RLX Developer's Guide progress

At this point there is just about enough documentation for people to get started developing games and other interactive art with RLX, the engine behind XONG and Blast Tactics. There are now an incomplete but serviceable developer's guide and an example game to copy and tweak and make into your own game. You are welcome to try using RLX for your FLGC09 entry (Friendly Lisp Games Competition, see last post)!

Lisp Games COMPO

I'd like to announce the first Friendly Lisp Games Competition (FLGC).

In this 7-day challenge, you pick a week between now and the due date (January 1, 2010). Announce your start date on the mailing list with a description of your project, Lisp dialect being used, and other tools.

Libraries are allowed and encouraged, as most Lisp games devs tend to use some sort of engine; however you must go from design to implementation and create all assets (sound, images, and game logic) within the 7 days you chose.

I've found the 7-day thing so liberating, the way it forces you to prioritize your todo list and make sure you cover all the main points of your design while not embellishing too much in any one area.

Competition entries can be delivered anytime before the due date, and entrants are encouraged to preview and/or release alpha versions or at least screenshots of what you are doing. But you can keep it all a secret until release if you really want.

Starting January 1, 2010, volunteers from the Lisp Games community will try out the entries and post comments. We can use the mailing list and irc channel for all this.

What do people think? Should I change some of these rules?

There are no other restrictions. You can create a pong clone or a massive procedural RPG, we don't care. Just create games in lisp!

XONG 1.2 RELEASED on WIN/MAC/LINUX

We're proud to announce the release of XONG 1.2 on Windows, Mac OSX (Intel), and GNU/Linux.

See the previous post for a list of new features---but you'll some surprises not mentioned there...

See the XONG downloads page and choose the right file for your platform (Windows, Mac OSX, or GNU/Linux (32 and 64 bit. If you're not sure which to choose, choose 32 bit.)

What's new in the upcoming XONG 1.2?

The new XONG 1.2 release candidate is now in testing on Linux; see the XONG page for details on testing, and/or join irc.freenode.net, channel

#lispgames.

So what's new in 1.2?

• Bugfixes!
  
• New enemy "Oscillator" is the most dangerous yet, and will require fast dodging because he fires bullets
  
• The "snowflake" is a special puck that freezes enemies for a brief time
  
• Another special single-use puck throws a force shield around you for a few seconds, during which you are invulnerable
  
• Improved color code puzzles
  
• Black holes now explode with deadly plasma when an object falls in
  
• Enemy AI improvements and changes
  
• 4 new electronic music tracks, for a total of 9 tracks
  

XONG 1.2 will be released soon! In case you missed it, check out the 1.2 preview video on youtube.

XONG 1.2 PROMO VIDEO is out

There's a promo video out for XONG 1.2 with some new features shown. Click the aforementioned link (recommended) for use the embedded player below:

Teaser video for VOMAC

My next game is called VOMAC. Here is a teensy tiny preview of the game.

XONG, post-release

Yesterday's simultaneous release of XONG on Windows, Mac OSX Intel, and GNU/Linux has been a success.

A few minor issues cropped up, but no show-stoppers; notes have been added to the Downloads section on the XONG home page. Fixes for all these issues will be in the upcoming XONG 1.2 release.

So what else is on the plate for XONG?

1. Improved online help
   
2. More enemy types
   
3. More items to grab
   
4. Better integration between painting and killing enemies
   

Beyond that, I may also work on another game within the next few weeks; I'd like to split out part of Blast Tactics and make it into its own game.