zaphod

small update, I wanted to test out youtube's new HD video so I took some quick shots of another "goal" game mode map I am working on:

http://nimblebit.blogspot.com/2008/12/rinkydink-level-video.html

just die already

yea those two look really cool - I think this one is up there too: http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2009.php?id=688

the 2009 IGF entrants have been announced, all 226 of them! Here is the entire list of entires this year: http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2009.php?start=0

and here is Zero Gear (next to last, yay alphabet!): http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2009.php?id=667

this is not entirely related to the game per say, but it gives me an excuse to bump this thread! Brian got some Zero Gear t shirts for his b-day. Brian not pictured in photo!

We have been keeping very busy as usual - spending a lot of time dealing with some nasty memory issues and other non-glamorous things. But to keep our spirits up we started on a new game mode, check out the screenshot and maybe you will be able to guess what it is!

I don't think either that things will change much...

However the positive point i find in Obama's election is that it will probably modify, in the good way, the point of view the "rest" of the world has on the US , and it's certainly the best thing it can happen.

modify = change? :wink:

new blog post

been pretty silent over the last week because we have had our heads down furiously pounding keyboards in order to get a build ready for IGF submission. After some very late nights and many eye drops later we have emerged victorious with a build to submit. We made it! Woo!

Along with the submission I have been working on an awesome game manual to submit along with it, you can check it out if you want.

This milestone also marks the start of our closed beta, and although we initially have a limited amount of keys we hope to expand it as we get further in development. If you have a dedicated windows server on a fast connection and are interested in keeping up a ZG server for us, there might be a key for you - drop me a note.

as always, you can keep up with the latest by being in our Steam Group (and you can also just help us climb up the list of games by joining )

small update, we now have one of these new-fangled "Official Game Groups" on steam - you can join it / check it out here: http://steamcommunity.com/games/zerogear

Also, I took some new screenshots last night, I replaced the old ones on our media page here: http://myzerogear.com/media.html

it is some music that I licensed from online, We were considering using it for the main menu but for now it is just the soundtrack to the video. None of the maps have music currently.

not yet, every kart controls the same. We want to people to be able to customize that but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

Here is a video of a playtest we had last night of our new game mode, it was a lot of fun!

thanks KungFu, it's almost been a full year now since I quit my job and put all my chips into this.

if you have any sort of momentum driving into it you will come out the other side. It only sucks you up and keeps you in the air if you spawn it on top of yourself and don't move.

just a quick bump to show a screenshot of a new game mode we are hoping to have in by the first:

made a pretty big blog post about the WAR ON FRAMERATE that we have been undertaking the last week and a half. It lists a lot of the things we have been tackling specifically - but this is the real sweet screen shot for us personally - 2 weeks ago my computer with as many people on screen here would have been chugging at around 15-20 fps. Now it is over 60! Huzzah!

these are my system specs.

Sat. night I know, but less that a month left until IGF sumbissions are due!!! AHHHHH!!!! just capped a video showing another one of our items we recently implemented - the fearsome TWISTER!!! Click to watch

so far our quest to create entirely physical-based weapons/items has been very fruitful, and leads to some very emergent gameplay

spent some more time on the particle effect, It looks much more like a solid pile of twisting stuff now than some smoggy gas.

http://myzerogear.com/twister2.jpg

*edit*

ok, I think this is the last revision at least for now, I can't spend more than 1 day twister tweaking

http://myzerogear.com/twister3.jpg

The primary function or intended purpose of the L.U.V. Bot is still a little hazy. However it is known to run lustfully at any moving object and latch on in a merciless hug, until it's emotion chip shorts, resulting in a massive L.U.V.-splosion.

I would bother except for it is rare for you to even see the crowd as it is, since you are always looking down. I could throw some buildings in there pretty quick maybe I guess.

we are having a lot of fun with the tag game mode in our playtests, but we only have one map for it. So I decided to whip up another quick one for fun. This one is called the Punch Bowl:

grats Frie!!

there are lots of things that I have made specifically becuase it would fit one character - but one of the mail things of the game is that anything can go on anything else.

if squiddles doesn't grow on you, I am sure someone else will make a super awesome squid character.

someone had a hat suggestion that would go well with the brain and I couldn't resist making it:

2 new characters, Squiddles and The Brain: