We’re going to start a new tradition around here… Frame Buffer Fridays! A few of you were reading our weekly updates on behind-the-scenes game development, but pictures speak louder than words. So every Friday, we’re going to post a screenshot with a quick description for those that want to see some work in progress. This week brings you a status update on Galaxy 4:

Galaxy 4 is where the Dredge Faction have set up their hardcore mining operations. A few planets have mining derricks that bore to their cores, digging up Spacefuel. Others (like the one right above the ring) have stray asteroids that you have to watch out for when pummeling the miners. Galaxy 4 is close to the Dredge home galaxy, so they’ve been here for a while!

Pat:
Last Saturday we got news that we placed 2nd in Microsoft’s 2009 Dream Build Play Competition. However, we don’t want to rest at that. There’s work to be done, content to be added, improvements to be made, and bugs to fix. Since the news about the competition, I’ve been working implementing Dan’s new Ice Droid enemy that can freeze Max in his tracks, a driller droid enemy that can surprise Max by drilling up underneath him, and another new Boss enemy who can shoot saw blades. Yes, you read that correctly, he shoots saw blades. You are not ready for this.

Dan:
Churned out some more models and textures this week. Updated the very cool, Galaxy 3 cube map. Finished up some work on a new enemy droid, the “Driller Droid”, he’s a pretty neat enemy with a mechanic that will have you running. Made a couple of new planet props, the Mining Cannon and Mining Derrick, both pretty neat, you’ll see how they integrate into the planet in the next few weeks. Other than that, working on some miscellaneous rigging and texturing today.

Panya:
Galaxy4 slowly got started this week, as well as continued work on Galaxy3. It’s neat seeing levels different than the one we’ve been staring at for the past few months. Boss3 got animated (the dual-saw guy) with a pretty unique mechanic that plays well with the round planets. I also got asteroids to impact planets, adding more danger to the environments. Whether it’s a driller droid, sun flares, or stray asteroids, you gotta keep moving! Sounds like an action game! Oh and we also celebrated our Dream Build Play win by grubbing at Houston’s. Ribs ftw.

After Dream Build Play, we started getting a bit more press. To help our readers, we’ve cleaned up a bit and changed our Media page to a Press page. You can check out Joystiq’s preview of Max Blastronaut from PAX. Read all about it!

The results are in! Max Blastronaut has placed second in Dream Build Play 2009! All those late nights, all that crunch, all that nail-biting, has finally paid off. We’re extremely happy with the results. And now, we celebrate by taking it a little easier*. Read all about the results at the Creator’s Club website.

*only 40 hours a week

Max Blastronaut is a Dream-Build-Play 2009 Finalist! Out of around 300 submissions, we’re in the top six. This is a great honor, with so many stellar entries this year. What does this mean for us? Well, there’s a chance to get in the top four and get prizes and maybe an XBLA publishing contract. We will also be on display during PAX this weekend, at Microsoft’s Indie Games booth. With almost 60,000 attendees last year and growing, PAX is a great place to get hands-on feedback and public opinion. The final results will be announced sometime tomorrow. Fingers crossed, the competition’s tough! Congrats to all the finalists! You can read more about it at G4TV.com.

You may have seen our subtle attempts to direct you to our presence on the web. Well, enough of that… we’re coming out and saying it directly! For an indie like us, a great way to get attention is through word-of-mouth. Most of you have been telling your friends, and that means a lot to us. If you haven’t joined the Coin App cult yet, pick your poison below! With all these fancy options there’s something for everyone. You can also follow our RSS feed if that’s your thing.