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Afro-Ninja
I've got a lot of work ahead of me...

Shawn Tanner @Afro-Ninja

Age 38

Game Developer

US

Joined on 3/2/02

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Afro-Ninja's News

Posted by Afro-Ninja - June 30th, 2015


You may have caught word if you follow me on Twitter, but I wanted to officially announce here the project I've been working on with poxpower: Soda Dungeon! It's an rpg/dungeon crawler with a focus on building+equipping a new team each time to explore the local dungeon. Upgrade your team selection by improving your Tavern and stocking it with new sodas. We'll start off on mobile but we plan to bring it to Steam and the web later on.

On that note I've also been getting into streaming on Twitch. I mostly stream games so far but tomorrow afternoon I'll be doing a dev stream of Soda Dungeon if you're interested!

twitch.tv/anproductions

twitter.com/sodadungeon

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Posted by Afro-Ninja - August 27th, 2014


I dabbled with mobile development a little bit last year when I released Escape the Office, but only on Android. Recently I ported the HD version of Escape the Car (previously only on Xbox Indie) to both Android and iOS:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.afroninja.escape1

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/escape-the-car/id910280014?ls=1&mt=8

 

iOS development is actually pretty annoying if you normally use a PC. I had to buy a mac mini and sign up for the developer program before I could even test on my own iphone. Not to mention all the time spent transferring my files to the mac and rebuilding.

Escape the Car is pretty old at this point but it's my go-to project for trying out a new platform. I created it with OpenFL which means with a little tweaking I'll be able to upload the flash version of it soon.

I'm still working on the Point and Click adventure I mentioned last time, it should be ready by the fall. Also working on another big project that I've been toying with on and off for a few years now. Really hope I can get some screenshots up soon. 

AND DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT THE MADNESS KICKSTARTER!

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Posted by Afro-Ninja - June 5th, 2014


Just popping in for a quick update- I have a new point and click game that's been in the works for a while, developed with OpenFL/haxe. (which is great by the way)

It has a similar feel to my escape games but it's more open-ended, and has actual character and story interactions. It should be arriving in two episodes, the first of which I'm hoping to get finished up soon. So keep an eye out!

 

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Posted by Afro-Ninja - March 6th, 2014


You minecraft players out there might have heard that the game is updating to 1.8 soon, which offers support for a new skin file format. You can now create separate arms/legs, and make use of 'hat' layers on top of all surfaces! (not just the head)

We updated skincraft to handle the format. Old skins are still backwards compatible, so don't worry. We also fixed a few bugs and added a couple extra features- such as being able to see the inside surfaces of the model and pulling a skin file directly from a minecraft.net username.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/571250

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Posted by Afro-Ninja - January 23rd, 2014


Put out Escape the Office today: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/632561

I released a version on Android and then to Addictinggames a little while back, but now I'm finally making the usual rounds with it.

I've been dabbling with flash less and less these days in favor of other platforms like Unity. Definitely have a big project underway- some days I feel like I'm biting off more than I can chew, but that remains to be seen.

When I do find myself working with .swfs I tend to stick with openfl + flashdevelop. A good combo for sure, but the technology is still young and prone to change. It's what I used to make Escape The Office so that it could be exported for both flash and android. I'm also using it for a client project on the side. It's much more clean and efficient (build times especially) but the cross platform support is dubious (particularly HTML5).

Also I've heard that Minecraft 1.8 will be releasing soon with enhanced support for character skins, so I'm going to try my best to update Skincraft when I get a chance.

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Posted by Afro-Ninja - February 13th, 2013


Be sure to log in and check out the quickplay lobby, where you'll be paired up with another player- if you don't find any matches at first keep checking back, we need to get a bunch of users playing at once to populate the lobby. I also added some training mode medals to give you something to do if you're having trouble getting a match.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/611151

thanks to everyone who contributed to this game, including pox, luis, swain, kelwynshade, ktrecords, and gorebastard!

As mentioned before this is the demo mode- we can't distribute the full version outside of afro-ninja.com and xgenstudios.com without suffering the ability to recoup the costs of running the game. so if the full version interests you, feel free to click the in-game link for it. otherwise, enjoy the demo.

next up: tackling mobile development

Territory War 3 now live


Posted by Afro-Ninja - December 10th, 2012


I'm happy to finally announce that Territory War 3 will be launching on December 19, 2012. New maps, new weapons, new modes, more stats, map editor, and more! If that last sentence was too boring for you please check out the trailer below for video proof:

Featuring artwork by poxpower and theswain, and music by kelwynshade!

The game will initially be available on xgenstudios.com and afro-ninja.com. Due to the proprietary server setup we can't bring the full version to newgrounds, but will have a fully-featured demo available soon after launch.


Posted by Afro-Ninja - September 18th, 2012


Just a heads up to any fans of the series- I've been working on TW3 for almost two years now and it's finally reaching the point of public beta. New stages, more weapons, new game modes, better engine, etc. etc. I try to post regular updates to my site, my twitter page, and my facebook page (gotta max out that social networking). I've also started a series of video blogs on the game's progress and content, so check those out if you're interested:

(background art by poxpower)


Posted by Afro-Ninja - April 25th, 2012


Finally got around to releasing Escape 6 last night

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/594393

been sitting on that one for a while, feels weird having it uploaded now. for any fans of the genre, or point and click in general, could you give me some feedback? Escape 5 & 6 haven't been doing too well, I'm trying to figure out if it's the games themselves or just a waning interest in the genre.

Last night I caught a screening of Indie Game: The Movie with some of the NG crew downtown in Philly. Was a pretty interesting doc, followed the progression and release of Super Meat Boy, Fez, and Braid. It's definitely a good look into how dedicated you have to be to follow through on projects like that.
http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/

Lastly Pico Day is coming up this weekend and I'll be here in town with the rest of the gang, looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting some new faces!

Escape 6, Indie Games, Pico Day


Posted by Afro-Ninja - April 2nd, 2012


First off, a big thank you to anyone who happened to purchase Escape The Car on the xbox live indie marketplace! The game did well, at least well enough to justify the development. I don't know if I'll be releasing any more games to XBLIG just yet, I'd like to look into mobile development next. Thanks again to Hyptosis for providing the artwork for it. Escape #6 (flash version) is complete and ready to be released, pending some sponsorship stuff.

Work continues on Territory War 3, things are coming along much more nicely this year than last. I put up an April Fools day joke yesterday with some fake announcements. One of the announcements was actually real, which was the Map Editor. Assuming we get the system working correctly, the idea is that you can create and upload maps to play against others online with.

Territory 3 will also have an xp/leveling system where you'll be able to unlock new accessories and weapon skins for your characters.

If you're interested in smaller updates feel free to follow me on twitter (@afroninjadotcom) or lurk around www.twboards.com

See you at Pico Day!

Territory War 3 news