Dare the Monkey at PLAY Expo Glasgow
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be showing off Dare the Monkey at PLAY Expo Glasgow on 11-12th of June. So please come along to my booth and try out a few of the game’s levels. It’ll be Dare’s first public outing so all feedback will be most welcome. In fact, chocolate coins and banana […]
Starting with a Sketch #6
Yup, it’s time for another one of my twenty second sketches followed by the final visual. This time we have a broken bridge situated in a dense jungle.
Be Prepared to Learn New Skills
Being an indie developer can be hard work even if you have a small team working with you. As talented as everyone is there will likely be gaps in their knowledge and skill set. For example, you may have an artist on your team that’s great at illustration but might not be an animation specialist […]
Test Early and Frequently
When making a mobile game it’s important you test on physical devices as early as possible and frequently. I can’t emphasise that enough. It’s all too easy to rely on whatever simulator your development tool provides and assume that everything will just work when you eventually stick a build onto a device. If that’s your […]
Adding Variety to Your Platform Slices
Each of my game’s levels are built mostly using bitmap slices. They’re basically vertical slices that can be stitched together to create a surface area for our little monkey hero to run along. The image below shows a single platform slice being used repeatedly to create the ground from my Jungle levels.
Starting with a Sketch #5
If you’ve been following this blog then you’ll already know that Dare the Monkey is heavily inspired by 90s arcade machines and console games from the golden 16-bit era. Those who’ve played early demos of it have mentioned that the visual style and gameplay elements remind them of classics such as Sonic the Hedgehog and […]
There Will Always Be Someone Better Than You
I’m really chuffed with how Dare the Monkey is shaping up. I’ve poured my heart and soul into the game’s visuals and generally speaking I think the effort has been worth it. However, I must confess to feeling the odd jealous pang when I look around at the amazing work being produced by other app […]
The Right Tools for the Job: Sculpting
I’ve learned to use a huge number of software packages over the years but by far my favourite has to be Pixologic’s ZBrush. In fact, it’s an integral part of my art pipeline. Not only is it a stunning piece of software but it’s also priced fairly competitively when compared to the likes of Autodesk’s […]
Indie development Vinyls
I recently popped round to my folks for a visit and found my dad clearing out the attic. After constant pressure from my mum he’d decided to finally throw out his entire vinyl collection which had been gathering dust for years. My gut told me this was a huge mistake and pleading with him to […]
Gameplay Footage
I thought it was about time I showed off some actual gameplay footage from Dare the Monkey. This is one of the levels from the Jungle world and features some of the jumps, obstacles, and platforms that our little monkey hero has to contend with.
Dungeons of Doom on iOS and WatchOS
Dare the Monkey on iOS, watchOS, and tvOS
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