This year has started pretty well actually. I haven’t gotten as much as I’d like to have gotten done but I’ve been pretty busy.
For the past week now I’ve been giving a shot at music again. Combined, I’ve probably spent at least 3 weeks just trying new techniques to get something that works. Finally, I think I have a song that I can work off! It isn’t complete yet, I’ll probably do a bit more stage work first. Kinda worries me I could be lost when I get back to it but my brain needs a rest.
I’m pretty sure everyone’s heard something about the SOPA/PIPA bill at this point and while I don’t exactly generate the most traffic I feel somewhat inclined to at least mention it. I haven’t looked into the bill myself but the main issue seems to be giving companies too much power over copyrighted material, giving them the ability to figuratively censor the internet. Its seems to be a bill that affects the entertainment industry for the most part and maybe people who make those let’s play videos or use copyrighted music or images.
Here’s where the plot thickens. The ESA (Entertainment Software Association),which in general represents the game industry, is said to be a big supporter of the bill. I guess what company says no to more power right? That isn’t making the ESA a lot of friends.
The ESA’s big event is E3, and as a spite to the ESA’s support for SOPA/PIPA it’s been proposed that the media not cover E3 this year and that people and companies not attend.
So where do I stand in this? I have everything to gain from this from a company perspective right, albeit a really small company. Yet and still I I oppose this bill. I’ll always be on the progressive side, forward thinking. You honestly don’t even have to read into the bill, you can look at the list of companies that support the bill and the companies that don’t to get a sense of which side you should be on. This bill to me feels like as step backwards. The very companies that made the internet so useful (YouTube, Google, Wikipedia and even those social companies I like to complain about), they’re the ones in the crossfire of all this. In the meantime, the companies that do absolutely NOTHING are in support of it. Typical.
Attending E3 was one of the things I was hoping to do this year, but probably won’t happen at this rate. It’s a shame because events like that only help companies but attending this year would equal to a slap in the face to all the people opposing the bill. Even if you’re thinking from a business standpoint it isn’t a good move.
It’s a important to remember that piracy is an issue but polluting the ocean to take down a few ships is probably more harm than good. (figuratively speaking of course)
It’s Friday, January 13th and it seems like no better day to ramble about one of the fears I have about this project or rather game design in general. Can the dive into fantasy break sequels in a series focused on realistic gameplay?
Most games don’t have this problem as they’re either one or the other, however some realistic games may shift towards fantasy elements when ideas are slim (ahem, not to say that’s what I’m doing…. Fantasy is just a lot quicker to produce). The advantage of fantasy is that you’re not working inside of a box, you can use any idea at your disposal. Once you go back into that box there’s just going to be some things you won’t be able to do.
I haven’t really been posting any actual screens for a while now. The reason for that is, I’m mainly focusing on how the game plays right now and I’m also trying to figure out ways to build my levels faster. Even with all the advancements I made I don’t think I’m going fast enough. When I can build my levels at decent speeds I’ll focus more on coating them in timely manner and post the results.
The second part of this story would be character models.I was going to do a bit of modeling work a long time ago but decided that it really wasn’t as important in the grand scheme of things. In turn, I’ve just been doodling trying to stabilize Felix’s design, which likes to change a lot because I always tend to try different drawing methods.
Then there’s the music… Good grief. The first song seems to be the hardest one because it sets the theme of the other songs. I still haven’t done that first song. Maybe it’ll come to me after the playing through the first stage in full form.
The artistic side of things tend to be the most open ended so I’m saving those tasks for later. Getting lost in the arts is an easy way to prolong a project. I honestly think I would be done right now if I didn’t focus so much on graphics and technology but I guess it was all warranted with the jump to 3d.
Either way, lesson learned!
It’s 2012, the season of “AAA titles” has ended and it’s time to leap into the new year, which just so happens to be a leap year ; D! While my Leap Day release is becoming more unrealistic with each passing day (I seem to still be learning how large the project really is) I’m certain I’ll have the game ready in time for Spring. Leap, Spring, get it?
To kick of the 2012 year I thought I’d do 1 or 2 things as I begin to ease into promotion mode. On the Art Page I’ve uploaded a more recent picture of Heather and right now I’m going to announce a few more details about the game.
The end product is set to be around 3 hours. That doesn’t mean I currently have a 3 hour product but my goal is to make the game last about that amount of time. The goal price will be 400 ms points which is about ($5 USD). Considering there are games about the same length of time and cost 3 times as much, I think it’s a pretty fair price (as long as the game is good that is…).
I’m going to be a lot more active in the next few months, even if I’m just posting to babble about nothing. The game’s release is a month or so away so consider this an interlude to the promotional phase.
The goal here is to be good enough to get an article on a major gaming website. I think I’ll send something to ScrewAttack.com near the end of the production phase. I like their style.
Well I’ll start by saying, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or simply put a Merry December. This will be my last update for the year and I thought I’d end it on a note that reveals a bit more about the game. Having the game fully outlined, I feel more comfortable giving a better overview.
Heather (Lisa’s niece) is assisting Lisa (whom is tutoring Wiley), by going over a book she’s written, with Wiley. If you’ve played Samba of the Wolves you’ll find Wiley to be somewhat illiterate. The book is dubbed “Felix and the World of Whimsy”.
Felix and the World of Whimsy is about Felix wandering around a mythical land of happy flowers and other anthropomorphic plants and objects. Unfortunately, the land is being terrorized by The Count (Roy) and it’s up to Felix to save the World of Whimsy.
Naturally Wiley doesn’t take well to the cutesy plot and develops the sole intention of derailing it with variations to the story, effectively raining on Heather’s parade.
The game itself is a kindred spirit with “Anti Effect”, following along Felix in a narrated form. The characters use their actual personalities and work as actors following a script in a world of its own. The difference is, the real world will play a part in the story as well.
It’s a fun little tale that I think finally introduces that bit of ideology into the series I’ve wanted to and provides contrast to how seriously the characters work in even the most unrealistic settings.
I started out really well working towards the release date, then I kinda got a bit lazy. Not as lazy but still lazy. The reason for that is, I went back to focus on two areas I don’t try to spend a lot of time on (design, and music). These areas are extremely important to me but they bring out my lazy side.
On a plus note the skeleton of the game, story and structure wise is finally set and I’m simply on the path of filling it in. I usually never do this, often opting to design a set of features and seeing how I can use them. Given a little breathing room, this way seems to work rather well. On a minus note, I ehh still have no music… I’ll get there though!
One thing I must reemphasize, is my focus towards adventure/puzzles. Samba of the Wolves captures the spirit of things in a few ways (firefly, logs) although don’t make much sense and the start of Tandem Tales just completely misses the point and is nothing more than a trade quest. While this game has a lot more platforming than the previous games, my top priority has been to put the Adventure back into the Adventures of Felix.
My next source of reveals will likely either be final models or the debut trailer. However, I’m not doing a debut trailer until I have some music to go with it. I have no clue how long that could take but early January sounds about right.
I seem to be in a bit of a bedlam where my priorities are concerned. I’m realizing that it would take far far too long to implement everything in the game I wanted, so I’m trimming things back a bit. Even using just a few select features, I was surprised how many ideas I could come up with.
I’ve been experimenting with new combat by modifying the combat of the old game and to my amazement I learned a rather sad truth. Tale of the Night really was a button masher, a term I really really despise! Of course I knew it was true to some degree but I didn’t realize how bad things were.
To test it, I changed around my AI to just run at me attacking. I picked the fastest attacker (Karina) as my spammer. Using this bread dead strategy the computer managed to defeat me numerous times regardless of which character I used. The only effective strategy really (without playing dirty) was walking backwards while blocking and then using a heavy attack when there was enough distance. Now I’m not the greatest player in the world, probably not even at a game I made, but I shouldn’t have to struggle with such primitive tactics.
Sigh, I’m so mad at myself for not seeing the depth to this. You take a beat em’ up you like, and try to work it into your own without even thinking about the base issues. Luckily the internet has no problem shoving it your face…… eh luckily right?
There may be some people out there okay with the idea of being a button masher. Heck, I enjoy a good button masher! However, the core of my system must be based on the player actually knowing what he or she is doing. I can’t put my finger on why, but random attacking doesn’t exactly mesh well with the theme I’m going for.
Sometimes I think I’m trying to make the player smarter ; D
Although World of Whimsy is 1-player, rest assured I will be paying an ample amount of attention to making the enemies spam proof.
Well, Skyward Sword comes out in about 3 days which means the juggernaut portion of the big fall releases will be ending soon. Still, I want to wait until next year to make any major reveals.Trying to sticking out during this holiday season doesn’t seem like the smartest move.
Despite being devoid of news, I’m seriously considering a short comic series on deviant art. I’ve probably mentioned doing this a dozen times but never really got into it seriously ’til now. The idea is kinda stuck in my head.t’d be a pretty good setup to a debut trailer next year.
The only problem is how time consuming comics are. Even that one tiny comic strip I did took longer than I would’ve liked. I suppose I’ll find a way to streamline it. I usually do. Nothing ventured nothing gained right?
Should I start something, you could probably expect the first entry sometime in early. December.