Today marks the beginning of a new era for my apps. Tomorrow, StepIt 2 will be released as a free update that completely rethinks the BEST 3-step image app on the App Store. Also, on April 24th, BuzzIt will be launching alongside the Apple Watch. BuzzIt is the world's fastest reminder app, and will be available exclusively on iOS. If your reading this, you've probably noticed a fresh coat of paint on this website. As my new apps and updates launch in the coming weeks, I've cleaned up the website to match the clean design found in the new content. As always, I hope you enjoy!
The level design process for Space Bandit was fairly simple. It started with a rough sketch in my favorite sketching app for iPad, Paper. I would draw where the rocket ship starts, where the pizza is located, and the obstacle locations as well. My game is organized with worlds, and every world contains five levels. Every world introduces a new element such as a asteroid or wormhole. After the sketch, I would create any code needed for the new element, and then I drag the actors into place on the scene.
Hello All! It's been a while since my last post, and I thought I would update you on all that's been happening. Well, I've been featured! To see the article, please click the button below and scroll to app #3. Also, Space Bandit just updated to version 2.0. This new version includes new graphics, new rockets, new buttons, and more... If you haven't already bought it, make sure to check it out. It's a blast!
If you haven't done so already, make sure to check out my app, Minutes, on the iOS App Store. It is currently on sale for 50% off during the holidays. Grab it while it lasts!
Minutes is finally here. Minutes helps you time everything, and then it saves and organizes your info into categories for easy access later. And, coming soon in an app update, you will be able to share your times with others. If you're interested, click back to the home page for a link to the iTunes store. Thanks!
A couple of weeks ago, I changed a couple of things regarding this website. Today, I have finalized the look and feel of this website. In the coming weeks, something new is coming. Be sure to come back soon for a sneak peak of what is coming.
Initially, I programmed the raccoon to walk around on earth and have orange monsters chase him. After progressing far enough to implement art, I quickly realized I needed a new concept. The walking animation had been hand-drawn and looked extremely choppy. I needed to come up with a way so that none of the actors had to walk. After some brainstorming, I had my raccoon in a spaceship. It was not until later that I changed the monster to the green circular design shown in the game.
Greetings! Things have been looking quite different around here. A new website and a new name to go with it. Lately, I have been posting my design process for my app, Space Bandit. I bet your asking why these changes are needed. Well, I think it's about time for something new. You may have also noticed the new tab on this website titled 'Something new'. That's about all I can say for now, but something is coming.
After drawing the art with paper and pencil, a lot of work goes into making it apart of the game. First, I draw and illustrate in a vector-based drawing iPad app called Inkpad. Vector-based simply refers to how the art is drawn. Instead of using a pencil, or pixels to draw, vector-based allows artists to draw using shapes. After the image is drawn, I export the image to my Mac through Dropbox's handy photo save function. Next I use a website called clippingmagic.com to remove the background from the image. After that, I import the file into Gamesalad, and apply the image to an actor.
This is the part of the blog when I go into detail about various game features and functions. In Gamesalad, each thing or element is called an actor. For example, the rocket ship and the aliens are separate actors. But, multiple aliens doesn't always mean multiple alien actors. This is because I can program code for the alien once and have that code apply to many aliens in that level. Different places in the game, such as a level or menu is called a scene. The exception for this is how the levels in my game are organized. The scene is actually four times the size of the whatever device you play it on. The lower left is the gameplay screen where you play the level. When you complete it, it scrolls to the right to a level complete screen. Also, when a level is failed, it scrolls up rapidly to a level-failed screen. The fourth screen on the level scenes is unused, which means that portion is simply blank.
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AuthorHello! My name is Ryan Stephen and I develop apps with amazingly new and exciting user experiences. |