Spod! Comic Anthology Kickstarter

Spod! The oddites from space comic anthology containing a collection of sci-fi shorts originally conceived as part of Mark Millar's Clint project is looking for funding on Kickstarter.

As well as containing the work of several Temple Apa members (including myself, Dave Thomson and Neil Alexander) there's a whole host of rather impressive looking strips from comic creators around the globe. And if you pledge at least a tenner, you will get an exclusive 16 page digital comic by me and Dave Thomson, which contains the making of Love and War, plus our first ever comic collaboration - The One Eyed Wench (pictured above).

Even if you don't have spare cash to spend you can help by spreading the word about the kickstarter, as without full funding it may never make publication.

Anyway, here' the link and thanks for your support:

Spod On Kickstarter

In space no one can hear you drool!

Temple member Paul Harrison-Davies has a brand new webcomic out, dedicated to the child friendly adventures of Astrodog! Updated with new material every monday and friday, the strip is well worth checking out. Paul's Astrodog strip has come close to getting professionally published on several occassions, but luck has never been on its side.

Hopefully the webcomic will draw more attention to Astrodog, so spread the word you happy shiny people!

Astrodog Website

Board Horde Released!

I'm happy to announce that the pesky fantasy board game I've been working on for the last six months has finally been finished, and is available to play online.

Since I've only been 'programming' since the start of the year I'm very happy (and somewhat surprised) with what I've managed to achieve.  The game changed quite a lot as I worked on it, and was originally going to be a homage to Paul Eldridges Gonad athe Barbarian board game, from issue 12 of the Temple apa.  I was quick to realise that doing a board game about a testicle shaped hero attempting to negotiate his way through Klunge valley would narrow my audience down a touch, and opted for something a bit more universal.

Here's a brief description of the game:  'Board Horde is a fantasy board game for one or two players (hot seat).  Navigate your way across six trap filled boards, kill monsters, die frequently and swear lots!  Play against your friends, family and loved ones - and annihilate them!  After all, there's points to be won and a spot on the Leaderboard to be earned.'

Board Horde can be played at the following places (completely free.  It's supported by ads):

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/616297 (desktop and some mobiles)

www.facebook.com/boardhorde (desktop only)

http://boardhorde.clay.io (desktop and mobile, though mobile may have audio issues)

Its also possible to embed the game on websites, so please let me know if you would like to do so (its as simple as pasting a small piece of html code onto your site).

Special thanks to Olivia Egbunike for the excellent music track, and my wife Jenny for providing some of the background art (and for those who tested the game, ta!).  John Kirkham also provided the company name and logo (It was a close call between Biomekazoik and We Demand Monkey Butlers) and will be getting involved with the next gaming projects. 

Anyway, please give the game a try and let me know what you think.  If you'd like to hire me for projects and Bar Mitzvahs then just give me a yell at biomekazoik@gmail.com

Board horde menu redesign

Currently working on giving my Board Horde game a bit of a visual overhaul (as the menu was functional, but missing lots of useful stuff). So, here's a pic of the Fruit Machine style menu redesign.

I've also added two new boards, and am working on making the a.i. smarter than a Village Idiot. With luck I'll have a new update ready by the end of the month.

Board Horde released on Newgrounds

After months of blundering my way through my first forage into the world of computer game creation, I've managed to complete the first version of Board Horde, which has been entered into the Newgrounds Touchjam competition. Although the judges get the final say on who wins, all votes help draw attention to the game. So if you get the chance to check it out and have a play, pop along to the following link:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/616297

I still plan to add a lot more to the game for the next update, including a three player mode, smarter a.i., more boards, more potions and traps, and special hero skills.

First I must catch up with some comic projects, and some sleep!

Board Horde Version 1

Right, then!

For the last few months I've been working on an RPG Board Game titled 'Board Horde', and I've finally managed to knock it into a vaguely presentable sort of state. 

I still have lots to do (there's no sound yet, only three boards, various bits of art need changing or updating etc.), but I thought I'd post a link to it here in order to get a bit of feedback. 

Board Horde Dropbox Link

It will eventually be intended for larger touch-screen devices, as well as desktop, so feel free to test it on whatever you can (although it's touch screen enabled, a mouse should work as well) and report any findings. There's a couple of bugs which occasionally surface (the Change Places potion malfunctions from time to time), but if things go hideously wrong you can always press the Board Horde logo at the top of the screen to reset to the menu.

Game Rules:

The basic aim is to get your three characters from the entrance to the exit before the other player (currently the game is for two human players, though I plan to put AI in, and a third player at some point).

You have three character classes, which have different strengths and weaknesses. They are as follows:

Mage: Best with potions, weakest against enemies, and has a medium chance of setting off traps.

Rogue: Okay with potions, okay against enemies, least likely to set off traps.

Warrior: Bad with potions (may suffer ill effects), best against enemies, most likely to set off traps (on account of having eaten one too many pies)

Traps are currently represented by squares that look like grey piles of rubble (I'll make them look a bit more fiendish when I get the chance)

Potion Effect: 

Haste: Doubles the characters moves.

Teleport: Moves the character forward a certain amount of squares (range differs depending on character class)

Invincible: If the character lands on an enemy, automatically wins.

Feather:  If the character lands on a trap, doesn't set it off.

Change Places: Switches places with the member of the opposition who is furthest ahead on the board.

Death Pulse: Destroys any enemies within a certain radius of the character (range differs depending on character class)

Slow Down: (only for warriors) Halves the movement speed on the dice (the number is rounded up, so it's still possible to move if you roll a one)

Enfeebled: (only for warriors) Gives the warrior the strength of a wizard when he next lands on an enemy.

Bloated: (only for Warriors) Sets off the next trap that the warrior treads on. 

Anyway, that should be enough info to get you started. Feel free to make any suggestions for improvements (please bear in mind that the HUD profiles are out of date, and the text objects are in some cases there to replace SFX etc), and stay tuned for further updates!

Right, must go write those comedy sketches I've been promising Fran for the last month...

- Dave

Board Horde Screenshots

Well, hurrah and huzzah!

I've finally managed to iron out most of the bugs in the board game I'm working on, and am almost ready to reveal the rather rough around the edges version of the game.

In the meantime, here's some screenshots, and the menu screen.