#zigfrak

[zigfrak-blog]

Fun fact: If you use twice as much soap, you’ll smell twice as minty.

[zigfrak-blog]

Work-in-progress screenshot from a minor Xenoid run-in earlier today.

[fireflowergames]

DRM-free version of Zigfrak

A DRM-free version of the space-based action RPG Zigfrak is now available, exclusively, on FireFlower.

[snwcone]

Who wants 50% off Zigfrak?

[gamesvideos]

Zigfrak promises to bring originality to space flight sims. Here's the interview with Alex Ayars, the developer of the game, on TechZwn.

[zigfrak-blog]

Hello worlds, this is my game development blog.

Well, hello there. My name is Alex. For about five years now, (read: way too long, was I really in my 20s when I started?), I've been casually developing a space-based RPG called Zigfrak. In it, you are the pilot of a ship about the size of a space shuttle, and you fly around a galaxy fighting enemies, running missions, and acquiring powerful items. It's a modern 3D game with a distinct old-school flavor. It's entirely single-player, as this was my first game and I wanted to focus on creating a good experience in that arena first. I think it's a hoot, but clearly I am biased. Zigfrak is in open beta, with downloads for Windows and Mac available at http://zigfrak.com. I believe strongly in a transparent development process which keeps potential players informed, and the developer honest. The game is largely physics-based; almost everything is a "physical" object with mass, inertia, and that sort of thing. There are certainly embellishments here and there (faster than light travel, and what I consider to be a forgiving approach towards drag and angular momentum). Bullets and missiles are physical, and can be shot out of the sky by other missiles and bullets. In fact, your survival in-game will often depend on your ability to do so. Realistic physical movement, unfortunately, translates in many people's minds to "laggy controls". Movement and turning is not instantaneous, and this is by design. Newton's second law, F=ma, is the supreme law in Zigfrak.  Piloting is an acquired skill, and I guarantee that with a little practice, one may maneuver ships in Zigfrak with ease and grace. There have been several recent-ish developments, which I really want to get out in written form. Here goes. Earlier this week, I put in two weeks notice with my employer. Friday the 29th is my last day, and after that, I will be devoting energy full-time to finishing development of Zigfrak. This is something I should have done with my *last* employer before accepting another job, but at the time, I lacked the nerve. Not sure what happened between then and now-- perhaps the catalyst was a certain website. Seeking out inspiration and reading words of wisdom from industry players like Carmack and Notch helped cement my plans as well. About a month ago, I created a tiny (20 megs is tiny now) fork of Zigfrak for the web, called it "Frakxoids", and shared it on Kongregate. I stripped out FTL travel, missions, and lots of other stuff, in an attempt to focus on combat mechanics. While reception has not been great, there have been some good suggestions made, and I've already incorporated many of them into the mini-game and will be working on back-porting the improvements into Zigfrak, for its next beta release. I've also made about 60 cents from Kongregate's revenue sharing-- cha-ching! A major mistake made with Frakxoids was dropping the player directly into a combat zone without the benefit of Zigfrak's training missions. It assumes a familiarity with the controls that people just aren't going to have initially. My bad; live and learn. Prior to that, I had a dream. The thought of seeing my game on Steam was my holy grail. When Zigfrak reached beta, I followed the procedure for having my game evaluated by Valve for inclusion on the Steam store, which is to fill out their little form and let them have a go at it. About two weeks later, they rejected it. Valve's policy is to not provide specific feedback when this happens, which I would guess is to prevent people from gaming their system. To be honest, I don't even think they played it. Friday probably rolled around and they were like "fuck it". At least, I prefer to think that. Being rejected for inclusion on Steam was a huge bummer, but ultimately it just inspires me to make the game as good as I can and keep pushing towards a final (sellable) product. Maybe I submitted it too soon, maybe I used the wrong magic combination of words to describe it on their eval form--  "maybe" a lot of things. Maybe I will change its name in six months and resubmit it? Probably not. This was a fairly crushing experience for my ego, but a much-needed reality check. It does not alter my plans to create an intelligent, intense, old-school romp through an angry galaxy.

Anyway, wow, that was cathartic. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope you will follow this blog and the @zigfrak twitter feed to track the game's progress. I will post relevant info as it becomes available! --Alex Developer, Zigfrak