Just as Facebook is currently undergoing a rebrand, I too have also decided to give my business a new name, logo and web address. Those who follow my work might be thinking “This is strange… Why are you announcing this now? These changes you speak of were made maybe 2 years ago”. Well, yes.... I changed the name, logo, website and even social media handles to a new name in late 2019. However, I never made a formal announcement and never considered this transition complete until the website was done. As of today the website is complete! For everyone else who isn’t aware: the Sun-Studios label has been upgraded to Super Sun Studios!

Check Out SuperSunStudios.com

It's a funky new website

• For a long time I’ve had issues with the sun-studios.net domain as .com domains are short for commercial whereas .net domains are short for network. My business is not a network. The more ideal sunstudios.com domain was never available to me... The owner wants big bucks for it. I’ve also had a problem with the dash symbol in the sun-studios domain. It’s annoying to verbally explain my domain to people. So at that time in 2005, I registered sun-studios.net.
• Furthermore there is already an established business called Sun Studios Australia. I’d also like to distance myself from the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis where Elvis Presley recorded some of his greatest work.
• Sometimes in life as we grow older and wiser, we look back to see our old ideas being outdated and turning stale. Sometimes we need to shed our rotting skin to reveal a fresher, newer self. 

For 15 long years under the name Sun-Studios I’ve been creating games and cartoons. This label encompasses most of my creative career, and even before as a novice creative finding my way. Needless to say, the Sun-Studios label is of great importance to me and therefore picking a new name was a difficult task.

Asking myself what kind of content I want to produce for the future, the answer as always is art, animation and games. The difference is in the past I've always drawn the line too early, releasing my projects with problems that I've told myself are OK. For the future, I want my work to be super charged. To me, Supercharging my work means making sure it’s as spectacular as I can possibly make it as well as being undeniably good. I finally feel like I have just enough experience and skill to make such content and I hope you all agree.

So it is. This is not a rebrand, it’s an upgrade reflecting the spirit of the games industry just as the Nintendo precedes the Super Nintendo, the same is Sun-Studios to Super Sun Studios. 

Time to make some super cool content.

Tech Stuff For The New Site

Regarding the new site itself - I'll now blabber on about the tech stuff that is likely not important to you, but makes me excited. I love the parallax effect, but it was tricky to make and get it working on all screen types. I'm not sure how it looks on older devices, especially IOS devices. I had this effect working on the old static website but one of the goals with the new site was to build it with Wordpress utilizing Themeco's Pro theme builder.

I made some deep edits to the Pro theme template jamming the parallax effect in, and unbelievably it actually works. I was surprised because honestly I'm not a great web dev. So now I have the cool custom background with the Pro page builder on top which allows me to throw content together easily, visually and it's mostly automatically responsive.

What I find so great is that updating my website won't feel like a chore.

I can lay my OCD self to rest with my web presence now in harmony. Everything is @supersunstudios from Twitter to NG, to the website and beyond... The only thing that needs to be unified is my screenname because lately I've been using the TheSunOfMan for gaming and I actually kinda like it more than D-Sun. Ughh, I guess it's time to make that change across every account on every website. Here we go again...

January and February 2021 has been extremely busy. ‘’Why’’ you say? Because on top of doing my regular 9-to-5, squeezing in extra hours for various client work, helping paint my mum's house, and working on 2 new games for the Flash Forward Jam! Thankfully this Jam was extended by an extra month up till the end of february, which allowed me just enough time to get everything done. Phew.

I've been extremely excited about Ruffle since it's implementation into Newgrounds and have been tinkering with some flash stuff casually in the hopes of making something new. Ruffle only works with old flash content made in actionscript 2.0 which is a very dated language, yet it’s super easy and a ton of fun to develop with. Who knows? Perhaps Ruffle could run on consoles one day allowing flash content to finally come to dedicated systems.

Since the end date of Flash was announced years ago, I’ve intended to develop a 'final' flash game to celebrate the end of an era. But the pressure of making a new game can be daunting, I may not have made anything at all had it not been for the Flash Forward Jam providing the opportunity and incentive to do so. Building a game for a Jam with my fellow Newgrounders, we're united. It feels meaningful. After all - this is the place where it all began for me back in 2004.

So what did I make?

A brand new Armed with Wings game! It's called AshBelt - because that's the location in which the game takes place. It was also the only interesting name I could think of. The AshBelt is a vast flat-land covered in shallow mist. A seemingly endless line of towers guides travellers from end to end. The Belt was once tendered by Gods, but no longer. Now only mist, and the beasts that lurk hidden underneath.

In AshBelt you play as a girl equipped with a bow and a dagger. Armed with Wings games traditionally use swords for combat, so this is a first for firing arrows as the primary weapon. The design of the game changed throughout development due to time restrictions and the tech limitations I encountered working in Ruffle. And well… games dev is always a moving target. The core elements that never changed from the beginning being HD res, 60 fps and being Armed with Wing entry.

Conception

The original concept and initial prototype: an Infinite, randomly generated world composed of premade chunks. The world had hills, platforms and walls. You play as a 'creature' that can possess and control enemy units - similar to Mario / Abs Odyssey. A prototype was built, but I realised that it would be too ambitious to build this kind of game given the time frame. I pivoted to a traditional design more inline with other AwW games, an action platformer. 

Honing in

The girl archer character was then introduced. Instead of possessing enemies, you'd just shoot them dead while jumping and weaving through interesting levels. The physics I built worked perfectly in Flash, but not so well in Ruffle. As it turns out Ruffle can't process code as quickly as Flash does (at least not multiple hitTestPoints). My prototype was very laggy as many of my discord beta testers can confirm. With the bottleneck being physics code, I ditched all that complexity and made the ground completely flat. Problem solved, no more lag. A totally flat terrain… But how boring right!? 

Inspiration

Pondering on what kind of AwW game I could make with a totally flat level, I reflected on other dead-simple games I had thoroughly enjoyed… I thought of One Finger Death Punch: an incredible yet simple action game that occurs on a flat stage. Akane: one of my favourite indie Switch titles where you battle waves of enemies - punishing yet addictive and more-ish. It was decided, the game I would make would be similar to both of these… short rounds, flat terrain, enemies pop up around you and you shoot them before they touch you.

In light of Ruffles limitations on code, my commitment to HD and 60 fps, I learned that Ruffle is extremely fast at rendering art, much much faster than flash ever could. A game this simple needs a wow factor thus much of the resources was spent making the sickest animations I could possibly muster.

The art style

The result is AshBelt. A true (yet miniature) Armed with Wings game with some of the best animation I've produced. It’s punchy, cleanly simple and perhaps my favourite game I've made, certainly the best small game I've ever made. One of my discord members is an amazing music producer. Hats off to Sebb for making an amazing track. Breaking tradition again, AshBelt’s visuals are not the shadowy Limbo-esc style I use in AwW. Instead it's sketchy, like the drawings in my visual diaries. Seeing it brought to life brings much joy to my soul.

Here's some concepts and additional art that didn't make it in:

Missing features

I wasn't able to jam every desired feature into the game. So expect more features at some point: a story, more enemies, bosses, evolving terrains or more stages and a fleshed out upgrade/ability system.

Play AshBelt

I also found JUST enough time to work as an artist on another entry for the Flash Forward Jam…

Made by my best friend and flash dev coder: scooober-steve. Estimating that it would win game of the year, we made sure to put it in the title.

In the past Steve and I made many flash games together, and he too wanted to celebrate Flash by making an entry to the Jam. 

This game is a mixture of 2 games we made for Newgrounds previously. Zombie Mayhem - a lane shooter, and the original and award winning Throw Rocks at Shit released in 2010 which was promptly placed on the Front Page by #1 fan Tom Fulp. 

Brave defender of the lake Roxanne must fight off the invaders before the lake is corrupted by darkness. As was David’s battle against Goliath, Roxanne harnesses the power of stone. She also has strong ki, just like Vegeta.

Steve worked on most of the game while I built AshBelt. We spent 3 or 4 weekends together where I made the art and helped implement it into the game.

Our collab resulted in my eyes the most perfect game ever made. An engaging experience filled with life lessons, high drama and wisdom. Without any doubt this is my peak of creativity. 

Play Throw Rocks at Shit

I've played a few of the Jam entries, but am purposefully holding off until the weekend where I have time to play ALL of them extensively. I hope you all do the same in honour of Flash.

I expect this won't be my last Ruffle/AS2 game...

Keep up with me and Armed with Wings over on Discord.

Just a quick little status update to let ya'll know I'm working on 2 games for the FlashForwardJam. One of these games will be an Armed with Wings entry, the other being something... possibly even greater.

Untitled Armed with Wings Game

The main character is an archer, making this game the first AwW that feels more like a shooter. The game will be an arcade style score chaser. The Art style will be different form the usual black/white silhouettes... this time I wanted the game to look like the drawings I do in my sketch book. Wasn't sure if I should've kept that a surprise, but w/e. Here's a snippet:

The Even Greater Game

This 2nd game I'm working on will be glorious. Details are hush... but you'll play as a girl called Roxanne - she's kind of like Vegeta in some ways. My friend Steve and I are collabing again. He's doing the code, I'm on the art. Here's a preview:

Very exciting times. Feels great to be working on AS2 Flash games again. Thank you to the Ruffle team and to Newgrounds. More details and release before the end of Feb!

Want to learn more? Perhaps even beta test?!?! Join the Armed with Wings Discord!

Call to all my Newgrounders! Armed with Wings: Rearmed is out now on Steam! However, the Thunderclap campaign has yet to end... there is still time for you to contribute support to the Steam launch!

Support the Armed with Wings Thunderclap:
►https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/56854-rearmed-launch?locale=en

It's a social media booster. Contribute your support to make the clap louder!
Supporters will automatically in the change to win 1 of 20 Steam keys!

Did you know I'm making a Flash Game called Armed with Wings: Rearmed? It's been in early access for 2 years... but... now... it's... launching.... PROPERLY on JUNE 1st!

To celebrate the occasion, I've animated a cinematic trailer! It's rather short, but worth sharing here on Newgrounds because it's certainly the BEST animation I've done! I do hope to add more and create an actually submission.

Check out the animated trailer below:

Please help support the Steam launch!

Thunderclap is social network spirit-bomb! Support the Thunderclap with your social media reach to help boost the launch message on June 1st. I've the 100 target supporters, but every supporter counts!

Support the Armed with Wings Thunderclap Campaign here!
 

I'm thinking about how my creative objectives have hardely changed ever since I started creating on Newgrounds back in 2004. Sure, I use to make VideoGame parodies and Sprite Movies - now I basically only do games. But even back then, I strived to make incredible animated action sequences. 

Ever since The Matrix, I've become obsessed with battle sequences!

Less than 48 hours before the Steam Launch and I'm play testing thoroughly - experiencing and observing my 4 year creation. I have this to say:

- It's Power Star the game, black 'n white with original characters.

Truely. As a game develop with a backbone in animation (particularly Flash animation) I 'code' with animation principles in mind. Using actionscript to dynamically push-and-pull Motion in the same fasion I did with tweens and keyframes... I feel a reminiscent sensation - it's satesfying.

Wish me luck! Hopefully the game dosen't bomb too hard :p

So I made made something last night. Technically it's animation, but it's really more of a puppet show:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/683430

Using 2 sheets of A2 paper, a 4-in-1 pen, 1 black marker, gluestick and pair of siccors. Footage was captured with my Galaxy Note 5, vocals recorded in Fl Studios, edited in Premier.

Never have I had so much fun making something so ridiculous. I hope people find this as funny as I do - I'd love to make more.

It's currently UnderJudgment and needs your vote!

I just updated Rearmed Trials - You'll encounter a new Boss on Wave 4.

It's the one and only.. Newgrounds Tank :0 *gasp!*
 

Special NG version only! 

Rearmed Trials Update v1.0.1

It's raining updates - Rearmed Trials launched onto Newgrounds on October 19th, new features have already arrived!
This update really tightens the whole experience and difficulty, balance and progression have been refined. Bottomline, there are less Dull moments in Rearmed Trials.
Below is the change log:

- Wave Selector: Reach wave 3 to unlock the Wave Selector from the menu. You'll be able to skip to any way you've reached.
- Player Indicator: added - Displays your Newgrounds username!
- Action Camera: re-implemented as it was remove in the first update
- Boss Battle enhancments: Vandheer now has more attacks, and is able to escape stun locking.
- Spawner and difficulty: Improved balancing.
- Less Rock Pillers: Less rock pillers

Check out the changes, Smash your old Score to pieces, play Rearmed Trials:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/682880

Plans for the near future

Nothing is yet set in stone, but I am planning at least 1 more content update. I'm thinking about a Newgrounds exclusive Boss and Medals. Still trying to figure out a good way to host some kind of competition or Steam Key giveaway.

Open to ideas so please feel free to ask me anything!

Armed with Wings Returns to Newgrounds! Presenting, Rearmed Trials!

Play it now: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/682880

I’m a happy Flash developer. Armed with Wings is a flash game series that started here on Newgrounds after all. A 2D action platformer series known for it’s silhouette visual, and the occasional inclusion of a playable eagle character.

You may know that Armed with Wings: Rearmed is a project I’m currently working on. It launched onto Steam Early Access in May of 2015, and I’ve since been deliver update after update, building a better game together with the Steam community.

But Newgrounds has had such an impact on my life… I feel a certain, attachment.

There has been a 5 year absence of Armed with Wings on Newgrounds… until now!

I’m very proud to present Rearmed Trials! It is demonstration of it’s Steam counterpart, but also much, much more.

Rearmed Trials is a Survival Arena brawler. Battle it out against the horde of Imperials. Collect weapon pickups to boost your stats. Trials features robust and layered combat system - get massive combos and high scores!

Have a blast everyone!

In particularly, AIR Desktop developers. As you may know that StageQuality.Medium and Low are disabled in AIR Desktop - High quality is the lowest option. This is a hindrance to my game Armed with Wings, it's a hindrance to Matt and his game Epic Battle Fantasy 5, it's a hindrance to Veselekov and his game Ghost Ranger 199X and many more!

Any AS3 Game Dev will be able to appreciate the Low Quality options. Armed with Wings is a vector heavy game - it's actually quite optimized. However some people have older computers, and they do experience lag.

If I was able choose Medium StageQuality, everyone gets a performance boost. I could even increase the games resolution too.

The link below is to a feature request on Adobe's website. Please vote this request up. 

https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=4123650

I've been able to inform the Flash/Animate CC team on twitter, they acknowledged the request and mentioned they would run it by the AIR team. Fingers cross this actually happen!