Ahoy there, beta11 is ready for backers to download! Get it for Windows, Mac, or Linux. TestFlight users will get an email shortly with the latest build.

This build includes a ton of bug fixes for your favorite bugs, as well as the Ultracon mod by medeman and a Bricks mod by me. I’m getting close to being able to put together a rough edition of the Galaxy Map / MMO portions of Galcon 2, and the Bricks mod was a way for me to test out the basic code I need to add more interactive “menus” / “mini-games” to Galcon 2.

We were able to sent out some of the magnet sets this week! We’ve already gotten some pictures back in! International orders will take longer, and higher tiers are being shipped a bit later so we can combine on shipping. Here’s Kyle’s fridge:

If you want to test the game out with me, I’ll be on the g2s1 server for an hour or so

Thanks!
-Phil

Ahoy there, another build is ready for backers on Windows, Mac, Linux. TestFlight folks will get emails shortly with a new build too!

Particularly cool additions are left-handed mode, and real portrait orientation support! Some options like “color-blind mode” and “multi-touch mode” are listed in the Controls, but they aren’t implemented yet. Please check out the Settings / Controls and try out settings and find your favorite!

Funny dev bug:

This build largely fixes a ton of iOS related issues and overhauls the in-game user interface. I tried to fix most of the issues reported! Please give it a whirl, I’ll be online for a bit on the server if anyone wants to hang out! Please post on the forums if you have any comments.

Also, the magnet sets are all pretty much packaged and shipping will begin to all the $25 backers next week! I’m holding off on higher tiers because we’re going to try and combine shipping with the box sets. Thanks for your patience!

Cheers!
-Phil

Hey there! Another swell Galcon 2 beta is available for Kickstarter backers on Windows, Mac, Linux (Ubuntu 12.04), and for a select few, iOS!

I’ve set up a server for Galcon 2 finally, you can try out multiplayer by clicking Play, then Client, then “Quick Join g2s1″ . Other players are hosting modded servers as well, and you can get info about those in the forums.

Linux users who have an Ubuntu 12.04 compatible OS can check it out finally! Also, if you want to run a server on any OS you can now run Galcon 2 with the command line options “-headless -mod path/to/mod_server.lua” to start up a headless server.

I’ve added a ton of new options to the Controls tab in Settings. Check them out and customize your Galcon 2 controls to your preference. Be sure to stop by the forums and tell me which settings you like the best.

And on the Kickstarter reward front, Nan has started packing the fridge magnet sets! Watch for a survey in the mail to fill in your address. To save on shipping, we’re packing the box set with the magnets, so those will be delayed a bit (I hope that’s okay! It means more of the KS funds will be used for the game instead of just for postage.) Here’s a packaging action shot:

P.S. If you want to join in on the iOS beta, keep checking these announcements, and in the Galcon 2 forums. I’ll be inviting a second wave of beta testers sometime in the future.

Yo! Another beta is ready for you to play! Kickstarter backers can download it for Windows or Mac. Linux users: I spent some time this week preparing the game for Linux, so someday this will be ready! My main goal with Linux is to have it work “headless” so you can run servers on Linux (but also play on Linux.)

I will be hanging out on the forums/chat this morning, so hopefully we can do some group play-testing of the game!

Little update on the Kickstarter rewards: getting rewards together is pretty involved! But we’re making progress, we have all the magnet sets in, and we’re getting in most of the packing materials, and whatnot. So pretty soon we’re going to be able to start sending these items out! I can’t wait for you to see them in person! We also got in a ton of poster tubes, and we’re currently working with a box company to get the box set details sorted out.

New features this time include video options, so now you can go fullscreen or windowed in any res you want. There is also a “Size” option where you can pick how large your screen is. Small simulates how the game will look on phones, medium/large on tablets. Huge for big HD desktops (other desktops may prefer medium/large.)

Another feature I’ve added is the ability for modders to use vector art in their menus, this means they could add in really slick looking post-game power-graphs/charts. Nobody has implemented this, but I hope to see some cool use of this feature soon!

Lastly, thanks to everyone’s bug reports, I’ve included over twenty bug fixes. Just to give you a bit of a peek at what goes on while I’m making games, this is how I track what I’ve done in the past week:

== beta8 ==

= 4/4/2013 =
- code: add bounds check for all id’s sent through Lua API to other functions.
- removed boring items from TODO.txt
- spaghetti: clean up the trans code so it’s not so dynamite jack oriented
- gutted view/audio/video/settings sub-systems out of game.cpp and into their own “separate” classes / files

= 4/3/2013 =
- vector drawing HTML element?
- added in vectorart support to html
- ipad version: re-require login now that we’re back from GDC (menus_mods.hpp)
- added vignette to menus background.
- menu: quit
- added background visuals to menus.
- re-worked all menus to work in any resolution, etc

= 4/2/2013 =

- settings: fullscreen
- settings: video res
- fix positioning of on-hover planet info
- mods: ability to remove planets/etc. if fleets are going to said planet, delete those fleets as well.
- mods: labels in other colors
- top of keyboard numbers don’t work on some keyboards (but did work in Galcon Fusion)
- should be able to type numbers in chat when hovering over the chat box
- dual: keep score of how many wins/losses per player
- galcon: there’s a moment in co-op where a previous send() command can come in after a round ends, but during the pause, and cause a fleet to launch early. it should ID by game or something so that doesn’t happen?
- dual: hide enemy ship numbers on your side
- turns: hide enemy ship numbers during their turns
- after pause if you typed it doesn’t resume text properly, goofs up.

= 4/1/2013 =
- mod_client not getting the HTML update between co-op rounds.
- be able to chat on pause screen
- during trans, allow keyboard presses, but NOT mouse clicks… (so chat can continue during the pause)
- have production have +80 instead of just 80 so it’s more obvious
- tab-completion of names not working on client side? (case sensitive?)
- make ping case-insensitive.
- allow single character chat

Anyway, thanks to everyone for checking out Galcon 2! I’m going to open up the iOS beta to a limited group of people pretty soon, so I’m looking for volunteers on the forums. I’m limited to a small number of players, so I can’t promise that you will be added.

Cheers!
-Phil

Ahoy there, beta7 is now live! Kickstarter backers can download it for Windows or Mac. Be sure to leave some feedback in the forums, your participation is a huge help!

I spent most of the week working on the iPad version of the game in preparation for GDC (the Game Developers Conference) that I’m going to this coming week. That means there won’t be a new build of the game next week.

I did a ton of work on the control options, so now you can customize the controls quite a bit. Be sure to check that out. I also made a ton of little tweaks to the “dual” and “turns” mods. And I fixed a ton of bugs, including some pretty messy ones!

If you happen to be at GDC, say hi! I’m friendly! Just look for the guy with the ridiculously huge belt buckle. I’ll be at the Indie Game Summit and the TouchArcade party for sure. And I’ll have a special GDC-only Galcon 2 sticker to give you

Cheers!
-Phil

P.S. Thanks for everyone’s bug reporting and testing this past week. Don’t worry, I’m not ignoring you, I just didn’t have time to fix all those things because I had to get the iPad port done this week. So the multitude of things we found still aren’t fixed yet. I’ll be working on those after GDC

New beta6 ready for exploration! Download for Windows or Mac. (Beta still only available to Kickstarter / PayPal backers.)

The final magnet set proofs came out great, we’re ordering the final stuff now! These are so much fun!

I’ve added in a “dual” mode for head-to-head play. This isn’t really “playable” on your computer, but you can kinda see what it’s going to be like for playing on the iPad.

I did a huge overhaul of the client / server stuff. The coolest bits are the adjustable chat region and the updated co-op mode. You’ll also see in this screenshot the percent-o-meter slider. This is more useful for mobile devices, but for now it’s in the desktop version too. Also, I added in nice looking “Galcon Fusion” style backgrounds and fades / transitions. However, it felt a bit off, because the game is so beta right now, having it look polished like that seemed awkward. So I disabled them for now.

Lastly I added more tabs to the Settings section. The only one with real settings is Audio as I added in the classic sound effects to the game. You’ll need to double check that they are set to on to hear the sound effects in beta6.

I’m going to be hanging out in Galcon chat and on the forums for the next couple hours, so someone get a server set up and we can play!!

Thanks!!
-Phil

Okay! It was a pretty great week here! Short version: beta5 is out for Windows and Mac, try ‘em out! Be sure to also try the esparano_frustration mod, it’s got a world map, and it’s pretty tricky.

Last Saturday a bunch of players and I played Galcon 2 multiplayer for about 2 hours and found tons of them. So I’ll be joining the first server we get up and running to play again today, and hope to track down all the new quirks. I’m especially excited to try out the Co-op server mode I added. Check on the forums for server IP addresses!

Also, I was able to include esparano’s frustration mod. It’s got a cool world map and it’s quite tricky. So give it a try and have some fun!

Anyway, have a good time trying out Galcon 2. Be sure to tell me what you think! Your feedback means a lot to me, so keep it coming

Cheers!
-Phil

P.S. The Android port of Dynamite Jack is out now as part of the Humble Bundle with Android 5 bundle. This is exciting for Galcon 2, because it means I’ve now got the larger part of the porting work done for Galcon 2!

Hey, it’s been a crazy last week working on Galcon 2. I’ve just managed to get a rough version of multiplayer working, and it’s moddable too! I didn’t get it ready to work on my dedicated server yet, so has to run on a real desktop. So whoever can set up their router to work first gets to claim they were the FIRST Galcon 2 “admin” Please post your IP/port info to the forums here.

You can download beta4 for OS X or Windows.

In other news, the Kickstarter rewards are coming together! Here’s a picture of the magnet set proof on our fridge!

And here’s a picture of Nan working on the Power Necklaces.

Have fun with beta4!

-Phil

In the near future, about 60 or so people are going to be getting the Galcon 2 box set. One of the goodies is a set of marbles to play the Galcon Marble Game! I designed this game this month and I’m posting the rules here as part of the #1GAM for February.

About
- Dominate the Galaxy with your Marble Shooting Skills!
- Players: 2 – 4
- Ages: 5 and up

Supplies
- 4 sets of 7 planets (small marbles).
- 1 shooter (large marble).

Setup
- Draw a circle (or any reasonable playing area) enclosing the Galaxy
- In order from highest online rank to lowest, each put down a single planet from your set until all planets are placed.
- Lowest rank plays first

Playing
- Pick one of your planets as your starting point.
- From there, shoot the shooter.
- If you get an enemy planet out of the Galaxy, you get a bonus turn.
- If you got one of your planets out of the Galaxy, your turn ends.
- If you get no planets out, your turn ends.

Winning
- The winner is the last person with planets in the Galaxy

Rules
- You are allowed to knock your own planets around if you want to, but you may not shoot at the planet you are starting from.
- Knocking out multiple enemy planets in a single shot only gets you one bonus turn.
- No matter what, if you knock one of your planets out, you don’t get a bonus turn.

Have fun!
-Phil

Have you ever wondered how marbles are made? I bet you have. Here’s a video of Shannon “Snoop” Norris of Fireworx Glass Studio creating the Grand Admiral reward art glass marbles. They came out incredible, but they are near impossible to photograph because they are all 3D-inner-reflective glass stuff.

I’ve been a bit busy the last few days working on Dynamite Jack for Android. This helps out Galcon 2 a ton, because now I’ve got a wrapper for Android that will work with Galcon 2 when I’m ready for Android porting time!

I’ve also put together a beta3 of Galcon 2 that includes several new mods I made, a “Turn Based” mod and a “Bot War” mod. I’ll have some details about the API changes in the forums for the modders, I’d really like to include some user mods in a build in the near future!

Download beta3 for Windows or Mac. Please leave some feedback on the forums!

Thanks!
-Phil