This is it! Remember that game you played in high school but forgot about through college? Yes, it’s the update you’ve been waiting for but probably forgot about since it’s been so long! N v2.0 is finally finished, ready to eat up your free time (and maybe some time at work too) once again. This launch trailer should help you get excited:

Play the web version online here:
N on Kongregate

Or download the game here:
N Downloads page

(Note: both versions feature new levels and new game modes (Arcade and local 2P); the downloadable version also includes a level editor and access to the level database and highscores)

Want more detail on what’s new? Check out this in-depth breakdown:
http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/n_future.html
and the updated version history:
http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/n_history.html

Enjoy, and please help us spread the word!

We want to extend a huge thank you to Golden Gear Games for their work on the UI and front-end programming, to Gabe and Nick for their work on the back-end, and to all those who helped test the beta. You all rock!

p.s – we still haven’t forgotten about the holiday contesque winners; we’re really sorry there’s been such a delay, but we promise that as soon as we have time to make some N-related goodies (which should be in the next few months for N++), you’ll be the first to get them!

p.p.s – There are a couple of small bugs with the editor (nothing that affects saving or loading levels, or general functionality). Please send any comments, bug reports etc to metanet AT metanetsoftware DOT com, including “Nv2″ in the subject line.

Filed under: dev, n and n+ and n++, news by M&R
49 Comments »

So we have big news. Big exciting news. We’re working on the absolutely final iteration of N: it will be called N++

N++ follows in the tradition of N+ and improves on it; it’s a bigger, better, more fully-featured version, with everything N has, plus plus:

New levels, new graphics, new sound, new game modes — N++ is an aspirational re-interpretation of the game, and we’re putting everything we have into it. We are using it as an opportunity to try out some new ideas we’ve been playing around with, to refine some existing game modes/mechanics and to finally perfect global level-sharing.

We can’t announce which platform N++ will be on, or when it’ll be released, or really anything more specific than the above yet, but we really can’t wait to say more, so check back for exciting news soon. In the meantime, we’ve carved out a web presence here with the logo, and will update periodically: www.nplusplus.org

In other news, we’re currently wrapping up the final free web version, N v2.0, which was recently in beta (the beta will be closed very soon, thanks to everyone who played and helped test it!) — the full version will be released shortly (we’re still in the process of adding some security/anti-cheat measures).

So what’s the difference between N and N++, and why might we want to do both? Well, N v2.0 will be the best browser version of N — we’ve taken it as far as we can within that (somewhat limiting) framework. N v2.0 features some new and some classic levels, local 2P co-op, level-sharing, highscores and some new “fun-lockables” (TM), including Arcade Mode, which is activated when you beat a column of episodes. It is still and always will be free, and we’ve taken on the job of hosting levels and highscores for every user, also for free. N++ will fill a different niche, and allow us to explore some avenues we’re excited about that don’t work in the web version.

We’re going to do the best we can to make N v2.0 and N++ great so we can finally feel like we’ve done it right, and move on to other games. It’s a huge challenge, but we’re finally ready for it. We hope you’re ready too.

So that’s it! Welcome to the year of N.

Filed under: dev, n and n+ and n++, news by M&R
28 Comments »

Happy Valentines Day!

As always, we have made valentines — here’s a link to the web version (shows front and back):
Metanet’s 2013 Valentine  

The printed versions come in two flavours, and we’ll be distributing them over the next month or two. So if you see us, please come say hi and grab one!

Why Valentines? Here’s what we wrote last year; it’s still true:

We started making corporate valentines so we could more easily express to others that we really appreciate and love what they do. We wanted to reinforce the need to support each other, as we are all part of a dynamic and interconnected community, and to counteract some of the negative undercurrent that inevitably exists in such groups. Also, if corporations really are people, it’s only fair that they observe the same social niceties as human people! These happy little cards mean: you are either doing some pretty cool stuff or are a pretty cool person, or both, and we think that is awesome.

Things are still progressing with the N v2.0 beta — we should have another update for you all to test as soon as a couple kinks get worked out with saving/loading levels. Also, the next beta will be the first one with the new level editor… can’t wait to find all the bugs in that! Look for that soon.

In semi-related news, we have another project which was supposed to start a month ago, however we’ve been dragging our feet on starting it since we wanted to get v2.0 finished first. At this point we really have to start working on the new thing, so work on v2.0 will be moved to “the backburner” (aka weekends). There isn’t too much left to do though, and our plan is to have it completed in the next month or two. Also, we can’t tell you about the new project yet because nothing has been signed, but we can’t wait to tell you all about it as soon as everything is official!

Finally, System Shock 2 is being re-released today over at GOG! It is a great game, one of our all-time favourites, and you should all play it.

love,
Metanet

Filed under: news by M&R
14 Comments »

Surprise! We have a few updates to the N v2.0 beta for you to check out. Thanks for all the feedback you’ve been emailing and posting to the blog and forum, by the way, it’s helped identify quite a few bugs. We and Golden Gear Games have been working tirelessly all month on fixing them, plus adding features and testing like there’s no tomorrow, and as you’ll see there are quite a few improvements to the latest build.

Check it out at the same URL as last time: N v2.0 Public Beta

It’s still not quite finished, but we’re pretty happy with the progress we’ve made. Known bugs include:

• The editor is still missing. We’re working on it!
• Accounts are working, but there are some issues that need to be worked out still. Playing an unlocked level from the “levels” page and then pressing esc to return to that page results in some buggy progress data. We recommend not doing this until you’ve beaten lots of levels!
• Some UI text and graphics are still placeholder.
• The buttons on the level pages to watch replays, favourite levels, rate levels and flag don’t seem to do anything at the moment.
• Sounds still cutting out.

New in this version:

Lots of bug-fixing. So, so much.

FUNlockables (TM)! Beating a column unlocks ninja flavours again. Hooray!

Arcade Mode is enabled after beating a column, allowing you to play through that column again using Arcade rules (Resume Game does not currently work with Arcade Mode, though it appears in the main menu — don’t click it, it breaks stuff. It will work eventually). We think the addition of Arcade Mode sufficiently up’s the difficulty ante, and plus the new rules are just fun.

There’s currently a cheat enabled so you don’t have to play through all the levels to see the userlevels columns or Arcade Mode: ctrl+click on an episode to “beat” it, then exit to the main menu and return to the “play game” screen to see the change.

Speaking of the userlevels columns, we painstakingly went through the levels that were recommended plus many more from NUMA, and selected a set of our favourites and levels that we thought would work well in this context. We had to cut many, but we tried our best to show a variety of map-makers and types of levels, while holding true to our aesthetic. There were so many we had to add two bonus columns instead of just one.

Because of the cheats and other stuff, we WILL be wiping the database before the final release, so don’t get too attached to those highscores. We will leave your accounts intact, we’ll just clear progress and replays.

Any feedback you have can be sent to metanet AT metanetsoftware DOT com, subject line “N v2.0 feedback”, or posted in this forum thread. Thanks for your help!

We are continuing to refine N v2.0, and as always, will keep you posted. Until next time!

ps. in case you missed it, the title of this post was a reference to Cryptic Sea’s A New Zero: http://www.crypticsea.com/anewzero/ Check it out!

Filed under: news by M&R
76 Comments »

Yes, N v2.0 is finally coming together, and as promised we have for you a new beta version to try out. Hooray!

Most of the obvious kinks from the initial beta have been worked out; we’re looking forward to a whole new batch of problems

Here you go!
N v2.0 Public Beta

For our fans: thanks to ska, gloomp, flagmyidol, lord_day, and RandomDigits, there’s a new secret/hidden column of user-made episodes that’s unlocked when you beat all the regular episodes. The current level selection is temporary/placeholder, and will be changing substantially for the final release, we just wanted to get this feature in quickly to stamp out all the bugs.

We need your help testing these, because we have yet to beat some of them — please confirm for us that they’re actually beatable in the new simulator. Also, we’re going to post on the forums about this feature in the near future, stay tuned.

This is our first “public” beta, so for those of you just joining us, here are some intro notes:

You’ll notice that the editor is missing (we’re still working on it), but there are lots of new things we think are pretty cool and are hoping you’ll enjoy.

First and foremost, N is finally playable in-browser, which should solve the problems Mac and Linux users have been having. The N code was painstakingly ported to Actionscript 3 from the ground up, so we were able to refine and optimize it to work better on modern computers. Let’s just hope the browser version of the Flash Player is finally up to the challenge of N. So far people seem to be having more luck with Firefox than Chrome. No reports on IE because nobody uses it ;p

The first thing you’ll need to do is to make an account; we considered duplicating old accounts, but since we are integrating searching for and playing user levels right into N, we instead decided to retain NUMA and the old system as is for those of you who want to continue using that version. In N v2.0, your account will save your game so you can resume your progress wherever you login, and it will be where your user-made levels are stored.

Because of some of the changes we made to the code, old levels and replays are not automatically compatible, so we decided to start fresh with N v2.0. Your old levels will be playable in N v2.0, with a few exceptions (e.g objects placed without snapping in 1.4 will end up snapped to the 1/4 grid in 2.0) — you’ll just have to paste the old level format into the editor (once it’s finished), test them to make sure they work, and then you can upload them to the new database for all to download and play. We’ll go into more detail on how that works when the editor is done and added.

In this version, when you beat the built-in levels in episode format (under “play game”), they are unlocked for highscore runs (under “levels” -> metanet levels). You’ll be able to browse user levels and your own levels and get highscores for those as well, all of which will be hosted on Metanet’s servers for free.

If some of the levels look familiar, you’re not hallucinating: the built-in levels in N v2.0 are made up of our 100 favourite levels from each of the previous versions of N (v1.4, N+ DS, N+ PSP, N+ XBLA) plus 100 new levels. It’s kind of a “best of”.

We’d love to hear what you think! Please send all feedback, including bug reports, questions, comments and critiques to metanet AT metanetsoftware DOT com, subject line “N v2.0 feedback”, or in this forum thread. If you’re reporting a bug, please send us as much detail as possible — let us know about your OS, browser, and if you can, how to reproduce the bug you’re seeing. More detail = way better

There are still lots of things that remain to be done.

Known bugs/problems (which we’re working on) include:

• sign-up broken (rejects all email addresses… doh);
• suicide key doesn’t work;
• intermittent chuggy performance;
• news scroller is mis-scaled;
• sounds cutting out;
• glitch when wallsliding at the top of the screen(?!);
• buttons/UI isn’t completely finished/polished;
• .swf file is 666.68kb.. possibly semi-demonic.

Highscorers, take note — if we find any bugs that require significant changes to the game, we may have to wipe the highscores for the final release. We’ll keep you posted, but be ready to re-work your magic when the update comes out just in case.

The final release will include the editor, of course, plus some more polish. We’ll also think about some of the things we’d planned but cut for time and will see what we can do: social stuff (eg the concept of a friends list so you can easily find and challenge each other), the planned challenge modes or other game modes, and a way for you to make your own episodes or playlists. So there’s still lots to do until we consider this game really finished, but we’re happy to have a good base to work with, finally.

For the winners of last year’s contesque, we haven’t forgotten you! We still haven’t figured out what the prize will be, but now that N is out we can get back to work on it

And finally, a bit of a year-in-review. 2012 was disappointing in many ways (for example, we planned to have N finished by the summer!) and exciting in others (we did a bunch of talks, travelled a little and made some new friends, plus we finally finished many of the planned updates for N, which is hugely gratifying after so many years of work).

We are very grateful that so many fans have stuck with us even as we continued to let you down by missing deadlines — rest assured, your support and understanding have been huge comforts through our various struggles with N. We know that we have not been keeping you updated very often this year, and we really regret that. We promise to make more time for blog updates in 2013 and to let you know what we’re up to in the future, whatever that may be.

Speaking of which, we should have some pretty interesting not-v2.0-related news for you N fans shortly, so keep an eye on the blog!

Filed under: n and n+, news by M&R
106 Comments »

We’re still madly working to get the N v2.0 public beta out before the end of the year… it’s going to be close, and although we REALLY tried all year to avoid this last-minute panic, sometimes there’s nothing you can do!

We had hoped to be done early so that we would have time to play through the whole thing one last time, however that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Rest assured, as you celebrate the new year, we will be playing through levels long into the night, ringing in the new year with ninja-body-part fireworks.

Anyway, we should have good news for you sometime in the next four hours… stay tuned! Or, better yet, go out and have a great New Year’s eve, and the beta will be waiting for you tomorrow

EDIT: please see our comment below… long story short, we have a build running and it sucks. We were hoping to only have a few problems, but this is unplayable… somehow there are crashes that don’t happen on our version that do happen in the final version. UGH.

We’re really sorry if we’ve ruined anyone’s New Year’s Eve… it’s definitely ruined for us. We’ll be back tomorrow with hopefully better news.

EDIT: okay, we seem to have resolved the most egregious bugs so we’re going to put it up (new blog post coming soon), however it will be *much* better when we’ve finished fixing all of the remaining problems. Here’s the current version:

N v2.0 Public Beta

Known bugs/problems (which we’re working on) include:

• login/signup is broken;
• mainmenu relays aren’t working;
• episode/level numbers are wrong;
• game uses arcade-mode timer/gold rules (whoops.. bit of miscommunication);
• jittery performance (especially on some win7 computers);
• sounds cutting out;
• glitch when wallsliding at the top of the screen(?!);
• buttons/UI isn’t completely finished/polished.

Filed under: n and n+, news by M&R
44 Comments »

Oh wow, we just noticed now it’s been 8 months since our last blog post. We are so sorry about that! We’ve had our heads down feverishly working on the N v2.0 update and have been hit with some delays and unanticipated problems, and completely lost track of time.

But to be totally honest, part of our silence has to do with not having finished the game already… we wanted it to be done a year ago, and here we are still struggling to get it done. We’re feeling pretty bad about that, and sincerely apologize to all of you who have been waiting so patiently.

We should have news for you very soon (really, this time) and we cannot wait to hear what you think.

Follow us on twitter if you like:
@metanetsoftware
@raiganburns
@maresheppard

And get ready for N v2.0! It really is coming soon.

Filed under: dev, n and n+, news by M&R
49 Comments »

It’s that time of year again, the annual migration of game developers to the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. Our flight was delayed, which is kind of lucky because in our rush to pack we forgot to write a blog post!

A couple weeks ago we reached +500 new N levels; initially we were worried that it would be hard to come up with new ideas, however once we got rolling we somehow managed to keep finding new sorts of traps/arrangements/concepts, so that was nice. We’ve still got it!

We still need to go through all of the N+ levels to find the best ones to include… unfortunately we never got around to making a nice spreadsheet, instead they’re scattered in text-files and quite a pain to track down. Plus, they’re all slightly different dimensions… it’s not going to be a fun process.

Looking back at the original N levels, it’s amazing to us that anyone liked the game — many of the early levels, aside from being ugly, are quite awkward. We enjoy a good challenge, but there’s an important difference between a level that’s hard in a fun/fair way, and a level that’s hard because of an awkward/annoying section.

Anyway, progress on the front- and back-end is progressing as well; the game code itself is almost complete, there are are only a few small things like tweaking the ragdoll remaining to do. We managed to get the 60hz simulation feeling quite close to the original 40hz version; it’s definitely slightly different, but we were surprised by how close we were able to make things. Having a special double-wide build of the game that showed both versions side-by-side definitely really helped the process.

We’ll be back with more shortly. In the meantime, check out the last of Mare’s old videos! There’s Office Donuts, a short film that explores the effects of donuts on modern office workers, and Früheadism: A Docfrümentary, a documentary about a Canadian band called Moxy Fruvous and their eccentric fans.

Hope to see some of you at GDC! We are both doing talks this year. Mare’s is called “Why I Hate Women in Games Initiatives” and is about the importance of diversity, and Raigan’s is a 5 minute rapid-fire session called “Why I Hate Triangle Meshes”, on the aesthetics of technology. We’ll put the slides up when we’re back in Toronto.

Until next time!

Filed under: dev, n and n+, news by M&R
53 Comments »

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you see us in person over the next little while, we’ll give you a printed version of this year’s delightful valentine card (they are slightly different from the digital version above).

We started making corporate valentines so we could more easily express to others that we really appreciate and love what they do. We wanted to reinforce the need to support each other, as we are all part of a dynamic and interconnected community, and to counteract some of the negative undercurrent that inevitably exists in such groups. Also, if corporations really are people, it’s only fair that they observe the same social niceties as human people! These happy little cards mean: you are either doing some pretty cool stuff or are a pretty cool person, or both, and we think that is awesome.

We’re still working hard to make N v.2 great, and expect to have more news for you soon.

In the meantime, why not check out one of Mare’s old short films (featuring music by Raigan), recently uploaded to youtube? Jimmy the Thief is short and sweet, and Metanet historians may enjoy Robots Don’t Wear Hats: Episode One, which contains the first known references to Metanet and Robotology!

Also, Raigan’s been making more OP-1 music:
http://soundcloud.com/operator-operator-4
http://soundcloud.com/operator-operator-3

Until next time!

Filed under: misc, news by M&R
7 Comments »

We spent some time reviewing the highscore replays and they are very impressive. It really is amazing what skilled players can do, and moreover what they can make look so easy! There’s a real elegance to the replays: they are a carefully choreographed succession of restrained, efficient moves and yet despite that palpable determination and precision, the way the ninja floats and soars through the levels is quite beautiful. Definitely worth watching.

You can download the new builds and check out the replays here. Enjoy!

If you have problems viewing replays, try returning to the highscores list and redownloading the replay.

We are still not sure what the prizes awarded will be, but rest assured: there will be something, and we will let you know as soon as we have it confirmed (we’ll write to the email addresses you used to submit your scores).

As always, stay tuned for more news of N v2.0′s progress. Right now we’re getting it working at 60 frames per second. More details as they develop!

Filed under: contesques, dev, n and n+ by M&R
15 Comments »