Hidden Games

Multisample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) on iOS

HiddenJ — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:28:01 +0000

Currently a lot of the technology is complete for Project Iota – we’ve got the main physics system working, which manages bomb placement and how the buildings collapse with the rest of the scenery reacting accordingly.

In the coming weeks we will be throwing a few tweaks around to make sure the physics are both challenging and fun. I will talk more about how the physics have been put together in the future once more media of the game has been released.

Recently I took a break from game code and decided to try and get Multisample anti-aliasing (MSAA) working on iOS. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Due to the default renderer on iOS rendering to a Framebuffer Object (FBO) all that was required was to create another FBO and a multi-sample render buffer and just get the draw loop to render to the new FBO and resolve and display into the normal FBO.

Here’s are the results…

Whether this effect makes it into the final game is unknown. We will need to do a profiling step to make sure we still have time to render the MSAA and process the rest of the models. At the moment it seems a little expensive especially with the amount of objects we have to render and process.

Sneak peak at our next game – Project Iota

Pixelnaut — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:15:09 +0000

This is an early look at our next game, which we’ve been working on for the last few months.

It’s an as yet untitled physics-based destruction game and the concept is to place and detonate bombs to cause damage to certain objects.

We’re currently working on a whole host of game modes, and we’re planning on including full Game Center support.

We will be releasing more information over the coming weeks.

Texture Atlas Tool for Maya

Pixelnaut — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 11:17:46 +0000

Today sees the (belated) release of our TextureAtlas Tool, which we used during the development of Prisoner 84.

Although it’s far from perfect, we have decided to make the tool (along with its source code) available to the public in the hope that, if you find it useful, you might also want to contribute to help improve it.

Click here for download links and more information.

Prisoner 84 v1.1 Now Available

Pixelnaut — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:06:34 +0000

Version 1.1 of Prisoner 84 has just passed submission so should be appearing on all iTunes App Stores over the next day or so.

The update hopefully addresses most of the main issues people were having with the game, including: a fix for the sound-related crash bug that some iPhone 4 users were experiencing during key card swipe and slider hold games; as well as including a few GUI tweaks and improvements, like a larger directional pad to hopefully make movement a lot easier.

Click here or on the image below to head over to the iTunes App Store to get the latest version.

Hidden Fan Shop is Open for Business

Pixelnaut — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:28:28 +0000

Just a quick (and belated) update to say that I’ve recently set up a Hidden Games fan shop over at Zazzle. If you would like to show your support and help us out in a small way so that we can continue to do what we love, then why not impress your friends with a Hidden Games t-shirt? I will hopefully get around to adding more designs at some point, and of course if anyone has any requests then we will be happy to oblige. I’ve also added a shop section to our site where I’ve listed all our games, together with any other new products, in one convenient place.

In other news we have just submitted v1.1 of Prisoner 84 to Apple. This update will hopefully fix some of the issues people have been experiencing during the game, so if all goes well it should be live on iTunes very soon. As ever, we will keep you informed right here!

Prisoner 84 First Week Roundup and more!

Pixelnaut — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:45:13 +0000

It looks like Prisoner 84 has really struck a chord with a lot of people, with many appreciating it for what it is and really digging its scary atmosphere! We’d like to thank everyone who has contacted us and given us their feedback.

Reviews

We’ve collected a list of reviews, articles and giveways so you can see for yourself what many people are saying…

FindMySoft.com (review)
Heavy Jack (review)
Mobile Tech Review (review)
iFanZine.com (review, competition)
TouchArcade.com (review)
AppSpy.com (review)
iPhone.ru (review) *in Russian
orangeiphone.ru (review) *in Russian
TouchAholics.com (interview , review, preview)
PocketGamer.co.uk (review)
AppSized.com (review)

If you have a Prisoner 84 review, article or giveaway that isn’t listed here then leave a comment with the link or, if you prefer, send an email with your link to , and we’ll be sure to add it to this post.

Help/Faq

I have also recently added a Help/FAQ section to the main Prisoner 84 page which should help out anyone having trouble with the basic controls and concepts found in the game. If you have any questions that aren’t covered then please contact us on our support email and we can add them.

There’s also quite a discussion going on over at toucharcade, which we’ve also been posting on from time to time. And we are also happy to say that one of the post’s contributors (RttaM) has kindly set up a handy help thread for anyone who might still be stuck.

Thanks again to RttaM and everybody else who has contributed help to others on the toucharcade forums. We’d also like to thank everyone for their positive feedback and kind words over this past week!

Prisoner 84 Out Now!

Pixelnaut — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:01:57 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Prisoner 84 is now available to purchase on iTunes. Click here, or on the image below, to view Prisoner 84 on the iTunes App Store.

To coincide with today’s release, we have also prepared a brand new trailer which will hopefully whet your appetite…

Prisoner 84 – Release Date

HiddenJ — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:36:56 +0000

The news just in is that we have passed at Apple so are ready for release.

Prisoner 84 will be available on the App Store on Friday July 16th. We will have a launch trailer and gameplay video ready so check back tomorrow for all the goodies.

Prisoner 84 submitted to apple

Pixelnaut — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:50:47 +0000

Just a quick update to announce that we have finally finished Prisoner 84 and submitted it to Apple. You can find out more about Prisoner 84 here, where we have recently added some more details and screenshots.

Prisoner 84′s Gib System

Pixelnaut — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:10:55 +0000

With our third game almost complete and nearly ready to submit to Apple, we thought we’d take this opportunity to reveal in more detail some of the unique features you can find in Prisoner 84.

One feature in particular which we’re quite proud of is the basic gib system that we have on our enemies. The system allows random parts of the body to fly off when the enemy is shot at by the player, as you can see in these screenshots…

It’s not an amazingly detailed or complex system but it does add variety to enemy encounters, as it allows you to shoot the flesh off the torso, head, arms and legs to reveal the skeleton! It can get pretty intense when you have enemies chasing after you who are each showing different degrees of damage!