In software terms, anything more than a decade old is usually obsolete – but not always. Xye was inspired by a 1992 Windows shareware game called Kye that Bolivian developer Victor Soliz Kuncar found when he was 12 on a computer magazine’s CD-ROM. From that base Soliz Kuncar added several elements and objects, until Xye evolved into a challenging puzzle game that also includes levels in which dexterity with the keyboard is more important than the puzzle. The goal of the game is to gather gems in each level, but there may be traps, monsters, and hard puzzles in your way. This week, in honor of the season, the project is releasing a Christmas level pack.
Starting the Xye project in 2005 gave Soliz Kuncar a chance to practice C++ programming and game development. “I first used Haaf’s Game Engine (HGE) and Code::Blocks with MinGW32,” he says. “However, I wanted the game to be cross-platform and ended up moving to Simple DirectMedia Layer SDL. I eventually moved from Code::Blocks and MinGW32 to just a makefile and text editor and g++ because it was simpler to code from different Linux machines using those tools.”
When Soliz Kuncar first released Xye, it was not especially user-friendly. “It first was just a list of level files that you could click, but I kept making changes and eventually added a simple GUI. However, it is still not optimal. I’d like to add things like a main menu that would take you to tutorials and official levels, and add some graphical instructions. I’d also like Xye to remember what levels you have already solved. Adding support to the editor so that it allows you to create multi-level files would be also helpful.”
 |
Then there’s the issue of the game’s look and feel. “My brother has been in charge of the art, and he was making a new look that was more stylish. Unfortunately, we have not been able to focus on Xye as much as we’d like recently.” The most recent release was in August. Soliz Kuncar says he usually makes updates in the first months of the year and between August and October.
Soliz Kuncar says the project could use more level designers. “We need interesting levels that are suitable for basic-intermediate level players; I tend to make levels that are too complex.” If you’d like to help, the best way to contact the project is by email.