Announcing Axiom Verge’s First Ever Free Content Update - In Open Beta Now!

A few months after Axiom Verge launched almost 6 years ago, I turned all of my focus to Axiom Verge 2. I’m putting on the finishing touches for that and will be talking about it more soon, but this post is not about that. This is all about Axiom Verge 1’s first ever free content update: Randomizer Mode.

Before I go into detail about what it is and how it works, I need to mention how it came to be. After all, I’ve been so focused on Axiom Verge 2 that I haven’t really had a chance to do anything new with Axiom Verge 1. So where did this mode come from? Our amazing speedrunning community! In particular, I’d like to give a huge shout out to NoReset Games, Chris Couture (aka VideoGameRoulette), Dimitrios Lianopoulos (GVirus), Aria “Willlow” Taylor, Lars Lehmann (Leemyy), and Crowd Controls Matthew Jakubowski (Jaku) for all of the work they put into this. Along with Pozzum, the original mod developer, they came up with an unofficial version that required a legal copy of the game to use and have since worked with me to incorporate it into the game as an official mode of the game. They spent years working on this and refused any compensation I offered. It was a labor of love, and I’m hugely grateful to all of them.

Please note that there are some minor spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t beaten the game yet, first of all, how dare you, and second of all, the Randomizer Mode isn’t really for you. At least not yet.

So what is it and how can you get it?

Let’s start with how you can get it, since that’s the easy part. Right now it’s only available on the Epic Games Store and Steam. Once we get all of the kinks worked out, we’ll release it for free on consoles.

For the Epic Games Store, simply check your library. The beta version, which includes the new mode, will appear in your library as a separate game. Simply launch it. and you’re good to go.

For Steam, just find Axiom Verge in your Steam library, right click it, and go to Betas. From there, you’ll be able to select between the standard and beta versions from the dropdown list.

randomizer1.png

So now for the fun part. What actually is it? Essentially, the Randomizer Mode randomizes (thus the name) the items you get as you progress through the game, but in a very sophisticated way. The Randomizer is smart enough to know that in certain areas you need weapons with certain characteristics to progress. For example, the first item you get in the game really only needs to be able to shoot. Without that, you wouldn’t be able to get through the barrier on the right:

randomizer2.jpg

So the Randomizer knows not to give you, say, a health node.

Later, here is the scene where you get the Kilver weapon, which emits a short burst of electricity and can go through barriers:

randomizer3.jpg
randomizer4.jpg

If the Randomizer just gave you any old weapon, you might be blocked from progressing any further. So it needs to know to give you a weapon that can handle that function. It doesn’t necessarily need to give you the Kilver per se. There are other weapons in the game that can go through barriers. And it doesn’t even necessarily need to give you the weapon in that same location. There are many places between the beginning of the game and this point where items can be picked up. You might get lucky and get the Kilver as your first weapon (it meets the requirement of being able to shoot, after all), or you may have to explore some of the nooks and crannies of the areas before this point that you might normally only explore later.

There are different categories of progression logic that you can choose for the system to use from the Randomizer Mode menu.

randomizer5.jpg

“Beginner” progression mode is really a bit of a misnomer. The Randomizer itself is for people who have beaten the game, ideally multiple times, and have explored the map very thoroughly. Beginner mode assumes that you will be playing through the game in much the same way that anyone would progress through it. For what it’s worth, this is the mode I play.

“Advanced” mode assumes that you’ll play through the game the way a speedrunner familiar with exploiting certain glitches may go through it. There are ways to skip the entire grapple hook area, for example, if you know how. Because the system knows what you expect to be able to get at which areas, it can make sure to accommodate this route.

“Masochist” mode is similar to Advanced mode, except that it assumes you’ll be doing a low % speedrun. As of right now, there are exactly 4 people in the world able to play this mode. If you don’t know that you’re one of them, you’re probably not. This progression mode is included primarily because the aforementioned people who developed this mode include those masochists in question.

But that’s not all! The team has a bunch of ideas for new features in the works including a Saved State mode where you can have the game remember your exact state (health level, different items, location, etc.) and let you practice running the same section over and over until you perfect your approach. In addition, we’re looking at including support for Crowd Control, which would enable Twitch players to interact with their fans. Viewers can give—or take away—items, or transport the player to a different room. I’m really looking forward to seeing how streamers will take advantage of this. More on these features hopefully at a later date.

As you play through this mode, we’d love your feedback. Please introduce yourself on our Discord server and let us know if you run into any issues. We’ll try to incorporate as much of that as possible before releasing this mode more broadly.

And last but not least, if we find that Axiom Verge fans enjoy this mode, we’ll be sure to do something similar for Axiom Verge 2—and not take 6 years to do it!

Axiom Verge Turns 5!

My eyes should have been glued to my TV screen while I continually refreshed the PS Store on my PlayStation 4. I had just spent the last 5 years of my life working nights and weekends on my passion project, Axiom Verge. I had quit my job 6 months before so I could focus on wrapping up the many loose ends that come with launching a game. My wife was 4 months pregnant, and our savings were near 0. Everything was on the line. But unfortunately, I had even bigger things to worry about. My faithful companion, Max, who had been by my side the entire time I was working on Axiom Verge, was gravely ill. I sold my car to pay for his vet bills and stayed by his side as he had stayed on mine. He died 12 days later.

MaxDev.png

In the 5 years since launch, my life has been full of ups and downs. It seems that every triumph was offset by an equal and opposite tragedy. The medical malpractice that left my son with a permanent neurological disability. The LA fire that burned down a lot of my neighborhood and nearly burned down my house just days after I bought it.

Of course I could shake my fist at the universe and ask what I’d done to deserve such treatment, but in all honesty, what I really feel the most is gratitude. Gratitude toward the fans who have voiced their support for me and my family on social media, emails, and in person at different gaming events. Gratitude for the financial stability that has enabled us to weather these storms and provide for my family. Gratitude for the knowledge that there are so many people out there who share my love for Axiom Verge.

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It is impossible these days to view anything but through the lens of the novel coronavirus. As with most people around the country and the world, we are staying at home and avoiding unnecessary contact with others. But that doesn’t represent a significant change for my daily routine. I can still work on promotion strategies for Axiom Verge. I can still check people’s comments online. And I can still work on Axiom Verge 2. Yet another reason to feel gratitude for my situation, especially when compared to the millions of people across the country who have either lost their jobs or have to risk their health to earn a paycheck to support their family. Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude.

And now that Axiom Verge turns 5, it is time not only to reflect on the past but also to look to the future. In celebration of the 5-year anniversary, Axiom Verge will be on sale on every platform except Xbox One. (That’s my fault, by the way. Axiom Verge was just part of a big promotion on Xbox One, and it’s too soon to put the game on sale again there! I’ll put it on sale there again soon.)

In addition, Axiom Verge 2 is coming along very nicely. I’m excited for everyone to check it out when it launches this holiday. If you haven’t seen it already, please check out the announcement trailer!

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And last but not least, there may be some new surprises for Axiom Verge 1. I don’t want to over promise at this point, but I’ve started working with a talented group of folks who may be able to add some new functionality to the game. If you’ve beaten Axiom Verge a while ago, this may be a good time to fire it up again.

Thanks again for all of your support and stayed tuned for more! Please stay safe!

(Artwork by Wildragon - wildragon.deviantart.com)

(Artwork by Wildragon - wildragon.deviantart.com)

Localized Font Textures in Monogame

For Monogame devs that want sprite font textures which only contain the characters used in your localized text. Created especially for small pixel fonts that might need manual editing of the texture.

Download it here:

TTF2BMPPlus.zip

Version History

  • 1.0.02 - 7/31/202 - Finally fixed the bug where the output image clips the last line of glyphs.

  • 1.0.0.1 - 11/10/208 - UI now saves your previous settings (including text files and output path). Fixes some bugs with texture rendering and the content pipeline.

  • 1.0.0.0 - 11/9/2018 - Initial Release

Overview

You may have discovered that the default font processor in monogame degrades in quality as your fonts get smaller, especially if they are detailed CJK type characters. So next you look into using font textures, but these require you to make an uber gigantic texture with all possible unicode values (I tried making such a texture and indeed even Photoshop would not open it).

So I grabbed a copy of Microsoft’s old TTF2BMP and modified it so that it can read your game’s text files and output only the characters that you use.

I also added a content importer and processor to let the Pipeline tool / MGCB be able to turn these into a working .xnb.

It is not especially pretty or elegant, but it will do what no other tool I’ve found can do. And now you have the source so you can make it better. (Sorry it’s not in Github or the like, but feel free to upload your own copy)

How to Use

  1. Download the TTF2BMPPlus.zip and unpack. There’s a visual studio solution in there.

  2. Add references to Monogame.Framework.Content.Pipeline.Windows and Monogame.Framework.Windows, wherever those my live on your machine. It needs them because it subclasses the default importer/processor.

TTF2BMP1.png

3. Build and run it. You may recognize the old TTF2BMP interface, but now there is “Choose Text Files” button. Click it and choose whatever files you are using to store your text.

TTF2BMP2.png

4. Click Export. It will ask you where to save the output bitmap … BUT it is also saving a .txt file of the same name that lists all the unique characters in your game’s text. You need to keep this text file around (add to perforce, etc.) so that the content importer/processor can match up the glyphs to the characters.

5. Go ahead and edit the texture, just don’t move any of the glyphs out of order. Chances are some characters still rendered wonkily, but now you can fix them in photoshop.

6. Open up the MonoGame Pipeline Tool and your content.mgcb file. Select the root node, and at the bottom, add a reference to the ttf2bmp.exe you built earlier. It’s not a dll but you can still add it if you browse by All Files (“*.*”).

TTF2BMP3.png

7. Now Add the bitmap you just made to the project.

TTF2BMP4.png

8. Under Importer, choose “Texture Importer - Localized Font”, and under Processor choose “Font Texture - Localized”. Set the ‘FirstCharacter’ field to 0; it remains since we subclassed the default Font Importer, but the default value of ‘space’ gets serialized to an empty string, which causes MGCB to believe it “NeedsRebuild”, unless you change it.

9. Build your content and you should be done with this part.

10. To use the font in game, it works exactly like any other sprite font; just do contentManager.Load<SpriteFont>(fontName) and it should work as usual.

Axiom Verge Retail Launch!

It’s every game developer’s dream to see their creation on a store shelf, right alongside the Marios, GTAs, and Calls of Duty of the world. The retail launch of Axiom Verge represents a huge milestone for me personally, and I’m grateful for all of the support my fans, friends, and family have given me during this journey. I’m really looking forward to being able to walk into my local Target, GameStop, Walmart, or Best Buy and see Axiom Verge on the shelf TODAY! (Apologies, Europeans. The launch in Europe will be coming a bit later…)

Even though I’ve been working with BadLand Games to publish this, it was still a significant amount of work to get this out. Murphy’s Law was in effect every step of the way, from the timing of getting age ratings (because why use the age ratings for the digital version? That would be too easy!), to re-certification by the platform owners, scheduling production, tracking the shipments of the cartridges and discs often across continents and multiple time zones, etc. So it was not without a little emotion that I watched these videos that the packaging company sent me:

I’d seen and approved of all of the proofs. I knew on an intellectual level that the Switch cartridges had arrived at the packaging facility from Japan and were being assembled into cases, but it was all in email and spreadsheets. Seeing finished product coming off the line and being packed into boxes made it feel real in a way it somehow didn’t before. And just on Friday, I finally got my own advance copy!

TomME.jpg
TomSwitch.jpg

In case you haven’t been following, there are going to be 5 different versions (or “skus” as they say in the retail biz): 3 different platforms (Switch, PS4, and Vita) x 2 different editions (standard and Multiverse). The reason it’s not 6 different versions is that Vita will only be available in the Multiverse Edition flavor. The difference between the Multiverse Edition and Standard is that the former includes a behind-the-scenes documentary made by 2 Player Productions – the guys behind all of the Double Fine Presents videos, as well as an art book, and a double sided poster. The Nintendo Switch version is a bit more expensive than the others due to cartridge costs, so we’re including the game soundtrack on CD with that one.

If you’re interested in picking up a copy, there’s a good list of retailers here. One favor I’d like to ask: I’ve heard that retailers are more likely to make the game visible if people ask for it by name. So whether you’re planning on buying it or not, if you happen to be in a store that sells games, please be sure to ask for Axiom Verge!

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Before I go, I’d just like to take a moment and give a special shout out to the publisher, BadLand Games. As you may have seen elsewhere on my blog and Twitter, I’ve tried to be pretty open about my son Alastair’s health situation. In short, he was born healthy, but the doctors failed to treat a routine case of jaundice during a critical period when he was just days old. The result was a life-long condition called Kernicterus that is characterized by severe neurological damage which robbed Alastair of much of his motor control and hearing. The reason I mention this is that after we decided to move forward with BadLand Games as the publisher, they offered to donate 75% of their share to a special fund dedicated to Alastair’s ongoing health care costs. They didn’t want to publicize it, since none of us wanted to be seen as trying to use my son’s suffering as a marketing tool for the game. I hope this doesn’t come off that way. I just wanted to thank them for their generosity in offering that up, since it was definitely something they didn’t have to do.

Thanks,

Tom

Off Topic: Automakers, Please Stop Packaging Features With Leather

You know your dream car is completely covered in leather and furs.

You know your dream car is completely covered in leather and furs.

Based on the amount of gratuitous creature-shooting featured in Axiom Verge, you might be surprised to learn that I'm a vegetarian.  I have been for over 20 years.  It's not something I discuss a lot or even encourage, because it's mostly a pain in the ass I have to put up with since my conscience won't let me do otherwise.

Case in point:  Automobiles.  From what I understand the glues and such in cars are made from animal bones/hooves/blood/muscle so there's no such thing as a 100% "vegetarian" car, but since I know it takes 2 or 3 dead cattle to fill an SUV with their skin, I try to avoid doing that. But for some reason it's considered luxurious and better to trim cars with cow hides, so the faster, better, and more-tech filled a car is, the more leather.  Personally this kind of feels like when home electronics used to have fake wood paneling - I guess to make people feel like they were classy furniture - but whatever, if I understood people, I probably wouldn't be a game developer.

So anyway, now that we have our first child - one who is disabled and will need a wheelchair to go with him wherever he goes - we've been investigating various 3 row family haulers.  But as soon as we think we've found the perfect car, we discover that you can't have this or that feature without getting leather seats.  Usually stuff like navigation, collision sensors, parking sensors, power hatches, sun roofs, better engines, hybrid trims, etc, are packaged with leather, leaving you only with crappy bare-bones options.

If I'm to believe Quora, about 5.2 percent of the world was vegetarian (in 2015), though the 500 million vegetarians in India is more than 5.2 percent of the world, so...who knows where the numbers come from.  And there's no telling how many of these people buy cars, but doesn't it seem like a substantial number that could matter for profit?

Because I was already making a list of 3 row family cars, what features we miss out on by not having leather, and how much they cost, I thought I would share it here.  Maybe someone buying a car in early 2017 will find it useful.  Maybe an automaker will read it and be all, "huh, we could make more money than we do" (but they won't, because because).  We still may end up having to get leather just for safety features (maybe I can buy some cows to offset those that died?), or we may just have to make due with our 2014 Wrangler and its manually controlled everything.

 

3 Row Cars Standard With Leather Seats

Most luxury SUVs only come with leather,  so this is sort of a no-brainer.  But it really hurts that the safest, highest rated, most family friendly vehicle - the Volvo - is among them.

Acura MDX $44,050
Audi Q7 - $54,800
BMW X5 - $55,500 (Note that the 2 row version of this can be had without leather)
Cadillac Escalade - $74,590
Infiniti QX60 - $42,600
Infinit QX80 - $63,850
Land Rover Discover $42,440
Land Rover Range Rover Sport $64,950
Lexus GX $51,680
Lexus LX $88,880
Lincoln MKT $43,370
Lincoln Navigator $63,195
Toyota Land Cruiser $88,825
Mercedes Benz GLS 550, AMG GLS3
Volvo XC90 - $53805

 

3 Row Cars That At Least Let You Get the Lowest, Crappiest Versions Without Leather Seats

Here I'm listing the features you CAN'T get without leather seats, since that was the most useful for us to rule out different cars.  Also I put the amount of money automakers lose for each vegetarian/vegan who could have bought them.

Chevy Suburban - power liftgate, power sunroof, heated seats,  navigation, power telescoping steering wheel, power release 2nd row, front and rear parking assist, keyless start, heated power mirrors, 2nd row bucket seats, driver information center, heads up display, adaptive cruise control, power retract steps ($17,990)

Chevy Traverse (2017) - power mirrors, blind spot alert, seat memory, forward collision alert, lane departure warning ($7,790)

Chrysler Pacifica - plug-in hybrid ability, panoramic sunroof, heated seats, 3 zone temperature, 7-inch driver information digital cluster, built in vacuum, better looking front end, touring suspenssion, 360 degree surround camera, adaptive cruise control, break assist, collision warning, lane departure, rain sensitive wipers, power doors & liftgate ($6,715)

Dodge Durango - V8, adaptive cruise control, advanced break assist, blind spot and cross path detection, collision warning, Rear seat entertainment, 2nd row storage, lane departure warning, power liftgate  ($5360)

Dodge Grand Caravan - heated seats, rear dual-screen blu-ray, blind spot/cross path detection, rear park assist, rain sensitive wipers ($5,600)

Ford Explorer - Turbo v6, enhanced park assist, adaptive cruise control, front 180 degree sensor, lane keeping system, power folding mirrors, memory driver’s seat, power tilt/telescoping steering wheel, power adjustable pedals,  2nd row bucket seats($6,196)

Ford Expedition - 10 way power driver’s seat, power heated mirrors, power liftgate, 3rd row powerfold seats, driver memory, remote start, dual zone hvac, dual headrest DVD, voice activated navigation, 2nd row bucket seats, power running boards ($12,980)

Ford Flex - Turbo v6,  multipanel sunroof, Navigation, 10 way power heated and cooled  front seats, cross traffic alert, driver memory, power adjustable foot pedals, 110 volt outlet, power liftgate, power mirrors, active park assist, adaptive cruise control, collision warning, powerfold and tumble 3rd row, power tilt/telescope steering wheel  ($13,345)

GMC Acadia - Navigation, hands free liftgate, Lane keep assist, forward collision alert, safety alert driver seat, low speed automatic breaking, front pedestrian detection, 8”navigation, driver memory, drive rode selector, front park assist, follow distance indicator, continuously variable damping, surround vision, adaptive cruise control ($11,905)

Honda Odyssey - Forward collision warning, lane departure warning, auto dimming mirror, heated seats, power monroof, power liftgate, driver memory, blind spot information  ($11,375)

Honda Pilot - Power panoramic moonroof, navigation, 2nd row USB chargers, Heated seats, rear entertainment system ($10,740)

Hyundai Santa Fe - panoramic sunroof, multi-view camera, 8” navigation, auto dimming mirror, LCD multi-info display, blind spot detection, rear traffic, power mirrors, push button start, 2nd row captain’s chairs, power passenger seat, rear parking sensors, smart cruise control, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning ($10,000)

Kia Sedona - 8” navigation, surround view, usb ports, blind spot detection, heated seats, push button start, 3.5” meter cluster, dual power sunroof, lounge seating, power height adjustable liftgate, smart cruise control, forward collision warning system, lane departure warning system, automonomous emergency breaking  ($13,225)

Mazda CX-9 - Power moonroof,  8” touchscreen Navigation, multi information display, driver memory, Power liftgate with programmable height, auto sensing door locks, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert,  lane departure warning, lane keep assist, radar cruise control, heated mirrors, rain sensing wipers, keyless entry ($9420)

Mitsubishi Outlander - V6, Power driver’s seat, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, lane change assist, power liftgate, multi view camera, forward collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, heated steering wheel ($4,600)

Nissan Pathfinder - Panoramic sunroof, around view monitor, driver memory, ac outlets, moving object detection, motion activated liftgate, intelligent cruise control, forward emergency breaking , rear entertainment $46,400 

Nissan Armada - Around view monitor, moving object detection, remote start, power moonroof, tri-zone entertainment, intelligent cruise control, emergency breaking, blind spot warning, collision warning, distance control assist, 2nd row captain’s chairs  ($12,020)

Toyota Highlander - panoramic moonroof, 8” navigation,  multi-information display, heated front seats, blind spot monitor, cross traffic alert, parking assist,360 camera,  ($12,820)

Toyota Sienna - Power dual moonroof, power liftgate, parking assist sonar, blind spot monitor, rear traffic alert, touch lock/unlock, power passenger seat, power folding 3rd row, driver voice amplification, rear entertainment system, 4.2 inch multi info display, rain sensing wipers ($11,372)

 

3 Row Cars That Don't Sacrifice Anything Without Leather

Very short list  here - Teslas are made by tree hugging (yet lead-footed, torque-loving) hippies, while Mercedes has something called MB-Tex that perfectly mimics the sweaty, thigh-burning discomfort you know you crave.

Mercedes GLS 450 - $67,050
Tesla Model S - $68,500
Tesla Model X - $80,100

 

No Reset Marathon

First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s been a while since I’ve sent a message out to everyone who signed up for this newsletter. I’ve been so caught up in the daily drama that is my son’s medical condition that there hasn’t been much time to focus on much else. (In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I wrote about it in some detail here.) I’m glad to report on that front that Alastair recently had a successful (if very unpleasant) surgery for a cochlear implant, which means that he is now able to hear some sounds in one ear. It’s a start.

My wife, Chloe, and I feel strongly that Alastair’s condition, called Kernicterus, should not isolate him from the world. We’ve both been pretty open about what’s going on in our private life on social media and in press interviews.

One of the world’s leading Axiom Verge speedrunners, Dimitrios Lianopoulos (who goes by the handle GVirus), has been following our story and decided to leverage the strength of the speedrunning community to help support research into a cure or treatment of Kernicterus. He organized a charity Metroidvania speedrunning marathon which will kick off on Black Friday (today) – 11/25 – at 5pm ET/2pm PT and run for 48 hours! If you live in Montreal, you can go watch it live.

If you want to stream it, you can watch it at https://www.twitch.tv/noresetmarathon. All funds raised will go toward the Kernicterus Research Fund at the Kernicterus Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. I’m immensely grateful and moved that GVirus thought to do this. Kernicterus is a relatively rare condition, so any awareness and research money that can be raised will be enormously impactful. Please see the attached flyer for more information.


I hope you can join us for the marathon and donate to this worthy cause!


Thanks,

Tom


P.S. If you can’t watch the stream but want to donate anyway, please click here. To designate your gift to the Kernicterus Center, go to “Gift Designation”, choose "Other, Specify below" in the dropdown menu, and then write underneath in the “Comments” field “Kernicterus – In honor of Alastair Happ”.

alt : NoReset.pdf

Achievement Unlocked!

At long last, I will finally be able to say without any caveats that Axiom Verge is playable on your favorite console. I will soon be able to say that whether your primary platform is Steam, PS4, Wii U, or now Xbox One, Axiom Verge is available. When will I be able to say this? The final piece of the console puzzle, the Xbox One version, will launch on Friday, September 30 – a mere 2 weeks from now! Mark your calendars and tell your friends! Like with the other platforms, it will be $19.99, but it will have a 10% introductory discount through October 10.

There’s a certain irony that Xbox One is the last console to get Axiom Verge. When I started development almost 7 years ago, Xbox 360 (in particular, the Xbox Live Indie Games service) was my target platform. Like many indie developers, I vastly underestimated the scope of what the game would eventually become and the time needed to achieve my full vision, and by the time I was ready to launch, the development framework I was using (XNA) was no longer compatible with Xbox’s latest system.

For anyone interested in a history lesson, XNA was developed by Microsoft as a free set of APIs for independent developers to use to create games for consoles – without the need for expensive development hardware. At the time, this idea was revolutionary. Consoles were always the domain of large companies with big budgets. Development kits ran tens of thousands of dollars, so hobbyists, or even small studios, could never afford to develop games for consoles without a publisher who could provide the necessary hardware and software. XNA made it possible for anyone with access to a simple PC to develop games that could be released on a console.

But it was often more than that. Although consumers probably saw a lot of low quality shovelware clogging up XBLIG (opening the floodgates does let some sewage through), to XBLIG developers, it was about community and developers helping each other. A lot of talent cut their teeth on XBLIG. Ska Studios first achieved notoriety with their title I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. Now you may know them better as the developer of Salt and Sanctuary.

In fact, James Silva, who was the sole member of Ska Studios until his wife Michelle joined him and turned it into a 2-person company, wrote a book about making games with XNA. James Petruzzi and Tim Dodd used that book to learn how to make games for XBLIG. In case you’re not familiar with James and Tim, they’re the people behind the upcoming metroidVANIA, Chasm. (Incidentally, Chasm and Axiom Verge share something else in common. Dan Adelman is handling the biz dev and marketing for both games, and we often show our titles together. This was our setup at PAX East – sorry for the potato quality.

(If you’ve already played Axiom Verge and enjoyed it, you may want to sign up for the Chasm newsletter and start following it too. But I digress…)

(If you’ve already played Axiom Verge and enjoyed it, you may want to sign up for the Chasm newsletter and start following it too. But I digress…)

XNA and XBLIG were part of Microsoft’s deep commitment to indie development during the Xbox 360 years, but unfortunately the decision was made to shut both of these down during the Xbox One years. The market had changed, and I suppose Microsoft concluded that there were plenty of reasonably priced tools for small developers to use to get access to consoles, so that tech no longer filled a vacuum.

Bringing Axiom Verge to Xbox One

Many XNA developers needed to make a change when Microsoft discontinued support. Fortunately, open source versions of XNA called MonoGame and FNA stepped into the void. I was able to convert Axiom Verge and continue development. Unfortunately, these weren’t supported on Xbox One… until now. Thanks to the popularity and quality of games using Monogame, Microsoft made the decision to have Monogame ported and officially supported on Xbox One!

Now, porting an entire development framework is a lot more complicated than just porting a game. There are few people who could tackle such a complex task, but Tom Spilman from Sickhead Games is kind of a wizard. He was able to port MonoGame to PS Vita and took up the challenge of porting it to Xbox One as well. Since he was already familiar with the code base of Axiom Verge, he decided to use it as the guinea pig for getting the framework up and running. Although the MonoGame port still has some rough edges to polish up before it’ll be trivially easy for all MonoGame games to move to Xbox One seamlessly, the Axiom Verge port is great. I’m proud that of all of the XNA games that originally targeted the Xbox family, Axiom Verge will be the first to have a native version running on Xbox One… with hopefully many more XNA games to follow!

The Indie (Special Needs) Dad

Alastair at the PAX West Nindies Lounge

Alastair at the PAX West Nindies Lounge

With the Wii U version of AV released and the XB1 version in certification, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about my son, Alastair.  It's not something I talk about a lot because, basically, I don't want to make you depressed.

Over a year ago I posted, over-optimistically, the Alastair had returned from the Neonatal ICU mostly unscathed.  I was very wrong.  I don't want to deluge you with details, but, to put it in simplest terms, my son has Kernicterus, which you get when your doctor doesn't treat newborn jaundice on time.  His mind is completely functional but his motor control is extremely damaged, so his movements are either super stiff or super random. He can't sit up or crawl, and it's doubtful he'll ever be able to walk.  He might be able to play video games one day with eye tracking software or the like, but probably not reflex intensive games like Axiom Verge.  He can eat but can't pick up food or even bring his hands to his mouth unassisted.  He will eventually be able to hear - after a cochlear implant surgery he's undergoing in a few weeks - but everything's going to sound like an 8-bit NES sound sample.

There are basically no approved treatments for Kernicterus in the US, which leaves unapproved treatments.  He received a bone marrow stem cell transplant in Mexico (your stem cells become classified as a drug by the FDA once they leave your body, hence why it's not allowed here).  So far if we've seen any improvements, they're very minor.  Nothing like you hear about celebrities like Gordie Howe,  John Brodie, or Bart Starr who could walk after stem cell treatments.  There's no way to know if this is because Kernicterus is just that much worse than other brain injuries or if it's that I would need to bump up to embryonic cells, which can cause tumors, and which they won't use on children even in Mexico. We also got him a hyperbaric chamber which, according to recent studies, leads to improvements in patients with cerebral palsy, though kernicterus is rare enough that it's not part of those.  We've also heard of other children using thc/cdb oil with a lot of success (in 2 cases even restoring the hearing of all things), so we've begun the process of applying for a medical marijuana card.

None of these things are covered by insurance (which, being an indie, I need to pay for in full), so you can imagine how thankful I am that Axiom Verge can support the tens of thousands of dollars this is costing.   We have also begun a malpractice lawsuit - but this is a years long process that is just in its infancy, and may not really cover the overall costs anyway.

Alastair's First Birthday

Alastair's First Birthday

I wish I could reciprocate what Axiom Verge and its customers have done for us.  But I don't get that much time to field questions in the comments, Steam forums, or Facebook.  To be honest I don't even get to work a full 40 hour week, even though I work at home now.  We regularly see a number of therapists and doctors - a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a feeding therapist, 2 audiologists, a neurologist, a GDI doctor, various surgeons - as well as the associated scans and tests.  It's hard to stay focused on anything for very long with so much going on.  I've become that flaky person we all know who agrees to do something but then never replies to urgent mail about how the deadline is tomorrow and nothing's been done.

A lot of people say, "don't worry about work, focus on your son" - but bear in mind my work is directly correlated with my son's well being. Rather than just being a hobby, Axiom Verge (and whatever else I do in the future) has now become necessary for supporting him and his medical needs for the rest of his life. 

Thanks for understanding.