After 2 years, An Aspie Life has received its first Major Update! The aim of this update is to add some polish to the game, fix bugs, and improve the overall experience. Thank you for all your great feedback over the years. I've used that feedback to work out what I’ll tackle in this update. Since the original release of the game, controls have always been an issue. The Major change is a Fully Customisable Controls layout, so you can pick and choose how you want to control the game. The Full list of changes is listed below:
New - Dynamic Weather events
New - Particle effects
New - Game Bar Icons
New - Fully Customizable Controls.
New - New dynamic info pop-ups
New - New Save / Load for options
New - Game Updated to run on new Engine
New - Frame Rate Stability (still at 30fps, but with a stable frame rate)
New - Windows 11 compatibility
New - Esc pauses the game
New - New Intro text
Edits - To Canon ending to bring inline with An Aspie Life Beginnings
Edits - To Default Preset Controls
Edits - Hold Sound Sensitivity Button
Edits - Improved Childhood conversation
Edits - To conversation battles
Edits - Colour of health particles
Edits - To bag pop-up
Edits - To secrete ending content
Edits - Reduced Overworld background white noise
BUGS - Bunch of bugs fixed
I’ve done a bunch of testing and there should be no errors, but if you do find any please let me know!
But yes, I hope you all enjoy the game!
New controls update is out!
Hey There
Bradley here!
Really quick update! The new controls update is out, designed to fix a lot of the control issues present in the game. If any of you find any bugs present in these new controls please let me know. I'll be providing support and smaller updates if there is any issues found.
Walk = A and D
Text = Enter
Enter = Enter
Book = Alt
But with that, enjoy it!
Best Regards
Bradley Hennesey
Enderlost Studios
Updates, DLC and more
Hey there, it’s been some time!
It’s been 2 years in fact, and that’s a long time. Over the past two years looking back at this whole project. What an amazing journey it has been. I have always been checking up on reviews and what, you, the players have been saying. Positive and negative, it all helps to improve my skills in the future.
This was my first game I ever released, and as such there were a lot of issues and faults that were present in the game. But that's why we learn and grow!
But I do see that controls are one of the major issues people still have with the game. So I’m going to be changing them to something far more respectable and familiar. Such as:
Movement: - A and D - Enter – enter - Shift – drop - Skip = space bar.
I hope this will improve the gameplay experience. I’ll make a setting where you can default back to the old controls. So Dw, if you liked that old system. It will still be there.
This will be the final change to the game, outside of keeping it running on new hardware, as the years more forward.
Now for whatever happened to that DLC….
Well, I have been doing something for these past 2 years. The DLC kind of got big… very big and sort of turned into its own game… Once I started working on it, I had so many ideas on what I wanted to make. The game just grew and grew…
So welcome to An Aspie Life Beginnings. The prequel to An Aspie Life! Taking all your feedback I’m now creating an even more bold and larger experience.
An Aspie Life Beginnings is a 2D Action, BEAT ‘EM UP, RPG. That focuses on exploring ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and other mental disorders. Set in a small town on an island far, far away, that’s fallen into disrepair and despair. It’s up to three young kids to solve a decade long mystery and discover more about themselves in the process. Along the way, they will meet a range of characters, each dealing with their own little part world. It's up to you to solve, help and restore this town from far away.
For those that want to follow, head to the EnderLost discord and twitter. Regardless I’ll do a cross-promotion here once the game is released on Steam… in probably 2 years’ time.
Best Regards
Bradley Hennessey
Signing off for probably the last time.
New Update and Big Announcement
Hey there again!
Another update is out, with some small bug fixes, etc.
Nothing major, just the usual.
But I've got a Big Announcement to make.
An Aspie Life DLC is in the works! Called An Aspie Life Beginnings.
Set 9 years before the events of An Aspie Life, beginnings will focuses on living with autism as a young kid. Here's some of the work I've done so far.
Features include a full rebuild of the games mechanics and controls.
Bradley Hennessey
EnderLost Studios
An Aspie Life Bug Update
Hey there again
A new update is out, that fixes a few issues present in the game.
Nothing major, just a few tweaks.
- Bag stand is now coloured
- Wet footprints after walking into a dry area
- Bag bug fixed
- Rain error fixed
- Few changes to games text
As I said, nothing major.
Again, there is the chance updates will corrupt save files. So please disable that in your steam settings if you’re concerned.
Thanks for the support
Bradley Hennessey
EnderLost Studios
An Aspie Life - Bug update and Post-mortem
Hey there!
Well, An Aspie Life has been out for a few weeks now. In that time you guys have sent me a few bugs reports. This update intends to fix them as well as some small tweaks to the game, nothing major.
There is the chance the game will affect save files. If you are worried then turn auto-updating off. Updates will be few and far between from now on, not like when it was in early access.
Anyway onto the Post-mortem!
You can view the video here
Post-mortem An Aspie Life
Well… 5 years.
You can do a lot in 5 years! Including doing high school and making some games.
So, now that An Aspie Life has been out for a few weeks, I feel it’s time to look back on what got me to this point and talk about the development of An Aspie Life.
It’s the year 2013… I’m 13 years old. High school is a strange place and you get less time on breaks. Only about 45mins every day to do what you want. At my high school, the IT room at A11-12 was open every lunchtime. With nothing better to do, I followed a few friends into the IT room over the first few weeks of school. That’s when I saw it! PEOPLE MAKING GAMES!
From then on, I was making games and messing with animation every lunch for the next 5 years. In the video below, you can see where I learnt new skills over the years, that found their way into An Aspie Life.
So, let’s talk about An Aspie Life. I’m happy with it. It’s in no way flawless, nothing is! My goal with An Aspie Life was a make a game that portrayed and emulated how I see the world with my Aspergers Syndrome. And I met that goal. In that way, it’s a success. From a gameplay standpoint, it works well. The experimental gameplay mechanics were difficult to create. Trying to turn my symptoms into functional Gameplay mechanics that all work together was flipping hard. Some parts came out alright, others not so much. I believe the diary, sound sensitivity and time mechanics work well. While the chat battle’s ARHHHHH they work, but not to the level I want it to. That would probably involve connecting the game to a database to have more responses. That would be time-consuming to set up, and not to mention would have been out of my knowledge when I started making the game in 2016.
Apart from the mechanics… I’m happy with everything else. The art style and pixel art are what I consider the greatest success with the game. The purples and blues were inspired by the 80’s and more precisely Blade Runner. The combination and layout of select colours adds to the beauty of each shot. While we’re talking about blade runner, it also inspired me in how to improve my model making. Over the last 5 years, I’ve also been making models out of cardboard and clay. These would be made just for fun, or as concept art. Sometimes on characters or machines to get a 3D reference for animating. Back to Sprites and art. The final count is 4,181 sprites. 3,000 more than my last game and that makes sense, considering how much detail I put into the animation. Therefore, more frame’s in each action. Arguably the greatest skills I improved when working on An Aspie Life was to do with art, colours and animation.
Another thing I’m happy with is arguably the soundtrack. A massive thank you to J.W MUSIC’s Joe Watson (https://www.joewatsonmusic.co.uk/) for composing the soundtrack to An Aspie Life. For weeks we were sending music to each other. I was sending examples of what I was looking for and he would send back what he’d cooked up. Most common soundtrack examples being Blade Runner (funny that) and Policenauts OST. So Again, a massive thank you to Joe Watson for helping me in this project. You can download the An Aspie Life OST here https://gamejolt.com/…/an-aspie-…/209217
Finally, let’s talk about everything that happened outside of the game… Where do I begin. Marketing! The one job you must do, that’s so repetitive you might as well have a twitter bot set up. This was the first game I tried to market ‘correctly’. Overall it worked out, and drawing the advertisement was fun (if a little time consuming). I have learnt that when advertising, the time you post is key! In the AU you need to time your post to when American and Europe are awake. They were my target market, so to post when they are asleep doesn’t work. I’m still bad at this but marking without a budget is down to luck and making sure your post is showing off the best you have to offer.
Well, I think that concludes this post. Hope you all enjoy An Aspie Life. I might make a sequel In a few years’ time, I’ve already got a few ideas.
Bradley Hennessey
EnderLost Studios
An Aspie Life is now OUT!
An Aspie Life is now OUT! After a year and a half, we are finally here! An Aspie Life is now done... well mostly (still expect support and a bug fix every now and again).
Well, thank you The iAwards, ACMI, Young ICT Explorers and the teachers of Mansfield State High School for all the help to get me to where we are Today. Thanks.
Also, thank you, the members of the indie game groups. Again thank you for helping with the development.
I'm not expecting An Aspie Life to be a break out success. It's not meant to be that, it's goal is to portray Asperger syndrome. So because people keep saying "thank you for making this game, It means a lot" Then I think it's successful in its own way.
In term of failures. I've learnt a lot from this project. Mainly, work out the UI and controls before the graphics.
Well, where now... I'm going to take a break for a year or 2 while I focus on Uni. That being said I'm going to be still making games... smaller games, going to game jams and learning Unity. plus developing the next game's story and art... a game set 300 or so years after An Aspie life... But tackles a Sci-Fi topic.
I'll be posting smaller games here --> https://www.facebook.com/EnderLost-Studios-376303806191020/
I'll be posting work of the next game here --> https://www.facebook.com/KaveKeuNui/
Final Update before release! NOW OUT!
Hey guys!
Well, one week to release!
I spent all this week fixing up the last few bugs and issues.
- Bank UI now fixed, NEW UI that makes sense and is simple.
- Tutorial updated and fixed! Should work properly now.
- Small bugs fixed.
Well, here we are, almost there.
Thank you for playing An Aspie Life in early access, and giving feedback on the game.
Would never have been able to fix these bugs and other issues without your help. So again thanks!
Anyway, see you in 7 days!
An Aspie Life Release - 30th of March
“understanding is the hardest part of understanding, we’re all human after all”
The award-winning game, An Aspie Life will be released on Steam on the 30th of March. 3 days before World Autism Day.
Hey there again.
Yes, An Aspie Life will be moving away from Early Acess into release on the 30th of March.
Only a few small issues remain, and they can be fixed over time.
For the most part, I'm happy with the game as it is. Most major bugs and issues have been fixed. So I'm keeping to the original plan.
Some issues that I'll be fixing before the release are:
- the bank UI
- Sam issues
- Controls (might be something that will take months to get right)
Best regards
Bradley Hennessey
Bug Fix Update 005
Hey there again!
So here is another Bug fix update!
> player stuck on day 2
> banking UI
> sound issues
> controls stop working
> many smaller bugs
Speaking of controls... I've changed them again ( yes, I know). If you like the old set up then go into options and change it back to the old set up. Anyway, the new set up changes. SDF to ZXC. See what you think.
Anyway that's all for now
Bradley
EnderLost Studios
