Oxeye Game Studio

Harvest Update, Version 1.14

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:50:22 +0000

It’s time for another “Harvest: Massive Encounter” update. The new version is numbered 1.14, and is a non-crucial patch that adds mod support to the Creative Mode. We have started a whole new section on the forums related to Harvest modding, head over there now and check out all the mods that are being made! The forum section also contains all the necessary information needed to get started with making your own mod. For example, check out How To Create Mods or How To Create Custom Graphics to get you going. All mods are open source and easily changeable in any text editing tool.

The patch contains the following mods:

Emulate Normal Mode: A mod that works just like the Normal Mode.
Emulate Rush Mode: A mod that works just like Rush Mode.
Emulate Wave Mode: A mod that works just like Wave Mode.
Starhawk: A mod that allows the player to send in a small fighter jet with custom graphics by entering “starhawk” in the input field that appears after pressing Enter ingame.
Super Gun: A mod that allows the player to upgrade defense towers into bullet spewing super guns! These guns don’t require energy, but instead eat credits when they need to refill ammo.
Infinite Credits: A mod that gives the player infinite credits.

Here’s the Mac OS X updater for registered users (2.6 MB). Open the dmg and run the patcher, then simply drag and drop the Harvest application on to the patcher’s window.

The Windows update is available here (1.3 MB). This patcher requires a previous installation of Harvest, simply use the same application folder when you run it.

Happy Modding!

A Nice Harvest Review

admin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:21:04 +0000

I’m not sure when he posted this, but Mr. Phil of Mr. Phil Games has written a really nice review of Harvest. To quote,

Oxeye has done a wonderful job and I pray that they make massive piles of money so we can see what they do next.

… and we couldn’t agree more If you know about other reviews that we may have missed out on, please let us know in the comments!

/jeb

Because it’s fun, Fay

admin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:29:24 +0000

During the last couple of weeks we’ve been working on a small game for TIGSource’s Procedural Generation competition. The deadline is tonight, and we are just finished! The game’s called “Because it’s Fun, Fay”, and is about a woman called Fay who has been trapped in a tower by a lonely fairy known as Cornipolous. Not interested in being anybody’s pet prisoner, Fay decisively begins to find her way out of the tower. Cornipolous knows there are many dangerous monsters around, and he doesn’t want her to get hurt, so he’s forced to assist in her escape.

You can either play yourself or cooperatively with a friend, but in both cases the objective is to get Fay and Corn to the top of the tower, where an evil boss awaits. The topic of the competition was that the game should be different every time you play, so the game’s level and boss are randomized when the game begins. Download the game here:

Mac OS X: http://www.oxeye.se/files/stuff/BIFF_Mac.zip
Windows: http://www.oxeye.se/files/stuff/BIFF.zip

Like the mods for Harvest, this game has been written completely in Lua. This has been an interesting experiment, and feels like an easy and quick way of testing new game ideas. You will probably see more of this from us

Hit the jump for a screenshot from the game…

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Swedish Game Awards Video Coverage

admin — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:12:59 +0000

It’s 2PM and Jeb and Thewreck are still sleeping, reason?
Yesterday we attended the Swedish Game Awards Grand Finale at Kulturhuset in Stockholm, representing Harvest. By representing I don’t mean just exhibiting the game, I mean social representation too (AKA drinking beer with fellow Indie-spirits discussing Indie-glory).
Great success! If anyone of you ever stop by Skåne, give us a call!

I must say, after having been a bit disappointed by some of the downloadable games at the SGA web site I was pleasantly surprised by this year’s line-up, especially by Blueberry Garden and Swarm!
Hit “Read More” to see the winners and video coverage of the ceremony!

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Having a Beer or Two

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:35:26 +0000

Yesterday and today the Nordic Game 2008 is running here in Malmö (Sweden), which means the “number of game developers per capita” has sky-rocketed for a moment. We took this opportunity to meet up with some of the indie celebrities, namely Petri Purho, maker of IGF 2008 winner Crayon Physics Deluxe and Crayon Physics, Erik Svedäng, maker of the very much talked about Blueberry Garden, and Martin didn’t-catch-his-last-name who runs www.grapefrukt.com and a lot of cool stuff in his blog.

Hit the jump for pictures!

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Modding Harvest

admin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:49:11 +0000

As some of you might already know, we’ve been working (experimenting) with adding Lua to Harvest. The mods allow you to alter the game rules in Creative Mode, and can be used to add new effects, triggers and even gameplay elements. While there still is a lot of work to be done (such as modifying alien AI), it’s already running nicely.

The mod support has its own forum category, where you will be able to find documentation and other people’s mods. So far we’ve released a “beta patch” for those who wants to try the mods or make their own ones. You find the patch, and some basic example mods, here: http://www.oxeyegames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=246

/jeb

Akarra Editors Source Code

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:04:44 +0000

A few weeks ago I released the server source to our old online role-playing game, Whispers in Akarra. I thought it was time for the next piece of the puzzle, and have uploaded the files for the game’s server-side editors. You can download them from here:

http://www.akarra.net/download/get.php?file=7

The editors were created using a tool called Borland C++ Builder. Borland has since then discontinued it in favor of the Java Builder, so I’m not sure if it’s possible to get your hands on a copy any longer. In any case, some of the editors are a real mess, I suggest you check the readme in the source package before you begin. Of course, if you’ve never used the compiled binary versions of the editors, it will be even harder. Check my previous post for download links to the editors.

The Akarra shard hub, Akarra.net, hasn’t really gotten started yet, but according to rumours TbbW is working on the back-end, so hopefully it will be more useful “soon”. I suggest you check back there every once in a while if you’re into Whispers in Akarra.

Cheerio,

/jeb

Harvest Update, Version 1.03

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:13:44 +0000

It’s time for the first “Harvest: Massive Encounter” update. The new version is numbered 1.03, and is a non-crucial patch that fixes some errors. In other words, if you don’t have any problems with the current version, you don’t need to download this. The fix list:

A weird crash bug before “Game Over” which occurred with the OpenGL renderer. This is one of those bugs that make me believe that there’s more to programming than bits and bytes. Somebody or something is out there to get us. Anyway, we added a redundant and “unnecessary” fix, and it seems to work…
Removed the gamepad controller from the main game since it caused problems for some people. You can still play with a gamepad in the “easter egg” (check the forums for more info).
On the Mac, files are now stored in your user folder instead of the system folder. This should solve some problems people reported on Leopard.

So… here’s the Mac OS X updater for registered users (2 MB). Open the dmg and run the patcher, then simply drag and drop the Harvest application on to the patcher’s window. Simple and elegant, huh? We have also updated the demo version, of course. You find it on the downloads page.

The Windows update is available here (1 MB). This patcher requires a previous installation of Harvest, simply use the same application folder when you run it. As above, the demo has been updated and is available from the downloads page.

Update: We’ve patched the patcher now Please try again
Hit the jump for more Harvest-related news…

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Harvest: Massive Encounter Available Now!

admin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:08:13 +0000

It has been a long year with ups and downs, but finally we are here. It’s with great pleasure we now announce that Harvest: Massive Encounter is released! Get the demo here, or skip the fuss and buy the game right now!

/The Oxeye Crew

Video Podcast of Harvest at Games4Mac.de

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:53:29 +0000

Games4Mac.de has posted a video podcast of Harvest: Massive Encounter. The podcast is made by the Harvest expert Daniel Wolf, known as lupodw in the forums, and shows some useful tips and tricks. The podcast is in German, and can be found here:

Games4Mac.de news item with comments (in German)
Direct link to video (60 MB, in German)

Also, Daniel has constantly mocked our attempts to prevent super-high levels in the game. He has challenged me that he’ll reach level 1500 in the release version too, so now there’s a €20 bill at stake. In other words… if you happen to reach level 1499, and the progress bar seems mysteriously stuck… well, that’s why

/jeb