Updates around Octobear Studios and 1-Bit Space
07/01/2025
Exciting update, 1-Bit Space is now playable in browser on Itch.io or right here on Octobear Studios!
There was a part of me that really expected me to leave 1-Bit Space in 2024. I honestly expecte to finish it, upload it, and ignore it like I have done with other games like Astro-Tec, Slime Sorcerer or Spirit Herder. And while ignoring it and moving on is absolutely my style, something made me want to make, 1-Bit Space more accessible. It took some trial and error and maybe 4 or 5 different versions but I've finally gotten 1-Bit Space working in the browser!
Honestly, a part of me wants to go back and make all my games work in browser now that I've figured it out, and maybe one day I will. But for now, I'm really proud to have 1-Bit Space working the way I intended and more accessible than ever. Currently, I've recived more plays in the last 24 hours than I have the entire time the game has been available, showing how important it is to really make accessiblity a priority if you want people to play your games.
What's next then? Well right now I'm not totally sure. Which is exciting! I think with version 1.1, 1-Bit Space is now finished and I don't plan on adding anything more to it. I'm proud of the game, jank and all! My focus now is moving to other projects. Namely, Micro-Management being the main one. A dream of mine has always been to publish a game on steam, and with Micro-Manegement, I've decided I'll do just that! I think I'm a good long way off of it being ready to play over there however my current plan is to polish the game up and release it as a Demo on steam, awaiting the full release some time later in the year/decade.
Knowing what I know about development and the types of games that do well on steam, I really don't expect the game to do well, however, I do very much expect to learn a ton from releasing it there. Everything from Steam API integration for achievements to how to build a good steam page to pretty much everything in between. There are a lot of hurdles between here and having a playable, Steam ready demo. However, now that I've written it, I am commited, which means I'll actually do it. Probably.
Thanks for checking out my devlog and development updates. Head on over to my Projects page to take a look at some of the new concept art from both released and unreleased games! And don't forget to play 1-Bit space while you're there!
Development log for 1-Bit Space
31/12/2024
After a few days of intense work, I'm very happy to report 1-Bit Space is now released on Itch.io!
Releasing a project again after all this time feels so good! Especially as it's a project that I'm very proud of. Even though it's not the game that's taken the longest to develop, 1-Bit Space captures that cozy Game Jam aesthetic I'm always trying to convey. It's nice to know that even though I've had a long break from releasing games, I can still make games that feel like mine used to!
1-Bit Space was a project I started back at the beginning of 2024 and have had on the backburner, with all my other projects, since then. I'd spent maybe 3 - 4 days on it back in January before abandoning it as I couldn't really see anything interesting about it. But a renewed interest in Game Dev and some new ideas led to me finally finishing this game a full year after I started on it. All in, the total development time is about 2 weeks, maybe even less! But I get to tell people I've been working on it since January so I can pretend I have follow through.
With 2025 litteral hours away from when I write this, I'm already so excited to start on another project! I feel like ending on a bang with the release of my best game yet will set me up for a great start to 2025 but I still have to really put in the work if I want to avoid burning out and dropping all my projects for the next 3 years.
1-Bit Space is now available for Windows over on Itch.io, and I really hope you give it a play!
Thanks for checking out my devlog and development updates. Head on over to my Projects page to take a look at some of the new concept art from both released and unreleased games! And don't forget to play 1-Bit space while you're there!
Octobear Studios Updates
26/12/2024
Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you're all settling in for a relaxing new year and a fun filled 2025.
It's been a good long while since I last updated this site. A little over 1 and a half years. My bad on that one folks! That being said, I've very much not forgotten you. 2024 has been a long and unusual year for me. I think i've made about 5 games this year. Or at least started 5 projects, not may of them are actually all too good or worth talking about but hey, I wrote code and I made art so I'm going to call that a win! The most interesting game I've made so far this year is called 1-Bit space. Just a quick little incrimental idle game. I got some cute animations into it, a basic loop of systems and gameplay however, I found out something very important this year too. I have a big tendancy to abandon projects when I'm not sure how to continue or forward progress seems a little too dificult.
This should come as no surprise what so ever. I mean, Micro-Management has been in development for 3 years, and its honestly no closer to being done than it was 2 years ago. Mostly because I keep taking huge breaks from things. It's a difficult thing to reconcile. My desire to make games and my lack of any real effort towards making that desire a reality. However, I keep feeling like I'm just one or two finished projects away from being back. What does back mean? Well based on historical evidence, I'd say making 2-3 games over the course of a few months and then checking out for 3 years solid but hey, when better to break the cycle than today!
So, plans for the future. I think that's a good place to start. Well, first, I'd like to get 1-Bit space done and released. Releasing a game previously was the single greatest motivator I had, and most of my motivation dried up after I started making bigger projects so hopefully a return to something simple will be just what I need.
Secondly, let's make 2025 the year I finally release Micro-Management. It's not even that difficult a game to make, I've just dragged my feet on it because I'm now at the boring part of development instead of the fun part.
And finally. I really want to start doing this again. Browsing my old projects, playing my old games, it reminded me of why I love creating them and how much fun it can be to do so. I am desperate to get back into this so, starting with 2025, I hope to never take an extended break again. I'll make no promises, but I will talk directly to myself right now. Jake, I get if the going has gotten tough and making games feels like dragging your feet through molasses, however, just remember how good it feels to actually make things. No matter what's going on right now, making games will always be the thing that makes you feel like yourself. So just do it.
Well, thank you for allowing my self indulgent rant about my poor work ethic. Before the end of 2024, I hope to be back here, writing in my update for 1-Bit space's release. Until then however, thanks for sticking around.
Thanks for checking out my devlog and development updates. Head on over to my Projects page to take a look at some of the new concept art from both released and unreleased games!
Development log for Micro-Management
29/05/2023
Oh boy, it sure has been a while! Turns out, when you migrate from super simple one scene games to more complex multi-puzzle extravaganzas, development time increases exponentially.
That being said, I was still not expecting the two year hiatus from any updates or significant progress, and for that, I appologise.
The big news is, Micro-Management is now somewhat presentable, with all of the first world's map and puzzles created, and all mvp functionality implimented. Big things on the horizon are a tutorial and hint screen to help players solve some of the harder puzzles.
Micro-Management has ended up being so much larger than I anticipated when I decided to overhaul the game from the admitidly terrible little management game to the much more interesting puzzle game it now exists as, however, I must confess not all my time has been spent hard at work.
I've ended up taking a big break from development to focus on my day job, but now feel like I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, which has all started with Octobear 2.0, the new website page which now features a slideshow of my game concept art to keep visitors interested.
This has been a very long winded way of saying OctobearStudios is back with new projects hopefully being detailed and released more frequently than once every 3 years, but no promises. I've experimented with 3D games, mobile games and even some collaborative projects during my hiatus, but now I want to get back to focussing on the things I find most interesting, namely, my small indie projects like Micro-Management.
In other related news, I'd love to make some sort of blog post or video about the journey of revisting and overhauling my first game from something pretty terrible to something I think is at the very least a big step up, and how doing so has really helped me see how much I've progressed since my first ever games made in Scratch when I was a kid to projects I could at least call "pretty much video games". So if that sounds interesting to you, stick around to see if I end up getting that done before I release Micro-Mangement.
My current goal is to get Micro-Management released fully before the end of 2023. Ideally before the end of Q3 2023.
Thanks for checking out my devlog and development updates. Head on over to my Projects page to take a look at some of the new concept art from both released and unreleased games!
Development log for Spirit Herder
27/10/2021
After 48 hours of frantic development, Spirit Herder is out now!
Get the Ghosts out of your Graveyard before the timer runs out!
Octobear studios held a quick 48 internal Jam and Spirit Herder is what I managed to make in that time! While it isn't the most polished, game jam games do have a certain charm I've always liked and hope you will too!
Now, this is not the only thing in the works at Octobear Studios. A new mobile game is currently in development with hopes of a release date within the next few months.
This is our largest project yet and we have hopes to bring an Artist and Game Designer on board to take the game to the next level!
While you wait for more news about our new Mobile game, I hope you'll enjoy this quick Game Jam project!
Check back to see more information about our new games and head on over to Itch.io to download and play Spirit Herder, it'll only take a few minutes!
Thanks for checking out my Devlog and Development Updates. Head on over to my projects page to download Spirit Herder! Hope to see you again soon!
Development log for Slime Sorcerer
10/10/2021
It's finally here, Slime Sorcerer is out now!
Kill Slimes, Earn Souls, Buy Upgrades. How many souls will you earn?
This game has been in the works for a while, with a few delays and secret projects trying to worm their way into the active development it has taken longer than I expected, but it is finally here!
With Slime Sorcerer finally released, i'm already looking ahead to the next games I want to make.
Check back to see more information about my new games and head on over to Itch.io to download and play Slime Sorcerer yourself!
Thanks for checking out my Devlog and Development Updates. Head on over to my projects page to download Slime Sorcerer, I hope you enjoy playing as much as I enjoyed making it! Hope to see you again soon!
Development log for Slime Sorcerer
23/07/2021
After some development and much deliberating when to announce my next project, I'm proud to announce Slime Sorcerer
A game all about perfecting the destruction of slimes. I did say this series of games were experimental!
With the use of a cute art style and a visually pleasing colour pallet, trust me, it's not as depressing as it sounds, it's even quite relaxing!
There is still plenty I want to do with the game and figure about before a Demo or a full game release so i'm not sure when the game will release, but keep checking back to see if I release any more details or do another surprise release like I did for AstroTec.
Thanks for checking out my Devlog and Development Updates. Head on over to my projects page to take a look at Slime Sorcerer! Hope to see you again soon!
Development log for AstroTec
28/05/2021
I'm proud to announce that AstroTec is now out!
AstroTec is the infinite runner about an asteroid miner who forgot to put on his landing brake.
Well, after a few more weeks of development, I feel like it's ready for release! I've never released one of my projects before so this is pretty new and exciting for me!
If you want to go and play it for yourself, head over to my Projects page to download it!
I've already got an interesting idea for my next project though it is likely to take longer to develop so not sure if I can class it as a Micro project. I do want to do a video devlog with it however, so if that's something you would be interested in
then stick around and check back soon as I plan to start work on this new project soon!
Thanks for checking out my Devlog for AstroTec, head on over to my projects page to download it and give it a play. Hope to see you again soon!
Development log for AstroTec
09/05/2021
After a few weeks of development, I'm finally ready to announce AstroTec!
AstroTec is the first in the series I mentioned in my last update, Micro-Projects! It's a little infinite runner about an asteroid miner who forgot to put on his landing brake. The timeline for development is going great right now!
I'd say I'm a little further than half way through, and being about half way through the two months I assumed it would take me, I think I'm on track!
I've got a lot of small things to add, and some noodling I want to do to make the best game possible, however, actually deciding to release this game soon means that I have a nice timeline to work to and that seems to be speeding development and my interest for it back up.
I'll be releasing this game for free on Itch.io and will be using their integration to allow you to download it from my website too!
This game, despite being fairly small, has taught me a lot about developing a project for release, which makes me more optomistic that I'll get around to releasing the other games I have on my site one day too.
With the end of this project in sight, I'm already looking to the next project. While I haven't nailed down the exact game I will be making, I've decided to make a Video Devlog to acompany the games development. Writing DevLogs here has been a great way to keep track of my progress
as a Game Developer and my hope is that a Video Devlog would help me to even more clearly see myself improve. As much as I enjoy this written format,
I feel like I would be able to see my process better in video format.
If you're interested in watching any of my new video devlogs when I start making them, stick around, I'll embed the videos on a seperate tab on my website so that people can find them easily.
Thanks for sticking around and Checking in! Check back soon for more updates surrounding the Development of this game and all my other Projects.
Development Updates
18/04/2021
Development on all projects hasn't been moving forward recently, so I thought I'd give a quick update as to why, and what the next steps are.
I haven't had time for development recently. I just started a new job and have been finishing my degree on the side. These two commitments made game development impossible to pursue for the past couple of months.
However, I have not stopped wanting to make games, simply taken a few months off and re-evaluated what projects I want to be working on. Which brings me nicely onto the more interesting update:
Micro Projects!
Different from MicroManagement, Micro Projects are what I am calling the next batch of games I will be releaseing.
As of yet, I haven't released any of my Games to the public. MicroManagement is actually ready to be released. There is plenty more that I want to do with that concept in the future but what I am calling the Demo is ready for release now.
Chess tactics is much further off from release, and I will be postponing development on it for now while I focus on the Micro Projects idea I have, which I should probably explain.
Micro Projects are going to be small experimental games I will be developing and releasing. I'll be aiming for one game every two months, but that will remain to be seen.
The Main concept is, a small game that I can make after work over a few months. They'll be short, but fully finished and polished.
I'll be aiming for the style of games you tend to get from Game Jams and if I participate in any Jams, those games will be released under the same Micro Projects heading.
My main goal is to continue development alongside my new job and personal life. This idea of making small but polished games on a constant release cycle appeals to me so much as it will allow me to continue making games!
I'll be updating the website from time to time with layout changes and will very soon be adding a page dedicated to my Micro projects with the download links for them. I want to build up my abilities as a Game Developer so I can eventually start work on my first commercial release.
I hope that you stick around and check back from time to time to give these games a play. Game development is incredibly complex so any experience I can get, I will be taking.
Check back soon for more updates surrounding the Development of my projects.
Development log for Chess Tactics
20/01/2021
Development of Chess Tactics is going smoothly. Currently, 5 Puzzles have been built for the app and the puzzle creating process is currently being streamlined to allow for faster puzzle creation.
Art, sound, and UI still needs an overhall, but everything important is already in the game. Potential future features include:
Hints for Puzzles
Seeing the last move of the oposite colour
Better puzzle creation Tools
A survival mode/lives system to see how many consecutive puzzles you can solve in a row
And lots more Puzzles of Varying dificulty, from Easy to Hard.
Check back soon for more updates surrounding the Development of this game and all my other Projects.