Games now available at your global app dealer ;-)

Today my first two iPad apps Extra Fluffy and Pulse of Life are released in apples app store. Images, info material, and shop links you can find at www.freakwave.de.

Im very happy that everything about this first apps runs well, and I already have some bigger and specially even more interesting game for casual gamers under developing. The alpha version already runs and soon I going to show more details about it, just for a few weeks it have to wait in top-secret mode ^^

I wish you all a lot fun with playing the games all over the world ;)

Rayjunx

Raspberry Pi - Futter für die Nerds unter uns

Mein geliebter Raspberry Pi im Hosentaschenformat :-)

Bisher hatte ich noch keine Erfahrung mit LINUX sammeln können, wohl wissend das es verbreiteter ist als man allgemein annimmt und durch OpenSource wirklich eine feine Sache ist. Kurz darauf zeigten und erzählten mir unabhängig voneinander fast gleichzeitig zwei Freunde vom Raspberry Pi. Dieser Minicomputer ist nur so groß wie eine Scheckkarte und ist fertig aufgebaut für 30-40 Euro zu haben. Die Gelbe Box auf dem Foto ist eine optionale Erweiterung wie auch die Kühlkörper auf dem CPU etc.

Zum Einsatz kommt in ihm ein 0,7-1ghz Prozessor der lediglich 5Watt verbraucht, mit 512MB integriertem Arbeitsspeicher. Er hat ein Audio, Video und DVI Output, 2 x USB, SD Kartenslot und vor allem eine frei Programmierbare Schnittstelle für Input und Output. Damit werde ich bald versuchsweiße LED Lichterketten und Displays ansteuern. Und da LINUX wesentlich schlanker ist und zudem Versionen speziell für den Raspberry zum download bereit stehen, läuft die Kiste super, egal ob als Medienserver, Server, Steuereinheit für elektronische Spielerreihen, kurzum man kann alles daraus machen wonach einem der Sinn steht, bis hin zum Cluster Rechner.

Mehr Infos unter:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi
http://www.raspberrypi.org/quick-start-guide

Weitere Berichte und Versuchsdokumentationen folgen ^^
Grüße
Rayjunx

Extra Fluffy and Pulse Of Life finished!

Today just a short update:

Both games, Extra Fluffy and Pulse Of Life are now finished and send to apple. In about one week I Hope to get the approval, and a few days later they will be available in all app stores world wide.

The homepage is also finish, including long videos about this games and others, and I will upload it a few days before release.

Many more games are in pipeline, and i already start testing what i may develop next.

So have a nice day! And keep patience, soon the games are available. And by the way, I still look out for new game testers.

Check www.freakwave.de

Rayjunx

Bug hunting

Do you know about the crawling bugs hiding inside the source codes and bring the programmers sleepless nights? I would tell you a little bit about it ;) There´s many ways you can breed some nice population of bugs inside your source code as programmer. I give small non programmer compatible example.

First in detail 

You write a list with 10 balls flying around your screen for a little game. This list starts from 0 to 9, so 10 elements inside, because 0 gets counted as the first element in chain. If you forget that fact, and try to tell BALL[10] to move, you get a evil program error. But you find out quick.

If you delete balls going out the field, and use a automatic rutine for that like NSMutableArray, they fill the deleted ball with the next element. So after deleting BALL[4] your list gets shorter and now BALL[8] ( Ball number 9 ) is the last one. Sounds logic, didn’t it? But another more dangerous bug can happen by make one small mistake that way.

You write a loop handling all balls from 0 to the last element in list. And then maybe delete a ball out of the list if its moving out the screen. Then you jump over one ball in calculation! 

Why? At the moment you delete for example BALL[3] the highest ball in chain [9] replace his position, so the list now only contain 9 balls. But your loop after handling BALL[3] going to handle the next ball and this is BALL[4]. Ball[9] who´s now in position of the deleted ball Ball[3] gets not handled this frame in game. Maybe that causes no problem, but maybe in some constellations this bug happen just once a hour in your game and can do everything, starting with a empty not shown image for some frames, up to break the program by error. And the not every time happening bugs, you cannot reproduce the same way again and again, are very different to hunt down, like try to shoot a deer eating grass every day at the same time at a clearance ( defined position ). Its a simple job in opposite hunting down a wild leopard where you don't know when and where he´s located between the bushes.

Some funny story from "BLACK AND WHITE"

One time the developers of BLACK AND WHITE written about some funny bug they have had. Some big creature like a pet you can act with, walking around in game, you can try to command him, feed him etc. And one time in game he just run in cycles around, and they don’t find out why he do that first. They try long to find the reason, and finally they find out he was hungry, in the mode for finding food, and so he checked all other units around, and walking to the nearest… and they do not make this procedure precluding himself in the list of possible units to eat. So he just try to eat himself... ;)

Everything is just logic, but logic can be very complex, and even if you have great skills, sometimes a mistake happen. In opposite of this it makes you stunning if you write long parts of source code without checking or running it, and after finish it you see all is running like planned without any problems. Its like driving car to the next city with closed eyes, and arrive without any accident ;) But its already great enough if you can make the written code running just by read over it once again and fix small details in about 5 minutes.

A childhood epilogue

There’s a reason back in my path why its so important for me to be a good father for my son. Its about the things gone wrong, the things I yearning for as I was a children myself but never got. Its most about the father I didn´t have and the mother who never understand my thoughts.

The father I didn’t have

As I was young I loved my father with every fiber of my soul. He was intelligent, able to understand me, and he never inveighted me. He was soft, so I never have to fair he telling me what i´m not allowed to do, and that’s why I loved him and not my mother who somethings getting angry with me if I broke something for example. That this weakness "not being able to be steady" would be his curse later on I not realized at that age. As I was about 10 and gets interested in so many things I want to share with him and spending time with him, a very evil woman found him and use him like a toy. He knew that he´s going the wrong way, he knew hes not going to be happy that way, and on long sight losing his own childrens me and my brother, but he have had no power for withstand this. So I see him first once a weekend, once two weeks, once a month and later once a year and less. But all the time he say he plan visit us soon, spending time with us, and I believed him. Even after gets disappointed a hundert times, till I was adult my self and for the first time I understand what really happen. As child I try to show him what I do, my games, my thoughts want to have feedback from a person I respect and be able to understand me, but he only try to do something for his conscience, buy me some stuff and go away after one or maybe two hours. I going the way I go, whatever happened, but it was not nice to go it alone. I got a PC, I got a scanner and printer, all stuff I needed but I was willing to change everything just for real time with my father, what I never get.

After all I understand whats real important, and I never go to be like that for my son. I never can give him more attention then he deserves. I can buy to much stuff, or educate to soft, but time I never can spend to much with him.

My loved son Ryu

The mother who dosn´t unerstand me

My mother was not like my father. She was not so soft minded. But do you know how it feels if somebody just do like interested and understanding but is not able to really understand you? She not mean it bad, but it makes no difference for my feeling nobody understand me, if I tell her i find my old Toy car, or I tell her I find a way to improve the system performance of windows about 50%, or inviting some very cool new stuff, she say anyway just "SUPER! and do you come to breakfast now?" This was not the reason why i lost contact with her now, she was just not able to understand, I just write about this because its the explanation why I start doing so much all my self and learned to power this without feedback and understanding from others. Even if this feedback of people understand you and your work in this world is one of the greatest things you can get after love and friendship. But you have to be able to energy your self at least for a while.

So please, all of you outside there, spend as most time with your children's, wife, and friends as you can. This is what really fill your live with sense and pleasure.

Rayjunx

Remote controlled LEGO robot battle

All my childhood long I play with LEGO, builded everything from spaceship to technic stuff like a terminator arm moved by strings and handles. Then I stopped unless XMAS 2011 where I bought some remote controlled excavator which just fascinating me. After building and tuning it I thought about the new electric parts LEGO used and what you can do with it. So a question revealed to me: If its possible to build a remote controlled robot with reloading weapon systems, strong enough to destroy the cohesion of other opponents just using the platform LEGO? Because using real RC components for a contest like that making it enormous expensive and you need stronger weapons to fight, that you even risk hurting humans. About a half year later and hours over hours of brick building I got the answer: 

YES it’s possible!

What to do know?

The next step would be finding teams for this contest, sponsors and support crew to produce a media relevant show on TV or just for fun on YouTube. Then the opponents can battle and join challenges, driving, racing, walking, battle with mealy and distance weapons and so on. I also have a plan about a lot of nice features for this show, how they control the vehicles etc., and till today I never see somebody not was totally amazed by this first robot prototype. But now I just waiting for the right chance to realize it in big style...

Do you like this video? Just post a reply, and you can still even be a part of it.

Greetings

Rayjunx

A extra fluffy project

After writing down many ideas and after programed my first simple 2D game engine I met a company from Singapur and decided to choose one idea compatible for children as target. Its maybe have synergy effects working or releasing in cooperation with this company I thought, and I maybe not have to take care about everything, for example the publishing part. But this sweet game I called EXTRA FLUFFY getting bigger and bigger and shows potential to make it interesting for advanced gamers too, and after the other company gets lost in space I decided to complete this project myself. Anyway the time comes I want to do everything my own, so why not already start like that. It runs on iPad and support iPad4 with retina display.

The first level - screenshot

The basic idea

This game was planed like a old slot machine, filled with a lot of sweet and fluffy pets. They floating around and you have to push them into a slot shown as sparkling sun. The main feature is not just the sweet creatures and the design, its more about the various game elements gets used building up the levels. For example some creatures have spikes and destroy others by colliding them, some are very heavy, some are light like a feather and moves very quick if pushed, there are week units disappears if clicked to close etc. And there´s a lot of different environmental game elements, and different kind of gameplay modes including VS battle in split screen and so on.

Development progress

It runs stable, have no known bugs, the engine is complete and 45 of 72 levels are finished and playable. Demos are available via Testflight App. So please just write me and become a game tester if you like to play something absolutely new. Just mail at prometheus@freakwave.de. The other Levels can be added in between 5-45 minutes each, depending on how much new game elements have to be designed for them. The biggest parts in development staying out are only a bigger testing phase, and the verification and release process with apple. Only about this last point I have no experience and don’t know how quick and plain it works. About the new levels I already have many ideas, so I going to add more 2 player maps, more ambitious levels where you can spend some more time to find out how to solve it and finally I want to persiflage some old retro game elements. Oh and by the way, at some sound variations i have to work too ^^

Simple instructions

Thers no complex instruction you have to read, you just start and sometimes like at the beginning you get a small tip shown direct inside the level. For example how to push a creature. The rest you find out 90% just during playing it and 10% shown in form of some small tips written in English. Just take a look, I add a video right here, from the startup, choosing the level too the first rounds. 

Youtube demo video

Thoughts about the right price

First I thought about releasing it for free, as a lite version, than later bring the full version to the market. But I want to show more and more of the potential already in the first version, and this getting so complex it makes no big sense to follow my first plan. Now I already add most cool stuff and another 36 levels after the first 36 tutorial levels. My plan is to offer it for free for the first maybe around 1000 pieces as special advertisement offer and then setup the price to a fair value. So if you want to remember one thing, you should try to get this game as soon after its in the appstore as possible, and you get it for nothing.

Anyway you can already play it for free if you register via mail at Prometheus@freakwave.de as test player. Or you stay informed by subscribe this Blog. http://freakwave-games.blogspot.de

Do you like the video? I rubberneck for some feedback :-)

Cheers,

Rayjunx

Hello World - How to become a game developer

Hello World

My name is Markus Geiger alias Rayjunx, I´m 32 years old, living in Germany, married and father of a one year old son. I´m working as a machine building engineer but also as game developer of card, tabletop, roleplaying and video games under my brand called FREAKWAVE. In this blog I going to write about game developing, thoughts and crazy stuff, and hopefully my english will not scare the viewers :-D 

First of all, I try to explain why I become a game developer.

The passion of creativity

When i was a children - Two sided A3 labyrinth.

I believe everybody have talents if hidden or already discovered. After I played monopoly i take snippets of paper and write my own clone of it. During the first computer science class where we should learn the principles of DOS what I already know, I start programming my first line drafting program and plan my conversion of SPACE HULK ^^

PARANOID programmed in qbasic as I was about 12 years old, with enemy AI and field of vision implementation. Below are two images of STORM a qbasic starship building and battle simulation.

But I guess most developers know that feeling. You love to do something creative but you cannot match to bear up with any game you can buy outside, your games just hand draften, and all your friends maybe just be so kind and try it some times but not to often with you, but most of all they just like to play finish high end games instead of making something them self. So basically all born game developers still making games are the one who survived this phase *lol*

So i start making everything my self, using 3D Studio ( DOS, 386PC ) rendering my first game graphics. I even write games based on EXCEL ^^

If you love making games, even if nobody play it, you keep doing it. And by just follow your dreams you try crazy stuff without taking care about costumers, market etc. So I write table top games with spaceships battles so complex you need 1 hour to play one turn. Absolute unplayable, but the best way to make some border experiences. 

Later on after basic and DIV I start writing on Visual C++ using some engine called HGE and start with a space shooter instead of a hello world:

PC 360degree shooter prototyp. Video also available in YOUTUBE keywords "freakwave retro game"

But I still was only dreaming about core gamer nerd stuff so I programmed a really awesome game but a bit to less for the mainstream. Anyway I spend more then one year afternoon working with it and finally I find 3 publishers for it, one german, one of a big TV company starting game business too and even impressed Brian Christian ( he was the head of Interplay´s 14 Degrees East division, and division director of Fall Out Tactics) on the GCDC in Leipzig with the running demo version. But after a couple of fusions on publishes sides and rebounded developer teams I lay this project on ice. Anyway I get some jobs in board game business and released my first interactive audio book "Mila und der Zauberstein" and interactive board game called TARASCON for YVIO.

The startup of FREAWAVE development

After that it was time for a break again, I married my wife and soon later get my wonderful son Ryu gets born. https://socialcam.com/s/7aPiIGOz

But even if the time was reduced my ideas accumulate more and more and so I start making games again. This time I take care about the casual market and realized that awesome games with core gamer potential not have to be complex or incompatible for the casual market. 

"Endzeit" board game prototype - gets very popular in TV & media after game fair Essen 2012

The commercial business now runs since about one year and a card game called "MEMOVADERS", and more games i cannot say more in detail at the moment are going to released in future ( it can takes 1-3 years depending on the publisher / manufacturer how long this process takes ). And i have more then one project running with one of the biggest toy company´s worldwide. As soon as something gets released in public I blog more about that.

But the main theme for this blog are going to be IOS games, for iPad first later for iPhone too. Theres about 10 game projects in pipeline and I chose the most interesting to start first. Two of them are already running, one is 80% completed, one is just started. All of this games can be finished in some months and programmed alone with some artists as freelancer. 

Even if I cannot say to much about details before i setup the start Buzz and finally release it on app store, theres still a lot to write about, thoughts about the projects, programming, design, gameplay etc.

So be invited to follow this blog, give me feedback, going to be a test gamer and exclusive play test versions, and simply just be good entertained with this blog.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Cheers

Rayjunx

This blog is available in three languages!

German: http://raysspieleschmiede.blogspot.de   

English: http://freakwave-games.blogspot.de

Thai: Following soon

All posts would be translated in all languages, but please forgive some time delay can happen because the translation effort.