Taking a new edge on things

It's that time of year again. Time for me to start working on that project again. Yes, that. But this year it will be different. This year I'm going to approach things differently. This year things are going to be edgier. I'm going to push my coding skills to the edge. This year it's not Balding Man. It's Balding Edge from Second Edge Games.

What Happen?

Why isn't Arity finished yet? Why haven't there been any updates? Has SLG dropped off the face of the earth?

These are all valid questions with one simple answer (and no, someone didn't set up us the bomb).

I'm working on something else. I've got an awesome composer (unless you don't like trance) who also happens to play video games. He's played a lot more of this type of game than I have, so he's also got a lot of useful knowledge and makes a great co-designer. I think that once I get it all laid out, the engine will be fairly simple to make. I think the gameplay might not be entirely original, but I think it will be fun. I think that this game will also see the first iteration of L.A.U.R.A. Tomorrow is Bright!

In celebration of the new and exciting project, I've take time off from doing homework instead of working on the prototype engine to fix up the blog layout (the old one was really ugly) and the fix up the logo for the blog (the old one was really ugly). I might as well also mention that I made a new and slightly more interesting background for the main site a month ago. Get out your text highlighting-enabled browser, because that old broken down projector does a pretty poor job of making the text stand out from the background (EDIT: That's because apparently Chrome doesn't "do" FixedSys).

Arity Update

Things have been slow lately. I updated the main website.

I also did some work on Arity. The engine is mostly done. I got someone to play it for a few minutes in front of me, and from that decided that I had to do something about that disorienting screen transition, soI hacked in fast smooth scrolling, and it looks really good. I also took the opportunity to make some improvements to the collision detection. It would be better if I didn't treat the player like a point instead of a 1x1px box, but it works well enough, and maybe suggested that the character is just a bright glowing point, which fits well. I still need to work on the actual world, which is more or less where I stopped last Summer. I'm heading back to school in a few days, So I'll probably stop development entirely for a little while while I aclimate. We'll see if I pick it up again. It's so close. I'm really getting a sense for what the second 90% of development is.

Status Report

• PurEdit can create any aspect of a boss now.
• Anything other than creation has to be handled with a hex editor.
• All but two bosses are complete; one still need to have its guns shuffled around some.
  
• I need to add an eyedropper for guns to the editor.
  
• The engine is more or less complete.
• Roughly 25% of the rooms are complete and more are in progress.
• I'm not really sure what to do after the last boss.
• Credits maybe? New Game+?
• It's already pretty ridiculous with full powerups. New Game+ might actually be harder.
• Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
• Difficulty and Balance is probably way off. I'll have to test for that when the game is done. Maybe even before then.
• My code is a cancerous mess and I don't think I do any sort of memory management. The last thing I want to do it go back and fix it up, though. The game works; it doesn't have to be hyperefficient.
  
• I guess I'm more or less in the second 90% of development now.

Arity 1 Update

Done:

• Continue working on bosses (just aout done).
• Change the name to Arity 1.
  
• Save boss death and make the environment respond (done)
• Find the world map I made before I stopped.
• Make global (I know) event object to pass around events.
• Explosions.
• Improvements.
• And the like.
  

Todo:

• Add more Boss functionality to PurEdit (add/remove cathode/anode).
  
• Make rooms.
• Polish
• Polish
• Polish
  

Sound

FMOD Ex/VC++ has crushed my soul for the last time. I just downloaded IrrKlang. I'm done with FMOD and its damn VC++ addiction.

Purity Update §

Done:

• Continue working on bosses.
• Add boss-making capacity to PurEdit.
• Save boss death and make the environment respond (started)
  

Todo:

• Continue working on bosses (deathroll mainly).
• Add more Boss functionality to PurEdit (add/remove cathode/anode).
  
• Make global (I know) event object to pass around events.
  
• Make rooms.
• Find the world map I made before I stopped.

Purity Update Z

Done:

• Fixed List.
  
• Working on bosses.
• Made some more rooms.
  

Todo:

• Continue working on bosses.
• Make rooms.
• Add boss-making capacity to PurEdit.
• Save boss death and make the environment respond.
  
• Find the world map I made before I stopped

Purity Update XI

Done:

• Just about done being sick.
• Rewrite PurEdit (more work that it sounds; see above video).

Todo:

• FIX LIST.
• Make bosses.
  
• Make BMP to Map converter.
• Find the world map I made before I stopped

New Logo

This one has enhanced mathematical and scientific significance. I spent literally hours trying to find a way to give the old on significance, but it just wasn't working. I'm sort of working on a logo specification now.

Purity Update Q

Done:

• Update gun class
• Update room file format to include guns and potential other things.
• Maybe getting sick. We'll see.
  

Todo:

• Make bosses.
  
• Make BMP to Map converter.
• Update/rewrite PurEdit.

Purity Update X

Done:

• Improve minimap drawing
• Add save point to save point teleportation.
• Enhance screens.
• Tweak menus and map.
• Thanks to Alec for help with pngs.
  

Todo:

• Update gun class.
• Update room file format to include guns and potential other things.
• Make bosses.
  
• Make BMP to Map converter.
• Update/rewrite PurEdit.

Purity Update

Done:

• Add health bar.
• Add map.
• Revise level handling.
• Add cheat code for testing.
• Add Loading screen.
  

Todo:

• Update gun class.
• Make new font file.
  
• Update room file format to include guns and potential other things.
• Make bosses.
  
• Make BMP to Map converter.
• Update/rewrite PurEdit.
• Improve minimap drawing.
  
• Add save point to save point teleportation.
  

Purity Update

Done:

• Update falling platforms and related add new collision detection
• Update powerups class.
• Update room file format to include save points and platforms.
• Update powerups file to act as a partial save file as well. Not as bad as it sounds. I already had it set up that way and just ended up making a few new functions.
• Add sounds for powerups.
• Add powerups.
• Add menu with continue, reload, new game, and exit.
  

Todo:

• Update gun class.
• Add health bar.
  
• Make new font file.
  
• Update room file format to include guns and potential other things.
• Make BMP to Map converter.
  

Purity Update

Done:

• Old FMOD 3.75 code removed.
• Room graphics switched to OpenGL.
• Collision Detection rebuilt and enhanced.
• Edge Gravity Added.
• "Skill Jump" added (jump at the peak of the second jump, three frame tolerance).
• Added FMOD Ex, jumping sounds (1, 2, skill, skill fail).
  

Todo:

• Update falling platforms and related add new collision detection
  
• Update gun class.
• Update powerups class.
• Add new sprite class.
  
• Update room file format to include guns, powerups, save points, platforms, and potential other things.
• Update save file with a list of powerups gotten (this will be more helpful than it sounds).
• Make BMP to Map converter.
  

Purity Overhaul

I've lost motivation on BLDNG MAN (making scripting languages from scratch is not fun), so I'm going to take a break, and get back to work on Purity. I started purity before I knew OpenGL, so I'm going to start with a graphics engine overhaul. I also didn't plan very well when I started making the game, so some important features were just hacked in. I'm going to fix that has well. Hopefully those two combined with a bitmap->room converter and an updated level editor will result in a near future release.

--Gold Cray, Second Law Games.

THEE FYTIE OV THEE FVTVRE

I'm still alive

I've just been spending all my time doing science and programming instead of writing blog posts. But I'll make it up to you, internet void. Here. I haven't posted this anywhere else yet. It's a platformer controls prototype with procedurally generated cave-like terrain (using ChevyRay's algorithm). Controls are wasd to move, s to crouch, w to jump and to climb up nearby short walls, and right click to boost. Let me know what you think (or not since the internet can't talk).

Edit: When I say "what do you think," be honest. I mean it. Be as brutal as you need to be. I am aware that the controls might well be terrible. The goal here is to learn more about how to implement interesting controls effectively, and that means cutting out the ones that suck.

SERVER SPACE ACQUIRED

Czech it out

Maybe I will also go get a redirection while I am at it. www.secondlawgames.co.nr?

Jorptec II and Others

I'm building up steam to install VC++ on Windows and try to use it for compiling the Jorptec II Windows build. In the meantime, I'm roughing out some ideas for Kernel Of Darkness, which is just another name for The Horror, but instead of what it was going to be, it's going to be another Modernization of Heart of Darkness. You play ace steamship/task manager captain M.A.R.L.O.W., who must journey deep into Vista in order to rescue/kill the rogue process KURTZ.EXE. It's a bullet hell shmup in reverse.



Oops! It looks like I need to work on my sprite system a little. Those bullets are a bit off.

Jorptec II Day 6.75

Started converting FMOD C++ in Linux version to C for the Windows version. I really should make a wrapper for Windows, but I'm not really in the mood for tedious programming right now. I might also look and see if I can use the VC++ compiler without dealing with VC++.

Jorptec II Day 6.5

Jorptec II Day 5.5

Started working on the boss. Didn't do much. Nothing to show.

SLG Website Part II

I found it. It's over there. It turns out that the new server doesn't have all the capability of the old one, so you'll either have to just know the addresses of the other pages or find a way of learning them. It's pretty new, so they might intend to add the functionality later, or it might be that the server was never meant to be a server like that. If that's the case, I guess I'll start looking for a new host. Maybe I'll check out google pages again and see if it will let me use my own files.

The Truth is out There

I just went to take a picture of my old green Gameboy in order to post it here, but upon searching the canvas bag I hid it in, I found a Gameshark, an old carrying case, and a yellow link cable. There was no sign of the Gameboy. There is more going on here than we realize. They don't just buy old green Gameboys to get rid of them; they search for and steal hidden Gameboys. What do they want? Why are they trying to hide the truth? Who are they?

Whatever the case, they must be stopped. The people deserve the truth.

Until later, semper games

--Gold Cray, Second Law Games

SLG Website

About that thing I said about uploading stuff to the website after finding the new server: I found the new server, I uploaded stuff to it, the stuff didn't show up. It's kind of confusing, really. The website existed only on the old server (baltic) and the new server (geek). As far as I know, baltic no longer exists, but the website apparently is not coming from geek. Where else could it be coming from? The future? The past? Must remember to alert the scientists to this new discovery...

Jorptec II Day 5

Jorptec II Day 4

Progress is purely sonic (aside from changing a number in a particular enemy class). No new videos to post.
However, as soon as I figure out where the heck baltic went, I might upload the music, and also Jorptec I, which I finished a few weeks ago.

Jorptec II Day 3

It's a little late because of some issues uploading the video.

Jorptec II Day 2

Jorptec II

It's a shmup. You fly a ship with a laser cannon and blow things up.

II