These ARE the droids you’re looking for!

Posted in Android, App Store, Games, Google Play, Gravitrixx, Mobile, News, retro on January 22nd, 2013 by quantumsheep

Hey all! Another update! Already!

I was up converting .Matrixx for the Kindle Fire when I realised I hadn’t signed up for the android store, otherwise known as ‘Google Play’.

The process only took about half an hour. And half an hour later, I had a version of Gravitrixx submitted!

You can find it here for Android.

Crazy stuff. It also takes just hours after submission to be published. So it’s available NOW!

I need a cup of tea. And some sleep I think…

Hope you Android users enjoy the game, and I’ll get busy bringing more to your format of choice!

QS πŸ˜€

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Gravitrixx on Kindle Fire :D

Posted in Amazon, Android, App, App Store, Games, Gravitrixx, Kindle, puzzle, retro, sci-fi on January 21st, 2013 by quantumsheep

“You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.” – Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars

Hello all!

Just a quick note to let you know that old sheepy favourite “Gravitrixx” has made it onto the Kindle Fire!

Yay!

You can find the game here πŸ˜€

Also, why not check out our game page for more details!

This is a very exciting start to the new year for me! I’m already looking at getting our other games onto the Kindle, including the much loved Air Supply!

But that’s not all! Testing is going on right now to try and get these games onto Android, and if Microsoft can sort out my account you’ll see them on Windows 8 too.

Busy, busy sheepy!

For now though, Gravitrixx has been a good start! Thanks all for reading!

QS πŸ˜€

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GO! :D

Posted in .Matrixx, Air Supply, Android, dot matrix, Games, Gravitrixx, iPad, Kindle, Mac, News, screenshots, Windows 8 on January 12th, 2013 by quantumsheep

Hello all, and a happy new year to you!

Had a productive start to the new year! Currently I’m still working on three projects, but have also been working on porting my current games to other platforms!

Below are Air Supply and Gravitrixx on a Kindle Fire:

.Matrixx is also looking a bit nice on the Kindle Fire too πŸ™‚

Other versions I’m aiming for is Mac for Air Supply, and possibly iPad. Also trying to work out how to get stuff onto Windows 8 Devices!

Busy times ahead! Hopefully you’ll see the fruits of my labours over the last year soon!

Thanks for reading, and here’s to a fun filled 2013!

Toodles!

QS πŸ˜€

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Why am I here?

Posted in Adventure, Games, News, retro on September 18th, 2012 by quantumsheep

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! πŸ™‚

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 πŸ˜€

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? πŸ™‚

QS πŸ˜€

Hello!

Posted in Games, News on July 29th, 2012 by quantumsheep

I’m *Still* here! Sorry! πŸ˜€

So it may appear that I’ve not been very active recently!

This couldn’t be further from the truth!

Several titles still in development. But you know, it’s just me here, fiddling around, trying to make games!

It’s still fun though, and I hope to have something for everyone soon!

Hope you’re all well, enjoying the weather and, if in London, bearing with it all during the Olympics πŸ˜‰

Speak soon! πŸ˜€

A ‘Captain Obvious’ video (obviously!) :D

Posted in art, Captain Obvious, Games, iPad, iphone, ipod, Mac, News, video, youtube on May 1st, 2012 by quantumsheep

Hey all!

Here’s a quick prototype vid for Captain Obvious!

I’ll let Shaz from Honeytribe Studios fill you in!

Developed during Game Hack 2012, a 24 hour game jam held at Pinewood Studios in the UK April 28th-29th.

24 hours may not seem like a lot of time to make a game. And you’re right, it isn’t. So we’re going to work on the game some more before we let it roam free in the app store jungle.

Developers:
Quantum Sheep: www.quantum-sheep.com
Honey Tribe Studios: www.HoneyTribeStudios.com
Old Kipper

Air Supply is on the cover of a book! :O

Posted in Air Supply, App, art, Games on April 4th, 2012 by quantumsheep

I never knew about this:

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920018414.do#

How lovely to see that! I had no idea!

I suppose I have to buy the book now… πŸ˜‰

QS πŸ˜€

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Life is an adventure! :D

Posted in Adventure, Games, iphone on February 11th, 2012 by quantumsheep

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 πŸ˜‰

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 πŸ˜€

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I can’t please everyone, but…

Posted in .Matrixx, App Store, Games, iPad, Reviews on February 7th, 2012 by quantumsheep

Hello everyone! Hope you’re well!

Things are getting very busy at the moment. Most of the back-end stuff for ProjectSammy is in place. I have systems set up to handle the inventory, objects, locations, feedback and puzzles. It’s really quite overwhelming at times!

Soon I’ll start actually putting the game together, which will probably take a little over a month with any luck (that’s ‘developer’ talk for TWO months!). I’ve been very productive of late but the task ahead is huge!

In other news, I just wanted to say that I do read every single review posted on iTunes, good or bad! I appreciate that complete strangers take time out of their day to let me (and others) know what they think of my efforts!

I got a really well written review the other day for .Matrixx on the iPad by a chap called ‘The Other McCoy’. It reads:

Fine gameplayDifficult one to rate. It’s a good example of the new indie golden age we have on IOS – but I’d say one of the simpler games of the sort. Graphics are minimal (but clean), sound is a retro homage (quite nice actually), and gameplay is *golden*. It’s pretty straightforward but it works well. I’m no authority but it seems quite original to me. Another thing I like about it is that it has an easy-going “just one more time” vibe even though it does get pretty busy. With some arcade games I have to be in the mood for the challenge but I can goof around with this one anytime. I was tempted to rate it 3 because of its minimal nature but the gameplay and vibe take it to 4.

Firstly, thank you so much for giving the game a chance! Just as importantly though, I’m very glad you seem to be enjoying it. It really does make my day to read reviews such as yours, sir, and I thank you, and everyone else that writes reviews, for your opinions!

Spreading fun throughout the world is my mission! I can’t please everyone of course! But by Jove I try!

Many thanks!

QS πŸ˜€

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Another WIP shot of ProjectSAMMY :D

Posted in Adventure, App, art, Games, News on January 27th, 2012 by quantumsheep

Hello! Hope you’re well! πŸ™‚

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 πŸ˜‰

Thanks for reading!

QS πŸ˜€

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