Mind mapping software

Recently I was in need of a way to visualize my brainstorming ideas. The easiest method to do this - pen and paper - was a "no no" for me. Mostly due to my handwriting style. I write in such a way that after few days I can't read myself.. Besides I want to be able to freely edit my notes while maintaining tidy message, uncluttered by crossings-out. Software such as Word, or basic Notepad is good for making notes, but lacks in the field of visualization. I searched the web and stumbled upon this gem : Cayra. It's free mind mapping software for windows. Just go to Cayra's page and look at the screencasts to see what it can do. Pretty nice software don't you think?


Another thing I wanted to write about is that I have received my first sale confirmation by SoftCartPro system. I did not get any complains from that customer, so it looks like everything is working fine :-). Good.

New payment processor : SoftCartPro

Finally I've decided to change my payment processor to SoftCartPro. For me it means that my customers can pay me via PayPal, Google Checkout or credit card. I pay 4.5% fee per transaction compared to 15% when I used Plimus. And sending of reg codes is automatically handled by SoftCartPro. All I can do now is to wish myself "happy selling" ;)


As for progress of Sigmore Mines2. Today I've implemented level up screen and made a list of what is waiting to be done ;). I know it's a little progress, but still.

PayPal experiment

I've just added a PayPal's "Buy Now" button on my site. I'm curious which method people will prefer : via PayPal or via Plimus (I provide them both now). The difference is that with PayPal I need to manually send registration codes to my buyers, because PayPal just sends sales confirmation to my email. Although I check my email often, still there is a small delay (especially when there is a big difference in timezones).

SM2 : Promised image of first enemy

As I promised in my previous post. On the image you can see rats, they will be the first enemies you will meet in dungeon. There is also a cell with an armor, a sword and a shield. This icon will represent items laying in the dungeon, awaiting to be picked up.



I'm still working on the items. I implemented all basic weapon types I wanted, but they are not balanced yet. I'm still not satisfied with the way how creation of items is managed now... I need to rethink this.

About few videos and SM2's items

I've put two videos on YouTube showing gameplay of my games. One is from Block Logic and other is from Sigmore Mines. They both can be accessed via my page (www.ktgames.net). I'm also thinking about making tutorials or some kind of "how to play" guide for Sigmore Mines. I don't know if this is necessary (never got feedback about this), but it won't hurt if I made the game more accessible for beginners.


Okay, let's back to more important stuff ;). I'm still in the process of adding items to Sigmore Mines 2. Right now I have.. (let me count) ..15 base weapons (and 21 (weapons) more on my list, but I don't know if I will implement them all). Besides of that, there will be dozen of armours (for chest, helmets, boots), potions and other stuff. In other words, variety of items should be satisfying.

SM2 : Item's stuff

I worked a bit on Sigmore Mines 2 again which resulted in addition of ability of picking and dropping items on the ground. This time items' image on the level is much more nicer compared to SM1 pile of yellow dots simulating "something". Also, first and the easiest enemy you will meet in the dungeon is happy, because he gets new -and I think final - image representation. I will post some screens in my next post.

New address

If you go to my (old now) site, you will see a message (probably you will need to hit refresh button). The message loudly says that I HAVE MOVED :). My new (profesionally looking) address is www.ktgames.net :). Oh boy I'm so happy :) Nice thing is that my new host was fully covered by income from my games. From Sunday till now I was refreshing my PHP skills, so I didn't program neither SM2 nor my master thesis. Helpfully when my new website is up and running, my day schedule should back to normal again.

Small add-on.

What you would say for a bit of gambling? It will probably not affect gameplay much, but from now on you could win a few bucks from the inn-keeper:)