Museum of Science Fiction takes off!

This last Monday my new game Museum of Science Fiction took off big with a front page spot on Kongregate and a review by JayIsGames.com! It's being called scary, eerie, humorous, and action packed all at the same time. The game features blood-thirsty lab zombies, anti-technology Amish robots, and five sisters turned into electric demons after an experiment gone deadly right.

So what's cool and rare about this game? A lot of people "loved how you can break the walls" (NewGrounds user andvari3d). Firing your weapon leaves bullet holes in the floor and walls, shells on the ground, and blood... the blood is everywhere. You could probably go CSI on the game and find out exactly what happened if you came in late to a friend playing.

Another feature you'll notice is the team based AI. A scientist's primary objective is to kill the escaped test subject (you) but if a zombie charges him he will redirect his fire to annihilate the immediate danger. Same goes for robots versus scientists. As Kongregate user Riley_Rocks puts it, they'll "technically, be your 'frenemy'." Do note, however, that zombies can't eat metal and they don't use technology so the robots and zombies work together just fine.

The game's epic size is best described by Kongregate user Stickbabiga:

"This museum > Smithsonian"

The game features 14 levels of expansive hallways to explore with an increasing number of enemies as you reach the top. It'll be a fun play whether you're looking to get your action on or simply want to search and explore. Different kinds of enemies combined with an ever dropping timer make for an intense playing experience. However, if you lose all your lives or run out of time you can still continue playing to find all the hidden notes and secrets. The only consequence is a lower score for that level.

Kongregate user ischomachos asked, "how badly do you have to screw up to unleash zombies and evil Amish robots on the world in the same week?" Well, the answer is this badly. Get them zombies and hypocritical robots!

Twisted Military is Released

My newest game is finally out in the wild. Run free! Don't let anyone change who you are!

It's a great driving shooter so if you're interested in some action head over and check it out!

Play Twisted Military

Flash Game Summit Experience

This weekend I attended the Flash Game Summit in San Francisco. It wasn't exactly what I expected; in fact it was a little disappointing. There was a lot of tension in most of the panels, and those without tension felt somewhat uninformative. Many times tension can be helpful, but in this case the information shared became vague and useless. Through the whole thing I kept thinking, "I know that . . . but some numbers would be interesting." I admit the event may have been great for someone really new to the flash game environment, but shouldn't it be geared towards improving your knowledge rather than introducing the basics?

One of my least favorite would have to be session 5 talking about what makes a flash game a hit. The whole thing turned into a battle between the hard core gaming artist and the corporate formula maker. On one hand creativity is completely substituted with statistical analysis of consumers and trying to fool people into thinking it's fun by adding achievements/leaderboards/etc. On the other hand, audience seemed to have no influence on the game design and leaderboards/achievements were heavily bashed. Don't get me wrong, there was some level-headedness within the discussion, but it made me realize how divided and close-minded our community can be.

It bothers me that corporate approach is taking over, because it's creating extremists on both sides. This leaves corporations making money off heartless games and independent developers failing because they don't connect with their audience. This pattern is going to turn our gamers into stat harvesting zombies, which in the long run is going to hurt the flash game market severely.

Now that I've been caught up in the debate myself, lets get back on topic. Ultimately, I think it's great that we have a conference focusing on flash games. It's a step forward. However, in order for this to be successful there needs to be a lot of changes before next year. A level ground needs to be established before hand (more specific, better crafted topics) so that the average independent developer (that's the big majority) can come out with more information than when they entered. I don't feel like this was accomplished and I hope to see a change next year.

Just to end on a positive note, the mochi award show was a great addition. It was cool to see the best games in each category because you learn a lot about what people are really enjoying . . . even if the developers don't say much upon receiving the award :)

Renegade Commanders Breaks 1 Million Plays

Just a couple days before hitting its first month on the web, Renegade Commanders reached 1,000,000 plays. This makes Renegade Commanders the most successful Keith Kong Game ever! The game can currently be found on a total of 348 portals and includes players from 184 countries. The number of plays are still increasing every day so it will be exciting to see where the game will end up. Thanks to everyone who played the game already!

If you haven't played the game yet... well, what are you waiting for?

Play Renegade Commanders

Renegade Commanders is finally released!

That's right! The first full blown 3D RTS has hit the web! Renegade Commanders has been stuck in beta for several weeks but the game has finally escaped into the public. Right now the game can only be found on maxgames.com so you need to head over there right now and give it a shot!

Play Renegade Commanders

Thanks to everyone who helped test the game and provide feedback!

RTS open for Beta Testing!

I know finally, right? The game is available to anyone with a FlashGameLicense.com account. It's still in a pretty incomplete form but the game is playable and I'ld like some feedback. Note that I'm mostly interested in bugs (not formatting, sounds, graphics) since there are so many unfinished things and stand in graphics. Also, I'ld like to know how intuitively you pick up on the game controls. That being said, if something hits you especially hard, make sure to mention it.

Thanks in advance!

Play the RTS


Don't have an FGL account?

If this is the case I'm sorry to inform you that you'll have to wait a little longer to try the game out. In order to keep the game out of the public I can't release an open version. If you are a developer and/or sponsor you can apply for an account on the FGL website. It's a great place, connecting sponsors with developers and giving you a first look at new projects. It's almost like Regal Cinemas!

...okay, ignore that last comment :)

6.6 Mb and 12,000 lines of code later...

If you thought this meant I was releasing my C&C like RTS, I'm sorry to announce it is still not available for beta testing. However, I'm proud to announce that the game core has finally been completed. I have designed the first mission (with a built in tutorial) and I'm currently working on the rest of the missions. Expect the beta to be released within the next two or three weeks. I would apologize for how long this game has taken me but the time spent has made the game way too awesome.

As a little teaser I thought I would release some artwork from the game. Below is the loading screen containing the symbols for the good and bad team (Sorry, all names related to the game are still top secret to the public).

Bringing Command and Conquer to Flash

Who doesn't like Command and Conquer? From little five pixel men running around, to Tanya screaming "Shake it baby!" and single handedly wiping out an entire squad with two pistols, the older versions are the best. In fact, they've inspired me to bring the same feel into the flash world but with an added touch of 3D.

For the past two months I've been working on mastering 3D programming. A while back I developed a first person shooter (see Prototypes) but developing characters and large enough maps proved to slow the game down ridiculously. Playing around I developed a mapping that allowed me to piece together tiled images over a plane. After seeing it I knew I had to develop a strategy game. The very mapping technique talk about is used in the preview images below. The game can run anywhere from 7 to 15 fps, depending on how many units are built. It is programmed to run at 10 fps, so unless you build all the possible units before attacking, you will experience at least game speed.

All soldiers, tanks, and buildings take time to build.

You can select multiple units by creating a selectors box with your mouse or by pressing shift before clicking on another unit.

Buildings repair with the classic wrench. The enemy strategy is not yet perfected, though. If the scenario above were to continue, no units would ever attack the cannon tank. Also, there are no explosions as of now.

Once the strategy is fixed up a little, the graphics are finished, and I come up with a cool name, I'll release a beta for those that are interested. Oh, and I need some voice recordings of people saying things like, "Coolin my engines", "I'll be there", and "They fall like birds!" That's my favorite part of these games!

San Francisco State Sneak Preview

Yesterday I traveled up to good old San Francisco for the SFSU sneak preview. Let me express my immediate feeling of eagerness to escape my high school captivity after a few moments on campus. The professors presented themselves as intelligent and clear, especially the head of mathematics. I know this sounds antonymical (to use a big word that I don't think exists... yet) but I'm pretty excited to take Calculous. I liked the Computer Science department as well (fitting since that's what I'm planning to major in). There's a good student/professor ratio and a good deal of opportunities both in and outside of the school. The way it was presented (granted this could be blown up a little) it seemed like getting an internship is relatively easy and usually with pay. It feels like the next few years are going to be fun. Well, enough with the parenthesis (which I have chosen to use frequently in this post) and on with my programming. Oh wait, I have to write a business plan for economics (comes to depressing realization of current high school dilemma). It seems I can neither program nor stop using parenthesis. Oh, the humanity!

Grande Blog Opening

I've decided to put my thoughts on web servers in the form of blogging. Here I will talk about new projects, changes, interesting encounters with CS3, and whatever else may become my concern. I hope this will become something of use, or at least interest, to other programmers and fans (if you're out there).

Keep checking back,

Keith