We have just released version 1.9 of the Bill Manager app. We’ve updated the UI a little bit, but the main focus was improving the analytics side. We’ve added the ability to view the accounts based on their category and breakdown the cost by month and year.
You can download the app on the Google Play Store for $0.99 USD: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bealssoftware.billmanager&pli=1
We are currently working on a brand new version of Keep Them Sleeping. We have rewritten the entire engine, now based on the latest version of MonoGame and .NET 6. We have also made almost the entire system file driven, so it runs off of scripts and item files instead of direct code. This gives us the ability to more easily tweak different parts of the game as well as easily add new content.
We have removed the GameJolt integration as the framework running it has not been updated. We may add it back in, but we are currently deciding which distribution platform we want to move forward with, if we want to support multiple, etc.
We have not finalized the feature set for the next release, so we do not currently have a release date set yet, but we want it to be within the next month or so (mainly depends on how playtesting goes.)
Some of the new release features include:
Here are some screenshots of the new UI and crew editor (please note, these are still in progress, so are subject to change before we release):
The Bill Manager app only stores information you enter on your phone – it does not transfer the information outside of the app at all. If you would like to remove the data, you can do so by uninstalling the application or deleting it from the UI.
The information entered into the app is stored in plain text, so we do not recommend storing any important information (i.e. do not enter SSN, credit card numbers, or account numbers inside of the app.)
Not late at all with this release. Nope, released it right on time, exactly when the last post said we would.
All kidding aside, we had a release ready to go for the April 1st date, but it didn’t work at all in release mode. There were also a few bugs that we didn’t quite notice (you couldn’t beat the game because the asteroid would hit every 15-18 seconds, so you could never fully repair.)
Anyway, the new release has been tested and is up on GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/keep-them-sleeping/27679.
We will most likely not be doing any more releases for this project beyond bug-fixes. We are moving on to our next project…we just need to determine exactly what that is.
We have major update to Keep Them Sleeping coming soon. We have another project in the works, but before we dive into that too heavily we feel that Keep Them Sleeping was left partially finished. The upcoming release will be attempting to resolve that.
90% Scripted
The game is now mostly powered by Scribe, our scripting language. At the moment everything except for the very core of the game runs based on these scripts; so items, processes, and sub-systems are all powered by their own scripts. This has allowed us to work on balancing the smaller components more easily. We’ll be including a little bit of documentation with the game for Scribe and the engine, for anyone interested in playing around with it.
Traits
The game originally supported different “immune system strengths” that would affect how the crew members all reacted to the events in the game. However, it was difficult to balance, so everyone just shipped with a standard value. We’ve revisited this and now there are currently 6 traits in the game; a good and bad trait for each stat – Feeble/Hardy, Light/Heavy Sleeper, Weak/Strong Immune System (they can also generate with no trait.) We’ve contemplated adding a few more, but it’s not on the roadmap at the moment.
Music and Sound Effects
We added a music track to the game that was created for us. We also added sound effects to the UI and when asteroids hit.
Merged Cures
We merged the infection and disease cure into a single “cure”. Having both didn’t quite make sense after multiple play-test sessions. For scoring, we averaged the two values together and went with that. For clarification, there is still a distinction between being infected and being diseased, but there is now a single cure item and cure process.
New UI
We’ve revamped the UI with a new skin, some layout changes, and some animation (the layout is still WIP):
We’ve still got a little bit of work left before we can release, mainly testing. Scribe has had lots of testing already, but it hasn’t been used to this capacity before so we want to really work out the kinks.
Since we stopped working on Lord Sen’s Battle Arena (LSBA), we have spent a lot of time stabilizing the multiplayer library that we were developing to run it. We’ve fixed some major issues with player connectivity (receiving the proper message once connected, receiving messages when players connect/disconnect, receiving messages when the server shutdowns to name the major ones.) We’ve also ensured that if a player disconnects, the library provides the ability for the player to reconnect. We allot a certain amount of R&D time each sprint and right now that time is going toward finding solutions to some of the problems that we’ve encountered ourselves while playing some other games.
Now, having mentioned LSBA, I’m not sure if it will be seeing a revival. We have a few different prototypes that we’re playing around with, but we haven’t decided what our new project will be exactly. We have a few ideas that we’ve had in our dev forums for years, so we’ll see. What we can say is that it will be multiplayer-based with PvP and co-op play. We’ll post some screenshots or videos of the different prototypes soon.
We hope everyone had a great Holiday! We know we did!
Donny’s has been working really hard to get our Bill Manager ready for testing. We are almost done with the build and we’re excited to get feedback on the app. The Software is designed to give the user information on how much money from their upcoming paycheck they will need to pay their bills with.
Some Features:
-Nice simple interface that is easy to read.
-Input your payday and set the occurrences (Weekly/BiWeekly/Monthly)
-Input your Bills into the software and it will let you know what bills are due from the next paycheck
-You will be able to set the occurrences of bills particular bills. This will be great for bills that are due beyond monthly (i.e. A bill that is dues every three months)
– Input/Export options to transfer between devices.
We are looking forward to releasing this App Early August!
Have great week!
-Mikeyo
Here’s an update on what we’ve been doing since last week:
Bill Manager
Donny has been working on completing the build for Bill Manager. We plan to starting testing in about 2-3 weeks from and have a final release by the end of June.
Paradise Resort
Mikeyo completed another 7 pages to the story script this week. He had to do some revisions and restructuring of the script. Some the scenes did not flow together in their current order. By rearranging them the story became more realistic.
Idea Vault
Two new ideas have entered the vault. One is a game and another is an app. Another project that was in the vault was redefined and fleshed out more.
As always, we’re sorry that we can’t talk about some projects in detail until we get closer to release.
Hey guys, Mikeyo here. Here’s what Donny and I are up to:
Operation Egg Plant
We decided to archive this secret project. Game Jolt started to add features to their website that we were also planning on offering. We decided that we did not want to compete against them, which was never the plan. A year from now we will revisit this project to see if we can develop services that would run parallel with them. We will see what 2017 will bring for this project.
Bill Manager
Our Bill Management application is approaching it’s end phases. We will begin to do testing in the next few weeks to start the bug killing. Final release will be the end of June 2016.
S.A.G.E.
We moved this project next in line once Bill Manager is released. This is our point-and-click adventure engine for our future games. Speaking of which we have a couple of games in the chamber ready to be made with this engine once it’s ready to roll out. Exciting times ahead!
Tapping Game (Working Title)
Nothing new. We are focusing on creating a S.A.G.E. game first before working on this mobile game.
Paradise Resort (Working Title)
Mikeyo turned in page 60 of his Story script this week. The story just past the point of no return for the main characters.
Hello all.
It’s been awhile since we did an update on what we have been up to. So first we are sorry. We didn’t die off. Just really busy.
THE PAST!
Keep Them Sleeping
Keep Them Sleeping was finished in June of 2014 and can be found Here.. Originally we were going to push past the PC realm and into the Mobile Universe however we had some bugs with the interface. We decided that the game was doing well in our books on GameJolt with 9.3k Views and 1.7K plays.
The feedback from the community was great. Thank you all that played our game, did Let’s Play videos, and gave great input so we can keep the game bug free and easier to use.
Will there be a Keep Them Sleeping 2? Mayyybbbbeee. Well we have been tossing around an idea for a 3d version of the game or another style of game in the same universe. Unfortunately we got other projects we need to wrap up first, but we added it to our future game projects.
Midnight Murder
Mikeyo wrote a story script for a point-and-click adventure game called Midnight Murder. It took about three months to write and it is really awesome. Originally it was classified as “When Mermaids Cry” to throw off Donny as to which story from our brainstorm forums it was.
A rash of murders pop up in the City of Bronson that might be linked to a cult who’s leader was thought to have been captured. You play as John Hilcrest an experience detective that has to track down who is responsible and figure out if the old cult has new leaders.
Operation Egg Plant
We can’t talk about it too much yet, but we are developing an amazing service for both GameDevs and Players. It’s going to be HUGE. Once we can talk about it and all the API documentation is done we will open up the beta. Stay Tuned!
Seeking Imagination
So it’s been awhile since we talked about this Title. Lord Sen’s Battle Arena was the original the prototype for Seeking Imagination. However we were not successful on Kick Starter, so the project was delayed. Mikeyo is playing around with Unity as a back burner project. Since it is a background project no dates on its completion.
THE PRESENT!
Besides the team working on Operation Eggplant, Mikeyo is writing a new story script. He’s almost half way through and soon as the script is protected we will talk a little more about it.
We are reworking our Website. Expect at least a weekly update when new content is available.
THANK YOU ALL!
Hello all! Version 1.0 of Keep Them Sleeping is now available for download. This version contains a complete overhaul of the UI and some changes to how the game plays.
Since we only had one sound effect in the game (the click when you clicked a button), we have removed the OpenAL requirement as well and dropped audio completely for the time being. Once we have more sound effects and a soundtrack, we’ll get the audio system back in place.
You can download the game from either GameJolt or itch.io.
As always, any and all feedback is welcome.
