… and now we’re back in Flash, but we’re ditching physics. Sigh…

I haven’t found a way to get a relatively simple rigid body physics component working on mobile without it taking a drastic hit to performance. Whether or not we had a native framework or a flash AVM, the gameplay experience took a nose dive the minute that complexity increased. Not only that, but what made it worse was its inconsistency. Framerate would fluctuate from 24 FPS to 7 FPS. Heck, I wouldn’t mind building a game to run at 12 FPS so long as it was a consistent 12 FPS.

At this point, I’m starting to regret mobile development. I didn’t want to jump into this genre just to get shoe-horned into casual puzzles.

… I’m dropping flash as our mobile development platform.

After a couple solid weeks of testing, Flash combined with Box2D just can’t keep a frame rate higher than 20 FPS on a mainstream Android phone. That’s simply unacceptable. I can only imagine how slow it would run on a iPhone 3G.

What does this mean? Looks like I’m going to have to go native. So far, AndEngine and Cocos2D are my top picks. I just have a shit load to read up on. On the plus side, I love my new Droid X and I can’t wait to move into mobile development. OpenGL has been an open checkmark on my list of things to learn for a long, long time.

As some of you may already know, I’m the new Tech Director for Mobile Development at BlindSquirrelGames, a small start-up game studio in Orange County, CA. We’re working on Beard & Glory, our first project slated for iOS, Android, and PC. I thought you’d like to get a sneak peak at development, so here’s a screenshot of our current level editor.

The game is going to be a blast! I can’t reveal too much regarding the gameplay except that there will be Vikings, booze, and violence. We’re working on getting it released sometime around July. In fact, we’re nailing down an agreement with a UK publisher to get it front-funded! WOOHOO! Expect more tidbits soon!

Life is pretty busy right now. Where to even start…

Blind Squirrel Games

As some of you may already know, I’m working at a local game developer startup called Blind Squirrel Games. I wear a lot of hats there (I made their website), but mostly I work as a tech artist. We’re working hard to build some fresh new projects and pick up a publisher. Hopefully we’ll have something nice to show you guys in a couple of months.

RockCandy

I’m working with a friend from the UCI Video Game Developer Club to push one of our projects onto the desktop and mobile platforms. I’m overhauling the previous version (video demo here) into a full screen app, with a ton of new features, like custom level maker, facebook integration, and better graphics. This isn’t a hobby project, mind you. It’s a full fledged app that we’re planning for the Droid and PC. For now, Apple can suck it until I figure out how to afford a new Mac dev station and an iPhone/iPad test kit. Sorry, iPhone users. Steve Jobs doesn’t make it too easy to develop for their little toy.

Conjurer

Conjurer is still moving along, albeit slowly. Here is some more concept art to tide you guys over. Yes, there is a new level and it involves jumping on the backs of dragons.

Dark Epoch

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m moving on up. I’ve begun work on starting a new brand, Dark Epoch Interactive (just a temporary site for now). I have a meeting with my accountant next month to submit the paperwork to  become an LLC. It’s scary and exciting, but it’s time to ditch this mondomaniatrics crap(the name of which I farted out at 2AM when I bought my first URL) and start gentrifying my hobby projects into actual sellable titles.

Other stuff

I’ve been putting together some portfolio sites for a few friends(1, 2, 3), and another one is right around the corner (leave me alone, Patrick! I’m working on it! >__< )

Here are a couple NPCs. My friends Yvonne and Trent will probably enjoy the fact that I’ve drawn them into my game. ^__^