Phases.
I thought of a new possible innovation in modern games. Since HP is often considered an abstract, why not have enemy gunfire graphically miss your character even if it would have done damage. You can't dodge a hitscan weapon, but you can make it "look" like you did. Only the hit that brings your health below 0 would actually impact the character, making it more dramatic.
Cytomight
I kinda forgot where I was going with this project. I know I wanted colour changing and absorbing, but I can't think of a format. For all I know it could have been a bullet hell shooter (The body is quite linear). It could have been a metroidvania, since a body is also has "zones" with different barriers, but I think I wasn't since this would have been a lot of artwork. I can't program and draw at the same time, well I can... what I mean is if I do everything I'll be too busy picking for perfection as opposed to delegating art to another person where I can just trust them to do a good job.
I'll probably keep picking at it. I've had to renovate the basic game as I discovered similar games so that my game isn't. Osmos, for example, had the expansion and division mechanic I was going to do, so I dropped it. de Blob has a colouring effect, but doesn't overlap with my core gameplay; so I didn't drop it.
Other Projects
I'm really liking my latest art project. These little guys are very poseable and emotive. Their object based design seems to say "Flash", but no way I'm paying $800 for a weekend project. I could try to find a way to get it to work in Gamemaker with fixed body and head types. This still would mean drawing into a uniform space (say, a 64x64 sprite) which I don't do well with. Even if I go nonuniform I'd still need to make sure any animation is properly synced. I don't have the resources for this kind of animation. Using single stock frames is out of the question, that really only works for storybook games. Plus I don't know what kind of game I could make these guys into since, well, they're just people... anything would technically work and nothing specifically accentuates.
Gaming
Grinding in Global Agenda. It's good. It combines all the best features of MMO's and FPS's and tosses out a lot of the junk. Levels don't really matter, as all the items are mostly balanced (but high level items have cool tricks to them). Basically as soon as you hit level 10 you can do almost all the content, more at 19 and finally everything at 30. The level cap is 50. I find the speed of grind to be quite acceptable, but you can even double your gains by buying a booster. If you get referred to the game by a friend I highly recommend buying a booster since the booster will also get the 50% discount for being referred. All the classes are uniquely different and that's what separates it from the modern EQ-clone. One, the "tank" (Assault) happens to also do the most damage to bosses (although the Recon does compete directly). Two of the classes can be healers, but neither of them need to heal to win with good strategy. Bosses are good. You can use cover to avoid their fire, but they know to switch targets and move into positions where they can attack more than one player. They can "call for help" and a bunch of minions show up who "seem" to be specifically spawned to defeat your exact party configuration (although I've been told it's actually random). PvP is fast and uses a lot of the classic game modes from FPS's such as Nodes, Control, and Payload. Agencies (Guilds) can even compete for persistent control of a world map. One caveat... since there's a lot of different yet equally viable strategies available it's often difficult to agree on a strategy without talking so make sure everyone is on the same page when doing something.
That aside I've also been playing Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. Still haven't gotten very far, but I'm still at the phase of the game where I just rush everything to get a feel for enemy strengths/weaknesses. I also bought Command and Conquer since it was on sale on Steam, but I lack the HD space to install any of them. Yay Steam! Buy now, play later.
I've been watching someone play Nier. This game is very... umm, it lacks fluidity. There's great dramatic music and cinematic boss fights (as you can see in the intro video even) mixed in with chains of chump quests, uninteresting environments and general misuse of resources. The scene direction is excellent, but it also combines it with irrelevant flashes of... umm. Well, characters who have no business being there try to steal your scene multiple times during the same scenes and then immediately poof into non-existence as soon as the scene is over. Imagine if you were fighting Bowser and halfway through Luigi shows up to land one hit in a scene and then poof into non-existence... That aside the game makes good use of timing queues to make sure the music syncs up with the action required. Not to mention every time you turn the game on you hear "Weiss, you dumbass!"... loud, and every time. That's just the kind of shock you need before you go hunting sheep.
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IMO, Lok
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
I'm Not In Good Health
My mental illness is overtaking my productivity. I can't concentrate on anything at all. I've pretty much devolved into spending whole days drinking pop and listening to the same 20 or so songs over and over. I get like this every couple months or so and I don't know why. I lose all track of time. Sometimes literally, the scrobbler I use with WinAmp occasionally stops the system clock... I lost four whole hours yesterday without even noticing. Also, that "autopilot" feeling I get to handle social situations happens even around my family.
I keep getting new ideas for games. Some very advanced concepts in story telling and gameotography (made up word). And then they just disappear. I write some of them down, but when I review them later they don't make any sense. Like the crazy scratches of a cave dwelling hermit, I'm sure there was something of importance if I could just make sense of it.
My AISH papers are going along well, but I'm still paranoid that I'll be declined despite being in the process of getting these papers for more than five years. All that's left is some mental testing. I don't think it's going to go well: 1. I test extremely well, my estimated IQ according to the last government test I took was a 177 yet I can barely function in a real world environment. and 2. Tests are serious business to me so I can't fake a test to appear worse off than I really am. If the papers do go through I'll be able to go to school again. Stratford Career Institute has a class on Game Design that would be quite affordable if I had any money. Accreditation doesn't matter to me as long as it's something I can use... like locksmithing or accounting.
I've been drawing a little lately... here's a something.
Maybe he can be the main character of some quick platformer....
Cytomight
Game is on hold due to stuff. I got two enemies done, the red blood cell and the histamine (in name only, don't take the implied biology seriously) and fixed the colour blending slightly (There are only 6 bright spots in an HSV colour space, not the 7 I expected). Still can't make up my mind if it should be a top-down exploring maze-like game (moving around a body) or if it should be a shmup style game with faster action and bosses.... or both/other. Soundtrack is still non-existent, but I have no ideas anyway. Work is incredibly slow even when I force it.
And then I see a promo for de Blob 2 on Wii... Well, great. Between de Blob and Osmos I can't even be sure if my "original never been done before" idea actually is or not. Maybe Morphic fields do exist?
Other Projects
Been thinking of resuming my older projects, or even my comic. My doodle (above) could be just the pose-able I needed to get a highly animated character. Worried slightly that he looks too much like something from Knytt.
I keep getting this idea to make a Space-Navy type of game. I really like Naval combat and it's really not done much, or at all, these days. After watching Macross again I kinda wanted to do my own take on it. Of course, I'm told Infinite Space on DS is pretty good... but like most people would agree, my local EB is failsauce.
I've been thinking of making an extremely simple game like Rock-Paper-Scissors just so I can say "I produced something!" But this goes even worse. If lofty goals don't hold my attention, why should scab work hold them?
Gaming
Stopped playing Monday Night Combat. I really like the game, but I'm at the point where the Pro-Am spread is too visible and I end up on fail teams that I can't carry alone. I'm "trying" to play Global Agenda, but it runs terribly on this computer. Well, ok, it runs ok... just the text is unreadable. Since individual item stats don't vary it's not really a problem, I just don't like it. That aside, the game is still way fun to play even with the bad performance. Also, PSO2 should be coming out in a while. Potential to be the greatest game ever made, but likely to be a flip. PSO was so magically perfect, SEGA just can't seem to recreate it.
Progress Quest, like always, is running in the background. My Land Squid Slow Poisoner is up to level 76 on Spoltog. I'm still trying to beat NetHack (I've make it as far as the Plane of Air twice, but get killed by swarms each time... no conflict) and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (I'm attracted to the Naga class, despite being difficult to play), though I only just started DCSS so I don't know what kind of challenges will show up later. I also play Dwarf Fortress. The new patch added some incredible features, but the mining took a hit... exploratory mining isn't as fun as it was in 31.18.
My console gaming is far behind. While I am still limited by my very low budget I still just don't seem interested in playing "new" games. Currently working on a low level run of FF6 (so far so perfect, I'm at the Floating Continent with perfectly low stats... playing on the real GBA cart, no hax). Also did a few runs of Sonic 2 and 3 on the Mega Collection on Gamecube (the superior version due to low load times)... been meaning to get back to Monster Hunter Tri, but people keep taking my Wii for Netflix. ('Cuz it's wireless... I sure hope no one tried to stick the Wii into the VCR slot). Waiting patiently for the Wii release of Descent and La-Mulana. I got the other consoles too. They just don't have any games... that interest me.
Other
Does this count as depression? I don't really feel anything... it's more like I'm a zombie, or a robot... completely mindless. Sudden shocking spikes of free will disrupting my already uneasy sleep. I'll remember things that never happened and get confused when the deja vu kicks in. Well, this has been a long post. Probably my longest post ever, including the contests I have on the forum. I predict this will only get maybe 5 views though... I'm not gonna bother "Monetize"ing until I actually produce something.
Is it strange to have nostalgia for the feeling of something that hasn't happened yet? Lok.
I keep getting new ideas for games. Some very advanced concepts in story telling and gameotography (made up word). And then they just disappear. I write some of them down, but when I review them later they don't make any sense. Like the crazy scratches of a cave dwelling hermit, I'm sure there was something of importance if I could just make sense of it.
My AISH papers are going along well, but I'm still paranoid that I'll be declined despite being in the process of getting these papers for more than five years. All that's left is some mental testing. I don't think it's going to go well: 1. I test extremely well, my estimated IQ according to the last government test I took was a 177 yet I can barely function in a real world environment. and 2. Tests are serious business to me so I can't fake a test to appear worse off than I really am. If the papers do go through I'll be able to go to school again. Stratford Career Institute has a class on Game Design that would be quite affordable if I had any money. Accreditation doesn't matter to me as long as it's something I can use... like locksmithing or accounting.
I've been drawing a little lately... here's a something.
Cytomight
Game is on hold due to stuff. I got two enemies done, the red blood cell and the histamine (in name only, don't take the implied biology seriously) and fixed the colour blending slightly (There are only 6 bright spots in an HSV colour space, not the 7 I expected). Still can't make up my mind if it should be a top-down exploring maze-like game (moving around a body) or if it should be a shmup style game with faster action and bosses.... or both/other. Soundtrack is still non-existent, but I have no ideas anyway. Work is incredibly slow even when I force it.
And then I see a promo for de Blob 2 on Wii... Well, great. Between de Blob and Osmos I can't even be sure if my "original never been done before" idea actually is or not. Maybe Morphic fields do exist?
Other Projects
Been thinking of resuming my older projects, or even my comic. My doodle (above) could be just the pose-able I needed to get a highly animated character. Worried slightly that he looks too much like something from Knytt.
I keep getting this idea to make a Space-Navy type of game. I really like Naval combat and it's really not done much, or at all, these days. After watching Macross again I kinda wanted to do my own take on it. Of course, I'm told Infinite Space on DS is pretty good... but like most people would agree, my local EB is failsauce.
I've been thinking of making an extremely simple game like Rock-Paper-Scissors just so I can say "I produced something!" But this goes even worse. If lofty goals don't hold my attention, why should scab work hold them?
Gaming
Stopped playing Monday Night Combat. I really like the game, but I'm at the point where the Pro-Am spread is too visible and I end up on fail teams that I can't carry alone. I'm "trying" to play Global Agenda, but it runs terribly on this computer. Well, ok, it runs ok... just the text is unreadable. Since individual item stats don't vary it's not really a problem, I just don't like it. That aside, the game is still way fun to play even with the bad performance. Also, PSO2 should be coming out in a while. Potential to be the greatest game ever made, but likely to be a flip. PSO was so magically perfect, SEGA just can't seem to recreate it.
Progress Quest, like always, is running in the background. My Land Squid Slow Poisoner is up to level 76 on Spoltog. I'm still trying to beat NetHack (I've make it as far as the Plane of Air twice, but get killed by swarms each time... no conflict) and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (I'm attracted to the Naga class, despite being difficult to play), though I only just started DCSS so I don't know what kind of challenges will show up later. I also play Dwarf Fortress. The new patch added some incredible features, but the mining took a hit... exploratory mining isn't as fun as it was in 31.18.
My console gaming is far behind. While I am still limited by my very low budget I still just don't seem interested in playing "new" games. Currently working on a low level run of FF6 (so far so perfect, I'm at the Floating Continent with perfectly low stats... playing on the real GBA cart, no hax). Also did a few runs of Sonic 2 and 3 on the Mega Collection on Gamecube (the superior version due to low load times)... been meaning to get back to Monster Hunter Tri, but people keep taking my Wii for Netflix. ('Cuz it's wireless... I sure hope no one tried to stick the Wii into the VCR slot). Waiting patiently for the Wii release of Descent and La-Mulana. I got the other consoles too. They just don't have any games... that interest me.
Other
Does this count as depression? I don't really feel anything... it's more like I'm a zombie, or a robot... completely mindless. Sudden shocking spikes of free will disrupting my already uneasy sleep. I'll remember things that never happened and get confused when the deja vu kicks in. Well, this has been a long post. Probably my longest post ever, including the contests I have on the forum. I predict this will only get maybe 5 views though... I'm not gonna bother "Monetize"ing until I actually produce something.
Is it strange to have nostalgia for the feeling of something that hasn't happened yet? Lok.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
I ain't doin' nothin'
It's been about two weeks. Seems like a good time for an update.
Cytomight
Didn't work on it at all. I've been playing Monday Night Combat pretty much non-stop... so, ya.
Other Projects
Working on a small piece of fan art. I'll link it when I'm done.
Gaming
Monday Night Combat... that's about it. I'm also new on Global Agenda, which is pretty ok. Still at NetHack and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup of course. Thinking of restarting La-Mulana (would be the 5th time, great game)
This has been the nigh-pointless bi-monthly update, Lok
Cytomight
Didn't work on it at all. I've been playing Monday Night Combat pretty much non-stop... so, ya.
Other Projects
Working on a small piece of fan art. I'll link it when I'm done.
Gaming
Monday Night Combat... that's about it. I'm also new on Global Agenda, which is pretty ok. Still at NetHack and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup of course. Thinking of restarting La-Mulana (would be the 5th time, great game)
This has been the nigh-pointless bi-monthly update, Lok
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