What I've been up to - Patreon still on pause for December - Coming back on the new year though! (Patreon)

Hi everyone! I'm still alive!!

I'm very sorry for the lack of update these last two months, and also I'm sorry to say that it's going to be one more month like this. But! I have plans to make a comeback in January!!

First, let me tell you what I was up to this last month:

Mostly I've been working on an update for Jardins du Standoff with Eliott. This is our most popular game on Castle and it seemed like a good idea to make it even more interesting and good than it already is! Sadly, that game was kindof made in a rush and a lot of the code was pretty wonky, especially since we worked on it before I make my library Sugarcoat, which itself is much better structured. And so for this update, we decided to rewrite most of the game, cleaner and better. That part is ~98% done now and of course also been doing some pretty nifty additions to the game like new maps, new weapons, water, a CRT shader that flashes along with the screenshake, and a classic deathmatch mode!

This update is nearly done as I write this and we're hoping to release it on Wednesday! You'll be able to play it on Castle - and btw you don't need an account to play games on Castle anymore! More, Castle is now available on Android and iOS, and Jardins will be supported on there!

Aside from that, very recently I ported my game One Room Dungeon from Pico-8 to Castle, using Sugarcoat. I intend to add a leaderboard, a nice shader and some integrated mobile controls. (rather than the automatic ones from Castle) This should be coming at the end of this week or during the one after.

And I've started working on a bigger project, still on Castle, which is currently named 'ACAB' (might change) and is basically the expression of my anger at the growing excessive use of law enforcement forces in my country. The game won't be showing a direct link with what's happening in France, but it will be decidedly anti-cop, anti-fascist, and downright anarchist, in its design, symbols and message.

Which brings me to what I'm thinking of doing next year! I've expressed it before, I want to make more meaningful games. ACAB is an attempt at that but I don't intend to stop there. Most of my current games communicate little outside of very visceral feelings. That is in part because they are what draws me to video games in the first place - it seems to me that this medium is the best suited to share and experience those visceral feelings, and I love that. But now I want to express more complex ideas, more refined feelings, and tie them to the visceral feelings that you know me for.

That is the direction I intend to take in 2020. And on here, on Patreon, I will be writing posts about my process and intentions. And there will be some very short tech posts here and there, and maybe some videos, showing specific effects and explaining the code that goes with it. I would also like to write some posts about other people's work, not necessarily in video games, exploring my thoughts about it.

On a different note, I'm also very tempted to try and make physical releases of games I make, like Paul did with Low Mem Sky. And I'm not necessarily thinking about just Pico-8 games here!

Anyway, that is all for this post! As stated in the title, the Patreon stays on pause for December, meaning you won't be charged that month. Look out for the upcoming Jardins du Standoff update and for the One Room Dungeon port!

Have a very nice week!

Take care!

Rémy 🍬