I really should be posting more often.

Anyways, I’ve got a bit of an update on the Super Ghosts ‘n Ghosts game (now called “Super Ghosts ‘n … Ghosts?: The Game”)! The game’s engine, tentatively called “Marshmallow”, is almost complete. A ton of systems have been put in place, from input to rendering, to asset management/loading, and game states. So hopefully that means the gameplay will following pretty soon, as long as I don’t have to get too caught up in my Final Game Project which starts next month.

Also, I will be working on another super secret game with fellow oMo-er Joel (a.k.a. Aethen) and some of our classmates using the same engine. After spending so much time working on the engine and getting ready to tackle a huge project like SGnG I felt like it’d be a nice change of pace to try and make a simple game. By using the engine we already have, we can quickly prototype new gameplay mechanics and, in the process, figure out what needs to be changed/added to the engine to help strengthen the engine and make it easier to work with on future projects. We’ve already got core game concept ready to go, so you may be seeing some gameplay footage releasing in only a few short weeks!

Oh yeah, and I’ll try to get off my ass and update the blog a little more often.

Today, Microsoft announced a new pricing structure for the Xbox Live Indie Games channel (formerly Xbox Live Community Games). Rather than the old 200/400/800 points system (that’s $2.50, $5.00, $10.00 US), the numbers have been updated to 80, 240, and 400 ($1.00, $3.00, $5.00). Only games that are less than 50MB can be priced at $1.00 so ours will most likely be at one of the higher price points, but at least the options are cheaper than they used to be. Hopefully this means more impulse buys. I know I would have bought a few games on there if they had been cheaper.

Also, you can now send out Title Updates for Indie Games much like XBLA and Retail games can do. And last, but not least, developers now get 50 free tokens for their game. This means that 50 people can get a free copy of the game. This is great for sending games to news blogs and such for review, and I’m sure there will be a few contests popping up here and there for these Indie Games.

Looks like Microsoft is getting serious about the indie games channel. Better prices, auto updates, free tokens, and the addition of the rating system that’s coming with the new dashboard update. Can’t wait to get our game finished and on there!