(Go to the last page for the most recent updates)

Hi, I'm McJey from U-GameZ!

I'm from Germany and still fairly new to itch.io, I've posted some updates in the past in the game's community, but I did not get much feedback there, so maybe here´s a better place for a Devlog :)

You can check out an (outdated) demo for Windows on the game´s itch.io page here!

Alpha Trailer (June 2015)

But what is this game about?

Well, as the title suggests, it's a sequel to "Error Ware", a "Wario Ware"-style party game I released for free in 2012. I love the Wario Ware series, but imo there haven"t been many good games since Smooth Moves on the Wii. So I made my own, of course! XD

I'm making games in Game Maker for 8 years now and Error Ware has been the first game that turned out to be actually quite good! It got some good reviews on IndieDB / Desura (RIP) and even reviews & Let's Plays on YouTube from all over the world, which was amazing to see :D

Coming up and programming dozens of short minigames has been and still is a great game developing exercise, but quite time consuming, as well. I´m doing all of it on my own (concepts, graphics, sound, music, programming, debugging...) and I still have other jobs, so progress can be a little slow (I wanted to release it in 2015 originally, now I have a hard time to get it done this year lol).

Features

• Challenging gameplay with quick minigames ála Wario Ware / Bishi Bashi
• Playable with up to 4 friends locally
• Supports keyboard & mouse, a gamepad & even a Wii Remote with motion controls!
• Text & voices in English, French & German
• Colorful visuals with catchy music
• Lots of unlockables like retro style "Error Boy" games, toys, music...
• Engine: Game Maker 8.1 Pro by YoYo Games
• Platform: Windows

Current status: Alpha

The main game mechanics, some micro games and most of the menus are finished. I'm working on the unlockable "Abstráctomon" Error Boy game (a Pokémon parody in the style of the GBA titles) right now.

When that's done, I'll add a few more minigames & release a new demo for you to enjoy!

I appreciate any feedback and ideas for the game! If you want to help me in any way (translating, ideas, promoting...) or have questions feel free to ask!

You can find me here, too:

• Twitter: @UGameZ_McJey
• YouTube: youtube.com/user/thefinegod
• Twitch: UGameZ_McJey
• U-GameZ homepage
• Error Ware 2 homepage
• The game on itch.io

Here´s an animation I did today!

Have a nice weekend :)

Gameplay of the almost finished ingame-shop. Not that many things to buy yet, but that will change in the future :)

I need to display the player´s money, but otherwise that´s it for now.

I will focus on finishing the unlockable Abstráctomon game next.

Abstráctomon move #95: Terrify. I hope you like critters!

Here´s another test fight.

I´m almost done with implementing all of the attacks. Just 6 more to go!

Then it´s time for items...

I´m finally done with coding in all 102 Abstráctomon moves! Yeah! I hope that is enough...

I improved the displayed team info in Abstráctomon today! What do you think?

Working on the items menu for Abstráctomon.

Displaying part of a table and make it scrollable was more complicated than I thought, but I finally got it working. So the Item selection works now! Now I just have to make the Items actually usable. But that shouldn´t be too hard...

Now you can see the item bag in action! And I finished the catching mechanic (the animation at least)!

Abstráctomon Intro & Title screen done!

Introducing the first Gym Leader in Abstráctomon: Venom Violet Version!

Weldon´s Gym is located in a wind park and owns a large energy company. He´s an expert welder and specialized in electric and flying type Abstráctomon.

And here´s the second gym leader: Capt'n Arnold! Since he retired from sailing the seven seas, always searching for new water Abstráctomon, he leads the water / normal type gym.

The third gym leader is ready to fight: Anna! She recently opened a Hip Hop dance school and loves fighting & ground type Abstràctomon. Can you keep up with her smooth moves?

A first look at my overworld engine for Abstráctomon! Objects automatically get collision and the correct depth (depending on the player's y position so they are either in front or behind him) and background tiles can be animated. Signs work already, too!

The character's sprite is a placeholder of course :)

Tip: in Game Maker there is a problem with tiles when color interpolation is active (a basic form of anti aliasing). You can get nasty gaps in between tiles depending of the screen resolution. Luckily, you can switch it on and off during gameplay!

So the game looks a bit sharper now & tiles work perfectly.

Here I showcase recently added features to the overworld in "Abstráctomon", a unlockable game in the upcoming "Error Ware 2" by U-GameZ.

New features include:

• Dynamic music based on location
• Dynamic rain & mist
• Shadow when player is obscured by an large object

I plan to add a few more weather effects and include them in battles.

Happy Halloween! Here's your treat: a new Abstráctomon update video! :)

Thanks to Knife Drawer Games for this review of the demo!

I want to take a moment to say thank you for over 500 views & almost 150 downloads of the Error Ware 2 demo!

I really want to make an updated demo available as soon as possible. I did not update it for a long time because most of the work I did this year was "behind the scenes" so to speak, just things like the ingame shop and the Abstráctomon game-in-a-game.

While I made great progress with the Abstráctomon battle system for example, it would not have been much fun to play for you without an overworld, NPCs and so on.

In the last two days I made it possible for your creatures to learn new moves when reaching certain levels, and it suddenly felt a lot more like a game :)

Also I decided to add another 30 or so monsters and a few more moves, so if you have any ideas you can send me your ideas and monster designs to

Twitter: @UGameZ_McJey and it might makes it into the game!

A drawing (only your own ideas, please do not steal stuff from devianart or something) + type (no fairy types) and a cool name would be awesome!

Have a nice weekend!

I recorded some new Abstráctomon Gameplay!

In the last couple of days I

• added wind as a weather effect (there is now bright sunlight, rain, fog, snow, hail, duststorms, thunderstorms and wind in the game along with a day & night cycle),
• improved the lighting at night,
• made it possible to learn new moves when leveling up
• and fixed a lot of bugs.

Originally I aimed for a 2016 release, but time flies... I need more time to make this game the best I ever made.

New goal is "sometime in 2017™ ". I made a brand new trailer for you to enjoy, though!

Happy holidays!

I want to thank Reddit user "KayleeTheConqueror" again for his Abstráctomon monster idea he posted in this thread!

Here's my final interpretation:

If you have an awesome idea for my game let me know!

• Via Twitter: @UGameZ_McJey
• Reddit Private Message: "U-GameZ" or in this thread,
• Email: ugamezgermany[at]gmail[dot]com
• or here!

And on another note: if you want to learn more about some of my older projects, experiments and abandoned games, you might enjoy my new YouTube series "What I Worked On" (or WIWO for short) :)

Happy Holidays!

Hope you've had a nice 2017 so far :)

Today I want to share two new pieces of music I made for the Abstráctomon game-in-a-game in Error Ware 2.

Winter Town

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/302044529&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false

Gym Battle 2

I hope you like them!

Right now I'm working on new monster designs for the game, enjoying Planet Coaster (I'm building an Error Ware inspired park. I'm gonna make a new video of it soon, so check out my YouTube channel if you're interested!) and waiting for the Nintendo Switch presentation...

Hello there!

I want to share the latest Abstráctomon updates with y'all!

(Click images to enlarge)

As you can see, I added a start menu. You have quick access to your current team, the item bag, the new Abstráctodex (see below!)...

You can save & load the game now anytime on the overworld as well, so if you mess up a fight you can load your last save file without leaving Abstráctomon. Note that There can only be 1 Abstráctomon save file inside an EW2 savefile. If you start a new EW2 save, the Abstráctomon save file will also be reset for that new EW2 save file.

...and the new settings menu. You can now play in fullscreen and speed up fights, for example!

So as I mentioned there is now something called Abstráctodex.

If you start the game, it'll be pretty empty, but the more monsters you encounter (and catch!), the more data it will collect. On this first page, you can see the total number of seen and caught monsters on the bottom left. On the right, you can scroll through the list of entries. Caught Abstráctomon are indicated by a Abstráctoball symbol next to their Dex number.

Below the list are some bars showing known areas, weather conditions and the time of day where the selected monster can be caught in the wild (since in this example I selected my starter Abstráctomon, they're all set to "unknown").

If you caught the monster, you have access to additional data on page 2, where you can get a feel for its size and weight and read its describtion (I still have to write most of them, so there's no text in this picture) .

And finally, on Page 3, you can see your beatiful beast from behind and information about its evolutions (to minimize spoilers, the data will be vague if you have not seen an evolution yet).

That's all for today!

What do you think? Pretty cool, eh?

What's on the menu?

Today, I want to share a quick progress video I made showing off some of the latest additions to my Pokémon persiflage "Abstráctomon", which will be unlockable in the upcoming game "Error Ware 2" for Windows (sometime in 2017, probably).

New features include:

• a proper Start menu
• the "Abstráctodex"
• improved item bag
• saving & loading inside the game
• game settings, including
• zoom & turbo battle

I also implemented over 80 monsters and 112 moves, with more to come (my goal is to have at least 100 monsters and about 130 moves). The game will be playable for the public when things like boxes to store your caught monsters in, evolutions and a larger overworld with NPCs are done.

I can't say if I'll be able to add online functionality (trading / battles) to it, simply because I have no clue how this stuff works :/ If you know someone who would like to help me (I'm using Gamemaker 8.1), leave a comment or message me on Twitter: @UGameZ_McJey or wirte an email to ugamezgermany[at]gmail[dot]com.

Keep in mind this will be just a small part of Error Ware 2, so yeah, go ahead and call me crazy.

Have an awesome weekend!

-Mc Jey

I recently implemented evolution into the "Abstráctomon" game, here's some footage of it (it may change in the future).

I also had to fix the item list (again) and you can now swap team members around outside of battles.

Hi everyone!

In the past weeks I worked on a new EBA game called "Gourmet Gorilla", where you are in a weird mechanical restaurant trying to please a Gorilla's hunger for fruit. Its almost done! I just need to finish some graphics and add more levels to it,

I'll make a video of it when it´s done!

I also reworked a few old Abstráctomon monster sprites and came up with brand new designs as well:

As you can (hopefully) tell, these are based on cooking equipment. The one on the left is a Steel type and is supposed to evolve into different forms depending on the weather.

If the sun is shining bright, it will evolve in the "Fondue"-monster, a Steel/Fire type seen here in the center.

If there is a thunderstorm, it will evolve into the "Raclette"-monster, a Steel/Electric type.

I also have an idea for a "Fridge" monster that could be a Steel/Ice type.

But I did not name them yet, so if you have an idea for a cool name, please leave a comment!

-Janek

Here`s some new Abstráctomon gameplay! In this video I show off a fight with a recently implemented NPC.

I made a quick video showing off the new map screen in Abstráctomon. Just a simple, more zoomed out view of the current location.

This way I don't have to worry about drawing a map for every single location :) I may add a drawing of the whole "world" + quick travel later to the game, when I got everything in the overworld in the right place.

Thank you for over a thousand views & two hundred downloads on itch.io!

Here's a little teaser for the new "Gourmet Gorilla" minigame in Error Ware 2 for you.

I'm planning to release a follow up to my "Paper Keys" sprite pack soon. It will feature Playstation & WiiU Gamepad buttons in a more modern style, maybe I add Switch and XBOX buttons as well.

This pack will have higher quality, larger images along with .svg files that can be scaled infinitely.

Have a nice weekend!

3D animations for a 2D game (Gifs below!)

Hello there!

Since Error Ware 2 is gonna be a 2D game made in Game Maker 8.1, one should think all you need to make graphics for it is a pencil, a camera or MSPaint or something, right? But behold!

Some things are actually easier to animate in 3D programs than in 2D ones, like spinning an object around or producing complex effects like water splashes, explosions, etc. So even if you're working with a 2D engine you can render stuff in 3D and put it as flat images in your game.

So for certain things I actually work with the free modelling software "Blender". GM8.1 has a simple 3D mode where you can load premade 3D objects as .obj files and some people manage to make full 3D games with it, but my 3D skills are not that good, I feel more comfortable with 2D games.

So how do I use 3D in Error Ware2?

If you by something in the game's shop, the game switches to the 3D mode and displays a spinning 3D model of the object you bought, then it switches back to 2D. I may use the 3D mode for actual minigames as well.

For Abstráctomon, I pre-rendered some sprites in blender, like the intro sequence and some attacks. In the past week I worked on 3D models of the badges (because... idk, it was fun?) and made a water splash (shoutout to CG Geek for his awesome turorial) which you can see below. (These .gifs are based on the raw renders, I touched them up a bit for the game since then.)

Have a nice weekend!

Click on the thumbnails to watch the animations on imgur!

Thanks to Visumeca for his pixelart! Now I can't decide which one I should use...

A is by Visumeca, B is the orginal by me. Help me decide!

Which one is cuter?

Vote on Twitter here!

I added a FAQ page to the official Error Ware 2 homepage! If you have any other questions, just ask me!

I'm working on buildings for Abstráctomon right now. Here you can see me hiding behind an "Abstrácto-Center"! 

There seems to be a Heliport on the roof... Is this how you fast travel in this game?

You may noticed the white placeholder characters I used until now in Abstráctomon footage. 

I've been too lazy to make pixel art by hand for all human character sprites in the overworld , but now I figured out a more convenient way: Blender!

In case you're not familiar with Blender: It's a free piece of software for 3D modelling + animating.

So I made a simple 3D model in a "chibi" (big head, small body) style, tilted it by about 30° so you can see its face as well as its feet despite the camera being above it (thanks Nintendo for that trick in The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds!) and made animations for walking + riding a bicycle.

Then I exported it without anti-aliasing (otherwise it's a blurry mess) at just 32x32 pixels.

You can see the results in this beautiful Wallpaper!

So now I just have to edit the model once per character without having to alter every single frame!

Website update + Introducing the Freezon region

Hello, dear reader! 

I was thinking about using itch.io's new Devlog feature, but since I got well over a thousand views here (that's awesome!), I'll keep it going right here! But I might post some smaller info on the other Devlog too, so it can be seen on the game's page.

Speaking of pages, did you know Error Ware 2 has got a "real" homepage as well? 

Check it out here! 

(It's not very optimized for mobile users, so you may want to view it in desktop mode)

It's  the most colourful website I ever made, and there is a lot to discover. Character backstories, concept art, tips & tricks and more!

I just added new subpages for Abstráctomon and Gourmet Gorilla, two minigames (well, in case of Abstráctomon, not so mini) you can unlock in Error Ware 2. Click on the Error Boy button at the bottom to get there :)

Abstráctomon now almost reached a state where I can release a demo of it for the public, since now people actually look like people, you can enter buildings, access the improved ingame map, heal your team in a Abstrácto-Center and even use the "A.S.S." (Abstráctomon Storage System) to manage all your caught monsters!

Maybe I can release a new EW2 demo with Abstráctomon included before my birthday on July 26th?

I can't promise, but I'll sure try!

At last, I finished the worldmap of the Freezon region (the name is based on the word "Friesen", which means "people of Friesland") you'll be able to explore in the final version of Abstráctomon and named every location I could come up with so far. It's loosely based on the German Islands of the North Sea. 

I hope you like it, it's the first time I drew a map like this!

-Janek

I did a live stream on my Twitch channel where I played a new build of Abstráctomon in Error Ware 2. 

You can watch the recording above!

I fixed the bugs I encountered during the stream already.  If you don't have time to watch the full video, here's a quick overview of recently added features:

• Buildings that you can enter
• the "Abstrácto-Center", where you can let a nurse heal your team and access the "A.S.S"
• The "A.S.S.", short for "Abstráctomon Storage System", where you can manage all your caught monsters. You can store them in up to 5 boxes with 25 spaces each (may be more in the future), watch their stats or delete them if you don't have a heart.
• Humans look like humans now
• You can swim now, simply by entering water as long as you own swimming trunks / a bikini. 
• Improved in game map

New Abstráctomon screenshots!

In the last two weeks, I made some more battle backgrounds + transitions, some new NPC sprites, improved the player's walking animations, added a lake you can swim in... and added a shop called "Monpoint". 

How about exploring the new area I've added to the test map?

Time for another Abstráctomon screenshot update!

I'm working on a "Abstrácto-Dex" for the Error Ware 2 homepage. You can view the first couple of entries already, including two never before seen monsters! https://errorware.jimdo.com/errorboygames/abstr%C3%A1ctomon-venom-violet-version... 

Cool video

Time for another screenshot update!

Small improvements

This will be quite the long post, so I hope you have fun reading it!

This month I took a little break from  Abstráctomon after I finished the first dungeon "Atoneel Tunnel" (which I had to remake 3 times because GameMaker crashed on me) and focused on improving the main parts of Error Ware 2.

Memory loss

I went through all the big assets (sprites, background images, sounds) that were still loaded into the project and made them load from the harddrive instead (I also reduced colors on some backgrounds were you wouldn't notice). Overall this reduced the project file's size by 12 MB, which may not sounds like alot but the effects in the game are really noticable.

Not having large backgrounds and sprites loaded into memory at all times improved the framerate and load times quite a bit!

Typo

Then I went on to improve the onscreen keyboard that appears when you are able to enter your name. 

Before, it was using a regular Windows font  to display the letters, but that could be an issue if the user doesn't have the font installed on their machine. Now it's using sprites in the colorful Error Ware 2 style instead.  The buttons also didn't scale up from the center but from the upper-left corner, so I fixed that, too.

Variety

I added some shadows for menu buttons here and there, and then went ahead and added some more variety to existing micro games...

...and even made two new ones in the process.

This week, I'm working on an idea I had to make the "Party Mode" even more hilarious and challenging: The "Crazy Mode".

Even if you've mastered all the micro games you can now ramp up the difficulty! The Crazy Mode will add random effects to the games to confuse you like turning the game upside down, make you having to lose the game (remember this from the first Error Ware?) or mess with the time limit or... I came up with about 20 effects so far!

You can always comment and ask questions about the game. These small improvements really feel good to make. 

As a little bonus, here are the latest screenshots from Abstráctomon, because why not :)