Now Available on the App Store – iOS Universal 😀

Please Vote to get it on Steam 🙂

*The Mothersheep needs your help!*

Reviews around the internet thingy:

Touch Arcade – 4.5/5

ArcadeLife – 91/100

Pocketgamer – 4/5

148apps – 4.5/5

iphonelife – 4.5/5

The Time Travel Clothing Company is stealing wool from kidnapped Quantum Sheep! The Mothersheep is sending out an SOS to any hero willing to undertake the challenge – ’Save Our Sheep’!

Fly around with your jetpack rescuing sheep and putting them in your rocket! Aliens, UFOs, Bosses and a multitude of other hazards are out to stop you and don’t forget to keep an eye on your dwindling Air Supply!

* 10 monochrome colours (red, white, blue etc) plus new ‘Living Colour’ mode.
* Over 20 awesome characters to unlock!
* 10 Planets to play through – 100 levels in total!
* 11 amazing retro music tracks by Yerzmyey – all made on actual ZX Spectrums
* 16 perks – choose two to take into battle, including rocket, shield and air supply enhancements!
* Rescue sheep to unlock special perks!
* Collect stars, air and kills to unlock characters, music and colours!
* Battle big UFOs and huge bosses!
*Over 40 different alien enemies!
* Bonus Space stages – fly your spaceship against UFOs and asteroids
* Multiple options to customise the look and feel of the game! Over 11 million combinations!
* Inspired by the classic retro game ‘Jetpac’ on the ZX Spectrum!
* Wonderfully bereft of IAP or adverts!

*PSA*
Tested on iPhone 4 and above, as well as the original iPad and above. Will work on iPod Touches 5 and above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello all, hope you’re well, and welcome to 2014!

I’ve been a bit remiss with updates here, as I’m more quickly able to update people (and chat general rubbish) on Twitter and Facebook – please do consider following me there if you want to be up to date with stuff on a day by day basis!

But hey, you’re HERE now, so, let’s catch up!

Well, at the end of last year I released Air Supply – Infinite – and it’s doing ok! A lot of people seem to genuinely like it, which is lovely! Here are a few reviews from around the web:

Arcadelife Review
148apps review
Toucharcade review
CakelessRoses

I’d just like to thank everyone that’s tried the game, reviewed it, talked about it and generally been interested in it. A big thank you to the denizens of the toucharcade forums who have been patient, inspiring, and badgering! Warms the heart of my cockles it does! Thank you all! 😀

So what’s new for 2014?

Well, it’s going to be a very busy year for sure.

First up is re-submitting older games to Apple so that they are iOS7 compliant. At the moment, due to the lovely new features in iOS7, older games can be incompatible. I’m on my way to fixing all this, and it has to be done by mid-feb I think – so there IS a time-limit!

There’s also some bug fixes for Infinite that I need to do!

I’m also working on some new games…

 

1) Air Supply – SOS – IOS, Mac

I’ve been working on this on and off since the original Air Supply came out, so it’s an ‘old’ game but something new for you lot! The delay has been down to a number of factors – lack of art, life, money, stuff. But I’m getting on top of it now.

Here’s a screenshot of my laptop screen, showing me working on some art for it!

Lots still to do, but I’m happy with progress right now and hope to have it done by March.

So expect it in June 😉

 

2) Air Supply – Legacy – PC/Mac

A bit of a departure this one, and I’m tentatively working on seeing if I can actually make it, so no idea on when it’ll be done. The basic premise is ‘Air Supply Doom’ 😀

Here’s a v. early mock-up in Unity:

 

 

3) Air Supply – The Card Game – Real World

And by ‘Card Game’ I mean PHYSICAL card game.

Oh yes!
Some friends and I meet up every month or so to play card/board games (Risk: Legacy is utterly amazing btw). Because we love playing them (and each other’s company!).
And it got me thinking: Could I make an actual card game based on Air Supply?
I don’t know. But I think it’ll be fun trying! I have a bunch of ideas, blank cards and stickers, so I’ll be working on a prototype on and off over the next few months and play testing with my board game friends.

If I get anywhere with it, I may see if I can get funding to get it into your perfectly manicured hands, probably through Kickstarter. Who knows, eh?

That’s a lot of Air Supply. What else is in my head, eh? Jump in and see!

 

4) Adventure games – iOS/Mac/PC

I love adventure games. Really, really love them. I’m already working on a couple of very small text adventures, and have a variety of other adventure games on the drawing board.
There’s a couple of traditional ones which are scene based – a bit like my friend’s game ‘Mosaika’.

There’s a few things holding me back. Firstly, the art requirements for this kind of game are immense. I’ve been working on that…

Secondly, the narratives take a long time. I’ve been working on two for over a year now. They have to make sense, be interesting, be vaguely original and compelling, and be well written.
Thirdly, there’s technical limitations, especially if you want them to work on older devices, as well as making sure they run bug-free.
There’s also a very pretentious first person adventure game I have in mind. Oh my!

 

5) Project IKWIS – IOS

I don’t really want to spill too many beans on this one. It’s an interesting game. It’s got an interesting premise. I just need to make it work. Oh, and art. Lots and lots of art…

 

6) 3D

As mentioned, Air Supply – Legacy will be 3D. I’m looking more and more into 3D games. Not because I’m tired of 2D (NEVER!) but just because I think you can make some interesting stuff in 3D. Lots of ideas here, across a variety of genres, so who knows?

You can get some lovely looking stuff done in 3D too:

 

7) Retro stuff

Retro is what I’m all about, really. I love my simple/lovely graphics, awesome sound, and fun gameplay! Lots of ideas in this area, including a ZX Spectrum game – for the ZX Spectrum!

 

While the Air Supply games cover some of this, there’s always room for more! Should be fun!

 

So, lots to be getting on with, and probably only a handful will be made this year. Though the ideas span a variety of genres/styles, be assured, they will all be ‘Quantum Sheep’ games throughout.

Because I’m making them. On my own. In a room in London.

Thanks for your support and interest – it really keeps me going! And if you’ve read this far, my GOD you’re awesome! 😀 Thanks!

See you in 2014!

QS =D

Hello lovelies!

Just a small update on all things sheepy!

There’s a number of projects on the go at the moment.

My friend Jake is working on (and has been for a while) a little game called ‘Red Mist’. I have no idea when it’ll get finished, but it’s interesting and fun, and might be published through me. Yay!

Then I have a few adventure games in various states of completion. They’re very hard to do 🙁

On top of that I’ve been learning to use Unity as I wanted to do some 3D games too. It’s fun and stuff, and the results are pretty spectacular looking. I just have to learn how to use it better. Understand it better.

So I can make sheepy games with it!

Also, I’m trying to port games over to Windows 8, but don’t have a stable testing environment for it right now. Microsoft have been very helpful, but it’s just taking forever it seems.

The projects are pretty varied. You have the adventure games (plain text, choose your own adventure, Myst type etc), a first person shooter with no guns and a 3D on-rails shooters.

So you can see, I’m being pulled in several directions, and have been for a while now.

In some ways, it’s kinda nice and varied. If I hit a brick wall somewhere on one project, I can move onto another for a while pretty quickly and no time is wasted.

One day could be spent setting up movement paths and turrets in 3D, or learning how to edit C# scripts. Another might be spent just writing locations for an adventure game, or touching up some art.

But really I need to focus a bit more. And I am going to really try and do that!

Also, I just hit 600 followers on Twitter (@quantum_sheep) – thank you all, that’s really, really lovely! Sheepyhugs for all! 😀

Speak soon!

QS 😀

Someone on a forum asked “What do you make games for?” and made a poll with the suggestions:

1. Money
2. Fun
3. Neither

I chose ‘neither’ but felt I should elaborate on that. It turned out into a bit of an essay, but I thought it might be ok to put it here, hoping to give people an insight into why I do what I do!

So, here’s my answer:

Ever since I was a young boy back in the 70s I wanted to make games. I was introduced to them via the arcades (Space Invaders!) and an early home pong system my dad bought us for Christmas one year!

This started happening in the 80s with the advent of the ZX Spectrum. I tinkered around in BASIC and made my first full game (a maths based educational title) for my ‘O’ level computer studies project.

Machine code was a bit beyond my capabilities so before and after that I looked into game making programs. There was ‘Games Designer’ (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0001970) which I found to be fun but a bit limited.

There was also ‘The Quill’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quill) which helped me write a couple of unfinished Adventure games. I found that having the initial idea is easy. Finishing a game is not. Something true even to this day! 🙂

There was also ‘White Lightning’ (http://www.forth.org/lightning.html) which was just way too complex for me. I did end up spending most of my summer that year sitting by a pool with a load of graph paper making characters. I must have been about 14 I think?

Then there was a hiatus of sorts as consoles took over. I could no longer make my own video games so I got into making my own collectible card games (using common cards from CCGs I was playing at the time). There are PC programs now that let you design your own cards, but back in those days I had to photocopy all the art, cut it out, stick it over existing cards to make my own etc etc.

I also got into board games and RPGs. My friends at the time weren’t really into that kind of thing, so I ended up playing out scenarios alone or in my head. I would read rule books for hours, marvelling at the amount of thought that had to go into making a game work.

Late 90s/early 2000s was when things really started kicking off again. I used GameMaker from a very very early stage, and ended up also learning how to make simple WAP games for early mobile phones.

I even tried my hand at a GameBoy Advance game. Alas it didn’t get far!

I was lucky that someone in an actual game company recognised the passion I had for games and gave me my first game design job. That guy is Jake, and he’s one of my very best friends now. I know of no-one else that loves games as much as I do!

So I got a games industry job, but I couldn’t stop making my own games. Later I used Adrift and wrote a couple of adventure games (http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Quantumsheep)

And then came GameSalad. I picked it up straight away, and it has been so much fun to use. It has changed my life because I can now create whatever I want to, pretty much. And thanks to Apple, I can distribute that to thousands of players and hopefully spread some fun around 😀

Making games is, essentially, an extension of myself. I hope my games will reflect that. And while I’m not averse to making money from making games, it’s not the driving force.

None of my projects had money as the core reason for doing them. In fact, for nearly all of them there was no way to actually monetize any of it. It was literally done because I wanted to do it!

It’s all a bit boring I’m sure, but I hope that it shows I do this as a creative exercise to get all the ideas that swim around in my head OUT.

I love games. I love making games. I do this because I can’t imagine NOT doing it.

Is that a good enough answer for you? 🙂

QS 😀

Hello all, hope you’re well!

SO…

I’ve been a busy bunny! A recent jaunt around London with my mate Jake has provided me with lots of material for projectSAMMY 😀

Yay!

Here’s a pic I took on the trip:

It’s the start of a puzzle, typically found in adventure games. You’ll just have to flip the tiles to make the complete picture.

This image is untouched of course, and I’ll need to edit stuff to it to make it ‘fit’ into the game world. But I just wanted to show where inspiration can come from, and what the raw building blocks for an adventure game can be!

Hope you like it!

QS 😀

Hello everyone! Hope you’re well!

I feel that recently, there’s been a whiff of change in the air. And not the small kind 😉

My friend Joe has had huge success with his adventure game, The Lost City. I recommend it – it’s lovely!

At the same time pretty much, the lovely folks at Double Fine got over $1m in funding in less than 24 hours using Kickstarter. To make an adventure game!

It’s truly wonderful to see the support for such lovely people!

It would seem pretty darn lucky that I chose this moment in time to make an adventure game with “ProjectSAMMY”. It’s coming along quite nicely, and I’ll hopefully have new stuff to show you too!

I hope people like it!

QS 😀

Hello! Hope you’re well! 🙂

This is the second screenshot from ProjectSAMMY. Hope you enjoy it!

I’m having a real blast making this right now! I don’t think it’ll be done before March sometime, but I’ll release more shots when I’m comfy showing them!

The pic featured, and the one before, are based (hopefully obviously!) in a crypt. That’s all I’m going to say about it!

I’m working out story details right now! If Star Wars: The Old Republic has taught me anything this past month, it’s that story is important!

I have about $200m less in my budget for ProjectSAMMY. Let’s see what I can do 😉

Thanks for reading!

QS 😀

Hi all!

I’m reticent to post ‘work in progress’ shots of upcoming games, but I wanted to show you all I’m still here and still working on new stuff!

So, with that said, here’s a preview shot of ‘ProjectSAMMY’.

Hope you like it!

ProjectSAMMY will be an adventure game and I hope to add a bit of Quantum Sheep magic to it too!

I’ve made adventure games before, of course, but they were text adventures for the PC. Lots of fun to make too, so I’m excited to be working on this!

At the moment my time is split between this and Air Supply SOS – I’m hoping to settle on one or the other by the end of the month and get something finished by March/April.

So, yeah. I’m still here!

Yay!

QS 😀