Showin' Off

So I think I finally have enough of the menu and small amount of collision and physics type stuff done to release a public "build". What you are downloading is a nearly completed menu, minus a lot of the final art and a few of the mechanics (no controls configuration and as of now it draws your saved characters naked.

     If you download to try it out, just unzip it and keep the folder the way it is, it creates text files for the saves and will bring up errors if you mess with the folder structure.

     Please take your time with the menu, and really mess with it, even try to break it. I would like a real list of bugs, criticism, and possible improvements from anyone that actually cares enough to write some stuff down. Other than that, there isn't much to this so its not like you will spend more than a couple minutes looking at it, but thank you if you do. More will hopefully be done soon.

DOWNLOAD

If you would like to know more about this project and you haven't already looked at the project write up, please do so here.

Thanks! 

-W3REWOLF

my eyes hurt

ok its super late and this is going to be terribly sloppy...i dont give a fuuuuuuuuh

ive been working a ton the last few nights. not much on the game itself, just on stuff to make the saving system alot easier down the road and alot of work on the main menu.

your gonna want to click for the original size so you can read it.

not all of this is functioning, but alot of it is.
thats all for now...

Improving

So the decision has been made. The online networking is a bit over my head right now, and if I dedicate my time to trying to learn it, nothing will actualy get done for a long time.

So whats going to happen is I'm going to continue on with what I was doing as a single player fairly story driven shooter. It will feature 2 player co-op with a dynamic split-screen, destructible terrain, tons of weapons, and HOPEFULLY, decent enemy AI.

Anyways, here is some new art...

..sadly it makes the shotgun look terrible. So I'm probably going to have to redo the shotgun. Plus its a little over sized in comparison to the character, but it kinda adds a cool stylized look to it. So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. 

**i just realized that the color i use for a lot of the outlines are the same as the background on this blog. so just click the picture to get a better view of what it looks like.

deathmatch!

so Ive run into a little bit of a snag. I've been working on a game that is very much inspired by the semi famous 2d shooter SOLDAT, which is an online competitive game that I spent a lot of time in high school playing. Which finaly led me to looking into how well game maker can handle online multiplayer, which it can, the problem being it takes working with an external library and basic networking knowleadge...which I do not have. So basicaly im putting progress on hold for a little bit to see how realistic it would be to try and learn this in a few days to start working again. If I can't, I plan on backing up the files I have as a placeholder for future research into it, and continue on with what I've done as a single player or possibly 2 player split screen co op thing.

It wont be quite what i wanted, but its still something right now.

Until the decision is made...

...its too dangerous to go alone! take this!

yay for progress

Its super late so I'm not going to type much, but Ive gotten a bunch done. lots of bug fixes, lots of new stuff, and lots of stuff started.

I won't go into details yet, but here is some art to tide you over until I do.

Jetpack

Grenade

                                                                                            Target dummy...                                                                                                ( i hope to release a play around demo to anyone that wants to see what ive done, itll have alot of these guys to show off the weapons.

workin hard!

So I've done a ton of work. I have nearly finished mouse and keyboard controls. Two weapons that can be picked up, switched between, and thrown away. A shotgun that fires like a shotgun, and an SMG that has a high rate of fire but a large spread at a distance. Most of the art is placeholder, the only thing Ive done art wise that im fairly proud of and keeping are the crates seen above. The character is hard to see with the tiny picture but hes going to have a lot of work done to him, but that's probably the general idea of what im going with. Just need to mess with colors and details.

The yellow dots are the shotgun shot, the crates are weapon pickups.  The gun is just a recolored SMG silhouette(i was being lazy). The art is being updated over time(when im sick of typing)

Intended Size. They are technicaly 2 different crates.

Close Up (screws up resolution)

Thanks for reading. Should have even more to update on soon!

I also drew this. I just remembered...

Shotgun shell icon to overlay onto the crates...

finaly starting to work

So I've been stalling still because of the art for my game, but while I was reading the various forums and blogs that I follow, I came across this blog post for the second time. Reading it now after attempting a few game prototypes and giving up before i get anywhere, I actualy absorbed some of the advice.

So what I've decided to do is drop the theme of my game, I'm taking out the story and the steam punk theme for now and I'm just going to do a mechanics prototype. I am no artist, I never will be, and I need to focus on the design and programming side, because that's what I do. I really like the story and characters that I have come up with, but really don't feel that anything i could produce art wise would do any of it justice, so I'm going to just wait.

Obviously because every other post I have on here is me deciding to restart a project, it probably seems like ill never actually get anything done. But I feel good about this and I've started putting together some rough programmer art that I feel fits what I'm doing (mostly lots of squares that represent things...). Once I have that, it all just comes down to the code, and there isn't any hesitation with that, it just takes time.

So look forward to actual content uploads soon.

staaaaaaaaaalling....

i cant seem to motivate myself to work on any artwork, i start and then i realize im really not a strong artist and i quit. But i have started on music a little bit, so im not dropping things completley.

if anyone has any tips throw them out. i need to start the art. its kind of important

motivation

So I've been gone for a while. Video games, reading, brainstorming, and just plain lack of motivation has kept me from doing anything really constructive, but I've started back up. Hopefully it'll last a little while. I managed to finish up my one page design document for the most part.

I'm going to start concept art soon, so hopefully ill be able to post something more than just text, get some pretty graphics up to break things up.

Lack of nerdy friends is starting to effect things. I dont know a whole lot of gamers, and the ones i do are either casual or dont really have much interest in design. Its hard to stay motivated when there isnt anyone too bounce ideas off of that has the time or interest to really want to do something.

anyways, i might be pre-ordering Bulletstorm(epic game is epic), which could hinder my progress some, but im going to try to keep working. look out for updates.

oh and anyone that actually consistently reads this stuff when i do post should leave a comment on here or facebook or something, I'de like to know if its more than just my one follower that im talking to.

Still learning...

So its kind of been a while since ive posted. I've been cursed by getting back into playing minecraft and xbox live, so forgive me.

I do have news though. I'm changing my game, I'm still going with the same basic theme, but I am starting over. The art I have shown is going to be scratched, all the code I've done is going to be rewritten, and I'm going to really really plan everything.

I was given a book about game development by someone awesome, and I've learned alot about the development process and the right and wrong ways to go about it. This stuff is my life, and I want to be able to stick with it, so I need to do it right, or I'll burn myself out.

Ill post again when I have some more info about what im doing.

It may be a while.

things are going well

So I've nearly completed the player controls, and I'm still working on animation sprites. Takes WAY to long, but its worth it once I'm done with these things.

Almost completley done with the RIGHT running animation. Next up is either the other direction or doing some of the static sprites. Standing. Sliding. Jumping. Just so in game can look a little nicer.

I'm stuck with level development though. I've never tried to be this organized before and now I just dont know where to start with the concept work.

Whatcha think?

Oh and i thought of possibly splitting up the special abilities like so

Fixing Arm Hydrolics - gives you wall slide/wall jump

Fixing Leg Hydrolics - gives you Sprint

??? - ???

I dont have anymore yet. working on it

more progress

No fancy pictures this time, but I did finaly manage to figure out the engine work some. The player now has nearly completley movement, the only thing I havn't done yet is wall jumping, and the combat controls(still figuring how I want to do that part first).

Ill probably work more on the animation sprites now, and take a break from code.

progress

Things are coming alone nicely. Haven't done any engine work, but lots of art stuff.

Couple hours to kick out these rough frames. Outline always look bad so gimme some slack. Once I finish up the running animation ill color it up and post a gif. Then its on to the running animation for the other direction(since this guy isn't symmetrical), which should be easy, as I can just reuse the legs and change up the arms.

small update

So I haven't touched code yet today but I made a ton of progress on the player character concept art. Not sure if its final yet, I still need to work with colors a little and soften the outline in some parts but it's pretty close me thinks, and if its not final I at least have a finished outline to work with. I'd just need to change the clothes and such.

This time I zoomed it!

Whatcha think? I could use some feedback, I don't get much help in figuring the creative parts out.

starting over

So I've run into some trouble with Steampunk Swordsman(project name, not final name). I started writting the engine and found that all of the GML language that I have to work with for this type of game has nearly nothing in common with what I learned doing the top down stuff I was doing before. So I'm basicaly completley starting over as a beginner with the scripting. Which sucks, I'm slowly getting it figured out, but it still is a pain.

The only thing that helps is that I organize my code much better so I'm able to read and edit my code without having to re-figure out what everything is doing. Helps with the process of sculpting out the code blocks.

So after a little work on that I took a break and tried working on some art, which lead to the billionth time realizing that I can't draw worth shit. I have visuals in my head of what I want, but they are limited to vague and stylized representations that I can't focus clear enough to be able to put down on paper, but with a strange building up process I ended up with a silhouette that I'm going to try and keep working at.

It's tiny I know*. Its at 100% zoom so that would be in game size. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with 32x32 or if i need to graduate up to 64x64. The extra pixels are good for detail but all the extra freedom makes it a lot harder for me to draw. I'm good with basic shape so single pixels are easy to work with. Plus 32x32 may just be too hard to see, even with a stylized far away camera view.

Anyways, I have story figured out more, so that helps in the process some. I just wish I was talented as I am creative. This would all be so much easier.

Lots of days off work ahead of me and nothing planned to take me away from this spot, so hopefully I'll have more of an update in the near future.

*thats what she said

Indie game list #2

Another list of good games to check out.

Hero Core - a simple Metroid style non linear exploration game. You're a little due with a jet-pack that is trying to destroy to leader of the war machines.

Shank - an xbox live arcade game modeled after the classic arcade style beat'em ups. great game with lots of unlockables. even has a full separate co-op story line.

Gish - a strange platformer type game from one of the guys that made super meat boy. this game was made before super meat boy.


Penumbra - scary as hell first person survival horror game. does a really good job of simulating weight and friction with simple tasks like opening doors and moving objects around.

Mount&Blade - a medieval wargame that does its best to properaly represent mounted combat. with the last few multiplayer expansion packs it has been nearly turned into an MMO.

Only Hero Core in this list is free. More to come later.

crazy pixelated orgy of awesomeness

So my idea for my next project has matured a bit. After watching a play-through of Hero Core ( I haven't yet played it myself...), and then revisiting past ideas I've had now that I'm actually capable of putting something on the screen instead of just drawing a bunch of pictures and saying ill learn to code later. I've decided that I think I want to do an orgy of game systems that I've played in the past.

Super Meat Boy for its crazy awesome wall climbing. Shadow of the Colossus for its straight forwardness and for just being epic. And finally the Metroid series(specifically the SNES and Gameboy versions) for its simplicity and overall just great gameplay.

All of this game inspiration rolled up into a victorian style steampunky goodness. Steampunk, if you don't know, is usually an alternate Victorian age where we reached a state of high technology early on during the steam revolution. So imagine everything we have now but instead of fossil fuels and nuclear power, we used steam. It has a unique style that I am completely in love with, and tend to obsess over when it comes to this kind of idea.

So imagine a classic Victorian age, a lot more stylized (like it was taken out of a comic book) and then overrun it with dirty yet advanced steam gadgets and vehicles. Same thing goes with the clothing

BEHOLD!
<random google images steampunk models>

 

</random google images steampunk models>

Anyways, the game is hopefully going to be a large map platformer, with nonlinear exploration and the typical metroid upgrade to get further style. Plus the super meat boy wall jumping which will be used to take out giant steam vehicles/robots similar to Shadow of the Colossus.

Sounds super complicated. Its really not, and I think, given enough preparation and planning, I can actually pull it off. (Pixel art wont look like it does in my head, but who knows, ill probably surprise myself)

Shameless plug numbuh ni!

This dude makes some pretty impressive games with the program I work with. Gives me motivation to put more effort into learning the GML language considering Game Maker is actualy capable of some pretty cool stuff if you work at it.

His game Hero Core, which you should play, gave me inspiration for what I might do for my next project. Shadow of the Colossus + Super Meat Boy?!?!?! Hard to do, but in my head it looks amazing. Its kind of a rip off project, but that's how you learn right? Plus blatantly leeching off someone elses creative mind is the purest form of flattery right?  RIGHT? ..indeed...

Check it...
<link infused picture>

</link infused picture>

Anyways, my game is comming along. Not gonna start anything else until I finish at least one full level, im just having some trouble with how I want to do enemy flight patterns. Gotta look good and give a decent challenge.

Ill start a Rapidshare account or something soon to get a demo out.

Pew!Pew!

Doin muh thaaaaang

I've been playing alot of games recently. Worked a little bit on Pew!Pew! as it has been appropriately dubbed.

Here is a mock up of the beginning of the first level, where you take off from the mother-ship to begin the 'splosion filled chaos.

  

The mother-ship isn't quite finished. I got sick of working with it for now. It's not really old-school pixel art, but people spend years perfecting that skill. So I'm just gonna do these things the way I can. 

I should have a completed level in a few days or so. Enough to call it a fairly complete game.

FEEDBACK! DO IT NAO!

The first shameless plug...

I started a YouTube Channel to be able to show off videos of my projects. I don't have much recorded but I hopefully will soonish.

This is what ive been working on the last day or two. Just a simple 2D scroller. I'm gonna make it act like an arcade game in the end. Title menu, awesome music, start game, blow stuff up, get blown up, see your score, and give your initials. Then do it again. Not meant to be anything special, I'm just practicing basics.

Indie game list #1

Here is a list of indie games that I think everyone should play. Most are good for even non "gamers".



Minecraft* - Massive randomly generated 3d worlds built up of 1meter by 1 meter cubes. You collect these cubes as building materials to construct whatever you can imagine.

Super Meat Boy* - Old-school arcade style platformer.

Spelunky - 2d side scroller with randomly generated dungeons to pillage.

Desktop Dungeons - Top down dungeon crawler based around 10-15 minute playthroughs of small randomly generated maps.

Dwarf Fortress - Take control of a small group of dwarves and construct your kingdom. 2d top down, very low res but very complex.

Osmos* - Beautiful and simple puzzle game. All you do is float and collect water droplets.

Limbo* - Sadly I have yet to play this game, but with the amount of awards its won, I still have to recommend it. Gorgeous 2d platformer.



*Games are not free, but in the case of Minecraft and Super Meat Boy, there are free versions you can play. Minecraft has a free creative version of the normal single player game that is mearly the building aspect without the map generation or survival aspects. Super Meat Boy still has the original prototype version on Newgrounds.com. The rest are free and if you dont at least look at the sites I will be severely disappointed.

Support these people!!

Dr. Steel

I had to get the first over emotional self defining post out of the way. I promise for whoever reads this (even if it's just me a few years from now.) They wont all be like that.

Take this for example...

...tiny, unproportional pixel people shooting at zombies being directed by a stereotypical mad scientist.

...yeah! 

What I want to be when I grow up...

This is video is probably the best way for me to describe why it is I want to dedicate my life to these simple, yet, amazing creations. 

Most people see a video game and they see mindless violence, flashing lights with loud music, or just a way to pass some time in between work, or school, or whatever it is you fill your schedule with...

I've never been much of a reader, and even a good movie can lose my interest at times, but playing a video game is something completely different. 

If the developer has done his job right, you should be right there with your electronic representation, fighting for your life(or at least just that high score).You should be emotionally invested in the things you are interacting with, and you should care about the outcome.

You become part of the world.

You're the one making the decisions that the final outcome of the story.

The combined logic and twisted creativity it takes to do this is the only thing I've ever found to truly fits my brain. It's the only thing that I feel like I can become more than just mediocre at.

Anyone that has known me for any length of time knows I'm the last one to stick to much for very long. I've spent a lot of time doing a little of everything, and never really excelling at any of it.

...but I was practically born with an old-school Nintendo brick in my hands, and 20 years later, after years of art, music, science, electronics, aquariums, books, and everything else I've dedicated any amount of time too.

I think I actually feel confident enough in finally truly saying that this is what I want to do with my life.