Entries Tagged as 'sycla'

current let-off studios happenings

updates for the interested.

–the rough draft of the manuscript for the baltimore bicycling manual is available for download (here).  feedback is invited and appreciated.

–software development has been delayed for an unspecified amount of time.

–board game designing has moved forward; playtesting on our first project has continued with very positive results.   materials have been purchased, and initial discussions with an artist have begun.  it is highly likely we’ll have a final version complete and ready to go by the end of this year.  more game designs are also on track, ready to be developed further after the release of our first product.

–our beloved editor, steve, will be playing as part of wild bonerz in their first dinner music gig!  look for more details soon regarding their show in late october ‘09.

–rumour has it that later this autumn, the dirty marmaduke flute squad will be hard at work on completing their second full-length album.  recording has proceeded sporadically throughout 2007 and 2008, but the crew is antsy to finally lay down some tracks and offer recordings of the material shown at their recent live shows.

game update: breakfast battle

the latest software project by let-off studios is another video game.  the working title is ‘breakfast battle,’ and it’s an old-skool shoot-em-up (or “shmup”) with a breakfast/classic american diner theme.  the player controls a coffee saucer, while the coffee cup hovers nearby; send out squirts of coffee to defeat your enemies: bowls of oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, plates of eggs and bacon, etc.  end-of-level bossess include toast, a short stack of pancakes, an omelette, and more.  powerups, bombs, and speed improvements even the odds a bit as the action becomes more frantic.  also planned for this game are unlockable achievements: new coffee cup skins/artwork, diner slideshows, and so on.

technical improvements include complex, layered graphics, prallax scrolling, activated/deactivated program groups, encoded INI file creation/referencing, and general advanced coding.  the projected completion date is a vague sense of autumn 2009.

you can follow the progress of ‘breakfast battle’ on the daily click website at this link.  we’re striving to place weekly updates on the project page.

new game in development

thanks to the recent release of spirit seeker 2009, the game-making bug has bitten let-off studios once again. a brief, simple game is now in development.  it’s an arcade-style, vertical shoot-em-up featuring one mean cup of coffee.

the release date is estimated to be sometime in late summer ‘09.  we’ll just see about that.

new game: spirit seeker 2009

let-off studios has happily completed development and released spirit seeker 2009, a remake of the 2006 game spirit seeker.  from the readme file:

HOW TO PLAY: this is a quick-to-learn arcade game, where the object is to destroy five of the obsidian pillars that gradually appear throughout the arena.  collect good spirits by touching them, and avoid or destroy the evil ones.  to gain more energy, touch the mentor’s platform when it glows.  do not dawdle; astute players will find the game easier, while those who take their time will see the difficulty accelerate quickly out of control. [Read more →]

illustration friday: parade

parade, for illustration friday

“parade,” for illustration friday.  black ink on clayed cardstock. click on the image for the full-size version.

kind of reminds me of the typical dr. seuss military commander, mixed with ringo starr from that shiny-time station television show.

this piece was completed in less than six minutes. you can see where the right side of the image was smeared by my hand pressing the undried ink.

things a little bird told me

the following is a manifesto created by members of let-off studios.  they do not necessarily reflect the opinions and actions of all collective members. [Read more →]

illustration friday: time

time, for illustration friday

“time,” for illustration friday.  india ink (via rapidograph) on paper. click on the image to see the full-size version.

this is the first time i’ve ever drawn anyone naked (well, the subject, that is…not myself).  but if there’s anything that doesn’t discriminate or make value judgments, unbeholden to appearances, then it’s time.  i’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.

illustration friday: contained

contained, for illustration friday

“contained”, for illustration friday.  india ink (rapidograph) and gel ink pen on paper.
click on the image to see larger size.
image begun: 7:30am, saturday, 10th january
image completed: 8:20am, saturday, 10th january

new game: “frontier!”

let-off studios is proud to present Frontier! , a game completed with multimedia fusion 2.

ABOUT THE GAME:
“The edge of the kingdom is surrounded by wilderness of all kinds. Your dream is to claim some of these lands as your own. Now, with the endorsement of the king behind you, the opportunity is within your grasp! Defend the kingdom’s borders, defeat the inhuman hordes that plague your newfound lands, and return to the king with the most impressive tribute you can muster!”

FRONTIER! is a fast-paced real-time strategy and action game (made with a retro VGA graphical theme), where you play the part of a military captain on the fringes of a medieval fantasy empire. You must build up your resources, upgrade your fortress’ facilities, and train military units to defeat the encroaching enemy creatures: the inhuman horde. At the end of the game, you will be scored on a combination of how much gold you’ve acquired, how much of the resources you possess, the number of soldiers you’ve trained, the number of enemies defeated, and how long it took you to finally destroy the enemy barrow. There are three levels of accomplishment…can you claim the king’s highest honour?

There is a detailed readme file included in the ZIP file download, which explains the controls and more details about playing this game (which is surprisingly deep).

This game was completed late November, 2008, by the let-off studios collective. It was inspired by the old-skool VGA DOS games such as Castles! and Stronghold, with a fine smattering of fantasy gaming thrown in there for good measure. Originally this was to be our first pure RTS title, modeled after an untitled game released by Don Luciano on The Daily Click website (www.create-games.com). We couldn’t help but add in a few classic arcade touches, though, so the resulting game is fresh, innovative, and quite entertaining in a number of ways. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Frontier! is compatible with windows PCs and Unix machines running a Windows emulator. Be sure to read the included readme file for more success with the game.

Click here to download the latest version of Frontier!

Click on an image below to see an enlarged version of each screenshot.

screenshot of frontier!screenshot of frontier!

screenshot of frontier! screenshot of frontier!

illustration friday: enough

“enough” for illustration friday. marker on paper.
date begun: wednesday, 23 july, 2008.
date completed: wednesday, 23 july, 2008.

artist comments: uncommon colour piece for let-off studios. inspired by another viewing of koyaanisqatsi. if you’ve not watched it, be sure to look it up. even the soundtrack/score is enough to give me goosebumps.

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