CMYW - Support Your Local Game Dev

July 31, 2015

Something a bit different today. Usually I use this space to ramble on about the development of my own projects. However, today I would like to draw your attention to the hard work and passion of Shane Berezowski and his debut computer game CMYW.

I know Shane from the local independent game developers group where I live. For the past few months he has been working on his first computer game and is now trying to get it greenlit on Steam.


Not familiar with Steam or their Greenlight program?

Steam is an online distributor of computer games. A while back they instituted their greenlight program. For a nominal fee, anyone can register as a game developer and then submit their game (or sometimes just a concept for a game) into the program. Players registered with Steam can then vote on the submitted games to decide which ones will be added into the Steam store proper. Developers need to generate enough buzz around their game to get greenlit.

CMYW is based on the classic game Asteroids wherein the player zips about through space blowing up asteroids until the rocks slam into them. Shane has added a number of new ideas that make the game really fun to play while still maintaining the classic feel.

The biggest change from the original classic is that the game supports up to four players in a local co-op game (i.e. you all play on the same computer so get those game controllers out). CMYW stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow White, which are the four colors that the four different players have.

When a player destroys an asteroid that asteroid drops a small amount of resources which can be harvested. These have to be carried back to the “portal”, the spawn point for the game. When the resources are returned, the player carrying them scores more points than are scored by simply shooting asteroids.

The portal can also be used to resurrect players. If a player’s ship is destroyed they eject into space. They can travel a short distance on their own before running out of oxygen or they can be picked up by another player. If they make it back to the portal then they receive a new ship.

If the portal is hit by an asteroid the game goes into “sudden death” mode. With the portal gone, the players can no longer get more ships when they’re destroyed and can no longer turn in resources for bonus points.

Shane’s put a lot of effort into his game and now he’s trying to get it greenlit on Steam. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to play test the game for him at various points in its development. If you’re registered on Steam then please head on over to Shane’s Steam CMYW page and lock in your vote to have the game greenlit. Shane’s got a couple videos up so you can see the game in action.

You can also follow Shane and his greenlight journey in the regular social media haunts of Twitter and Facebook, check out some more videos on his Youtube channel, and even download a demo of the game from his page over on Indie DB.

Even if you’re not registered on Steam, please pass the word along to any gamer friends you may know. I’m sure Shane will appreciate the support.