iPhone Space Qube - A Voxel Based Retro Style Game

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by fallingcat, Oct 26, 2012.

  1. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    Indie game developer
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    #1 fallingcat, Oct 26, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2013
    Hi everybody,

    my name is Owen (aka fallingcat). My friend and l are developing an iPhone/iPad game which is about to hit iTunes store so I want to share you some information about this game here.



    [​IMG]

    The game we are developing called Space Qube, it's a retro style shooting game which is based on voxel rendering. Everything in this game are made by cubes (voxel) and the best part is taht there is an in-game model editor which allows the user to create models using cubes then share the models with the world via the Internet, email and Facebook. Of course the users can also choose their own model to play the game, does it sound cool?

    Here are some in-developing screenshots of the game!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The game is composed of two parts, game and workshop.

    The game part
    The game is simple but fun, the players control the space ship, flying toilet(?) or anything that players created to shoot as many aliens as possible to get highest score. Of course there are some power-ups for the players to increase the weapon power, speed, etc. There are also variety bosses waiting ahead, destroy them to get higher score and rewards. There is no annoying virtual pad on the screen, the players just tilt the iPhone/iPad to control the space ship.

    The workshop part
    The workshop contains a voxel model editor and browser. With browser, the players can browse through the voxel models they have created or the voxel models uploaded by other players. The players can also download, rate other player's voxel models, modify them then use them to play the game.

    For creation part, the players can create 16x16 or 32x32 size models on iPad but only 16x16 size models on iPhone/iPod due to the screen size. The way the players create a voxel model is actually editing layers, and those layers will be composed. There are couple of handy tools the players can use in the model editor. So now the players can just use their figure to create voxel model on iPhone/iPad, isn't it amazing?

    After creating the voxel model, the players can share them via the Internet, email or facebook. Our official website lists all the uploaded voxel models and anyone with browser can view the uploaded voxel model from PC/Mac or iPad/iPhone. Following are the editor tutorial picture and video which should help you to have the basic idea about how to use this incredible voxel editor.

    The Rendering Behind Space Qube Video


    The in-game voxel model editor demo

    This demo video shows how to create a voxel model in game and browse it in model browser.

    The editor UI layout in this video is for iPad. We actually designed a different UI layout for iPhone/iPod to better fit the smaller screen.

    Here are some pictures of the main character. Thanks to my artist friend, it looks really cool and like an old school 8-bits game character goes to the 3D world :)


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And before you can play the game, you can now view the voxel model on the browser! Just click the following two links to view it. It requires flash 10 or later plug-in to run it. You can use mouse with left button pressed to rotate the model.

    https://www.lynxengine.com/games/spaceqube/facebookapp/Public_SpaceQube.html?mode=3d&modelID=785
    https://www.lynxengine.com/games/spaceqube/facebookapp/Public_SpaceQube.html?mode=3d&modelID=755

    I really want to share you more information about the game but I am afraid it would be too long for one thread but I will keep revealing more information in the future. So you can follow us at https://twitter.com/spaceqube if you want to know more information about this game. My personal blog (http://midnightcoder.blogspot.tw/) will have more in-depth articles and developing diary about this game so you can also check it.

    This game will be free on iTunes store soon. Then we will port it to Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and maybe Android. We are in crunch mode right now but I will try to post more video about the editor and gameplay soon. As usual, any suggestions, comments and questions are welcome. We still have time to adopt your opinions before submitting the build :)

    Official site : http://spaceqube.lynxengine.com
    Twitter : https://twitter.com/spaceqube
    Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/SpaceQube
    Dev Blog : http://midnightcoder.blogspot.tw/

    Cheers,
    Owen
     
  2. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    #2 fallingcat, Oct 27, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2012
  3. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
    0
    0
    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    #3 fallingcat, Oct 28, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2012
    Here comes more in-developing screenshots of the game!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The game is composed of two parts, game and workshop.

    The game part
    The game is simple but fun, the players control the space ship, flying toilet(?) or anything that players created to shoot as many aliens as possible to get highest score. Of course there are some power-ups for the players to increase the weapon power, speed, etc. There are also variety bosses waiting ahead, destroy them to get higher score and rewards. There is no annoying virtual pad on the screen, the players just tilt the iPhone/iPad to control the space ship.

    The workshop part
    The workshop contains a voxel model editor and browser. With browser, the players can browse through the voxel models they have created or the voxel models uploaded by other players. The players can also download, rate other player's voxel models, modify them then use them to play the game.

    For creation part, the players can create 16x16 or 32x32 size models on iPad but only 16x16 size models on iPhone/iPod due to the screen size. The way the players create a voxel model is actually editing layers, and those layers will be composed. There are couple of handy tools the players can use in the model editor. So now the players can just use their figure to create voxel model on iPhone/iPad, isn't it amazing?

    After creating the voxel model, the players can share them via the Internet, email or facebook. Our official website lists all the uploaded voxel models and anyone with browser can view the uploaded voxel model from PC/Mac or iPad/iPhone. Following are the editor tutorial picture and video which should help you to have the basic idea about how to use this incredible voxel editor.

    This game will be free on iTunes store soon. Then we will port it to Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and maybe Android. We are in crunch mode right now but I will try to post more videos about the editor and gameplay soon. As usual, any suggestions, comments and questions are welcome. We still have time to adopt your opinions before submitting the build :)

    Owen
     
  4. Treefiddy

    Treefiddy Well-Known Member

    Dec 7, 2010
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    Certainly looks pretty!
     
  5. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    Thanks! :)

    We are making the videos so you will be able to see the game in motion very soon. You can also check my personal blog if you like, I will post more game related articles there.
     
  6. Andres8100

    Andres8100 Member

    Oct 30, 2012
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    I never seen this before...looks great.
    Sure will must be played in future as soon as possible...
     
  7. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    Indie game developer
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    #7 fallingcat, Oct 31, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2012
    How can I forget the screenshot of my favorite boost power-up? :)

    [​IMG]
     
  8. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    #8 fallingcat, Nov 2, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2012
    In-game Editor Demo

    Hi guys,

    Here comes the video of the in-game voxel model editor, check it out!



    This demo video shows how to create a voxel model in game and browse it in model browser. We don't have the music yet so I borrowed the music from Megaman 2 :)

    The editor UI layout in this video is for iPad. We actually designed a different UI layout for iPhone/iPod to better fit the smaller screen.

    Next time, I will show you the gameplay video. But since the gameplay is still under development, it may take a little longer until I fixed some gameplay issues first.

    Cheers,
    Owen
     
  9. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    #9 fallingcat, Nov 2, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2012
    Here I need your opinion.

    Do I need to make a in-game tutorial to teach player how to use the editor? Although I think the UI is easy to understand but maybe it's still too complex to the casual players. How do you guys think?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  10. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    #10 fallingcat, Nov 2, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2012
    Here I need your opinion.

    Do I need to make a in-game tutorial to teach player how to use the editor? Although I think the UI is easy to understand but maybe it's still too complex to the casual players. How do you guys think?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  11. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Indie game developer
    Taiwan
    Space Qube facebook page goes live

    Space Qube facebook page just go live! Check it out!

    Working hard on fixing gameplay issues in order to post a gameplay video here soon.
     
  12. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    Here are my voxel toys so far :)
    The angry birds were created in the game first then created using Perler beads.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    #13 fallingcat, Nov 11, 2012
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2012
  14. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
    140
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    Taiwan
    Hello everyone,

    The instruction manual of Space Qube in-game editor just get online, check it out :)

    [​IMG]
     
  15. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
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    I'm surprised this isn't getting more attention. I suspect it might be because we don't know much about the game outside of the editing options... so what's the gameplay like? Level based or endless? Any upgrades? Different areas?
     
  16. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    I probably didn't explain the gameplay well enough.
    Basically, it's an endless game, the player can choose any model to play the game. The goal of the game is getting the score as high as possible by shooting aliens. There is no upgrade in this game but there are few different areas the player can walk through. There are also few different powerups which can help the player to walk through the game and there are few bosses which has different behavior and weak point are waiting for the player.

    We will release some gameplay videos soon, you may get better idea about the gameplay at that time. We are still working on the gameplay part to make it as interest as we can, so please keep tuned and let us know your opinion after we release the gameplay videos :)


     
  17. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    It's not gameplay screenshot but I still want to share it :)

    [​IMG]

    My son is making Mario badge for Christmas charity sale using Space Qube, good job ^_^ He made the voxel model by his own by looking up a Mario pixel art picture.
     
  18. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    #18 fallingcat, Dec 8, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2012
    The first game video :)

    Hi everyone, we just released our first game video, please check it out!

    The Rendering Behind Space Qube Video


    This video shows the rendering techniques we have used on Space Qube to make it looks more stylish. We got a lot of positive feedback after we announced Space Qube few weeks ago, so we are working hard on adding more fun elements into the gameplay and we will release a new gameplay trailer after we finish the most of gameplay mechanism. So please keep tuned and visit our facebook page to check the latest news of Space Qube :)

    The beta version of official web site is also announced, please come and check the uploaded models by other players. http://spaceqube.lynxengine.com

    Like us at http://facebook.com/SpaceQube
    Follow us at http://twitter.com/@spaceqube
     
  19. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    The Missile Hell :)

    The missile hell screenshot :)

    [​IMG]
     
  20. fallingcat

    fallingcat Well-Known Member

    Oct 24, 2012
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    Taiwan
    #20 fallingcat, Dec 14, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2012

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