Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Apocalypse Cow Status
Well, Chris asked about it, so here I go, throwing my hat over the fence. All of this is tentative... the Day Job is in crunch-mode right now, so it's hard to fit in the time with family and working 10-12 hour days at the office. But here goes - status update on Apocalypse Cow.
I've already blown past a couple of internal milestones by now. It's my own fault. Originally, AC was going to be a very quick-and-dirty little project, whipped out in about six months of part-time effort. But I ended up getting excited about it, and feature creep set in. One of the objectives I set for the game (when it went beyond the quick-and-dirty stage) was to have some new gameplay element in every level to keep the player's interest. I didn't want to just keep scaling up the difficulty. The game is sitting at over 20 levels, so that's a tall order and a lot of custom code. And content. And bugs. And...And so the game has been taking for-freaking ever, and I alternate between loving it and hating it. But I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. WHEW!
So what's left to do? In order to get to "Alpha" (a goal I have for mid-December)
* There are 4 levels left that haven't been started on, yet.
* I need to fix mission completion / failure criteria for some levels
* There is one early level that needs a drastic overhaul. I put a lot of time in on it back in April, but it's still just not working. I'm afraid it's going to be scrapped and replaced.
* Mid-game and end-game story screens
* Dialog for the later levels
* Save and Load Game
"Alpha" for this game is a rough draft of the full, completed game. At that point, there's a lot of iteration to clean up and polish the levels, tweak the AI and game balance, replace stand-in content with final content, and punch up the special effects and humor.
Last but not least, I need a finalized title. Maybe you guys can help out on this. The phrase "Apocalypse Cow" is unfortunately a fairly common joke. I'm keeping it in the title, because it's FUN, but it needs a subtitle of some kind. Here are our favorites so far:
Apocalypse Cow: The Revolution
Apocalypse Cow: The Chips Fall
Apocalypse Cow: Tipping The Balance
Apocalypse Cow: Fighting The Bull
Apocalypse Cow: When The Chips Are Down
Apocalypse Cow: Empire of Bull
Apocalypse Cow: Bull Smack
What's your favorite (or favorites)? Do you have suggestions? Please let me know!
( Vaguely) related bits of bovine-bashing:
* Humor and Apocalypse Cow
* Apocalypse Cow Progress
* An (old and untextured) Apocalypse Cow Boss
* Apocalypse Cow
Labels: Apocalypse Cow
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 10:55 PM (Permalink)
Comments:
Hehee, that's sounds soooo familiar! :)
Yeah, I figure if only he who is without sin casts the first stone, I ought to be safe for a while...
Chuck Brisket in Apocalypse Cow!
Sadly enough, that was considered. Except his name is "Cutter Hawke."
And he can't hear your complaints over the sound of his own awesomeness.
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mmm...delicious AC info.
I know all too well the plague that is feature creep. My current project is nearing the 1-year mark but it was originally supposed to be a very quick sandbox designed to test some gameplay ideas for OTHER games. Nearly a year later and I'm just now getting close the "final push" stage.
Anyway, I'm really glad to hear you're still making progress on it. I know I'm looking forward to an overload of cow-related humor. That banner is great, btw.
Oh, and I'll offer up:
Apocalypse Cow: Utter Destruction.
I know all too well the plague that is feature creep. My current project is nearing the 1-year mark but it was originally supposed to be a very quick sandbox designed to test some gameplay ideas for OTHER games. Nearly a year later and I'm just now getting close the "final push" stage.
Anyway, I'm really glad to hear you're still making progress on it. I know I'm looking forward to an overload of cow-related humor. That banner is great, btw.
Oh, and I'll offer up:
Apocalypse Cow: Utter Destruction.
Tipping the Balance or Utter Destruction.
Utter Destruction has a great ring to it.
Utter Destruction has a great ring to it.
# posted by 
: November 09, 2006 1:45 PM
: November 09, 2006 1:45 PM
Don't succumb to Colon Fever! "Apocalypse Cow" is a perfect title and anything else is wasteful (nobody will ever use it or remember it) and encumbering. The original name is short and sweet, and very clearly connects to the game. None of your colons add any information, and they detract from the elegance.
Sincerely,
the author of
Loonyland: Halloween Hill,
Loonyland II: Winter Woods,
SPISPOPD II: Dr. Lunatic,
SPISPOPD II: Dr. Lunatic (implied colon) Supreme With Cheese,
The Adventures Of Bouapha: Spooky Castle,
Spooky Castle: The Adventures Of Kid Mystic*,
Hitsuji: Shears Of Fury,
Dumb: The Game,
Scarecrow: Heart Of Straw**,
Eddie Galaxy: Intergalactic Exterminator,
and of course...
Pumpkin Pop***
* That one wasn't my fault! eGames added the pre-colon part, causing uncalled-for title confusion.
** Okay, that one was necessary. But only because Scarecrow by itself has no humor.
*** SEE how much better that is?! Popping pumpkins. Instant recognition.
Sincerely,
the author of
Loonyland: Halloween Hill,
Loonyland II: Winter Woods,
SPISPOPD II: Dr. Lunatic,
SPISPOPD II: Dr. Lunatic (implied colon) Supreme With Cheese,
The Adventures Of Bouapha: Spooky Castle,
Spooky Castle: The Adventures Of Kid Mystic*,
Hitsuji: Shears Of Fury,
Dumb: The Game,
Scarecrow: Heart Of Straw**,
Eddie Galaxy: Intergalactic Exterminator,
and of course...
Pumpkin Pop***
* That one wasn't my fault! eGames added the pre-colon part, causing uncalled-for title confusion.
** Okay, that one was necessary. But only because Scarecrow by itself has no humor.
*** SEE how much better that is?! Popping pumpkins. Instant recognition.
Tipping the Balance would actually have something to do with the plot of the game (such as it is).
There are just a lot of things called "Apocalypse Cow," so I worry about the "branding" of the name. Without calling it something extremely egocentric and useless like, "Rampant Games' Apocalypse Cow."
I may be overly concerned about this, I dunno.
There are just a lot of things called "Apocalypse Cow," so I worry about the "branding" of the name. Without calling it something extremely egocentric and useless like, "Rampant Games' Apocalypse Cow."
I may be overly concerned about this, I dunno.
That's a swell poster!
You could always prefix the title, rather than suffixing it: Chuck Brisket in Apocalypse Cow!
On second thought, nevermind. I'm going back to bed.
You could always prefix the title, rather than suffixing it: Chuck Brisket in Apocalypse Cow!
On second thought, nevermind. I'm going back to bed.
"I've already blown past a couple of internal milestones by now. It's my own fault. Originally, AC was going to be a very quick-and-dirty little project, whipped out in about six months of part-time effort."
Hehee, that's sounds soooo familiar! :)
Hehee, that's sounds soooo familiar! :)
Hehee, that's sounds soooo familiar! :)
Yeah, I figure if only he who is without sin casts the first stone, I ought to be safe for a while...
Chuck Brisket in Apocalypse Cow!
Sadly enough, that was considered. Except his name is "Cutter Hawke."
And he can't hear your complaints over the sound of his own awesomeness.
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