Blogs - Neuntoter

Hmm, a contest. What is this all about??? Well this is what it is all about. Us giving free stuff to game players for playing our FREE demo which will be given an additional 2 minutes of play time for the contest along with a few updates.This is of course hoping you fall in love with the game and if not drop us some feed back on why you did not. Basically you win the contest by getting the highest score. Let me paste the piece about all this from the games summary page.....

Update about next Demo Release::
We are going to hold a contest for the highest score. The top 3 scores will receive some free stuff from Enguised Studios.

First Place: A game of choice from Desura or Steam that is = or less than $10 and a free copy of Tik Tok Tank including all the free content updates as they are released.

Second Place:
A game of choice from Desura or Steam that is = or less than $5 and a free copy of Tik Tok Tank including all the free content updates as they are released .

Third Place: A free copy of Tik Tok Tank including all the free content updates as they are released.

The Contest version of the demo will have it's timer clocked at 7 minutes and will feature the updates that have been stated. We will release an official news posting when this will officially launch, which should be Monday or so (6/25/2012) and last for 7 days.

Next Demo version will have water enemies along with a camera fix to keep the tank centered when you get the speed boost.

I made some small game changes and updates that involve more levels, fixed camera (when you get speed boost), some more enemies. Now as far as working on the actual game any more than that will be put on hold for at least a week or two while we get together everything we need to get everything ready to release the game (Tik Tok Tank).

We are releasing through CNet.com and IndieCity.com as of right now and trying to tie up all loose ends to make it available through those sites. We are also waiting to hear back from Steam to see if they will distro are game as well. Desura will not be distroing the game due to a decision they made. We may try again with them in the future since we do like their over all sales model.

Well, that is about it for now.

Neuntoter

Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for..... Du, du, duuuuu. Tik Tok Tank now has an official demo which will be submitted on ModDB/IndieDB tonight. It has pretty much most of the features the game will be initially released with along with only some of the content. We are also hoping to be able to set up some kind of pre-purchase that will give you beta access. Along with beta access you will also receive all updates as they are finished instead of receiving them all at launch. This will give you the community a chance to play the game at a discounted price and give vital input to help make the game a very enjoyable experience for you and other game player types.

The demo will be a timed demo. Gameplay will go on for 5 minutes and then fall back to the title screen for you to go again for another 5. It will also feature a tiny example world map, not the completed full release world map which will be about 6x the size.

The more demo downloads we get the greater the discount will be when pre released. Anything over 100 downloads for the first week of the demo will make the discount $2 off of the $3 price tag. Anything less it will only be a $1 discount.

More details tonight.

Neuntoter

Last night Nonulok and I sat down for a while working on some pretty sweet levels. We were having a blast both making them and play testing through them. A playable demo is in the works along with some communication to Steam is also very close. Taking a small guess I am hoping that the full submission happens this week end along with a finished demo.

The demo will be the full game as is but placed on a 5 minute timer and when finished bring up a "Thanks for Playing" screen then return you to the "Title Screen". 5 minutes with this game will (should) be enough time to experience some fun and help you decide if you think it is a good title to own or not. The going cost will be $3 and I, myself as a gamer, would pay and have paid more for this if I came across it and it were not my own.

To back up this statement. A little while back I purchased a game entitled "Snorms". It looked good, played a very short demo and fell in love. I bought it within 30 minutes of demo download and beating. Now I use this game as an example for several reasons.

1. Cost is $9, but is very well worth the cost.
2. Gameplay is slightly similar to the way some of Tik Tok Tank's levels play through.
3. The dev could and should get more for this but does not since he loves his project and wants to make it readily available to everyone, not just deep walleters but also wants to make future projects. And this is basically what we want to do also.

So, that's my little update and more updates will be following very close.

Thank You

Neuntoter

As of right now we have not heard any word from Desura about posting our game. So at this point we are going to finish up general sound FX and a good amount of initial release content. We will then release through Steam and continually give free content updates as they are completed. We are not planning any DLC content so anything created new for Tik Tok Tank will be a free update.

Any new updates we will keep you posted.

Neuntoter

Nonulok and I put Diablo 3 aside for the weekend and worked some crazy magic on Tik Tok Tank. Revam the enemy sprites and created 2 new bosses, added water, new tiles for Base and Dungeon entries, new UI, a few new enemies. Thats just too name a few. A demo is now in the works along with the fact we submitted to Desura to get the alpha out there to everyone.

More updates to follow.

Neuntoter

So far there has not really been a user interface to the game. I had some text posted to the screen to give the info but it was not placed in any special or neatly displayed way. I have been working on a beta interface to at least use and get user feed back on. I have also updated a few of the enemies and now the game actually presents a bigger challenge than before while still retaining it's fun factor. After I am finished with these updates, a video will be shot, more up-to-date screen shots will be posted, and a game news update will happen. Thinking about how the alpha will be handled since that is very, very close.

Neuntoter

Finally, Tik Tok Tank has it's own page. I am polishing up some features and AI code while Nonulok is making some touch ups to our current sprites and tiles. Although the images associated with the game now will most likely change a little more when the final release happens we would like to make sure that during our Alpha/Beta stages the game looks presentable. Where still not sure if it will stay the slightly colorful retro look or a dark and gritty retro look.

Like I said in a previous post, the AI is finished but the small parts that are not is the fact every enemy we make will have some uniqueness that makes it stand out. Those are what I am coding now. The parts that are finished is what is shared between all enemies. pathing, vision, and other small things.

Well that's it for now.

Neuntoter

Yes, it was posted on April fools day but no it is not a joke nor a fake studio. Mod/Indie DB is just a pain to post certain items such as company news and game pages, so since Nonulok and I are both working hard on the game along with working our normal full time jobs we kinda failed to finish the "setup" for the company page. Good news... that will be completed this weekend along with submitting our Tik Tok Tank game to Desura for the alphafunding program. If all goes well and as planned it will be up for alpha sale for $1 for the first 2 weeks for anyone wanted to join the journey early on in the game. We will be releasing an official "What We Want to Complete for Final Release" list so everything is clear about were the game is currently at in production. I will not lie, I actually want to add so much stuff to the game it's not even funny. So the list we "Officially" release will get done and more. And depending on how well sales go for it, we will actually double the games intended size, (level count, enemy count.. things like that.).

Neuntoter

What Enguised Studios means to me:
To me we are a small studio hoping to make some kind of difference to those that like games but do not have a lot of game time and for those that love those short but sweet addictive games. To me personally, I love Skyrim as any other game playing RPG fanatic is concerned but 100+ hours seems to me a little crazy to me. When I play the game it is to seriously just wander around a little bit and kill some stuff then I quit. Not really the way the game is meant to be played, so in the long run a lot of the later game cool stuff I may never actually see. Now after using that game as an example I loved 2 great games in particular, Lord of the Rings: War in the North and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine. Very well told stories, played for about 8-10 hours, got to experience almost all the game had to offer and could go back and play again to enjoy the story (like reading a book or watching a good movie) all over again. These are the games that I myself prefer because you can enjoy it all with very little dedication.
So what does this mean as far as my game making goals. Simple, not everyone enjoys the "Skyrim's" that are out there simply because of the crazy dedication that is required. So with an answer to that, I would love to make more of the short but sweet style games that almost everyone can enjoy whether you are in a rush and only have 10 minutes or 2 or more hours to burn, our games should fit well into your lifestyle.
Of course Tik Tok Tank, being our very first commercial release, will not really contain a story per se but it will contain a great gameplay style and a great spin off game that will open up a great story. So it will act as a good get our feet wet, introduce us to the great gaming communities and show a little of what we can do and what we are here to try to accomplish.
Speaking of which. A small Tik Tok Tank update. I am putting a small hold on the major coding parts so I can work on finishing up some levels and additional content so we can give some meat to the game and get it out there for alpha stage testing. As stated previously we are going to try to get it on Desura's Alphafunding program to help us out a little and so you the fans can enjoy it a little sooner and watch it grow as a game along with us the devs. If we can make Desura a reality then we may even do a 2 week special were the first week it will only be a dollar before it goes to it's $2 alpha price.
Nonulok and I both have some big and extended plans for this game and hope that you all will join us in the journey to make this a great game and who knows, maybe even a classic.
Thank you
Neuntoter