We’ve been pretty quiet here for the past few years. So just what has been going on? Well first of all, we would like to officially announce the project we’ve been working on.

After we were unsuccessful in obtaining funding for Solius: The Magic Castle, we took some time to evaluate the game, thoughtfully considered the feedback people provided, and decided to make some changes. We reformed Solius into a new title, which we are please to announce today: Sandwich Isles!

Sandwich Isles is a silly 2D platformer. It features three playable characters and a cartoony aesthetic.

We are also pleased to announce at this time that we have released an early Work-In-Progress demo of the game. This demo is just for feedback purposes, and there are many things that are not quite ready. But we would like to see what people think so we know how best to shape the further development of this title. You can download a copy here.

Here’s a little sample and a little reminder that the project isn’t dead and I am still making some progress.

I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll be ready for a kickstarter later this year. But I am also trying a couple things out, and if they go well there will be some big big changes up ahead. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

I’ll definitely have another update up this summer, so keep an eye out for it.

Eight Ball Gaming will be hosting two tournaments at the Salt Lake Gaming Con! On Friday, August 7, we will be hosting a classic Doom tournament, and on Saturday, August 8, we will be running a tournament for classic Unreal Tournament.

Both tournaments are free to enter (with admission to Salt Lake Gaming Con) and the winner of each tournament will receive a free pass to next years Gaming Con! However, there are a limited number of slots available in the tournaments, so register early!

Here’s a link to the SLGC’s tournaments page:
http://www.slgctournaments.com/

The exact times for the tournaments will be announced later, but we will also have our computers set up so you can have a few practice rounds/Free Play while you are at the con!

It’s been nearly a whole year since there has been any word about Solius. The site looks abandoned. Is the game abandoned too?

Well fret no more, we just wanted to let you know that the game IS still in development. As has been stated previously, development has just slowed down.

There is no public demo available for the latest version, but here’s a couple things that have been implemented recently:

• A new level-navigation system has been implemented!
• Two new classes of enemies have been created!
• A dash ability has been added!
• The camera’s boundaries can change dynamically, so secret areas can be revealed when the player finds them!
• A complete save system has been created to save player progress! (Okay that one’s not very exciting but it is important!)

It’s not much, but there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that we are not ready to reveal yet. We hope to tell you all about it later this year, so stay posted!

Unfortunately, funding was not successful for Solius: The Magic Castle.

We have rounded up this month with a final publicly-available update to the game, complete with a number of new features. You can watch a video of it here:

As for the future of this project, development is going to have to slow down but not stop. We will not be posting regular updates, but we will inform you of progress as it comes.

And in case you missed here, here is the last released demo: http://eightballgaming.com/download/

This Saturday, August 16th, I will be bringing a demo of Solius to The Nerd Store in the Valley Fair Mall!

That’s this Saturday only, from 1pm to 9pm, in West Valley City, Utah!

This will be your chance to try the latest version of Solius, with a few additions not yet found in the downloadable demo!

This is probably the last public showcase for the game as well; the campaign is ending in less than two weeks! So be sure to swing by and check out the latest improvements to the game, and make sure you visit the campaign page on Indiegogo and pledge a donation so that this game can be made!

This Saturday, August 2nd, I will be bringing a demo of Solius to Ogden’s local game store, Game Vault!

That’s this Saturday only, from 1pm to 7pm in Ogden, Utah!

There’s no charge for admission or anything like that. Just come down and check out the game in person!

If you got to play the game at Fan X, you can get to see all the improvements made tot he game since then! If you played it at Fantasy Con, you might discover a few new changes as well.

Click here for directions.

Not able to make it to Ogden?
I’m trying to arrange some more showcase events at other locations! Nothing is confirmed at this time, but keep your eyes peeled!

Finally, the funding campaign is live!

We need your help to make Solius become a reality! Head to our campaign on Indiegogo and help contribute to the campaign! Tell your friends and neighbors!

This isn’t just about making the game “possible,” but about making it the best it can be! The more support we get, the more we can do! We want tons of levels, enemies, and bosses! We want to hire additional artists! We want a frikkin’ sweet musical soundtrack! We want the game to be available for Wii U, PlayStation, and Xbox!

So what are you waiting for? Go to our Indiegogo page and make a pledge to the campaign! Share the link on your favorite social media site! Let’s make this a reality!

Why not Kickstarter? I thought the campaign was going to be on Kickstarter.
We were originally planning on having it on Kickstarter, but we ran into problems with Amazon Payments that prevented us from being able ti use Kickstarter. So it’s on Indiegogo now!

And because of the confusion about what site the campaign is on, many people might be looking in the wrong place. That’s why it would be really helpful if you told your friends about this!

And as always, thank you for your interest and support!

June saw the completion of several new features just in time for Fantasy Con! There’s a completely functioning throwing weapon system, a new level, and more!

This video shows the demo that was showcased at Fantasy Con and points out all the improvements from May.

There’s not a lot to show for this month; it was mostly a lot of revisions to code. But feel free to enjoy these new tiles for a snow level!