All posts tagged Updates

Impending Update!

Martin · 12 years

Just a small update here. Wanted to let everyone who might not have known that I'm not dead, and haven't entirely forgotten about this blog yet, hehe.

It's been a while since I've updated the blog software though, so I'm going to do that, and will probably revert back to a default theme for the time being to make sure there aren't any odd incompatibilities between what's up now and the newer version of WordPress. I was a bit sick of the old look anyway.

Thanks for bearing with me here, if you've been checking in. Will be back later on with a more detailed report on what the hell I've been up to!

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Catching Up…

Martin · 13 years

So, it's been a while since my last blog post, eh?

Well, let's ignore the fact that this seems to be a recurring theme here at Marty Blog lately, and do a bit of catching up. A lot has happened since the last time I posted anything here, and as always, I've got a lot to say about things.

Rather than putting it all in one big topic that nobody wants to read, I'm going to write up a series of posts in (what I hope will be) rapid succession that cover everything and make my blog even beefier, simultaneously.

Sound good? I hope so! Stay on the lookout for updates in the coming hours/days!

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Man, I go away for a small vacation and I miss the next big TF2 announcement from Valve! Not a big deal, really - I did have quite a good time on my trip, so a TF2 update kinda takes a back seat in terms of awesomeness... but more on that later. Valve's got a new update page set up for the next TF2 update, and it looks like it's going to be another sweet addition to the game.

So far, they've announced The Huntsman, a bow and arrow for the Sniper that can stick enemies to walls, Payload Race, a new game mode that's kind of like a two-way Gold Rush, and another item for the Sniper, The Razorback, a back-mounted shield that keeps the Spy from stabbing him.

Oh, and speaking of the Spy, he's also snuck in for some update goodness; he'll be getting the "Dead Ringer" watch and the "Cloak and Dagger" watch, which will let him fake death and stay cloaked forever respectively.

Like the other updates Valve has brought to TF2, these will change play considerably, but also seem very well thought-out, so hope fully balance will not be hurt too much. I haven't played TF2 in a month or two and I'm pretty excited about all this... hopefully this will be the push I need to come back to the game, as it is one of the more fun experiences I've had in online gaming.

Anyway, maybe I'll see you there - and hopefully I'll see you back here soon as well, as I write a bit about my recent vacation. Thanks for reading!

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Well, this isn't nearly as controversial as my recent rant about proprietary Mac hardware or the problems with piracy, but I'd like to announce that I have updated the Examples & Tutorials page and added a new example/tutorial to boot.

The new addition, an example/tutorial (perhaps an 'examporial'? 'tutample'? okay, I'll stop) shows how to create a somewhat realistic fire effect using Game Maker's particle system, and takes you through the entire process, from sprite creation to tweaking the final effect for perfection. You can check out the write-up and download the example files here.

And as mentioned above, I've also re-tooled the Examples/Tutorials page, so all the ugly boxes are gone, and everything is much cleaner and better organized. You'll also find a partially re-written tutorial for 3D model importing/UV mapping in there, though I'd like to completely re-write this in the future, as my methods have changed a bit since I wrote the original. I'll probably be adding my completely unfinished competition project to the open source/abandoned section soon, too.

If you have any suggestions for other examples you'd like me to make, sound off in the comments!

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Marty Blog Theme Update

Martin · 15 years

As you've probably noticed, I've changed out the theme for Marty Blog again - but this time I feel like I'm really giving it the proper attention it deserves, with something a little more unique, and a lot better to look at.

The new theme is very loosely based on the excellent PrimePress Wordpress theme by Ravi Varma. It also makes use of QuadGrunged, an awesome set of Photoshop brushes by env1ro.

There are still a few quirks I'm working out, like getting the search page functional again and adding a few of the widgets that I had added manually in the last iteration. I'm also considering changing out the header image, or having it be randomly switched out or something; it's a work in progress, I suppose. Overall, I really like the direction I've taken the theme, and I hope that everyone out there who drops in to read the blog likes it too!

If you encounter any odd problems with it, have questions, praise, or just feel like posting a comment on a website, drop me a line below. Thanks for reading!

While I simply haven't had time to devote to much Team Fortress 2 lately, that doesn't mean I haven't been interested in it. My game is up to date and ready to play, and I've been keeping up on all the sparse bits of official news, which have been released via the Team Fortress 2 Official Blog.

Their latest announcement reveals a few incoming updates for the Engineer and Spy, as follows:

  • Teleporters will be upgradeable to level 3. As the teleporter is upgraded, the cooldown will decrease.
  • Dispensers will be upgradeable to level 3. They will heal faster and generate metal faster as they are upgraded.
  • Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground.
  • We've made a bunch of minor changes by adding particle systems and upgrading the HUD to show things like deaths by critical hits, players that are overhealed, and giving more information to medics when people are calling for them.

The Engineer is my favorite class, so I'm happy to see him getting some love from Valve soon. I'm not particularly good at being a Spy, but it is one of the classes I generally have a lot more fun with, and I am happy to see this change coming, as this is something I have felt you should be able to do from the very beginning. With all other characters able to pick up dropped weapons for ammo, building, etc. it only makes sense to allow the Spy to pick up these lost armaments as well, especially since the cloak ability replenishes so slowly on its own.

I'm also excited to see the minor changes mentioned in the fourth bullet point. Playing as a Medic should be even better, and it'll be nice to see more information listed on the HUD for critical hits, overhealing, etc.

Just talking about these upcoming changes is making me hungry for some TF2. Maybe it's time to stop working on my new blog layout/games and start doing a little PC gaming again?

WordPress 2.7 Looming

Martin · 15 years

With the upcoming release of WordPress 2.7, I'm considering redesigning the look of this blog - especially if the current theme fails to be compatible.

The official release of 2.7 will be in 5 days (on December 10th), but I'll probably change over to Release Candidate 1 before that, at which point I will disable themes and plug-ins so as to determine which will work and which will not without affecting the uptime of the site too much. So if Marty Blog goes "vanilla" and reverts back to the default WordPress theme for a while in the coming days, don't worry - it's just Marty tinkerin' with the new WordPress.

It's funny how these sorts of things grow on you - a few years ago I had neither the time nor the interest in maintaining a blog. When I finally came around and felt it might be an interesting endeavor, I entered into it a bit timidly, and spent lots of time trying to figure out which software would be the most versatile, and the easiest to use. WordPress had a nice, clean look to it, and looking over the feature list and stumbling upon many sites that used it helped push me over the edge to try it out.

It turned out that my investigating paid off - and I've been enjoying WordPress for over a year now. The number of updates and the quality of the plug-ins available has always impressed me, and I hope that I can say the same moving forward into the big changes with version 2.7 over the coming weeks.

If you're interested in blogging, I recommend giving WordPress a shot. You'll probably like it!

I just wanted to make a quick post to point out a new feature, an upcoming addition, and to talk about what's in store in the coming months for my games and my web endeavors. I've got some neat stuff planned, and I hope that there will be something for everyone here when it's all said and done.

User Registration at Marty Blog

This was actually a request of a friend of mine. I've now opened registration up on the blog, which means that, if you so choose, you can now register as a Subscriber, login, and have the site remember your user details for when you post. Frankly, I should have done this sooner. You can still comment without registering though, so if you're not the type who likes to register, everything is just as it was before!

Games On the Way

If you've read up on the archives of this blog or poked around a bit, you've noticed that part of the reason why I created it was to replace my old games site with something easier to maintain and with broader use. You might have also noticed that, while my examples have made the jump from old site to new, my games haven't - but I aim to change that soon. Within the next week or so I'll be adding a special page to house my games, with better descriptions, control explanations, etc. so don't forget to check that out (especially if you haven't played all of the games yet!).

Reflect Games Site Update

It's been a long time in the making, but I am slowly moving closer to releasing the new version of the Reflect Games website. The changes are a mixed bag of functional and aesthetic improvements, and will include a friends list, credit store, highscore page, improved stats and profiles, and a lot more. Though all the new features will not justify the amount of time it's taken me to finish, I think the site will look more professional and will offer more reasons for people to create and use Reflect accounts. I'll post more about this when I draw closer to the update.

Cross-Site Mayhem

My buddy Dandri, the guy who requested registration here, currently runs the Official PlayStation 3 blog at MySpace, and is looking to expand his operations to a whole new site this summer. We've been talking about doing some cross-site promotions, and since we both have extreme opinions about certain aspects of the gaming world, we thought it'd be interesting to do some interviews and other things along those lines, so keep your eyes peeled for that stuff as well. Again, I will post more about this as the details emerge.

What About Game Maker?

Depending on when the upcoming YoYo Games Competition 3 is announced, and exactly what they decide to do with the user-created theme, "co-operation," I might just be entering. I liked that they gave developers more time to work on games for the second competition, and I've got a couple of ideas that might prove to be fun if they work out correctly.

I'd also like to be getting in more Game Maker in general, but with the Reflect Games website revamp, Grand Theft Auto 4 (as well as other games), my job, and my girlfriend, I've not had too much time lately to work on anything significant. Hopefully I'll be able to turn that around this summer, as I finish the website and the games up. I've got a few small projects I've had floating around on my computer for a while that I am considering just releasing the source code for as well.

In any case, I'm trying to get things rolling a little more swiftly than they have been, and to get things out the door. I'll be publishing more What's New with Marty to show my progress in the coming weeks / months, providing there is anyway.

If you've got anything to add to my to-do list, feel free to let me know with your comments - my head hasn't exploded yet!

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