I updated the demo last night, most with performance and stability fixes. If you haven't already tried it, give it a go:

Joystick Johnny Website

The biggest change was moving to streamed audio for the music, using OpenAL. This cut memory almost in half, and results in a faster load up front. The downside is that there may be compatibility issues with it. It took about a full two days to get this going, which I won't get into, but I will say that a Perl script and a couple of Blitz community-based tools made it possible.

This week, the plan is to get a full version preview build done, with everything polished end-to-end.

Overall, feedback has been 95% positive. I even got my first blogger props: Binary Joy

One of the advantages of being a Night Owl is that I do all my grocery shopping at midnight at the 24-hour Safeway. Well, tonight I encountered something there that I just can't keep secret, even if it kills me:

A film shoot.

Of course, this is a normal thing in California, especially in Alameda where The Matrix 2 & 3 were filmed, but this was more insidious than that. Here's how it went down:

(Guy emerges from Meat dept)

MEAT MAN: Hi, how can I help you?

CHICK: I was looking at this [unintelligible] and was wondering if you could split it for me.

(an "extra" shopper passes behind them)

MEAT MAN: I'd be happy to. And I'll even keep it at the same affordable price.

(He goes back while she stands there smiling about her fabulous luck)

Not only were they blocking me from the Peanut Butter and Jelly isle during all this, but these weren't even real people. The Meat Man: not a real employee... he was an actor. In fact, the director referred to him has Henry, which leads me to believe he was Henry Fonda. He must be a bit off his game though, since it took him 10 takes to remember to say "Hi" at the beginning.

Also, the shoppers: both actresses. Hey, I was a *real* shopper, they could've asked me to walk by. But they chose deception instead. So next time you see a Safeway commercial, just remember The Truth of what you read here.

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On a related note, there are now over 100 online scores and 30 scoreboards since the Joystick Johnny demo launched last week.

If you haven't already, download your copy before the Safeway people get me.

The time has come. The Joystick Johnny demo has arrived at your virtual doorstep, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Life as you know it will never be the same. Or will it?

The only way to know for sure is to get *your* copy of the demo from the mind-bendingly fresh and highly official website!

Joystick Johnny Website

(NOTE: the game is still in beta and will be ready... soon)

I've decided to release this next version as the actual trial version, so I'm getting everything ready for that.

It will contain one row of some of the best minigames in the game. Because of the non-linear nature of the game, that's actually a lot of gameplay: 20 levels, including 5 special virus levels, and 5 treasures to find. Plus full access to the scoreboard system. That's better than most of my freeware games, and leaves a ton of stuff to experience in the full version.

All that's left is a few details. So... expect to download a copy of your new favorite game sometime this week!

I'm happy right now. I finally reached my long-time goal of someday writing what I call cat-on-the-keyboard music.

This is the kind of music you get when, for instance, Yanni takes a break to have a PBJ sandwich and his cat Xerxes comes along and starts walking all over his gear and knocks a drumstick over, falling on top of the bongos.

It sounds a little something like this, which is from my upcoming hyperspace-cool game, Joystick Johnny.

Incidental Music (200k)

Now that I've sandbagged my apartment for the inevitable rush of groupies, I am safe to announce that the musician working on the soundtrack for Joystick Johnny is none other than The Swedish Sensation... Makke!



Unless you've been living under a cave for the past decade, you'll know that Makke is one of the superstars of the Commodore Remix scene.

He does the retro thing better than anyone else, and his vocal versatility would make Rich Little cry. Check out his remix of Artura, in which he sings with a convincing Irish accent, which is probably in violation of some NATO treaty, but whatever.

He has a CD, which you can check out (and buy) here:
It's Binary, Baby!

And here's one of the tunes he's working on for the game:
Tune #1 (35 seconds)

Talk about how rad the music is in the
Flea Circus Games forum!

A new piece has been added to my art page: