Normally, the preloader is one of the very last parts of the game that I write. It’s just a loading bar, so it never seems like the Most Important Thing To Do, but as a result, I always just slap a preloader together at the tail end of the project, and I’m never particularly happy with it, but it’s Good Enough.
But no more! I took some time yesterday and today to make a really spiffy preloader for Company’s prequel. The preloader isn’t just a loading bar in this context–in an online game, it’s also the very first thing that the user sees, which means it’s a valuable chance to make a good first impression. If the user sees that special care has been put into even the loading bar at the start, then they know that I’m for real.
But enough talk–let’s play with the thing! You can move the mouse left to right to change the “loading status” (left is unloaded, right is fully loaded), and you can also move the mouse up and down for added fun. In the actual game, the horizontal control will obviously be replaced with an actual progress meter, but the vertical control is cute so I’ll be leaving it in.
Click to try the Preloader Demo
Oh, and I’ve also got a possible title: “The Customs of Myself.” It’s got some class, some mystery, and it clearly recalls the original, so people are more likely to realize that the games are related without being told so. What do you think?
0 Responses
David T. Marchand
The customs of what now? Dude, forget that, you don’t need a game. Just let us play with this preloader. Find a sponsor and add medals to it. Put it a title. Throw a subliminal message or two and let its hypnotic force spread through the… the… what was I saying? I can’t stop STARING at the damn thing.
Ahmed Abdel Samea Hassan
It keep telling me missing plugin
I am using google chrome ??
High-Lord Vin
*wonders how many people will give the game a 1/5 rating “cause its a rip off of ‘Company of Myself”; just look at the title”
High-Lord Vin
also, to be quite simply honest, “The Customs of Myself” just sounds… awkward
also, im not sure what you mean by the pre-loader bar
what caught my eye with CoM was the nice sounding title; and then what really hooked me was the when the game first loaded, when the armor games logo + your logo popped up while the music played in the background; I think that has to be the most memorable “opening” to a game for me
Mark
If you get the “Missing plug-in” try going to http://www.2darray.net/etcetera/cigarette.swf
SBRedFlag
I like the name. It strikes a chord when you remember the first game.
On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of the preloader. I know 3D graphics are super hard to do in Flash, but the 3D makes it look kind of cheap rather than polished. I would probably prefer something a little more “cartoony”, as long as it was more bright, crisp, and clean-looking.
Maybe at least make a smoke effect coming out of the cig.
David
It looks really cool, and I’m really intrigued about what the cigarette is about.
Dirjel
I don’t like “Customs of Myself” either. It just sounds awkward to me.
Spiffy pre-loader, though 😀