TACS Games

Hey! Did you pick up Super Brain Eat 3? It’s one of my more popular games on the PSM platform.

If you have SBE3 already then I’ve got some good news! I’m going to be releasing a free level pack which includes new hazards and puzzle elements that will double the number of levels in the game. The new level pack will be accessible from an all new menu where you can check your high score and mark of each level pack when you’ve completed them.

Sounds too good to be true right? It’s totally true, you just have to believe me!

Work on the level pack is nearly complete and once it’s done you’ll just need to wait a few short weeks for Sony to find time to release it.

Remember the level pack will be available for free to anyone who already own the game and it will arrive as a title update.

Thanks for playing TACS games!

-thom

When OUT OF MIND was finally released I planned on taking a break but as can be the way with these things the line between unreleased and released is blurred over the course of two weeks. In that time I took to work on a new PSM game and here are the first screens from that adventure.

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It’s a turn based tactics RPG! Can you tell that from the screens?

This is a very early build. Nothing here in any way close to being final but I feel like it has the soul of the game which will eventually be released and so feel OK about sharing this early glimpse.

Take note: anything orange is temporary and will probably change. Everything else will probably change too.

What do you think? Excited for a tactics RPG on PSM?

I’m very pleased to announce that my new game OUT OF MIND has finally hit the PSM Store. It’s featured on the EU store too so you don’t have to work too hard to find it.

You can see above the banner for OUT OF MIND in the PSM store (EU). Poke at this image with one of your many fingers to begin the progress of getting the game. Alternatively select ‘Latest’ from the menu and find it in there.

Here you can see the OUT OF MIND icon on my PS VITA screen nestled along side all the other wonderful TACS PSM games. All of these are available to some degree around the world on your PSM devices right now. If you like OUT OF MIND why not check out another TACS PSM game?

Here you can see an in game screen shot taken from the released game. The large face here is asking the question: “What is the use of a joke, when it is both old and true?”. A question we may all find ourselves asking at points in our lives.

I hope you decide to check out OUT OF MIND for yourself. If you do that then I hope you like it. I’ve put a lot of effort into creating this game world and I sincerely hope you’ll spend some time there.

– Thom.

When working out what game I should work on next I inevitably end up with more ideas than I can work on at one time. Now I’ve selected my next project I’m left with some art and assets (and even some code and working prototypes) from the ideas that have been put on the back burner.

In order to excise these games from my mind while I work on my new project I have decided to post some of the images / videos of the art / prototypes I have been working on so I can focus on what is to come.

Retro Space RPG Concept

Here is a screen capture for an RPG idea I was working on for a while. In this space themed retro RPG you journey around an abandoned space station trying to discover what happened to the crew while battling in one on one turn based battles with the service and battle robots that served and protected the crew. By defeating robots, collecting parts and RAM you can assembling new robots with which to do battle.

This game is clearly influenced by a certain Gameboy title and even sports proper 4 color graphics and a two button menu driven interface. I’d love to make this game one day, if you’d like to play it then let me know in the comments and I’ll think about getting back around to it one day.

(If these smaller images look a bit strange give them a click to see them properly)

Platformer Concept

Here is a single screen grab from some art assets I was working on for another platform game. The basic idea here was that as the foreman for a construction company you must assemble multi-tiered robots to transport items around a level and even give you access to higher levels / break down walls and activate switches. As a puzzle platform game it would have required serious effort to get right and make it interesting in the long run. This is all that remains of that idea, a single grab of some of the robots stacked up and walking around the place.

Sea Run Concept

Next is a short video from an infinite runner prototype that I built. The game is playable and has high scores and coins to collect, randomly generating levels and a whole bunch of obstacles. It has a Gameboy aesthetic and uses some classic graphical effects built into a suite of custom shaders I wrote specifically for this purpose. It has had a lot of love put into the feel of it, the way the water washes up and down and clears the footprints left by the player and the splashes left when you run in the ocean. It’s constrained technically to exactly the sprite and tile restrictions of the original Gameboy. It was, however, not that exciting to play as it stands and I didn’t want to release the game on PSM since I’d have to charge for it. If I could have released it for free then I would have finished it off and done so.

If you’d like to play this game let me know in the comments how you’d improve it.

Have you seen the new trailer for my upcoming PSM game called ‘OUT OF MIND’?

Take a look and let me know what you think!

-thom

Box art for new PSM game OUT OF MIND

It’s nearly ready to show off properly but here is the box art for my new PSM game ‘OUT OF MIND’.  Any reference I’ve made to a ‘secret project’ or a game codenamed ‘toEnd’ this is what I’ve been hinting at.

There will be a full trailer out very soon. It’s already been edited and uploaded it just needs the OK from the marketing team. Oh wait. I don’t have a marketing team. Soon then!

I’m really excited about bringing this new game to you and hope to have the game ready for review in a couple of weeks or so. In the interim please watch out for the trailer as it drops.

I AM EXCITED.

-thom