I've discovered something today. I've discovered that my work of the last month is, well, gone. The Lazarus Drive is corrupted. Either from just being old, or it was somehow twisted by its visit with the Vista OS. Either way, it's cooked. I could probably reformat it and have a working drive, but really, that was never the point.
So, let's take stock of what it is that I've lost. The screen cap function, gone. The Stitch function that never quite worked right, also gone. The AI pathfinding Algorithms, unfortunately gone also. The first two are tools, they don't have to work great, just good enough. They're easily rebuilt. The Pathfinding however, was on its merry way to being finished workable game code. The difference? One is something that only the developer will ever see, the other has to work every time. It has to be bullet proof and free of bugs. That, of course, is a lot harder. Let me put it another way, if a game was released in the same state as the tools used to make it, people would claim it is buggy and it sucks.
So, yeah, that's going to take a few days to get back to a state that it was. At the very least, I know how it works (worked) so I should be able to put it back together a lot faster than it took me to put it together the first time.
-In not-news I've discovered the message boards at Gamasutra are especially fun if you disagree with most of the people there. I've recently both defended Crunch as a means to an end (but damned Grinding) and argued in a forum that is all art people and designers, that games are not art. Of course, saying that in a forum like Gamasutra, full of industry types is like saying kittens are ugly and puppies are made for kicking. At least my Sugar Bear icon is there with each post. His sweater clad smirk giving my thoughts additional, well, smugness.
I have noticed something though, and this is why I feel free to share an opinion, nobody has ever said that I'm wrong. They disagree, they offer alternatives, but they never say that I don't know what I'm talking about and they seem to respect my opinion. I wish XBOX Live were so polite. Who knew? You can have an intelligent conversation with people on internet.
EDIT: Son of a bitch. It's gone. The Object Code is gone. The code that puts cute animated shit on the screen is history. Sayonara. No little candles, no adorable little torches. God damn everything. The newest shiniest thing. Forget the AI, it was only halfway done. The Object code was finished. Why? Why is it gone? What sin did it commit? I want it back. I...it...maybe I...maybe indeed. I might have it somewhere. I really, really do not what to recode the most complex bit of syntax in the library.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
For the Love of the Game
The plan, if there ever was one, was to make a game and give it out for free. There was this idea, this concept, that the game could maybe be released on Live Community Games and maybe we would be able to find some funding to help push the project through. A way to do this for a living. A new article on Gamasutra kind of killed that idea. In it were the quarterly sales of 20 of the Community Games, and needless to say, the sales are terrible.
Granted, the few games I've played on the service are also terrible. I would wager that The Thief's Tale as it is, right now, are better than 90% of the games already on the service. But even the 10% that I feel are of quality do not have the numbers to support a lone developer, let alone a team.
The highest seller on the list made something to the effect of $5000.00 in sales or so, before the 30% publisher cut from Microsoft. Mind you, this is per quarter. So over the course of the year, making the inherently flawed assumption that sales are static that would give you $14,000 per year. To put that in perspective, at 40 hours a week that would be $6.73 per hour. But since sales work on curves, the truth would be substantially lower.
So, like I said, releasing on XBLCG doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense, especially considering the amount of effort that would be required to get it to work. Further, I cannot build a studio from it. So what I have to look into is other methods; other concepts of distribution: Impulse, Steam, the site. Then I need to make people see it, play it, want to own it.
I often find myself ahead of myself. The simple fact of the matter is this - the is no money. That was never the point. I'm finding that as much as I want it, it is unlikely to be a possibility in the near future. I need to go big to have that and the scope was never intended to be as such. So, let's return to the focus. The point is to make a game to show people that we, as a team, can do it. We could give it away if we wanted to. The big idea, was to say, "Hey, look at what we did. Now hire us." I got wrapped up in this idea that I could do this as a living that it clouded my other judgements and made me lose sight of the goal.
So, the goal. Finish by PAX. Release on the site. Make people play it. Tell everybody. Get a job. Get more experience. Create more fantastic games. Create a Company. Live the Dream.
Having said that, we could put the game in front of a lot more eyes if it was on XBLCG. Provided it isn't as difficult to port as I had previously thought. If it is easy, heck even if it is moderately difficult and would take a month, I think that would be a month well spent. Failing that, the plan stands.
-In actual game development news (as opposed to production woes) I'm the in the process of trying to balance another Thief move. I've found that when I play I have a tendency to use the Double Jump all the time, even when I'm just hopping up onto a higher platform. This in turn has a nasty tendency to ruin my further moves. The Double Jump doesn't reset when you hop to a hand hold, so if I habitually Double Jump to them, even if I do not need them, it prevents a second double jump that may be required to complete the puzzle.
So, the idea I had was a wall hop. Basically if you do a regular jump into a wall while you are standing next to it, The Thief will kick off the wall to get a little higher. Not quite Double Jump height, but maybe 1-1/2 a regular jump height. I think that may solve it, but I worry that about ruining the platforming already built. There are 2 levels in the can already. I don't want the new move to break them. My thought is that as long as the move can only be done when you are right next to a wall, it should be okay.
I'll add that to a big list of things that need doing after the new AI.
Granted, the few games I've played on the service are also terrible. I would wager that The Thief's Tale as it is, right now, are better than 90% of the games already on the service. But even the 10% that I feel are of quality do not have the numbers to support a lone developer, let alone a team.
The highest seller on the list made something to the effect of $5000.00 in sales or so, before the 30% publisher cut from Microsoft. Mind you, this is per quarter. So over the course of the year, making the inherently flawed assumption that sales are static that would give you $14,000 per year. To put that in perspective, at 40 hours a week that would be $6.73 per hour. But since sales work on curves, the truth would be substantially lower.
So, like I said, releasing on XBLCG doesn't make a whole lot of financial sense, especially considering the amount of effort that would be required to get it to work. Further, I cannot build a studio from it. So what I have to look into is other methods; other concepts of distribution: Impulse, Steam, the site. Then I need to make people see it, play it, want to own it.
I often find myself ahead of myself. The simple fact of the matter is this - the is no money. That was never the point. I'm finding that as much as I want it, it is unlikely to be a possibility in the near future. I need to go big to have that and the scope was never intended to be as such. So, let's return to the focus. The point is to make a game to show people that we, as a team, can do it. We could give it away if we wanted to. The big idea, was to say, "Hey, look at what we did. Now hire us." I got wrapped up in this idea that I could do this as a living that it clouded my other judgements and made me lose sight of the goal.
So, the goal. Finish by PAX. Release on the site. Make people play it. Tell everybody. Get a job. Get more experience. Create more fantastic games. Create a Company. Live the Dream.
Having said that, we could put the game in front of a lot more eyes if it was on XBLCG. Provided it isn't as difficult to port as I had previously thought. If it is easy, heck even if it is moderately difficult and would take a month, I think that would be a month well spent. Failing that, the plan stands.
-In actual game development news (as opposed to production woes) I'm the in the process of trying to balance another Thief move. I've found that when I play I have a tendency to use the Double Jump all the time, even when I'm just hopping up onto a higher platform. This in turn has a nasty tendency to ruin my further moves. The Double Jump doesn't reset when you hop to a hand hold, so if I habitually Double Jump to them, even if I do not need them, it prevents a second double jump that may be required to complete the puzzle.
So, the idea I had was a wall hop. Basically if you do a regular jump into a wall while you are standing next to it, The Thief will kick off the wall to get a little higher. Not quite Double Jump height, but maybe 1-1/2 a regular jump height. I think that may solve it, but I worry that about ruining the platforming already built. There are 2 levels in the can already. I don't want the new move to break them. My thought is that as long as the move can only be done when you are right next to a wall, it should be okay.
I'll add that to a big list of things that need doing after the new AI.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Warp(ed) Drive
Got the Lazarus drive installed into a brand new case yesterday. When I ripped it out of the laptop I felt a little like the priest from The Temple of Doom. The new case actually fits too, so now I should be able to get my data out. Yet, I can't and I blame Vista.
Once again, that operating system makes a nuisance of itself. Or it's me, it might be me. Does Vista have a My Computer? I ask, because yesterday's computing went a little like this:
Me : "Hey computer, here's a new drive in the USB port."
Computer :" Found it."
Me: " Great! Now where is it?"
Computer: "Where is what?"
Me: "The New Drive"
Computer: "The New Drive What?"
Me: "Where is the new drive?"
Computer: "First base."
Grrr....it's a damned Abbot and Costello skit. So, I'm trying the drive on my computer at work and we'll see if that works. Then, it's all XP for both the drive and the system and maybe, just maybe it'll work again. Then maybe, just maybe, I can get back to work again.
-In other not news, I haven't received anything back from the independent contractors that I sent resumes to. I'm thinking that it isn't the fertile ground of employment that I thought it could be. Seems like it's time to try something else. Back to Monster for me. Well, that and get my Vertical Slice finished. Then I can hire me.
-Since my data is locked away inside my old drive, and my level design for the cliffs needs some revision, I find myself wasting time playing Ninja Gaiden II. After beating NG Black, I thought I was pretty hot stuff. It's a badge of honor as far as I'm concerned. "Yep, beat it and many of the missions. What? You only got to the second level? HAHAHA!"
So imagine my surprise when I get hacked down by chumps in the first level and fight the first boss half a dozen times. I didn't remember the last game being that hard. Or rather, I remember being a lot more agile and deadly.
Yesterday, for some reason, it clicked again. The internal mechanics of the game and my own internal clock lined up again. Like the planets or something. Blocks, counters, throws, things were happening faster than I thought about them. I found myself ripping through enemies like a Ninja Cuisinart. I see a room of 50 enemies and now all I think is, "Bad day to be them." It's F-ing sweet.
EDIT: I'm retarded. I mean, I went full retard on this one. The Lazarus Drive works, it was me, I was the problem.
An ATA Connector has two rows of little places to put pins. Something that would plug also has 2 sets of pins, so they connect all pretty like. So, when I pulled the drive out of the case to have a look, I had the idea to turn over the drive and, you know, look at the other side. I saw pins sticking out as only 1 row of little pins was connected correctly. Fixed it by connecting it correctly and now my drive works. I can get to my precious data. It's much quieter now too. Which leads me back to thinking that a broken fan is what ultimately killed Lazarus.
-Yes, I use the term retarded in only the most inappropriate way. You could send emails and complain, but before you do let me share something that I saw on internet.
"Arguring on the internet is like the Special Olympics : even if you win, you're still retarded."
I get the impression I'll regret writing that one day. But remember, it's all in good fun and nobody reads this anyway.
Once again, that operating system makes a nuisance of itself. Or it's me, it might be me. Does Vista have a My Computer? I ask, because yesterday's computing went a little like this:
Me : "Hey computer, here's a new drive in the USB port."
Computer :" Found it."
Me: " Great! Now where is it?"
Computer: "Where is what?"
Me: "The New Drive"
Computer: "The New Drive What?"
Me: "Where is the new drive?"
Computer: "First base."
Grrr....it's a damned Abbot and Costello skit. So, I'm trying the drive on my computer at work and we'll see if that works. Then, it's all XP for both the drive and the system and maybe, just maybe it'll work again. Then maybe, just maybe, I can get back to work again.
-In other not news, I haven't received anything back from the independent contractors that I sent resumes to. I'm thinking that it isn't the fertile ground of employment that I thought it could be. Seems like it's time to try something else. Back to Monster for me. Well, that and get my Vertical Slice finished. Then I can hire me.
-Since my data is locked away inside my old drive, and my level design for the cliffs needs some revision, I find myself wasting time playing Ninja Gaiden II. After beating NG Black, I thought I was pretty hot stuff. It's a badge of honor as far as I'm concerned. "Yep, beat it and many of the missions. What? You only got to the second level? HAHAHA!"
So imagine my surprise when I get hacked down by chumps in the first level and fight the first boss half a dozen times. I didn't remember the last game being that hard. Or rather, I remember being a lot more agile and deadly.
Yesterday, for some reason, it clicked again. The internal mechanics of the game and my own internal clock lined up again. Like the planets or something. Blocks, counters, throws, things were happening faster than I thought about them. I found myself ripping through enemies like a Ninja Cuisinart. I see a room of 50 enemies and now all I think is, "Bad day to be them." It's F-ing sweet.
EDIT: I'm retarded. I mean, I went full retard on this one. The Lazarus Drive works, it was me, I was the problem.
An ATA Connector has two rows of little places to put pins. Something that would plug also has 2 sets of pins, so they connect all pretty like. So, when I pulled the drive out of the case to have a look, I had the idea to turn over the drive and, you know, look at the other side. I saw pins sticking out as only 1 row of little pins was connected correctly. Fixed it by connecting it correctly and now my drive works. I can get to my precious data. It's much quieter now too. Which leads me back to thinking that a broken fan is what ultimately killed Lazarus.
-Yes, I use the term retarded in only the most inappropriate way. You could send emails and complain, but before you do let me share something that I saw on internet.
"Arguring on the internet is like the Special Olympics : even if you win, you're still retarded."
I get the impression I'll regret writing that one day. But remember, it's all in good fun and nobody reads this anyway.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
PAX and The Summer of Love
I was wandering the wide breadth of internet, waiting for inspiration to hit me about my issue with the Cliffs (see below - although I think I've got it) and I wandered into the PAX site. It looks like you can get a booth there, like at Comic-Con, if you have something to show. I think that would rock personally, but that would give us all a collective deadline of 9-4-2009 - the first day. Granted, polishing and what not could still be done before the IGF competition, but I think showing at PAX, especially if we plan to release to Live Arcade would be huge. If we show well at PAX, then finding funding will not be a problem anymore.
Further, we show there, I could sign up to be a Speaker. You know, like Ender. I could actually get to speak at a panel. I sign up, tell them what it is I do around here and why I think I have something useful to say that people may want to hear. Maybe provide a counterpoint to the "Indie Movement" or be a worst case scenario for "So, you want a game job." I think I'm at a place that lots of people would want to be at in some way, but don't know how to get there. I know, the panel could be called, "How to get halfway there - Jobs in the game industry." Either way, that would Rock.
So, I went ahead and contacted my team to see if that deadline is possible. Currently, work has stalled up a bit due to school mostly. But I think that since September is on the tail end of summer, we could get it done in those long days with nothing else to do. I think it's possible. I think we can do it. I'll plan out the schedule. I know we can.
- In other crap, I think I'll download the XNA software this weekend and see how the compressions system works. I've heard two competing theories about it. One says that I write in C# code or no soup for me. The other says that I can do what I want as long as the code is Windows compiled. At which point, I do not need to port. Of course, that is best case scenario. I'll play with it this weekend and see what I can see.
-Speaking of which, on tap after the new enemy AI (which is still locked away inside Lazarus) is gamepad support. I'll go purchase one and get that rocking. I get the impression that playing with a gamepad is the next great "It" moment. Like when I installed the game for the first time using an installer or saw my game appear on one of my feed sites. One more thing I never though could be possible. Again, it may be stupid to somebody that's done it before, but to somebody that hasn't - it's the reason why.
Further, we show there, I could sign up to be a Speaker. You know, like Ender. I could actually get to speak at a panel. I sign up, tell them what it is I do around here and why I think I have something useful to say that people may want to hear. Maybe provide a counterpoint to the "Indie Movement" or be a worst case scenario for "So, you want a game job." I think I'm at a place that lots of people would want to be at in some way, but don't know how to get there. I know, the panel could be called, "How to get halfway there - Jobs in the game industry." Either way, that would Rock.
So, I went ahead and contacted my team to see if that deadline is possible. Currently, work has stalled up a bit due to school mostly. But I think that since September is on the tail end of summer, we could get it done in those long days with nothing else to do. I think it's possible. I think we can do it. I'll plan out the schedule. I know we can.
- In other crap, I think I'll download the XNA software this weekend and see how the compressions system works. I've heard two competing theories about it. One says that I write in C# code or no soup for me. The other says that I can do what I want as long as the code is Windows compiled. At which point, I do not need to port. Of course, that is best case scenario. I'll play with it this weekend and see what I can see.
-Speaking of which, on tap after the new enemy AI (which is still locked away inside Lazarus) is gamepad support. I'll go purchase one and get that rocking. I get the impression that playing with a gamepad is the next great "It" moment. Like when I installed the game for the first time using an installer or saw my game appear on one of my feed sites. One more thing I never though could be possible. Again, it may be stupid to somebody that's done it before, but to somebody that hasn't - it's the reason why.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Nostalgia Induced Stupidity
I'm in the process of building more of the Cliffs level, and the more that I play with it, the less that I like it. There are parts of it I am fond of and play really well, but as a rule the level seems to be missing something. I could cut it and start right at the bottom of The Wall, but I like the idea of the level and think it could be quite good.
So, my thinking is that I need to add something, and that's a big damn shame. In effect, I'm finding that when the core platforming gameplay is all by itself, it doesn't stand up. The whole game could not be the platforming and not be terrible. The combat does have the great effect of breaking the gameplay up a bit and makes it more interesting. Especially when the combat and the platforming are combined in clever ways, or the enemies present an additional challenge for the platforming.
But no matter, the something that I need is there someplace and I think the level needs a puzzle. Nothing terribly fancy, just an excuse to force the player to backtrack a bit and figure out some puzzle in advance a few steps. In other words, a Reason for bothering. Yes, the story says we go back into the Castle now, but that's no reason for the player to climb a big assed hill. It borders on the assinine. Breaking it up into smaller segments to conquer, well, that seems like it would work better. Give the player a bonus, a gift, a carrot frequently and then give out big stuff for big stuff. A cardinal rule of game design is thus : Do not make your player wait for acknowledgement.
Now, I just need to figure out what that is exactly. What can I put into seaside cliffs that would require some kind of puzzle to be solved? I already got the puzzles for The Wall figured out. Heck, The Castle level itself is almost all built in my head, but what to do with Cliffs. I'll ponder and figure it out, although I'm considering having the puzzle destroy large chunks of the level to work. Although, that would drive the artists crazy. "What do you mean there's two versions of the level? There's no workable map? What the hell?" I can already see the emails floating in. When they play the demo though, I think they'll see what I going for and agree it's worth it.
Right then, back to the title. The GDC is going on right now, like as I write this and all day I keep getting feeds in from my feed sites. I could have gone. Heck, I'm an IGDA Member (in San Diego, and they never meet. I think I may try to be organize something in the future) But regardless, I am in a position where I could go, and that makes me a little happy inside. What also made me happy inside was that I got to vote on for the GDC Awards (The Gamies - I know that isn't what it's called, but I don't care). I explicitly did not vote for Fable II, mostly because of the tragedy that befell The Scarlett Sparrow.
But again, I seem to be getting off topic. On the feed forums I find that people continue to beat the horse over a Final Fantasy 7 remake. Here's what I have to say about that : Get Over It. Remakes, in all of their glory merely attempt to imitate. The people claim that it would be great to see all of the favortie characters and settings in newer shinier versions. They forget that it isn't the damn point of a video game. The point is to give you an experience. This is what the people want, they want to play it again and feel that sense of wonder that they got. Mind you, I am not saying that FF7 isn't a great game (certainly not the best though. That would be Bubble Bobble), but that feeling you got the first time you played it? You will never have that particular feeling again. Instead, nostalgia will fog it. In effect, the act of having seen it, has destroyed its mystery. So yeah, play the original again. You can do that without demanding that game creators re-do work that they have already done.
Me? I hope that they never remake another game, ever.
- I take that back, slightly. Mega Man 9 is what a remake is trying to be. It did everything right. It gave me new Mega Man. I made me feel what it was like to play that game for the first time in a way the a remake would never be able to. I'm also glad to know that I'm not the only one that felt young again playing it.
- In a similar vein, Nintendo announced another Zelda. I'm getting over it at this point. Trains? Really? But that's not what I'm here to talk about. You can get all of your news about the GDC from a million other places. My point is about the story of Zelda. No, no sarcasm. The meta-story of the Zelda games in the most entertaining piece of fiction in the medium. No, I haven't lost my mind. The meta fiction works thusly - there is no story. Nothing connects. The story plays out the same way because it is the same story. In effect, the "Legend" is already set in stone. Green clad youth ventures forth, goes through 8 trials, saves princess, Triforce thingy. But each time it's told, it's different. If you remove the specifics, you have Hercules, Jason, Neo. You have the mono-myth. You can tell that story as many times as you want, or as is the case in the Zelda games, in whatever way serves the gameplay. So each time I load a Zelda game, I know what is going to happen. The destination isn't the point. The point is the way that it gets there.
So why the vitriol? Why am I over it? Like I said before, I'm really just searching for Ocarina again. Wind Waker came really close but I want the new. I want the next thing. I don't have the energy to do it again.
But I say that, and you know, I'll be in line anyway. When you love cheesecake, you look for the next way to get it.
- Speaking of something totally off topic, I have a theory about James Bond. This has to do with Zelda, almost, in that he is a different guy each time. The basis is that, in spite of being a spy, he gives out his name to everybody. Mission Impossible showed us tha a spy's name, his or her real name is a very valuble thing. Giving it out to whomever asks is dumb, possibly criminally so. Stupidity that severe should be painful. Yet, he does.
So, I think that the name "James Bond" is a cover name. It goes with the agent currently assigned the 007 designation. It also explains why that all look different in the movies, and yet M is still, well, M and doesn't say, "My Mr. Bond, you've gotten taller and blonder since the last time we met. Didn't you used to be Scottish?" Think about it.
- Finally, Bubble Bobble is the world's best game and here's why - you can always play it. If it was the only game you had in your entire house, it would be okay. You can play with a friend, while drunk, and/or while drunk with a friend. It also has the greatest music to be produced by man, period. It's the music that plays in the waiting room to Heaven. The characters are both iconic and ironic and are cool without trying. The Most Interesting Man in the World has been known to say, "I don't always play video games, but when I do, I prefer Bubble Bobble."
If you can argue with that twisted logic, post something and please, be sure to include whatever game you think is the best ever.
- I am so getting either no response (since nobody reads this) or 500 "I think the FF7 remake is the world's best game..."
So, my thinking is that I need to add something, and that's a big damn shame. In effect, I'm finding that when the core platforming gameplay is all by itself, it doesn't stand up. The whole game could not be the platforming and not be terrible. The combat does have the great effect of breaking the gameplay up a bit and makes it more interesting. Especially when the combat and the platforming are combined in clever ways, or the enemies present an additional challenge for the platforming.
But no matter, the something that I need is there someplace and I think the level needs a puzzle. Nothing terribly fancy, just an excuse to force the player to backtrack a bit and figure out some puzzle in advance a few steps. In other words, a Reason for bothering. Yes, the story says we go back into the Castle now, but that's no reason for the player to climb a big assed hill. It borders on the assinine. Breaking it up into smaller segments to conquer, well, that seems like it would work better. Give the player a bonus, a gift, a carrot frequently and then give out big stuff for big stuff. A cardinal rule of game design is thus : Do not make your player wait for acknowledgement.
Now, I just need to figure out what that is exactly. What can I put into seaside cliffs that would require some kind of puzzle to be solved? I already got the puzzles for The Wall figured out. Heck, The Castle level itself is almost all built in my head, but what to do with Cliffs. I'll ponder and figure it out, although I'm considering having the puzzle destroy large chunks of the level to work. Although, that would drive the artists crazy. "What do you mean there's two versions of the level? There's no workable map? What the hell?" I can already see the emails floating in. When they play the demo though, I think they'll see what I going for and agree it's worth it.
Right then, back to the title. The GDC is going on right now, like as I write this and all day I keep getting feeds in from my feed sites. I could have gone. Heck, I'm an IGDA Member (in San Diego, and they never meet. I think I may try to be organize something in the future) But regardless, I am in a position where I could go, and that makes me a little happy inside. What also made me happy inside was that I got to vote on for the GDC Awards (The Gamies - I know that isn't what it's called, but I don't care). I explicitly did not vote for Fable II, mostly because of the tragedy that befell The Scarlett Sparrow.
But again, I seem to be getting off topic. On the feed forums I find that people continue to beat the horse over a Final Fantasy 7 remake. Here's what I have to say about that : Get Over It. Remakes, in all of their glory merely attempt to imitate. The people claim that it would be great to see all of the favortie characters and settings in newer shinier versions. They forget that it isn't the damn point of a video game. The point is to give you an experience. This is what the people want, they want to play it again and feel that sense of wonder that they got. Mind you, I am not saying that FF7 isn't a great game (certainly not the best though. That would be Bubble Bobble), but that feeling you got the first time you played it? You will never have that particular feeling again. Instead, nostalgia will fog it. In effect, the act of having seen it, has destroyed its mystery. So yeah, play the original again. You can do that without demanding that game creators re-do work that they have already done.
Me? I hope that they never remake another game, ever.
- I take that back, slightly. Mega Man 9 is what a remake is trying to be. It did everything right. It gave me new Mega Man. I made me feel what it was like to play that game for the first time in a way the a remake would never be able to. I'm also glad to know that I'm not the only one that felt young again playing it.
- In a similar vein, Nintendo announced another Zelda. I'm getting over it at this point. Trains? Really? But that's not what I'm here to talk about. You can get all of your news about the GDC from a million other places. My point is about the story of Zelda. No, no sarcasm. The meta-story of the Zelda games in the most entertaining piece of fiction in the medium. No, I haven't lost my mind. The meta fiction works thusly - there is no story. Nothing connects. The story plays out the same way because it is the same story. In effect, the "Legend" is already set in stone. Green clad youth ventures forth, goes through 8 trials, saves princess, Triforce thingy. But each time it's told, it's different. If you remove the specifics, you have Hercules, Jason, Neo. You have the mono-myth. You can tell that story as many times as you want, or as is the case in the Zelda games, in whatever way serves the gameplay. So each time I load a Zelda game, I know what is going to happen. The destination isn't the point. The point is the way that it gets there.
So why the vitriol? Why am I over it? Like I said before, I'm really just searching for Ocarina again. Wind Waker came really close but I want the new. I want the next thing. I don't have the energy to do it again.
But I say that, and you know, I'll be in line anyway. When you love cheesecake, you look for the next way to get it.
- Speaking of something totally off topic, I have a theory about James Bond. This has to do with Zelda, almost, in that he is a different guy each time. The basis is that, in spite of being a spy, he gives out his name to everybody. Mission Impossible showed us tha a spy's name, his or her real name is a very valuble thing. Giving it out to whomever asks is dumb, possibly criminally so. Stupidity that severe should be painful. Yet, he does.
So, I think that the name "James Bond" is a cover name. It goes with the agent currently assigned the 007 designation. It also explains why that all look different in the movies, and yet M is still, well, M and doesn't say, "My Mr. Bond, you've gotten taller and blonder since the last time we met. Didn't you used to be Scottish?" Think about it.
- Finally, Bubble Bobble is the world's best game and here's why - you can always play it. If it was the only game you had in your entire house, it would be okay. You can play with a friend, while drunk, and/or while drunk with a friend. It also has the greatest music to be produced by man, period. It's the music that plays in the waiting room to Heaven. The characters are both iconic and ironic and are cool without trying. The Most Interesting Man in the World has been known to say, "I don't always play video games, but when I do, I prefer Bubble Bobble."
If you can argue with that twisted logic, post something and please, be sure to include whatever game you think is the best ever.
- I am so getting either no response (since nobody reads this) or 500 "I think the FF7 remake is the world's best game..."
Monday, March 23, 2009
New Vistas
I hate Vista. I really do. So much. Like, if it was hanging from a cliff and I was the only one around that could help it up, I would kick it down just to watch it die. Don't get me wrong, it is a very pretty operating system and is all glassy and candy.
The most generally grievous affront to my subtle sensibilities is that it refused to compile my damn code. I'll repeat that and add some emphasis. It refused to compile my damn code. Try as I might, nada.
So I got a reply back from the fine people that built Blitz. Who replied quickly by the way, in spite of being in New Zealand. I love internet, much faster than pigeons. Right then, they asked the important question, "Do you have the new version?" "The What?" I replied to myself, since I was staring at an email that clearly wasn't going to reply. At least not today. So I went ahead and got the new version and now my program both runs and compiles on my new Vista saddled lap top computing machine.
In doing so, I've discovered that the game runs a little quicker on the new system. While this isn't entirely unexpected, I did think that I fixed that particular bug. Ah well, programming for another day.
Since my data is still in the husk of old laptop, I can't really continue the AI protocols yet. I can get to building some more levels and writing some documentation for the tools, so I'll do that tonight instead.
-No, I have no regret for the Star Wars pun. I would, and probably will, do it again.
The most generally grievous affront to my subtle sensibilities is that it refused to compile my damn code. I'll repeat that and add some emphasis. It refused to compile my damn code. Try as I might, nada.
So I got a reply back from the fine people that built Blitz. Who replied quickly by the way, in spite of being in New Zealand. I love internet, much faster than pigeons. Right then, they asked the important question, "Do you have the new version?" "The What?" I replied to myself, since I was staring at an email that clearly wasn't going to reply. At least not today. So I went ahead and got the new version and now my program both runs and compiles on my new Vista saddled lap top computing machine.
In doing so, I've discovered that the game runs a little quicker on the new system. While this isn't entirely unexpected, I did think that I fixed that particular bug. Ah well, programming for another day.
Since my data is still in the husk of old laptop, I can't really continue the AI protocols yet. I can get to building some more levels and writing some documentation for the tools, so I'll do that tonight instead.
-No, I have no regret for the Star Wars pun. I would, and probably will, do it again.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
...error message...
The computer is still in a coma. It still won't load. I tried uninstalling the memory and putting it back in and trying to start it with only one of the chips in case the other is bad. So either memory chips are bad, or there is something else wrong. If the something else wrong is what it is, the general consensus is to reinstall XP and format the system. Since, you know, The Thief's Tale lives in there, that's really not an option that I want to do. Like, at all.
-Went to Fry's, got new memory, installed it even. I'm sad to say, that Lazarus is dead. Still no working. The computer that has come this far, the computer that stayed up late, that drew me into the world of my own programming, that was my constant companion throughout the last 2 years, the sixth team member, has passed on. It loads no longer, it will play no more games.
Let us take a moment of silence for the recently deceased.
But all is not lost friends, while death can be viewed as a end, it is also considered a beginning in some circles. Well, not mine generally, but I'm a rotten heretic. In any event, the data, the still warm heart (the hard drive really) can be transplanted into another and life can continue. I discovered at Fry's that I can pull my old drive out, install it into a case and run it as an external hard drive, moving my data, my sweet delicious data, to the new laptop that hasn't earned a name yet.
Star Frog Games is like Project Mayhem in that regard. In death, a laptop get's a name. It's name was Lazarus.
In the meantime I've got to figure out why the hell Blitz Plus refuses to run in the Vista environment. Yes, I could install XP on the new system, but I don't want to. It's full of apps that I do not have XP versions of. Bloody thing. I could also dual boot the system, but I'd rather not add stuff to it beyond it's regular spec. I could, and in a desktop I would, but my new laptop still has new computer smell on it. I should be able to get Blitz to work correctly. I've sent an email to the Blitz people to see what the hell.
-No, there was no reason that "should" needed to be accented in that last section. But after "could" and "would" were, it seemed appropriate.
-Right, this kind of crap is what makes Indie gaming hardcore. Big developers don't have production shut down for a week because a computer goes down. Developers with their fancy paychecks don't worry about silly things like, "Burning Power Cords" or "Crashed Dev Stations" and nonsense like that. It frustrates. Well, I suppose that they also don't get to play XBOX while code compiles (or maybe they do). I read an article in which Tim Schafer said that they had a toilet that would explode periodically when people up the block would flush. He didn't tell new hires because, "Oh, and we have feces," wasn't a selling point. Yeah, I respect a man that makes Psychonauts while the basement is full of unspeakable Golgathan-esque horror.
It all makes me a little angry. All I want to do is work. That's a basic want. I would like the ability to do this work without all the other, well, crap. I know that I'm asking a lot from the great beyond here, but really, can't a man sit down and do some code? I think that there are enough things that can go wrong at any given moment. Functions that don't work, bugs that don't get squashed, people that don't always have time, meetings to be scheduled, projects to be done and maybe, just maybe, a job or a venture capital advance or something. I do not need the hardware issues too.
Yet, you know, I'm still going on. I'm still standing.
DO YOU HEAR THAT UNIVERSE? I'M STILL HERE!
It's going to take a lot more than a martyred laptop to get me to give up. Been through too much already. What else do you got?
-Went to Fry's, got new memory, installed it even. I'm sad to say, that Lazarus is dead. Still no working. The computer that has come this far, the computer that stayed up late, that drew me into the world of my own programming, that was my constant companion throughout the last 2 years, the sixth team member, has passed on. It loads no longer, it will play no more games.
Let us take a moment of silence for the recently deceased.
But all is not lost friends, while death can be viewed as a end, it is also considered a beginning in some circles. Well, not mine generally, but I'm a rotten heretic. In any event, the data, the still warm heart (the hard drive really) can be transplanted into another and life can continue. I discovered at Fry's that I can pull my old drive out, install it into a case and run it as an external hard drive, moving my data, my sweet delicious data, to the new laptop that hasn't earned a name yet.
Star Frog Games is like Project Mayhem in that regard. In death, a laptop get's a name. It's name was Lazarus.
In the meantime I've got to figure out why the hell Blitz Plus refuses to run in the Vista environment. Yes, I could install XP on the new system, but I don't want to. It's full of apps that I do not have XP versions of. Bloody thing. I could also dual boot the system, but I'd rather not add stuff to it beyond it's regular spec. I could, and in a desktop I would, but my new laptop still has new computer smell on it. I should be able to get Blitz to work correctly. I've sent an email to the Blitz people to see what the hell.
-No, there was no reason that "should" needed to be accented in that last section. But after "could" and "would" were, it seemed appropriate.
-Right, this kind of crap is what makes Indie gaming hardcore. Big developers don't have production shut down for a week because a computer goes down. Developers with their fancy paychecks don't worry about silly things like, "Burning Power Cords" or "Crashed Dev Stations" and nonsense like that. It frustrates. Well, I suppose that they also don't get to play XBOX while code compiles (or maybe they do). I read an article in which Tim Schafer said that they had a toilet that would explode periodically when people up the block would flush. He didn't tell new hires because, "Oh, and we have feces," wasn't a selling point. Yeah, I respect a man that makes Psychonauts while the basement is full of unspeakable Golgathan-esque horror.
It all makes me a little angry. All I want to do is work. That's a basic want. I would like the ability to do this work without all the other, well, crap. I know that I'm asking a lot from the great beyond here, but really, can't a man sit down and do some code? I think that there are enough things that can go wrong at any given moment. Functions that don't work, bugs that don't get squashed, people that don't always have time, meetings to be scheduled, projects to be done and maybe, just maybe, a job or a venture capital advance or something. I do not need the hardware issues too.
Yet, you know, I'm still going on. I'm still standing.
DO YOU HEAR THAT UNIVERSE? I'M STILL HERE!
It's going to take a lot more than a martyred laptop to get me to give up. Been through too much already. What else do you got?
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