Right a quick waffle as I am off to get my head down. Another 18 hour day on the game and its not going too badly. The important bit is to get enough done in the next 60 hours to submit something worth being judged. I will have something and it is quite 'out of the box' for a gamesalad game. I've not seen anything done like it and that could be read either way.
So the catch up.
Decided on no touch controls at all (unless a really cool idea comes up)
I've rebuilt a lot of the game which should make adding to it far easier.
It will defiantly not have a score system in when I submit it and I may keep it that way if I take it on to be an app. It is about a ride and the joys of that ride and if I can make it work then that I hope will be the reward.
I can see how it might be heavily improved. There are things I would add if only I had a few more days, but wouldn't we all?
What left to do-
At least 5 or 6 more animations sets. These should not be too hard as I have the cut movement template set up in After Effects.
A system to link tilt with speed of animation and sectoring the angle of vector to screen orientations.
The big bas***d. A the centre of the payoff for the game. This is tough and I am still working out the method to do it. It about returning complex attributes to subsystem that takes the game over when the player achieves a fix velocity and position, but I have to drop the environment that is there out and substitute in the new one seamlessly. This may be the stumbling block. Come what may I am going to try my hardest to finish this thing in time, but I don't want to show it on the verge of working, but not.
And last but not least what happens if the player fails big time. That needs a big stick. I already have a simple small one but gross failure needs a suitable reward (truth is I am not that bothered about big sticks. I would rather that the game play was good enough that achieving was a good experience.
Big ideas for a small project maybe. But the can be much beauty in tiny things.
kipper
p.s and there is also the music? sfx, titles, possible menu system, and a video to make. I can't as I said earlier use a screen grabber as it is all in the movement of the device.
Big and important day today. After thinking I was going to go to bed, I spent another 3 hours on the game. I tried something out as a movement behaviour and after a couple of false starts I discovered that simple was best. I dropped out most of the new work and left in one element. And then something struck me. I'd seen the mechanic before in another game. This perturbed me. I had put in a temporary touch control for testing and now after doing so understand how the mechanic was implemented in the other game. Mine is not elegant yet, and with it based on device movement rather than touch will rather different. But I can see people looking at it and saying 'its just a version of [insert game name here]!'. So I will have to make it my own.
Then this morning I woke up at 6.30 and worked in bed. I just played with app in the viewer on my itouch for an hour... and thought. Nice to just lie there, think and consider it work. tThought carried on as I stood in the shower under the hot water. Even better thinking space. Perhaps the heat to the head for 25 minutes aid an ageing brain, or perhaps it just lulls one into stupefaction. Either way it works for me.
Today list.
endless....
But I have an idea for the video, if I can get around to it. I have a panasonic gh1 with some old lenses off Ebay that make things look cools and I might if I have time, use the kit to make the video (if I have time to get creative).
the hours tick away and the animation is very slow to do. How long can one action on one sprite take? 4 hours apparently! But the results are good. I was going after a look I saw in a photo of stage diving at a Clash gig. Sort of crucifixion in mid air with tattoos and no shirt. I am leaving out the tattoos. Further variations will take less time as I the basic thing set up.
So I've put it in and in the rush to see how it works I have not bothered to drop it into a proper controlled state. Just let it loop and take over the whole sprite, but by a bit of juggling with the controls while playing I can get it to sync to where its supposed to 'perform'. almost... Now I have settle to actually making it work to see it properly, but this would be a distraction from finishing the other animations....
predictable... so little time, so much to do... blah blah blah...
got the sound in place and synced with a touch-less control system for it.
got the animation in (but need more)
got the camera leaping about like an over caffeinated baboon (need to envelope it better).
remembered why I built everything upside down... there by hangs a tale
and my control system... Forget rotation and sectors, vector and the like, it back to velocity for moi! I say this as I hit a crunch point when I realised that things just needed a better overlay of control with minor rotary set up and more concentration on accelerometer.
where is that ball and cup?
to do-
title/s
more animation
set up for launching characters
caffine
cake
wine gums
sleep
a shower (going to be a very late one).
a video This is boing to be very weird- filming an app while throwing the device about like a mad man.
stay tuned if you want to see a grown man cry or just possibly...
getting closer to crying, there are moments... between bugs, maths, during the load times (if you build a game based on device movement and the effect you are after is not in the first 10 seconds of starting the app you spend a long long time waiting for loads and viewer builds and playing through to the point you want to check. Its a real pain and with camera rotation I am using it can be checked in the editor. These past four days have taught me an awful lot. And there is some real joy in the thing I am making I've showed to one forum member last night and he was a little surprised and liked it. That was comforting.
My problem now is that I am not thinking straight and I could just put in touch controls but that is the whole point when the parts of it that are working work, its very pleasing and I can see what it might be. But I have my standards (low ones), but even those need to be met...
I am going to bed... I will get up tomorrow early and see what the day brings.
Comments
So the catch up.
Decided on no touch controls at all (unless a really cool idea comes up)
I've rebuilt a lot of the game which should make adding to it far easier.
It will defiantly not have a score system in when I submit it and I may keep it that way if I take it on to be an app. It is about a ride and the joys of that ride and if I can make it work then that I hope will be the reward.
I can see how it might be heavily improved. There are things I would add if only I had a few more days, but wouldn't we all?
What left to do-
At least 5 or 6 more animations sets. These should not be too hard as I have the cut
movement template set up in After Effects.
A system to link tilt with speed of animation and sectoring the angle of vector to screen orientations.
The big bas***d. A the centre of the payoff for the game. This is tough and I am still working out the method to do it. It about returning complex attributes to subsystem that takes the game over when the player achieves a fix velocity and position, but I have to drop the environment that is there out and substitute in the new one seamlessly. This may be the stumbling block. Come what may I am going to try my hardest to finish this thing in time, but I don't want to show it on the verge of working, but not.
And last but not least what happens if the player fails big time. That needs a big stick. I already have a simple small one but gross failure needs a suitable reward (truth is I am not that bothered about big sticks. I would rather that the game play was good enough that achieving was a good experience.
Big ideas for a small project maybe. But the can be much beauty in tiny things.
kipper
p.s and there is also the music? sfx, titles, possible menu system, and a video to make. I can't as I said earlier use a screen grabber as it is all in the movement of the device.
p.p.s and a title... of a watery nature...
p.p.p.s does anybody read this waffle?
Then this morning I woke up at 6.30 and worked in bed. I just played with app in the viewer on my itouch for an hour... and thought. Nice to just lie there, think and consider it work. tThought carried on as I stood in the shower under the hot water. Even better thinking space. Perhaps the heat to the head for 25 minutes aid an ageing brain, or perhaps it just lulls one into stupefaction. Either way it works for me.
Today list.
endless....
But I have an idea for the video, if I can get around to it. I have a panasonic gh1 with some old lenses off Ebay that make things look cools and I might if I have time, use the kit to make the video (if I have time to get creative).
till later...
kipper
So I've put it in and in the rush to see how it works I have not bothered to drop it into a proper controlled state. Just let it loop and take over the whole sprite, but by a bit of juggling with the controls while playing I can get it to sync to where its supposed to 'perform'. almost... Now I have settle to actually making it work to see it properly, but this would be a distraction from finishing the other animations....
back to work. 42 hours to go....
got the sound in place and synced with a touch-less control system for it.
got the animation in (but need more)
got the camera leaping about like an over caffeinated baboon (need to envelope it better).
remembered why I built everything upside down... there by hangs a tale
and my control system... Forget rotation and sectors, vector and the like, it back to velocity for moi! I say this as I hit a crunch point when I realised that things just needed a better overlay of control with minor rotary set up and more concentration on accelerometer.
where is that ball and cup?
to do-
title/s
more animation
set up for launching characters
caffine
cake
wine gums
sleep
a shower (going to be a very late one).
a video This is boing to be very weird- filming an app while throwing the device about like a mad man.
stay tuned if you want to see a grown man cry or just possibly...
kipper
My problem now is that I am not thinking straight and I could just put in touch controls but that is the whole point when the parts of it that are working work, its very pleasing and I can see what it might be. But I have my standards (low ones), but even those need to be met...
I am going to bed... I will get up tomorrow early and see what the day brings.