Welcome to my little place on the web.

I'm a software developer and occasionally when time allows, I like to blog about my various coding project here. I also like to tinker with home automation, retro gaming and more.

I have also shared some of my software, which I hope may be of use to others. It's on my software page.

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Spikes Galore now on iOS

I'm pleased to announce Spikes Galore is now on iOS! This was my second game developed using the libGDX framework.

It's in the App Store, so please give it a go at https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1120165272

Spikes Galore

Hope to get the Game services and In App Purchases working soon.

#ios #gaming #nellyfish

Dave Dangerous is finally on iOS

I'm pleased to announce that Dave Dangerous is now on iOS. This game was ported across to the libGDX framework a few months back. This should have made the transition to iOS easy. However, the Java VM components that are used to run on iOS were discontinued. This meant an alternative was needed. This is now working with the MobiDevelop fork of RoboVM. It's working pretty well.

It's in the App Store, so please give it a go at https://itunes.ap... read more

Update to nellyfish.com

I haven't posted for a while, as I've been busy porting my games across to iOS. I should have some news on this very soon. In anticipation to the iOS release I have made an update to the nellyfish.com site.

nellyfish.com

It was just a one page site linking to Google Play. This has now been updated to have a details page for each game with screen shots, reviews and links to the various app stores (when available). It's using HTML5. There is also a nice zooming effect that was done using CSS keyframe animation, as follows... read more

Big update to Dave Dangerous

Dave Dangerous was my first full Android game, and with that it had a few areas that had room for improvement. The biggest one would be that it did not use hardware rendering, so could struggle on low end devices. Not anymore! I have ported the game across to the libGDX. This is a cross platform framework that I used for Spikes Galore. This will also mean that porting across to other platforms should be a little smoother.

There is also a number of other enhancements. This includes some updated images, better management of adverts and hints on the first few stages. If you have not already downloaded it, head over to Google Pl... read more

Multi-room Audio with ChromeCast Audio and Lepy (Poor man's Sonos)

I currently have an ageing TEAC AG-980 amplifier that has 4 zones. I have never been that happy with it. I had planned to use the serial port to control it via HouseBot home automation software, but I could never get this to work, so had to resort to IR to control that could be very temperamental at times.

chromecast-audio.png

I had looked, from time to time, to see about upgrading to something better, like Sonos for example, but I cou... read more

Update to Spikes Galore

Another week, another update. This update has integrated Google Play Games services.

The Google Play Game services will allow you to unlock achievements and submit your top score to a shared leaderboard. Give it a go!

googleplaygames.png

It's available on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nellyfish.spikesgalore or via htt... read more

Minor update to Spike Galore

Just pushed out a new update via Google Play. After some great feedback, I realised it was quite impossible. This update allows the game to start a little easier, but don't worry, if you get more then 10 it will get difficult again.

Also if you remove the ads, you get 3 extra bonus game modes!

It's available on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nellyfish.spikesgalore or via http://nellyfish.com

... read more

Narrative screens in Dave Dangerous

I have been asked how I created the Narrative screens in Dave Dangerous. So, if you're interested, please read on.

If you have been following my blog, you would know that a few months back I created my first Android game, and my first Java project. This would not have been possible without the great tutorials over on KiloBolt.com. I would strongly recommend you have a look.

advedangerous_narrative.png

Before the first level, I wanted to create a storyline. This was ... read more

New game, Spikes Galore has been released

Meet Thingy. I'm not sure what he is, just some abstract thingy. He is the character in my new game called Spikes Galore.

dodgeb2.png

The game is available on Google Play at the moment.

It's been developed using the libGDX, which is a cross platform framework, so this should make porting the game across to iOS fairly simple. It will hopefully be in the Apple store soon. Watch this space!

... read more

Another update to Dave Dangerous

Not really anything exciting, but I have made an update to Dave Dangerous android game. It will now support Bluetooth gamepads. But the biggest part of this update is integration with Google's in-app purchase API's. When the application opens, you will now get the option to opt-out of the adverts for 60p. Will be interesting to see if this creates any revenue. Currently the application is serving thousands of adverts daily, but only makes around 20p a day !!

advedangerous_inapp.png

If you're quick, here are some promotional... read more

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