I think it’s time to give an update on how this game’s development is going. This is an indie game development blog after all. And so far, a good bit of it has just been me showing random characters instead of discussing the actual development side of things. If this is your first time learning about this game, I advise you check out this blog’s first and second posts, linked below:
Also, check out the game’s Game Jolt page while you’re at it too!
More Story Info
To start this off, I am going to reveal some more about the game’s story and world. This is the part where you really should look at the other posts before reading.
Randy’s Crazy Mission! is set in the world of a poorly-made Atari 2600 game released in 1982. It takes place during the video game crash of 1983. On the rare occasion that Randy’s Crazy Mission! (the in-universe Atari 2600 game that is, not the actual game) is played, a loud sound plays letting everyone in the game world know the cartridge has been inserted. Time moves differently in video game worlds, except for when they’re being played (since players in the real world gain control). This gives the characters plenty of time to get all their Quackers in a row before the game starts. But they lose their free will when the game boots up. And they can’t do anything but follow their programming during this.
How the ADVENTURE Starts
The characters in Randy’s Crazy Mission!, especially Randy, have grown tired of the people playing their game being disappointed and returning it to the store. After being put on the shelf by yet another disappointed person who bought this shoddy advergame, a jittery, once adventurous Townsfolk character tells the people of the game a story. He once had what he calls a “Relic” in his possession. It was a glitchy byproduct of the game’s poorly-made nature, and this character found it far away, along with many other “Relics”. It allowed him to manipulate the reality of the game, basically working as his little cheat code or something. With this power, someone can turn the game into a better and more interesting experience for players.
Sadly, this character lost the “Relic” in an “incident”, so someone has to adventure (get it?) out to retrieve another one. The original owner had completely lost his desire for adventure. So it’s up to Randy to find it. Randy has always wanted to do something meaningful rather than being controlled by someone in the real world doing a pre-programmed plot. Most of the other characters in the game will not try to get a Relic. Either because they trust Randy enough to get one, or because they’re too scared to go out and adventure. This all serves as the catalyst of the game’s plot.
Corny the Squirrel
Meanwhile, Corny, a squirrel who’s character was created to be a candy thief by the company who made him, wants to beat Randy and get a Relic before him for his own benefit. Corny is the antagonist of the in-universe game. Characters constantly make fun of him for having such a lame motivation in the game. In the cartoon commercials the game was based on, he’s just a Trix Rabbit-type character who wants to steal candy. Corny’s the “villain” at first, but a very poor one as you’ll see. A much better (I mean worse, I guess) antagonist replaces him later on. Who? I’m not saying for now.
Like I said in previous posts, the characters are aware of what happens in the video game industry, and the then-current video game crash. How does the video game crash of 1983 tie into this? Well, that’s something I’m not revealing until later.
Update
Lately, my desire to finish the demo and release it has only grown. As a result, I am finally seeing some progress when it comes to actually making the demo. I originally intended to make this game in Unity, as you may know. Well, since Unity decided to leech off of people for every download of their games using the engine, I didn’t want that to happen to me, which made me decide to switch engines. Luckily, the actual Unity project of this game didn’t get that far. This is partially due to my previous inexperience with game coding. I had downloaded GameMaker to serve as the game’s new engine. I had to start the actual game project over as a result.
After taking a course on programming, and learning more about GameMaker, I’ve started to make progress with the technical side of things, actually coding a good bit MYSELF. I also asked AI to aid me with some of it, which helped a lot (mostly). I also asked AI to write classic arcade and Atari 2600 game jokes. Don’t ask. I’ve already done a good bit of the code myself so far, as I said. Though, I’m still not perfect at it, and I have other tasks to do in order to bring the demo to life. I still have things like the art and animation to complete, as well as the music. All of which I’m doing myself.
The Broken Cord
Speaking of the art, the tablet that I use to make the game’s hand-drawn art, which I owned since late-2016, stopped working properly due to its cord wearing out. Here’s a picture of the broken cord:
Fun fact: I took this picture on my Nintendo 3DS’s camera because the one in my junk computer is broke. Anyway, I recently bought a new cord for my drawing tablet. But I could barely draw with it during the time I had the old cord. Now that I have the new cord, I can resume work on the game’s art and animation.
Programming Help and Roadblock
I’m still going to need additional programmers to help me out, as was my original plan. Unfortunately, I’m still in the process of finding the right coders for this game. While I’m now better at programming than I’ve ever been, I still definitely need more experienced coders to do the more advanced stuff. I have to admit, I’ve had second thoughts about if I should pay for the work. Since, it will be for a free demo. I don’t fully know how indie game development works yet, and it shows.
After asking for advice, I concluded that I must give some compensation. However, I’m not doing that well financially right now, and I won’t be able to offer any pay at the moment. Though, I really want some professional programmers to come onboard right now. I ask of you, please consider working on this game now. I will pay you eventually.
If you’re a professional programmer who knows GameMaker’s internal coding language (GML), and you at the very least want something to work on as a hobby right now (but hopefully be paid later), then please read these requirements and consider getting back to me:
- You have to be knowledgeable about indie game development. If you’ve only programmed a website, for example, I can’t get you.
- You need to have worked on at least one game before.
- You need to know how to code a 2D platformer, but should also be versatile in what kind of stuff you can program for games.
- You should know how to program for a GameMaker project. Wait, I already just said that, so never mind!
- I want you to be good at bug fixing.
Please email me with the list of games you worked on if you’re interested. My email address is [email protected].
Color Change
After creating much of the Atari-style sprite work for the game, I discovered that the colors I used (which I got from Adobe and are mostly the same colors used for the hand-drawn versions of the characters) aren’t accurate to the color palette of the 2600. I thusly changed the colors of the game’s Atari sprites for accuracy’s sake.
This resulted in a more muted look for the game’s pixelated elements. Which I can tell makes it look a lot closer to an actual Atari 2600 game. Here’s what some of the sprites look like now:
Translation
I wanted the demo’s script to be translated into some other languages so that it can get a wider audience, and thus, a larger installed base for the full game. Luckily, I received a lot of requests. So far the demo is primed to be translated into a good number of other languages. However, while I’ve picked the translators who applied so far, I haven’t yet brought anyone on board and started translation. I haven’t 100% finalized the demo’s dialogue quite yet. Also, while this wasn’t my original plan, I think I’m actually going to finish and release the demo first, and then have whoever I get onboard to program the translations in later and implement them shortly after launch, you know, to save development time. I want to release the demo out to the world as soon as possible. Anyway, that’s all for now.