Piste Gamez

Slow, Slower, Piste Gamez

2008-06-01T11:52:00.000+03:00

Has it really been 6 months since I last posted? Time sure goes fast.
A lot of changes have been made to the editor and the game, as you might
see from the updated picture on top of this page (if you still remember
the previous one). After reviewing some of the comments at the forum about
Pekka's new look (he being fat with big boobs), I decided to redraw him
once again (we do read all the feedback although were too lazy.. erm busy
to reply). I'm actually pretty happy with the new look now. Surprisingly
I learned a few new things while doing Elf Destruction which helped doing
the new Pekka. Even though it's 2008 I still work mostly with Deluxe Paint
via DosBox and use Gimp for post work like adjusting levels and making
alpha masks. The process is slow but sometimes I actually manage to do
something decent that way.

Jerome has done excellent job with the editor, and there have been big
changes since Elf Destruction. Scripting will be more important now and
there will be less hard coded stuff. Most stuff in the Elf Destruction
were hard coded to the game since time constraints, and are not usable
for PK3 anymore. What comes to Pekka Kana 3, I wouldn't call it even a
game yet, since even most of the basic functionality is still far from
done. We have collision detection and lots of pretty effects but no
actual game play yet. Well, once the editor starts to be in a stable
state the real work with writing the scripts will begin. Which is a lot
of work and year 2009 is coming fast. Or at least it feels that way.

Oh yeah, and we apologize for the black sprite problem with Elf
Destruction. There is a bug in the game that causes sprites to go
black with some new graphics cards. Hopefully this didn't spoil
your holidays.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-30T19:36:00.000+02:00

Accompanied by a complete renewal of the site's design, our Christmas/New Year surprise is finally ready for it's public release. It was supposed to be little tech demo showing off the capabilities of the upcoming editor, but we go a little carried away with it... The game is titled Elf Destruction, and it's a simple jump & run game where you collect gifts, throw snowballs at snowmen and kick their ass (you can do that literally!). You know, the usual Christmas stuff.
We were planning to release the game dramatically 1.1.2008, but what the heck, I'm sure nobody minds if we are a little ahead of schedule ;)

One thing I need to say is that although it's a tech demo, there is a lot of hard coded stuff too, because we wanted to get the game ready in time. What is hard coded is enemy AI, number displays, Elf's attacks and variables that update when items are collected. But most of the work with enemies and levels were really done in the editor, and I think it's pretty decent game made in about 2 months by two people who have (real) jobs and all. It's not very long, but hopefully fun all the way.

So grab the game from our renovated site and enjoy! Or get frustrated, because it's not a very easy game. ;) Some beta testers did have problems running the game under Windows 98 and Vista, so it may not be the best present for everyone.

Still, Happy New Year and Post Christmas!

Santa's Coming Late This Year

2007-12-21T20:25:00.000+02:00

Despite of our best efforts, we had to give our Christmas present a new deadline, which is now 1st of January. Christmas just came too fast this year. I never thought I'd say that...

I've also worked with a new site design for Piste Gamez that will (hopefully) see the daylight the same day we reveal our gift. So do come and visit us at www.pistegamez.net after you have recovered from all your New Year partying ;)

Wrapping Presents...

2007-12-06T01:53:00.000+02:00

It just might be that this year Piste Gamez has (finally?) a small Christmas surprise to give. Or at least we are working hard to make it happen. No promises yet, though. If it doesn't make it in time, it just has to be a ... uh ... New Year's present?

And it's not PK3, if you wondered. But it is a glimpse of things to come, anyways. ;) And maybe a tradition we will repeat next year too.

Stay tuned for more information. And remember: Elfs are watching...

The New Feathers of Pekka Kana

2007-09-01T16:27:00.000+03:00

That's right! The unlikely hero - the rooster with brains size of a peanut - is coming back. Pekka Kana 3 is the latest game project Piste Gamez is working with. The project started in January (2007) and our humble goal is that the game would be finished in 2009 before that year's Assembly event (which is held every year), and the Game Development Competition they have there. We'll see what happens. There is still a long long way to go before the new Pekka will see the sunlight.

This time the PK team has grown from one man project to a team effort. The core team working with the game consists of me doing the graphics and doing the major part of the game design, and Jerome ... uh sorry, XFactor doing all the coding. Outside of Piste Gamez comes composer Mikko Tarmia, who is doing the music for the game. Since this is a big project, we will probably need more help. Especially with writing the story and doing the levels.

So far we have worked quite a lot to improve the visual side of the game, and Jerome a.k.a. "Mr. Born To Code" has done a huge job with the Editor, that will be used to create the game. It's far from ready, but I'm already having tons of fun with it. Unfortunately the actual game is in very early stages, but I expect that to change since we are giving it more focus now.

Images used to decorate this blog were taken from misc. screen shots of some PK3 test levels. They give you a clue of the new visual style of the game, but the actual game graphics will be more brighter than the images you see here, since I had to adjust them quite a bit to make them better background graphics. And as you can see (if you have played PK2), Pekka indeed has new feathers ;)

Hello World!

2007-09-01T16:22:00.000+03:00

After thinking about it for a some time, I decided that it was time I'd do a blog for Piste Gamez. Since PK3 is the game we are currently working with, this blog will be mostly about it for now. But if I actually one day come up with something meaningful to say about Piste Gamez, or about games in general, I'll post it here.