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Bevans Media is currently a one man team. After a few years of creating mobile games it's finally time for a PC game.

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Neon Overture: Progress Report #5

BevansMedia Blog

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Hi all,

I'm putting a temporary hold on Neon Overture development. It's not dead, just Neon Overture is currently at a major crossroads and needs some thought before any further changes happen.

The hold is due to these points:

  1. Networking is underway. I haven't had much experience in network coding, and with Neon Overture already being the size it is, it seems like a bad idea to learn within NO with the risk of doing damage to the entire game. Therefore I have started work on a fresh small mobile game which I can learn the API and networking pipeline far more easily.
  2. I'm having a bit of a identity crisis with Neon Overture. The majority of the work so far has been put into the Level Editor, which is great. Originally Neon Overture was going to be focused on Co-op time-running with friends, but now I'm not too sure how appealing that will be to people.
  3. So instead I'm thinking to refocus the game into a more PVP focused style, which should be possible with a fairly small amount of work. It should still focus on skill and tactics to be the best, which is a core feature I want to keep in the game.

My thought process is that PVP would encourage more people to play the game as it'll be more familiar and less niche then speedrunning, which the game currently centers on.

Until next time,

Ben

Neon Overture: Progress Report #4

BevansMedia Blog

NOMR TitleImage

Hi all,

Just a quick update. The demo has had 30 downloads already, which is pretty cool, if you haven't downloaded it and tried it already then download it here!

I've recently got stuck in with adding Online Networking to the game, which should add a lot of value to the game for the majority of people, and it also opens the door to VS gamemodes in the future. It'll need a bunch of testing, so any volunteers would be really appreciated!

A question to you all: What are your favorite games to play with friends? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

Ben

Neon Overture: Progress Report #3

BevansMedia Blog

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Alpha builds are finally available! Download them from here!

A video will be coming up shortly on how to make your first basic level within the editor. I'm looking forward to see the types of things people come up with and way's that I can improve the editor to help their levels get even better!

Come join me on the Forum if you fancy discussing the game or anything else.

Now that the game is publicly available I am looking for any feedback to help improve the game and make it something that people find fun and enjoy dedicating time to it.

Have a try, see what you think and let me know!

Ben

Neon Overture: Progress Report #2

BevansMedia Blog

NOMR TitleImage

Hello again!

It's been just over a week since the last blog post so here's a new one. It might be a bit technical in places.

Development is almost at the point where it needs people start playing the game in order to expand and grow it. Also to find any bugs I've missed. And also start creating maps and playlists for people to enjoy. There's a few things that need to happen first before that's possible.

Here's a few major development challenges that are upcoming:

  • Sharing Levels & Playlists (Requires Steamworks API)
  • Multiplayer Networking (Requires Steamworks API)
  • Object properties in the In-Game Editor
  • Leaderboards (Requires Steamworks API)
  • Autosave in Editor
  • Stat's recording
  • Character selection

You can access the Steamworks API without getting through the Greenlight process, so I will be starting to investigate that shortly.

Object properties in the In-Game Editor has been on the to-do list for a while. Originally it was going to be tied up with the object events system (currently working). I need to figure out the optimal way of implementing this feature so it doesn't create too much extra work down the line every time a new object is added into the game.

There should hopefully be some videos/images/etc out soon for the game now I've got it's visual look to a point I like. I hope to finish the Object Properties over the next week and will release a working alpha build for you guys to play around with!

Thanks for reading again, until next time,

Ben

Neon Overture: Progress Report #1

BevansMedia Blog

NOMR TitleImage

Hi there,

If you are reading this then you've either come here by complete chance or my awesome future marketing techniques are paying off and you're reading up as much as possible on the game.

Neon Overture is my first major PC project after years of doing mobile and web development in the Unity game engine. I am a PC gamer at heart and with the unpredictability of the mobile market I've finally decided to try and make a game where I'm most comfortable.

It's a 1-4 player, co-op, platforming, time attack, create-your-own levels and playlists, 2d, action game? With pixel art? And a lot of screen effects. Meant to be hectic casual fun with your friends and also a powerful tool for creative people. The aim is to make it somewhat competitive so people who enjoy finding out the best methods of beating a level in the most efficient way can do just that.

Currently the level editor works in-game at is currently a fairly basic state: you can place and move entities and you can draw the level in 7 separate colours. All the levels in the game are built within the in-game editor, therefore if you see something cool you can definitely replicate it in any levels you build.

I'm currently working on expanding the level editor to allow objects to interact with each other through events. For example: if a button is pressed, a door opens. This is likely to be a huge undertaking so will probably come through bit by bit and be constantly added upon.

Before release I would really want to add Networking to the game, so people can play remotely and with people they've never met before. Again this is likely to be a big undertaking.

Also I plan on adding Steam functionality to the game (which matchmaking will run through) so I can also add Steam Workshop and allow people to share their levels and playlists with ease.

I'll hopefully be writing some more blogs soonish and also upload a early build of the game.

Cheers everyone,

Ben