Dyad Games Dev Blog

Shuriken Showdown 1,000,000 Impressions!

2012-01-19T07:02:00.000-08:00

Around this time two years ago Alex and I had locked ourselves away in my old crappy apartment for a whole month set out to do one thing, create a Flash game. Neither of us had worked a great deal in Flash before so this was the main challenge. Through the gnashing of teeth, and pulling of hair, we fought through the silliness and were able to create something we were both proud of.

We rarely saw the sun for those 30+ days due to all the windows being covered with blankets not to block out the light but to stay warm. The room we were in was a small 10x10 room with nothing but white walls, our computers, sleeping bags, a couple instruments, and the space heater. And the only time we went outside was for a milk run to Meier at 2am. We went through more strawberry/chocolate milk than I care to count, while nourishing ourselves with frozen chicken patties and white rice. During this month we were both focused on one goal more than we've ever been.

Needless to say the game was completed and has continued to grow over the years, climbing its way up to 1,000,000 impressions with the hopes of the same amount of game plays to follow. Keep your eyes open for the NEW Shuriken Showdown app for the iPad which will hopefully be released later this year!

Shuriken Showdown & Kamakura Mobile App Preview

2011-11-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Oops it looks like I slipped while I was holding these screenshots.

The development process is going smoothly! We're excited to be working on both games. Shuriken Showdown seems to be the easiest to recreate and will most likely see the light of day first. Some great ideas brewing between me an Lee for the next shuriken game and all of us have been thinking of fun ways to incorporate touch controls on Kamakura.

Stay tuned for more!

Kamakura Posters and Cards Arrived!

2011-09-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Posters

You'll be glad to hear we'll be shipping out the Kickstarter levels this week. Below is a video of unboxing the posters.

We're very happy with how the posters turned out.

Cards

The deck prints however, turned out differently than we would have liked. The box art is a touch duller than we wanted and the back of the cards is not the brown we had in the digital proofing. We found that the outside box art varied in color and a few of the decks we opened had a bit of color off the edges. It is very important to us that you get a good deck so we handpicked each of the decks we're sending out as well as sorting out misprinted and dull colored boxes.

If your deck has any problems at all let us know and we'll ship you a new one with no charge. Quality is important to us, more than likely we will not be doing business with this printing company again and are actively seeking a new company to print our next round of decks. If you feel your deck isn't up to standard, let us know and we'll ship you a new one when we print again.

After we get all of the shipping done we'll be posting the names of the Kickstarter Backers on our website. Again, if for any reason you don't want your name to appear on our website as a backer please let us know.

On a side note, we've been working hard on getting Kamakura to the iPod, iPad and Android.
We'll start shipping off the $15 pledges early this week followed by the $30 and up. We'll all be together to sign material for the other pledges on Wednesday September, 14. We will have all the pledges done by the end of this week at the latest.
Thanks for your patience and your support! We love all of you.

Kamakura Special Cases & Box Art!

2011-07-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

We posted another update on our Kamakura Card Game. Check it out:

Things are going steady over at Dyad Games. We just received the Kamakura Special Wooden Cases! See Video Below.

The boxes are cherry wood with brass hinges, black felt inside and custom Laser etched Logo on the top. Such a classy reward for the $80 pledges.

We also wanted to thank our backers by posting the names of the Kickstarter Backers on our website once we have completed the Shipping and everything has been finalized. If for any reason you don't want your name to appear on our website as a backer please let us know.

We also have a preview of our box art below.

It took us a little longer than we expected to get the order finalized for the cards boxes and instructions but we will keep you updated on the arrival of the cards as well as any details. Thanks for your patience.

Kamakura Kickstarter Is Over!

2011-06-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

The Kamakura Kickstarter has officially ended after 40 days. We raised $5,063 from 189 backers! We could not have done this without you guys! A HUGE thanks to all of the card game blogs, twitter reposts and everyone who's supported us on this endeavor.

Update: We also need all the backers to reply to the Kickstarter survey for your shipping address! This is super important and you have a month to do so.

The Dice Tower Podcast

2011-05-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Kamakura is beginning to get exposure across the board, which gets us even more pumped than we already are. Our latest mention was on "The Dice Tower" podcast. They do some great reviews on all types of card/board games for all ages. Be sure to check them out at thedicetower.com.

Kamakura Dice Tower Podcast

Kamakura is a GO!

2011-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Rejoice! For today we have reached our goal of $2,500 on Kickstarter closing out the day with $2,605! This means that the production of Kamakura officially has the green light. Get excited! But it doesn't stop there. We still have 22 days left of donations and preorders, so hop on over to our Kickstarter and snag your very own deck of Kamakura!

Kamakura Interview with The Noble Gamer

2011-05-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

We scored an interview over at The Noble Gamer

Board/card game projects on Kickstarter seem to be all the rage these days. Not that I’m complaining! The more games to get published the better, in my book. But because of this, I find myself needed to browse the Board and Card Game section on Kickstarter.com rather frequently, looking for something that might catch my attention. Kamakura was one that fit into that category. I’ll let the guys over at Dyad Games describe the game for you:

Check out the Interview with new concept art by Clicking Here.

Thanks for the help Ian!

Kamakura Kickstarter & Italy in Italics

2011-05-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hey if you haven't already, you can check out our new Kickstarter for Kamakura.

"Kamakura is our new card game of feudal japanese warfare in which you attempt to defeat an opponent by taking their territories before they take yours. This is done by carefully choosing combinations of weapons, soldiers, and arrow barrages to attack with while defending your own territories with a myriad of defensive techniques. Strategy, deception, and bravery will be your most valuable assets in the complex and varied game of Kamakura."

Also we went all out by making a motion graphic How To Play, Sleek Website and Free Art Wallpapers. You better get your butt over to:

www.dyadgames.com/kamakura

In the music realm we're mixing one of our songs "Italy in Italics". You should expect this beauty in less than a week...

KICKSTARTER IS UP

2011-05-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone! The Kickstarter has launched! You can go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyadgames/kamakura to preorder Kamakura! GO!!

New Wallpapers

2011-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

The other two character wallpapers in small res glory, enjoy!

New Band Name & Song Up!

2011-04-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

After years of talking about it we finally changed our band name! It is now "ODDEPOXY". We also have a new song called "Prognition". Enjoy!

It's been Weeks!

2011-04-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

Since we've updated... I understand your rage, however we've had somewhat of a setback for the Kamakura Cards. We need to make a Kickstarter video to launch the fundraiser and we've all been busy doing whatever it is we do-but, expect the Kamakura video this week.

Shuriken Showdown had a quick live update, you no longer have to hit the multi-shuriken targets! Better late than never right? ... right?

As for the Band, expect us to release a new song and another surprise this earlier this week.

First Printing!

2011-02-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

Some photos of our very first printing of Kamakura!

The Cards are Here!

2011-02-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

We have received the first deck of cards for our new game, Kamakura! We will be posting images of the cards later today along with the unboxing video. Stay tuned to get a first sneak peek!

First Deck of Kamakura Cards

2011-01-30T21:56:00.001-08:00

The very first deck of Kamakura cards have just been ordered! We hope you're as excited as we are! We should post a video of us unboxing it within the week. Stay tuned!

Geisha

2011-01-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a wallpaper featuring the Geisha from our soon-to-be-complete card game, Kamakura. Eventually we'll have several different portraits like this available for download, so stick around and get excited!

Apartment Pictures

2010-12-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

So it's about time we took you on a tour of the glorious apartment where all the magic happens. So put on your Limited Edition Dyad Games T-Shirt (TBA) and let's go:

This is the door. We live above a pizza parlor and some other dudes.

This is our living room. (Not Pictured: Broken windows seeping in cold air)

This is the Smash Bros Station on the right, as well as the Xbox fort on the left.

This is my Desk. It's where most of the coding happens, as well as some motion graphics and obscure anime series.

This is Lee's Desk. Web and Graphic Design are often found here. It also substitutes as a Family Guy and the Cleveland Show entertainment center.

This is Orie's Desk. Inside you'll see hand drawn art, graphic design and photography. (No mac jokes here folks)

Well that about sums up the tour! Keep your eyes peeled for Kamakura updates as its becoming closer than ever!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hey I hope all your bellies are full from Mr. Turkey himself. I know what you're thinking, what awesome artwork is he going to post today? Or maybe what can I learn from today's tutorial? Well we're all busy with family so here is a fantastic tutorial on how to make your own Handprint Turkey!

There's nothing like depth -= y

2010-11-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

Hey look it's a code post for our video game! ..Wait please come back, don't go back to Facebook! I'll explain it thoroughly.

Say you're making a top-down game or a three-quarter view game and you have a masked object like this:

(Pictured: MS Paint)

Set up with some other basic movement code, other objects in the game won't be able to go through the mask. Thing is we want our units to be able to go behind and in front of the Cloudmobile. Having a static depth doesn't do that for us.

(Even the clouds have eyes..)

The solution? Give objects this snipet of code: depth - = y Using this code in a dynamic object's step event (every frame of the game) or in the creation event of a static object, we can change the depth of an object based on its y coordinates.

(Couldn't think of anything funny.)

There you have it! Objects behind stay at a larger depth than those in front. Further posts will refer to the game as Project 9-bit. We plan on having 3/4 view as well as sidescroller and possibly other styles. Hope you enjoyed this simple tutorial.

Thanks to Game Sprite Archives for continually supplying win and Nintendo for making a 5 star game.

Kamakura Samurai

2010-11-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

The third and final unit in Kamakura is the Samurai:

A fearless and noble warrior who fights for his family's honor.

He looks like serious business. Check back tomorrow for some video game development!

Kamakura Ninja

2010-11-20T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today we've got another piece of line art. All of the card art is being done by Orie Rush.

A shadow raised from birth to be silent and merciless.

Did we mention that all units have a unique ability? Yep. Keep hitting Refresh on your browser and maybe we'll uncover some.

Kamakura Geisha

2010-11-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

So that card game we've been working on? Yea it's closer to being done than you think. Check out this line art for the Geisha:

A beautiful woman trained in the arts of music, dance, and deception.

Expect a lot more blog posts now that we've got Lee, Orie and I living together. Only good things can come of this.

Secret secret, I got a secret

2010-05-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

What have we been doing for 2 months you might ask. Probably nothing important, but in the past week we've been hard at work on an actual real card game. What kind of game, How do I play, What does it look like? These are the things you ask, but alas I can say no more. Just be excited.

Shuriken Showdown Walkthrough

2010-03-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just released the full 40 level walkthrough for Shuriken Showdown, be sure to check it out if you've gotten stuck!

I need to throw more shurikens...

2010-03-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

Getting addicted? Well we hope so. If you want to embed the game on your personal website/blog you can use this snippet of code:

That magic snippet will host our game directly from MochiMedia. Thanks Mochi!

Stay tuned to the feed as we announce 'Shuriken Showdown' as a Facebook API and we'll be throwing out a walkthrough video for each of the 40 levels!

Did Somebody beat my HighScore?!

2010-02-25T16:31:00.001-08:00

Want to know if you're getting left in the dust? Check out the MochiMedia Page or See Below!

Shuriken Showdown Official Release!

2010-02-24T10:51:00.001-08:00

Finally! Head over to the front page of DyadGames to play! We're currently awaiting a large distribution, but in the mean time why not submit a high score? Stay tuned for a walkthrough to the game, as well as info on new exciting projects!

Level Concepts

2010-02-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

We're nearing the completion of the game so we figured we'd let everyone see the concept sketches for some of the levels that you're going to see. After playing the game you'll notice that some level ideas go through several revisions before being finalized. On the other hand some concepts are scratched altogether. Enjoy.

Level Concepts

2010-01-26T00:24:00.000-08:00

For the level designs we wanted to create backdrops that were visually interesting without distracting you from the game play. In the sketches below we had the idea for a dojo environment. We ended up deciding against it mainly because him inside on a floating piece of ground might seem slightly odd. Is this to say that he will never venture indoors, no.

Learning Action Script 3.0

2010-01-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

I wanted to create a flash game, but As a programmer I was very unfamiliar with Action Script 3. The following websites provided and still give great coverage for examples, to explanations of how things work, as well as development resources:

Michael's Dev Blog - Great for beginners.

AS Gamer - Good Step by Step Walkthroughs.

Dezinerfolio - Great Resource Website.

Flash Game University - Provides Video Walkthroughs.

Flash and Math - Very inspiring work.

Mr Sun Studios - Unique AS3 Examples.

Pixel Perfect

2010-01-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

On the technical side of things, we encountered a snag when using Adobe Flash's built in collision detection...

By default, the targets bounding box is just the height and width of the image. This poses a big problem for accurate hit boxes on the targets, shields and other instances where things simply aren't square. We ended up using a collision detection script by Troy Gilbert which works really well! Thanks Troy!

Welcome to the Dev Blog!

2010-01-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking us out! We'll be sure to keep you updated on our development by posting screenshots, videos, downloads and more.

Most recently I've been working with Action Script 3.0 and the ~~terrible~~ great things it has to offer. Actually AS3 hasn't been that bad, I started working with it about the beginning of January, so some things aren't as familiar yet. Shuriken Showdown is going steady and we should release within a few weeks! Stay tuned.