BBC Radio One Academy

Rome wasn't built in a day, however a new level for SteamPipes was!

We took part in the BBC radio One Academy last Friday and we brought some toys for everyone to play with:

• The new Mac Pro
• The Cintiq Touch 24HD
• Windows phones
• Windows on Parallels
• iPads
• Photoshop
• Maya
• And of course Unity 3d Pro

We started the day off with this...

A basic cube in Maya with no textures

Later in the day we came up with something looking like this...

A more clinical, sci fi feel than the previous level and it's got lasers!!!

And we finished the day off with this near complete level for SteamPipes. Check out this short clip...

We had lots of input from fellow developers and local students alike. Some peeps managed to get their hands on the hardware and software for the fist time and they were not shy of demonstrating their raw skills. Here is the result of a quick 5min speed paint on Photoshop from one of the local students using the Wacom Cintiq for the first time...

5 minutes on the Wacom Cintiq for the first time

After today's collaboration on SteamPipes, some tidying up is required before releasing an update to SteamPipes with the new level.

Check out the live version now on the Windows Phone Store and the App Store






I must say a quick thank you to Helen Richmond from the BBC for inviting us along - we had a great day and it was good to meet some more local developers. Quick mention to One Thumb Mobile and the guys from Lub vs Dub.

Some more pics from the day. The highest score on SteamPipes was 43 gates. Very Impressive!!! Mine is only 36 :(

Some promo posters for Mass Prison Escape and SteamPipes

One of the organisers having a go

SteamPipes running on Windows through Parallels on a Mac Pro and Cintiq 24HD Touch

Just about set up. Quick coffee before the doors open ;)

SteamPipes

UNITY PORTING EVENT & STEAMPIPES

So... I decided to build a little test game for another Microsoft Windows / Unity porting event.  This time in Glasgow. With only just over a week to spare it was going to have to be a very basic concept.

SteamPipes

A simple 3d endless flyer game where you have to navigate a drone like ship through a tunnel whilst avoiding a complex array of "steam pipes"... hence the name. Over the week, the game evolved into something a bit more than I intended and by the time the porting event arrived, I had a working game with a steampunk feel to it.

Using Unity / Beast light mapping, it was quick and easy to create an atmospheric feel to the game without having to spend too much time with detailed texturing. The concept developed fairly quickly and the input mechanic for navigating the drone was easy enough. However I did hit a bit of a show stopper when it came to draw calls. Almost 300 draw calls was going to be a problem when it came to running on mobile devices. Anyway time was up and I went off to the event with the work I had done so far.

I was excellent day! Fellow developers as well as the Microsoft / Unity / Nokia experts liked the game and Andy from Unity provided a simple solution to reduce the draw calls by a factor of x10!

The following week was spent polishing the game up a bit and using the advise gained from the event, SteamPipes was ported successfully to Windows and published to the Windows Phone Store within the week. Check it out FREE here 

With no promotional activity yet, downloads have been healthy so far and the reviews from around the globe are averaging 4.86 stars!

For iOS, I had to change the name slightly to "SteamPipe" and it went live on the App Store today. Check it out FREE here 

Android will have to wait a bit longer I'm afraid. This game is only a test to provoke an emotional response... If it continues the way it has, then expect a lot of exciting development to come.