Play Tio Omitli now!

This was the first game jam my sister (Susie) and I participated in together. This was her first completed game project, so congrats Susie! I worked on the usual: code, art, audio, game design, and dialogue/narrative design. Susie helped with around half of the narrative design. We used Unity with the Dialogue System by a friend of mine, Tony Li. I couldn’t have done this game without Tony’s hard work to build such a great system. If you’re a game developer, I strongly recommend using it for your Unity games, too.

Just Play Game Jam for Justice

The theme of this game jam was “justice” with additional sub-themes. I won’t list them all, but we approached the project with the following in mind: justice, narrative, community, social impact, spirituality, and post-colonial. The rules were fairly standard for game jams, the most common being to use new assets/works. Existing games were excluded from the main competition.

It got me excited to find out this jam was all about justice, narrative, and community. My primary project Over Many Waters (OMW) is mostly a seafaring RPG, but strong elements of community building will persist throughout the game. Approaching the game jam, I wanted to create a sort of spin-off to OMW so that I could recycle most or all of the assets created for Tio Omitli back into OMW.

You can read more about Tio Omitli’s intentions, gameplay, and design on the game’s Itch.io page.

Success Story

This was my best and favorite game jam project. I hope the world feels the same way. Regardless, I feel almost everything went according to plan. Using draw.io’s workflow diagram as a collab and idea board, we scoped out the project and followed a daily plan. With our Discord channel, we shared updates, files, wips, and ideas. We did have another member on the team when we started, but that individual became overwhelmed with previous commitments and dropped out. I was a little upset, since they participated in some of the meetings, but contributed zero.

I don’t have to drag this post on any longer, so I’ll end about here. The project went well. I’m happy with it. Everything you need to know about Tio Omitli and the game jam is right here on the itch page. Go check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks!

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Your first game hint is to try playing the game again. It’s only going to take a minute or two if you’re playing as of January 2024 or we haven’t added any updates since then.

Last chance to try it on your own one more time…

Okay, I’ll spill the beans already.

While the game is all about bringing people together, you can easily make someone’s life more difficult on accident. The social impact you have on our game’s characters is moderately complex. There are secret endings that will only happen if you do not win the game. Some characters will inevitably die young despite your best efforts. In at least two scenarios, a random result may occur. We designed the game to demonstrate how complex social engagement are, especially when ideas like racism and social inequality are present. So don’t be discouraged if you can’t truly beat the game.

Since you’re still here looking for a clue, I’ll give you one. The most important Tio Omitli game hint is knowing when you’ve beat the game, for real. At the end, Aluxe will come close to breaking the fourth wall and hinting at the fact you’re “playing a game” and have won. That’s when you’ll get completionist level confirmation.

Impacting the People of Mexico City

It’s important to speak with all seven of the citizens: Eztli, Maria & Mateo, Santiago, Taltomi, Calantzi, and Itzacli. Notice Javier is excluded from this list? His happiness depends directly on the happiness of his friends, the citizens of Mexico City. To make Javier happy, you can avoid endangering the people, embolden them to sooth cultural differences, and generally steer them away from difficulties.

It’s not going to be easy, but remember it’s designed that way to reflect real life. There are even secret endings, so look out for them. You might get one of the characters to kill another or Javier could marry one of the other characters. Those two results are pretty rare, but they make for fun twists.

I do hope you enjoy the game. You should note your results and share them with me on Discord or Instagram. If you’d like this prototype to become a full game with quests, encounters, and all the other features, please let us know on the Itch page. Either way, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the project. Thanks for playing!

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Last Saturday, October 28th 2023, I showcased Over Many Waters at the Hashtag Gaming Arena in Herndon, Virginia. From 4PM to 9PM I had new players sit and test the game, for better or worse. These events are crucial to get live feedback and opinions from the perfect strangers. Most of the time, these strangers are honest and willing to lend the feedback needed for the growth of an indie game like mine.

What I Brought to the Show

As a solo indie game dev I have no pushback from large teams. Getting as many playtesters during early alpha build prototyping is a pretty big deal for me. During the month of October I set out to design and implement a first-time user experience tutorial level. However, my time was crunched down to the final hours as all three of my living grandparents had hip operation within two weeks and my father went in for a 7mm kidney stone. Making my rounds and spending quality family time wasn’t a second thought. I had to put development on hold.

The time spent away from development did not discourage me. The day before the event, I spent 14 hours developing and polishing the tutorial level. You can try out the slightly bugged build on my itch.io. Indie games are seriously rewarding and seriously difficult to create, but I love crunch-time and really knocking out my goals. Working under pressure drives me, so I want to set as many goals and attend as many events as possible.

At previous events, I have had mostly positive experiences. I started developing Over Many Waters full-time after the BIG/BeSTA Indie Game Dev Day on July 15th in the Baltimore area. The success of that event encouraged me to go all-in on developing my Aztec-Fantasy RPG, but not all events go according to plan.

Knowing How to Fall as an Indie Game Developer

My next show was in the basement of a bar/restaurant in Baltimore City during the Artscape’s sideshow, Gamescape 2023. Leading up to the showcase event, I had worked on numerous large projects for my other business (Xsealer Asphalt) and took on the week-long Brackey’s indie game jam. I lost focus for a bit and it cost me greatly.

During Gamescape, my playtesters uncovered critical game bugs. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself. I even attempted to resolve the bugs on the spot and pushed a stable build for players to get through. To be completely transparent here, that version of my game sucked so bad that it was effectively rated the worst game at the show. Visitors received tickets upon entry to the showcase. They were told to give a ticket to their favorite game or indie game developer. I was the only dev to get zero tickets .

The good news about this is that having a game build that sucks doesn’t mean you have a game that sucks. Knowing how to fall gracefully is important as a solo indie game dev. When I took MMA in my early 20’s, the first thing we learned was how to fall. The point is to fall gracefully enough that you don’t injure yourself and you end up in a recovery position that could lead to forward progress. That’s exactly what I did with my next build.

Progress Building

I feel much better after my last two shows: Opening Night of Maryland STEM Festival at Howard Community College, and Hashtag Con in Herndon, VA. My next event is another STEM Fest event coming up on November 12th at the University of Maryland, Ritchie Coliseum. By that time, my tutorial level should be polished and I may also have a few more NPC’s built in. By the way, the NPC’s are critical to Over Many Waters and will be just as significant as the Seafaring and Exploration!

I hope you have enjoyed keeping up with my progress. As always, please Wishlist on Steam and join the chat on Discord. Check out my walkthrough below:

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Over Many Waters Demo Release Notes

In the next few months, I’ll be dedicated to the release of a playable demo. I’m aiming for 1-2 hours of content. That’s a tall order to fill. Especially since I currently only have about 10 minutes of gameplay.

Here’s my plan:

• Refine my newly implemented Save System
• Create 20 NPCs, each with dialogue using the Dialogue System by Pixel Crushers
• Create a wip Aztec city complete with adobe homes and temples
• Revisit and refine the Sailing mechanic, allowing basic seafaring

But, what does all of this mean?

Saving

To be brief, the Save System will allow the player to transition between scenes and keep their data. We often play games and gloss over considerations for how games store our info. How much HP did the player have when they stopped playing or when moving to a new location? Did the player have all unique items unlocked or just a select number of those items?

With the implementation of saving, my game is starting to feel more engaging. Before this, I couldn’t exit the temple without erasing data and spawning back at the beginning of level 1. That just didn’t make sense, but now you keep your HP and you spawn at the temple door when you leave the temple.

NPCs

I’m honestly very excited about adding NPCs. My goal to add 20 NPCs is fairly high for this stage of the game, but I always aim high. These NPCs will include Captain Gonzalo, The Storyteller, Aluxe, JP, Go’ra, Samuel, the Warrior Guard, and about 13 additional characters. Those six characters may be recurring and some might be VIP characters. So far, they each have a background and general persona. The rest of the characters may serve to fill the world and be forced to face south only. Eventually, I want to give more depth and uniqueness to each NPC, similar to what you get from Stardew Valley.

Seafaring

Are you ready to set sail and explore the vastness of Azuria in the world of Over Many Waters? I’ll let you in on a little secret: This game was originally codenamed “Pirate Game,” then it was “Azuria.” In early development, I set out to create an open-world pirate game. I soon decided to layer a story behind it after researching more on the history of pirates. Somewhere along the line, I began tossing a bunch of assets into Unity and discovered what I really wanted to create: An Aztec-themed Stardew/LOZ crossover.

Seafaring was one of the first key features I implemented into the game. Upon adding more new features, I eventually broke seafaring. I’ll be revisiting that feature soon. It shouldn’t take me more than a few days to get that back in order and expandable. For now, expect the ability to sail around on a basic raft/boat to coast along shores and shallow waters. In future versions of the game, you can anticipate an upgrade in the form of a canoe, sailboat, and possibly a small ship.

Featuring left to right: original Leo, Leo 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and Leo – the final form!

Game Demo Release Date

The demo intends to provide players with a full hour of gameplay. The demo release will include a tutorial level, an explorable island, several enemies to smack around, seafaring (lite version), a complete dungeon, a boss battle, an Aztec city, and about 20 NPCs. *Phew*

I plan on making this deadline by this year, December 24th, 2023, and the final game release almost exactly one year later on December 12th, 2024. Rooting for me? I hope so. If you’re even remotely paying attention to the development of Over Many Waters, pretty please leave a comment. It can be as simple as “looks interesting” or “hi”. Just drop a little nugget to let me know you care. If you’re even more willing to help me boost interest, I hope you will copy the URL or click the share button and post this to your social media. It’s easy and it goes a long way to help generate interest. I’ll give you the biggest virtual high five!

Keep up and Wishlist on Steam

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Backstory

A week before Brackey’s Jam 23 I had no intentions of working a game jam, but a few pals were interested and that was enough to get me involved. Becoming entrenched in the week-long Brackey’s Jam 23 tested team determination, experience, cohesion, and strategies against our collective intentions behind the jam. We came together with the goal of completing a viable game loop with the jam theme “Diving Deeper”. During our initial design and feature meeting we devised a plan to build a game now titled “Ragnar’s Rock”, a game about an asteroid mining, space-dwarf wielding a throwable hammer. 

Half of the eight-person team joined a day prior to the jam. Everyone had met one another previously, either in person or virtually. Our collective skillsets included audio engineering, programming across multiple game engines, project management, game design, and art/animation. For privacy purposes, I will refer to member functions/roles only. 

Having determined as a group that we would start the project as a 2D Top-Down game, daringly using Unreal Engine 5 as a foundation, we were all in agreement on the initialization of the project. I know UE5 is a massive 3D engine, but we were agreeably open to the challenge and learning experience, which we will soon dive into more.

Our scope was quickly framed out by the team and road-mapped quite formidably by our lead project manager. A GIT repo had been established prior to the start of the project and merge strategies were discussed at that point as well. We had a solid foundation to start the project. As a team, we agreed to create a space-mining, 2D top-down, complete with 10 levels, a single common enemy, a boss battle, a simple GUI to display HP and the quantity of gold collected, a mining hammer, and a lite upgrade screen between levels. This hastily gathered team had immediate chemistry, outstanding communication, and a strong sense of unity on roles and scope. 

Results

Despite our best intentions and greatest effort we did not complete Ragnar’s Rock in time to submit a game for Brackey’s Jam 23. I spoiled the result of the jam early in this post to help you understand the context moving forward. Everyone worked really hard on this project and each member respectively produced outstanding work. So why did the project fall short of meeting the scoped-out, road-mapped features? I’ll explain all of that shortly. First, I want you to know that despite having missed our deadline, I would work with any one of these members again with sharper focus and stronger frameworks for success. More time would have helped too, but it’s a game jam. They’re intentionally short. Yet another spoiler, the good news is that we do intend to complete the game and publish it publicly on itch.io. 

What Went Right

I feel we went in the right direction on the game theme of Diving Deeper by having 10 mining levels. Where most developers would immediately go towards the obvious water diving parallel, early into ideation I had my fingers crossed that our team would not succumb to a water-based game theme direction. Members arrived at the decision to create a dwarven mining game with a vote of 5 for the miner game, 2 for a magic schoolbus-inspired game, and 1 no-vote due to absence. We established and agreed upon the theme and scope from the start, making the game development fun and motivating all team members to see it through. We were all constantly excited to see our character smash space rocks and defeat a nasty big bad. That synchronous spirit fueled cohesion and determination.

Out of our team of eight, several members had worked together before. From day one, we established the feature set for Ragnar’s Rock and quickly assigned roles. Some members had cross-roles, such as a programmer who would dual purpose as an artist. Moving into development, each member consented to their roles and tasks. There was no doubt about it.

The lead engineer on the team proved his experience in UE5 and was able to strategize building a 2D game in such a massive 3D engine. As the first member I recruited, it was his choice to use UE5 and thus his responsibility to live up to engineering the 2D world within. He quickly rangled together the powers of Paper2D and PaperZD in UE5 and with some of my old game art from another project, we had a defacto prototype. 

I served as an alternate engineer along with our lead and two other members. One of our four engineers had no significant Unreal Engine experience. It’s impressive how swiftly he picked up on UE5. The character artist did an amazing job at an eight-direction character animation. Tileset textures by the environment artist were second to none and he put together a terrifying boss enemy! I was happy that the same artist working on the environment was also working on the enemy because Ragnar’s Rock was all about a space miner trying to survive the domain of this creepy spider queen while trying to do his work as a miner. I also did level design, and character grunts for SFX, and I led the initiative on GIT version control. The audio works were impressive and just as spooky as you would hope for in a deep-space, bug-infested asteroid miner game. Props to the entire creative team for producing standout, original content for this short-term project. 

What Went Wrong

TL;DR Git version control! The stuff of nightmares!

The real story behind our shortcomings is all in the Git. I personally bear the responsibility of falling short of strong Git reinforcement. However, despite my best intentions and best efforts to encourage good practices, the hard truth is that every engineer defied those intentions. Sidenote to my team: I’m sorry boys, this is the hard truth of the matter. Forgive me in advance. This is what this reflection is all about, right? I truly wish we were tighter with version control. 

Stepping back just a bit, it’s fair to mention that I’m an asphalt contractor full-time and my hobby game dev projects are a lower priority than running a business to provide for my family. Unfortunately for Ragnar’s Rock, I simultaneously started a 10-day project last week. Initially, I beat myself up thinking the frontload of the project could have used my guidance and aid a bit more. Retrospectively, it’s only partially true. I could have spent more time directing the engineering team on Git repo best practices. Despite the strong start, team members discarded the initial branch strategies and feature ownership halfway through the project.

Engineering members were outspokenly determined to work on the same features, down to manipulating the same file on separate branches asynchronously. Reflecting on the fact that I am still a rookie, I approached two external sources to discuss whether or not our merge strategies were solid. So far, the standard practice appears to be as follows: Establish who owns each feature. Map out how each feature will interact with all other features and who needs access to those features’ scripts/code. Determine how the logic will connect through encapsulation so as not to be forced to manipulate the contents of files you do not own. If you need more functionality or cannot move on without some work done on a feature you do not own, reach out to the owner and discuss strategies. Finally, commit and merge often to ensure everyone is current and the project features play nice when merged. 

During development, we encountered several conflicts. I held meetings to remedy these conflicts, but the demand of attending to these issues and other acute matters weighed heavy on myself and the lead engineer. Eventually, the team outright rejected and abandoned the use of Git. If you know anything about Git and why you use it you may know what happened next. Sharing files over Google Drive on the last working day caused an inexplicable loss of my work and personally, I lost the motivation to continue. Feature creep was another leading factor in our demise.  

The only other hitch we had was in character art. Our character artist worked longer than expected on the main character and burned out, rendering himself unable to complete the enemies and boss. Our environment artist took up his torch and finished strong with a bone-chilling queen spider boss and fantastic title cover art. 

I can’t directly accuse communication failure of being a culprit in our shortcomings, but we could have used a tighter agreement on execution. Overall, members fulfilled their roles and responsibilities. If you asked anyone about our communication, they would confirm that we met regularly and discussed issues promptly via Discord. We simply lost too much time dealing with merge conflicts and feature creep. 

Takeaway

It’s safe to stick to your lane sometimes, but you have to push the boundaries to grow. We started this project in UE5 because some of the initial members had experience in the engine and we did a 2D game because all members had experience with 2D. However, I personally will not be working with 2D games in UE5 in the future. For 2D top-down games, I will continue in Unity. The next jam I do with Unreal will be exclusively with 3D assets, which I’m comfortable with creating and texturing. 

I will definitely be working with members of this team again. I don’t see any reason not to. Understandably, some of us got a little overambitious towards the end and Git got us pretty bad. Each member of Ragnar’s Rock rocked hard! Each member of my team had a skill set I would like to see in action again. Next time I take charge as a team lead or a project manager, I promise I’ll be a stronger leader. I hope each member felt supported by me during this jam. Even though I am still learning, I wanted to serve the team as a guiding light and a resource. See you all on the next one. 

The post Brackey’s Jam 23 Postmortem Reflection appeared first on MultiMediaVerse.

Though the contract seemed cruel, it was in place to prevent him from becoming evil. After seven years spirits could no longer resist the evil magic in the air produced by Siyak. Their masters sealed them away to prevent corruption sickness.

After his master passed, Aluxe convinced himself that corruption sickness was a myth. A cruel joke made up to dispose of the protective elven spirits when they had served their purpose. But, as his seventh year passed, he began to change. He did his best to resist the darkness growing inside him and came up with a compromise. He asked travelers for favors, usually annoying or difficult to fulfill. If they didn’t agree, he would cause them mischief until he found his next victim. If they appeased him, the guilt-fueled part of himself that clung on, would give them a favor in return.

That compromise had led Aluxe to become somewhat of a popular legend of the jungle. The trouble with that was that awareness about him made travelers this way few and far between. The darkness inside him grew restless without prey.

The rustle of leaves caused Aluxe’s pointed ears to shift. His head whipped around to face the traveler foolish enough to enter his jungle. His prey was a sweaty man navigating a torn map. As the man noticed Aluxe, he stopped short.

“Oh,” the traveler said, startled.

Aluxe’s agreement with himself was only allowed if the traveler initiated conversation. He would need more than that to justify satiating his growing evil. When the silence didn’t elicit the greeting he was waiting for, Aluxe began to wonder if his ears were poking out from his carefully placed hat. He reached a hand to the side of his head to find that the pointy offenders were still concealed. His ears, and his silence upon meeting were the two things that gave him away. Though, most of the time once people realized who he was, it was too late.

“Are you lost as well?” the traveler asked as he swiped his brow with the back of his hand. “I’m afraid my map is no longer what it used to be. Moths got to it last night while I was asleep.” He held up his moth-eaten map. “Uh- but I believe if we just keep this way,” he said as he pointed in the direction he’d been going. “Then we’ll come to the town of Tikal. Is that where you’re from?”

That would be more than enough. Aluxe stepped closer to the traveler and took off his hat. His scraggly blonde hair fell around his shoulders, his pointed ears poking through. He relished the moment his victims realized who he was, but a very small part of him hated being feared.

“I am lost no matter who has found me, traveler,” Aluxe said.

The sweaty man began to shake as his map fell from his grip. “N-no, I-I didn’t know. Please,” he begged as he backed away.

“I’m in need of the obsidian from the temple of B’alam. Would you be so kind as to fetch it for me?”

“T-that’s impossible. I can’t do that. No one has ever survived the temple of B’alam.” The pathetic man’s panic reached a peak as he let out a yelp and began to run.

Curse him. Aluxe felt the need reverberate through his bones. He needed to- he took a step forward. He needed to- and another. He-

“No!” Aluxe shouted. He stumbled back, his foot catching on a vine, and crashed to the jungle floor. He clutched his head in his hands and willed the thought to go away. Sure, he was bad, but he’d never cursed anyone before. The deal he kept with himself had always worked at keeping his dark in check before, so why now? After a corrupt elven spirit cast its first curse, it was rumored to join Siyak’s army.

Your prey is getting away.

Aluxe’s eyes snapped upward and the concerns in his head went mute. He almost had his feet back under him before he came to his senses. “No! I’m staying on the ground until this passes. Only then can I cause my mischief.” 

Aluxe sat for hours as the urge only grew. By the time the sun had set, he had begun to dig his nails into his skin to keep himself rooted in reality.

Get up and curse him, you know you want to. You need to.

“Are you all right?” Aluxe heard a voice ask. He looked up, disobeying the protests of his aching neck that had been stuck angled down for hours. A boy around the age of 14 or 15, stood a foot away staring right at him. Hope flared in his chest. This was what he needed. A new target. And the poor sap had already spoken to him. 

As Aluxe stood to face his newest prey, he was surprised to see that the boy was unafraid. Not a trace of recognition flashed across his face, and Aluxe was certain his ears were showing.

“Boy, do you know who I am?” Aluxe asked.

“Well, no. We’ve only just met.”

A smile found its way to Aluxe’s lips. He’d thought for sure everyone on this island had been warned of his existence. It had been so long since a traveler thought they could safely say no to him. Crushing this boy’s hope would surely satiate his thirst for darkness.

“You’re bleeding, sir,” said the traveler.

Aluxe looked down to see that his fingernails had left deep, crescent-shaped wounds in his flesh. He feared he didn’t know how much longer he could control himself; he needed to make his request fast.

Instead of coming up with a new request, he recycled the impossible task he’d given the last traveler. “Do you think you could fetch me a piece of obsidian from the temple of B’alam ?”

“You mean that temple?” The boy asked as he pointed to the stones that just peaked over the jungle trees.

“I don’t see any other temple’s around here,” Aluxe said, trying to play off his anticipation with sarcasm.

“Sure,” the kid said as he began to rifle through his bag. It took a moment for the word to process in Aluxe’s mind, and a beat later, the boy was holding out a shiny black stone. “I just came from there. You can have this if it will make you feel better.”

Aluxe’s lips parted in surprise as he took the gem. It’s real. He couldn’t believe it, For the first time in a long time, someone had completed his request. Not to mention with record speed and lack of bodily injury. He felt something inside him shift. His darkness melted into curiosity.

“You’ve never met an Aluxe before, have you?”

“You’re an Aluxe? The storyteller told me of your kind. What are you doing without a master?”

Aluxe opted to ignore the personal question and jump straight to the point. “What is your request?”

“My request? What do you mean?” Leo asked, confused.

“You completed my task, now you get a request.”

“Oh the obsidian? Don’t worry about it, I had no use for it,” Leo  said as he waved his hand dismissively.

“No!” Aluxe shouted. Surprised by the force in his own voice, he cleared his throat. “Um I mean, I insist.”

“Well, I guess I could use a hint,”Leo said.

“A hint for what?” Aluxe asked as his curiosity piqued.

“My journey. I was supposed to come here with my father in search of treasure and adventure, but,” Leo looked down with a sudden sadness. “Our ship wrecked and I don’t know where he is. I have to continue our journey alone.”

Aluxe sighed. “Your journey, it will not be an easy one. For Siyak has control of these lands and its treasures.”

“Who is Siyak?” Leo asked.

“The evil and powerful demigod that has cursed these lands and conquered armies. Prepare yourself young adventurer, for if you are to  complete your mission, you will have to face Siyak,” Aluxe said in a grave tone. “My hint is that you find your father and sail far, far away from here.”

“I can’t do that!” Leo said with strong determination. “This was my fathers dream. I must see it through!”

Hope flared in Aluxe’s chest. If Leo could defeat Siyak, Aluxe and all his brethren would be set free. He’s only a child, though. He had his doubts if Leo could survive here on his own, let alone defeat a demigod. “If you are so determined to explore these lands, then you should head for the town of Tikal, Southeast of here. There you can get supplies and directions for your journey.”

“Thank you, Aluxe,” Leo expressed his gratitude. “I’ll be going now.”

“Good luck, young adventurer,” Aluxe said under his breath as Leo made for the town of Tikal. Perhaps he should follow him, to ensure his safety. After all, it was in his best interest for the child to succeed. His feet started after Leo before he was even aware of what he’d decided. He would follow the young adventurer on his journey to keep an eye on him. He secured his ears back into his hat.

For the first time since his seven years of sanity ended, his darkness didn’t feel so dark.

Though a contract for seven years out of a lifetime to live unsealed seemed cruel, that part of the contract was in place to prevent him from becoming evil. After seven years, spirits could no longer resist the evil magic in the air produced by Siyak, and would spend the rest of eternity sealed away in their homes to prevent corruption sickness.

After the farmer had passed, Aluxe tried convincing himself that corruption sickness was a mere myth, made up to dispose of the protective elven spirits when they had served their purpose. But, as his seventh year passed, he began to change. He did his best to resist the darkness growing inside him and came up with a compromise. He asked travelers for favors, usually annoying or difficult to fulfill, and if they didn’t agree he would cause them mischief until he found his next victim. If they appeased him, the guilt-fueled part of himself that still clung to existence would sometimes give them a favor in return.

That compromise had led Aluxe to become somewhat of a popular legend of the jungle. The trouble with that was that awareness about him made travelers this way few and far between. The darkness inside him grew restless without prey.

The rustle of leaves caused Aluxe’s pointed ears to shift. His head whipped around to face the traveler foolish enough to enter his jungle. His prey was a sweaty man navigating a torn map. As the man noticed Aluxe, he stopped short.

“Oh,” the traveler said, startled.

Aluxe’s agreement with himself was only allowed if the traveler initiated conversation. He would need more than that to justify satiating his growing evil. When the silence didn’t elicit the greeting he was waiting for, Aluxe began to wonder if his ears were poking out from his carefully placed hat.. He reached a hand to the side of his head to find that the pointy offenders were still concealed. His ears, and his silence upon meeting were the two things that gave him away, though most of the time once people realized who he was, it was too late.

“Are you lost as well?” the traveler asked as he swiped his brow with the back of his hand. “I’m afraid my map is no longer what it used to be. Moths got to it last night while I was asleep.” He held up his moth-eaten map. “Uh- but I believe if we just keep this way,” he said as he pointed in the direction he’d been going. “Then we’ll come to the town of Tikal. Is that where you’re from?”

That would be more than enough. Aluxe stepped closer to the traveler and took off his hat. His scraggly blonde hair fell down around his shoulders, his pointed ears peeking through. He relished the moment his victims realized who he was, but a very small part of him hated being feared.

“I am lost no matter who has found me, traveler,” Aluxe said.

The sweaty man began to shake as his map fell from his grip. “N-no, I-I didn’t know. Please,” he begged as he backed away.

“I’m in need of the obsidian from the temple of B’alam. Would you be so kind as to fetch it for me?”

“T-that’s impossible. I can’t do that. No one has ever survived the temple of B’alam.” The pathetic man’s panic reached a peak as he let out a yelp and began to run.

Curse him. Aluxe felt the need reverberate through his bones. He needed to- he took a step forward. He needed to- and another. He-

“No!” Aluxe shouted. He stumbled back, his foot catching on a vine, and crashed to the jungle floor. He clutched his head in his hands and willed the thought to go away. Sure, he was bad, but he’d never cursed anyone before. The deal he kept with himself had always worked at keeping his dark in check before, so why now? After a corrupt elven spirit cast its first curse, it was rumored to join Siyak’s army.

Your prey is getting away.

Aluxe’s eyes snapped upward and the concerns in his head went mute. He almost had his feet back under him before he came to his senses. “No! I’m staying on the ground until this passes. Only then can I cause my mischief.” 

Aluxe sat for hours as the urge only grew. By the time the sun had set, he had begun to dig his nails into his skin to keep himself rooted in reality.

Get up and curse him, you know you want to. You need to.

“Are you all right?” Aluxe heard a voice ask. He looked up, disobeying the protests of his aching neck that had been stuck angled down for hours. A boy around the age of 14 or 15, stood a foot away staring right at him. Hope flared in his chest. This was what he needed. A new target. And the poor sap had already spoken to him. 

As Aluxe stood to face his newest prey, he was surprised to see that the boy was unafraid. Not a trace of recognition flashed across his face, and Aluxe was certain his ears were showing.

“Boy, do you know who I am?” Aluxe asked.

“Well, no. We’ve only just met.”

A smile found its way to Aluxe’s lips. He’d thought for sure everyone on this island had been warned of his existence. It had been so long since a traveler thought they could safely say no to him. Crushing this boy’s hope would surely satiate his thirst for darkness.

“You’re bleeding, sir,” said the traveler.

Aluxe looked down to see that where he’d been digging his fingernails into his flesh, had deep crescent-shaped wounds. He feared he didn’t know how much longer he could control himself; he needed to make his request fast.

Instead of coming up with a new request this time around, he recycled the impossible task he’d given the last traveler. “Do you think you could fetch me a piece of obsidian from the temple of B’alam ?”

“You mean that temple?” The boy asked as he pointed to the stones that just peaked over the jungle trees.

“I don’t see any other temple’s around here,” Aluxe said, trying to play off his anticipation with sarcasm.

“Sure,” the kid said as he began to rifle through his bag. It took a moment for the word to process in Aluxe’s mind, and a beat later, the boy was holding out a shiny black stone. “I just came from there. You can have this if it will make you feel better.”

Aluxe’s lips parted in surprise as he took the gem. It’s real. He couldn’t believe it, For the first time in a long time, someone had completed his request. Not to mention with record speed and lack of bodily injury. He felt something inside him shift. His darkness melted into curiosity.

“You’ve never met an Aluxe before, have you?”

“You’re an Aluxe? The storyteller told me of your kind. What are you doing without a master?”

Aluxe opted to ignore the personal question and jump straight to the point. “What is your request?”

“My request? What do you mean?” Leo asked, confused.

“You completed my task, now you get a request.”

“Oh the obsidian? Don’t worry about it, I had no use for it,” Leo  said as he waved his hand dismissively.

“No!” Aluxe shouted. Surprised by the force in his own voice, he cleared his throat. “Um I mean, I insist.”

“Well, I guess I could use a hint,”Leo said.

“A hint for what?” Aluxe asked as his curiosity piqued.

“My journey. I was supposed to come here with my father in search of treasure and adventure, but,” Leo looked down with a sudden hint of sadness. “Our ship wrecked and I don’t know where he is. I have to continue our journey alone.”

Aluxe sighed. “Your journey, it will not be an easy one. For Siyak has control of these lands and its treasures.”

“Who is Siyak?” Leo asked.

“The evil and powerful demigod that has cursed these lands and conquered armies. Prepare yourself young adventurer, for if you are to  complete your mission, you will have to face Siyak,” Aluxe said in a grave tone. “My hint is that you find your father and sail far, far away from here.”

“I can’t do that!” Leo said with strong determination. “This was my fathers dream. I must see it through!”

Hope flared in Aluxe’s chest. If Leo could defeat Siyak, Aluxe and all his brethren would be set free. He’s only a child, though. He had his doubts if Leo could survive here on his own, let alone defeat a demigod. “If you are so determined to explore these lands, then you should head for the town of Tikal, Southeast of here. There you can get supplies and directions for your journey.”

“Thank you, Aluxe,” Leo expressed his gratitude. “I’ll be going now.”

“Good luck, young adventurer,” Aluxe said under his breath as Leo made for the town of Tikal. Perhaps he should follow him, to ensure his safety. After all, it was in his best interest for the child to succeed. His feet started after Leo before he was even aware of what he’d decided. He would follow the young adventurer on his journey to keep an eye on him. He secured his ears back into his hat.

For the first time since his seven years of sanity ended, his darkness didn’t feel so dark.

The post Over Many Years appeared first on MultiMediaVerse.

Their new god did arise to meet their needs, but not in such a way they might have hoped for. Xolotl sent a great and mysterious warrior he blessed as Siyak, the Smoking Frog. Siyak raised the military might of the maize farmers and neighboring tribes to fight the tyrant king of Texloca. The rebellion won every battle with Siyak as their general. The elders of the first tribe began to notice darkness over the elite-most Smoking Frog’s rank. The spiritually imbued markings of Xolotl demonstrated the praise of the elite warriors. Tattoos of fire raining from the heavens would glow blood-red on their backs during battle.

The True Will of Xolotl

Victory over Texloca was imminent. The elders of Matli beckoned to return home in peace, but Siyak and his elites refused. Their intentions were domination and their force was too great to oppose. As punishment for their desertion, Siyak had the elders and villagers enslaved by chains of dark force. The elders, consumed by fear, found themselves embracing ancient prophecies. Siyak, the warrior known as the Smoking Frog, embodied the doom promised by Quetzalcoatl to annihilate the tribes of Texloca. His malevolence would taint the lands with noxious, smoking winds, corrupting even the purest souls.

For Matli, the end had arrived and redemption became lost. Siyak conquered Texloca, destroyed the city to rebuild his evil empire, and spread chaos. Evil entities from legend were reborn and released and Siyak finally revealed his true form. On the anniversary of his creation by Xolotl, Siyak sacrificed the elders and villagers atop the ruins of Texloca. His final tribute to Xolotl would mark the beginning of the end for countless neighboring empires.

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Check out the first official game devlog update! The game development of OMW is progressing nicely. I’ve learned a lot over the past couple of years and I’m ready to blast full force into game dev, so keep in touch with me and provide positive energy and feedback as necessary. I’m looking forward to hearing from you and the types of things you might like to see in Over Many Waters.

My First Game Devlog

Starting a devlog was awkward for me, but I think I’ll get the hang of it. All new experiences are exciting and intimidating. As seen below, this week I worked on a Golem enemy type. This big little guy chases the player character Leo until catching up. When the Golem finally reaches Leo, he lets off a nasty punch, dealing 3 points of damage. Since Leo only starts with 6 total, this guy packs a huge punch, so look out!

My next planned game update may not be as exciting as this one, but it’s probably of greater importance. I plan on rebuilding the player character code. I’m working in Unity with C#, which I’ve grown increasingly confident in, and I have a lot of support from friends, so things should go pretty well!

Please stay tuned and keep up with my progress. It means a lot to me as a solo dev.

Join my Discord and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more updates in the near future. Thanks!

The post Game Devlog Update #1 – Over Many Waters appeared first on MultiMediaVerse.

Along for the Long Journey

The great Spanish Captain Gonzalo was preparing for his third tour to Azuria when his son Leo turned 14. Upon learning of the next adventure, Leo begged his father to take him along. At his age, boys in Leo’s family prove their manhood through rites of passage. Leo has been trained in swordplay but wants to prove himself worthy by exploring the seas for lost treasures with his father. Alas, his father allowed him the privilege of the journey, as he could not deprive Leo of his hard work and determination.

Leo’s first voyage was exciting and scary, but he quickly realized the open sea was charming and peaceful. He gazed in amazement at the never-ending view of the dancing seas. Every wake excited the new adventurer. When night came, the crew gathered around to eat and exchange stories, memories, hopes, and dreams of unimaginable things.

The greatest of these stories come from a curious old man, the Storyteller. He is the crew’s source of all legends of ancient Azurian lore, lost treasures, and their interaction with the gods. Some say Storyteller was an Azurian who washed up on the shores of Spain ages ago. Some believe an evil god of Azuria stole him from his mother and sent him to Spain to punish her. Leo soon grew closer to him than ever with his father, Captain Gonzalo.

Lost Treasures in a Lost World

Captain Gonzalo’s armada of ships plundered the islands on the outer isles of the Azurian Sea, but the gold and lost treasures were running short. King Tesoros of Spain sent Gonzalo to Azuria to bring great, ancient artifacts, lost treasures, gold, and resources from the New World. Storyteller was well aware this would make for a dangerous adventure and decided to have some fun with Leo.

“The evil gods have cursed the Azurians, Leo,” Storyteller grumbled through the piece of jerky meat he smacked with his old grin. “Do you know what that means?”

Leo was enduring his daily chore as a professional deck scrubber. He stopped abruptly and nearly slipped on the slick deck’s surface. “Cursed? We’re going on a cursed adventure?” His eyes lit up in anticipation for Storyteller’s next hook.

The Storyteller’s grin grew as he saw the fascination in young Leo’s eyes.

Spitting the rest of his jerky off to sea, he leaned in and said, “The gods of Azuria have cursed them for their sins. Monsters born of fallen heroes and creatures of rage and death plague the land and guard the lost treasures we seek.” His old voice reminded Leo of the creaking of the wood below deck.

“Storyteller. Have you seen these monsters?”

“Oh yes! The lizard people called Tlapalin who hide in deep caves and temples have chased me away through the jungles.”

Storyteller grabbed Leo’s shoulder and pointed to the sky. “I have seen great serpents flying across the night sky.” Snapping another piece of jerky off into his mouth, he leaned forward. “Leo. The gods themselves placed cursed relics across these seas as temptations and tests of human will,” the Storyteller reached out with his free hand and continued in a grizzly tone. “I’ve even held them in my own hands.”

Leo, eyes wide and mouth opened exclaimed, “¡Dios mío!”

He thought a moment and said, “But wait! Are you cursed then?”

Slowly leaning back, Storyteller chomped off another hunk of jerky. “I think you missed a spot, boy,” he barked playfully. The old storymaker chuckled and watched as Leo continued his chores. He wouldn’t reveal more about Azurian adventures just yet. Part of him wanted to embrace these legends and his secret past, while another wanted to protect Leo from those troubles. He wished it was all just mere legend. He wished jokes were the only way the legends could manifest.

They continued onward, sailing into a new land. Later, a storm began to swell in the distance ahead, but more than a storm would forever change Leo. Rough seas might be the least of his worries in due time.

To be continued.

The post The Lost Boy Leo appeared first on MultiMediaVerse.

Better late than never, but here’s a defacto, mini-postmortem on my game development project called Super Nuclear Speed Racing (SNSR). You can play SNSR within minutes if you warp on over to the Google Play Store and download that sweet hyperdrive for a test run yourself.

Developing this little indie game was a blast! I challenged myself to pop out a game in less than 24 hours and try for a Google Play upload. It worked! I know I sound surprised, but hey it was my first attempt and when I found out it got accepted and approved, I flipped. Now, I’m more confident in my game development ability and I’m eager to go bigger. I believe I can go much, much bigger, to a new galaxy, not too far away. See Over Many Waters, the project I’m currently working on.

As for SNSR, I think I’m completely ok never updating the little guy again, but if I somehow find myself opening my front door to a press mob begging to find out when SNSR 2 will release, I’ll be a crowd-pleaser. I’m being cheeky of course, but I would continue development if at least a handful of folks wanted to see more from SNSR.

A Game of Intergalactic Dodgeball

A little backstory to this game: I scraped some code from an older, less fortunate game dev project I codenamed “Pexels”. That poor Tamagachi knockoff flopped horribly. It was one of my first Unity projects and I struggled to see it all the way through. The sheer amount of bugs to squash scared me off.

A mini-game I built within Pexels involved the player character dodging dodgeballs that fell from the sky. When you play SNSR you’ll see it. I just swapped the dodgeballs for asteroids and created a spaceship to track mobile touch feedback. Now I have my first completed game released on Google Play! Keep in touch with me for more updates and check out our stories and devlogs.

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