Cheeky

I’m having a sort out.

Cheeky, Oaf, Playbook, it’s all getting a bit fragmented. So let’s make another one!

markripley.com

I’m going to aggregate all these things under one roof, and just use my name from now on. I think it’ll be simpler that way. Plus I’ve been reading too much Bruce Everiss, and that’s influencing the direction I want to take things.

But the best news is the Ripley Museum. I’m digging out lots of old stuff like the original MDR web site, the Friendly Giants web site, and lots of other stuff and putting them live again, for my own amusement more than anything, as part of this new site.

I thought I’d post the link so you can watch it take shape.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Lots going on!

Been enduring various social networking sites’ APIs (or lack of) recently, but mostly done now; so it’s quite easy to release a game across Facebook, Bebo and Myspace simultaneously.

Gridrunner on Facebook
Gridrunner on Myspace
Gridrunner on Bebo

I tried to get something set up on Hi5, but they’ve a long way to go to get anything stable or working, so I’ll leave them to get on with it for a while.

Bruce Everiss has kindly included this site in his latest posting, so I thought I’d return the favour!

There’s some interesting sites in his list, take a look!

Gaming classic Gridrunner now available on Facebook

Eidos New Media unleashes all-new version of Jeff Minter’s classic for Flash users and Facebook

One of the classic ‘old skool’ games is to be given a new lease of life, as Eidos New Media unleashes an updated version of Jeff Minter’s classic Gridrunner for the Flash community this week.

Converted to Flash by developer Cheeky, Gridrunner++ is an all-action blaster which is to be released to Flash users via Eidos New Media’s Gimme5games.com label, and marks the first time a Jeff Minter game has been released in such a way. Gimme5games.com has also unveiled a unique link with popular social networking site Facebook, for a specially-created version of Gridrunner++ which can be added to the user’s home page (http://apps.facebook.com/gridrunner/).

Recreating key elements of the Minter original, Gridrunner++ is a psychedelic shoot ‘em up, where the player roars through a series of colourful stages unleashing a torrent of lasers upon the incessant alien attacks. The game demands rapid reactions and pin-point accuracy as you try to stay alive.

The original Gridrunner was created by the legendary Jeff Minter through his home-grown Llamasoft label. Under the Llamasoft banner, Minter produced a series of games from the early 80s to present day and has created a wealth of surreal, off-the-wall and ground-breaking titles.

The second Cheeky Facebook game is nearing release!

Working with Gimme5games.com and Llamasoft, the mobile phone version of GR has been ported to Flash alongside a highscore widget written using Flex.  The widget shows your highscore amongst your friends’ highscores, and also against all other GR players on Facebook.  A neat little feature is it animates your current score climbing up the leaderboard as you play.

There’s still some more Facebook bits and pieces to put in - like those “Bill has beaten your score” notifications - but give it a go:

http://apps.facebook.com/gridrunner

Once you’ve installed the app, you might have to visit that link again to play the game, as it’s not properly published yet.

Have fun!

It seems the Cheeky hosting company and GMail aren’t getting along too well - there hasn’t been any Cheeky mail delivered for over 24 hours.

So, if anyone has sent anything during that time, please send it again to CheekyOaf@gmail.com. Please also use that address for any future correspondence.

Thanks! 

The new ad-funded Flash version is ready. It’s a quarter-sized version of the game available at Blobbit.com, so it’s got the mp3 music, mouse control all the goodies from the full online game.

You can download it here.

Oops! I was going to blame the Greek domain registrar for not reminding me that cheeky.gr was up for renewal, but then I noticed the domain info uses an email address that doesn’t work! If you’ve sent any mail to cheeky.gr in the last 24 hours, please re-send it.

It’s finally live!

Some nice new features in this version; mouse control, for those who can’t hack arrow keys, a Panic Button, and an online high score table. Got to knock Matt Spall off the top of the leaderboard!

I knew I should have put a cheat in there….

Play it here.