xii games » Spooks http://xiigames.com Now in color! Thu, 17 May 2012 18:56:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Everything’s coming up Ivy! http://xiigames.com/2008/07/11/everythings-coming-up-ivy/ http://xiigames.com/2008/07/11/everythings-coming-up-ivy/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:14:46 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2008/07/11/everythings-coming-up-ivy/ erin2b.pngFirst she releases an awesome game, then she wins an awesome award, gets awesomely interviewed, and now she’s announcing an awesome partnership! Way to go Erin!

I do know a bit more about the game in production than the press release releases, and let me just say that if you liked Nanobots, this one will be right up your alley!

 

]]> http://xiigames.com/2008/07/11/everythings-coming-up-ivy/feed/ 4 Nanobots is released! http://xiigames.com/2008/06/27/nanobots-is-released/ http://xiigames.com/2008/06/27/nanobots-is-released/#comments Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:50:04 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2008/06/27/nanobots-is-released/ Head on over to Ivy’s site to download and enjoy the goodness!

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Groovy Greg set out to make robots that could love. He created six nanobots: Hotbot, Brainbot, Tallbot, Audbot, Strongbot, and Chembot. Each was designed with one special ability, enabling them to work together as a team to overcome challenges. There was only one problem: the nanobots hated each other.

Now, with the evil Professor Killfun threatening to give him a failing grade, Groovy Greg has almost given up on his experiment. Little does he know that his beloved bots are about to meet an even bigger challenge than they had been programmed for…

“Nanobots” is a classic-style point and click adventure game that lets you control the six different robots as they race to save themselves from being turned into scrap metal. Can they make use of their surroundings, fashion an escape plan, and avoid coming face-to-fist with Professor Killfun? Only if they give peace a chance.

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Go get it!

]]> http://xiigames.com/2008/06/27/nanobots-is-released/feed/ 1 Nanobots are on the way! http://xiigames.com/2008/06/26/nanobots-are-on-the-way/ http://xiigames.com/2008/06/26/nanobots-are-on-the-way/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:22:07 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2008/06/26/nanobots-are-on-the-way/
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Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve released anything. That’s the problem with taking on something huge like Resonance, it takes forever!

However, as you may know, I’ve been donating some of my time to helping Erin “The Ivy” Robinson, creator of Spooks with her new game Nanobots. Actually, that game has been sitting at 95% completion for months, but Erin got busy with graduating from college and doing other dumb unimportant stuff. Finally, the production got back into gear, we added a tutorial, an in-game hint system, and some fun stuff on the end, and viola! The game is done!

We’ve been doing one more round of beta testing this week to clean out any lingering bugs, but this game is pretty much in the bag. Erin’s plan is to release it on Friday. Be prepared for some tiny mechanical hijinks laced with that trademark Ivy charm.

]]> http://xiigames.com/2008/06/26/nanobots-are-on-the-way/feed/ 1 The Ivy branches out: LivelyIvy.com http://xiigames.com/2007/04/03/the-ivy-branches-out-livelyivycom/ http://xiigames.com/2007/04/03/the-ivy-branches-out-livelyivycom/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2007 05:02:37 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2007/04/03/the-ivy-branches-out-livelyivycom/ Spooks creator Erin “The Ivy” Robinson has finally launched her fancy pants website. You can roll on over there to read her hilarious comics and get updates on whatever super-secret gaming projects she might be working on!

Check it out at LivelyIvy.com.

By the way, this one is my favorite.

 

 
 

 

]]> http://xiigames.com/2007/04/03/the-ivy-branches-out-livelyivycom/feed/ 1 w00t sp00ks! http://xiigames.com/2007/02/22/w00t-sp00ks/ http://xiigames.com/2007/02/22/w00t-sp00ks/#comments Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:43:42 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2007/02/22/w00t-sp00ks/ The fantastic Independent Gaming blog posted up a list of the Top Twenty Freeware Adventures of 2006 and Spooks clocked in at number three! Big congrats to Erin. The article, and Spooks, also found their way onto Kotaku. Well done!

Linus didn’t quite make the top twenty cut, but it got an honorable mention of sorts in it’s own category: The ‘Too Difficult’ Category.

]]> http://xiigames.com/2007/02/22/w00t-sp00ks/feed/ 3 And the Roger goes to… http://xiigames.com/2007/02/13/and-the-roger-goes-to/ http://xiigames.com/2007/02/13/and-the-roger-goes-to/#comments Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:52:53 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2007/02/13/and-the-roger-goes-to/ Even though Dr. Zaiss and the esteemed Mr. Gnome have already started commenting…

rog.PNGThe AGS Award winners were announced yesterday in a fun IRC ceremony which I was able to attend (at 5 AM Monday Morning!!!). And it was a good day for Linus and Spooks.

Spooks picked up an award for Best Player Character and another one for Best Music. Erin also got in the best acceptance speech of the night:

[20:20] And the winner is:
[20:20] <AGA> Mortia, from Spooks
[20:21] <AGA> Say something, The_Ivy_!
[20:21] <The_Ivy_> thank you!
[20:21] <AGA> Say something interesting, The_Ivy_!
[20:21] <The_Ivy_> So glad I went and bought a new dress for this occasion

Congrats to Erin and Chris for taking home those awards!

Linus also had a good night, snagging the award for Best Scripting and the award for Best Innovation! The innovation award was a new one this year and was selected by a committee rather than the usual community nomination/voting process. I’m particularly happy about that one!

Also, during the ceremony, someone mentioned that Linus had a small article in the UK (and maybe the US) PC Gamer magazine’s January issue. So, if anyone has that mag and a scanner… help a bro out!

]]> http://xiigames.com/2007/02/13/and-the-roger-goes-to/feed/ 4 The AGS award nominations are in http://xiigames.com/2007/01/30/the-ags-award-nominations-are-in/ http://xiigames.com/2007/01/30/the-ags-award-nominations-are-in/#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:17:46 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2007/01/30/the-ags-award-nominations-are-in/ dscn1080.JPGThe 2006 AGS award nominations have been announced and general voting is underway. These awards aren’t a huge deal outside the AGS community, but for the people who spend a lot of free time toiling away on their games, it’s an excellent validation of your hard work. Plus, a lot of people go to the AGS game page to look through the huge library of games made with the engine, and a good way to start attacking the compendium is to go straight to the list of award winners (see option 2 on that page). So, winning an award (even just one for Best Documentation, which Anna won last year) helps boost the number of people who will play your game.

Anyways, this year Linus Bruckman nabbed four nominations: Best Puzzles, Best Programming, Best Documentation, and Best Music. Congrats to Nikolas for nabbing that Music nomination!

Also, Erin’s Spooks nabbed seven (!) nominations: Best Game, Best Gameplay, Best Story, Best Dialogue Writing, Best Player Character, Best Non-Player Character (Spooks the fish), and Best Music. Huge congrats to Erin!

So, it looks like Spooks and Linus will be clashing in the Music category. Good luck to Nik and Chris! (Doubly so to Chris, since he also did the music for Duty and Beyond by Mordalles which was also nominated in the Music category!)

There is also an award for Most Innovative Use of AGS which is decided by a committee and will be announced with the rest of the awards. I think if the award was for “Most Innovative Game” Linus would have a pretty good chance. But the award can be for any use of the engine including plug-ins and modules, so it’s really up in the air. I’ve got my fingers crossed, though!

If you’re a member of the AGS forums, don’t forget to vote (the link is in the announcements at the top of the forum). Or if you’re interested in checking out the rest of the nominated games, you can download them all in one big torrent file. After you’ve played them all (a monumental task) you can register for the AGS forums and rock the vote.

]]> http://xiigames.com/2007/01/30/the-ags-award-nominations-are-in/feed/ 4 I done got myself interviewed http://xiigames.com/2007/01/10/i-done-got-myself-interviewed/ http://xiigames.com/2007/01/10/i-done-got-myself-interviewed/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:13:24 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2007/01/10/i-done-got-myself-interviewed/ I’ve recovered from my septoplasty. Got that all straightened out, so to speak. Then I recovered from the mind-shattering headache that resulted from the septoplasty. So now, I’m back in working order except that it still hurts to pick my nose. No afternoon snacks for me for a while.

Anyways, look what just popped up over at the gnome’s lair. It’s an interview with little ol’ me about myself, Linus, and my upcoming projects!

I was super excited that the gnome thought that I was interesting enough to warrant an interview and I hope that some people find it interesting.

EDIT: The interview also got picked up by GameSetWatch!

]]> http://xiigames.com/2007/01/10/i-done-got-myself-interviewed/feed/ 3 Skyward we go! http://xiigames.com/2006/10/17/skyward-we-go/ http://xiigames.com/2006/10/17/skyward-we-go/#comments Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:28:32 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2006/10/17/skyward-we-go/ Erin, creator of Spooks, touched base with me today to let me know that I’d get an exclusive preview of the next game in the Spooks series, Skyward, by Halloween! And to whet your appetites, she’s dropped this work-in-progress screenshot in my lap to share with you. (click to see the full-sized version)

Skyward Sneak Peak

I’m looking forward to seeing more from Erin soon!

EDIT (October 31, 2006) -

Erin just let me know that she needs a bit more time to prepare. It’s coming soon though!

]]> http://xiigames.com/2006/10/17/skyward-we-go/feed/ 2 New Spooks review, Sequel confirmed! http://xiigames.com/2006/06/08/new-spooks-review-sequel-confirmed/ http://xiigames.com/2006/06/08/new-spooks-review-sequel-confirmed/#comments Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:10:58 +0000 Vince Twelve http://xiigames.com/2006/06/08/new-spooks-review-sequel-confirmed/ Sometime last month, the Adventure Lantern posted another very positive review of Spooks. Erin should be proud of the great world that she conceived, wrote, and drew.

Ever since releasing the game, people have been demanding a sequel. I personally wanted to see something completely new and original from Erin, and it seems like she’s found a way to make everbody happy. In a Critics Lounge thread over on the AGS boards, Erin announced a Spooks sequel and showed the first concepts for the new high(er)-res Mortia. However, she also announced that Mortia will not be the main character of the new game. So it appears that Erin may be taking the story in unexpected directions, giving me the original experience I was hoping for!

The thread with the announcement and character concept can be found here, but it should be considered a spoiler for those who haven’t finished Spooks!

I won’t be taking up the programming duties for her next game because I’m too busy with other projects, but I did offer to help her learn to code it herself. Whether she finds someone else to program or dives in and learns to code, I’m just hoping that it doesn’t take too long. I’m anxiously awaiting whatever she comes up with!

I’ll see if I can’t get her to give some exclusive info here on xiigames.com.

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