Saving/Loading

Saving and loading is up and running!  All that is left is an option menu, the enemy, and the audio recordings.

Pause Menu/Inventory

I've been working on the pause screen (inventory/saving/options) for a while.  I think it's really coming together.  Inventory was finished up yesterday, and saving/loading is next.  I think the game will autosave when you reach a new section and you will be able to load to those sections from the main menu or within a game from the pause menu.  Any thoughts on that?

Here's what the pause screen looks like right now:

Versions of Maze

I've been thinking recently about the length of the maze and the time needed to complete it.  As of now, the maze is huge and takes 30-40+ min to complete even for the person who designed it (me)!  I fear that it may be too much for the attention span of the average player.

What do you think of a shortened version of the maze accessible in an alternate game mode?  Here's what I think it might look like:

This "quick play" mode would feature the same core gameplay elements with a shortened maze.  I definitely think it would increase the playability of Maize overall.  Thoughts on this?

Driver's Ed/GUI Promo

So I started Driver's Ed today.  Good, except the fact that the class runs until 7 PM after school every day for the next three weeks and that means I'm pretty much swamped with other non-Maize obligations.  That, unfortunately, means I might be a bit occupied for the next few weeks and won't update as frequently :(

Good news: this blog is really gaining popularity, and that's awesome.  Please don't hesitate to share this with your long-lost relatives on Facebook/G+/Twitter/whatever.

Maize is coming along very well.  The hand, GUI, and pause menu are coming along very nicely, and I think I'll have those done sooner than I expected.  To celebrate, here's a sneak preview of them:

Can't wait for these three weeks of occupation to be over.  But don't worry, I'll keep you guys updated.

Pause & Arm Progress

After combating several strange bugs with the pause menu, that's done for now.  Phew.  All I have left to do is script the option menu buttons.

Now I've moved on to a very important stage in the development, the creation of the actual arm that will appear on-screen.  I'm doing that in Autodesk Maya, which I've never used before.  However, it runs on OSX, which I'm currently developing Maize out of, and there are many comprehensive tutorials out there.  Still, the learning curve is steep and I should be working on this for the next few weeks.

Here's a snapshot of what I'm doing now:

So far so good!

Pause Menu

Finally finished the pause menu!  So far so good.  One step closer to the ultimate goal of the Kickstarter.

I'm also really glad the blog's gaining popularity.  Keep on sharing!  The more people that visit the better, of course.

Main Menu

Finally, after several squished bugs and a couple hours of hard work, I present to you...  the main menu!

GUI! Menus! Kickstarters!

Yesterday I spent about 8 hours designing the main menu of the game.  Next beta release it will be functional, and I'll release a promo later today.
This is rather monumental; after this, the only thing left before I start the Kickstarter is the GUI, and that should be relatively easy.

Right now I'm trying to gauge a realistic goal amount for the Kickstarter; if you could, what would you donate?  Of course, there would be very nice rewards for each donor  : )
(I'm also considering breaking it into several phases.)

For now, though, I'm stranded at school...