Jonathan Holmes of the eponymous “Sup Holmes” webshow was kind enough to have me on as a guest this week! You can listen to/watch the whole thing here:
Or check out the post on Destructoid right thurr
Huge thanks to Jonathan for the opportunity to speak to such a huge audience about my work. I started out making obscure-ass adventure games and now it’s showing up as news on one of the major gaming websites. That is bananas. It’s more than bananas. It’s papayas.
Hey dudes!
I’ve just managed to track down the Indiecade clip from GTTV. They were nice enough to surround it with an in-depth feature about Modern Warfare 2. You can watch the segment here; the Indiecade segment starts at 6:40, and the me stuff is at 7:33. I talk about PC/Mac compatability issues…in relationships.
Yes yes, but what do I win if I answer all the questions right?
Well, not me personally, but my game is!
Check out this week’s episode of Bytejacker, where Nanobots has earned the honour of being “Free Indie of the Week.” The Nanobots review starts at around 5:00, but I suggest you watch the whole thing to hear the host talk about his magic underwear.
And now, I’m off to France. 
I’m not sure how many of these count as “Easter Eggs,” but here are some fun things to try in Nanobots.
Pick up or push the other bots
Analyze the necklace, balloon, computer monitor, gumball machine, etc.
Put all the bots onto one tile and then have Strongbot push something at them
Look at the books 2x
Zoom in near the vanishing point of the final image, northeast of the island
Dial 911 on the cell phone
Hit F8…whoops, sorry, that’s the Easter Egg in Spooks.
Perfect way to waste some time if it’s as rainy where you are as it is here.
Internet, I am proud to introduce my second freeware adventure game, “Nanobots”!
Download it here! (rar)
Or here! (zip)
Design, art, and writing by Erin “The Ivy” Robinson
Scripting by Vince Twelve
Music by Chris “Scorposer” Moorson
The story:
Groovy Greg set out to make robots that could love. He created six nanobots: Hotbot, Brainbot, Tallbot, Audbot, Strongbot, and Chembot. Each was designed with one special ability, enabling them to work together as a team to overcome challenges. There was only one problem: the nanobots hated each other.
Now, with the evil Professor Killfun threatening to give him a failing grade, Groovy Greg has almost given up on his experiment. Little does he know that his beloved bots are about to meet an even bigger challenge than they had been programmed for…
“Nanobots” is a classic-style point and click adventure game that lets you control the six different robots as they race to save themselves from being turned into scrap metal. Can they make use of their surroundings, fashion an escape plan, and avoid coming face-to-fist with Professor Killfun? Only if they give peace a chance.
Click to view large size
I’m eager to hear what you think of it. There’s one catch though…I’m about to disappear from the grid for about four days (you know, Canada Day). I’ve asked my friend Tim to moderate all the comments until I come back on Tuesday. So if I don’t reply right away, don’t be sad! I’ll be back and I’ll personally reply to everyone (except the spambots; they’re giving robotkind a bad name).
Hope you like it, lovelies!
P.S. If you get stuck, Audbot is pretty good at giving hints.
Hey new visitors! So who wants cake? 
Okay, so we’re into our last week of beta testing for Nanobots. If I had to pick a day to come back here it would be…June 27. I didn’t want to give any more away by posting screenshots (those are here here and here), so this is more a teaser than an actual preview.
See, I promised some people there would be explosions and well…I don’t plan to let them down.
Q: Hey Ivy, what’s the hold-up? Where are the Nanobots and can I play with them yet?
A: Good question. Unfortunately my life has taken a turn for the ridiculously busy, but here’s what I can tell you right now:
The gameplay itself is done done done.
The ending cutscene is missing two or three animations that won’t take me too long.
Based on what the beta testers had to say, I decided to add a tutorial section to the beginning. This will take me a bit of extra effort but will probably make the game a lot more fun/intuitive.
Scorposer has kindly offered to make me a few more tunes and sound effects, which shouldn’t be too long in the making.
I’m more eager to be done with this thing than all of you put together, so don’t worry. 
Q: I am a loyal reader of your blog but have yet to post anything. If I sent you a real Q & A question would you answer it?
A: Yes. It would make me very happy to do so.
Q: So…why aren’t you done with Nanobots yet?
A: Hey screw you.
Bad news: Nanobots is slightly delayed.
Good news: I’ll be passing my midterms this year.
In the interests of graduating, I’ll have to set the game aside for a few days. But! Beta testing is already going strong, and the game is getting done even while I’m caffeinated beyond usefulness. The testers have found some ingeniously well-hidden bugs, and they’re providing some great feedback on where I need to add some in-game hints. There are lots of little extras yet to do, including some sound effects and arty things, but I don’t see any of this slowing the game for too long. I’m not going to set a deadline but…soon.
Thanks for being patient 
~Erin
P.S. Plus, hey, it’s freeware. You get what you pay for.
Nanobots is beeping along at a steady clip, thanks to Vince’s tireless coding and my…neglect of my schoolwork. 
We hope to start beta testing this Friday, and if all goes well the game should be done on time. New comics for you in the meantime. Hope you likee.
Happy belated 2008! Hope everyone’s broken a few new year’s resolutions already.
First, a small update about the progress of Nanobots. There’s an extended plot summary and some more screenshots here. I’ve recruited a few beta testers, and Vince has been coding like it’s his job. I’m confident we can release the game by mid-February, possibly even on Valentine’s day. That would make it two years to the day since everyone’s favourite goldfish and dead girl first came to be. I’m getting a bit misty already.
Secondly, I’ve just uploaded the first new comic of the season. It’s about one peg above “pun” on the joke-acceptability scale, but that didn’t stop me from writing it. I hope history vindicates me on this one.
