Tuesday 27 January 2009
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Re making Hide and Seek
I'm remaking the Imogen Heap Hide and Seek level of Plectrum. Originally I used the paint tool in flash to draw the levels, but I have found that its more effective to use boxes, as this stops there being rough terrain that the player can get stuck on.
I'm looking into making some of these boxes change size or rotate to the rythem of the audio thats being played, but that might only be doable in Actionscript3. I quite like this style of graphics so I might keep these pink/black boxes for this stage.
I'm looking into making some of these boxes change size or rotate to the rythem of the audio thats being played, but that might only be doable in Actionscript3. I quite like this style of graphics so I might keep these pink/black boxes for this stage.
Ananita Design
One of the developers using flash that i really admire is http://amanita-design.net/
They created games like Samerost which does not look like a traditional flash game, It uses digitised graphics, photoshoped from digital camera images.
They also made a game for the band The Polyphonic spree, which I guess was based on there music.
These games are good looking and can be fun but sometimes get a little frustrating when you get stuck somewhere and have to resort to pixel hunting.
Ananita are currently working on a new point and click game called Machinarium, which Is looking really good.
Machinarium Preview from Amanita Design on Vimeo.
Where do I go from here?
Even though its the end of this module on the course im still going to continue developing Plectrum.
Things I'm going to do.
Finish Levels
Change the art style to something more "artistic"
Talk to Game Design lecturers and see if they have an ideas as to how to improve it.
Get noticed by publisher
get game released over XBLA PSN or Wii Ware.
Make enough money that I can keep making games wont have to get a proper job.
Things I'm going to do.
Finish Levels
Change the art style to something more "artistic"
Talk to Game Design lecturers and see if they have an ideas as to how to improve it.
Get noticed by publisher
get game released over XBLA PSN or Wii Ware.
Make enough money that I can keep making games wont have to get a proper job.
Evaluation of the project, so far
I say so far because although tomorrow is the deadline of the course modual I don't see it as the end of this project. I want to keep working at this until I have a fully finished game that I can submit to flash portals/festivals etc.
Research
Having a blog has really helped show how much research I have done, It's much easier to show what I've been looking on a blog than having to print stuff out and put it in a research folder.
Development
Its been a little slower than I would have liked but creating something good takes time,the majority of the coding is done now, and I can concentrate on making levels.
Analysis
I tried to analyze most of what I researched, I think I did ok.
Outcome
Its not a finished game but I think its a good indication of where the game is going, maybe if i'd set myself a less ambitious task it could have been done by now. But if you have low ambitions your more likely to be ignored. I'm pleased with what I have so far.
Overall its been a good project. There were some miner hiccups along the way such as getting distracted by Box2d and having some trouble with code, but over it think it went well.
Research
Having a blog has really helped show how much research I have done, It's much easier to show what I've been looking on a blog than having to print stuff out and put it in a research folder.
Development
Its been a little slower than I would have liked but creating something good takes time,the majority of the coding is done now, and I can concentrate on making levels.
Analysis
I tried to analyze most of what I researched, I think I did ok.
Outcome
Its not a finished game but I think its a good indication of where the game is going, maybe if i'd set myself a less ambitious task it could have been done by now. But if you have low ambitions your more likely to be ignored. I'm pleased with what I have so far.
Overall its been a good project. There were some miner hiccups along the way such as getting distracted by Box2d and having some trouble with code, but over it think it went well.
quick idea
Just had an idea to feature sections in my game where there is a locked door and you have to collect musical notes to unlock it, each musical note corresponds to a music stem, so gradualy as you get each note the music will become more fully featured, when you have them all the whole track will be playing.
that might be a little more complicated that using music boxes i'd have to put code in that says
on entering all music = stop
on entering all music = play
on entering all music - volume set to 0
when hit note2 volume note moviecip 2 = 100
when hit note 3 volume notemovieclip = 100
or something to that effect.
that might be a little more complicated that using music boxes i'd have to put code in that says
on entering all music = stop
on entering all music = play
on entering all music - volume set to 0
when hit note2 volume note moviecip 2 = 100
when hit note 3 volume notemovieclip = 100
or something to that effect.
Sound Problem = Fixed
There was a sound bug in my game to do with the sound boxes, altering the volume of them would effect the volume for all sounds. I got My tutor Adam to fix this, but then I lost the files, so I was back to square one. But now after weeks of messing around with code I have figured it out. To alter the volume of sounds independently you need to link them to a movie clip.
So when creating a new sound use this code
this.createEmptyMovieClip("s1",1);
this.my_sound = new Sound(s1);
Im so glad that this is fixed now as it was the main thing that was holding me back from creating levels.
Although losing the code that Adam fixed for me was a set back, it did give me the chance to try and figure it out on my own and I can now understand more actionscript than I used to. This helped me create other things in my game such as the spring boards that propels the character into the air. I knew that pressing the jump button altered the characters y coordinate so I took that code and altered it a bit so it would happen when the player touches the box, then i altered how high it would make the character move.
One more thing I want to add to the game is platforms that can be jumped through and then stood on.
So when creating a new sound use this code
this.createEmptyMovieClip("s1",1);
this.my_sound = new Sound(s1);
Im so glad that this is fixed now as it was the main thing that was holding me back from creating levels.
Although losing the code that Adam fixed for me was a set back, it did give me the chance to try and figure it out on my own and I can now understand more actionscript than I used to. This helped me create other things in my game such as the spring boards that propels the character into the air. I knew that pressing the jump button altered the characters y coordinate so I took that code and altered it a bit so it would happen when the player touches the box, then i altered how high it would make the character move.
One more thing I want to add to the game is platforms that can be jumped through and then stood on.
Monday 19 January 2009
Latest version of game
http://jackuchu.net/plectrumbeta/plectrumbeta.swf
Done:
preloaders
intro
menue
audio previews for first 3 levels
idle animation
springs
To do:
Make the preloaders work quickly
complete levels
Development
With the advent of games like little big planet and halo 3 level design has become a medium not only of the game developer but the player themselves. I had an idea of letting the user draw a level out on paper and then capturing it throgh a digital camera then converting the captured image into vector graphics to be used as the ground in a level, I abandoned this idea as little big planet already does it better and because It steps away from the theme of levels based on music. I'd rather spend time developing levels of my own than enabling others to create there own levels.
The picture above shows How I was inspired by lyrics to songs to make the levels the way they are. Here I show a puzzle where you have to send the enemys into the fire so you can cross, based on the lyric form my violent heart by nine inch nails "in to fire you can send us, from the fire we return, consider us a consequence of how much you have to learn."
Other examples of using the lyrics as inperation for the levels can be seen in the imogen heap hide and seek level. When the line "spin me round again" is sung, the stage rotates.
Development
I wanted to include horizontal moving platforms in my levels but unfortunately it proved quite hard to do, I could create the moving platforms but the character would not move with them, this goes against traditional platforming conventions and could frustrate people. I worked with my tutor to code a solution but it relied on plotting x and y coordinates of the player and each individual platform and proved more complex than I thought it would be, I got over this hurdle by putting springs on the moving platform s the character automatically jumps when on a movin platform, this encourages the player to move with the platform.
Development
I want some of the levls to have a very hand made kind of feel, with sketchy moving lines and hand drawn graphics in a style not to dissimilar to Yoshi's Island on the Super Nintendo. At the moment all the graphics are vectors and it looks far to much like a flash game. I want my game to not instantly look like it was made in flash a game that does that well is samarost (http://amanita-design.net/samorost-1) which uses photographic elements to good effect.
Sunday 18 January 2009
Development
I've posted a lot of my influences and thoughts on over people's work. I haven't gone into detail about the development of my game, until now.
It started in the summer of 2008, One of the reasons I wanted to do interactive media in the first place is because I wanted to make games, I'd done Sparrow but that was more an interactive movie than a game. My faverate genre of games is platforming so I wanted to make a platform game, I looked at a load of tutorials and the best one I found was a tutorial within a platform game, that I found at newgrounds.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/426598
I used the engine from this as a starting point because it had slopes collectible's and water.
I love the music in that tutorial, I play it over and over again, it helps me concentrate and get in the working zone.
After playing Rez a bunch I decided that interactive music would be my unique selling point (USP.)
It started in the summer of 2008, One of the reasons I wanted to do interactive media in the first place is because I wanted to make games, I'd done Sparrow but that was more an interactive movie than a game. My faverate genre of games is platforming so I wanted to make a platform game, I looked at a load of tutorials and the best one I found was a tutorial within a platform game, that I found at newgrounds.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/426598
I used the engine from this as a starting point because it had slopes collectible's and water.
I love the music in that tutorial, I play it over and over again, it helps me concentrate and get in the working zone.
After playing Rez a bunch I decided that interactive music would be my unique selling point (USP.)
Flash game analysis: Transmigration
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/388286
More of an interactive music video than a game, but its god to see more people linking music to interactivity. essential its a scrolling shooter, you just mash the space bar and try and shoot as much things as possible, you start off swimming underwater but as the music reaches a crescendo your character flies from the water and transforms into a dragon, there are several other changes throughout this quick game, which only takes 2:15 to complete. Its the second highest ranked game in the ArmorGames / Newgrounds "Rock Out" rhythm game contest. Which shows how popular games that do more than just Simon says style gameplay are.
Good
Nice graphics and animation
great music
Good mix of music and interactivity
short and sweet.
Bad
Gameplay mainly involves mashing the space bar as much as possible
could use more game elements.
no sound FX, it would have been good if like Rez shooting things effected the music.
Why are there mines in the sky?
****
Flash game analysis: Stabika ep.3: Defiance
Stabika ep.3: Defiance
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/438607
The game starts off with a dragons lair style quick time event section. a key flashes up on screen and you have to press it before it vanishes. It disappears a little to quickly for my liking, also I think it would flow better if they were the same keys every time you do it instead of random ones. Another thing that annoyed me is that when you die you have to click a button to retry,and you die pretty regularly so your constantly swapping between mouse and keyboard, why not just use the keyboard? after the QTEs the game turns into a platformer the hero and most of the foreground is silhouetted against colourfull backgrounds, I like the look of it. The character has many skills he can wall jump, grind on rails and hang onto things moving from the celing, there are also combat buttons to fight the enemy's but i feel this is the weakest part of the game. Another annoyance is that when you die it instantly goes to the "retry" screen, no death animation no few second delay its instant so you don't always know why you died. What the game lacks in these areas it makes up in momentum, the character increases in speed as he runs and you can get up to a pretty high speed. it would have been god to have some more open areas that you could run around in and build up more speed. Also more than half a second warning would be good when death traps suddenly appear
Good
Graphics
animation
lots of ability's
speed and momentum
Bad
Combat
"retry screen"
level design could be improved
Rating: ***
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/438607
The game starts off with a dragons lair style quick time event section. a key flashes up on screen and you have to press it before it vanishes. It disappears a little to quickly for my liking, also I think it would flow better if they were the same keys every time you do it instead of random ones. Another thing that annoyed me is that when you die you have to click a button to retry,and you die pretty regularly so your constantly swapping between mouse and keyboard, why not just use the keyboard? after the QTEs the game turns into a platformer the hero and most of the foreground is silhouetted against colourfull backgrounds, I like the look of it. The character has many skills he can wall jump, grind on rails and hang onto things moving from the celing, there are also combat buttons to fight the enemy's but i feel this is the weakest part of the game. Another annoyance is that when you die it instantly goes to the "retry" screen, no death animation no few second delay its instant so you don't always know why you died. What the game lacks in these areas it makes up in momentum, the character increases in speed as he runs and you can get up to a pretty high speed. it would have been god to have some more open areas that you could run around in and build up more speed. Also more than half a second warning would be good when death traps suddenly appear
Good
Graphics
animation
lots of ability's
speed and momentum
Bad
Combat
"retry screen"
level design could be improved
Rating: ***
Flash game analysis: Embryo Escape
http://www.leakingpen.com/item/1548
It's like lemmings, If lemmings was mixed with a platformer, and had prists that diddnt like embryo's in.
I like this, not only is it a good game, but it has something so say, its messege is that religios groups shouldn't get in the way of stem cell reasearch. Stem cell reasearch has the potential to produce many major medical discoveries. Cures may be found for previously untreatable diseases and disorders. its good that games are upping the political awareness of issues like this.
Good
It has something important to say
its fun
it has infinite lives so if you mess up it doesn't matter to much.
Bad
One of the levels seems impossible to do.
Sureley to solve the puzzle you need to pull the lever and make the preist fall into the hole right? but he doesn't move far enough left. If anyone out there figures this out let me know.
Rating: ****
It's like lemmings, If lemmings was mixed with a platformer, and had prists that diddnt like embryo's in.
I like this, not only is it a good game, but it has something so say, its messege is that religios groups shouldn't get in the way of stem cell reasearch. Stem cell reasearch has the potential to produce many major medical discoveries. Cures may be found for previously untreatable diseases and disorders. its good that games are upping the political awareness of issues like this.
Good
It has something important to say
its fun
it has infinite lives so if you mess up it doesn't matter to much.
Bad
One of the levels seems impossible to do.
Sureley to solve the puzzle you need to pull the lever and make the preist fall into the hole right? but he doesn't move far enough left. If anyone out there figures this out let me know.
Rating: ****
Analysing flash games: Dragon Gem
Dragon Gem
http://www.thatvideogamesite.com/play.php?id=184
Kill all the baddies in the stage to unlock the gate to the next level, where you have to kill all the baddies in the stage to unlock the gate to the next level,where you have t...i think you get the idea.
Good
It looks quite good
musics nice enough
Bad
repetitive gameplay
control's fell unresponsive
You can get stuck in levels unable to move.
Rating: **
http://www.thatvideogamesite.com/play.php?id=184
Kill all the baddies in the stage to unlock the gate to the next level, where you have to kill all the baddies in the stage to unlock the gate to the next level,where you have t...i think you get the idea.
Good
It looks quite good
musics nice enough
Bad
repetitive gameplay
control's fell unresponsive
You can get stuck in levels unable to move.
Rating: **
Thursday 15 January 2009
Sound and Music
I have been watching some lectures on sound and music at ted.com
"Evelyn Glennie: How to listen to music with your whole body"
The next video is one that not only helps you understand classical music and the tension and release of music that you also see in plays and games, but also this guy has fantastic presentation skills he delivers his talk with a great infectious energy about him. He could probably sell anything to you and you'd love it.
"Evelyn Glennie: How to listen to music with your whole body"
The next video is one that not only helps you understand classical music and the tension and release of music that you also see in plays and games, but also this guy has fantastic presentation skills he delivers his talk with a great infectious energy about him. He could probably sell anything to you and you'd love it.
Saturday 10 January 2009
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