First off, don't be alarmed at the current size of the Etoys project file. I haven't implemented an important piece of programming that flushes out unnecessary graphics memory: it's saved in the image for now.  That said, a lot of things were done this week.  First off, here's a couple of videos showing some WIP on the first issue's pack-in project (remember, Etoys Club is not only print, but is accompanied by a 'cover disk'..the unfortunate aspect of that is since there's one of me and two pieces of kit to produce per issue, it's a lot of work and thus takes awhile. Even though I am perfectly capable of making graphics, I relied instead of using open source graphics for some of the elements within this or else it would never get done! If anyone wishes to volunteer for various aspects of the production, let me know.  This is unfunded as of yet, so there's no money in it nor implied that you will ever get any as there's no expectation from me personally as to the success of panhandling for donations and funding.

The boring stuff out of the way, here's a couple of videos.  The first one shows an early version of the 'attract mode'.  This is the term used when an arcade machine has no players on it and is showing flashy stuff or giving a premise or showing gameplay footage in order to get people to check it out.  :)  The second footage is of a raster effect demo that will be included in the final demozine. 

You can subscribe to that channel for updates before they're posted here if it's really a burning desire to see such things before 'officially' put here.  

Be warned; if you download the WIP, the entire script is on a page.  If you want to have the experience of the first issue completely spoiled, feel free to read it.  If you do not want to have the mind blowing first issue ruined, the simply skip over it to the level editor demo.  Give it a second to load as I have not optimized it to flush the graphics out (this is what is making this week's project so big!).  On the technical side, if you wish to attempt to fix it yourself, the mainTile that rests in the bottom left hand corner needs a little script so that when the page, project or book is closed, it's first element looks like a dot, but not before saving the reference to the graphic as a variable along with the offset of the graphic it's showing (it's a long story but you're free to read it all; it's always open source in Etoys land!) and then on opening it needs to gather that information and make it's first element look like the variables it points to and offset that image back to where it belongs.  If you edit just mainTile, don't forget to re-initialize both playfields or else you won't notice anything!  

Now that I've given you insight into the next bit of editing I need to do, it's time to call it a night.  See you next week and don't forget to leave comments and suggestions if you try this out.  Remember, it's an Etoys project and you can pick it up from the download link.  If you don't have Etoys, the first link takes you to squeakland where you can get it for free. The 2nd file is the WIP of the print aspect of Etoys Club and the 3rd file is project referred to in this entry and is wayyyyy too big!  :p  

EDIT:  I forgot some screenshots.  :)

Title screen.  It's like a game...or is it?!

Early alpha of the map editor that will be used to build the 'interface' of this issue.  Tiles picked up from opengameart.org.

A pill button colorizer/graphic maker for...

...the option screen seleciton items!  :p  

If you find this page and don't want to have the first issue's 'storyline' spoiled, then simply keep moving on.  I placed things specifically so that you can't really accidentally figure out what's going on, so there's an extra layer of help for your lack of self control if you need it!  :)  

Enjoy!