Widget Monkey Games Development Blog

This is the page where you can read about everything we're going through trying to create cool games using the Unity game engine. Some of the details are boring, and there's a great deal of frustrating stuff in these updates as well because sometimes (often?) game development doesn't go quite as one might plan. Want to make games? Grab the Indie version of Unity3D and get started!

Widget United -- January 13, 2008

Our first shipping game title, Widget United, will finally be entering beta this week. We've got the music and sound effects in place, and are handing the game out to a wide range of beta testers to get their feedback about final improvements we can make and guage how well the game runs on a variety of OSX and Windows systems. Our temporary high score database has been set up and during the beta testing we are also internally tweaking a variety of in-game variables to provide the best balance between fun gameplay and difficulty.

We are planning to release a demo version as well, details can be found on the Widget United game page. Unless something dramatically bad goes wrong during the next few weeks we should be releasing the game the first week in February.

Widget United -- December 16, 2007

We are thrilled to announce that Widget United is now code complete! Jedd, the brilliant young programmer we chose for this project, has started his review and final clean-up of the scripts and game code this weekend. The final bits of graphics, sound and music is now underway as well, and we now believe that by early January the game will be distributed beta-testers after we've made the last of the gameplay tweaks, and then hopefully released by month's end.

We'll make announcement soon on the major gaming sites and in the Unity forums.

Widget United -- December 8, 2007

OK, so we now know that we'll most likely not meet our self-imposed December release date. But the good news is that by the end of December we will have the game completely code done and starting the alpha testing. As you can see in the screen shot the game is progressing well.

Thanks to the continued excellent programming by Jedd Haberstro, and the fact that even your's truly is starting to wrap his head around some parts of the programming, we've reached the following milestones between October and Deecember ...

• 95% code complete and fully functioning ("pre-alpha")
• new user interface done and fully functioning
• most sound affects in game now

For us, alpha testing will be the phase where we tweak many of the gameplay variables to ensure that we are happy with the way the game plays. Thing like how fast the ball slows down, it's bounce, camera angles, shot power, etc. We also want to make sure that all parts of the game function (scoring, submitting scores online, menus, etc). Once that's complete we'll open the game up to beta testing for feedback and then release it.

We don't want to promise a release date, seeing as how we can't meet any of the ones we set, but expect some news in January.

While progress has been slower than expected it is out first game and we're happy that the end is actually in sight. The game's target audience is now the 8 to 13 year old gaming crowd (and their parents) but will appeal to many causal gamers as a quick fun game to play. Drop by in January for further news and possible beta-testing announcements.

Widget United -- October 1, 2007

We started development on Widget United back in June and, despite a slower than anticipated summer, have made great progress on the game. It's looking almost as good as the splash screen we show above! The interesting thing we've found during development is that, if we'd been working on this title full time, we'd have been able to complete it within only two (or three) months! That's the Unity game engine for you.

Thanks to the superb programming and problem-solving skills of Jedd Haberstro, and the excellent models supplied by Eric Haines and Ian McPhee, we've reached the following milestones ...

• 85% code complete and fully functioning ("pre-alpha")
• 90% user interface done and in place
• music ready to start
• sound effects 90% completed (not yet in game)

We still have music and sound effects (partly completed) to get into place, two major programming things to do (move the opponent players and finish coding the goalie functionality), some minor scripting (a new power bar shot system), and then tweaking certain gameplay variables, and we'll be into alpha testing. Once that's complete we'll open the game up to beta testing for feedback and then release it. We're looking, realistically and finally, at a November or December 2007 release date!

One key thing we've learned during the development of our first major game is to cut back on putting every single feature into the 1.0 version of the game. We've removed from our "list of things we'd like in the game" a few minor things to keep ourselves on target for a release date this year, and to prevent scope creep.

Overall, it's been a fun ride to date and we're looking forward to finishing this one off and getting on the the 1.1 updates and our next game project.

Future Games from Widget Monkey Games

Here are some of the game ideas that Widget Monkey Games are planning, designing and/or that are in active development during the coming 3–12 month period. If a game is listed here we don't yet know exactly when the game will be finished but when it gets closer, we'll put it on it's own game page and announce that on our News page. But this will give you an idea of what Widget Monkey Games has in store for anyone looking to buy fun Mac and PC casual games.

Banana Warehouse 2 -- coming late summer 2008

Yes, the original Widget Monkeys still plan on creating a full, standalone game from their popular Banana Warehouse widget. And while they had originally planned it for a fall 2005 release, you may have noticed that they've slipped a little behind schedule. But never fear, banana fans, this game will appear at one point in the future. The monkeys have finished the base coding and models for the game so they are making quite a bit of progress.

Due to its popularity, Banana Warehouse is the widget that the Widget Monkeys are turning into their first, full-featured shareware game! The shareware version for Mac and PC will feature such fun things as: online high scores, all new gameplay, full physics, a fully functional forklift (yes, finally the forks will go up and down in this version), fully user-adjustable difficulty scale, additional fancy graphics, sounds and music, and much more fun!

If you haven't visited the Widget Monkeys before, the original Banana Warehouse is a fun little widget in which the goal is to move all of the yellow crates of bananas into the yellow area of the warehouse, and all the green crates of bananas to the green area using a forklift within the time limit (that generous 75 seconds that causes people so much, err, fun!). You can download it for Apple Dashboard by clicking this link.

Thanks to Aras for the fast shadow tutorial while at the Unity conference in SFO.

Keep your eye on the site's News page for information about Banana Warehouse 2.

Future Widget Monkey Games Projects

What game project do you think that Widget Monkey Games should tackle next after the release of Widget United? Drop us an email and let us know what you think!

• A fully 3D 18 hole golf game?
• A wildly innovative 3D billiards game?
• A Pixar-inspired game of kids racing tricycles?
• A multiplayer toy tank combat game with fully destructible environments?
• An homage to the wonderful Knytt Stories crossed with Edward Gorey-inspired artwork?
• Or perhaps something like a hockey game based on the same gameplay and mechanics we're creating for Widget United?

We're also pleased to be in talks with a New York City game company to market The Illusionist, a single player and online card game for 2-4 players who play rival Victorian-era magicians/illusionists set in a dark and crowded London. The goal of the game is to become the City's most prominent performer by having the highest number of Prestige Points at the end of the game. Prestige Points are earned by creating/assembling astounding illusions and "performing" them at various classes of theatres in the city. Strategy, timing and elements of luck all play a role in your rise to prominence, as do the political machinations and jealousy of your peers. Planned for a late 2008 release as a traditional card game.