time to fight a battle without a Carthaginian element, and so I came up with this.
The dispositions are loosely based on the battle of Telamon 225BC. It was at this battle that an army sized Gallic raiding force of 50 - 70,000 men was attacked, as it retreated back to Transalpine Gaul with its loot, by more than 100,000 Romans and allies attacking from two directions.
The most interesting fact about the battle is recreated in my scenario - the Gallic army is facing in two directions and fighting back to back against the Roman pincer movement. I have chosen to fight slightly more evenly matched forces and given the Gallic army better defencive terrain.
All figures are Renegade. The Gallic army is 12 chariots, 80 cavalry, 396 war band infantry plus command stands. The Roman army is 64 cavalry, 576 infantry plus command stands.
First I wanted to point out that Fire skills have been temporarily removed due to some technical issues that couldn't be resolved before this small update but we have the Shadow skills ready for you guys to try out and decided to just throw those in for now. Don't worry, they'll be back ASAP (probably next update). :)
What's New:
-Fire skills temporarily removed
-Added Wand Weapon (Currently only used when casting the Shadow Bomb skills)
-Added beacon graphics for showing current hero and currently focused target selection
-Added Shadow Skills. You'll probably notice the graphics for the effects and icons are just recolored versions of the Fire graphics, these are just placeholders for now.
The Shadow Skills work a bit differently than the Fire Skills. I'll give a description of the current three skills for each element as we release them so you guys know what they do (eventually there will be descriptions in-game). I'll just provide a brief description for now because the actual damage values and such will be changing a lot as we tweak them. You'll be able to see them in the future though.
Key Terms:
Direct Damage (DD) - Causes full damage instantly
Damage over Time (DoT) - Causes continuous damage over a period of time
Damage after Time (DaT) - Causes damage after a period of time has passed
Here are descriptions for the Fire and Shadow skills:
Fire:
Burn (Native Elemental - DoT - Fire Burning Man Icon) - Sets your target on fire causing it to take continuous damage. Stacks up to five times. Grants the caster a Fire Charge that increases their Fire Damage. A character can hold up to five charges at a time.
Flame Strike (Tier 1 Physical Elemental - DD - Fiery Sword Icon) - Attacks with your weapon ignited in flames.
FireBall (Tier 1 Magical Elemental - DD - Fireball Icon) - Hurls a fireball at your target
Shadow:
Infliction (Native Elemental - DOT - Shadow Burning Man Icon) - Inflicts your target with shadow decreasing it's Physical and Magical Defense. Stacks up to five times. Grants the caster a Shadow Charge that increases their Shadow Damage. A character can hold up to five charges at a time.
Dark Strike (Tier 1 Physical Elemental - DD + DaT - Shadowy Sword Icon) - Attacks with your weapon engulfed in shadow, does additional damage after timer runs out.
Shadow Bomb (Tier 1 Magical Elemental - DD + DaT - Shadow Bolt Icon) - Casts a shadowy bolt at your target that fills it with darkness till it explodes, does additional damage after timer runs out.
Something you may have noticed is that these Tier 1 skills are a bit similar to eachother. This is because there isn't a general auto-attack. Your characters are always doing a skill of some kind and with five different elements we needed a way to simply let you do JUST a melee/ranged Shadow Physical attack (Dark Strike) or JUST a Fire Magical attack (Fireball). I've mentioned in the past that we want all the skills to be viable in most situations as opposed to having a higher tier skill that just trumps all previous skills thus causing you to only ever want to use that one single skill. So with Tier 2+ skills you'll start to seeing the skills differentiate from eachother based on how each element's strengths and weaknesses start to come into play.
Currently in the Works:
Re-implementing Fire Skills
Revised Human Male
Water/Nature/Light Elemental Skills
Character Selection
Character Customization
Character Skill Selection
Interface Additions
And More!
Kevin currently has a poll going on his blog, KXN @ HTD for determing what order we'll be adding each elemental skills in (Ignore the The Second Element title, he's just extending the time and it won't let him change it). Shadow was winning originally so we did that as the second element already.
Let us know what you guys think and what we can do to improve HTD in the comments, thanks!
I have just finished reading Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe by Bert S. Hall.
It examines several aspects of warfare in the later middle ages and sixteenth century, but concentrates on the effect of gunpowder in western Europe, gunpowder production, gunpowder weapon development and tactics, and its consequences in relation to other military arms and tactical development (heavy cavalry and pike squares).
It is a fine and detailed study, and although there was nothing that I did not know already (outside of gunpowder production and how it works - it is not as simple as "it goes bang"), it does state WHAT IS KNOWN about firearms and tactics very clearly.
One thing, which I found most interesting, was his interpretation of arquebus "volleys" during the Battle of Pavia. He has deduced that the volley fire came about due to the heavy fog. The arquebusier being 'loaded', saw a unit of French loom out of the mist at close range and fired at all at once, the French unit would disappear back into the mist and having no target the arquebusier would reload and await the next target looming out of the mist. I can see this, and it is a very clever conclusion as to how fire control during this battle was different to that in other battles - they were allowed time to reload because the French could not see them, at a distance, to launch an organised charge against them. The mist became 'the wall' for the arquebusier to operate behind.
The book is a good addition to my library. I can recommend it in the 'further reading' category for those with a keen interest in 16th Century warfare. It does not provide much in the way of information that will be directly useful for 'war gaming the period'.
I bought it from Amazon; it is a fine second hand copy in hardback, which I managed to pick up at a similar price to a new paper back (£18.50 including postage). This is something I've noticed before, and I much prefer hardbacks, even if they are not exactly in perfect condition.
I am pleased to announce that the Leviathan Mortis and Leviathan Crusader have both been nominated for best vehicle of the year by Table Top Gaming News!
Voting for the best game, miniature, vehicle and others is still on going and ends Friday the 20th.
The winner is chosen by you! If you feel the Crusader and Mortis are some of the best game vehicles for 2011, please head on over and cast your vote. Your help is truly appreciated.
UPDATE :) this is a msg from TGN. Hey guys, For those of you that went and checked out the polls for voting last night saw that there were nominations missing. I am working to fix that problem and make sure that all of the nominations are available for voting. Then the voting process will resume next Monday! Thank you for all the entries for the Reader’s Choice awards, and for your patience. Ross All the best!
This is an exciting week here at Sam and Dan Games! Safari Zone is coming! SEVEN new pokemon to catch! Tons of new moves, new evolutions, new level and more! I also just released version 5.5, it has a new gym level Fuchsia Gym, a new mystery gift pokemon, Grimer, new achievements and a new ability. I added the swf, apk, and exe. So go ahead and play that and enjoy the level. We are still searching for our programmer so read below if you are interested in applying.
This programmer position will let you work with Dan, Kevin and I on all the latest projects that we have here on Sam & Dan games have going. Be a part of our team! We are in need of programming in pretty much all the areas of game development so if you are an expert in gameplay, interfaces, or tool building apply today!
Here are the requirements.
Must be 18 years or older.
Must have at least a year experience using Action Script 3.
Must have mastery of OOP.
Must have Adobe Professional CS5.5 or compatible software.
Must have a passion for Gaming.
Must speak and write fluent English.
These next ones are things are pluses that will make you more likely to be considered:
Have published a successful Action Script 3 Flash game on the web.
Have worked on a published game using different languages and engines.
C++, Java, C#
So there you go, like the artist position this is a paid position. Here is what we want to know from you:
Email to sotero86@gmail.com with subject "Programming Job Opening for SnD Games" (Can you follow simple instructions?)
Your experience in programming: What languages, how long, etc (Do you meet the requirements?)
Examples of your work: Published games, tools, widgets, etc (Do you have any of the plusses that we are looking for)
Why you want to work with us? and why should we pick you? (We want to see your passion!)
So let the search begin! I'm looking forward to the applications!
PTD Firstlook by GraphicForce
Weekly Progress for PTD:
New Story Level (100%) - Safari Zone!
Level Intro (100%)
Level Layout (100%)
Level Wave (100%)
Level Ending (100%)
New moves for Joey - Bait and Rock (100%)
New Pokemon "Joey" (100%)
New Pokemon to Catch (84%)
Normal Graphic (100%)
Shiny Graphic (100%)
Shadow Graphic (100%)
New moves (14) (100%)
Uproar (100%)
Acupressure (100%)
Slack Off (100%)
Heal Pulse (100%)
Memento (100%) - Forgot to add it for Grimer, but here it is :)
Wood Hammer (100%)
Egg Bomb (100%)
Bullet Seed (100%)
Barrage (100%)
Softboiled (100%)
Refresh (100%)
Hammer Arm (100%)
Dizzy Punch (100%)
Work Up (100%)
Implement Stats (100%)
Implement Evolutions (100%)
Implement in Pokedex (100%)
Implement TM/Relearn Moves (100%)
Implement in Save Code (100%)
Implement in Trading Center (100%)
Implement Shadow in Daily Code and Game Corner (0%)
Implement in Adoption (shiny and battle ready) (0%)
Implement Move Names in the Pokemon Center's list (100%)
New Achievement (100%)
Implement in game (100%)
Implement in server (100%)
New Ability (100%) - Inner Focus
Implement and add to Zubat, Golbat, and Dragonite (100%)
New Mystery Gift (92%) - Pokemon (Will come out on Tuesday!)
Normal Graphic (100%)
Shiny Graphic (100%)
Shadow Graphic (100%)
New Moves (100%)
Implement Stats (100%)
Implement in Pokedex (100%)
Implement TM/Relearn Moves (100%)
Implement in Save Code (100%)
Implement in Trading Center (100%)
Implement in Adoption (shiny and battle ready) (0%)
Implement Move Names in the Pokemon Center's list (100%)
Pokemon Center new look (70%) New Multiplayer features (100%) - You can now see who you are battling against, you can see their account Nickname and current profile avatar. Rework Daily Code prizes (0%)- This is coming thanks to all your feedback! Fix Shadow Pokemon not staying on the pokedex after you trade them (100%) - It's actually fixed now! I promise! (On v5.6) Fix Rock Tunnel sending you to the wrong chapter if you lose the level (100%) Pokemon with moves such as Celebi's Heal, Muk's Gas, Kyogre's Rest will have their move turned into Protect (100%) Fix Exeggcute having two Sleep Powder in his relearn list (100%) - Thanks to those who pointed it out! Change Shadow pokemon's experience gain (100%) Fixed bug that would revert new pokemon to pre-evolutions once you reloaded your game (100%) Using Bait in the Safari Zone will now make the pokemon heavy and tired (100%) - Bait will now also lower their speed, so your first rock hit will take them back to normal since it cancels out the lower speed debuff. Make Bait and Rock move have a faster moving animation (100%) Rock now has a 30% chance of making the pokemon speed up. Down from 100% (100%) Fixed restoring your last picked party after ending the Safari Zone Level (100%) - Thanks Link!
Weekly Progress for HTD: New Shadow Skills (100%) Add Wand for fireball skill (100%) Add new selection graphic (100%)
I promise this week I will finish the Pokemon Center Look! I will keep updating this blog post during the week as I finish things. Also look forward to the PTD Firstlook video made my GraphicForce!
The next HTD update is now available! For this update We started implementing the interface and user controls for the skills. The interface still has a ways to go but it's a good start. I'll list the changes here:
What's New:
-Fixed swapping character locations with the civilian
-Added a custom cursor (hand/glove)
-Added zoom controls to the top-right corner. The keyboard shortcuts (numpad + and -) still work.
-Prettier health meters
-You can now click on the characters to select them. You can also click on character portraits which will select the corresponding characters. Currently selected characters will be highlighted.
-Made it so you have to drag characters slightly before triggering the move command. This makes it so when clicking on them for selection that they don't jump positions.
-Select an enemy to make your currently selected character focus fire on that target (A focus icon will appear). This means they will only attack that specific enemy and not whatever enemy happens to be closest.
-Skills are now available to cast manually. All characters currently have the same skills but clicking on one gives you the ability to target an enemy manually. Your character will stop auto attacking so that it doesn't keep triggering cooldowns on you. When you are in targeting mode your cursor will change to a crosshair and you will see the skill's range and clicking anywhere but on an enemy will do nothing. If you want to cancel out of using a skill just click the skill icon again and the character will return to auto attacking.
Note: Using the fire strike skill (flaming sword icon) will either perform the skill using melee (sword) or ranged (kunai) depending on how close the enemy is.
In the Works:
Revised Human Male
Other Elemental Skills
Character Selection
Character Customization
Character Skill Selection
Wand Weapon
Interface Additions
And More!
So have fun with this new release, it's still in survival mode so there's no beating it but play around with the new features and see what you think. Feedback is always welcome so be sure to leave all your questions, suggestions, and ideas in the comments section!
Also don't forget to check out Kevin's blog, KXN @ HTD for more HTD related stuff including the current poll to decide what elemental he should start designing effects and icons for next!
-Dan
Need Programmers!
Looking for new people that want to work with us is actually a pretty hard ordeal. We had many great applications for the artist position and we were fortunate to find Kevin which has shown that he has what it takes. With artist the quest of finding one is a lot simpler, since with art what you see is what you get. With programming it's not quite as easy as looking at a portfolio. But let's do it anyways. This programmer position will let you work with Dan, Kevin and I on all the latest projects that we have here on Sam & Dan games have going. Be a part of our team! We are in need of programming in pretty much all the areas of game development so if you are an expert in gameplay, interfaces, or tool building apply today!
Here are the requirements.
Must be 18 years or older.
Must have at least a year experience using Action Script 3.
Must have mastery of OOP.
Must have Adobe Professional CS5.5 or compatible software.
Must have a passion for Gaming.
Must speak and write fluent English.
These next ones are things are pluses that will make you more likely to be considered:
Have published a successful Action Script 3 Flash game on the web.
Have worked on a published game using different languages and engines.
C++, Java, C#
So there you go, like the artist position this is a paid position. Here is what we want to know from you:
Email to sotero86@gmail.com with subject "Programming Job Opening for SnD Games" (Can you follow simple instructions?)
Your experience in programming: What languages, how long, etc (Do you meet the requirements?)
Examples of your work: Published games, tools, widgets, etc (Do you have any of the plusses that we are looking for)
Why you want to work with us? and why should we pick you? (We want to see your passion!)
So let the search begin! I'm looking forward to the applications!
Zoo Escape 3D, the Featured on YoYoGames.com PC game will be available soon on the App Store. It looks beautiful, it plays great and it's a much more improved version of the original. It also features many challenging Achievements!
Here are some Screenshots from the game running on the iPhone:
The game will be available soon on the App Store. I will also add a trailer soon to see the game in action. Please leave a comment with your opinions about the game.
A new week a new adventure in video game development here at Sam & Dan Games. Since the explosive popularity of Pokemon Tower Defense things have changed a lot for Dan and I, and we decided from the beginning that we wanted to make a different kind of game company. Most game companies follow a similar path of developing the game internally for a number of years and then release it into the public making only slight changes based on user input. This method is not incorrect by any means. The developer has a vision of what he wants for the game and takes his time (or however much time he can afford to spend) to make it as close to his vision as possible. They do play test with gamers and non-gamers. I can imagine. to gather some feedback on the game. The process is proven and many companies use it to great success. But we knew that if we wanted to stand out and provide something unique to our players we needed to be different.
So we thought about what we would like other companies to do, or what were new independent companies doing that we really liked. One such person/company was Markus Persson aka "Notch" from Mojang and their hit game Minecraft. While I'm not an avid Minecraft player, as a game designer I can see the appeal of the game. But what really sticks out for me is the method in which the game was released and updated. If you haven't noticed we followed a very similar approach with Pokemon Tower Defense. Releasing a game in it's early stages is a risky thing to do. What if somebody steals the concept? What if players are turned off by an incomplete game? These are all things to keep in mind while using this process. To me it means that I get to know how the players feel about your game at a stage were you can still make changes to it. Pokemon Tower Defense is really close to being done, and your feedback as been integral in the making of it. Sometimes you picked which avatar we should get, or if Joey should battle somebody, even which direction we should head in. Those were choices that I gave you guys to directly affect the game. But your emails and comments gave me great insight into which direction you the players wanted to take it in. While I didn't follow every little request (that would be a horrible thing to do) I did follow request that I felt and many felt should be implemented.
We are getting close to the end of PTD 1. 3 more badges to go until the final showdown, very little new pokemon to add until all 151 are in the game, and less than 100 new moves to add. This game belongs to all of us that have participated in creating it. Even those who are no longer around but helped in past times. Because the game is near completion, you won't be seeing a lot of new features most of the focus will be on finishing what is already there. So what's next for us?
My main priority right now is finishing the PTD story mode. This will grant everybody access to the original 151 pokemon. My main goal with this game was to make a good pokemon tower defense game and I think I have accomplished that but it's still not completed. While I'm finishing PTD I will work with Dan and Kevin on Hero Tower Defense. On top of that I'm going back to school! Starting this week I will be taking two college courses on my way to finishing my Computer Science degree. The great thing about being an independent developer is that you can set your own schedule and work around things in your life. So I will have the task to balance game development with going to school, doing the homework and studying for test. Life is all about balance!
So when PTD story mode is finished I will move the focus to HTD and really try to get that game going. Just like PTD we will be showing you the game as we make it so that you guys can give us your feedback. Once the game is in a good playable form with some levels ready we will deploy it to websites such as newgrounds, playtowerdefensegames, etc so that we can attract new people that are interested in that game. But I never like just working on one game... So while working on HTD and HTD being the main focus I will work on... Pokemon Tower Defense 2! Yes you heard it right! The sequel to PTD is officially announced! The game will focus on the 2nd Generation of Pokemon from the Johto Region and along with all that many of new features that you guys have been requesting:
100 new Pokemon to capture and raise
New Story Line
Held Items
Pokemon Genders
Pokemon Breeding
Eggs
Day Care
Day and Night Cycle
Different Pokeballs
More Items
More Achievements
Better Interface
Being able to transfer your old pokemon from ptd 1 into ptd 2
More Avatars
and more!
As I said before Hero Tower Defense will be the main focus after PTD 1 is done but PTD 2 will be worked on by me and a few other people at the same time. Along with this game I will be working on other side projects that will take a lot longer to show to you guys. Which brings me to my new next point, we need a programmer!
Looking for new people that want to work with us is actually a pretty hard ordeal. We had many great applications for the artist position and we were fortunate to find Kevin which has shown that he has what it takes. With artist the quest of finding one is a lot simpler, since with art what you see is what you get. With programming it's not quite as easy as looking at a portfolio. But let's do it anyways. This programmer position will let you work with Dan, Kevin and I on all the latest projects that we have here on Sam & Dan games have going. Be a part of our team! We are in need of programming in pretty much all the areas of game development so if you are an expert in gameplay, interfaces, or tool building apply today!
Here are the requirements.
Must be 18 years or older.
Must have at least a year experience using Action Script 3.
Must have mastery of OOP.
Must have Adobe Professional CS5.5 or compatible software.
Must have a passion for Gaming.
Must speak and write fluent English.
These next ones are things are pluses that will make you more likely to be considered:
Have published a successful Action Script 3 Flash game on the web.
Have worked on a published game using different languages and engines.
C++, Java, C#
So there you go, like the artist position this is a paid position. Here is what we want to know from you:
Email to sotero86@gmail.com with subject "Programming Job Opening for SnD Games" (Can you follow simple instructions?)
Your experience in programming: What languages, how long, etc (Do you meet the requirements?)
Examples of your work: Published games, tools, widgets, etc (Do you have any of the plusses that we are looking for)
Why you want to work with us? and why should we pick you? (We want to see your passion!)
So let the search begin! I'm looking forward to the applications!
Okay.. So this has been a long post but I haven't really expressed myself fully recently and I wanted to get some stuff out there :)
Now on to the Weekly Progress! I won't reveal too much of what it will be on, the PTD First look by GraphicForce will take care of that. You can expect that (the first look) by the middle of the week.
PTD First Look Video for v5.5
New Story Level (100%)
Level Intro (100%)
Level Layout (100%)
Level Waves (100%)
Level Ending (100%)
Implement in game (100%)
New non capturable pokemon (100%)
Add graphic to game (100%)
Add stats to game (100%)
New Achievement (100%) - Celadon Challenge!
Implement in game (100%)
Implement in server (100%)
New Ability (100%) - Sand Veil - Sandshrew, Sandslash, Digglet, Dugtrio - Sand Veil increases the evasion of a Pokémon in a sandstorm and if on a Pokémon whose type does not already, grants immunity to damage taken from sandstorms.
Implement in game (100%)
New Mystery Gift Pokemon (100%) - Grimer!
Implement in game (100%)
Graphics (100%)
New Moves (100%)
Implement Moves/TMs (100%)
Implement in Trading Center (100%)
Implement in Adoption Center (100%)
Implement Shadow Version in Game Corner and Daily Code (100%)
Implement in Save code (100%)
Rework Daily Code prizes (0%)- This is coming thanks to all your feedback! Level Cap Increase (100%)
New Move due to increase (100%)
Implement in game (100%)
Implement new move in pokemon center's name database (100%)
Implement in game (100%)
Implement in trading center (100%)
Pokemon Center new look (70%) Bug Fixes (100%)
Bug with trading pokemon in game (100%)
Add missing information for the move Spike (100%)
Add Ditto, Shellder and Psyduck to the adoption center (100%) Add Ditto, Cloyster and Golduck to the adoption center (100%)
Hero Tower Defense Programming Progress: Interface - Targeting Functionality for your units (100%) Interface - Selecting a specific skill to use against a particular target (100%) Graphics - Implement new interface graphics (100%) Interface - Implement zoom in/out buttons (100%)
The list will be filled out with more things as the week goes on, thanks for the continued support and as always let me know what you think!
