a to do list

Hey readers,

I've been busy today, having major dental surgery, so no new stuff to report. The buzz seems to be dying down now over the Beta version, so it's now my job to actually fix all the problems that have been pointed out. The list bellow is as much for me as it is for my readers. The jobs I need to do are all listed, along with how difficult or time consuming they should be...

1. fix the QTE microgames so that they aren't as ridiculously common. Useful for testing that the code handling them was right, not so good for actually, like, having fun (really easy to fix... 10 minutes work)

2. clear up the Laura game to make it more obvious what's going on (more a conceptual challenge than a code challenge, something to think about)

3. Difficulty settings. The big code challenge. People who are new to this kind of game complain its too hard, people who are long time connoisseurs say the opposite. As I want absolutely everyone in the world to have a great time with the game, I will make a variable difficulty setting. A big old job, but one I think is really important

4. another mini game, maybe? I have an idea I really wanna get into the game... we'll see how the time works out.

If you think I've missed anything out, then please feel free to leave a comment, and I'll get to it!

only 24 hours....

wow... a lot of things to cover in todays post.

First, thanks to gnome's excellent powers of publicity the game is growing in popularity and word is spreading via some very cool sites... a few of note are

www.edge-online.com (the site for the fantastic British magazine, of which I am a proud reader, oh, and my first backlash thanks to 'chef')
http://indygamer.blogspot.com/2006/03/news_3072.html (great site... of which i am now a reader)
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/08/its_visiting_day_on_psp.php (another great site, worth a read)

thanks to all these sites for their kind words on the game, I just hope I can create something that lives up to your hopes.

I'd also like to plug a friend's new blog, evocative stuff, but parents beware... http://thecoloursthatburn.blogspot.com/

and last, but by no means least, version 1.0 of mikebithell.com is now uploaded... take a look, and let me know what you think :)

www.mikebithell.com

thanks to all my long time readers for your ongoing support, and welcome to any new people visiting for the first time.. as ever feel free to comment, or email me at my new address of contactme@mikebithell.com (mikebithell@hotmail.co.uk still works too).

Visiting Day BETA!

that's right. There is now a version of Visiting Day online for playtesting. Just a couple of points to make before I give you the URL....

1) This is a PC/MAC emulation of a psp game, for that reason the frame rate seems very low. This is because on the psp screen a lower frame rate is neccesary. Also worth noting that the multiplayer mode is designed for a console which can be passed around a group, so no online matches i'm afraid.. something I may look into down the line

2) The rotation of the console required for some of the games is faked with a rotating screen. This will be done in a far more interesting way on the actual release.

3) Don't try and put this version on your PSP, it won't work. The PSP version will be released soon

4) No music, but there will be, and of course you guys will be the first to know

5) Please feel free to give advice, and constructive crit. I really want to gauge opinion leading up to the release, which I'm now planning for the end of September (which will neatly coincide with the 1st anniversary of this blog). I will read every comment I get and give feedback (and credit) to those who's advice helps the game.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, now go have a go at the game :)

http://www.reflectionsinthemirror.co.uk/visitingday/visitingPCshell.html
Visiting Day

In other news, the site is comming along nicely, the colour scheme has been significantly altered, screen grabs soon... I think I've given you enough for one day :)

a break from Visiting Day

In order to distribute Visiting Day (an issue comming up soon), I will require a website... I have begun...

Mikebithell.com is designed to both be a simple site to navigate, and a showcase of my abilities at game design. For that reason the site has turned into something of an enclosure, into which are dropped small creatures who show the info of the site, as well as doing their own things... some screen grabs...





















so what do people think?

the designer emerges

Hello everyone.

Just a quick message to appologize for the lack of updates. My work is at a point where there really is nothing to report, things are being tweaked and fixed. The game is nearing the testing phase, and I have begun a pretty cool temporary site to host it on it's release. More on both those little projects as they chug along.

Once again sorry, me and the game are both very much alive, and I look forward to posting again with a little more info.

Thanks for supporting Power Up

an overdue update

As i've been spending time doing boring bug fixing behind the scenes of the game, I didnt really have anything interesting to share. Until now.

I've been expanding and refining the four existing mini-games, with an eye to adding one or two more levels. Ive pushed back the deadline for the big test till september, as that's when I'll be back in Newport with the people I want to test the game. This gives me plenty of time to turn Visiting Day into the game I originally imagined. Anyway, here's a quick intro to what's new in the game...

1) Story Mode - Allows a single player to go through the mini games in sequence, with an overall score at the end. (100% done)


2) Damage animation - Code which makes it so that when a character in a mini game gets hit, you can tell. This was a big missing component in former builds (50% done, and my job for today)


3) End game animation - When all lives are depleted, a quick animation to show the character getting captured, rather than the scene just cutting out (50% done)


4) Quick time events - something I've wanted to add for or a while, you must quickly press directional buttons to maintain the points accrued, or double them if you do really well. Lots of fun. (100% done)