Posts

New Skippy Anniversary Update!

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It is time. It's the big anniversary party! Happy 37th birthday, Metroid ! Happy 7th birthday, AM2R ! Happy 2nd birthday, Skippy ! To celebrate, I just released another huge update for Skippy the Bot. New mechanics, a new environment and the challenge of 10 brand new levels await you. 30 memorable, hand crafted levels in total New mechanics and set pieces Performance optimizations and various fixes Flatpak release for Linux / Steam Deck updated DOWNLOAD / PLAY HERE Flatpak Release Now, with 3 episodes and 30 levels Skippy is starting to feel like a complete game. I have plans for a final episode for the next update, but I'd really like to hear from you. Feel free to share your playthroughs, or at least your best time for your favorite level. I'm open to cool ideas for an epic finale. Thank you all so much for the support you've shown over the years! Feel free to follow me on Twitter:  @AM2RGame - @DoctorM64

Skippy's 1st Anniversary!

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 Today is a special day. Metroid , a game franchise from which I learned a lot about game design, was released 36 years ago. AM2R , my personal 10 year project from which I also learned a lot, was released 6 years ago. Skippy the Bot , the most popular of my little games on Itch, is now 1 year old. I'm still working full time as a game designer, and there's a lot I'd like to show you. Don't worry, I'll be posting here as soon as I can reveal anything. To celebrate the occasion, I released a huge update for Skippy.  Double the amount of levels (20) New water physics mechanics Episode and level select menus Record and collection tracking Flatpak release for Linux / Steam Deck users Many Quality of Life features Download / Play in Browser HERE Flatpak Release This little game got quite some attention, surprisingly. So I've been slowly adding contents to it. Now, 10 short levels might not sound as much, but each one is crafted to feel unique. There's entire game

Happy 35th Birthday Samus!

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Today is Metroid's 35th Anniversary! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMUS! It also happens to be the 5th anniversary of AM2R being released. To celebrate, let me share a (non copyright infringing) story in this universe with you: PLAY IT HERE AM2R is 5 years old as of right now. Seeing people recommend AM2R as a way to experience Metroid 2 in anticipation for Dread is really humbling. I'm very grateful for all of this.  The legal situation hasn't changed, I'm not developing, updating or distributing the game. Nevertheless, the community has managed to add new content via patches, mods have been developed, and the speedrun community is still very active. The game is still alive and relevant. What happened during these last 5 years? Well... AM2R received a DMCA takedown notice, development and distribution ceased AM2R was nominated for Fan Game of the Year at the Game Awards, for a couple hours AM2R was featured at Pixel Museum in France Awesome youtubers that I admire played the game

Almost 5 Years later...

A new story...

The Return of Samus

After many years, I finally invested again in portable gaming. I bought a new 3DS XL, just in time to play Samus Returns. I don't have any means to record 3DS footage, so I took notes instead. Every time something interesting happened, I paused the game and wrote down my thoughts. This might look a bit random and unpolished, but they're pretty much my honest reactions to key moments in the game. I'll let you know my overall impressions later in this post. SPOILER WARNING!!!!! Ok, this is my first 3DS game, let's see what all the fuzz is about... Holy shit, the cockpit of Samus's ship looks amazing in 3D.  Alright... This is starting to hurt... Maybe using the 3D slider on 50% will work better. Ah, seeing the intro artwork in 3D makes a lot more sense than what I saw on trailers. Specially the one with the pirates stealing the Metroid. Wow. SR388 looks awesome in 3D. Oh. The effect looks fuzzy when the camera scrolls too fast, I'm having Avatar fl

Moon Studios

Looks like I had to announce it earlier than anticipated. :-) Some time ago, the CEO of Moon Studios (creators of Ori and the Blind Forest) reached out with an offer. They needed a level designer for their upcoming sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and I was a potential candidate for the job. I gladly accepted the offer. Ori is one of the many games I was able to enjoy lately. One can see the love and attention to detail that went into its design. I feel like I'll be right at home working with this team. It's a pretty huge change in my life, since it's a full time job. But dreams are there to be chased, my family supports this decision and it could be the beginning of a new career. I want to thank you again, awesome people that kept AM2R alive with your motivating words, your lets plays and reviews. Without you, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this post with a huge smile on my face. As for my personal project, I'll keep researching and slowly expan

A year went by...

Wow... a whole year passed since the release of AM2R, and 31 years since the release of the original Metroid. Time flies by, and a lot happens in the meantime. AM2R was very well received. People from all over the world played and enjoyed it. Even with the inevitable legal issues, I keep hearing people calling it a real Metroid game. And that's amazing. So, what's been going on this year? Everyone involved in AM2R moved on. Some found their place in the world, a new job, or the drive to keep creating. I played a lot of games, something I kept leaving for later. I'm really happy that I got to spend time discovering Axiom Verge, Ori and the blind forest and Guacamelee, among others. I also started a new project. I'm researching the Unity engine, and slowly building the foundation of a new, original Metroidvania game. It's really early in development right now, but I'll make sure to have something cool to show whenever I decide to make it public. You c