Pocket Guy

Final main menu

2012-01-15T17:18:00.001-08:00

Final icon

2012-01-04T13:23:00.001-08:00

Newspaper from Defence of the Reich campaign

2012-01-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

Defence of the Reich gameplay screenshot

2011-12-30T14:26:00.001-08:00

Defence of the Reich screenshot

2011-12-29T08:04:00.001-08:00

New screenshot of The Blitz

2011-12-12T17:04:00.001-08:00

Partial tutorial screen from The Blitz

2011-12-05T16:04:00.001-08:00

Screenshots from The Blitz

2011-12-03T06:13:00.001-08:00

The Blitz for the iPad

2011-12-02T01:39:00.001-08:00

Art Heist for iPhone

2011-08-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

The iPhone version of Art Heist is almost ready for submission.

Art Heist HD 1.1 submitted to Apple

2011-04-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

Johannes Vermeer level added along with an additional sound theme.

Coming up is an iPhone version of the game.

Art Heist HD update coming

2011-04-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Johannes Vermeer is the first artist to be added to Art Heist HD.

Here is a great website about one of the greatest European painters.

Art Heist HD approved

2011-04-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

Art Heist HD

Play as legendary art thief Angel as you infiltrate the greatest museums in the world.

Hunt for the greatest works of art in history. Play and learn at the same time. Taxing gameplay that will stretch your abilities to the limit.

7 museums to explore, all with different thematic graphics.

Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso (Black period), Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Rembrandt, Edvard Munch and Leonardo da Vinci.

Original stealth gameplay. Avoid detection, take cover behind objects, sneak upon guards and take them out. Hunt for keycards that activate or disable sections of the museum.

Out think the complex security systems. Beam lasers, laser grids, side lasers, security droids, guards and more. Then avoid homing sentries and the highest difficulty level.

Smooth 60fps scrolling with detailed animation, rendered graphics and a full dynamic classical soundtrack.

Time challenge leaderboards for each museum including multiple achievements.

An iPad exclusive title.

Art Heist HD submitted

2011-04-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

Estimated release is 21. of April.

Game poster

2011-04-04T13:38:00.001-07:00

Gameplay video from the Matisse level

2011-03-18T03:29:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSdRSXhJHuo

Development level editor in Art Thief HD

2011-03-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another screenshot from Art Thief HD

2011-03-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

No place is safe from the thief

2010-11-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

A possible icon?

2010-10-10T17:45:00.001-07:00

Two new screenshots with the updated UI

2010-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Art puzzles

2010-10-09T13:32:00.001-07:00

Two masters both painted sunflowers. Which one is by Van Gogh and which one is by Monet?

Now trying to do the same with lasers and guards trying to detect you and before the time runs out and the alarm sounds.

After playing Art Thief HD differentiating between those two works will be easy. :)

Another screenshot from Art Thief HD

2010-10-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

First screenshot of Art Thief HD

2010-10-06T02:05:00.001-07:00

Intro screen and menu from Art Thief HD for the iPad

2010-10-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Lighting system

2010-09-23T02:57:00.000-07:00

I've implemented a lighting system in Art Thief HD which allows different amount of light in each tile of a level. Due to this new feature I've decided to change the mini map feature of the game from being available all the time to being only available at certain map points. Instead the thief can use a flashlight in darker corridors of the game.

Locks and keys in Art Thief HD

2010-09-10T02:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the lock and key system in Art Thief HD. How does the thief gain access through security doors?

There have been written a number of interesting articles on how to implement a good lock and key system. The example most often mention is the system used in Castlevania where each key doesn't open a single door but adds ability to the main character instead allowing him to reach places not available before.

Adding abilities to the thief would I think distract from the realism of the game so I've decided to use a key card mechanism instead, similar to the one used in Impossible Mission. Every guard in the museum has a key card with a code and every code activates or deactives certain security systems in the museum. For example one code could simply open security doors while another might activate certain elevators. The trick is that the codes have to be memorized as they have to be punched into a key panel located on some floors. I think adds to the educational value of the game. Part puzzle game, part memory card game.

I have also been looking at Shadow Complex, a highly impressive game for the XBox, and hope to emulate certain special effects from that game.

Ingame artwork from Art Thief HD

2010-08-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

Van Gogh's portrait of "Camille Roulin".

Every painting is displayed at around 128 x 128 in the game but as it is stored at 256 x 256 it can be zoomed to that size by the player by clicking on it during the game.

And she is going to steal it.

New screenshot from Art Thief HD

2010-08-11T18:05:00.001-07:00

Art Thief HD

2010-07-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Art Thief HD for the iPad is in development.

Disco Blocks for the iPad ready for sale

2010-06-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

My first iPad game available on the iTunes store. :)

The iPad is a great gaming platform with less memory constraints and better performance than the iPhone as iPhone games have to really be developed for the slower 3G device.

Hopefully the iPad will sell well enough to make it a viable gaming platform on its own.

Goat

2010-06-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Later this summer for the iPhone and iPad

Disco Blocks submitted

2010-06-09T02:11:00.001-07:00

Submitted Disco Blocks this morning.

I've been having some weird problems with the WiFI on my Mac development machine and in the end had to copy the executable application from the Mac onto a flash disk and upload it from my pc.

Is it just me or do Apple computers have more problems with network connectivity than other computers?

Disco Blocks! for the iPad

2010-06-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to improve Avalon enough to warrant its own title. Disco Blocks.

Avalon Lounge for the iPad

2010-05-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

My first iPad specific game, Avalon Lounge, is almost ready for submission.

Avalon released

2010-05-05T12:15:00.001-07:00

Travel to the legendary island of Avalon!

Almost instant loading gameplay.
Floating matching physics.
Innovative twist on the Match three game.
Drag blocks anywhere to anywhere, everything is allowed if real world physics allow it. Lift multiple blocks if needed.
Tilt-able gravity.
50 levels, from very easy to almost impossible.
Special relax mode, infinitive block-cracking.

Gameplay video here.

Available here.

Avalon

2010-04-27T16:32:00.001-07:00

Long time no see. :)

Battle of Britain continues in development

2010-02-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

Still working on Battle of Britain after a couple of months delay. I'll start a thread on the game at TouchArcade in around 1-2 weeks just to get some feedback.

Meanwhile I saw a nice review of Ball Bros on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBfptrPz8o8 :)

Battle of Britain in development

2009-10-14T15:02:00.001-07:00

A tactical wargame, more information soon.

Ball Bros released!

2009-09-29T11:17:00.001-07:00

That was quick from Apple!

Art Thief 1.2 and Pocket Guy 1.5 submitted

2009-09-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Finished submitting two applications on the same day. The update for Pocket Guy is a minor one, but Art Thief's changes are more extensive.

Pocket Guy 1.4 is out!

2009-09-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Next up is a new version of Art Thief. I am upgrading the sound engine and downgrading the animation from 30 frames per movement to half that. It should fix the memory problems that have causing slowdown during the game. It will be submitted tomorrow.

Ball Bros submitted

2009-09-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Ball Bros was submitted to Apple yesterday. In the meantime I am still waiting for the release of version 1.4 of Pocket Guy - unfortunately it got rejected last week because I used "Sims" as a keyword. I removed it and hoped for a speedy approval but that was not meant to be and I probably got placed right at the end of the queue again.

Anyway tomorrow I'll start work on the the next game, a project I'm pretty excited about.

Ball Bros! Title screen

2009-09-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Art Thief 1.1 released

2009-09-03T14:43:00.001-07:00

Apple just released version 1.1 of Art Thief.

Bob the Pancake available!

2009-08-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Apple just released Bob into the Appstore. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to a vertical platformer.

Several things I learned from Art Thief were incorporated in Bob the Pancake. For Ball Bros I expect to add several features which I frankly would never have thought of without feedback.

Link to iTunes.

Ball Bros! Coming soon!

2009-08-27T16:47:00.001-07:00

It's time for some Mario platforming on the iPhone!

Pocket Guy 1.4 submitted to Apple

2009-08-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Includes the Karen character, some extra posts and a major bugfix that had been causing a few lockups.

Publisher's new website

2009-08-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Digital White Knight has a new website.

http://www.digitalwhiteknight.com

Pocket Guy 1.4 almost done

2009-08-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Karen character has been modelled so the next version of Pocket Guy will be submitted in the next few days.

Art Thief 1.1 submitted to Apple

2009-08-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

The update contains a new level The Rembrandt museum in Amsterdam and updated icons.

Pocket Guy's update is next on the agenda.

Bob the Pancake submitted

2009-08-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

So it took 2 weeks and 1 day. Tony Crowther won!

The game features 9 levels and the plan is to make around 3-4 updates in the next few weeks with a new level and possibly online leaderboard included.

At the moment 4 new games are in the design phase and updates for Pocket Guy and Art Thief are on their way.

Gameplay video from Bob the Flying Pancake

2009-08-16T19:01:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ShQFgV7nXI

The Flying Pancake?

2009-08-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

I obviously need a name for the next game, I doubt "The Flying Pancake" will cut it. All ideas are appreciated!

Anyway here is the first screenshot from it where we can see Bob is bouncing over Paris, France.

What separates the game from the rest of the fast moving scrollers is the puzzle element. If you notice the picture of Mona Lisa on the right of the screenshot then Bob can puzzle her painting in the correct order for points. As you can imagine it can be pretty hectic as he has to avoid the red enemies and the gaps at the same time.

Also the game features a triggered puzzle system where switches can activate platforms or remove obstacles if jumped on.

In other news Art Thief squeezed into the top 100 list of the best selling Adventure games on the AppStore.

Art Thief is out!

2009-08-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Now that was quick. Only 8 days to approve a new application! Either Apple are getting good at this or fewer applications are being submitted.

Introducing Bob the bouncing pancake

2009-08-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

He's upside down at the moment but we'll find out later why that is the case.

I started working on Bob last Tuesday and the rather ambitious plan is to have this scrolling arcade game ready in one week.

A more realistic goal is to aim for 14 days which would be "a tip of the hat" to the Commodore 64 coding legend Tony Crowther, who finished several impressive titles in two weeks many many years ago :)

Art Thief submitted to Apple

2009-08-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation delayed the application submission for a couple of weeks but it is finally in review.

The game features 8 masters including Van Gogh, Klimt, Matisse, Munch, Monet, Dali, Picasso and Vermeer.

Art Thief gameplay video

2009-07-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Double click for a full width version.

Almost, almost ready! :-)

Art Thief, coming very soon!

2009-07-07T16:38:00.001-07:00

Art Thief is a game about the legendary artwork thief John Robie.

Robie travels from one city to the next on his quest to steal all the major artwork in the world.

Each level is a museum dedicated to a single major artist. Robie enters after closing and has to find the artist's five major masterpieces before the museum opens again.

The problem is that not only is each museum crawling with security and alarms but he has to make sure he steals the correct paintings! John Robie won't get far if he walks out with a Monet when he needed a Matisse!

Pocket Guy version 1.3 is now live!

2009-07-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

I've been spending the last few days working on Art Thief, including writing a Tile Editor which speeds up the level design.

The Picasso level is complete and I intend to finish the Van Gogh and Matisse levels tomorrow.

Version 1.3 submitted to Apple!

2009-06-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

It should be out next weekend.

This version implements a number of changes to the underlying game engine which allows me to add further characters quickly, including Karen in the next update.

Let me know if Arnold turns out to be too annoying!

Additional features being added to 1.3

2009-06-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

I decided to add some interesting features to version 1.3 so it won't be sent to Apple until this Thursday.

For one the user will be able to drag Pocket Guy and his guests to whatever they want them to do, so for example Pocket Guy can be dragged to the TV if the user wants him to watch it.

Arnold is Pocket Guy's neighbour and they share a connecting roof. As you can see his main hobby is body building, something he never tires to remind Pocket Guy of.

Pocket Guy 1.3 nearing completion

2009-06-09T10:48:00.001-07:00

Arnold, Pocket Guy's athletic friend, pays a visit and does some pushups!

This version will be submitted to Apple in 4 days.

Pocket Guy is a Top 75 app in the Entertainment category

2009-06-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the support! ;-)

Pocket Guy 1.2 is out

2009-05-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

The update had been rejected because one of the artwork in Pocket Guy's house was the infamous Bill Gates mugshot from several decades back.

Anyway the upgrade has finally been approved.

The picture in this post is from Art Thief, which is probably around 2 weeks from completion.

Pocket Guy 1.2 nearing completion

2009-05-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

I am currently working on finishing the 1.2 update of Pocket Guy and plan on submitting it to Apple next wednesday the latest.

The main addition is a yellow labrador dog but also an email system where Pocket Guy sends occasional posts to the user. Also I hope to find the cause of the "stuck at the front door" bug which has been causing problems for some buyers.

Pocket Guy version 1.1 is out now

2009-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Apple were very quick in accepting the update.

Congrats to them :-)

Art Thief

2009-04-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

My next game is coming along quite nicely. In "Art Thief" you play a master art thief who tries to steal the most expensive paintings in the world.

In each level the object is to enter a museum and beat the its security systems and guards in an effort to nick all the paintings inside.

Pocket Guy 1.1 has been uploaded

2009-04-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

The first update of Pocket Guy has been sent to Apple so hopefully it will be available in a few days.

The update includes a lot of new artwork, a couple of new sofas and a balcony for his bedroom. Also included is a new song for him to play on the piano.

I've planned to add a pet dog in the next update and also a new arcade game for him to play with. Perhaps Missile Command?

Pocket Guy is out!

2009-04-19T18:59:00.001-07:00

There will be a free update with new content and bugfixes next week.

And waiting and waiting ....

2009-04-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

While waiting for Apple's approval I started work on my next project which is called "Thief" which is a platform game with some interesting twists.

I'll post some screenshots later.

Still waiting for Apple's approval

2009-04-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

I got an email from Apple two days ago saying that they needed additional time in reviewing the game.

So still waiting ...

YouTube video uploaded

2009-03-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnSDRNduQGo

I used iMovie to create this and must admit that it surprised me how easy it is to direct a movie using that program.

Graphics test

2009-03-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

A small test to see if the blog supports images correctly. Here we can see the Pockey Guy doing a bit of "air guitar".

Application submitted

2009-03-22T06:35:00.001-07:00

Pocket Guy has been submitted to Apple for approval.

Fingers crossed for a quick positive review. :-)