Closing doors

Posted by João Pataca on

It has been a long ride, full of great moments and experiences, but it’s now time to say goodbye. Unfortunately we won’t be able to finish everything that we wanted to do, but we are glad we were able to release Momentum and proud for the amazing feedback we received.

A special word of thanks to the Portuguese game development community for helping us during this time and, of course, to Microsoft Portugal for giving us the opportunity to work on Windows Phone. Two of us (myself and Ricardo Toureiro) will remain involved in game development, so we’ll see you around!

Momentum highlighted in the US store

Posted by João Pataca on

Image

Every day, Microsoft selects a few games they consider to be a great creation and reward them with extra visibility. In their words, “these promotions help give great apps like yours the visibility and attention we think they deserve”. Momentum has been selected to be highlighted today in the US store, the most important market for Windows Phone.

Without this amazing boost in visibility, Momentum is already doing great there:
– OVERALL TOP: 42nd place;
– New + Rising: 15th place;
– Category Top: 4th place;
– Category New+Rising: 2nd place.

We can’t wait to see where this highlight might take us!

Apart from the US, in the next few days we will also be featured in the following territories: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Cambodia, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nauru, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe!

Momentum reaches Top 10

Posted by João Pataca on

momentum_top

Momentum has reached the 7th place at the top of the Portuguese Windows Store in its category (puzzle and trivia). Furthermore, out of the new games, Momentum is currently in the third position.

In the overall leaderboard, Momentum stands at the 53rd position.

Thanks to everyone who downloaded and made this possible. Everyone else… what are you waiting for? It’s free to try!

InFEStation shifts its Momentum

Posted by João Pataca on

For the past few months we have been working hard at our new project, InFEStation. We were not entirely happy with the direction it was taking and therefore we have decided to change its setting and its name.

Bid farewell to InFEStation and say hello to Momentum.

For years They have been there. When you desperately wanted to watch that one show but the power was off, They were there. When you had to print a paper for the following morning and the printer did not work, They were there. Every single time one of your devices stopped working, They were behind it.

They have now found the perfect spot to meet their constant need for energy: your very own Windows Phone device. Therefore, it is time to stand and fight these apparently harmless creatures and get rid of them once and for all.

In Momentum the player visits the abstract world inside his own Windows Phone device with the goal of eradicating the vile creatures stealing his phone’s battery. Through the power of the accelerometer, the player is able to control the gravity in this world, and through the power of the screen, the player is able to interact directly with its environment.

Momentum features several puzzles where mental dexterity must be used alongside physical prowess, challenging the player to use gravity in his favor.

Features:

– Advanced 2D Physics achieved through Farseer Physics Engine;
– Control of the world’s gravity using Windows Phone’s accelerometer;
– Online Leaderboards achieved through Mogade for Windows Phone.

The game is currently in development and we are planning to release our own level development tool, allowing other people to be a part of Momentum by creating and sharing their own levels.

In FEStation wins third prize at Pizza Night Spring 2012

Posted by João Pataca on

We’ve been keeping it quiet but we have been hard at work on a project we took to last Friday’s Pizza Night.

After the great experience that was the last edition we wanted to be a part of it again, which meant we needed to create a new game.

This time we made a game for the Windows Phone in which the player needs to rid a space ship of an alien infestation using the accelerometer to control the gravity and elements of the environment to kill the strange little creatures. You may check more info and pictures of the game. We will try to publish a video soon showing how the accelerometer works in the game.

Even though we were unable to bring a very polished version of the game to the event, the reaction was quite good, and in the end In FEStation was awarded the third prize.

It was amazing once again to meet our fellow game development enthusiasts and that’s what will keep bringing us to the next editions of Pizza Night.

As for In FEStation, we will now take the time to polish it and develop more levels with the intention of publishing it in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

First games from Awaking Giants available now!

Posted by João Pataca on

What? Samsara? No, that is still going to take some time.

But meanwhile, two members of the group found some time to create a game for the Windows Phone App Code Camp in Portugal and they are both available now on the Windows Phone Marketplace.

  

The first game, Shoot That, was created by David Afonso and takes advantage of the power of the accelerometer to introduce a different approach to the shooting genre on mobile devices. Aim by moving the phone and tap to hit the targets while avoiding the ghosts.

    

The second game is No Gums Allowed and it was created by me with the help of Ricardo Toureiro. The idea was to build a game that was easy and fun to just pick up and play, that’s why there is only one gesture: tap. You play the role of an evil teacher and whenever one of your students decides to blow a bubble gum, it’s your job to tap it. Beware though, they will try to play tricks on their colleagues and, most of all, on you.

    

No Gums Allowed was one of the winner apps of the Windows Phone App Code Camp in Portugal, which means it will soon be a featured app on the marketplace.

These games are part of a different approach of the concept of “game” we want to implement at Awaking Giants, that’s why you will find a slightly different logo when you start one of them:

Awaking Giants Light brings out a different side of us. We will use this name for games that are smaller and well… “lighter”. We plan to keep focusing on Samsara but we might release some of these “lighter” games now and then should the opportunity present itself.

Third place for Samsara on Pizza Night!

Posted by João Pataca on

Last night was the first time we had the chance to show our game to the public and we believe it was a success!

Before an audience of a hundred, we presented an early version of Samsara (screenshots and more coming soon). The truth is people reacted even better than we first expected and before we had finished our presentation there was a friendly invasion of the stage by people wanting to play Samsara.

In the end, the jury selected the following games:

1. A Walk in the Dark, Flying Turtle Software;
2. Coloris, Chaparro Studios;
3. Samsara, Awaking Giants;
4. Hamsters & Kittens;
5. 3D Mines.

It was an amazing night full of projects that make us believe Portugal might leave a mark on the future of Indie Games.

We have also learned a lot from the experience of other developers and we can’t wait to put it to practice in Samsara.