Saturday, February 25, 2012

What Manner of Game is Clone?

  I was asked what I meant by Zelda 2 clone.  So, I had to think about it for a second.  There's other games that use the Zelda 2 basic elements such as Battle of Olympus and Rambo, but Zelda is the one I mostly care about... why?

  A game is made up of repetitions of essential skills.  Things like running and jumping.  Games typically mix as few core elements as possible together for the base gameplay with a few extras for special elements.  For example, Super Mario Bros. primary has running and jumping as primary skills, but also has attacking as a secondary skill - fire flowers, star power as well as kicking enemies when they're down.

  So, what are the essential skills of Zelda 2?  You can't run, so jumping.  There's also blocking and attacking.  But what is the CORE element - why to *I* want to use this as a baseline and not some other games.  The answer is the "downward thrust".  This is by far my favourite part of the combat in Zelda 2.  It opens up a new dimension to the combat while also opening new hazards (many a death in Island Palace because a downward thrust resulted in destroying the floor I was on).  In addition, while thrusting you can no longer control your horizontal momentum or block.

  My entire design philosophy has been around creative use of the downward thrust ability.  Even if I completely change engines, that's still the basis.  That's the essential skill (along side movement and jumping of course).

  So, how else can I use downward thrust? 

  Moreover... how can I implement this without using a sword/shield character?  The protagonist will most likely have to use a sword/shield simply due to the constraints of the combat engine, but I always need to think of options.

Projects

  I really need a new way to organize my design notes.

  Anyways:  Downward thrust has been fun to design around combat wise, but a game can't be all combat.  I've been working on adding a few mini-games to the mix.  Things like mining and fishing, all relying on the downward thrust to do all the work.  Sky diving even, hitting targets before hitting the ground and so on.  Basically all of the last month has been jotting down ideas like this.

  Of course, almost all my paper work is meaningless without some art work.  It would be improper to rip off other people's sprite sheets even as placeholders, but I'm simply no artist.... well, ok, if you want stills or backgrounds I'm your guy, but characters are right out.

Gaming

  Bro quit MapleStory so I guess I will too.  Now I'm on Realm of the Mad God.  The in game currency model is laughable.  I pretty much only play 'cuz it's 2D.

  Been trying to get people together for some Team Fortress 2, but I just can't find anyone to play with the way I want to... y'know... without mods.


Other

  Started a zinc supplement.  Will continue to monitor heath.

Alien Ent Farm would make a lousy gag, Lok

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Nothing of Note

  I've said it before, game making for me is about expressing a need to fill a gap that doesn't exist in the current gaming environment.  Since that gap is currently being filled (giggity) I don't have the need to create.

  Still, I'm always taking notes.

  One of the main things is I wrote several articles on various game concepts on GameFAQs, but they were deleted due to inactivity.  Only one person was even reading them. 

Projects

Sated.


Gaming

  Non-stop Spiral Knights and MapleStory.  Just goes to show the drastic differences in economy.  In Spiral Knights you can basically max out your character for only $5, but in MapleStory that can get you one or two pieces of costume gear or a teleport rock... for only 90 days.

  Funny thing is, as part of a trial I did spend a fixed amount of money on various free MMO's.  The before mentioned two:  While I was able to max out in Spiral Knights - there really was no where else to go after that.  Got a single Sanctuary clear and didn't feel like continuing.  However, in MapleStory even a single teleport rock is a huge asset and I "probably" would buy costume gear (since I like a lot of the artwork in the game) if it weren't for that 90 day limit.

Other

  Healthy-ish.  Still concerned about the family... basic regular stuff.

And yes, you are reading my sig, Lok.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

It's Ready!

  Nope, not the game... the Story for the game.

  It took several months of linguistic dickery, but it's finally (mostly) done.  Certainly done enough that I can finally script game events around it.  Not only that, but I managed to kill two (12) birds with one (3) stone by finding out a way to unify a LOT of my game plots together, forming a coherent universe.

  I've been complaining on the forums recently about the split in game design between Eastern and Western developers.  Not just in terms of gameplay (since both derive heavily from the other), but in terms of social expectations.  Westerners need bulky muscloid gun toting rapid monster men kicking space aliens in their genitalia (hint: their knees) while Easterners need fluffy tsundere moe-moe drama-mush gooey goo...  Well, that's about as asinine of a generalization I can make, but it got me really thinking.  Both companies are developing with escapism in mind and both design philosophies reflect their home culture's expectations of fantasy.  But I don't play games for escapism so I get confused at the stereotypes presented by both sides.

  I wrote a short story a while ago about the coming of age of the Dwarf culture (inspired by Dwarf Fortress).  How the Dwarves are no longer monsters that spawn in to existence, but people who have to breed, eat and live to exist.  It also dealt with the modernization of a fantasy world (such as military presence where monsters spawn) and the despeciesaztion (I need a better word for this) of the Human race.  It opened with a military helicopter shooting up a spawn of bandits... ya, old fashioned highwaymen, because they were a monster spawn... of humans.  There's a contrast in development philosophy when it comes to human enemies.  Some games just don't care and it's expected that you kill a few enemy soldiers, other games will slaughter monsters en masse and then come to a full stop when any "real" person is actually hurt.  I didn't really finish this story because of the game project.

  I also wrote another story of the responsibility of science to the people... and by wrote I mean I scribbled ideas for about 10 minutes and then quit.  "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", but I posited that "Any sufficiently researched magic is indistinguishable from science"... to cross the cap between science fiction and fantasy.  I wanted to talk about the end of the magic age.  I'm sure some other literature has done the same - I don't know because I don't read much.

  So, I combined them.  Both stories as well as the motivations behind the characters of the games I do like.  I joked earlier that is would be silly to have a protagonist worry about not getting into college, but that's real... I don't play for escapism, so I want to make the characters as grounded as possible.  They should be worried about their jobs, their kids, the geopolitical climate... global warming, the drug trade - while taking place in an era where the youth culture is facing a renaissance of both progressive and reactionary ideals (to mirror how I feel about gaming - the tight grip I have on the great games of the past while most people I know only like the newest technology).  Set around the Cold War escalation of Magic and Science together.  The exact moment the barrier between "what is magic?" and "what is science?" is crossed...  and in one instant a hole is cut out of our home continent.

  But - and this is important - I want the story to mainly be about the protagonist saving HIS world from destruction.  He is aware of the problems other people have such as unemployment, education, the war, social pressures...  but these are their problems, not mine (his).  HIS world is just his love of the past, of swords and magic...  he doesn't want to cross in to the modern.  But when the world faces a disaster of never before seen consequences he has to leave his little fantasy bubble and join the new world - or ignore it.... but it's hard to ignore the world changing when people won't stop talking about it EVERY TWO SECONDS FOR TEN FUCKING YEARS.

  So, that's how I got the idea for how to unify the story to my game.  It's still going to play like a Zelda 2 game though.

Current Projects

  I'm having a REAL hard time deciding if I want to have wall grappling.  Lots of games do it (Iji, Spelunky), but I don't really have to have it.  Wall kicks would still be fun, but I don't need grappling.

Gaming

  Mostly some AI: War and Sonic Generations.  Some Doom 2.  I really wish I was better at deciding things.


Other

  My health is ok.  I lost weight last year, but this year I seem to be very stable.  I still want to lose more, but I can't do any more/less.  I'm already at my personal limits...

Old Games > New Games, Lok

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Steam Backlog is Finished

  Took only about 2 and a half weeks.

  I learned a lot about what makes a game not fun.  Take the critically acclaimed adventure game Gemini Rue for example.  It didn't even work on my computer so it felt bad.  This is not the developers fault - it is a failing with Adventure Game Studio and certain drivers.  However, the problem is relatively rare.  So I learned that troubleshooting is NEVER truly over.  There is always someone who the game won't work for.

  I also learned that novelty goes a long way, even in a critically poor game.  This time I'm talking about E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy, which has a Metacritic score of only 60, but I really like it.  It's hard, fast, you get plenty of unique abilities which aren't often used in FPS and the sound quality is very good - good as in it correctly works on my 9.1 surround system, something even Battlefield 3 doesn't do.  The translation is quite schizo though, with the characters randomly jumping from perfect politeness to gutteral cussmonger every other line.  A fan translation project is underway, which just goes to show that sometimes you just need to hook a niche of loyal followers.

  Lastly, I also learned that not everyone will like a game even if it is very highly rated.  In this case, The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim, which I really just don't care for.  Sure, it's an improvement over Oblivion, which is an improvement over Morrowind, but I didn't like either of those in the first place.  Well, ok, I liked Oblivion somewhat - hunting for nirnroot and crawling through the tall grass.  Did they just miss me as a demographic?  Nope, because lots of people I know like the game... a lot, they Game of the Year'd it.  Basically, I learned you can't please everyone no matter how hard you try.

Projects

  Lately I've been thinking what kind of palette/colour scheme I want.  My main project is a homage to Zelda 2, so maybe I should do a Blue/Orange/Red triangle.

  I still don't have any staff so I have to learn everything from scratch every time I move to a new concept (like audio/visual dynamics)...  which is annoying since there's no schools around here who teach anything remotely like this.

Gaming

  I'm burned out from 3 weeks of Steam.  But mostly I'm playing AI War: Fleet Command and E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy.

Other

  I've recently been struck with paranoia about the safety of my family, even though they're near by and I can check on them any time.  Maybe related to not sleeping.

Sleeping, Lok

Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Years Resolution

  I got a New Years resolution going.  Nope, it's not finishing one my game projects - it's cleaning out my gaming backlog.  I'm currently halfway though the "A"'s.  A little worried about the "T" section 'cuz of all the Tom Clancy games I got.

  Was a nice simple Christmas here.  I got a refrigerator, yay!

Projects

  I did some concept art for my main game project.  I wouldn't mind some opinions on how to do the magic system.  I didn't want to copy Zelda 2's magic system, I wanted to do something with charge levels and elemental mixing - but I'm not sure how to go about doing it.  (Not implementing it, I can implement out the wazoo if I had the idea well drawn out)

  I also worked on refining my art style.  A notable thing about many games is character reaction shots when you fail to perform a basic move.  For example, if you swing your sword at a wall:  It's easy to just have the sword go through and spark with a simple "ting and flash", but it's a lot better if the character has a reaction such as recoiling or flinching.

Gaming

  I'm halfway through my games starting with A, currently on Assassin's Creed Revelations.  Next up would be Atom Zombie Smasher.  I got a LONG way to go.

Other

  For the whole year 2011 I lost 45LB - That's right, I lost weight programming and playing games. 

  2011 went by so fast - like a blink of an eye. 

Here's to 2012, Lok

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Non-Stop Power Gaming

  Didn't do any work... too busy playing games.  This is analogous to a micro-brewer not brewing because he's too busy drinking.

  This is still time well spent.  You learn things by playing game you like and games you don't like - notably how to and how not to make a game.

 The dream is still alive, of course.

  Notable events include watching a series called Sequelitis on YouTube by egoraptor.  He points out some obvious stuff about game design and then BAM reveals non-obvious secret.  I'll have to watch my design documents carefully to make sure I build around "appropriate use of relevant skills" and "teaching through gameplay".  Ya, I've seen some of this through Extra Credits... but egoraptor is 'Awesomer'.

Projects

  Just reviewing some design notes.  Thought about some revisions, but for the most part I'm good to go.  Just need to log some time.

Gaming

  Wall to Wall.

  There was the Terraria update, new Civilization V DLC, a Nuclear Dawn free weekend (which I'm liking so I bought it).  Fortune Street on the Wii is so good I haven't had time to play Skyward Sword.  Plus there's the new Dungeons of Dredmor DLC to try out.

  My New Years resolution is going to be to clear my gaming backlog.  Then I won't be able to use that as an excuse any more.

  Since the only new release on my horizon is (still) La-Mulana - I should run out of games in just a few months.

Other

  Pretty normal.

Go Go Winter Festival, Lok

Saturday, December 3, 2011

I Forgot About Epilepsy Man

  I'm liking this slower posting pace.  Fewer empty posts while still being structured.  I am still considering not posting until I have some work done like how this blog used to be.

  Wall to wall gaming for the last two weeks.  Bought a replacement Wii and clocked around 150 hours on Monster Hunter Tri.  The Japanese theory of game "mastery" is one I can get behind.  If I don't feel like I totally dominated or destroyed a game (or in turn, its developers) then I don't feel like I got a good play in.  There are several exceptions of course - Dwarf Fortress I often play just for the humiliation factor.  (Woo, 12 kills!, and then I got my liver punched out by a bogeyman)

  My work has been very, VERY slow.  I think in 2 weeks I did 1 line of code and about 3 collision fixes.  That is all.  It's not that I've lost interest, it's just that I'm an obsessive gamer who is currently gaming.  Plus with the Christmas Steam sale I think I might not get any work done until... the Summer Steam sale.

  I still remain inspired.  The spark of creation has not left my digital loins.  I'm even more active now, but that activity is focused towards gaming.

  For example.  Epilepsy Man is basically done except for music and graphics... has been for a long time.  I'm still just no artist.  I can play a song on my instruments, but tracking it for PC just doesn't sound good.  I still want to avoid hitting the public domain tiles.  How hard can it be to draw a simple stone brick?  I mean, seriously, there's got to be around 100'000 of them out there now.  My mind just doesn't work that way.

Projects

  -Fixed a way the protagonist collision detects when jumping into a corner to prevent squeezing between two tiles

Gaming

  -Got to HR37 in Monster Hunter Tri in about a week, currently money grinding.

 -Got the good ending in Treasure Adventure Game.  This game was something of an inspiration to me.  While this game is very good I can decidedly say that it has nothing I want for my own games... or rather, nothing I want to rip off.  Of course, the ending is slightly similar to the planned ending I had for Epilepsy Man, but only in one discrete way that doesn't even really matter.  Not saying that I go around ripping off pieces of other games, but inspiration is inspiration.  I already know what I want in terms of exploration methodology and game physics.  Great music, my bro and I have been playing it on our respective guitars.

 -Unreal Tournament 3.  Played a few rounds with bots.  I'm trying to find the FPS with the best bots, but the bots in this game are silly and very uninformed.  I think Perfect Dark even had better bots.  Still, I didn't pay much for it.

-The big 1.1 update for Terraria is out, will probably be my new obsession until I clear a few of the bosses.

Other

  I lost a lot of weight, then I gained a little, now I lost a little more.  I'm still short of my goal, but I'm pretty close.  Exercising and stuff.  Suffered minor diet failure this week - something like 2 pizzas and some burgers and like 4 bags of chips.  I didn't eat that much back before I started.

  Quit online dating.  Just not my thing.  Also, you have to own a camera to get a profile picture to even be listed.  That's discrimination against the poor!  Plus so many of the options aren't nearby.  I'm not paying thousands of dollars in upkeep just to get a car!  No cell phone either... what kinda nab pays $350 a month to Rogers to get a feature your PC can do for free.

Seriously, Lok