If you’ve been watching Tile Miner from the beginning you know that the graphics have gone through a few revisions. If you’re interested in hearing the story you can read this entire post. If not, just know this: We are updating all of the graphics to a higher resolution! Here’s a screenshot to give you just a peak at what we’ve been working on for the final release:
THE HISTORY OF TILE MINER PIXELS
OPEN SOURCE
When we first launched Tile Miner in early access we used all open source graphics. Most of these were from the liberated pixel cup competition on opengameart. We liked these graphics just fine but they weren’t original. In fact, I often go back and see old comments that accuse us of stealing these graphics from other games. I always get a good chuckle out of that.:)
Before we entered early access on steam we of course had to go through Steam Greenlight. During that process we read over 400 comments and one of the biggest bits of feedback we got was “change the graphics”. So we did!
CONTRACTED GRAPHICS
Finding an artist was difficult. We talked to quite a few people about doing it. The guy we wanted from day one wasn’t available. We ended up settling on a guy whose work was ok but he was slower and more expensive than what he had originally quoted. It was a disappointing experience overall. The cost was piling up but the ideas I had for the future of the game would require a lot more artwork and I knew it was going to be too expensive. So I tried something…
CURRENT
I was getting better at pixel art so I tried converting some of the graphics we had paid for to be 16x16 tile sizes instead of 32x32. The detail went away but the good news was that I could draw these graphics by myself. So I overhauled all the graphics we had to be 16x16 tile sizes. During this time I got better at pixel art but I always felt my skills were lacking. This is what the current state of the game looks like. It’s clear what’s going on but is less detailed than I’d like. There are some pieces I love and others I hate.
NEW GRAPHICS
As my wife and I discussed the plans for what the final release would look like in terms of gameplay, I was frustrated by what the game looked like currently in terms of graphics. I took the time to estimate what it would cost if we could get the guy we originally wanted to do the graphics to do everything. Once coming up with that ballpark, and confirming that the artist was available, we decided to invest the money and make it happen in order to make the game we really wanted to make. For the past month or two we’ve been working with Tom Filhol (https://tfpixel.myportfolio.com/pixel) to convert every graphic in the game to a 32x32 resolution. For the most part everything will be familiar. It just looks more detailed. I’ll be sharing screenshots as more and more graphics get finished. I’m proud of what we’ve got so far and excited about what’s coming next.
And finally this is the major reason we can’t do more updates until final release. Converting the graphics to this size initially broke everything. We’re still using pixel doubled graphics all over the place in the game. Until all the graphics are in, we can’t put anything out. By the time they’re finished, we should be about finished with all of the code. So the next release, will be the final one! I hope you’re as excited about this change as we are!
Bad News and Good News!
The bad news is, we’re not releasing any more monthly updates. There is a very good development reason for this that I will announce shortly. We are making a pretty big change and that change will mean we can’t be putting out regular updates for at least a few months. The good news is, we’re close enough to 1.0 that our next update (hopefully this year) will be the final release!
We’re incredibly excited about the future of Tile Miner. Since the new year we’ve had a total of 5 updates. We added magic, villagers, dungeons and a bunch of items, potions, and tools. At this point we can see the finish line to a complete and polished game. We know everything we want to add for the final release.
We’re not quite ready to give a release date. In many ways I hesitate to give even a time frame. Things tend to take longer than you plan when it comes to development. A lot longer! Our release date relies heavily on how much time my wife can put in and how quickly a secret change we’re working on will get done. These are both unknowns. I can tell you our hopes: we hope to release by the end of 2018. We’re pushing for that. But we’re also going to hold off if the game isn’t quite ready.
With all that being said, I want to make sure to keep everyone posted on progress as we move along. Next week I’ll be announcing the big change we’ve been working on. Soon after I’d like to start addressing piece by piece the remaining aspects of the game that we need to finish. These things are in addition to more spells, more potions, and more items. These are additional features, mechanics and polish. As always if you have any questions or ideas we’re still listening! Thanks!
0.7 is available today!
Back in February we decided to start delivering 1 update a month. Back then we were on version 0.2. Here’s the basics of each update:
0.3 Dungeon Update - Added the first procedural dungeon to the game.
0.4 Magic Update - Added fire and ice magic to the game.
0.5 Ice Dungeon Update - Added the second underground layer along with the ice dungeon to the game.
0.6 Villager Update - Added villagers to the game.
***Don't forget to follow @tileminergame on twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news!***
I consider these to be important updates to the game. 0.3 brought stability to the core game experience and since then we’ve added quite a bit. We’re nearing the finish line as far as content goes. There’s some smaller updates coming but in general we want one more dungeon and a TON of polish. That brings me to the latest update.
This is the first of probably quite a few polish updates. The first thing you’ll notice is that villagers are a bit more active than they once were. They actually do their jobs. Miner’s look for mountains to mine. Farmers plant crops. Adventurers hunt critters with a sword. Hunters hunt critters with a bow. And finally Lumberjacks chop down and replant trees. It may not seem like much but it’s step one in an attempt to make the world come alive.
The second thing you’ll notice is that there are no longer chests in the underground. I wanted to make exploration of the underground far more interesting. Instead of tons of a rock and then wide open areas I wanted to make it more of a treasure hunting game. There are assorted rocks around the open areas of the underground and your job is to break them to search for a red x. Once found you can use a shovel to dig a hole in order to find a treasure. The treasure underground is more frequent but harder to find because you need to dig for it. Speaking of digging, there’s also a new tile in the underground called caliche ore. This ore is a primary ingredient in my new favorite feature: dynamite! You can use a single stick or craft a bundle for a great explosion. This makes the entire underground mining experience a lot more fun!
Stay tuned for more updates. We’ll be working on the final dungeon in the coming weeks but we will NOT release that dungeon until the final release. The next update will probably bring with it more overall polish. As always keep us posted on your ideas! Thanks!
The Villager Update is available now!
Over the past month we’ve been hard at work trying to bring NPC’s to the game. We wanted you to feel like you’re part of a living world. Claim some land with a land plot, build a house and then put it up for sale. Soon after, an NPC will spawn. When you right click on him you can trade with him or help him become better at his craft by giving him certain items. If he does become better he will give you a reward and buy/sell better gear. Here’s the change log:
***Don't forget to follow @tileminergame on twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news!***
New Features:
* Villagers! (learn more here: Youtube Tutorial for Villagers )
* Land Plots
* Archery
* Economy (buy and sell items with villagers)
* Character Customization (your Hero can finally have hair!)
Enhancements/Balancing:
* Different types of tilled soil for faster crop growth
Hope you enjoy the update!
The Ice Dungeon (Version 0.5) is now available!
Over the past month we’ve had a ton of fun adding a brand new dungeon. This new dungeon is found by defeating the first boss. He’ll drop a staircase that is capable of going deeper into the underground. Once there you can find new ores, new spells, new potions, new enemies and all sorts of other fun things! On top of this we added some new snow biomes and some new creatures to the overworld. This is a big update! It almost doubles the amount of gameplay! We’d love to have your feedback as we begin making final decisions on what will be in version 1.0. Let us know in the forums! Enjoy!
***Don't forget to follow @tileminergame on twitter to stay up to date on all the latest news!***
New Features:
* New underground level
* New Ice Dungeon (first dungeon boss will drop an iron staircase that will bring you down to the next level)
* Added tiaga and tundra to overworld
* Added ice
* A few new mobs in the overworld
* New mobs for the new level (we’ll let you be surprised!)
* Level 2 Magic spells for ice and fire.
New Items:
* Black Fly Repellent
* Collectible Potion
* Light Potion
* Ice Protection Potion
* Carrots
* Sticky Inventory Bag Pendant
* Magic Protection Ring
* Magic Regeneration Ring
* Iron Tools/Weapons/Armor
* Iron Heart Container
* Topaz Magic Orb
* Energy Vial II
* Magic Barrier
Enhancements/Balancing:
* made biomes larger
* Moved slimes to first underground level and moved bats to over world
Bug Fixes:
* Fixed some pathfinding issues with mobs (they’d occasionally get stuck)
* Fixed a lighting issue
* Fixed issue that was causing the world to stop loading so big black holes were appearing
The Magic Update is Available Now!
This update was a fun one! The focus was on adding magic and accessories to the game. We also took some time to adjust a few balance related issues. We need as much feedback as we can get so as always let us know about bugs and all of your ideas in the forums.
Change Log 0.4.0
New Features:
* Beds
* Magic
* Accessories
* watch - displays the time as a status effect.
* sticky inventory pendant - hangs on to your main inventory bar when you die.
* speed ring - increases your speed.
* spike shield pendant - increases defense.
* spike dungeon tablet - allows the breaking and placing of dungeon blocks.
New Items:
* Spell Making Table
* Fire 1 Staff
* Ice 1 Staff
* Fire Crystals
* Ice Crystals
* Amethyst
* Magic Orb
* Amethyst Magic Orb
* Wooden fencing
* Wooden gate
* Spawn platform
* Spawn platform compass
* new potions
* spawn potion
* shell potion
* magic potion
* Dungeon entrance tile
* Rare chest that is less common but has better items
* Spike dungeon tablet (this is now used for breaking the dungeon)
* Clock
* Dandelions
* Cotton
Enhancements/Balancing:
* Crafting Menu Sorting
* Item descriptions
* House building enhancements
* Particle effects for applied potions and magic spells
* Stack size now shows on word bubble over furnace/cauldron
* Shell armor is now craftable and not found in the dungeon
* Low energy now kills you
* Bats, worms, dungeon mobs are now faster
* Copper less common in underground
* Cook times in furnace and cauldron are cut in half
* Energy goes faster but you start with some food
* Increased growth times of crops
* unloading of chunks speed drastically increased
Bug Fixes:
* can no longer close a door on yourself or a mob
* knockback into a staircase was moving you to the wrong block in the underworld
* grass spreading issue
0.4 (The Magic Update) Coming Soon!
I just wanted to chime in and share some of the things we’ve been working on in 0.4. We are calling this “the magic update”. The original plan was to add a bunch of small pieces of content we feel the game is really lacking. But then when we calculated how long it would take to add magic, we just tacked that on! The hope is to have the release out in about 3 weeks. Here’s a list of new content.
-Fireball spell
-Frostball spell
-Magic Containers (increases total magic)
-Magic Potion (increases current magic points)
-Spawn Potion (teleports you to your spawn point)
-Shell Potion (increases defense for a period of time)
-Moveable spawn point
-Wooden Fences
Here's a screenshot:
This is just the stuff that we’ve added so far. The hope is to add a bit more before our three weeks is up. Keep the feedback coming and let us know what else you’d like to see. Thanks!
0.3 Available Today... And the future!
Three bits of great news:
1. Tile Miner Early Access version 0.3 is available now!
2. A second developer has been added to the team. Believe it or not, this is the most exciting part of this update.
3. Our plan is to dramatically increase the frequency of releases.
To start, let’s talk about 0.3. The focus of 0.3 was to add a dungeon to the underground. The dungeon is randomly generated when a new game is created. In order to find it, build a copper compass and follow the direction the compass points to. The compass will lead you to the dungeon entrance. It may be best to find it in the above ground and then build a staircase near the entrance. Inside you’ll find new mobs, new drops, and a boss at the end. We hope you enjoy your experience.
Besides adding a dungeon we wanted to put a strong focus on stability. The original version of tile miner (0.1) was pretty stable. 0.2 brought a lot of instability because we released it too soon. Our goal was to make 0.3 as stable as we possibly could. We’ve put in quite a bit of time just in testing. Even with all that testing, there are only two of us. I’m sure you guys will find plenty of little bugs that need fixing. We’ve added a page on discussions for bugs here:
Bug Report Forum If you find any, please let us know and we’ll get on it ASAP.
There are many other small additions in 0.3. For now I’m not going to list a change log. It’ll be a surprise. Consider this a fresh start for Tile Miner. Which leads me to update #2:
My wife, who is a professional software developer with over 10 years experience joined the team a couple of months ago. She has more than doubled productivity. Partly because she brings a whole lot of experience, but also because I don’t work well by myself. The most productive seasons of Tile Miner have always been when my brother was on board. I find myself far more motivated when I have a partner I am working with.
Having that extra person helping on the game leads me to update #3. The goal of releasing in early access was to give lots of incremental updates. But managing that by myself was unrealistic. With a development partner we plan to do releases once a month on average. After each release we will be making a plan for the next release based on what we think we can accomplish in about a month. Then when it’s ready, we’ll release.
In the next few days we’ll share some details about what we’re hoping our next incremental release will include… If you have ideas for future features, let us know here: Feature Request Forum Stay tuned!
Developer Update #19 - Early Access Removal
I’ve decided it’s time to remove Tile Miner from early access. Here are the reasons why:
1. I’m nowhere near the final release. When I released Tile Miner back in 2014 I had fully expected to release the game within a year to a year and a half. Development always takes longer than I think it will. At this point my estimation for a final release is 2-4 years from now. That blows my mind. When I entered early access I expected 1.5 years and now 2.5 years later I expect ANOTHER 2-4 years. With the actual release being so far out I can’t possibly imagine keeping a community of people who have purchased the game excited with the progress. It’s just unrealistic.
2. I don’t have the bandwidth for a quality early access experience. If a quality early access experience was a release once a year with a 3-4 times a year update I think I could swing that. But I believe a quality early access experience includes weekly if not daily updates with a release every 1-3 months. That’s not even close to feasible for me. I don’t want to sell people on an early access experience I can’t actually provide.
3. Focusing on the final release will make it come sooner. If I’m making 6 updates before launch day it’s going to take longer to get there. Every update requires extra polishing and making sure it’s ready for public consumption. Releasing one time instead of 6 will make a huge difference on how long it takes for the game to be released. I may release a closed beta before final release for bug testing purposes. But it will be the full game. Not a partial release.
There are other little reasons besides this but these are the big ones. I’m sorry to everyone who’s been a part of this process and hoping for a great early access experience. I can’t provide that. In the end I think what everyone wants is a great game. My hope is that in the end I can at least provide that. Thanks!
Developer Update #18 - Wiring
I’ve mostly completed wiring. Wiring will transport 3 different types of signals: On, Off, Toggle. There are 3 different types of trigger tiles as well. When going through a dungeon, every doorway has an on trigger tile. When you touch it a charge will be sent to any connected wire. Those charges will trigger whatever triggerable tiles are connected. Currently there are only a few types of triggerable tiles: Dungeon Wall Torches (turns lighting on when you enter new rooms), Spawner Platforms (spawns mobs when you enter new rooms), Blocked Doors (blocks you inside of selected rooms until the mobs are defeated). It’s the foundation for a system that will be used for many different kinds of traps in future dungeons as well.
Here’s a screenshot of a sample dungeon room before wiring:
Here’s that same room with wiring applied:
Here’s what happens once the dungeon wall torch has been triggered by touching the “+” trigger switch:
It’s a simple thing but it will add a lot to the world.
Before I end this update I wanted to address a question that was asked recently. When will the dungeon update be released?
Here’s the simple answer: My ballpark estimate is 3-6 months. That is NOT a release date of “by the end of October”. It’s a guess based on what I think I have left to do. So much could change between now and then. If I’ve learned anything about game development since starting Tile Miner it’s that things almost always take longer than expected.
