I've decided to take a slightly different approach with my YYG Competition #4 entry, and post semi-regular progress updates as things move along. I'm not quite ready to unveil my master plan for the game, but I will reveal more as time goes on (and as time allows). I'm still trying to decide which aspects of my ideas will be able to make it in under the deadline while still allowing me enough time to make sure the game is fun and thoroughly polished, so at this point, it's hard to say what the final game will be like anyway, or whether or not I will even be able to finish it.
That said, progress is good so far. The game is going to have a focus on driving, and the driving engine is virtually done, save for collisions and all the extra stuff I have to add onto it later. Here are some screenshots of the game as it looks now. Textureless and a bit empty. But fun to drive around in!
Hopefully I have something more substantial to show next time... for now, enjoy the stills!
Once again, <a href="http://yoyogames.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YoYo Games</a> has announced a game-crafting competition, this time following the "green" theme "save the planet."
I'm actually quite excited about the theme selection this time around. It presents an argument rarely seen in video games, and could spawn some pretty interesting creations. Not only will I be looking forward to seeing what aspects of environmental awareness can turn into successful games, but I will also be ready for the more off-the-wall games, since the wording of the rules has left things a bit open.
From the official announcement:
These days our planet seems to be in a constant state of peril, together we ride the unicycle of fate atop the high-wire of self-destruction. Our busy little lives seem to be warming up the planet, and no one really knows where that will lead us. Worse, global warming isn't the only green problem: pollution, acid rain, over-crowding, starvation and drought, and extinction threats are all waiting in the wings.
We’re often told that the only solution to these collective problems is mass action - the message must be spread to as many as people as possible if our own environmental compromises are to count for anything. Computer games are a great way to reach people and get them interacting with these important debates. What we’re looking for in the next competition are games with a message, games which encourage the player to get involved.
Politics: Most of us at YYG believe there's something to this global warming idea, but we're not out to indoctrinate our gamers, or game makers. Whatever you believe, it cannot be denied that the debates themselves are important, decisions made here will affect all our lives. If you firmly disagree with the green message then feel free to make a game where the world must be saved from a bunch of crack-pot environmentalists.
Finally, we’re still on the hunt for the perfect casual game. The most important thing is that the games are fun. Don’t get too carried away with the theme at the expense of gameplay.
As with previous competitions judging will be conducted by YoYo Games and Prof. Overmars, with community response taken into account.
P.s. Yes, we are aware of the irony of using energy-hungry computers to communicate a green message. Better this than 300 games about saving princesses.
The contest will end on January 4th, 2009.
The announcement at the GMC brought about the usual slew of questions about what fits within the rules and what doesn't, but thankfully most concerns were laid to rest when our friendly YoYo Games admin dropped in. Hopefully we won't be seeing a lot more "does _____ fit the rules?" questions for a while now.
Though I'm starting to have a strange feeling of déjà vu about all this, I think I'm going to try to enter this competition. I've got a pretty decent idea for a game right now, even though I'm not sure if it completely fits IGDA's description of "casual," and I think that if I can pull it off, it'll be a pretty fun little app. I'll post more news on this later though, as I make some progress beyond the basic engine.
Since I never really got around to programming the whole thing, and I kind of left it on a cliffhanger here at the blog, I thought I'd share my idea for my last competition entry now. My idea, a puzzler which never really came to fruition, was to create a game where the user is presented with a side-scrolling course full of obstacles and tasked with moving an object (a water capsule) from one side of the course to the other (to a fire). To do this, the player is given a limited amount of robots that can be placed anywhere on the course, and then programmed by dragging one of a limited number of "scripts" onto them, which would tell them which direction they could throw the water capsule. A number of courses with obstacles of different type would be included, and as the player moved through each level, the game would put more emphasis on using each robot and script to its fullest to traverse the obstacles.
Maybe I will continue this one day... I've already got much of the level graphics and base programming finished. But for now, it's on to the green-er pastures of competition #4.
Though it still feels like I got the required amount of relaxation this weekend, I look back on all the stuff I did (or played and watched, to be more specific) and almost feel like I couldn't have. Throughout the weekend I've watched two movies, beaten one game, played through a good amount of another, spent a good portion of time with my girlfriend, and even got some work done on some web/game stuff I've been meaning to do.
Tropic Thunder
The first thing my girlfriend and I did on Sunday was head on over to the local theater to catch the matinee of Tropic Thunder. I'd read glowing reviews, a little bit of controversy, and I'm a fan of both Ben Stiller and Jack Black, so I had a feeling the movie would be good. And it was. From the opening trailers (go see it, you'll see) to the end credits, the movie was intensely funny. If you're into comedy flicks and you don't mind humor that is occasionally offensive humor, you'll enjoy Tropic Thunder.
Before the movie began, we sat through all the silly trailers. I think that out of the seven to eight trailers shown before Thunder started, only one looked decent. Most of them just left me, my girlfriend, and the rest of the audience making jokes and shaking our heads in shame and disgust. One trailer in particular comes to mind now, for "Disaster Movie," but not because it was particularly good, and surely not because the movie looks like it will be anything but another steaming pile of crap in the line of "_____ Movie" parody films.
I find it funny that the trailer for Disaster Movie was shown though, because after watching Topic Thunder, you can't help but feel bad for anyone who actually believes that that movie, or any of its ilk, is in any way "real" comedy. I guess every now and then Hollywood manages to produce something above and beyond the norm, and it serves to put all the other trash back in its place. That's not to say that Tropic Thunder is a perfect movie (it's certainly not), but it's entertaining, it's damn funny, and it makes you wish more movies could be like it.
Overlord
About a week ago, while I was waiting for my girlfriend to get done picking out some clothes at the local mall, I wandered into the nearby GameStop and found a game I'd been meaning to pick up for some time but hadn't yet seen it available for $20: Overlord.
It's not the best game ever made; the controls are a little hard to get used to, and the camera bugs me sometimes. But I really like the concept of Overlord, and the way the game actually works is just really amusing to me, so I enjoy playing it. Overall, there's a lot more good stuff here than bad.
In Overlord, you play as the newly resurrected, evil "Overlord," and you lead an ever-growing horde of minions (little gremlin-ish creatures) to do your bidding. At your command, the throng of minions will destroy everything in sight, gang up on baddies, and clear the way for you to continue forth. As you play, you gain the ability to control different types of minions, each with a unique ability. You also learn magical spells and forge new items at your tower. The core game works a lot like Fable, where you pick up new quests as you move along, and have the option to complete them when you want, albeit instead of having to choose between acting good or evil, in Overlord, you usually have to choose between acting evil or acting more evil.
As I mentioned above, I really like the idea behind Overlord - that some nameless, evil guy runs around with his crowd of minions, and together they conquer the land. It's a clever idea, and it runs against the grain of all the traditional "hero" games in a really fine way. The voice acting for the minions and their leader is excellent and brings the game to life in a way that could not have been achieved otherwise. The ability to customize your evil tower and imbue your arsenal with the powers of your minions were also great additions and serve to round out the game in a satisfying way. Codemasters put a lot of effort into making Overlord fun to play, and in my opinion, they succeeded.
Hopefully that opinion doesn't change as I much through the rest of the game!
The Simpsons Movie
I finally had the opportunity to watch <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/simpsons_movie/" target="_blank">The Simpsons Movie</a>, and I enjoyed it a lot. The movie was consistently funny throughout, and not one opportunity was lost to use one of the show's hundreds of characters. I've always liked how the Simpsons works so many levels of subtle (and often not-so-subtle) social commentary into the plots of each show, and the movie followed suit with this trait in spades.
Truthfully, the whole thing seemed a bit like a really long episode of the normal show, only with better animation, but I think this was one of the movie's strengths. It gave the writers time to do jokes that simply aren't possible within the constraints of a thirty minute show, and there's hardly a moment where you feel like the film has lost its momentum.
There are plenty of awesomely funny moments in The Simpsons Movie, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the show.
Braid
After spending over three hours working out the last two puzzles I had left (one of which I solved on accident after giving up completely), I've finally beaten Braid. I won't spoil things for anyone who's playing (or planning on playing) the game, but I will say that the ending is appropriate to the rest of the game, and I can say with confidence that if you enjoyed the game up to the end, you will enjoy the ending a lot.
3D Animated Texture Water
Like that picture above? That's a screenshot of a new 3D water example I've got ready for release - but I really want to write up a tutorial so people can learn how I made the textures included in the example. It looks great in motion!
Anyway, that's my weekend in a nutshell. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the delays between posts, I'll try to be more prompt with future posts.
I'm pleased to announce that Team Wanderlust has finally unveiled a 'public' demo of Wanderlust: Rebirth, a game that many (myself included) feel is already one of the richest experiences crafted with Game Maker to date.
The game, a solo / online action RPG, represents a re-imagining of the original Wanderlust game, of sorts. Upon starting, players can choose from a handful of classes, and can level up their character with points as they progress through the game's chapters. Each chapter that is completed unlocks the next, and can be repeated again in order to obtain a higher rating, and earn more points.
Rebirth also features an intuitive dialog system, killer retro 16-bit style graphics, customizable controls, and of course, online play. Using the Reflect account system, or by connecting directly, players can join up with each other and play through chapters as a party of up to 4 players. The co-op gameplay is actually encouraged, as the game awards alternate scores for different group sizes, so if you want to complete the game in its entirety (and have some fun to boot), gather up some buddies and have at it!
I've really enjoyed watching this game as it is developed, and it's great to see it finally released to the public and finding a warm reception therein. A lot of work has been put into this game by just a handful of talented people, and I hope to see it finished in the time to come.
Matt, Rebirth's chief programmer, has also given me some great ideas to expand the functionality of Reflect as well - you'll see some of his suggestions come to fruition in future updates.
Anyway, I highly recommend you take the game for a test drive. I'm sure you'll agree with the growing consensus that the new Wanderlust is truly an epic game, with lots to do, and lots of rewards for both the casual and the dedicated alike.
Wanderlust: Rebirth's topic at the GMC can be found here, or you can download the game directly here.
I'm proud to announce that Reflect Games has gained its 6000th member!
It's been a long journey for me, starting up Reflect, and working through a lot of ups and downs, fast times, and slow times. It's been a lot of fun, and I hope that it continues to be so as we push on into the future.
I've not had as much time to work on games recently, but I have worked on things slowly over the last few months. I've got a game in the works for the next YYG competition, and I still plan on finishing up some of my more undercooked projects at some point, and getting the site update for Reflect out eventually, too. I usually find time to visit the Reflect Games forums, to interact with the community and help people with their work, and I'm always interested in previewing projects people may want to utilize the Reflect system as well. As time goes on, I will have more time for creating things myself as well - I'm just doing a lot of commuting for work right now, and that has a habit of making my free time scarce.
In any case, this is a very happy time for the Reflect community and myself, and I hope that if you have not yet checked out Reflect Games, you will take this opportunity to do so. Many people have put a lot of hard work into making Reflect what it is today. It's a fun place to be, and I thank everyone for helping it continue to be that way.
I might be working on a special giveaway to commemorate this milestone as well - more on that later though. Thanks for reading!
Last Thursday, I was finally able to take off from work a few hours early and head over to San Francisco to check out GDC08!
My only prior exposure to GDC was the heavy media coverage through sites like IGN and Joystiq, and even though they usually deliver a pretty comprehensive record of the event, it's a completely different experience to actually be there. It was positively overwhelming, in all the right ways.
By now if you've followed GDC08 at all, you've probably already read about most of the crazy stuff there, like the headset that (theoretically) allows you to control games via thought power, the various presentations of motion capture software and hardware, and of course, all the game announcements. So I won't write too much about that stuff. What I do want to share is the acclaim two Game Maker games had achieved via the Independent Games Festival.
Walking around the expo floor, completely amazed at all the awesome technological wizardry around me, I eventually found myself standing in front of the huge Independent Games Festival display. Massive pillars towered before me, each containing a computer dedicated to a single game, with a huge title banner above and crowd of people below. I'd seen the IGF logo before, as it looked familiar to me, but it took me a few seconds of weaving my way through the crowd to remember where I'd heard about it, and why it was interesting to me. I stared at the pillar directly in front of me and read the title of the game it featured: Clean Asia. A quick look around the other pillars yielded another familiar name: Battleships Forever. I'd heard about both titles making it somewhat far in the latest IGF competition, but I still found it really refreshing to see two games that I knew had been constructed in Game Maker to be featured alongside other amazing games on the show floor.
It really is an exciting thing, on many levels. At the very base of the whole thing, it's great to see two independent game designers (from a community many of us are part of) see this sort of recognition. It's also great to see games made with Game Maker be taken seriously by the indie community, and the larger game development community in general. It just goes to show you how silly all the naysayers and hyper-critical people within the Game Maker circle really are.
Just being at the expo lent me a re-alignment of my compass within game development, but seeing these two games in the show was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Overall, I had a great time walking around two of the expo floors at GDC08, taking in all the sights and sounds, and feeling even more connected to the global body of Game Developers. I only wish I would have had more time to look at everything!
Before I forget, I'd like to say thanks to Suzanne Forest from ECD Systems / Indie Game Showcase, who was able to offer many people in the area a free ticket to GDC08. I appreciate all the work ECD has done with the Indie Game Showcase, and I hope to have a new game to enter into a future contest sometime.
Thanks for reading, hope everyone had a good weekend!
Hey, I'm back from my blog hiatus! Miss me? I thought so.
As anyone who's followed my various exploits over the years might have guessed from my lack of posting, I've been a busy guy lately. This is partially due to my job, to my constant tinkering with Game Maker, to my spending time with my girlfriend, to a minor car accident, and to various other endeavors that will go unsaid. Don't worry though - all is well with Marty. I'm just a teeny, tiny bit tired right now, and barring some sort of spontaneous bout of sleep, I'll do my best to talk about some new stuff here before I sign off tonight.
First though, since pictures are worth a lot more words than I could (or would) ever type here, I've got an image for you:
Pretty neat eh? If all goes according to plan, I'll hopefully be able to take a little time off from work tomorrow and go check out the expo at GDC 2008. I'm pretty excited about it!
And if it turns out that I can't go, well... at least I got a chance to hit San Francisco for a while earlier in the week. And I've got some good (and legally burned) tunes, and a wireless headset for my 360 / PC gaming needs. Call of Duty 4's been a blast lately.
As far as serious projects with Game Maker go, I really haven't had much time lately to code. This is good though, because as some of you have spotted, I am actually working on a collaborative effort right now, with a fellow by the name of Mr. Chubigans. We're working on a sequel to his previous game, Sandbox of God; a sequel which is appropriated titled Sandbox of God 2. The full title is actually Sandbox of God 2: Ancient Warfare - we're hoping to enter the game into the latest YoYo Games competition, whose theme is "Ancient Civilizations." I'm working on the graphical end of things, and we've also recruited MischiephX / Ds (of Aces High Over Verlor Island fame) for music, so hopefully we'll be able to get something fun and impressive put together. Win, lose, or fail to finish, I am really enjoying this so far. It's actually quite a relief to be able to leave other important aspects of the game in someone else's hands, and just concentrate on the part I am most skilled at.
Normally at this time (9:44 PM PST), I don't feel all that tired, but tonight I feel especially exhausted. I've been putting a lot of hard work in at my job, trying to finish up a movie loop for a big expo coming up, and I've also had to create a lot of random things in a very compressed amount of time lately. I did get to see a Flash banner that I created up on ESPN.com though, so that was exciting. All in all it's very rewarding, but just the same, I am really pooped out, even with the short work week.
Another tidbit for those of you who have read my posts on my various blogs over the years - I have finally been "inspired" to get that painting job done for my buddy. It's a good thing that he's a patient guy, but I think that with my new inspiration, the trifecta of paintings that have taken me over a year to get done will be worth the wait. I'm probably going to try to get that rolling this weekend - I'll post some pics.
Well, anyway... Marty's hittin' the sack. Thanks for reading my blog, and hope to see you back here soon... I'll be posting more often again, so don't be a stranger!
I guess it's a bit late to announce this here, 5 days after I actually submitted the game to YoYoGames for judging, but what the heck - I feel much more energized after a nice relaxing holiday at my parent's house, and I figure it's time to push the game a little bit. So without further ado, my YYG Winter Competition is finally finished!
I present to you the winter-themed SHMUP, Sun Sun Der! Here's a quick link to play at YoYoGames.com, more information below!
The spirits that govern the balance of hot and cold on the earth are in turmoil - on the Winter Solstice 2007, the sun's summer spirits refuse to leave. The goddess spirit of the winter, Friga, is sent to battle the summer and bring about the cold of winter once again!
Play the game here, directly at YoYo Games. If you like the game, I would appreciate it if you'd rate it accordingly... seems the YYG bury brigade has already hit many of the competition entries particularly hard.
Controls are as follows
Z - Shoot
X - Attract power-ups
C - Special attack (when meter is charged)
P - Pause the game
F1 - Restart the game
F4 - Toggle windowed / full screen display modes
Esc - Exit the game
Anyway, enjoy the game, and thanks to everyone who plays and / or votes. I appreciate all the support I get from the community!
Well, I had planned on doing a pretty extensive write-up about my thoughts on the integrity of some of the game media websites as of late, but for now I'm going to put this off. I am working very exclusively on my entry for the YoYo Games Winter Competition, trying to get everything finished for the December 23 deadline. It's been quite hectic, and I'll be glad when I can finally use my spare time to relax again!
That said, the game is coming along well. It's not quite as big as I had hoped it might be in the beginning, but procrastination and other obligations have kept me from making it something huge for the sake of the competition. Depending on how well the game is received, I might just give it the Reflect treatment after all the dust has settled. And despite the frantic development schedule, it's definitely been fun so far - I will be glad to have participated in the first YYG contest, regardless of the outcome (providing I finish, of course). At the very least, it's been fun carving out a game in a genre I haven't yet explored very much.
I'm finally ready to spill the beans on what exactly the game is though, so here goes! The name of the game is Sun Sun Der, and though it's a pretty standard kind of "shmup," I've been using the game Imperishable Night (a "bullet hell" style game) and some friendly advice from Cactus to mold the idea into something (hopefully) more memorable.
Not to overdo anything, I've kept the story for the game relatively simple, to reflect the relatively simple gameplay. This is all subject to change, but basically, you play as Friga, the spirit / guardian of winter. Every winter solstice, the spirits of the sun / summer must leave the earth to make way for the winter spirits to take over. Predictably, this year those spirits have refused to leave, so Friga must fight them and force the winter season to begin. Sure, it sounds a little silly... but I think setting up a serious and involved story for a game where a flying woman with blue hair kills hordes of fireflies would be infinitely worse.
So there you have it. Maybe not a particularly ground-breaking experience, but hopefully a visually pleasant, fun, and somewhat challenging game will await! Enjoy the screenshots above, comment, and thanks for reading!
There is much ado in the Game Maker community these days, thanks in large part to the recently announced YoYo Games Winter Competition. For those of you who haven't yet heard it, YoYo Games is putting on a game creation contest which runs from now until December 23. The rules are pretty simple, and the game must follow a "winter" theme, in pretty much any way the developer can implement it. Not surprisingly, more than a few people have admitted to making a game centered around Christmas for the competition, and though I have to admit, it was tempting, I've already made a Christmas game, and frankly, I think there is a lot more to winter than the major holidays. We'll see what people can come up with though; I have high hopes that we'll see an explosion of creativity for this comp, from more than just the usual gang.
The title of this article is based on the typical reactions of some of the people who have heard about all this, especially the $1,000 grand prize. GMC, YYG, OMG, WTF indeed.
One thing I am really liking about the Winter Competition however, is that it's given me a little bit more motivation to set aside all the games I've been playing, and re-focus on actually making something. That's not to say that I will definitely be able to carve out my idea entirely by the contest deadline, but I am certainly going to try to - if the result is any good, it will be another fun game to add to the pile at Reflect Games, no matter how it does in the contest.
I don't want to say too much about what I am working on yet, but since I have dropped a few hints here and there to various people, I figured I would talk a little about it.
Basically, I'm using the competition as a springboard of sorts, to propel myself into a game genre that I am not usually very engrossed in. I've been studying a few games of the same genre, and I think that with a little luck, I can put something together that is both visually impressive, and a more old school brand of fun. It seems appropriate anyway, because as much as I love all the new games these days, my gaming roots (as a player, anyway) are in the classic realm of 8-bit and 16-bit gameage. So the game's going to be 2D, and isn't going to be something mind-bendingly complex... just a little more reliant on player skill.
I'm also going to be using the theme of "winter," in a unique back story for my game... again, not something that will be horribly deep, but which will hopefully go beyond just throwing a snowy texture onto the floors in HT3D and calling it a new game. Winter as a theme should go beyond winter as a setting anyway.
Anyway, I'll be working a lot on my game this weekend, and if I feel it's progressed enough, maybe I'll post some teaser screens here when the game's farther along. I might put up some concept artwork I've made too, but for now you'll just have to take all my vagueness and come to your own conclusions.
