PAX Prime 2014 Jammers Wanted!

I'm making a free Giant Bomb themed sports game inspired by retro classics Windjammers, Sanrio World Smash Ball! and many other "ponglikes". This is my pathetic attempt to blog about its development. If you'd like to understand my madness a little better than you might care to check out my other entries below.

1. Games of future past: Giant Bomb Jammers

2. Dev Log #465 - Hard Knocks & Cannibalism

3. Gone with the Wind: Jammers Dev Log #3

With only about a week left before PAX prime I've decided to keep this post short, giving just a very basic rundown on some of the progress I've made over the past week. This is because blog posts take me a while to write and I'd like to stay focused on finishing up the first public alpha. I've set August 28 as my deadline for its release. This is because I think PAX is the perfect opportunity to allow a game like this to be played with actual human beings. Unfortunately, I won't be attending PAX myself, but I wanted to give other duders the chance to play it there anyway. So if you're going to PAX prime with a laptop and a few xbox controllers and would like to play this there. Please feel free to do so (once it's released).

I've finally decided to change the game's name from "Giant Bomb Jammers" to "Bombjammers". While I still don't feel like this is the best possible name, I think it's unique and descriptive enough to work. There has already been another community project by the same name too, but that open source project seems to have unfortunately died. So I don't believe there will be any issues with using the same name here.

The player input control system has become a real pain for me. I initially started creating a much more complex and robust system to allow for any kind of player input (keyboard/mouse/gamepad), but I quickly realized this was making the process take much too long. So I've decided to go with Xbox controller support only for the initial release. I also struggled a bit with how I should implement the new player selection screen, but in the end, I decided to go with a simple design that works pretty well.

Here's a preview of some of the visual/interface changes I've been making. Fire effect and backgrounds are not finished yet.

If you'll be going to PAX prime and would like to host and/or partake in a Bombjammers session, then leave a comment below, or send me a private message. So I can let you know the moment it's released. I'll also be announcing it through my twitter account. Thanks for reading and see you next week!

So cool.

Great, now I wish I was going to PAX Prime even more.

Go back in time to PAX East and let me play this, thanks :D

@finaldasa: You'll still be able to play it in the comfort of your own home, but I'm afraid the first release will require at least 2 gamepads and another duder. My original build supportedbots because I don't have any local people to play it with :( but I lost that feature when I ported it over to Unity. I'm planning on adding it back in, but I want to make sure a get the first release out before PAX. So I doubt it will be in the initial release.

I'm down to check this out at PAX =] Where you gonna set up shop?

@fobwashed: I won't actually be able to make it :( So I decided to release the first public build before the event online, to allow anyone that's attending PAX to host there own jam session. However, If you've got the equipment, I'd be more than happy to maybe let you do an "exclusive" showing at PAX prime first.

@icyeyes: I do have some equipment (gaming laptop 2x 360 controllers) but I'm not sure I wanna lug it around because it's heavy as all hell... If there's anywhere I can set up I'll hit you up for the program. Ideally this would go down at the GB Meetup. Maybe you can ask @rorie about whether they might have some gear that can be set up =P

There's some kiosks in the event space that we're using for the weekend, but I believe they're all pretty firmly set to a unreleased game.

@rorie: Is this "unreleased game" a special showing of something that's already been revealed? If so, I'm guessing it's Mortal Kombat X, Killer Instinct: Season 2, or Disney Infinity Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition).

@icyeyes: No idea, personally. Not in the loop on that.

@rorie: I guess we'll just have to wait and see then :) Thanks for being so active in the community Rorie. It's nice to have someone around here to keep us abreast of things. Best of luck at PAX!

I'll be at both PAX Prime and the GB Meetup with a laptop and can bring 2 controllers. If you can get me a build and maybe a play testing survey I can get some GB people there and at the convention to play it. This games seemed awesome when the GB Staff played it on a UPF and would love to help its development! PM with more info @icyeyes !

@ajman1101: Thanks for the offer! I'll probably send both you and @fobwashed: a copy, feel free to do whatever you want with it. No obligation to play it or solicit feedback. Just whatever suits you. Feedback is always welcome though!

I think I'll try to send the new build out to anyone interested in playing it at PAX first (before the 29th) and then release it to everyone else online a short time later (maybe 30th or 31st). Although this probably won't matter much, since anyone without 2 xbox controllers and a friend will be unable to play it anyway. I hope to fix that in a future release.

@ajman1101: If you're looking for any more ridiculous stuff to run, you can check out both bomberduders and Megaman X Giant Bomb =]

@fobwashed thanks for the suggestions! I'll be sure to check them out!

@icyeyes can't wait for the game to try! I'll be sure to get some video and photos of people playing!

Maybe we should start another thread to discuss a place for GBers to meet at PAX Prime and come play some awesome GB related games!

@fobwashed: Yeah, I was going to mention Bomberduders in the release thread as another fun game to play.

@ajman1101: Don't know if making a new thread would help much, but the Giantbomb Meetup on the 29th is probably your best opportunity. If I was going, I'd probably try to set up in the Iron Galaxy booth too (if it exists) as a joke, but that might cause some trouble. Whatever you do, just make sure you know what you're in for. I'd feel terrible if I knew you'd suffered hauling heavy gear around all of PAX just to play Bombjammers.

@ajman1101: You've most likely seen this already, but Rorie mentioned that the Giantbomb area at PAX will be open as a kind of relaxation zone. So this sounds like an ideal game-spot. @fobwashed: You could also just bring 2 extra controllers along to let the duders get in on some sweet 4 player action :)

In any case I hope everyone has a blast at PAX!