Cliffski's Blog

So…I am still working on the online multiplayer(asynch) code and UI and UX for Ridiculous Space Battles, but progress has been pretty good, and certainly way quicker than the first time I attempted to do all this sixteen(!) years ago… So I am happy to say that apart from a few small things I need to fix, and a few minor things to add (like rankings and victory counts), the online challenge portion of everything is kinda in and done! Here is the current challenge list screen: UI code is fiddly…

If you played the original Gratuitous Space Battles game about 500 years ago, you will recall that the online challenges were a very popular part of the game. If not, let me explain: GSB was the first autobattler, so its a game where you set up a fleet of space ships (that you designed), give them orders, and then use that fleet to defeat the enemy in a mission (which I called a skirmish) that was designed by me (the developer). HOWEVER, there was also the option to just design a fleet that you…

Yup, I’m still doing a lot of work on Ridiculous Space Battles, and recently did a new trailer and took new screenshots, and may even start running ads again… but in the meantime I do a lot of fussing about investments and finance…because I weirdly enjoy that sort of thing. Somehow, I have ended up a sort of small hedge-fund manager. Its a very small hedge, but its my hedge, and I get to do what I want with it. I know a lot of people who did well from video games who then naturally use that…

Well its been a while since I did one. Here is the latest one. let me know what you think. Is it too slow? is it too long? Does it look ok? YouTube compression sucks, even after uploading an 800MB files for a 2.5minute video, it still mangles it. FFS.

I have actually still been working on my game all this time, but have been a bit distracted with some technical stuff, and life diversions, and also not feeling there was much of a visual change to show off, but enough is enough, and I thought I’d just quickly throw together a short 2 minute campaign battle video to show you the current state of the game. For those new to this blog, Ridiculous Space Battles is my ‘spiritual successor’ to ‘Gratuitous Space Battles’ which I made around 2011. I’ve…

So it was an actual predictably dry day today, which is awesome because it means I got to go visit my lovely solar farm in good weather! I also met someone local there and gave them a quick tour, which was cool. Its a LONG day, starting when we leave my house at 8AM, and getting home about 7.30PM, with the majority of it being driving (in an EV obviously :)). We also stopped off briefly for coffee and cake at a nice English Heritage house we had never been to before, which made the day a bit…

This was not part of the plan. When I made Gratuitous Space Battles, it was not a deterministic sim. Multiple runs of a battle could lead to slightly different results. It was not ideal. And I was not even thinking about it with Ridiculous Space Battles, until I started to do balance testing and started designing campaign levels. And in that testing I started to really appreciate how infuriating a lack of determinism was. That was more than a week ago. Maybe two weeks… To explain: Ideally if…

I was woken today at 6.20AM, so you get to hear my thoughts on a 2 week trip to China before breakfast. First, where did I go? It was a 2 week trip starting in Hong Kong, then flying to Beijing, then a train to Xian, then a flight to ZhangJiaJie, then a flight to Shanghai, then home. Yes, multiple flights, I know. I offset everything, and took the train for the one trip where it was viable. Anyway, here is my experience! Hong Kong! …was amazing and cool, but at the end of the holiday it became…

So our solar-powered borehole in Cameroon is now live and working and providing clean drinking water at zero effort to hundreds of people. Yay! There are more details about the borehole here, here and also here. I might not have mentioned it before, but the cost is just over £20k. Very worthwhile when you think about how many people it will affect and the changes and improvements it enables. Anyway, they sent a very nice video celebrating the opening of the borehole, and here it is :D.

Just got an update from SHUMAS, the organisation on the ground in Cameroon that helps us do those charity things, like the two schools. Looks like things are going well. Hopefully lots of pics and updates to come!

A while ago I re-designed the post-battle stats screen for Ridiculous Space Battles. I was MUCH happier with this than the earlier versions and I loved the horizontal histograms for every weapon which showed not just how much damage they did, but how much was reflected or absorbed by each of hull, armour and shields.Continue Reading... Ridiculous Stats BattlesContinue Reading...

It was inevitable really. I’m a life-long environmentalist who got solar panels 15 years ago, an EV 11 years ago, and a battery a few years ago. I also spent my own money to madly build a 1.23MWP solar farm. Of course I was going to get a heat pump. In fact you may wellContinue Reading... We got a heat pump (at last)Continue Reading...

Its been a while since I blogged… Anyway I have not been completely idle. As well as booking a long-desired holiday to CHINA (oh yes!) I have still been working on this weird project that I cannot decide if its a retirement hobby or a proper serious game launch, and that would be my pretentiousContinue Reading... Auto-balancing and load-testing Ridiculous Space BattlesContinue Reading...