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Geek Culture / Retrojam - June 2013

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Melancholic
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Posted: 31st May 2013 17:32 Edited at: 14th Jun 2013 00:22
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We had RandJam, we had BlandJam, and now theres RetroJam! Why you may ask? Well because I and TheComet thought it would be a good idea, need I say more? The idea is simple, you have 30 days to make a game in an 8 bit style, or in some way inspired by the 8 bit era of games. The winner will be determined by a vote once the deadline is over.

Some useful resources:
Bfxr – Easy to use sound effect maker
OpenMPT – Good (or so I’m told) open source music composing program
Universal LPC Charecter Generator - Great charecter generator, not exactly 8 bit but can be made more 8 bitish with a bit of gimp magic
Youtube - There are loads of great 8 –bit remixes of songs

Rules (Shamefuly copied from the RandJam thread)
* All programming languages are permitted.
* Your game must be free to play.
* Please include a reference to RetroJam somewhere in your game (maybe use the logo above).
* To enter, post the name of your game below, along with some indication that you are going to make it.
* Don't be shy: share your progress with us, even if it's just a screen-shot or a boring flowchart, it really does help to motivate each other.
* Deadline is June 30th 2013.
* All source code for entries must be made open

Entries
Melancholic – Descensum
TheComet - Hawk of Doom
Dark Frager - Mega Fighters
Phaelax - TBA
Seppuku Arts - TBA
Randomness 128 - Crow



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Dark Frager
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Posted: 31st May 2013 18:08
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I might participate in this; I love 8-bit graphics

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 31st May 2013 19:02
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What about Damsen Jam? Or maybe Strawberry Jam!

I might actually be tempted. I know I said that the last 2 times, but hey.

Might serve as some inspiration for some folks:



I always wanted to make a Sonic fan game, and I did get one mostly done waaaaay back in my The Games Factory days. So I could (in keeping with the 8 bit theme) actually do a fan game of the Master System version of the game or perhaps a Gameboy style RPG, I'll see what I feel like.



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ShellfishGames
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Posted: 31st May 2013 19:30
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Sounds good, I'll see if I can spend another weekend or so on a potential entry. I've never done anything 'retro' on purpose, but why not!

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Libervurto
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Posted: 31st May 2013 23:00
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Thanks Melan, I was having trouble thinking up a theme for next month.
Something I didn't put in the original rules but you might want to add is to require all entries to include source code.

The difficulty in learning is not acquiring new knowledge but relinquishing the old.
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Melancholic
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Posted: 31st May 2013 23:07
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Looks like we're on track for a good turn out!

Quote: "Thanks Melan, I was having trouble thinking up a theme for next month.
Something I didn't put in the original rules but you might want to add is to require all entries to include source code."


Great idea, I'll add it, also sorry if it seems like I'm encroaching on your territory here, i didn't know you planned to host one of these every month, figured they were just kinda a spur type thing.


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 31st May 2013 23:50
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So The Games Factory is out of the question? Suppose it would be cheeky.

Might be an excuse to encourage people to pick up AGK.

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Melancholic
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Posted: 31st May 2013 23:57
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Quote: "So The Games Factory is out of the question? Suppose it would be cheeky. "


By no means, the important part of the competition isn't the programming aspect, rather the game creation part


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Libervurto
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Posted: 1st Jun 2013 00:27 Edited at: 1st Jun 2013 00:42
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Quote: "sorry if it seems like I'm encroaching on your territory here, i didn't know you planned to host one of these every month, figured they were just kinda a spur type thing."

Not at all. I think it would be great if we make this an ongoing thing but I don't have to be the one to start each one off... actually I take that back, "I now declare this code jam... open"

Ah, that felt good.

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Dark Frager
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Posted: 1st Jun 2013 16:50
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Alright, I can't promise that I'll finish it, but I've got 29 days so I'll try.

Put me down for "Mega Fighters"

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Melancholic
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Posted: 1st Jun 2013 21:15 Edited at: 1st Jun 2013 21:15
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Added to the list!

Here my progress so far, just a menu screen to show at this point.




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Dark Frager
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 00:19
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Programming AI is a pain in the bum

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Melancholic
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 00:32
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Your already at the stage of needing AI? You've made much more progress than i have...


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Dark Frager
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 00:40
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I haven't done that much really, I've done the idle sprites for the player and first enemy, done the first background, got the player movement done, now I just need to work on the AI to have it over with. I still have to do the combat and the other levels and sprites

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TheComet
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 02:24
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Well, here's what mine looks like so far! Writing this in C++ btw. I can draw text and sprites to a window.



TheComet


Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, but Today is a Gift. That is why it is called "present".
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Dark Frager
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 12:05
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Here's my progress! I have the walking animation for the player done, and I want to make the background look better too. On the left is the player and on the right is the artificial idiot



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Melancholic
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 12:42
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Your progressing quick there! Actually looks like a game unlike mine.. Is the artwork all your own?

Anyway, it would be great to get some more people on board with this competition, I'm about to add some more great resources to the title thread in hopes of inspiring some more people.


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Dark Frager
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Posted: 2nd Jun 2013 13:14 Edited at: 3rd Jun 2013 21:46
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Quote: "Is the artwork all your own?"


Yep, I make it in paint.net

Edit: I've finished my punching system! How is everyone else going?

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Phaelax
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Posted: 4th Jun 2013 00:25 Edited at: 5th Jun 2013 01:34
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Can I submit my zelda game that I've already put 2 weeks into? Or does it have to be original?


Quote: "I always wanted to make a Sonic fan game, and I did get one mostly done waaaaay back in my The Games Factory days."

So you got the spinning around the loopy circles and stuff?



Ok, I started working on something original. Based on a concept I had scribbled down on a napkin 2 years ago, ChipMonk



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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 4th Jun 2013 11:55 Edited at: 4th Jun 2013 12:34
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Quote: "So you got the spinning around the loopy circles and stuff?"


I don't remember implementing them, but I did find a way of doing them in TGF.

[edit]
Not much, but I've spent the morning acquiring sprite sheets and implementing some for this Sonic fan game. Will be using sprites from Master System & Game Gear versions to keep it 8bit



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Melancholic
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Posted: 4th Jun 2013 15:19
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Great to see some more entrants! I've added you both to the top post


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Kevin Picone
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Posted: 4th Jun 2013 21:29
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Ahhh a Retro 2D compo.. If my time wasn't so limited, wouldn't mind knocking a little something together.


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Libervurto
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Posted: 5th Jun 2013 00:19
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I found this 8-bit colour palette that might be useful.


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Phaelax
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Posted: 5th Jun 2013 01:35
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This site has different palettes you can download for photoshop.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/31898/create-8-bit-style-graphics-with-authentic-nes-gameboy-and-sega-colors/

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budokaiman
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Posted: 5th Jun 2013 01:53
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Quote: "This site has different palettes you can download for photoshop."


For those without Photoshop, you can get a good NES palette for GIMP, here.


"Giraffe is soft, Gorilla is hard." - Phaelax
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 5th Jun 2013 03:41 Edited at: 5th Jun 2013 03:42
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Quote: "or in some way inspired by the 8 bit era of games"


If anybody was looking to do something in 3D. Something like this might be useful inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqR7AC0baVs&feature=player_detailpage#t=95s

I think something like that would be pretty neat.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 5th Jun 2013 17:16 Edited at: 5th Jun 2013 17:17
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Been working on the tile artwork this morning. Here's a concept I put together in Tiled.




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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 9th Jun 2013 16:01 Edited at: 9th Jun 2013 16:02
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Not done a lot of work, but mostly time taken up by work and other things.


Still need to finish making the level. What I'm thinking of doing is making just 1 level, but coverring all of the zones in one straight run, bosses included.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 9th Jun 2013 22:37
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@Sep - that's pretty nostalgic for me. Have you made a level editor? It would be pretty fun to design and share levels.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 9th Jun 2013 23:06
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I haven't, the purpose for this RandJam is to have something complete start to finish, so I'm going for the simple option, AKA TGF, but I think a level editor may be doable as a feature, not sure if I'd do it before or after RandJam if I did.

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Randomness 128
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Posted: 10th Jun 2013 02:13 Edited at: 10th Jun 2013 02:14
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I started yesterday. The working title is Crow. Here's what I've done so far:



I've done more than it looks like, honestly.

320x224

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Phaelax
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Posted: 10th Jun 2013 21:13
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If anyone is looking to do some music, I found a collection of nes percussion samples that are free to use (click the link in the guy's thread post):

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5240740

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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 11th Jun 2013 05:52
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Aw man! Why did I not see this thread earlier?

Hmm... I might try to get something done. Guess I'll start working on it.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 12th Jun 2013 04:04
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You still have almost 3 weeks.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 12th Jun 2013 14:12
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I've decided to resume working on my Space Game. These are probably familiar:


It's pretty retro-style so I think it suits this, but I will continue long after.

I was watching some videos about Dwarf Fortress and I love how detailed the world is with all its procedurally generated lore and historic events. I want that in my game. I'm inspired by DF because it showed me that I don't have to generate graphics and what-not for everything for it to add to the immersion and authenticity of the world.

I want the player to be able to set off on science missions to categorise newly discovered species on alien worlds; Or to buy a cut of Feslark meat at a shady market only to get severe food poisoning when you eat it because you didn't check the Galactic Information Database that would have told you that it is poisonous to your species. I want you to be able to look up all kinds of weird and wonderful plants and animals, cultures and worlds, and find interesting places to explore. Get into a fight because you accidentally insulted one of the locals, since you are unfamiliar with their customs. Gain the trust of a group of revolutionaries and help them overthrow their government or smuggle asylum seekers out of the solar system. I basically want it to be a huge sandbox with all this stuff going on around you. I want the player to get lost in the world and feel small, not the centre of everyone's attention like in most games.

I think I am the Peter Molyneux of the forums. lol

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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 13th Jun 2013 23:39
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Quote: "You still have almost 3 weeks."


Yeah, but I'm SUPER busy during those three weeks. I started work on designing tiles, but it's incredibly hard to make anything look 8-bit.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 14th Jun 2013 03:44
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For those working with tile maps (which is most likely any retro creator here), here's a little info on sprite performance in AGK. I have a map that's 144 by 16 tiles using 64x64. I currently have 4 layers (though not all layers are 100% filled) and I haven't noticed any slow downs in frame rates despite not doing any tricks to limit the amount of sprites drawn.

Far as I can tell, AppGameKit seems it must handle hundreds of sprites rather efficiently. Only drawing those that are visible on screen, which I thought I might have to manually control.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 14th Jun 2013 15:00 Edited at: 14th Jun 2013 18:07
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I've gone with some super-simple two-tone graphics. I'm not sure if I actually need all these but it was fun anyway and I wanted to post something.

From top left: plant, animal, sentient being, sun, asteroid, rocky body, gaseous body, water planet (habitable), civilian ship, military ship.

The difficulty in learning is not acquiring new knowledge but relinquishing the old.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 17th Jun 2013 22:29
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Since ChipMonk was a concept I had in mind for a modern platform game, it's causing my to struggle with making it a retro 8-bit game. And looking at it in its current form only depresses me because I have a better vision of what I'd like it to be. So I'm scrapping this project and decided to start on something new over the weekend.

I know I've lost two weeks in the competition already, but this simple game has been coming along quickly. Doesn't hurt that there isn't much too it, but it was a very fun fighting game back in the day.

Nearly all the animations are complete, including all the various attacks. I just need the death animation and decapitation.


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Benjamin
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Posted: 18th Jun 2013 04:21
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Awesome, I remember barbarian!

"Sideboobs are awesome. Getting punched in the face is not." - Jerico2Day on violence and nudity
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Libervurto
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Posted: 18th Jun 2013 19:27
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@Phaelax - Nice, I think I vaguely remember that game, the rolling around certainly is familiar. So, now that your avatar is in the game how about adding mine too.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 18th Jun 2013 20:49
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Phaelax
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Posted: 1st Jul 2013 04:33
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So has anyone finished their game?

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Randomness 128
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Posted: 1st Jul 2013 07:48
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I'm pretty much just starting.

320x224
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Melancholic
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Posted: 1st Jul 2013 21:02
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Unfortunately I've not managed to finish mine, was busier than i though i would be (hell, i moved country) however i did get 8000 lines to the project and its grown to a size where I'd like to continue, so mines not quite dead.


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