Shadows Finished

I’m always pretty lazy during Yuletide. There is hardly time left to work between all these celebrations and events.

Nevertheless, I’ve finished drop shadow rendering yesterday:

Read this if you are interested in how this sausage was made.

What’s Next?

The next big points on my to-do list are:

• reactivate adventure mode
• online highscore board
• create real game-play in available levels
• finish graphics in available levels

I don’t know which one should come first. The order basically depends on the time point I’m going to switch over to closed beta. The alpha phase should end in the near future. That means Nordenfelt will start to cost a few bucks. It will be a fraction of the final price. Purchasers will get full access to an exclusive area where they can download all versions and can take part in the further development process. Finally they get the full game for free when it’s done.

Going beta at the end of February seems feasible. After a year building the engine it’s time to leave the demo state.

I’m looking forward to welcome you in the exclusive beta area!

Cheers,
Thomas

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 30$. The final price is still a point at issue.

Release date?

Second quarter 2011.

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

Hi! This is Thomas (aka hermitC) from Black Golem and this is the new blog for the upcoming Steampunk shoot ‘em up Nordenfelt.

Site Changes

Some of you may have visited this website before. The former layout was a simple information panel with a newsletter subscription form. BTW: Feel free to subscribe to the email newsletter. You can find the subscription form on the right hand side of this blog. Subscribers will always receive news first!

This blog is dedicated to players, testers and finally customers. Everything concerning the progress of Nordenfelt’s development will appear here. Everybody is welcome to comment on the development state. Nordenfelt relies on your feedback. Playable demos of the game will be published regularly. The first version (v0.1) can be downloaded from the download page or directly here.

The Game

Nordenfelt is a vertical shooter for Windows, settled in an alternative world where Victorian art and science meet modern views on technology. This combination is widely known as Steampunk. If you have no clue what Steampunk is, this illustration may give you an idea:

The picture contains many Steampunk basics like Victorian fashion, giant steel constructions and advanced mechanical vehicles. It shows an alternative path in time where the culture and science of the late 18th century was never ousted but developed to their maximum. The fictional aspect of Steampunk is a great challenge. Everything is possible but it has to work within the physical rules of old knowledge.

Concluding Words

I hope that some fans will gather here. Your input is important. So let’s make Nordenfelt an enjoyable game!

Cheers,
Thomas