Delays and all that has got to be one of the most depressing parts about game development. I’m really looking forward to getting the alpha out so people can start digging their teeth into the game!

However, the fact of the matter is that the alpha is not possible to deploy yet =(.

We are working to release the alpha as soon as possible, and to avoid unnecessary speculation, I will not guess about any ETA.

Check out Jeb_’s tweet about it too!
http://twitter.com/#!/jeb_/status/130223883646279680

Again, if you want to discuss the game, I’m idling in #cobalt on IRC, esper.net

We will go with Mojang to PAX Prime to demo Cobalt and take on challengers at our 2-on-2 Capture the Plug booth. If you are at PAX, make sure you pay us a visit. We have launched a Cobalt-dedicated site at www.PlayCobalt.com with the specifics and a brand new Cobalt trailer!

PS. If you want to contact us, send a tweet in our general direction (@OxeyeGames, @vraket, @jeb_, @Kinten or @anosou), or an email to info@oxeyegames.com

Development is sometimes painful and hard but most of the time it is pure fun! The past couple of days we’ve been hard at work with getting the demo up to date in time for our GDC appearance.

There’s been some major changes to the core concept of the game and for the first time in a while it feels like we’re making some great progress!

I’ll try to set aside some time for a write up of the current state of the game, but for now you’ll have to make do with a play testing video.

We’re speaking Swedish in the video, but hopefully our reactions are sufficient to understand what’s happening!

/Kinten

A lot of people commented that they couldn’t really see what was going on in the teaser, so we thought it might be nice to really introduce Cobalt in this video.
For people who’ve played a lot of platformers before it might be a bit too detailed, but hopefully you can get a feel for the awesome platform flow we’re striving for.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

This blog post is the first in a series (if all goes well) of posts about the music in Cobalt. Since we announced the game I’ve gotten some nice comments about the music present in the trailer. While this music will indeed be in the game it doesn’t exactly represent the overall “sound” very well. What does represent the overall “sound” though is the Main Theme of Cobalt so I thought I’d introduce you to this piece of music and share some insight on how it’s being used in the game.

The Main Theme of Cobalt basically consists of a simple melody with eight notes originally composed in E-minor. Originally this melody was composed for the menu/title track but since I’ve tried to incorporate it in other tracks to get a sense of cohesiveness. As a result, the theme appears in four tracks in the  IGF demo. Here’s an edited preview of all four appearances so you can hear the theme before I go into detail describing each use:

Main Theme of Cobalt (preview) by anosou

(in case SoundCloud isn’t being friendly, here’s an MP3 I uploaded)

The first track you’ll hear is the original titel/menu track introducing the theme. This is actually the first track you’ll hear in game, not counting the Oxeye Games logo jingle. The goal here was trying to capture both the character Cobalt and the game Cobalt. The game has an overall dark atmosphere and there’s much a fusion of the organic and mechanical in the world. Luckily the character Cobalt is also a fusion of organic and mechanical with an uncertain future. The combination of the electric bass and marimba with the synth sounds represents this fusion while the low register, minor harmonies and pulsating textures sets the mood for the game.

The second track is for an underground (but indoors) complex. The low growling bass and persistent drums attempt to both create an atmosphere and stress the player a bit, putting some rhythm in for the sake of movement. The use of the main theme here is less significant but rather just serves as a hint of the opening so you remember what you read during the opening sequence. Not directly but rather as a vague parallell.

The third track is quite different from the others.This music is elevator music and, not so strange then, it’s actually used for an elevator, the one leading up to Cobalt’s penthouse flat to be exact. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek going with such a cliché kind of music but I thought it’d put a smile on the player’s face as a contrast to the thick atmosphere before you arrive here. The track’s monophonic and produced to sound a bit old and like not the best recording since it’s coming out of the elevator’s speakers. By using the main theme here at your “home” I try to even more establish this theme as important to Cobalt the character.

The fourth and final track (so far) using the main theme is actually the first track I did for Cobalt while I was still applying for the position. It’s far an outside location I won’t tell you much about but this place is once again where nature meets constructions, thus the instrumentation once again uses both “real” and synthesized sounds. The main theme doesn’t play a large role here but rather serves as a hint towards the beginning, keeping everything cohesive. This level also ends the demo so I thought it’d be good to both open and close with the same thematic material.

That’s it for this time! We’ll try to be a bit more open about what’s going on with Cobalt. Though if you think it takes too long between posts you can at least take comfort in that we’re most likely working on Cobalt instead of posting about it.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

I will post the DaisyMoon presentation as soon as I’ve had time to edit it.

Also check out our new widgets at the bottom of our blog! Thewreck spent an afternoon installing all of those, and hopefully it will make it easier to find old Oxeye articles

/jeb

Update: Re-uploaded the video clips with correct aspect ratio!

What…?

Subversion, or SVN for short, is a version-control system that keeps track of our project files when we work on Project B and other games. Think of it as a wiki for files that we add and update files on. Each time a file is modified, SVN keeps track of who made the changes, and makes backups so that changes can be reverted if necessary.

Each commit is also tagged with a small comment describing why the commit was made. It’s this comment that our bot picks up and puts on twitter.

Why…?

Because we can! Also, because this will let you keep track of Project B. We want to be more open about the project, and this is a step in that direction. Actual game information, such as screenshots and a game name, will come later.

/ jeb

I think a lot of game developers have this kind of problem. They know what they want to create, but the finished product didn’t really turn out as they had thought. It can still be a good game, but it’s missing something. It’s nice to hear a solid reason why you should keep on going, and not just empty phrases like “believe in yourself.”

The other parts of the inteview are interesting as well.

/jeb

Oxeye consists of five people who are in different stages of life and with different abilities to spend time on game development. Our process for selecting which game to work on thus needs to be rather “loose.” The most important thing is that we feel that we are having fun (and releasing games is fun!). Our process can obviously not be applied to all kinds of companies, but on the other hand our company is not the kind of company you read about in business books.

The Concept Phase

In this phase there’s only a game idea and a very short draft for the game. A game concept should be descibed so that it fits on a single A4 paper. I think we have 7 of these concepts on our office wall at the moment. To be honest, I think the font size has gotten smaller for each new one, but we still try to keep these concepts as short as possible.

Light Prototyping

In this phase one or two of us creates a simple prototype to test the game idea. Nothing more than our valuable time is invested on this prototype. Games such as Jet Engine Nights and House Globe are considered light prototypes, even if House Globe never was intended to be anything else than a TIGSource competition entry. Anybody can start a light prototype when-ever they feel like it (unless there’s a time-crucial deadline coming up, of course).

Heavy Prototyping

In this phase at least 3 of our members have decided that we want to put a little more effort on the prototype. The difference to “light prototype” is that we can use our savings on buying stuff for the prototype (such as music and other material we can’t create ourselves).

Green-lighted

Only one game can be “green-lighted” at a time. The green-lighted game will be our main project and all effort will be put into completing the game. A prototype can only be green-lighted once everybody agrees that it’s a good idea, and that we have some kind of plan on the scope of the game and how long it’s going to take to finish it. Our current project is “Project B.”

Green-lighted games can still be abandoned, though. Every two months we have a reschedule meeting (using Skype) to keep track on progress and to update the plan. If we realize that we have mistaken ourselves on the game idea or our ability to create the game, then it will be dropped. Obviously not an easy decision to make!

/jeb

“Whaa?! What’s this? They’re EXPELLING me from the Society?! Who put vegetables in the pot this time? I will SHOW them! Oh yes… putrid peach soup, they will regret this!”

Agatha puts on her cape and prepares for the long journey to Blue Hill, where the witchcraft society’s leaders rule the esteemed organization. For who would believe the worth of her crooked fingernails if she didn’t qualify as a member? No, things must be set right!

With frantic eagerness, she bangs her bony fists on the great castle doors, announcing her arrival,

“Let me in! How dare you lock me out? These walls will not stop ME! I’ll turn stone into tofu if I must!”

From a small window above the ugliest of the witches, the Keeperwitch, points out her wart-ridden nose,

“Oh, we’ve been expecting you, Agatha! Why don’t you fall inside?”

“Fall? Did you’re as stupid as a faun, Keeperwitch! Now unlock the door!”

With a small *tick* the door opens… under Agatha’s feet! She falls down, straight into the Blue Hill’s prisons. The welcome committee is already there – all of the society leaders: Broomwitch, Greenwitch, Fairywitch, Nightwitch, Manwitch, Robowitch, Keeperwitch, Sandwitch and the meanest of them all, Master Witch! They all carry smug smiles on their faces, bringing Agatha to the boiling point!

“There’s no locking ME up! I will turn you all into salted slugs!”

Which is where our story begins…