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Space Giraffe is done, now with more graphs!
Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Space Giraffe is finished. Space Giraffe, the super hippy trippy shooter experience from Jeff Minter, is now complete. Not only that, but on his personal blog he reveals one of the last features to be implemented into the game. The feature is fairly simple actually: a graph to chart your progress throughout the levels. The green line represents your recorded high scores for a given level, the yellow line represents what the game considers a "good" score, and the orange bit at the bottom represents the score you just accrued. So, according to this graph of Level 8, the overall score is below a "good" score, and well below the highest recorded score. The graph can also be manipulated to show multiple levels. Overall, it's a handy feature for those looking to improve themselves. So there you have it, Space Giraffe is done. Now all we need is a release date.
Jeff Minter: artist, developer, friend of sheep
Gamasutra interviews eccentric Welsh developer Jeff Minter, who created such retro-inspired classics as Tempest 2000, Llamatron, and Attack of the Mutant Camels. Now under contract with Microsoft, Minter spills the psychedelic beans on his forthcoming Space Giraffe for Xbox Live Arcade, reveals whether he'll ever develop for anyone other than Bill Gates again, and cuddles a sheep for the camera. (See above.)
Space Giraffe is in Microsoft's hands now
According to the latest blog post on Jeff Minter's personal blog, Space Giraffe, the uber trippy Live Arcade shooter, is heading off to Microsoft, where its ultimate fate will be decided. As Minter puts it, "The release to MS is a little bit scary because we effectively get the go/no go for the whole thing on this submission, but damn me if it doesn't look gorgeous and I think it plays really nicely so I would be very surprised if we have any problems there." We'd have to agree that the game is pretty (check out this video), though perhaps a little to psychedelic for its own good. Minter repeats that the game has reached a very playable stage, currently has 32 levels complete, and he has plenty of time to tweak the game. There are plans to add more levels and create even more enemy types. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Live Arcade has tons of shooters as it is, but Space Giraffe looks to bring something new to the service, and we're definitely looking forward to it. [Via Joystiq]
Microsoft to soon decide fate of Space Giraffe, alpha build shipping out
Jeff Minter's latest Space Giraffe update exposes the designer's undulating emotions, as he prepares to ship an alpha build of the Xbox Live Arcade hopeful off to Microsoft tomorrow. While his confidence grows -- "I have 32 levels in now and I'm getting happy with it" -- Minter knows that everything is riding on Microsoft's reception of the early submission. "The release to MS is a little bit scary because we effectively get the go/no go for the whole thing," writes Minter. Still, as Minter seems to conclude, it's unlikely that Microsoft will pull the plug on Space Giraffe. It's an indie shooter, after all -- a shoo-in for Xbox Live Arcade. [Via 1UP] See also: Trippy Space Giraffe video is "giraffetastic!" Minter talks Space Giraffe, cuddles sheep
Minter talks Space Giraffe, cuddles sheep
Jeff Minter reports on the status of Space Giraffe, his psychedelic homage to his own Tempest 2000. With the game engine complete, Minter sounds optimistic that an actual framework can be compiled (levels, lives, bonuses, achievements, etc.) and shipped out for testing within a few weeks. Minter writes, "the bulk of the implementation work is done and [now it's] more about small touches, construction of behaviours, and planning of the diff curve }:-)." If development stays on schedule, Space Giraffe could be complete by April and flushed into the Xbox Live Arcade pipeline. When it would come out the other end is anybody's guess. At least Minter's got his sheep. [Via IGN]
Space Giraffe interview: it's not Tempest
Jeff Minter, creator of the (trippy) upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Space Giraffe, recently sat down with 1UP to discuss the game and its "unique" style. Minter relates his desire to create and arcade title that has a very smooth difficulty curve so that it will appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers alike. He also notes that Space Giraffe is more than just Tempest 2000 with a new coat of paint. The principle gameplay is the same, though there are many new features and strategies required to advance. Also revealed in the article, players will not be limited to the in game music, and will be able to include their own music -- which will have an affect on the light synthesizer in the background -- as well. Finally, Minter lets us know that there are more XBLA games coming from Llamasoft in the future, and he hopes that Space Giraffe will be available by the first quarter of 2007. See a new video of Space Giraffe after the break.
Trippy Space Giraffe video is "giraffetastic!" [update 1]
Let's be honest, Jeff Minter's Space Giraffe is nothing more than an updated Tempest 2000 (also Minter's creation), itself a remake of 1981's Tempest. The upcoming XBLA rail shooter brings to mind Geometry Wars and Rez in a big way, and this work-in-progress video includes licensed music and intentional Engrish. There isn't much about Space Giraffe that is original or innovative ... but still it looks like insane fun. Let none of that stop you from enjoying some ultra-trippy video, set to the tune of Aphex Twin (Warning: NSFW). The YouTube video is pretty shoddy in quality, so we recommend going to Xboxyde for a slightly crisper experience. "Congraturation! You success! A winner is you! But our giraffe is in another castle!" [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy] [Update 1: So, as it turns out, Richard David James has yet to multiply himself through meiosis or any other similar process. Ooopsies, singularity has won.]
Space Giraffe video will melt your brain
Jeff Minter, the demented genius behind the 360's audio visualizer, is still busy with his next creation, Space Giraffe, for Xbox Live Arcade. Just to prove it, he released a video of the game in action. Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe it. Somewhere beneath the psychedelic lights and trippy music, is a basic shooter. The player slides left and right on rails as "enemies" slowly creep toward the foreground. Everything else is anything but basic. The enemies explode, lights go off everywhere, and weird little phrases pop up ("Ouch, my polygons!"). The end of level messages mimic the poorly translated games of yore: "Congraturation! You success!" Old school gaming veterans will also recognize plenty of nostalgic sound effects. It really defies description so we can only thank our lucky stars that there's a video. Hit the read link to check it out. You can also watch an earlier work in progress video -- set to one of Aphex Twin's (marginally) less disturbing songs -- after the break (song lyrics NSFW).
Jeff Minter bringing space giraffes to XBLA
As if Geometry Wars doesn't provide enough trippy, vector graphics action for Xbox Live Arcade, Jeff Minter and the boys at Llamasoft have posted some extremely psychedelic pictures (warning, some NSFW language) of their new XBLA game, tentatively titled "Space Giraffe." Jeff doesn't reveal many gameplay details in the post on his blog, but he does say that the game will be a rail-based shooter in the tradition of Minter's Tempest 2000. Leave it to the creator of the Xbox 360's lightsnyth, to come up with a game that looks like a bad acid trip. [Via K1lla's Xbox Domain]
Jeff Minter's "Space Giraffe" for XBLA
Jeff Minter, creator of those mind-bending Xbox 360 media visualizations, is working on a sequel to Tempest 2000/3000. for Xbox Live Arcade. He posted some tripped out screens from the game, known unofficially as Space Giraffe, on his LiveJournal blog. At least now we know what's fueling this guy's cosmic creativity: A healthy dose of Stella Artois. [via K1lla's Xbox Domain] '
Minter to Sony: "Lose the 'tude"
In the new issue of Edge magazine, llama-loving industry vet Jeff Minter accuses Sony of being "arrogant" and "smug" -- referring to the PlayStation 3's high price point and lack of quality games expected at launch. A choice quote: "Just making the shiniest, most expensive hardware doesn't cut it these days. Sure the PSP was beautiful and posh, whereas the DS was definitely the ugly sister. But hey, the ugly sister is better in the sack."Minter made a name for himself way back in the day writing games such as Gridrunner and Andes Attack for Commodore and Atari computers. He also produced updated versions of Defender and Tempest for the Atari Jaguar, as well as the Neon light synthesizer technology for the Xbox 360. Jeff did not comment on how well these other systems perform in the sack.[via GamesIndustry.biz]
