Streaming development of Mutant Gangland, mods and keyboard/gamepad navigation and better Linux Support.

Posted by BacioiuC on Apr 2nd, 2014

Hi everyone, a quick update to keep everyone on track with development. Recently I started streaming my side of development on Mutant Gangland via twitch. The reason I'm doing this is simple:

Early access buyers get to see how things are going in-between releases

New people could follow development and decide whether they want to get in on the action

I've released a new website regarding my streams. In the future I hope to release articles and document the streams (as in, what happened during X stream, where I implemented what) hoping it might be useful to others.

As for development updates, here's were we stand:

Commanders have been coded in the game. From now on, they will not act just as profiles with strengths and bonuses but as playable characters (and main characters during the campaign).

Mods are in. Now in order to mod/change the game the players can place their mod files inside a /Mods folder. For example you can create a media folder and place the image you want to use for the Tank, or change the way the AI works. Later on I plan on creating a launcher from where you can select what mod to use.

I moved my main development environment to Linux in order to better support linux users. Previously I was mainly developing the game on Windows but problems with the Linux version have risen. Since the game's logic is in lua working on the main mechanics will not be affected. The Windows host works pretty well I decided that I can take some time to get the Linux version working nicely, and what better way to do this then actually working in that environment. I've also rolled a new SDL host (based on the one made available by the guys from Stirfire studios) so this should solve some other issues people have been having with the Glut host. For alpha 2, the SDL host could be an optional download and starting with alpha 3 it will replace the standard one.

Keyboard support for the game has been added. Some minor issues with navigating through the menus only with the keyboard, but I'm working on fixing this. As soon as that passes I'll add support for gamepads in order for people to play the game connected to their tv.

Halfnelson (MOAI user and developer) released a wonderful tool that allows me to build a web (HTML5) host for the game. I plan on using it to during streams, so people can play the latest build, and maybe during FeedbackFriday on reddit.

Thomas has been present both at GDC and at Rezzed this month showcasing Mutant Gangland and Penarium (a wonderful little platformer made with the guys from Self Made Miracle). You can read his thoughts on how GDC went over on his blog. For now, this is were we stand. I'm announcing every stream on twitter but you can also follow me on twitch and get notifications on what time it goes live.