1.4 is a pain. (ToT 2/29/12)

Well, Square Trail 1.4 is huge if I want to fulfill as many of my expectations as possible. So I plan on breaking it up into two updates, 1.4 and 1.5 so I can divide the work up a bit. There's a lot of new graphics and programming work going into this, but it'll be worth it!

Today I put in a death screen, Coin collection system... 

score+(kills*2)

And a frame of the new main menu. A lot has to be done, ohhhh boy. In the coming days I'll be working on UI stuff. A lot of UI stuff.

Square trail 1.4, balance issues, and a Prologue hiatus (ToT 2/14/12)

Okay, so 1.31 of Square Trail is out, with it some performance tweaks and balancing... however it didn't end up well, and is worse off than before! Shield is now really weak, and Ghost is too strong... so 1.32 will be out tonight fixing those issues.

BUT ONTO 1.4 WOO!
This introduces too 2 main new things: Coins, and Skins. You earn coins from your Score + Square Kills, then you can buy new Square Skins with these coins. It might also have a Hardcore mode... but that might come even earlier... or later, I don't know yet. Hardcore mode will bring faster Red Square spawns, and faster movement.

Prologue? Development is on break due to the success of Square Trail. One at a time, one at a time. I'm really happy with PR2 so it can stay this way for a while.

Square Trail 1.3, and a new host!

Square Trail is now on Kongregate!

Now, probably Friday or Thursday, SqTr on DeviantArt, Kongregate (and soon Newgrounds) will be updated to 1.3, this is whats in the new version!

• Wave gets a big buff. It's larger and works correctly.
• New Ability: Laser! It works like a small, continuous Wave.
• New Ability: Shield! Quicker drain than Ghost, but surrounds you with spikes that kill Squares you touch.
• Bigger playing area!
• Some framework for the next patch, v1.4...

1.4 will bring one big thing with it: Skins. You'll be able to change your Square skin, and maybe the background too - with Coins earned by collection or destroying Squares.

Q&A: Better graphics in Prologue, Points.ini editing, Bugfixes

Editing the Prologue Points.ini file.
Eventually I'll release a mini app (probably bundled with Prologue) that'll let you create your own Points.ini's. It'll be simple and user friendly, letting you give yourself weapons, gear, propoints, etc. I'm considering it as part of an app called "tae.OPEN" I want in the future, it'll allow editing of this, and all games running tae (Reminder: Trevor's Advanced Engine) that support it. Which will hopefully be all.


Is there any chance of better graphics in Prologue?
Probably not. I'm talking about taeHD's High Res Display feature, it won't be in Prologue any time soon, if ever.

I just tried it out, upgrading would require me to change pretty much everything. All objects look to small with HRD on, All UI elements are intended for the current screen size... which means I'd have to redo all of that. It's just too much at this point, so don't expect High Res Display in Prologue.

Any PR2 bugfixes coming soon?
There are a few bugs I found fixed. Probably will be in the next nightly, and then the next Prerelease. This includes:

• Super Shield doesn't show up as equipped in the home screen.
• Super Shield is too weak (too much drain)
• Recieving gift codes multiple times (expect Gift changes in PR3)
• Survival STILL doesn't reward enough points for the effort.
• Some badges aren't giving notifications.

Let's go into tae.OPEN details!

For Prologue it'll be a Points.ini editor. Hopefully for lone it'll be a user content creator (SHHHHH, more on that after Outskirts is done...) and in the upcoming Square Trail v1.3 (I'm trying to upgrade it to tae for better playability) some sort of game editor.

CSI Prologue: Prerelease 2!

HERE IT IS: [LINK] Please uninstall your old Prologue Prerelease!

You can transfer your Save File by going to C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\MMFApplications then copy the contents of the Points.ini. Install Prerelease 2, run it once, and paste the copied text into the newer Points.ini

Known Bug:

Super Shield isn't shown as currently equipped gear, even though it is (fixed in next nightly)

IN THIS VERSION

• New, consistent interface across all menus.
• SAVE THE GAME BY PRESSING "IN-GAME MENU" THEN SAVE GAME.
• Introducing MyPro
• Use the ProPoints you earn from playing any mode to buy new weapons, gear, gadgets, items, and badges in the ProShop
• Manage and equip all your new items in the new Inventory screen.
• Send Points to friends with the Gift Codes system.
• Customize your game.
• Two new badges earned by using ProShop or getting a Gift Code.
• Super Shield gadget (replaces Turret if you want)
• Rifle must be bought.
• Turret must be bought.
• Various bugfixes from PR1 (Maximize still not fixed)
• Introducing CSI NIGHTLY - more on it below.
• Two more levels of Survival Mode.
• Survival mode gives more points.
• Changes to ProPoint income - you earn slightly less than before.
• You can now press Escape or F2 to return the main menu.
• Tweaks to the points.ini (manages save files)
• Both Legacy badges now work.
• Story Mode scene 2 is 1/4ths the way done.

What is CSI NIGHTLY? 

• An up to date build of Prologue that is updated almost every night, it is very experimental but can contain critical bug fixes the moment they are implemented, new content or badges, and entirely new features. Test the next Prerelease before it's even released!

The first Nightly will be released later tonight. You'll be able to download it at anytime using the sidebar on the right.

Today on Trevdev 2/3/12

Welcome to the first Today on Trevdev! It'll be a wrapup of stuff I did in game development today - a summary post pretty much. On to the content!

• Square Trail 1.2 update due today on DeviantArt
• Larger play area.
• New "Wave" ability.
• New graphics.
• New Previous score and Session's Best score display.
• More information on how to play.
• Polished interface.
• Abilities guide.
• Prologue - has some new stuff ready for PR2...
• Gifting system - buy ProPoints codes to give to people - and send your PP to your friends!
• New Super Shield gadget (equipment), fast health regen, but with ammo drain.
• Shopper and Gifter badges for buying something, and buying a Gift.

Updating...

Mission accomplished!

Alright, awesome news!

• ProShop is IN! So far you can buy the Turret, Rifle, or Quick Heals.
• Inventory is IN! From MyPro you can see all the Gear, Equiptment, or Weapons you've purchased.
• New interface is IN! It looks and works great, too.

Also...

• Improved saving - you have to do it manually by opening up the "In-Game Menu", but it works much better.
• A new gadget like the Turret might be added before Saturday/Sunday.
• ProShop Gift Codes will be added. I'll post some on my blog and in physical cases, giving you some free PP. Eventually, Code purchasing will be added - for a PP price you can get a code to transfer PP to someone else.
• Earn more points in Survival mode, making it on par with Legacy.

Introducing Square Trail.

Play it here: http://magecandy.deviantart.com/#/d4obuob

It's small, and I made it only in two half-class periods. But it's pretty enjoyable. Imagine a mix of Centipede and Tron/Lightbikes. Codenamed, Square Trail, it's going to be a flash exported game and probably playable on my DeviantArt tonight. You're a square that can't stop moving, and constantly gains speed, but little deadly squares always appear behind you. You can drop bombs to destroy the little squares to clear space, but you'll run out eventually - how long can you survive?

Big changes with PR2.

ProShop is implemented. Potential purchases are sorted by "Badges" "Equipment" and "Items".

Badges all part of the ProShop series, just expensive things you can buy to collect and finish your Wall.
 
Equipment: There are two classes to this, gadgets like the Turret, used with X and Z - one can only be equipped at any time, your Inventory in MyPro is used for selecting your Equipment. There's also Gear like your main weapons - Pistol, SMG, Rifle.

Items like equipment, re used in-game, with the V key. They're one-time use, sometimes stackable items with a specific use, like the Quick Heal that fully restores your health, but you can only have 5 at any given time.


Oh, and uh... Equipment in PR2

• Turret will become the first piece of equipment you can buy, for 100,000 ProPoints.
• The Rifle might be the first purchasable piece of Gear. Meaning you start with just the Pistol and SMG, but have to buy the Rifle for 250,000 PP

Items... only the Quick Heal.

Baadges... might not be in PR2.