www.ivegotmyownwebsitenow.com!!!!

Hello!

Well, where to begin. Whirlwind would be a good place to start - that's what my head feels like at the moment. Project Blast! is coming along nicely - starting to get some good back story in there too. Ive been working almost exclusively on the map editor which has actually come on in leaps and bounds. Just a few minor bugs to sort and it will be fully usable. I think need to look at adding more functionality for when we let the public get their hands on it. I know how much you guys like to break the toys we give you!

Also, I'm proud to announce that Adarakion Games now has its own website - www.adarakion.co.uk (or .com) - not much to see there at the moment, just a holding page, but we are adding functionality and updating quite regularly - so keep checking back for updates... Hopefully we will have something to look at in the next few days/weeks......

The team really feels like its cohesive too - we are all chipping in and working hard to get Project Blast! off the ground, the team will post a blog on the official website introducing themselves once the site is configured properly and set up etc. so another reason to keep checking back.

I guess all we lack at the moment as a team is an artist. But they are incredibly hard to come by (well, good ones are anyway) - and given that art is a concept I'm not familiar with, its something we will need to address in the near future... watch this space..

Building Momentum

Wow, what a week its been so far.

Bit of a whirlwind.. so where to start. OK, lets start at the very beginning (that's a very good place to staaaaaart!)

I have recruited a designer into the group and chatted over the concept of Project Blast! with him - by some stroke of genius on my part (or fluke, you choose) he knew of the game we were basing Project Blast! on, and had played it previously - so that's a big bonus - getting my concept/vision over to others is SO much easier when someone understands the actual game/mechanics.

The team now consists of 3 of us, 2 developers and a designer which seems like a good mix of folk to me. Its a fairly small team & project at the moment and in theory one that wont take forever to complete. Its REALLY good experience for everyone involved in working in teams and allocating coding/design work as necessary. We (well, I say we, my fellow developer) are in the process of setting up an online work/task distribution system so we can all keep track of who is doing what and what stage the project is at which will be a godsend, considering we all live in different parts of the country...

All in all a very positive start to the week and the project - if its possible, I am even more excited at the prospect of seeing this project developing now, than I was previously.

I'm off to talk about some more ideas - later Internet people.

Back on Track!

Hi folks,

Well, after a lovely week in Sunny Bridlington (yes, it was sunny.. no, seriously, I can hardly believe it either!) I am back and raring to go. My laptop has been repaired by HP (new motherboard) so now nothing can stop me cracking on with project number 2 (codename Project Blast!).

Just trying to recruit a designer at the moment to flesh out some of my initial ideas, but the basic concept (to me at least) is awesome and offers a LOT of scope for future DLC, multi player tournaments, leagues etc. etc. so I am really stoked about the whole idea. Whoever thought that writing a concept document could be so exciting... yeah. you are right, I do need to get out more...

Anyway, I'm currently developing some of the tools we will be using to make the various levels (and hopefully make available to the player to make their own levels too) - need to spend some time getting this JUST right, its incredibly important.

Odds On fans, don't despair - that's still in development too - just taking a little bit of a back seat at the moment (no pun intended!).

Oh, and I managed to play a couple of new XBL Arcade games over the last few days - Trials HD and Shadow Complex.

Trials HD is in a word, awesome. Anyone remember Kickstart 1 & 2 on the C64? This game is very similar to that but 21st Centuryised!!! Mad OTT motorbiking on wild stunt tracks. Its very "just one more go" with some crazy achievements to be won - top top stuff - grab the trial version and make your own minds up but its well worth a download. Love the integration of the player leader boards too - it tracks your "friends" times etc. so you can see when you are beating them in real time - really cleverly done. Its definitely one Ill be going back to again and again...

Shadow Complex is also a great demonstration of style and game design. Played in 2d but with a 3d view it reminds me quite a bit of the Amiga game "Flashback". Its also very retro-styled in the way the game plays. The 2d / sort of 3d plane is a little confusing at first, but when it "clicks" it works really well! Plenty of hidden items to find etc. etc. I hear its quite a short game to "complete", but I will more than likely be going back and playing through it again once I have finished it to find all the other secret areas I missed. Again, grab the trial version on XBL Arcade and see for yourself - oh, just one point, don't be put off by the first 2 minutes of the game - it gets better. MUCH better :)

Right, that's enough from me.. More on Project Blast! later....

A moments silence please.....

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my HP Pavilion DV9399EA laptop died yesterday, after a short problem with the video card. The laptop died peacefully despite my frustrated attempts to recover it.

I have been having problems off and on for a week or so now but yesterday was the final nail in the coffin for it.

Ive only had it for 18 months and am quite annoyed, but a call to HP later and they agreed to collect it today, repair and return within 7-10 business days. I must admit that I thought I would get nowhere with them as the machine is out of warranty (just). I have also been reading on their forums about a lot of disgruntled people with the same problems as me and them being charged upwards of £200 to fix!! After some reasonable persistence on my behalf they have agreed to repair - so good on them.

Luckily I backed up all my code/pictures/music over the weekend so they should be safe if they have to reset the machine, and in any case, I think once I get it back a rebuild might be the best thing I can do, its probably ready!

I'm glad that HP saw fit to sort me out. I was prepared for a long drawn out battle with them, quoting the Sale of Goods Act etc. but I only got told they wouldn't repair it once, then I got put through to a different "department" who agreed to take it in with no pressure at all.

Retained a customer there and I would happily buy HP again now.

My word if the day to all of you in Internet land is "backup" and do it now - the feeling of nausea which spreads when you think your beloved computer/laptop has died with all your precious pictures/music and work is AWFUL.

A New Old Project!

So whilst my brain is being wracked on Odds On (and whilst I wait for the artwork to arrive) Ive turned my attention to another project..

As yet untitled its essentially a very similar game to "Gravity Power" which came out on the Amiga oooh, about 10-15 years ago. Its a very simple concept, 2 player controlled ships battle it out in an arena and the one with the most kills win. A bit like Combat for the old Atari 2600, but with larger arenas, customisation of ships and weaponry, destructible terrain etc. etc.

I did start to code this game a while ago, however I took one look at the code the other day and decided I would start again as it was quite unoptimised and buggy.

Hence I'm in the very early stages at the moment - just found some nice spaceship sprites (2 different ship types at the moment, but want at least 10) and Ive begun to get the actual mechanics of the game to work. The key to this game is that EVERYTHING (and I mean EVERYTHING) will be customisable - so if you want Jupiter levels of gravity, then go for it. If you want negative gravity, do it. Also, you will be able to "set up" your ship with a set number of "setup" points - so you could have a really quick ship, and trade off some armour. Or, carry a LOT of ammo, but lose some speed etc.

I also need to develop a level editor (which the player will be able to use too) - to design various maps etc. which I will also use to make the default 50 or so maps :)

Lots to think about, but in essence a much simpler game to make than Odds on. I'm hoping that this game will be something to put on after a couple of beers for a laugh.. at least, that's the plan :)

So 2 projects on the go now.. wow, I'm almost multitasking here :)

A mini-milestone is reached :)

One of the great things about coding is the sense of achievement when you figure out something that has been eluding you for days.. I had one such moment yesterday with my database :)

I FINALLY figured out how to use custom types (Structs for you C++ people) effectively in Blitz, meaning that now I can create my database and add to it / alter it whenever I feel the need :) Its a very little thing and if you saw the game in action now to how it was a week or so ago you wouldn't spot any difference, but its an aid to the internal workings of the game which means I can expand it quite effortlessly now!

Todays task will involve filling in the blanks on the preview screen and maybe adding a new functionality so that you can see a portion of the horse & jockey database information.. This will have a double effect in so much as it will aid me in error checking, but also allow the player to see which horses are doing well, which jockeys have ridden the most winners etc. etc. I can also use the database preview later in the game when I implement the running of your own stable so you can select which jockey will ride your horses accordingly..

I love it when a plan comes together...

... speaking of which, I was thinking last night, if you had to cast a Dungeons and Dragons movie (based on the old cartoon) who would you cast? So far I had got:

Dungeon Master - Warwick Davis
Eric - Colin Farrell
Hank - Owen Wilson
Presto - Daniel Radcliffe
Sheila - difficult one.. maybe Kirsten Dunst?
Diana - Halle Berry
Bobby - struggling a bit with this one..
Venger - Ron Perlman?

Any thoughts?? Until next time...

Time (or lack of it!)

Time... anyone who says they have enough doesn't. Or maybe they do if they feel they can tell you that they don't have enough.. hmm.. think I am defeating the point of this blog post already!

Progress has been slow/non existent due to lack of time for me at the moment - Ive got my games development diploma course to crack on with at some point, along with my numerous projects to progress with!

Odds On development has stalled a little due to this lack of time, but I'm hopeful I can crack a bug or two today and carry on implementing the database (which has now become the bane of my life!).

I'm also involved in another project which is at prototype stage at this moment in time, but has the potential (if we can pull it off) of being huge. A childhood favourite remastered is all I will say at this stage. Don't want to get over excited yet... :)

I go away on holiday soon, so that cause more delays, so I guess really I should crack on and get ahead of myself....

On another note Ive been playing 'Splosion Man on the 360 quite a bit (maybe that's where my time has gone to!) and for me its a fantastic example of simple game design but nailing it 100%. Its very addictive in a "just one more go" fashion. It uses one button only (so would work on a C64!) and the key to the games addictiveness is clever level design mixed with gorgeous 2.5D visuals and effects (maybe not one for the C64 then). Whilst playing it I cant help thinking that I'm playing someones LittleBigPlanet level - anyone else get that? I think the visual style of the game and the way the levels are constructed are VERY LBP-like!!

Anyway, I'm off to do some work for a change - catch you later.

Focus young Padawan!

Morning Internet peeps.

Focus.

That's a word I struggle with. I do actually drive one, but seemingly have very little in real life!!

I'm talking about bug fixing here, and my seeming lack of ability to focus on something till I have solved the problem rather than thinking "ooh, lets add this feature". I guess I'm all about the glory eh?!

So, I have managed to implement my new horse sprites (just waiting for the full frame set from my Artist :) ) and have also managed to (somehow) solve my Jockey name bug. However I then got distracted and tried to implement some new graphical touches :)

Ive also had some ideas for new projects floating around my head for a while now which is just typical for me - I start something in earnest and then get distracted by something new! However I am putting them to the back of my mind till I have at least a working Alpha of Odds On...

So todays task is to try and implement more of my database to include horse and jockey form, going etc. The ultimate goal here to produce Odds that reflect how good the horse is performing, rather than by random number assignment. I also want to implement a "skills" system in so much as the horses will have skills such as stamina, pace, acceleration etc. which all affect race performance....

... so still plenty to do, just need to stop thinking about my other projects... still, dabbling in starting one wont hurt will it....?

Whirlwind Weekend

Sorry for the lack of update folks. My weekend has been a whirlwind of best mans duties, BBQs and sleep (but not much of the latter it feels!!!) - my promised new screenshot images have not transpired as a result.. but they will be here this week I promise.

So Ill be picking up the reigns (pun intended) on Odds on again today - got my artists (you know who you are, and you are VERY MUCH appreciated) working on some new stuff to add in which is coming along quite nicely (gosh, this might actually LOOK the biz too :) ).

Got them nasty bugs to squish at some point too - ill try and nail that today, as well as further developing my horse/jockey database.... busy busy!

Noticed I had a mention on the Gamespot UK Podcast too this last week (listen to podcast released on 23rd July!) which was great - just hope it brings some nice new followers to my blog :)

So this weeks plan of action is essentially:

1) Get new screenies on the blog (done!)
2) Squish the bugs
3) Implement new graphical touches
4) Continue work on database.

It never ends this, I'm still mindful I'm working on just one part of what will ultimately be a much larger game project too, but also hopeful that this is very much the "meat" of the game too - so once Ive cracked this to my satisfaction, the rest should relatively easily fall into place..

Dont forget to click the pics to see them properly :)

This is a pic of the new track gfx with simply "stretched" larger horse sprites - I do have new horse sprites to implement but this gives a good idea of scale:



Here is the first pic of the race preview screen. A lot of stuff still needs to be inserted here (such as going, jockey info etc. etc. but it allows you at the moment to see the odds and place bets etc. One of the things I need to do is change the blue boxes to something more aesthetically pleasing as you cant see the image behind them at the moment!

Coding is bad for your health.. :)

Been progressing more with Odds On today, working on the game database and integrating that into the game so that the horses picked to run aren't random but are from a pre-built table of data, I have also coded in Jockey names to accompany the horses and will add in such as form, preferred condition, owner, trainer, wins etc. over time. Its become apparent to me that I should have nailed this design element first (and here's me thinking I can design and code!). Integrating stats etc. once you have started coding is a complete, utter and total nightmare and don't even get me started on bugs...

Bugs bugs bugs. Damnit. Some of them are stupid coder errors, some are a little more subtle than that, but the game code is growing by the day and its becoming increasingly hard to follow my progress! Daft things like the same horse being picked twice for a race (which for some reason best known to itself, the game seems to do EVERY race!), using the wrong variables in places etc. gah. calm down dear.. its only a commercial.. thanks Michael, feel better now.

Anyway, progress is slow at the moment - I really need to tear the whole game apart and rebuild it, but I shall persevere, I will crack it. I think for me, tedium sets in quite quickly when doing the mundane, boring code stuff. I like to see my work in action, love to see a new animation I have added or a clever little bit of code playing out :)

Anyway, Ill post some more screenies either later today or tomorrow, showing the revised race track, horses etc.

It IS very cathartic posting this blog - lets me get my frustrations out in the open and also lets me think things through from different angles...

... today bugs with jockey names, tomorrow THE WORLD.. !!!

Odds On progress

So, I have been spending some time thinking about where I go with Odds on.

Ive got a fully working (well, kind of!) 2d race engine and the results of which are affected by the odds of the horse, however there are some elements of the design in not entirely happy with, and others I'm having to think long and hard about to find the best solution.

So, my first design issue is how do you track (no pun intended) the horse you have bet on (or horseS for that matter). Initially I had 50x50 pixel animated sprites which looked WAY too small on the track, but with them being so small I had space to "trail" the names of the horses behind them so you could see which horse was which.. yes, they all had their own individual colours but at 50x50 it was tough going to see the colours as they were so tiny.. So my first decision was to up the resolution of the sprites to 100x100 - much better. Can see the colours no problem at all - though the new size sprites look a little jaggedy edged (but can change that simply enough later on), however now the trailing names are very much lost..

Ive toyed with the idea of doing a "live" leader board, which updates every frame, need to work on the code for this, but I guess this might work... if a little slow doing a nested for-next loop sort.. I already show the bets made on the screen in the bottom left.. so maybe i could make the bets animate in some way if its likely to pay off? But then you wouldn't need to look at the actual race.. I guess another way to do this would be to keep the horses names in their respective "lane" - so its simple to see which horse is which. But if I did this and wanted to change the way the horses run (i.e. all congregating to the middle after the first 100 yards) then it wouldn't work.....decisions decisions...

Also tried to make the track get muddier as the horses race across it. I can make this work, but its slow, basically because I'm grabbing an image of the entire track every frame, which takes its toll on the processor.. so i need to address this too.

Once Ive sorted all this out I can progress to sorting other data which may affect a horses performance such as going, form, jockey, etc. etc. This SHOULD be relatively easily achieved by use of a database of horses and jockeys...

.. lots to do and not enough time to do it....

Oh yeah, and I got cut up by some F*$&*£ at least 4 times on my way to work this morning. Ah feel better for that!!!

Pic of the race with small horses

Pic of the racetrack (old version)

First Blog!

Hello Inter-world!

So, after thinking about doing this for a LONG time, I finally decided to give it a bash. Need somewhere to talk about what I am doing, and how I am doing it and see if I get much interest. Mind you, interest rates are at a record low, so I'm not holding my breath.... And yes, that's just a sample of the carnival like atmosphere I'm known for creating.. *cough* moving on.

Anyway, the blog is INTENDED to be about my progress in developing various games for PC. But my concentration span is usually awful, so if I wander off topic then I'm sorry... nice weather today isn't it?... My wanders will probably be about how some eejut cut me up on the way to work (expect that one a LOT!) or about the latest game I'm playing - deconstructing its design and development in minute detail, overanalyising the physics engine, contemplating the network code on the multi-player side with words like "its rubbish" or "wow"!!

Ok, so a bit about me. I'm a bit old. Well, I'm not, but I feel it. 32 this year. 32. What happened?! The last thing I remember was playing Summer Camp on my C64.. now I'm here, married with a kid. Heh. Anyway, I'm 31 at the minute (that sounds much better) and married with one little boy who will be 3 in October. Ive been coding (poorly) for 20+ years. I started on my C64 with my Mum and Dad. We used to buy those big books of code, remember them? Line by line we would enter the code into the Commodore, they'd tell me it was to get me "into" computers - I think it was to save on the heating.. I mean, you've felt a C64 powerpack after its been on for a while, haven't you? .. anyway, line by line we would enter this code and then... the big moment.... "RUN". syntax error in 10. hmmm. that's the first line and its exactly how it shows in the book.... I think it was my Dad who first suggested after reading the "introduction" section of the book that maybe we should have pressed RETURN after each line, rather than SPACE through to the next line. Needless to say, the book ended up in the bin.

But I never gave up. I bought lots of BASIC programming books with my pocket money, and taught myself (very poorly) BASIC with my first game being finished when I was about 11/12. It was called "King Louis" and basically saw you amassing an army to invade France. Man, it was RTS in 1989, but text based... and a bit naff.. but it worked! The game was saved to tape so that it would stand the test of time... till I left it in the window sill.. and it melted... but still, i was inspired!

My C64 bit the dust in favour of an Amiga 600.. oh how i loved that numpadless little beauty. I used to watch my friend on his Amiga 500 playing Interceptor and thought that game was the dogs danglies.. woh, look at that - you can actually SEE the plane whilst its flying though exterior views.. BRILLIANT. Must get me that game.. oh.. right.. i see... you need a numpad to see those views.. and in fairness, without it, its a bit of a crap game isn't it..

So, during my work experience one summer I worked at a local computer games shop - loved it, and it was there I discovered AMOS (Amiga.. erm.. something something system) - but it was a programming language for the Amiga! I snapped up a copy and then must've filled about 100 discs with part finished projects, game ideas, and junk. It was here that my current project idea was born - but more on that later. Ahh, how I relish the days of Deluxe Paint 3 (nothing better out there today IMHO)...

So, after my Amiga, we went through the "first serious girlfriend" years, which meant in essence much less gaming than I had been used to. It was a tough time, and needless to say, it didn't work out.. My life was too full to deal with both at once. So I moved out and got me a killer PC. :) worst thing about this was that I left my Amiga with literally 100's of games at my ex's mother in laws house (which happened to be a pub) and I never saw them again... all those projects.. lost forever.. stop it now, you'll make me cry.

It was a few years after that I discovered Blitz Basic, and then Blitz 3d (which, along with C++ is what I use at the moment). More recently I also signed up for the Train2Game game developers course which I'm thoroughly enjoying, but I'm sure there will be more on my blog about that as the weeks progress...

So.. my current project(s). Got 2 on the go at the moment (and a myriad of ideas in my head for others):

Odds On - this project was spawned (hey, inadvertent game slang usage!) during my AMOS years - basically its a horse racing/management game where you can pretty much do what you like - be it breeding champions, just betting on races, run a stable etc. etc. the choices are endless (well, not at the minute, but that's the plan!). Early in development with the "race" on a straight track just about working at the mo :)
PC Power - anyone remember Gravity Power on the Amiga? now THAT was a classy game - SO simple but amazingly addictive. VERY early in development at the mo - got a couple of maps and a couple of ships that fly around it quite well... Ideally it would be GREAT if I could get this on WiiWare or PSN/XBL but that's very much in the future.

So that's me really. This blog is getting quite long already so Ill finish the intro one here - more to follow. Hope you enjoy reading it - let me have any thoughts etc.

Cheers

gnipper