Grabeorama's Blog

GNews... News?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:53:26 -0700

I know I only started GNews very recently, but I'm afraid I will no longer be posting news stories to the blog. I have recently been offered a position over at the popular (and best :P) news blog Game Maker Blog run by Philip Gamble. I will more than likely be turning the blog into a more personal blog, blogging about thoughts and my computery goings on. I will also *probably* be changing the name from GNews to GBlog...original I know! On a side note, I will probably be redesigning the blog in the near future, that is, if I don't destroy it! I'll keep you posted... ;)

Future Of Grabeorama.com

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Well, I'm back from my holidays until next wednesday when I'm off again for 2 final weeks, and I've had a lot of thought about the direction I wish to take the site in. I have big plans for the site from September onwards.

Firstly, I'm going to be needing a few staff members, unfortunately unpaid. I will be needing at least two writers for GNews, as I won't be able to update that regularly alone.
Also I will be promoting regular users of the community to moderators and global mods to keep an eye on the (hopefully to be) growing community.

And finally I will need a few writers to contribute to GMag issues. All members will receive a special title or rank on the community forums and will have a considerable say in all things Grabeorama.com related.

I will post a bit more info after my 2 week holidays which should be some time mid-August ish.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays! :D

~Grabeorama

New Site Design

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I am currently redesigning the main website. It should look similar to the screenshot below when it goes live. The newer simple layout will also be used on the forum (it is now the default theme, so head on over!)

I plan to have the new theme out before I go on holidays again (1st July), so keep an eye out for it :)

Forum Changes

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

You may have already noticed, but I have changed the forum software from phpBB(v3) to SMF(v1.11). The main reasons for the change are, it's much easier to change (code-wise), it's simpler to use, has a calendar function, easier to integrate with the main site (ie. this one and GMag), has a Karma function, has a better support forum for when I need help (wich more than likely will be a lot!).

Also, I will be going on holidays this Saturday for three weeks, but I should still be contactable via email/twitter.

GMag has also been postponed until September due to my holidays/exams combined.

Finally, many of you have been reporting errors on the site so thank you, I've tried to get around to many of them, but there still might be a few ugly ones lying around, so I'd appreciate if you let me know if you see one! The main cause for the errors is the forum software change, and most errors have been resolved.

Cheers and happy holidays!

PSP Devkit Continues

Sat, 22 May 2010 04:44:26 -0700

YoYo Games have recently revealed another video regarding their PSP-Gamemaker runner. The video shows Competition 05 runner-up Pixelry 1.

The video shows the game running quite smoothly, although a few graphical issues are visible involving image depths, and there is no audio, but the project is well under way and the YoYo Team seem to be working hard on it!

YoYo Games Competition 06

Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Today the theme of the 6th official YoYo Games competition was announced. The theme is "Discovery"

This competition will also feature, pretty much the same restrictions as no.5. Games must be of a 480 x 272 screen size. The deadline for the competition is August 31st 2010.

Clearly the YoYo staff are looking for more PSP sized games so that when the runner is ready, they will have many games to choose from and add straight to PSN via Sony.

Hopefully we'll see many interesting games created from a very broad theme, and it gives you the whole summer to start and finish!

YYG Comp05 - Results

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The results are in at last of the 5th official competition over at YoYo Games. The competition's theme was to create a game fit for a hand-held device, more specifically, the PSP.

1st place went to 2DCube, with "They Need To Be Fed". [1,000$]

2nd place went to LiamBarden, with his very original game "Ninjammin Beat-jitsu" [500$]

And third place went to SwordsaintKyo with "Nimbus Sky Princess" [250$]

YoYo have yet to reveal the theme of comp06, but I'm sure the announcement is imminent.

GMag - Gamemaker Reviews and Grabeorama News

Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Yesterday I published the first issue of my new magazine - GMag. I decided to write a magazine because I write a lot, a wanted a more effective and 'easy-to-read' way of spreading around the web.

The magazine focuses on Gamemaker News, Gamemaker Reviews, News about this site and video games in general. You can find the first issue here.

In the first issue (which I rushed a little towards the end) was created in 3 days so there are only 7 pages. Feedback so far has been generally positive. I am trying to get a few more people involved in contribution and writing, so if you are interested, please PM me or send me an email.

The magazine will be a bi-weekly magazine (one issue every two weeks), and will be released on a Saturday. The next issue (2) will be released on Sat May 15th, so pencil it in your diary...if you have one that is, if not, try really hard to remember.

I have already started issue 2, so hopefully there will be quite a bit of content come Saturday 15th. I am also looking for a proof-reader (un-paid of course, I'm still in school so I have no money!), so let me know if interested.

Cheers
~Grabeorama

Gamemaker To PSP Continues

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Today Yoyogames announced on their official Glog that they have hired yet another staff member to help on their Gamemaker to PSP endeavors. Mike Dailly is the new head of development at YYG and is helping out with porting Gamemaker Games to PSP.

On his own personal blog, Mike Dailly gives us some interesting information on the PS3!
Mike Dailly said:
Of course on top of this, you also have the minis being playable on the PS3, which is really cool. This means we should be able to get Game Maker games onto the PS3 as well
No release dates or demo dates were given, but hopefully we should see a few more games make their way onto the PSP.

In similar news, Sandy also stated that YYG HQ would be moving to Dundee in Scotland to continue work on YYG.

My Dev-Blog

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

I have created a new website to keep readers up to date with my current projects and games.
The website, Grabeorama-DevBlog.co.nr is a wordpress-powered blog that contains posts on my WIP games (i.e. SAS 2) and anything technical or Gamemaker related that I want to get off my chest!

You do not need an account to post comments/read so I'm expecting loads of feedback! :P

This blog will concentrate more on important site announcements, GM News, and other more important news regarding the Dev-Blog.

I might later add a section to the homepage of this site that shows the last few recent posts from the Dev-Blog. Post your comments and feedback on the Dev-Blog or on this post :)