KuneWorks - Game Dev Blog

Hey everyone! I haven’t been working on Cast’N’Blast since the new year rolled around. But have these two things I did to get back in the swing of things.

There’s now an extra border option and you can access the tutorial from the area select screen! I’ve mulled over where the tutorial could be placed, such as having a separate screen after choosing story mode to choose it or start the game immediately, or having it be the first option in the main menu and squish the rest of the options together somehow.

I ended up simply putting it on the area map. This way the player can choose to brush up on the basics first or simply get started right on the same screen.

That’s all for now, but I will hopefully have more to yap about in the future. This is simply to let you all know I’m still around!

Thanks for reading!

Hey all! Lectures have been wrapping up and finals are on the horizon, so I think it’s time I posted a bit of an update to what I’ve been up to.

Magical Castle + on your dashboard again? What is the meaning of this?! Read on to find out!

First and foremost: Magical Castle + has been ported to HTML5. That means you can now play it on your browser! This version is served on Game Jolt, so if by some chance you haven’t played this game yet, you can now do so there without worrying about icky downloads and running executables! You can play it through this handy dandy widget here, which you can also find on the Releases page at the top of my blog!

To accompany this update, the downloadable version of MC+ is now compiled with the YoYo Compiler for better performance. Not that it’s a very intensive game anyway, but at least there’s that.

And finally, both versions have been modified to allow custom action button mappings! This is modified code from Cast’N’Blast, to fit within my rigid coding style from 2013. Are you a new player who hates the default control scheme? Now you can change it!

Now some of you may be wondering: What happened to Ghoulish Garden? I was planning to complete it by October 31. However, work just began to pick up by the last week of that month, greatly reducing spare time I could use towards working on it. As a result, I missed the projected date and decided to put it on ice once more, as set by my own personal challenge. It’ll be completed someday, just not now.

“But Kune! Why did you bother updating an older game even further instead of completing a brand new one for us?”

Great question! So long as I’m still in the woods in terms of studies, I can’t be spending much time on Cast’N’Blast as I could. Not wanting to leave this blog quiet for an extended period of time, I made these quick updates. I want to try to post at least once a month to keep active around here, and this is the simplest way for me to do so at the moment.

With all that said, I’m going to take a bit of a game dev break in December to focus on drawing. That doesn’t rule out small updates on Cast’N’Blast if I can make time for it, but don’t expect anything substantial. I’ve been neglecting my art blog for quite some time, so I think that’s a good chance to dust it off.

Thanks a lot for reading!

I’m doing something a little different for October! I’ll be working on one of my many iced projects in an attempt to finish something. Most of them are smaller in scope to Cast’N’Blast, and while I’m burnt out on that game, I figure it’s time I revive one of them.

Let me reintroduce you to Ghoulish Garden! (working but likely final title)

The goal of the game is to grab all the keys in the level and head for the exit. Ghouls and monsters of different kinds will attempt to stop you, but you’re not totally defenseless! Rocks and bombs placed in each level will prove useful in dispatching these pests.

Special level features may also be present, requiring extra thought on how to approach the level as a whole.

I’ll try to post more about it as I go along. It’s not going to be a very big game, so I think I can finish it if I keep a good pace going. Cast’N’Blast won’t be going anywhere, and once October finishes, Ghoulish Garden completed or not, it’s back to that game once more.

Thanks for reading!

Hello! Sorry about the silence over the past couple of months. And with school just starting up, this may be the case until summer rolls around once more.

That being said, let’s see what I’ve got here, shall we?

I’ve finally gotten around to replacing the crudely drawn menu graphics, and they all now share a banner style motif. In the extras menu, you can see that there are two extras that only display a lock. Because I’ve already posted about Time Race and how easy it is to access, I’m fine with showing that one. As for the others, well, you’re going to have to wait until the game’s finished to see what they are!

Next up, finally, is the final boss of the game. He doesn’t look too hot in appearance, but his general behavior has been coded. He’s a persistent threat as you strive to attack his head! Watch for his hands, as they’ll do whatever it takes to stop you from defeating him! Use spells that correspond to the colors they change to so you can stop their attacks!

If you want to stay up to date on what I’ve been up to with Cast’N’Blast and future projects, please visit my Twitter! I post microupdates there as they come, and have relegated this blog to mass posting all of it when I think there’s enough to yap about.

On another note, I’ve created a Ko-fi page in case you’d like to further support my efforts. I don’t feel I can update often enough to run a Patreon and other such things, so this is a suitable alternative. Think of it as more of a tip jar!

Of course, you can also support me by checking out the games I have on offer at itch.io, if that’s more your style.

I bring to you, on my birthday, an update!

Batty’s gotten a new trick up his sleeve: dashing! His eyes will sparkle then he will dart towards you at a high speed. Be ready to dodge when you see that shine! He’s coming closer to completion...

Another thing is an extra game mode. Time Race! By completing every stage in an area, you unlock it for Time Race mode, where you will play through each of its stages and the boss fight for the fastest time. The game will then show you the results with a detailed breakdown of your performance.

If you happen to screw up during Time Race, don’t fret! The game will immediately reset the level you’re on, but not your current time for that level. Take care not to make too many mistakes!

Easter update!

As you all know, I like to keep up-to-date on the hottest trends in game and character design! So after obsessively scanning all the hottest indie efforts, released or soon-to-be, I now nose what my character design is lacking!

Hello! Long time no update! School and work’s been keeping me busy, but here’s what I’ve done during my downtime.

The title screen is now empty! Where did the menu elements go? Read on past the break to find this out, and a little more.

If you take too much time in a stage, the game will…push you to finish the stage as soon as you can. The longer you take, the more drastic the game’s methods get. You really don’t want that timer to count this low!