26th November 2020
You may have noticed that this year T.N.D mainly focused on small projects and a couple of PC games also popped on to my itch.io page. This is because I have been trying to learn new skills during the Covid-19 pandemic, while still in search for a light at the end of the tunnel towards a future career path.
SEUCK COMPO 2020
2020 started with the Official C64 SEUCK Compo 2020. It was a C64 community based fun competition in which you could design and develop a Commodore 64 game using the Shoot Em Up Construction Kit. You are also allowed to push SEUCK further by adding enhancements. The competition entries this year were: Guillotine - The Doom Machine (pictured), Synthia and the Cyber Crypt, Fish Pond - Robovox, Lagrangian Point 3, Spearhead and a few other compo entries. Voted as the top 3 entries were: Guillotine, Spearhead and Synthia in the Cyber Crypt, which won the competition. All three games of which got the full enhancements and presentation they deserved.
The Official C64 SEUCK Compo 2020 (including prizes)
SEUCK GAMES AND ENHANCEMENTS
Talking of SEUCK, there were a few of my own and collaboration SEUCK projects that hit the C64 scene. Mega Tank Blasta was a co-op between myself and Alf Yngve. It was a rehash of the original Tank Blasta game, which I made in 2018. However Mega Tank Blasta pushed SEUCK even more with the SEUCK Redux framework. It had power ups, a new score panel and a new oldschool front end. Arcadestation jumped in to draw a nice loading picture for the game. The second SEUCK collaboration was with Leonardo Vettori. It was Nucleo 448 (pictured below). A stunning rehash of Nucleo 447. The game had some upbeat in game music with sound effects blended together. There was also a nice presentation with the original Nucleo 447 music I did for a previous SEUCK compo. The result was absolutely great. Gamers seemed to have enjoyed this game. The final thing I did with SEUCK was a SEUCK Framework, which was done in KickAssembler. This allowed C64 SEUCK fans build new front ends and possible in game enhancements into their own game creations with aid of KickAssembler (Requires Java) combined with Exomizer.
CRAPTASTIC 4K 2020
Craptastic 2020 was a fun 4K game programming compo which I usually enter 2 compo entries a year. Since I had a very busy schedule studying online, etc. There was only one compo entry this year. Zzapped in the Butt (pictured) was a static arcade blaster where you had to defend your cities from being destroyed by incoming aliens. If all cities were destroyed or your ship got destroyed the game was over. I almost failed to submit this game due to the limitations of 4K overflowing to 5K. Exomizer had to be replaced with ALZ64 which did the trick nicely. Sadly the game didn not make it into the top 10. An enhanced full version of this game has been rumoured to be on the cards. You will have to wait and see.
theC64 CHALLENGES
In December 2019 I had a theC64 full size computer as a Christmas gift. I was intrigued to have a go at making games on it. There were three theC64 challenges I set myself this year. Two were successful, but another wasn't but the game still got finished. The first successful challenge title was Storm Chase. A simple little game in which you control a boy in a who has to save the village from being flooded by a mischievous rain cloud. The game project was programmed in turbo assembler. The second game I did on theC64 was the Forever Extending Hungry Snake (Pictured). A crazy snake style game with a difference. The final game was Killer Saucers (not yet available), which had to be ported to C64 Studio at the end - as it really took me outside my comfort zone :)
A FEW SMALL GAME PROJECTS
Some small game projects were launched. Due to Covid-19, Lockdown, and headlines about toilet paper hoarding. It gave me a fun idea for a party game. Toilet Paper Stacker. It is a simple game in which you have to stack 7 oversized toilet rolls on top of each other to thwart a virus. A second game was yet another full version of a previous 4K craptastic compo game. This time it was Toxic 2020 Edition. It was an enhanced version of the game. 4K had elements missing, so I thought it would great to add a front end, hi score table and a few of WEC's additional ideas. Granny's Teeth 2020 (pictured) was another previous Craptastic 4K game compo entry that was fully enhanced. The game features nice graphics by Saul Cross and additional levels, which I designed and setup myself. It reminded me a bit of the classic 1980's arcade games like Chuckie Egg. Finally there was Death Saw Challenge, which I wrote specially for Halloween, although the Disc Room competition was launched on itch. I decided to not enter the compo and just release the game for fun.
DEMO SCENE
There were only two C64 demos I did this year. I worked on some demo parts for a Blazon demo, "We Love C64". The demo parts were supposed to have been finished about a year and a half ago, but finally it got there at the end. The second and final demo in 2020 was a Commodore Format 30th Anniversary demo. There is a mini demo still under development for Blazon but it is likely that the demo will not be ready in 2020.
LEARNING NEW SKILLS
During the Summer of 2020 I have been attempting to learn new skills. I was introduced to Unity 3D and C# programming. I studied the free Unity 3D game coding course, and attempted to design develop and create my own games on my PC. I managed to make two fun titles for PC and Android phones as a free download. The first was Rockit, based on the Power Shed title. The second was Zzapped in the Butt, although it is MORE DIFFERENT compared to the C64 version.These games were made as a learning path to professional video game development. Whether or not I manage to reach this goal, we will have to wait and see.
ADVENTURING INTO 2021
2021 will be bringing some more goodies for the C64. Perhaps a couple more theC64 development challenges and also a final SEUCK Compo. Also I aim to progress more towards a future in professional video game development. However I am still a long way before reaching a light at the end of the tunnel.
