My newest puzzle/action game has been released! 

Play it here:

Slush Tile Rush

…or download it on the Google Playstore:

Slush Tile Rush (mobile!)

I made this game using Starling, so you will need a recent flash player and a decent computer to run this game.

Never was a masterpiece

To be honest, I’m not as pumped up about this game as I should be.

I did put a lot of work into it, but I had finished it nearly 6 weeks ago. The main motivation for this project was being able to put something nice on the android marketplace. The original prototype was actually going to be my submission for an Android programming class back at tech. But once I got the the main game mechanic coded in, I realized the game had a lot of potential.

The prototype build, which turned out being very fun.

I decided to continue development on the game, and use a different project, BREAD, for my assignment. So here it is now fully fleshed out.

Sthomas’ tile art didn’t really change.

Much more colorful.

This game was much smaller compared to my more ambitious projects. Because of that, I actually enjoyed working on the game very much. The deadlines were very manageable and I could work on the game bit by bit. Since the main mechanic was basically programmed from the start, most of my time was spent on coding behaviors, levels, and drawing assets. These are the MOST FUN parts of game development. Didn’t have to debug that much honestly. So now I know having a game with a small scope is great.

The only tough part was dealing with the mobile platform. I had to optimize an incredible amount to get the game running well. The Adobe Scout tool, as well as ATF texture packing, came very handy. I gotta say, when you see the memory graphs going down by entire 20% chunks, you get a warm happy feeling inside.

Flow

One note about the art and animation. It was a grind to make, but something interesting happened a couple weeks in.

There’s this site called Hyun’s Dojo. It’s a portal that attracts fight-centered animations. What’s cool is that you will often find 2-3 animators live-streaming their work at any time of the day. I found it would be cool to try this out with drawing the assets for Slush Tile Rush.

One week, I streamed every night for a couple hours. And those hours flew. I was not feeling any pressure to crank out the assets. All I was focused on was the quality of the art.

[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmmbhHCpg0&width=550&height=300[/embedyt]

Things are very chill and quiet at 2 in the morning. You have your music playing in the background, and sometimes, a viewer may comment on how nice your work is coming along.

I hope I can replicate those conditions in the future, because I produced some of my best stuff those nights.

Music

The boss themes were custom composed by Jesse Valentine, or F-777. I’ve listened to F-777’s amazing stuff before, so I was a little hesitant about approaching him about music for Slush Dungeon. Turns out, these great artists are super nice. Working with him was pretty cool, since he’s taking my ideas and turning them into songs. He was super professional and clear about the terms and payment, but at the same time friendly. I strive to be like that whenever I do freelance work. Although the music was originally for Slush Dungeon, I’m glad it found its place in Slush Tile Rush.

The level music is composed of a series of tracks made by DuttonsaysHi. He’s also a real cool guy. His song portfolio is huge but somehow all of the songs have their own, distinct theme. His style is very upbeat and catchy, which was perfect for the game.

Click here to see all Slush Tile Rush credits.

I’ve been trying hard not to abandon projects, so this game is a work of will power.

Is tile matching + combos fun? Maybe. Gameplay aside, I can say it is one of my most polished games though.

So enjoy! I got all the enjoyment I could out of developing this game.