hermitgames blog

prices

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:32:44 EDT

Too many people are buying hermitgames stuff these days so I am putting up the prices.

PC versions (fren-ze, Leave Home and qrth-phyl) will be changing from $3 to $5 and XBLIG (Leave Home and qrth-phyl) will be going from 80MSP to 240MSP. Hope you're not too offended by the increase. Grab them before this weekend (18/5/13) if you want them cheap, or after if you want to help me out.

New game is coming along well.

recent events

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:00:00 EST

There have been some very cool writeups for Leave Home and qrth-phyl on the Electron Dance blog. An Edge review of qrth-phyl. qrth-phyl is currently in the Winter Indie Royale bundle (for a few more hours).The hermitgames bundle ($5 for fren-ze, Leave Home and qrth-phyl) will remain until the end of December.At the Moment I am working on three new prototypes and some display mode fixes for qrth-phyl and Leave Home.

qrth-phyl

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EDT

PC version is out now for $3. XBLIG version is here. The game is on Steam Greenlight too.

There's also a hermitgames bundle including Leave Home, fren-ze and qrth-phyl for $5, the bundle will be available for one month.

qrth-phyl release info

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:00:00 EDT

10 September 2012 // HGX:007
XBLIG: part of indie uprising, 60fps, 720p, 80MSP
PC: DirectX8.1+, no DRM, demo soon after release, $3
dream.build.play finalist

qrth-phyl Trailer

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:00:00 EDT

Had to put up a trailer for qrth-phyl a bit earlier than I would have liked:

Putting it into playtesting this week, building the PC version and then release.

Leave Home + fren-ze bundle

Thu, 03 May 2012 08:00:00 EDT

EDIT: sale now finished, cheers to buyers
For the 5th Birthday of Savy Gamer I've bundled Leave Home and fren-ze together for $5, half price. This is just for one week. Thanks to anyone who picks it up.
Just to reiterate: no DRM, no installers leaving crap all over your machine, sales are direct from me the developer so buying helps me make more games. Cheers.

HGX:007 - qrth-phyl

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:00:00 EDT

The next hermitgames release will be qrth-phyl. Info and screenshots here. It's been in dev since Leave Home was finished, should be out in a month or so, trailer before then. Article in EDGE mag #239. XBLIG and PC.

Trawling IGF

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Trawling the IGF 2012 entries these are the ones I'd not heard anything about before but will be watching now: Dear Esther (expensive looking gfx, atmosphere), Fader (graphic design), Hokra (sports game done right), Kromaia (like something I might build out of HGX:007), Pop (random), Protektor (reminds me of pumpkin games stuff), Where is My Heart? (like something melon should have made)

Anim Editor Tool

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Low quality video of what will probably become HGX:008, mostly of the anim editor keyframe animation blending and stuff:

What's Going On?

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EDT

HGX:007: At the moment I should be working on improving the levels instead of writing this. Project is converted to XNA4 and core tech is done, lots of game/gfx improvement and the AY-3-8910 audio to do. No point showing anything until it's worth showing though. Hoping to get it out this summer.HGX:008: TESTING // PC

Ninja fren-ze Playthrough

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Here's a complete playthrough of fren-ze that Alexey (ortoslon) Zubkov kindly made and uploaded:

Next Project

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:00:00 EST

The blog is working again and all the links should now be restored on the new hosting. Here's an image from the next game, currently unamed, HGX-007:Work continues and is going well. Name/details announce later 2010, release 2011.

Reflexive, Repulsed, Response

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EDT

There was an interesting review of Leave Home posted recently and I responded to a follow up interview.Info on the next game (HGX:007) should appear in a couple of months with sporadic dev updates on twitter.

Leave Home Resolution Fix

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EDT

Updated Leave Home to version 003, game now scans your machine to see what resolutions it can support. Still only $3. Buyers should already have been emailed with an update, if not just drop me a mail "matt @ hermitgames . com".

Leave Home Sale

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EDT

I have reduced Leave Home to 80 MS Points (normally 240) on XBLIG for the next three months, click here to queue/buy/rate it. Getting the game back into the top rated lists would really help with downloads so if you like it please rate it, anyone can do this on the marketplace web page you don't have to have bought it.

I have also reduced the PC version to $3 for the same period (normally $5).

Game On 2.0

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EDT

As far as I know Leave Home is now featured in version two of the Game On Exhibition. The original exhibition featured an old Yaroze game of mine called Robot Ron (which I think is still in v2). It runs at Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston in Tasmania, Australia and will open on the 3rd July and run to 3rd October. Would appreciate info of sightings or photos from anyone going to the show.

Leave Home Update

Sun, 02 May 2010 08:00:00 EDT

New version of Leave Home is live now, demo here:
http://hermitgames.com/storage/leavehome_demo002.zip
This adds:
- 16:10 screen ratio support
- POV hat joystick input (360 dpad and some sticks)
- 1280x800 and 1440x900 resolution support
People who have already bought the game should recieve an email with the update. If not just let me know: matt @ hermitgames . com

Why Port Leave Home to DirectX on PC?

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EDT

I've had a few people ask me why I ported Leave Home to C++ DirectX8 on PC rather than release the XNA version on PC. The common perception seems to be that a releasable PC version comes for "free" when working with XNA.
Compatability
The test version and promo PC versions (built with XNA) had a high proportion of people say it didn't work on their machine, even after installing the correct .net and XNA. Possibly user error but this wouldn't be a problem for a DirectX8 app which would work out of the box.
Installer
XNA games require an up to date version of .net and the XNA game libraries to be installed. An installer with these things included was ~230MB. An installer that Visual Studio built for me (clickonce) that would download these things if the user didn't have them was ~50MB. The clickonce installer was also multiple files and so would have required another installer to pack the clickonce installer into one file. Alternatively pretty much everyone these days has DirectX8 (standard since windows98), the DirectX8 version I built was 7MB packaged in a zip: one exe (ready to run the game) and one dll (fmod audio).
Settings
I already had a good system for allowing the user to setup their window, resolution, aspect and input that I wrote for fren-ze (a before launch windows dialog). This annoying code would have had to be rewritten for the XNA version if I released that.

HGX:002 - 'troid - £free

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:57:34 EDT

I've made my second hermitgames release, 'troid, free.

'troid was originally released in 2004 after about a years development. The first prototype of the chaining mechanic was from a GBA game I did in 2003 called sheeparoids. The idea of chaining three types of like sized rock for a score bonus worked really well against the implicit penalty of doing this in asteroids: that you end up with lots more small rocks. The slow fire rate and high difficulty make the score optimisation puzzles tricky until you master the base gameplay.

Leave Home PC

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST

PC version of Leave Home now online. Ported completely to DirectX8 in C++ so it should run on a lot more machines. First 20 buyers I'll email a full copy of fren-ze too.
Demo: http://hermitgames.com/storage/leavehome_demo001.zip
Full: https://sites.fastspring.com/hermitgames/instant/leavehome
Cheers to anyone who has bought the Xbox or PC version. Here's an interview I did recently. Back to work on the next game.

Leave Home - Test Version 1 (prototype)

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:00:00 EST

Here is a video of the test version from April 2009. Barely functional gfx and sfx, the split shot mechanic and the bosses hadn't been added. Testers sent back recordings to aid development.

more press

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:00:00 EST

A few more: Ars Technica interview. A mention on the RebelFM Podcast. BoingBoing on the merits of the XBLIG service. JeanSnow nice design mention. The Guardian gamesblog on britsoft indie.

promo and press

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:00:00 EST

Leave Home has got some excellent press around the web. Getting mentioned on a website makes a massive difference to the number of people trying the game, essential for a small indie title like LH. Thanks to anyone who worked to promote the game. A selection of journo heroes: Great review from Rob over on XNPlay and XNPlay Screenshots. Unprecedented Edge [8/10] review and a mention on the Friday game feature. Joystiq's Xbox channel writeup. Gamerbytes writeup. Tim W discovered the trailer on youtube early. Bill over at the2bears writeup. Swedish indie blog Ludus Obscura writeup. PENNY ARCADE! Gay Gamer review. Eurogamer mention in a Borderlands article thanks to Chris Donlan. RaxDakkar blog. Indie monolith TIGSource review thanks to Anosou.

soundtrack: leave home

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Here's the Soundtrack for Leave Home.

Tracklist:

00 - redannick_

01 - w-range_

02 - kernowek/kenwyn_

03 - fallowfield_

04 - gwennap pit_

05 - dyddi's burg_

Merry Xmas.

leave home ost options

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Not really sure what to do about a soundtrack, I could:

release the in game tracks, they're short and mono

lengthen, remaster in stereo and make a proper album

do a 15ish minute live mix of the sountrack

They'd all be free to download from here. Option 2 would be the most work/difficult so least likely. Will probably be option 3, objections?

continuing

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Great reception to Leave Home so far. The first review from XNPlay couldn't really have been better and this morning it was awarded with a solid [8/10] from Edge. Thanks to everyone who has tweeted, emailed, commented or written about the game.
Recorded a full single playthrough:

Anyone unlocked turbo mode yet?

leave home is live

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Leave Home was added to Xbox Live in the early hours of this morning. You can click here to see it on the Live Marketplace and queue it up to download directly to your 360. Trailer:

Rating it highly on the marketplace would help the game a lot. If you can get the game any promo on any sites/print/video then email ( matt @ hermitgames . com ). Will do a postmortem on the last years process sometime over xmas.

previews and playtest

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Leave Home is in xna playtest now and some preview versions have gone out. If everything goes well then screenshots and the trailer should be online when it goes into peer review. The game should release in December. If you can get the game any promo drop me a line for a preview.

player is exploded

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT

Finished player death, small tweak to regeneration to do. Trial nag screen is in progress and improvements to bosses still needed. Will a fixed length, no lives, dynamic difficulty shooter be acceptable?

algorithmic generation with metaphorical explosions

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT

When will it be done?

leave home promo

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT

Leave Home dev is continuing and concluding. A little boss work to do and then it can go into public playtesting for the XBLIG members.

new site

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT

In the process of transferring the site over to a new host. Files should go back up within the next few days. RSS feed will have changed. You can now comment and share posts.
UPDATE: game files now online.