The source code for Super Lemonade Factory is now available. Both iOS and AIR versions are available.

Why?

I’ve been heavily influenced to open this up by some of my favourite games. Namely, Aquaria, Spelunky and Canabalt. The source code for these games has been made available by their creators.

The release of Aquaria’s source code led to a build working in a PSP, something I thought was insanely cool when I saw it. I believe this led to the iPad release.

The code for Flixel-iOS that was included with Canabalt’s release is what Super Lemonade Factory was built upon. There are a few improvements, such as a virtual control pad. Canabalt only require one touch at the time, so I improved the FlxTouches class to allow multiple touches at once and build a virtual control pad.

Pixel Art & The License

Super Lemonade Factory is not technically open source. I still need to hold on to the copyright of the name and the art.

Am I Scared?

Yes!

If someone wants your sprites, they are going to get them one way or another. Entire websites are built around sprite rips. These are probably illegal, but provide a great resource for someone who wants to learn pixel art. So if someone really wanted the sprites out of Super Lemonade Factory, I’m sure they’d get hold of them. You could pretty easily explode the gifs on the Super Lemonade Factory website and have all of the character sprites.

 So, Tell Me Again, Why?

I would love to see SLF on so many different systems. XBLIG would be my number one choice. I just don’t have the time. I’ve put one years worth of free time into this game. It’s a cool game, but I could do better next time around. I learned so many lessons in game design and code, it was worth it alone for that.

People have approached about ports. I’d love to see it on as many systems as possible, but I can’t personally port it to every system. So now the code is out there, people can have a look, determine if it’s worth their time, then get in touch with me.

One thing I realised is that if I make a sequel, it’s not going to be good enough to reuse the same sprites. I can’t just make another 72 levels and call it a sequel. Gamers want more than that. I think the sprite set created by Miguelito for this game is gorgeous. So I’m giving everyone a deep look at it.

Clone Wars

I’m not worried about clones. Direct rip offs on the app store can be dealt with using DMCA.

Clones are going to happen whether you like it or not. I think this game is too niche to be cloned. There’s a brutal storyline, there are unsexy characters. This is a depiction of real life in a terrifying time in history. There is a history lesson wrapped up in a pixel art/retro game. If someone or some company wanted to clone this game, make it sexy, lose the depressing storyline, then they should do it. An undertaking like that is going to require a fair bit of work regardless of whether source code is available or not.

Levels

The level editor has been available since day 1. It hasn’t been very popular, I hope this brings some attention to the fact that you can make your own levels.

Links

iOS Source Code - https://github.com/initials/SLF_SOURCE

AIR Source Code - https://github.com/initials/SLF_AIR_SOURCE