Alpha #1 - We're Almost at Public Alpha!

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- Alpha Test Video #1 from Ichiro Lambe on Vimeo.


We're almost ready to distribute AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! in its publicly-playable alpha format. Just a few more weeks, probably. Here's the alpha test's first video.

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Creating the Game's Textures Without Slave Labor

We're using a utility called Genetica to help create AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!'s in-game textures:



Rather than painting brushtrokes, the program allows us to tell it how to twist, turn, and otherwise manipulate an image until we get it to where we want: "Create a circle. Create an arc. Create a checkerboard. Cut the arc and circle out of the checkerboard shape. Trace outlines. Make it glow."

For example, each node in the below image is a different process applied to a bunch of circles:



We combine all these to create concentric arcs, then apply a series of different operations:



When we render that to a texture, we get something that looks like this:



If we want something different, we can tweak some of the operations and re-render. For example, if we were to add in the hand-drawn shape of a jellyfish, and replace the arcs with circular cells (generated via a built-in algorithm), we'd get this:



When used in-game, the rings looks like this:



Check out Genetica here -- it's a lot of fun.

The Name is Cool. The Graphics SSSUUUUUCCKKKK!!

Q: Electronic Arts is spending $40,000,000.00 making their next game look ultra-realistic. You are not Electronic Arts. What do you do?

A: Check out our latest dev diary entry at GDN!

Item Images in AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!

Two items from the last post's list. The fish denotes that you're carrying nothing. Absolutely nothing! The item on the right? The "Flip-It" glove, which allows you to make rude gestures at spectators as you pass them.

Items in AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!

Carry something with you as you jump. Candy. Dirty magazines. A warm kitten. Or carry something useful:

• Popcorn Eyeglasses - It's said that the Society of Avian Rescue Society sometimes gives these out to pilots who hit too many birds.
  
• Optical Fiber "Flip-It" Glove - Use this glow-in-the-dark glove to flip spectators off. Savor their shock and gain extra points.
  
• 0.9 Megapixel Camera - Rumor has it that magazines will pay top dollar for snapshots of interesting advertisements during a jump.
  
• Spitwad Blowgun - Spit + Paper + Suburbanite = Points
  
• Autarch Magnum Lite Beer - There's currently a world record of 20 successful jumps while drunk, held by Carmen "Donkey Rage" Andrews, may she rest in pieces.
• Double Mocha Espresso Espresso - Congratulations on your Tashtego's sponsorship! Mainline their Double Mocha Espresso Espresso, and you'll be able to slow time at will. Just hold down the left mouse button during your jump. Hooray for stimulants.
  

We're working on it.

Dead Simple Cinematic Swooping Camera Algorithm Kicks Ass

Slightly shiny cubes and a swooping camera that arcs between random points. Now that's progress. We whipped this up some time ago, and are using part of the code for AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!. It's useful for when a player wishes to view an arena from multiple points in preview window.

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! Dev Diary on Gamers Daily News

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!

onomatopoeia/ 1: The sound emitted by a person falling towards the Earth at a high speed, after jumping from a low altitude, with a very small parachute. 2: The sound of pure exhilaration mixed with terror.

Don’t believe us? Check your Merriam Webster. Then check out Dev Diary Session 1 over at Gamers Daily News!

Chitter!

Ever wanted to bug the hell out of an Olympic athlete? In the fiction of the gameworld, Chitter allows fans to post little 256-character comments about a given event. It's hugely popular, and the event's coordinators project these Chitter comments (called "cheeps") up to where the jumpers can see 'em. (Yes, it's a parody of Twitter -- follow us at usernames Dejobaan and RoRoDejobaan.)

The words in the above photo will eventually be comments from the (computer-generated) peanut gallery. They either love you or hate you -- and they'll let you know.