The loss of source code

I lost the source code from the final versions of Grid Assault and Thrust Xtreme.

It happened last week. After re-installing the Windows OS on my hobby machine, I also had to physically move the PC to the bedroom we’ve been redecorating these past few days. This bedroom is now my new hobby room, containing my stereo set, guitars and personal administration.

Because of the OS reinstall, my source code was temporarly saved onto a USB drive. While moving the hardware to the new room the disk fell from my hands, down the stairs onto the tiled floor. Smashed to bits…Now I hear you cry: “dude, where is your backup?” While I have some CD’s laying around containing source code from the past, the last version is not on there. I thought it  was on there, but it isn’t.

Luckily, my laptop contained the latest versions of Trapped! and all its media files. It also contains some pre 1.1 versions of Thrust Xtreme. Grid Assault source code is however not on there. So all is not lost but the final version is, which is a shame. I wanted to add the new scrolling technique I created for Trapped! to it to make it scroll smoother, but that I am afraid will not happen now.

While there is no impact on the development of Trapped! I feel sad that the source for the games and nice editors is gone. I will plough through the pre-final versions of the code to see what’s final and what is not but man, was I depressed these last few days.

On top of that, my son had to go to the hospital to get surgery. These last few days have been taxing but we made it. There have been nice developments around here as well though. I recently bought a bare bones PS3 to start viewing blu-ray movies on my 106cm plasma, and boy, is that awesome to watch. I got Hellboy and Blade Runner last weekend and they’re an absolute pleasure to look at. Here’s hoping for a quick Lord of the Rings blu-ray release.

Geometry Wars coming to Vista!

Shacknews – Xbox Live Arcade Update

Ahh, so here is the unofficial confirmation that Geometry Wars is indeed coming to the PC. We just had to wait for Vista! duh.

They are missing a great opportunity though for not letting the PC version access the Xbox Live scoreboards to really create one big GW community. I guess there were either technical difficulties (I cannot image) or nightmares about cheaters/hackers (I can image) when this decision was made.

It was ofcourse a situation of not if, but when this was going to happen. The heated debates about the availability of GW-clones for the PC were of course started because Bizarre knew they were going to port the game to Windows and they did not want to lose their future customers.

[sarcasm mode on] And there we were, thinking they wanted to protect their IP, ”innovative gameplay”and their ‘graphical uniqueness’. [/end sarcasm mode]

I was never asked to pull my clone Grid Assault from the internet but I think that is because it is time-locked and not given a definitive release… We’ll see what happens once the PC version of GW is released.

Grid Assault download location

I noticed that the showcase section on shmup-dev.com is gone and therefore Grid Assault cannot be downloaded from there anymore. I will put a .zip up on my website later today or tomorrow to allow you all to get the game on your drives again… I’m sorry for this little problem, but I was not aware of the situation. I noticed that the game got downloaded more than 250.000 times or something when I last checked so it sure has been populair.

Update:  I added new download links on the My PC Games page.

Cloning Geometry Wars – why I did it.

I’ve created a shameless Geometry Wars clone for the PC.

There, I’ve said it. My intention was to create a near perfect copy of the game on the PC. Why? There were a few reasons. One was that I love classic games and the Xbox 360 original just struck a chord with me. Also, I love the game, the mechanics, the look, the game play. And as a hobbyist games programmer I had the thought ‘I can do this too’.

So I did it.

And I must say I was quite pleased with the outcome. Even though there were other clones, mine was (I think) the most accurate considering graphics, speed and feel. So, Grid Assault was announced during alpha and although Grid Wars was the game which was first and took all the publicity (and maybe therefore was the first to be taken down by Bizarre Creations) ‘my’ game has been flying under the radar for quite some time. I’m not sure why Bizarre have not contacted me by now. Maybe it is because I have limited the game play for about 6 minutes, or because I have always been open to them about my intentions, because otherwise it’s a near perfect copy of their game. I know the people at Bizarre have been playing Grid Assault during alpha/beta (I even got comments from Cakebread about the game) so it’s well known.

To be honest, I didn’t even think of the commotion all these clones would create but I was only looking at it from a fan and programmers point of view towards the whole thing. Games to me are about fun, not business. Being a hobby programmer, I can say that… I know the world doesn’t work that way, but hey, I never had the intention of making money from Grid Assault.

In a way I had the same ‘problem’ Mark Incitti had when he was developing Grid Wars: a constant call from the community to do a new and better version because the game is so much fun to play. Once I released an alpha to ask for bug reports the thing was flying.

Oh well, people can enjoy the game while it lasts. A lot of people do play it, the download counter at shmup-dev.com is now at 215128. yikes.

If you want to know what i’m working on now, then come back here in a few days time, or go to http://www.remakes.org, and search the forums for the Thrust Extreme threat.