Already 2 months passed since the last dev log entry? I can’t remember climbing in a flux-capacitored DeLorean …

Whatever. Let’s have a look what happened since begin of February.

Finished Music

The game’s soundtrack is finished so far. Because there’s just one level yet there will be more work to do. Nevertheless, finding appropriate tracks isn’t that easy. 99% of stock site tracks simply don’t fit the dynamics of the game. So it took quite some time to find the current compilation.

Time System

Nordenfelt got a time distorting system which can scale the effective time flow. There’s a factor for scaling frame times which is usually set to 1. If the game should run faster, e.g. for testing purpose to reach a specific point in the game immediately, this factor can be set to any value >1. Slowdowns can be caused with values <1. Logically pausing can be done with a factor equal to zero. The only thing I’m not sure about is if negative factors work as well …

Released Nordenfelt 0.5.3, Silently

Version 0.5.3 was published in the preorder forum. I did not shout it from the rooftops because there were no real gameplay changes since 0.5.2. I’ve just finished details like explosions and audio, nothing game-changing.

Now I’m busy working on new level content and fresh equipment, the game’s essence so to speak. An equipment type already available but far from ripe is the Tesla weapon:

For future level work I’ve decided to cut back graphical complexity and go for reusable tiles and segments. This idea is quite old as the left of the following two screenshots from 2010 illustrates:

I’m not sure what exactly distracted me from following the tile concept. Most likely the urge for boundless creativity was the reason. Nearly two years later I know that boundaries are your friends. They coerce you to not expand artistically ad infinitum.

Time to meet finitude.

Cheers,
Thomas

PS: Just to remind you about the @nordenfeltgame Twitter feed. Feel free to follow and get dedicated info about what’s going on at the the Nordenfelt development front.

Here comes this week’s dev log message, delayed by a deity:

Nordenfelt 0.5 hit the shelves today!

Everything’s set up and running. Just the store activation is pending. Fingers crossed it will be done within the next few hours.

The last days were pure crunch time. Much work was done and I’m tuckered out now. I don’t want to list all the work details here. Instead I tell you a little story …

The funniest incident during the 0.5 release adventure was that I was cut off from the Internet just before release. Yesterday my father’s ISP (which I’m using ’cause I still have no own net – customer support in Austria seems to be stuck in officialdom: “Why hurry?”) halted our connection. A billing problem made them cut the line immediately. Everything for releasing Nordenfelt 0.5 was set up and ready to go but the final steps could not be done offline. GREAT! Some god presumably pointed at me and told his buddies: “Today we hoax this guy!”

Now (1am in the morning) I’m sitting in our local youth center (which has Internet) and write these day-concluding lines. Even if any deity tried to mess around with me I just can say:

Nordenfelt 0.5 is out for sale!

It was important for me to meet this milestone before this weekend, just for B.O.C. Murphy’s law came true again but good preparation made it fizzle out.

Nordenfelt versus deity: one to nothing

Cheers,
Thomas

Download it!

An Appeal

Version 0.4 has two major improvements: a new GUI and frame rate issue fixes. Now I’m interested in your feedback for them.

Firstly I’m interested if the GUI works for you, what you like about it and what should be cut. I’m aware that it’s consistency is far from complete. This happened by accident but constitutes branches in style. So there is a degree of choice.

Secondly I’m not sure if the frame rate issues are completely fixed. Therefore I need some profiling data from other machines than mine. I’ve added a profiling system which creates a file named profile.csv beside Nordenfelt.exe. It would be great if you could send this file to improve@nordenfelt-thegame.com. Don’t worry, I don’t spy you out. You can inspect the file with any text editor, MS Excel or Open Office to see what’s in there.

I’m looking forward to your replies.

Cheers,
Thomas

You may have noticed that the download link for Nordenfelt 0.3 did not work. I have no clue how this could happen. I’ve checked everything twice before hitting the Publish button. But the devil never sleeps.

Here’s the fixed link, triple checked and sanctified to keep Luzifer away.

Working Link to Nordenfelt 0.3

It’s a horrible fact that a delivery chain is such a fragile thing. You can have the best product or service but it’s nothing worth when you can’t deliver it (or its message) to your customers.

Cheers,
Thomas

It’s time again to show what’s happening. Quite some new stuff found its way into Nordenfelt:

Simply download the game, unzip it (e.g. with 7-zip) and start Nordenfelt.exe. As usual there is nothing to install and the game can be deleted any time without hassle.

Download Nordenfelt 0.3

Drop me a line what you think. I’m looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers,
Thomas

PS: This blog was abandoned for the last few weeks. Don’t worry, continue button already pressed.

I dismissed blogging because I vowed myself to not write anything before version 0.3 is out. That was in the last week of October. Time flies when you’re having fun! See you next post, very soon.

The release of Nordenfelt 0.2 was well received and got nice feedback. There were many feature suggestions and questions if the game will have feature X or support Y. I’ve caught myself answering the same questions over and over again. Therefore I’ve decided to compile a FAQ list about Nordenfelt. You can read it here or find its link in the site’s main menu in the top right corner.

This is the initial list of frequently asked questions:

Which features will Nordenfelt have?

It’s a Shoot ‘em Up

… where you are going to shoot steampunkish vehicles and machinery.

Arcade Mode

This is the well known quest through a series of levels shooting planes, tanks, ships and other vehicles. A boss will await you at the end of each level. Upgrades and goodies will improve your ship throughout the flight.

Adventure Mode

This mode has a deeper game play depth regarding equipment and missions. You will have a hangar full of air ships with various equipment, an R&D section and strategical missions with different goals.

Which platforms will you support?

Windows XP and higher.

What are the minimum requirements?

You won’t need a high end gaming machine for playing Nordenfelt:

• 1Ghz single core
• 1024×768 screen resolution
• 128MB RAM
• 64MB video RAM
• ~200MB free HDD

Will Nordenfelt be freeware?

No, it will be shareware. A free demo version will be available for download. If you like it I would be happy if you consider buying the full game.

How much will the full game cost?

The price will lie between 10$ and 20$. The final price is still a point at issue.

Release date?

Latest on Doomsday – 1, which is 20th of December, 2012.

Which engine do you use?

A homebrewn one. I’m just using a few free libraries like SFML or BOOST as foundation.

For me the most surprising fact was that it was totally unclear that Nordenfelt won’t be free. It’s an understandable assumption due to the sheer amount of free stuff on the internet. Nonetheless I have to make a living from it. Quality will have to legitimate the price tag. So I’m going for it.

Cheers,
Thomas

It is time for the next version of Nordenfelt. It has:

• a new graphics style,
• new player ship,
• better controls,
• weapon upgrades,
• more explosions and
• many more improvements

As usual there is nothing to install. Just unzip the downloaded archive and start Nordenfelt.exe. You can delete the game any time with no hassle.

Download Nordenfelt 0.2

Last time some people had problems starting Nordenfelt 0.1 on Windows XP due to an annoying DLL problem. Let me know if this problem still persists.

Tell me your opinion. I’m looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers,
Thomas