GameDev time: Day 1

Abandoned Projects List

  Ok.  I am currently using the GameMaker 8 engine for all of my projects.  I am familiar with it and know what it is capable of.  Plus, I am pretty much incapable of learning new things at this point... I found it to be the one most similar to QBasic and it has nice autocomplete functions.

  My current projects are mostly in their starting phase.  I get the basic physics done in about a day and from then it's just making rooms and replacing placeholders.

Platformer 1


  My first project was a simple platformer.  Something along the lines of old Prince of Persia; Wall climbing and jumping, etc.  Using single sprite images as placeholders made it difficult for me to imagine how much time would be needed for simple animations like hanging or walking and I eventually got bored.  I didn't really need to make a game like this anyways, but it was a nice start.


Platformer 2

  My next project was a bit simpler, a faster paced action game.  Things like wall kicks and jump through platforms.  I wanted the game to run at a much higher speed than most platformers I see.  Unfortunately, I played a certain flash game which was basically what I was going for only done way better.  So I scrapped the project and moved on.

Shmup 1

  Next I wanted to make an artistic looking bullet hell action game.  Even though there are dozens of quality ones out there already I could work on presentation rather than good physics.  I was doing pretty good at making neat bullet patterns based on mathematical formulas and what not.  Then I entered a sort of phase where everything had to be a physics gimmick and the project fell apart.  I had the idea of a protagonist that couldn't shoot, but rather changed gravity to get bullets to orbit him.  While there are probably better ways to go about it I used the in-engine hard physics to do it and got a rather erratic result.  Shmups need to control well to be playable with a low to zero amount of random chance.  Until I "master gravity" I'm done with the project.

Shmup 2

  So I copied my engine from before and started a new project.  This time I wanted a nice slower paced action scroller along the lines of 1943, Twin Eagle and other classic NES titles.  I mostly discontinued this project due to boredom/lack of ambition.  I seem to prefer working on complicated things so I lost interest.  Of all my projects I should probably continue this one... just to get something out there.

RPG

  This project did not last long.  It's basically just the protagonist placeholder moving with the arrow keys.  I wanted to make a Zelda clone.


Platformer 3

  This one I have the most interest in completing.  I came up with a very innovative idea for handling the story and coupled with my recent studies of Astrology, Wu Xing, Kabbalah and Numerology I wanted to make a gripping story about a young man who can't quite accept his death.  Somewhat overplayed I guess, but I thought it was good.  The player would progress through the five worlds in idiosyncratic stages mirroring the Creation Cycle on his quest to find a literal Tree of Life.  And then, of course, die.  I had the intention of adding a second play through where, since the player knows what to expect, the player might know to attempt to complete the Destruction Cycle to get a different ending. I got really caught up in making a compelling water stage and fire stage without relying on trite stereotypes.  I wanted to convey that everything was useful when used constructively and destructively... eventually the protagonist would die in the first ending since that is the way of things and live in the second ending which would be destructive to the world in general.  I consulted the usual material (Tropes) and worked for a long time.  I eventually got sidetracked when I decided to make a Graphic Novel.  I want to get back to this, just need an artist or something.

Graphic Novel

  Not a game, but worth mentioning.  I spent a year on this thing and got no where.  The ideas and concepts will probably haunt me forever... or at least until I make enough money to finish this story.  It's mostly based in Astrology with the characters reflecting the ancient personalities of the planetary gods.  However, whenever my story wasn't turning into Sailor Moon it was turning into a textbook on Astrology.  I just couldn't balance them so I gave up.  Procrastination marches on..


Current Projects

The Weatherman

  While browsing my favourite forum someone asked something along the lines of "Why are there still TV weathermen?  We have internet."  And somehow the creative ball started rolling.  The weatherman was a public icon where I grew up.  His signature tap of the pointer and out of "Good Evening" was quite memorable.  Other people came forward with interesting stories of when they met their local weatherman and other news personalities.  At that moment I decided I had to make a game about a Weatherman... and not someone who controls weather, a literal TV Weatherman.  While covering a sudden massive flood caused by a local super villain The Weatherman gets fed up with being stuck in the Channel X station, steals a news van and goes to the site.  Somehow he defeats the super villain and is praised as a hero even though he's didn't actually do anything.  Queue a Fake Ultimate Hero story...  I intended each world to be dedicated to a different weather effect:  Snow, Rain, Earthquakes (As a nod to various RPGs who treat Earthquakes as weather) and eventually a final showdown... Meteorologist Vs. Meteorologist.  In between stages/worlds would be some comic relief playing up various stock about TV personalities and fake infomercials.

  Of course, as much as I want to work on this project I really don't know what kind of game this should be.  Is it a platformer?  An adventure game?  Perhaps an RPG?  I just couldn't decide so I basically just made a bunch of concept art and hung them on my wall.


CYOA

  There isn't really a definitive Choose Your Own Adventure Video Game.  There lots of games with token dialogue boxes and optional endings based on choice scoring, but nothing along the lines of the good old CYOA books.  I'm guessing this is because developers want to make sure players actually get to see all the script they wrote for them.  Well, I'm doing things different.  I want my game to immediately cut off practically half the content right from the get go.  I wanted to play with the concept of a player itself.  Since a player is likely to play the same type of game in the same way I wanted to create a massive chain of events and trees so that it would take completely different minds to find everything.  And, as a nod to CYOA itself, have a few "island" entries that are impossible to get to... so only someone viewing the source code could find them.

  I came up with many interesting solutions to puzzles.  For example, near the start of the game (assuming you go down that path in the first place) there is a door you have to get some keys for.  Why a door needs 5 keys is strange anyway.  The player could collect the keys and use them, or if they are silly... pound the keys into a dirt wall to make a ladder.  My core philosophy for making individual trees is to have path for each of the four main player archetypes (Bartle).  Puzzles for the Spades, difficult platforming tricks for the Diamonds, a dark path for the Clubs and a compelling story (romance or otherwise) for the Hearts.

  I'm not a very good writer so this one is on hold, but I'm constantly working on it.


Time Travel Adventure

  I never liked adventure games back in the day.  Hugo's House of Horrors and Maniac Mansion and so on.  But recently I've gained a new appreciation for them.  I wanted to make one.  In my game I wanted a nice simple main story for the player to complete with a relatively mediocre ending and resolution.  Gather/use items from a limited inventory space to resolve situations and progress the story through a number of chapters.  Until after you beat the game...  when you unlock Chapter Selection.  While it may seem simple at first, the player will discover they can take items from later chapters into earlier ones.  Even NPC's will react to certain items and carry them into later chapters.  This is probably too hard to do though since I wanted to avoid getting into situations where the game becomes unplayable because they can no longer access areas they need items for (like getting a key stuck behind it's very door).




  Procrastination is my biggest enemy.  I'm very productive once I get going, but I'm rarely going.  I think I got a mental problem or something.  Maybe there's a medication for procrastination.  Heh.  Anyway, comments about what projects I should work on or even new projects would be appreciated.  As I continue my work I'll upload pictures and demos and so on.

Really I should just get something done... even a Nibbles clone.


Ahh I'll get to it later, Lok