Caster

Caster Reviewed on “Jayisgames”

Great review on Caster Episode 2!

http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/03/caster_episode_2.php

Comments Off on Caster Reviewed on “Jayisgames” more...

iWorth It Interview

Here’s an interview I did with iWorth It.  Too bad they didn’t spell the name of Elecorn properly.  Well, they’re not the first…. Elecron…. hmm.

“Elecron… the little known autobot that transforms form an elephant into a unicorn.”

http://www.iworthitappreviews.com/2010/01/23/elecron-developer-of-caster-iphone-app/


T-Shirt Design

The release of the next update for Caster is fast approaching so, time to make another t-shirt design!

I’ve always liked the negative space design ideas for t-shirts where the color of the shirt becomes a dominant factor in the design itself.  Here’s an example of a favorite t-shirt of mine from back in high school:

I’ve also liked the idea of an unbalanced composition where the design sits on one side of the shirt.  Here’s an example of a design I did back in 1998.  The idea was that the picture should sit on the left side if the shirt.

And here’s what I just finished for Caster.  The black is replaced with the color of the t-shirt (preferably a dark color for higher contrast).  And since this is a “Caster” shirt, the white is of course glow in the dark.  (Click image for larger view).

Now who wouldn’t want a shirt like that!


Beta Testers for Caster Update

Hey all!

I’m looking for some people to give me feedback on the next update to Caster.

If you’re interested in beta testing Caster, shoot me an e-mail at:

Be sure to include the word “Caster” in the subject so your e-mail gets through.

The beta testing is to help find bugs as well as provide feedback on what you liked, and didn’t like–what was confusing etc.

I really do listen and consider all the feedback and Caster has changed significantly in the past (all for the better) because of feedback from folks like you.

Also, if you give me feedback, I’ll be sure to add you into the credits in the game.

Thanks so much!


Caster from the Past

caster_may_2004

Recently I came across an old and forgotten build of Caster from May of 2004.  It’s interesting to see how the game has evolved since then.

Here’s a link to download it if you’re interested (it’s 3 MB).

Caster May 2004

From the README.txt:

CASTER
By Mike D. Smith
Music By pajama crisis

Controls

Move Up: up arrow, w
Move Down: down arrow, s
Move Left: left arrow, a
Move Right: right arrow, d
Punch: j
Jump: space bar
Change view: mouse with buttons.
Exit: esc

No point to the game yet, but there will be.

Comments Off on Caster from the Past more...

New Character for Caster

When I first designed Caster, I wanted to have the option to play as a male or female character.  You can see that from these designs made in 2004.

Here’s a little run sequence I just finished for the new character in Caster.

I plan to include the new character in the next update on iPhone.

The character will of course also be available when I update the Desktop versions as well.

Thanks!


iPort Slides from GDC Austin

caster_iphone_021

Here are the slides in several formats from our presentation on porting games to iPhone at GDC Austin.

The notes section on each slide contains the real meat of the information.

Bolded notes were bullet points for me while reading the slides since many of the slides just had simple pictures.

Hope you find the info useful!  Hopefully I’ll have a video up soon.  Thanks!

http://www.elecorn.com/mikedsmith/data/iPort_GDC_Austin_2009.key

http://www.elecorn.com/mikedsmith/data/iPort_GDC_Austin_2009.ppt

http://www.elecorn.com/mikedsmith/data/iPort_GDC_Austin_2009.pdf


GDC Austin! iPort: How to Bring Any C++ Game to the iPhone

I’m heading off to Austin tomorrow morning to attend GDC Austin.

I will be giving a lecture on some stuff my friend and I learned while doing the iPhone port of Caster.

We hope that it will help other people considering porting their existing C++ games to the iPhone.

If you’re going to be at GDC Austin, look me up!

I’ll be posting the slides and notes after the conference.

Thanks!


Caster Desktop Art

Someone requested I post up this image for people to use on their desktop etc, so here it is!

Right click HERE and save as to get the full sized version.

It is very large and you will most likely want to shrink it down before using it.

Enjoy!


Caster iPhone icons

My first job in college was to create several dozen 16×16 icons for an engineering software package.  Obviously at this level you work per pixel since every pixel counts.

In the app store, icons need to be 57 x 57 pixels.  While this allows you to do quite a bit, it’s still a small space to work in.

When designing the icons for Caster, I wanted to convey a sense of movement and power as well as display something representative of the game.

Here’s the icon I came up with for the first version of Caster:

Icon

While I like this icon because it’s clear, I don’t really like how it looks.  I decided to do a new icon for the next update for Caster using this source art:

CasterBackAtCha_final_web

Click HERE to download a high res version.

Here are a few icons I came up with:

CasterBackAtCha05_icon05eCasterBackAtCha05_icon05dCasterBackAtCha05_icon05bCasterBackAtCha05_icon05aCasterBackAtCha05_icon04_57x57_final

CasterBackAtCha05_icon05f

I think I’m going to go with with the last one.

Hopefully this will help it stick out a bit more.

Which icon is your favorite and why?


Copyright © 1996-2010 Elecorn ® : The Animated Coder. All rights reserved.
Jarrah theme by Templates Next | Powered by WordPress