Hi Guys I think i have Sarah`s movement the way i like it for now ( i might change my mind of course as the game develops). Next i am going to work on the editor a bit and add the ability to add baddies to the game, which without these the game would be far too easy and boring. The editor will have the ability to add different baddies eventually but i will start with only a few at the moment, the ones i want to add are monsters moving left/right, up/down and firing arrows to avoid. I am going to design the menu for this and will post it when finished then the work will start to implement the chosen features into the game. Once this is done and working i will place a beta version of the game in the app store for you all to try out, so that you can give me some feedback on the game for me to work with and make game better.

Hey Guys, Been working on the movement of Sarah to try and get it just right, been trying lots of different things, but been finding it rather difficult. I know seem to think i have it right but need to change the way that the code checks for Sarah touching the platforms, so that she only jumps when her feet are touching the ground and if she is not then she falls down to the next platform. i was currently using a different algorithm to check this that just didnt feel right. hopefully when i have the code rewritten, to take the changes i want into account, then everything will work out the way it should. I need to get the movement right or the game will not play correctly, it will also help with making the game more challenging and fun to play (hopefully). This is taking longer than i hoped it would take, but feel it will make a huge difference to the gameplay. Once the movement of sarah is sorted I was thinking of releasing a beta of the game so that you could all try it out and give me some sort of feedback on what you all think, and would be a great help in playtesting the game before final release. This would help me find bugs, so that they can be fixed and you could give me feedback on the things that you like about the game and things you dont like about it.

Hey Guys.

Fixed jumping sound bug where the pickup sound was being played instead.
Fixed Pickup sound not being played when collecting stars.

Tweaked Sarah`s movement she now walks slightly slower and does not jump so high.

I also want to tweak the way sarah stands on platforms, she can stand on platforms even if her feet are not on top of them, I want her to slide of and fall if her feet are not on platform. another thing i would like is for sarah to have a bit of momentum and not stop suddenly when you stop moving her left or right, i would like her to slide a bit before coming to a stop.

all the movement tweaks will make the game a bit better and more challenging to judge the jumps, currently the game is a bit too easy to move sarah, i also want to add a few more hazards for sarah to avoid, i dont want to make the game too easy :-) .


Added a gaming store to my blog, why not visit it for all your gaming needs

Hi folks,

Not posted for longer than usual because i have treated myself to a wii u, so been playing some games in my spare time, but hopefully get some more coding done more often now.

Designed the settings menu graphic, this will allow you to change the volume of the music and sound effects within the game.
Had to redesign the settings menu as it was a bit too big and did not look right on mobile devices.
This has all been coded and everything works fine now, had to rewrite code for the sound effects and music to accept the users settings as the volume for all sound was hard coded to 100%

Settings Menu

Designed a bitmap font for use in game.
Fixed a bug where the first  time you played game it was not going to select level menu and just starting from first level.
Fixed a bug where jumping sound effect was not playing on first time play.

Added new graphic for spikes

New spike graphic

Fixed a bug where the game was unlocking levels where they should have been locked.

Hi guys,

designed a few levels for the game. I now want to link all the levels up, by starting on the first level, i want to be able to work my way up the levels. So i will have to design a new menu to replay level, go to main menu or go to the level select screen.

I have linked all levels, so when you finished 1st level you are given your score, then you select next level in the select level menu. This works but when i get to the 3rd level which contains more tiles than the rest it detects your characters movement right up until you get to the tile numbered 1 more than the previous level which then makes tiles from then on not be detectable .

all tiles and variables are reset at end of level, so not sure why this doesnt work, i have been through the code loads of times and cant find anything wrong. might need to take a break for a few days to clear my head and restart the process of finding the bug from the start. i have been staring at the code for a few nights now and cant seem to find whats wrong, its getting rather frustrating as i want to move on and create some baddies and missiles that you have to avoid. might just go ahead and create them then go back to try and find the bug, just to give me a break.

I persevered with the problem and changed my code about which made the code a bit more simplified, this now seems to work, although  i cant see why it does as the code logic is, as far as i can see, exactly the same but it gives me different results. I should have written the code like this to start with.

Hey guys,

I have been designing the level select screen, which i have now completed.

It displays levels that you can play as well as levels that are currently locked, you unlock levels by completing levels before the locked ones.

I can now load different levels by selecting which level you want from the level select screen.

 what i need to do now is design some more levels and link everything up, so that when you complete one level the total score for that level is displayed, then a menu should come up asking if you want to continue with game or if you want to replay level or exit to main menu.

I have to link all these up as well as designing the menus for them.

This might take some time as it always takes me a while to design menus and get them working properly.

Select level menu

Been working on a settings menu for the editor so that i can name the level and set world height and width within the editor. This now works.

Settings menu

Hey guys,

welcome to my blog, i have a  made a few improvements to the placement editor and a few new additions to the game which now has the working title of "Sarah in Candy Land" because Sarah is my daughter and she loves the idea of a whole land made of candy. So Sarah is my main character and Candy Land is the setting :-)

I have bought some nice candy land graphics which i am in the process of adding to the game.


Here is a list of improvements and additions:

Editor:

• Added a start point button, which places a start point for Sarah to start the level.
• Added an end point button which places an end point for Sarah to get to to finish the current level.
• start/end point now saves with level data to load into game.
• Fixed bug where end point was not displayed when level reloaded into editor.

Each level can have a different start point, so that it doesnt necessarily start at the left hand side of the screen, it could start at the right hand side or even the middle of a level, i will see if this make for more interesting level layouts or if the more traditional level start position at the left hand side would be better. I will play about with it for a while before i decide if this is a good idea or not.

Game:

• Start point now loads into game and Sarah starts from that point.
• Added door at start point where sarah appears in level.
• Added door at end point of game where level ends if Sarah can get to it.
• Game now detects when Sarah gets to level exit

Hi Folks,

Spikes are now being displayed in game. All tiles working as they should now.

fixed a bug where the moving platforms were not being displayed correctly when reloaded into editor.

Fixed a bug where the static tiles were not being displayed correctly when reloaded into editor.

Checked levels were loading ok in editor and in game, everything seems to be ok now.Can reload levels into editor and edit them, save them  and reload them into game as often as i like with no positional errors now.

fixed bug where number of stars was not reset in editor when reloading a level.

Added a home and end key to the placement editor to take you  to the top left and bottom right of the level instantly, helps a lot when creating large levels so you dont have to navigate to the end or start of a level manually.

number moving tiles text was not being updated when deleting them. now fixed

tested game on mobile and the character was not going to the far left of world and was falling off the right side of the word. This has now been fixed. Was previously testing game on pc where everything was working ok.


I have decided to blog fewer times than before because i do not get a lot of time to code, i will do more if i manage to code quite a bit and make quite a few advances in the game, but feel that some posts do not contain enough as i have maybe only fixed a couple of bugs and not much else. hopefully each post from now on will contain a lot more and be worthwhile reading than just a post that says i have fixed a bug.

Hi guys,

All moving platforms are now working as they should, going to make a new level to test, using all the tiles available at the moment to see if everything works together.

Fixed a small bug where the editor would crash when i was making larger levels.

Made a simple large level to test the dimensions, found a a bug where the spikes are not being displayed in the game, have to fix this and still have to enter the dimensions of the world manually so that player stays within world and does not fall off, i will make the editor save this information so that when loaded into game it works out the worlds boundaries automatically without have to enter them in manually.

Hi guys,

not been coding for a while because i have had inflammed tendons in my shoulder and could not move my arm, getting better now but still a bit sore if i am at the keyboard for any length of time.

Anyway been tinkering with the design for the main menu, still not quite right, there just seems to be too much empty space, so dont know what to put there, i will post an image so you can see it. im thinking an animation of the main character or something.

been creating a new level but have discovered that the moving platforms do not work right yet when i save and load into game. if the platforms start moving down first then back up, all works perfectly, but if they are supposed to move upwards first then back down, they do not work. i Know what i have to do to correct it but will not be able to fix that this time round, hopefully by end of week i can get this sorted.

Hi folks,

been trying to think of what would make the editor a bit more useful, by trying to think of what new functions i could add.

So far i have come up with a few ideas:

• A Settings function which i have already designed the interface for but not got a function for this in the editor yet.
• A home function which would take you to the start of the level being created, without having to scroll all the way back, which would be useful for large levels.
• An end function for same reasons as above, but take you to the end of the level.

I have also  to write the code for the delete block and delete all functions.

Have also been thinking of new ideas for the game, but decided that i have enough to be getting on with for now, without any new things to work on, although i will no doubt think of other things as i code.

Added a new main menu to the game and a colorful background, will add a screenshot next time to show you the new graphics for the main menu. Still not the finished menu yet as i dont think that it looks quite right, but the graphic style will probably be right.

cya all next time.

Hi guys,

Fixed a few more bugs today.

• A white block  was appearing when game was loading, which was caused by game trying to load an extra tile from the data that did not exist.
• When setting up screen an extra star was being displayed which was for the stars collected count. deleted the spare star.
• in the editor the text when entering a moving platform speed information, the text was not getting deleted and it  was displayed constantly, this has now been fixed.

some bugs that have been fixed recently have just been a bit cosmetic and just tidying things up a bit, but all things that needed to be done.

Also added the ability to reload a previously saved level, which now means that i can design a level and add/remove/tweak things once i have tested it.

can only create one level at a time at the moment without going into the code and changing the name of the save file, but once i add a settings screen i will be able to do this within the editor which means i can load and save multiple levels, then the creation of levels can begin. although still to add more items and platforms to the game and more features to the editor to allow me to add more things to the final levels.

Im happy with the progress im making now especially to the editor as this will eventually allow me to add lots of levels quickly to the final game.

I have also designed the settings screen to be used within the editor.

Next i will have to code the settings screen so that it is easier to set the level size and name, without having to code this into the editor manually for every level created, as i am having to do at the moment.

See you next time guys.

Hi folk

I was going to create some levels and add a level select screen to game, but realised i have got to add a few other basic elements first.
I have not got any way of finishing a level yet, unless i die. So have to create an end of level mechanism, which will be getting to the end of the level by reaching a specific portal/door/gate to trigger end of level. I was going to make it once you have collected all the stars then the doorway would open up but decided that you can still finish level without collecting all stars etc in a level, just in case you come up with a seemingly impossible star to collect, at least you will be able to continue. And the fact that it will alter peoples score in the game rather than everyone having the same score at end of level, although if i add a time element to the score this would make scores different.

save game data now includes number of total tiles in game, previously had to enter this in manually for the load level function to know how any tiles to load in.

When finished entering moving platforms in editor delete text asking for speed of platform, previously it didn't delete text when finished entering data.

Entire level is now loaded and placed before appearing on screen, previously level was displayed as it was placed on screen which meant that you could see each individual tile placed on screen as it was loaded, making level load ties longer.

Fixed bug which made a heart appear for stars collected score at top left corner of screen, Star sprite now displayed for total stars collected.

Hey guys,

Moving platforms can now be deleted from the editor, and the save game file has been sorted as well, so everything can be saved and uploaded into game to play the levels.

next i am going to create 3 or 4 levels and make a level select screen in game where you can play the next level or play any of the previously unlocked levels to try and beat your score. levels are only unlocked when you have completed the previous level. Hopefully this wont take too long to code.

Ill report back as usual with the progress i have made.

Cya soon

Hi Guys,

Moving platforms are now shown visibly in the editor when placed, which makes creating levels a lot easier.

Now have to work on deleting and editing the moving platforms to fine tune the levels.

Managed to get the moving platforms working, Now the code reads in the data from the editor and can get all the moving platforms working. This all seems to work ok, maybe need to do some more testing on this but works fine for now.

next i need to work on the editor and display where i put the moving platforms, at present i can place the platforms where i want them to go, but this is not shown visually on the editor which is not much use when i make larger levels. the whole point of the editor is so that i can visualise where everything goes.
then i need to be able to edit and delete the moving platforms if i want to edit the level.
I also need to be able to load in previously saved levels to re-edit and fine tune them,

so much needs done but i now seem to be getting somewhere, although very slowly.

Hi guys,

Sorry its been so long but i lost all my motivation to keep coding after i changed ide, and altered some of my code. a lot of things started to go wrong with the code and it wasnt working the way it was supposed to.  I have managed to fix all the things that went wrong, i think and i am now back to where i left of from my last post.

I had to fix the levels as they loaded as the tiles were all getting placed in the wrong place, then i had to fix the screen scrolling as my characters movement was not correct and kept disappearing off the screen, all a bit of a nightmare, but i decided that once i fixed that i knew i would start things moving again. I just hated the thought of having to re-code stuff that already took me a while before

Next thing to do is to make the code read in the data from the editor to get the moving platforms  working. Hopefully that shouldn't take too long.

See you all soon.

been working on the level editor a bit more. i have got it saving the moving platforms as well as the tile information to a file ready for it to be imported into the game.

Now all i have to do is to make the main game load the file in to be displayed as the new level. need the program to convert the data into moving platforms for the main gameplay. shouldnt be too long till i have added this feature, then all i need to do is add the exit to finish the level so that the next level can be loaded.


I am getting there slower than i would like, but i can hopefully start coding a bit more now that work is not as hectic anymore.

once this is done i will post another video of a new level with moving platforms in it, so you can all see the progress i have made. and  things will start moving along at a quicker pace from now on.

cya soon guys.

Added a counter for stars and tiles used.
The counter for stars keeps track of them as i want 100 per level. the total tiles counter is used to work out the length of the save level file, which i need when i reload file into game.

added  more buttons to the GUI, but they dont do anything yet as i havent coded the functions for them yet.

The GUI in the editor is coming along nicely, i have implemented a few basic  functions, but have a few new ones that i want to add as theses would help me make some great levels without have to hard code anything about the levels in the app itself. The more i can get the editor to do the quicker the levels can be made.

The editor takes a lot of time to code but eventually i will be able to turn out levels a lot quicker and that would save a lot of time, and the editor can be used for other games and apps as well as it is a standalone editor, so the more polished and more useful i can make it, will save me a massive amount of time on this and future projects.

I only plan to add functions that help me with this project at the moment with a view to expand its capabilities later and add functions that will help me with different types of games also.

Level Editor Screenshot

I have added some background music to the platform game, which is just a short loop at the moment, i will add a longer soundtrack later.

Going to start working on the placement editor and give it a new GUI so will be leaving the platform game till i have added a few more features to it so i can start making some levels for the game.

I will post a screenshot when i have finished the layout, to show you  all my progress.

Fixed the jumping on moving platform problem. it seems to work the way it should now.

next task is to work on the level editor a bit,  making it  able to accept moving platforms.
I also need to make it reload levels already created, currently i can only save levels as i make them with no option to reload to edit the levels.

once that is done i will have to add some baddies to avoid in the game and again add these to the editor. hopefully wont take long to add these features.

Might even post another screenshot soon.

Cya all next time.

Sorry i am taking a bit of time to post blogs, but my work is hectic at the moment and i am not finding a lot of spare time to do any coding. I hope to get a bit more coding soon.

I have tidied up a few things today, so that the game looks a bit more polished, there is a long way to go, but wanted to get this done as leaving all these things just mounts up and you end up with loads of silly little things to get done. Its just things like making sure everything gets deleted when you enter  the main menu and final score screen when you die. i also had a lot of variables being printed on different screens so i could track what was happening as i played the game, makes it much easier to debug. Everything is now as it should be and its starting to look better.

I have added some basic moving platforms, which seem to work well, but my character cant seem to jump while on them, she can move left and right but not jump at the moment. I do not know why she cant jump, but i will look at that next time.

Once that is done i will have to try and add the moving platforms to the level editor to make it easier to add the platforms for the game.

Time for bed now as it is 1.25am and i am working in the morning.

See you next time guys.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!


Programmers worst nightmare happened to me, i managed to somehow delete my code.
Thank the heavens that i have been backing up regularly, only problem is i have lost about a weeks worth of programming.
I have been fixing this today and i should  be where i was before the little accident, just a little more to do. I think i will be backing up a bit more regularly from today.

Once i am back to where i was i am going to fix a few little bugs to the game and tidy up the screen layouts a bit, as all sprites are not being deleted when you die and go back to main menu.

Speak to you all soon, and hope to not get any more little accidents.

Hi guys,

been away on holiday for a couple of weeks, which is why i have been quite lately.  The holiday has done me good,, as before i went i could not get the game to reload and play another level after you died. I tried everything and could not work out what was wrong. The answer turned out to be simple enough, but because i had been staring at the code for so long and was getting frustrated at what should have been an easy thing to do, i could not see the answer, which was to re-set the characters co-ordinates. Could not believe i didnt see that before the holiday. Anyway that is now working and hope to start moving along a bit quicker now and get the rest of the game engine done.

once that is done i will add multiple levels and get that to work hopefully.

Nice to be back, cya all soon.

Rickynzx

Fixed the controls for android version of game, to stop character falling off the game world. It worked fine on pc keyboard but forgot to test for the android touch controls. everything works as it should now.

working on the death sequence now, want game to display final score after death then press a key to get to main menu where you can start another game.

Started death sequence, Total score is worked out and displayed after death. Score calculated as follows (stars x 1)+(jewels x 5)+(time bonus)

Time bonus not calculated yet and may not make the final game, its just an idea for now. I would have to implement a maximum time to complete each level and then calculate a bonus for time left, if any. It would make each level more challenging  as you try to beat time taken.

Got a reply from google  and they say they have suspended Piggy bank tracker 2 free because i "engaged in keyword stuffing", which means that i  used excessive keywords in the app description. I did have a list of keywords at the end of the description, but all the words and phrases included were in the main description so i did not use any misleading keywords, however that is against the google rules, which i should have read, but how many people read the terms and conditions of things.

Anyway, my app has been suspended and cannot be downloaded anymore, so i have taken the paid for version and made it free, which means i will add ads to this.The paid for version only sold 1 copy anyway on google. i will try to add an in app purchase at somepoint which will allow you to make a small donation/payment to me, which will make the app ad free. Not sure how to do this as i have not added any in app purchases to my apps, but might be better as i could then offer more in app purchases in my other apps for extra functionalty/ levels etc in the future as i try to make bigger and better apps.

If i do add in app purchases in my games i will not make the game dependant on in app purchases and make sure that you will still be able to play the games without there being any cost to you.

I changed the links on my website so that when you click on images of the apps it takes you to the app in google play store.

Below is a video of my latest progress to my platform game, the video is not very good quality as i took it with my phone, i tried to take it on my computer but it turned out very slow, maybe i need a faster computer :-)

Hi guys,

Went to check out my google developer account to see how my apps were doing and discovered that my Piggy Bank Tracker free 2 app has been suspended for some reason, so it is not possible to download app anymore from google play store.

Google are supposed to email me with the reason for doing so, but i have not received anything.
I emailed them to for an answer as to why it has been suspended, and i hope to find out so that if any changes need to be made then i can make them so it can be made available again.

Ill report back as soon as i hear anything.

Hi Guys,

not been doing much programming recently as have been watching the football in my spare time, but managed to get some done today.

Today i limited the player characters movement so that it does not fall off the game world.

Hi guys,

added a few new features to my platform to do list if you want to check it out, and here is a screenshot of the game as it is just now, might even post a video later so you can see the movement so far.

remember all graphics and sounds are not finalized just now, just trying to work on the game play and adding features for the moment. if you would like to contribute any graphics that you have designed i will be happy to consider adding them and if they are added you will get a mention in the game credits :-)

remember to send me a comment on any ideas or features that you would like to see.

Hi folks,

Added ads to my website today, and want to change layout a bit today as the header on website is a bit too big.

Added an animated loading screen sprite to my platform game today,  its the  usual circular rotating sprite with the words "loading" underneath, just so that you know the app is still doing something and not crashed.
below is an image of the sprite.

Green loading wheel

Managed to change the size of the header and added a link on the homepage to this blog, as the built in blog on the site was not very good.

Finished my web page, just have to assign my domain name to it them you can all visit the site. Will assign the domain name after work, as i do not have the time to do it now.

Then once that is done, i will start working on the platform game again and will try to publish an early screenshot or maybe even a video of what i have so far. its nothing too exciting yet as its very early version with still loads to do.

Name assigned to web site click below to visit.

IndieRickSoftware.com

see you all later. :-)

Worked a bit more on my website, and changed the layout of the blog a bit by adding a couple of pages with to do lists of features that i want to add to my current game.

If you have any suggestions for the platform game please feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Main menu in platform game done. it bounces down from top and finally settles in centre of screen. There are five options in menu but have just activated the play game option for the moment. when you pick an option the menu disappears for now, but think i might make it fall off the screen before going to  option picked.

Hi folks, just a little update.

still working on website, but might take a break from it for a few days to work on my platform game. i havent got a title for it yet, so ill just stick to platform game for now. going to add a menu for the game today if i have the time, as just now you jump straight into the game.

I am pretty happy with the movement of the main character just now, but it might need a bit more tweaking. spent ages trying to get the character to move just right and think that it is almost right. will try and post a screenshot of the game within the next week, but remember that this is a very early version and all graphics are placeholders at the moment and will more than likely change before i get to the final version of the game.

Again, if you have any suggestions of what you would like to see in my platform game then drop us a comment or an email to IndieRickSoftware@gmail.com

Started work on a web page to showcase all my apps. Will publish webpage when it is all finished, but will probably take a bit of time.

Will keep you all posted when it is done.

If any of you have any suggestions for new features and improvements for my apps or indeed any new apps that you would like to see, please feel free to send me an email as any suggestions are considered.

See you all soon.

Had to fix a bug in KCALCalc where the adverts were appearing over the keyboard when trying to enter data. Fixed it by moving adverts to top of screen when the keyboard is onscreen.

I got a request from a user to be able to enter any two fields into KCAL Calc so that it could work out the third. Added that feature  along with a calculate button and a clear button to clear all fields.

Recompiled and published onto the google play store and to Amazon app store.

Uploaded the paid for version of Piggy bank tracker 2.

Took out all ads to make the paid for version, changed the title graphic , info screen and splash screen, then uploaded to google play store.

I also found a major bug in the free version that if it was a new install it crashed because it could not find the save file. fixed and uploaded new version.

got a couple of projects that i have been working on that i have to go back to. one is a matching monster cards game for kids which is almost finished, but have a lot of polishing up to do, and the other is a platform game which still has a long way to go.

don`t know what one to work on, will see what i feel like tomorrow, but i would love to finish my platform game and editor for it, not worked on anything as complicated as this but i love the challenge.

see you all next time

Rickynzx

Have finally released Piggy Bank Tracker Free 2 version 2.3.6 onto the Google play store, and updated all info.

Have tested the app that i downloaded onto the store and there is a slight bug in the save goal feature but nothing serious and the app still works, I have also forgot to delete some debug info that appears on the main screen of app on the top left hand corner. I will fix this in a couple of days and release the app again.

I have started work on  KCAL calc, an app that i was asked to make to work out the nutritional information of food on the back of packaging.

Most information is for 100 grammes of the food even when the actual weight is not 100 grammes or you might not want to eat the whole amount. Some packaging does tell you the information per portion size while some does not, and was told this is rather annoying having to work it out. So my little app will let you enter portion size and ask for the information per 100 grammes that usually appears and will work out the calories, carbs, fat, etc for you. Im not going top make a fancy interface for it just now, just want something that works and see how many downloads i get, if i get quite a few will make it look prettier by making a fancy interface for it.

Uploaded KCAL Calc to google play store. should be available to download in a couple of hours.

Try it out if your on a diet or go on a diet to try it out ;-)

Fixed a couple of bugs and updated the splash screens with the new version numbers.

Just have to test everything out especially the save function as have changed the structure of the save data and have to make sure the app can handle the old style structure with the new structure.

Also have to upload app to my device and test on my mobile to make sure everything works there too.

Managed to find the mystery bug, and fixed it.

Fixed some other bugs and starting to tie up all the loose ends to finally release the new version of Piggy Bank Tracker 2.

Still got to update some of the splash screens and info for the new version and a few more bugs.

Here is a picture of the main screen as it is in new version

Tested Piggy Bank Tracker 2 today.

Found a few bugs that need to be fixed, and a few other things that i want to change. Also found a bug that seems to have arisen that was working perfectly well up until now, no idea what caused it as i have not even changed anything in that function, its  mystery, but one i have to fix before release.

I have been working on my Piggy Bank Tracker 2 app.

Today i have added a more apps button which will take you to my apps in the google play store.
wont be long till i publish the app, with the new features.

Features added:

• New saving goal
• Empty bank button
• more apps page
• all new buttons created
• optimized and tidied up code