Friday, October 25, 2013

Atlas Preview



Well, here's what the map screen looks like. I may add more functionality to it before the final game is released, but this is what I have for now, and it may just have to do for Demo #5

Another functionality I'm having to consider is the use of doors. If you recall the doors from Demo #4, they're not exactly vertical/horizontal, but rather directly into the background walls.

What I've been figuring on this is that the game's atlas may need to have the use of two layers instead of just the one. I may or may not implement this in Demo #5. We shall see :P

edit: Another thing I'm considering is the ability to add notes to the map. You select an area of the map and simply type in a note for it. You'd also be able to set multiple colored markers for these notes.

10/25/13 - finally some images... :P

Figured I'd finally treat y'all to some early images. The big showcase here just being the mini-map that I had talked about earlier. Its not much to look at at this moment,but its something I'm quiet proud of, despite it currently causing the graphics to spazz out for some odd reason....

the map system on the other hand is currently fully functionable. I'd show the map screen itself, but it needs some major graphical work done to it. its not much to look at atm. :P


And one more image, this time displaying a nearly finished inventory screen.


Thursday, October 24, 2013

10-24-13 - Deadline Extended!

This is perhaps really good news for me, but not so great for you guys.

The deadline for Demo 5 has been extended, meaning the demo has bee delayed. As to what date this extension has moved it to, I havent yet decided.

The reason for this deadline was to originally have the demo ready for the Nightmare Nights Con this coming month, but I've decided that there simply was no way in heck that I'd have it ready by then. the guy who I've been talking to about showcasing it said  it was no biggie and that I can skip this event if I feel it necessary. So instead, I'll actually have my project showcased at the Everfree convention sometimes next year.

Of course, that doesnt mean I'll wait that long to release the next demo.  I've decided not to set a hard deadline for it but I'll go ahead and estimate that it could be released anytime within or after this next month.

I'll keep you guys posted!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

10/23/13 - Map Linking Made Easy

I've finally managed to get the map system where it works with the game (somewhat)

I can now link maps through the atlas system. When Spike exits one map he enters another! and the atlas system pretty much does all the work for me so no more having to do this manually in the code :)

still actually needs a bit of work, but its something...

More to come soon... I might update periodically throughout the day. there may even be some images here and there of the atlas system as it progresses!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

I'll probably use this music for Demo #5


And yeah, I did my research, its royalty free (as long as the project doesn't go commercial or something) I'll still ask for permission just to be sure. :)

Also, I support this artist. with a name like Adrian Von Ziegler, one should not expect anything less than epic. Check his channel for more greatness!

Oh, and I'd like some opinions on the music choice. I can actually picture it being used in some beautifully elaborate labyrinth!

10/22/13 - SQ Map Navigation System Update

Got a nifty chunk of the game's navigation system done yesterday/last night. So far nothing working in-game as of yet, but I have an nearly functionable atlas editor built into the game's map editor (that may actually sound sound redundant. :P )

The system was quiet a head scratcher. At first I was studying the navigation system of the Castlevania games. I was trying to figure out the white bordering and door placement between the rooms. The borders were each a single pixel in width and the areas within the rooms, three pixels width & height. I was trying to dissect this system and learn its math but for reasons too complicated for me to explain here (I'm too lazy to recollect it all), I couldnt quiet wrap my head around it.

I eventually adopted the Metroid method which allowed the borders to be 2 pixels in width and it made the system not so complicated. This of course lengthened the visual size of the map, but thankfully it was still manageable within a 320 x 240 space.

I also decided to use the Metroid style mini-navigator. Basically an active mini map that floats alongside the game's hud. (something I've always felt the Castlevania games were severely lacking). I'll post images when I have this ready. ;)

Anywho, back to work I go!
wish me luck, I'll need it...

Monday, October 21, 2013

10/21/13 [/hiatus] :p

Bout time I ended the hiatus on the blog here.

I've been home for quiet some time now and yes, I've been busy working on the project too.

Quiet a bit has been accomplished (or so, it feels like it)

I've actually got to a point with the inventory screen where I feel its good enough for the 5th demo, and now currently I'm working on the game's map system. I've added more features to the game's map editor in the process, making map making easier and quicker.

But aside from those few things, I have not gotten around to much else on the game. It kinda has me stressed about my deadline. I know for a fact that I wont be able to get this thing finished before Nov 1st.

I've just been told though that the Nightmare Nights con is still a little ways off. But even then, I cant help but stress over completion of this demo by then. :P

Not about to throw in my gauntlet though. Work! Work! Work!

To the dev mobile! *cue cheesy 1960's superhero  music*

Monday, October 7, 2013

10-7-13 - Blog Hiatus

I wont be able to update this blog until the weekend. But I'll stay busy on the game. I'm hoping to have a nice big update for Saturday/Sunday :)

see you guys soonish!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

10-5-13 - Still Going, just like the Energizer Bunny. it keep going & going & ....

just now got back from that funeral. still at my relatives place and i seems I'll be here until Monday

but of course, then I'l be spending a few days at my sisters for my birthday (she has no internet, so no updates then).

but, listen, guys, I promise this will be the only slow time on this project for this month. In fact, I'm still managing to get some work done here and there. This morning I managed to get a few things done, and I'm hoping to get more done later this evening sometimes.

right now, I'm a bit drained, physically and emotionally (funerals tend to do that to a person, even if you barely knew the person it was for :P ) so for now, I'm going for a nap.

I'm just asking y'all to be patient with me here. things will pick back up again, I promise! :)

Friday, October 4, 2013

Crunch Day #4: Visiting Relatives

As mentioned yesterday, today I'm visiting relatives and getting ready for a funeral :P

I did manage to get some coding done, but its going to probably be a bit slow going until I get back home.

That being said, there's not much else to report on.

I'll work more on the game when things calm down around here.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Logo Rework Preview #4

Inking has been completed. I decided to include the old Demo #4 logo for comparison in the pic. That's all I'll be able to do with the logo for today. Got a personal errand to run and then I need to get back to work on the code.

Also I need to add that tomorrow I'm going out of town  for a funeral (a depressing note, I know, so I wont burden you guys down with the details) I'll still do a bit of work, but it probably wont be much. I'm hoping to resume full production Saturday evening or Sunday morning.

There's also another obstacle with me having to leave home again possibly this coming monday, I'll be visiting my sister for my birthday and I may be out that way for a few days. That wont hender production much, but it will hender the updates. This also unfortunately puts a stopper on the project's reveal that was originally scheduled for that day (my birthday, on the 8th) but we can always reschedule. :P

I'm also expected to help my uncle with work on his new home. Painting walls, hanging sheet-rock, applying and sanding mud to the sheet-rock and then more painting, laying floor tiles, and possibly helping with the plumbing.... Yeah, those things are really going to hurt me with this project this month. Fortunately, my uncle is being very lenient with my schedule, but I'm still expected to give about three to four hours for a few days each week. We shall see how that works out for the game. :P

Once those life related obstacles are out of the way, I should be able to resume work for the remainder of the month.

There's still plenty of time to get things done, but I wont use that as an excuse to be lazy with this. I shall work each day on this project as if the deadline were tomorrow!

Logo Rework Preview #3

Inking in progress. Looks pretty sharp, so far. will need some touching up when finished though.

Crunch Day #3: Sweet Celestia, where's mah #$%@ coffee?!?

No, seriously, where the heck is my coffee? Oh, right, Wal-Mart stopped carrying the filters I need for my coffee-maker... Well @#$#@ you Wal-Mart! $@#$@# you! D:<

..........

Anyway, moving along.



First, I'd like to start today's blog post with a shoutout to Anomonous from this link: [clickie-here!] . whoever you are, thanks to you my views have seemingly shot through the roof! Just, well,  lookit!:


80 views may not seem like much to some folk out there, but for such a low profile blog as mine, its a nice number. It doesnt beat the days of Demo 4's release (I believe it got close to a thousand views that day) but its a good number and its very encouraging.

Sure, though, this shouldn't be about view counts or comments. Its about the development of the game. But to me, personally, these numbers do mean allot. They push me along in this development. They tell me " hey, people are watching. Get your ass to work before you disappoint them... again!"

So, again, thank you Mr. Anomonous, I give you this special fortune cookie, made of solid gold. Careful now, it'll chip your teeth!





Now, moving along to work related things. Yesterday I got a good chunk of coding done on the inventory screen (yeah, I'm still on that). This screen is almost entirely a seperate project all its own! I've spent over a week working on all the functionalities... I worked on the graphics, the items (collecting them in-game; linking them in the inventory screen ; applying them to the selection system ; etc). Its become a bit of a headache trying to figure out how to make this thing work, and so far its nearly completely functional! But soon there will come the tedious task of adding in all the items' functionalities to the game itself *groan*

For now though, I've decided to start this day off by working more on the logo. As explained in yesterday's post, I now just need to ink the outline out, scan it and then begin work on the final few stages.

I've got my work cut out for me today, so wish me luck!



Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Logo Rework Preview #2

Shaded it in to make it look purdy. But this is nowhere near what the final product will look like! I'll be be doing a final ink trace of it hopefully tomorrow and then scan it to begin work on the final phase.

There may be multiple versions of the logo aside from the logo as it will apear in the game. There will also be versions of the logo as documentation/promotional artwork.

Anyway, that's all for the graphics work for today. On to the coding!

Logo Rework Preview #1

Currently reworking the logo... There's a pretty cool reason why I'm using my tracing pad to trace an outline of the logo. Ya'll will find out soon enough ;)

Crunch Day #2: Diving right in! + Help needed.

I actually spent the whole day yesterday setting up not only just my work space, but my apartment as a whole, trying to make it the ideal 'studio' environment for this project. One could say that it was a method of procrastination (and you'd be sorta correct. :P )

But a good work environment is key here. I must feel comfortable with my surroundings, and focused. I needed to get rid of certain distractions (the internet is a terrible distraction, so I'm also working on distancing myself from that as well)

today I'm attempting to just dive right in to the project itself! I've decided to work on the project in multiple segments each day, sdtarting the day off by working on bits of graphics. And then diving into the code about mid-day (after lunch) and maybe ending the day by fixing certain bugs or touching things up.

I'll do what I can to update everyone here on the progress...

Also, yeah, I really need some help on getting things out to the brony public about this project. I'm hardly giving myself any room on searching out popular brony comunities to post about the project. If you'd like to help me out, then feel free to post around on certain websites/forums/blogs/whatever, or you can send me a link or two for me to do the postings myself!

I already have a few places in mind such as Ponychan, and the Canterlot forums. But I think I should hold off on major news blogs such as Equestria Daily until I have something good to show (I'd advise any helpers in that as well, but if you think it worthy to do otherwise, then who am I to hold you back?)

If you do make any posts about the project, please let me know so I can check it out! :)

Thanks in advance!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

10-1-13 - Crunch Month... it begins!



Like being on the brink of a storm, the month of October looms over this project. A perfect deadline waiting at the far end of it all. This is it, folks, the one month where I literally work my fingers to the bone and/or until my brain shrivils to a prune from the copeous amounts of problem solving / planning and thinking needed to piece together this fifth (and last) major test demo of Spikes Quest.

I call this month Crunch Month. Labelled as such because of all the work that I'm going to have to squeeze into this one project. This month will be like a long and torturous journey filled with 4 hour sleep nights. Several gallons  of really strong iced tea / coffee. Several trips to the sink to wash the sleep from my eyes, several broken keyboards (from being repeatedly bashed into my skull out of frustration) frequent changes to my work station(s). Almost an endless stream of blog updates to document it all, and me growing as pale as a vampire from the lack of sun (mark my word, I shall not sparkle the next time I see daylight!).

Yes, it will be just like old times. Remember those weeks following Demo 4? take that and possibly multiply it by 2.

And despite how terrible it all sounds, I'm actually looking forward to it! I remember how well Demo 4 paid off, and I have good faith that demo 5 will be ten-fold in that reward!

So here it begins, my friends. Go forth, tell the world (or just the Brony Community), project Spikes Quest is about to make a huge, ambitious and very epic return!


Fly, my minions, FLY!

note: there will be a halfway point for a small reveal this month (originally planned for the 8th (my birthday) but that's  not completely absolute...)