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12/6/07: Sun is shining
It's been a fairly quiet time when it comes to blogging on this website, but don't you worry, things are still happening! Though the summer air may be partly to blame, we are now just weeks away from the Screen 7 game of the year award which rewards adventure game making people (like you) with a lovely little trophy. Also, people have managed to get their hands on the beta of the demo of Games Galore!, a little sim/tycoon style game I've been working on in AGS - it's not great, but thanks still for all your support about it! The demo is practically ready for public playing - but everytime I finish up I realise it could be more fun with one extra feature...and so that happens time and time again causing the release of the demo to fall back and back and back! Keep an eye on the main Games section for news & info.

I also think a thanks is in order for everyone who's said a kind word to me about the music for Nelly Cootalot, which still remains to be my personal favourite score! It means a lot to me to know that you think that kind of music suits the game! The votes on the music page are still growing, so thanks! Also, the Lif and the Treasure of the Tanones soundtrack is available on my MIDI site. There is still a lot of work to be done on music for games still in the making! Because I am a pest with organisation I am developing a special section of the site for those that I am/will/have composed for. I'll also hopefully have some composer notes on the website soon but more importantly (dare I say it) a new tutorial! Adventure music making 2...sure. 2! Go check the original at Adventure Developers :D To all those I do still owe music too, BUG ME FOR IT! I want to make it. I just need your pressure to make it happen :)

Brittens is just around the corner, and although I'm sad that I can't fly out to Canada to the main Mittens event this year I'm sure Brittens will still be a lot of fun! I'll be taking Games Galore! to showcase this year, but sadly there hasn't been enough progress on Fountain of Youth to really take anything along. However, I'm sure by next year the intro section will be ready & that can be taken to Mittunnnns! Never the less I don't want you to get the impression that nothing is going on at all...the artwork for the intro is coming along beautifully, and my god is it EPIC!!! I can't beleive what the guys have done! Seriously it is fantastic. Ambitious, but fantastic!

You will be delighted to hear that the talented sprite artist & animator Nacho (Farlander) is working on the sprites for the full-game. He's been mastering the works of LucasArt's style characters and animations behind our backs but I know the team and I are VERY excited with what he's producing!!! Jan, as you'd assume, is toiling on with demo translations & is itching to put the intro section of the game together. DEMO DVD BOX SETS are also getting closer. Also, everyone who has donated up to this point will be sent a single CD sleeve containing the demo (providing you left your address!!) JUST YOU WAIT!

In other news, things are getting underway with the film side of things. I'm finally moving ALL film related stuff to it's OWN computer (*phew*). Several projects (and maintenance procedures :$) are underway. We're reaching a make or break situation on this front so fingers crossed lets hope it all goes to plan!! Still, enough said about that until there is hard news ;)

Finally; I drove down a familiar road the other night & realised it was the extremely long one Chris Jones (AGS) drove me home on from Mittens 06 (Spain). So thanks again for that, CJ!!!





12/2/07: Exercise your wrist
Wahey! The Nelly Cootalot soundtrack is complete, after a whole year of writing it - the largest freeware soundtrack I've composed is finished. It stands at just under 30 minutes in length. I'm excited for the release, not only because I want to see my music in action - but also of course because the game itself looks fantastic! The very short demo gave a hint of something beautiful, the dialogue was incredibly well written and heavily themed - so that's one of the things I cannot wait for. The graphics of course were cute, and the puzzles - well, the demo didn't feature any so they are going to be completely new!

I've also had the chance to take a sneak peak at Andrew Edmark's short film - Somos las Bolas, written by the excellent Phil Reed. Standing at 23 minutes, this short is fun, well written and a pleasure to watch. You can find more information and news updates on Phil's website, so keep an eye out, hopefully Edmark will be releasing it soon!



29/1/07: Hello! It's a blog!
Welcome to the updated mini-site, which now features that simple link some of you voted for! I thought we'd have some fun introducing a new blog and saving space for features like the AGDzine, Mittens website and so on. It's just a matter of getting them completed! I'm not a huge fan of blogging, but I thought you might like to read what's going on behind the scenes. Perhaps I'll come round to it in the process, as it's still quite fun to type! Though there may not seem to be any major releases from this little team there are always lots of minor ones to note. Our non-commercial game strategy is probably going to be long-term. Money can be made through the filming side of the business, and some of that, if all goes well, can help fund a gaming side that will fulfill the needs of our freeware target audience. And that's YOU, probably! Definitely if you typed in the URL for this website.

So what things have been happening? That is what I'll try and use this blog for. I'm trying to get back into gaming as passionately as I did when I was young, but you'll have to mind me when I start talking rubbish about un-related issues! There are quite a few cool things going down in s7 world at the moment. Firstly, a feature that I think is absolutely GREAT and wished it happened more frequently! That is, Mr Super-Flash™, the amazing art man Miez - with his season's greetings animation with Indiana Jones (also ™). He's also been working on graphics for translated versions of the demo. Trial runs with Dutch and Finnish have produced some errors, but Jan is working hard to look into them. Secondly, over at AGS I found the Larry Vales 3 demo wasn't available, and added a page. Why? Because it definitely deserves to be found easily! Even Phil Reed's link doesn't work!

I'm looking forward to seeing Rocky tonight, and I have no shame about it because I feel it's due as I didn't see any of the others in the cinema but have come to love them! It's a Rocky hexology (if such a thing exists) with Mr T in!! He's my favourite Stallone character, and thankfully, he's created by the man himself. It's not often that sequels feature their original teams. Like Die Hard 4, no McTiernan involved. Sure, as a producer. But it's effectively his series. It would've been nice for him to direct. But that's just personal taste! We all know who's on board for Indiana Jones 4. Will it be a graphic fest? Or will he spend his money on blowing up real mountains?

That wasn't really leading anywhere, sorry :p Rocky reminded me of another exciting development. Yahtzee is a popular developer of the adventure game variety, and his latest release - a round-up to his Trilby series (5 Days A Stranger, 7 Days A Skeptic, Trilby's Notes) is 6 Days A Sacrifice - and it's a damn good game! There is surprisingly little bias there, even with the fact I wrote the soundtrack! It's been enjoyed by many and we are led to believe the series has ended. Who knows? In 15 years, Yahtzee could credibly pull off what Spielberg & Lucas are doing today! There have been some nice comments on the soundtrack for the fourth game, too. That's always nice - and especially so in this case because I don't want to ruin Yahtzee's reputation with crap music! :p

Finally, someone asked me about The Compound, mentioned on our games front page. That is a little side project I've been moving forward slowly. I've been working on a couple of short 1st person AGS games but as always I've only been devoting very small periods of time to them. The Compound probably won't be ready for many-a-year, and it was kind of silly to promote it so early. However, there is another 3D 1st person adventure I've been making which will be ready VERY soon! I'm not a huuuge fan of 1st person 3D adventures, or pre-rendered adventures as I call them - but I've figured I've got the software and being no artist, it's about the best I can do, originally :p


It's fun creating a mysterious land in Bryce!

There are three important soundtracks in the course of development that I'm working on. One is nearly finished, the other two need some serious work! Myself and The Scorposer are learning through a combined experience on DNG2: Day Of The Jackass, initial tests have been pretty good but it'll truly take shape once the Nelly Cootalot score is finished. Chris has even created a little trailer at IceBox Games! Well, that is all I'm going to say for now. I'll leave you with a little link round-up to some AGS games in production I've recently got excited about, so until next time, byeee :D

THESE AGS GAMES WANT YOU The Marionette - The Forgotten Element - Welcome To Dark Lake - Alpha - X - Asterix & The Roman Underground - Earl Mansin: The Breakout

THESE AGS GAMES NEED YOU Immortal Soul - Dr Lutz and the Time Travel Machine - Emma Roide - The Tapir's Quest - Rise From The Abyss - Rawl's Tablet