Well, internets, it's been 2 weeks since I announced I'd be attempting to make a game in 2 weeks. And guess what, no game yet. But, I am not discouraged. I've moved locations and started my summer job during that period, so things have been a little demanding in the real life department.
However, progress has been made on the first episode. The code framework for the game has been almost completely written... there shouldn't be too many more technical hurdles to wrap my mind around. So, most of what's left to be done is just pumping out content: all the sprites and background art, level design, dialogue, and half of the audio files need to be created. Whew. Sounds like way too much when I write it out... I need an artist slave.
Anyway, time tables shmime shlables. Having fun and learning, and it will be finished relatively soon!
A trash heap of updates, ramblings, and general nonsense on the projects of Pengy Poo Productions and the life of Scott
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Jason's First Episode
And so, it begins. In the previous post, I gave promises of starting a new game development project and pumping out the first episode in 2 weeks. I'm confused to announce that.... so far, so good! Please, hold your gasps of shock.
Brainstorming began on Sunday, promptly followed by beginning to code on Monday. Since then, there have been the usual bashings of head against wall (I am no programmer... it's more like stumbling drunkenly down an alley filled with horny, territorial stray cats), but so far, any technical obstacles have been overcome. And soon, it will be time to start producing the crappy art content. I also need to acquire the singing voice of a female.
So, what are these games about? Well, I don't want to go into too many specifics regarding the individual episodes, here's the general theme: Life rarely lives up to our hopes and expectations. Our 'real' selves and our 'virtual' selves are two separate entities, and they are often almost completely disconnected. In this case, by virtual self, I mean our vague sense of our dream identity...what we dream of being, what we picture ourselves and our life as. But sometimes, these two worlds can seem to cross wires, so to speak. Sometimes, our life can seem so surreal that we wonder if it's a dream... and sometimes, our dreams seem so real that we swear they are. In short, those are the moments I'm interested in. When the line between these two halves is blurred, interesting experiences and questions arise. Our virtual and real selves impact each other, and when they merge together, interesting creations and epiphanies can surface. Can we trust these thoughts? Are they completely ours?
The things that we dream... those things just don't happen. Unless they do.
And just as a teaser, here's a brief glimpse of what each episode will contain:
Epsiode 1: stars, a girl, and making music
Episode 2: waffle and dialog
Episode 3: death
Brainstorming began on Sunday, promptly followed by beginning to code on Monday. Since then, there have been the usual bashings of head against wall (I am no programmer... it's more like stumbling drunkenly down an alley filled with horny, territorial stray cats), but so far, any technical obstacles have been overcome. And soon, it will be time to start producing the crappy art content. I also need to acquire the singing voice of a female.
So, what are these games about? Well, I don't want to go into too many specifics regarding the individual episodes, here's the general theme: Life rarely lives up to our hopes and expectations. Our 'real' selves and our 'virtual' selves are two separate entities, and they are often almost completely disconnected. In this case, by virtual self, I mean our vague sense of our dream identity...what we dream of being, what we picture ourselves and our life as. But sometimes, these two worlds can seem to cross wires, so to speak. Sometimes, our life can seem so surreal that we wonder if it's a dream... and sometimes, our dreams seem so real that we swear they are. In short, those are the moments I'm interested in. When the line between these two halves is blurred, interesting experiences and questions arise. Our virtual and real selves impact each other, and when they merge together, interesting creations and epiphanies can surface. Can we trust these thoughts? Are they completely ours?
The things that we dream... those things just don't happen. Unless they do.
And just as a teaser, here's a brief glimpse of what each episode will contain:
Epsiode 1: stars, a girl, and making music
Episode 2: waffle and dialog
Episode 3: death
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Penguin Progression
Well, it's another quiet time on the blog. BUT fear not...INCOMING TEXT!
The scoop: just finished another semester of school. Whew. It was a fun but quite crazy and eventful semester. That's reason #1 for not posting progress of the previously mentioned 'Curse' project. Reason #2 is that I lost a lot of my data for that project and haven't felt the urge to get back into it because A) that's a pain that I haven't felt motivated enough to endure yet, due to everything else going on and B) I've decided that although I really want to move forward with that game, I don't feel that I can do it justice yet.
Instead, I hope to make a bunch of small games (most likely using Flixel, once again) over the summer. The first batch of these will be a trilogy (codename 'Lucid') of small games, following a guy name Jason in three unrelated yet thematically connected episodes. They will be brief, slightly cinematic, and hopefully stirring in some way.
To accomplish this goal, I have given myself a challenge: each of these first three mini games will be produced in a 2-week period. This sounds (key word being sounds) like a good plan for several reasons. First, it will motivate me to focus on one project at a time, for a relatively brief period. Second, it will force me to limit my ambition and scope of the project to something simple and doable. Third, it's a surefire way to gain some experience in a short amount of time, whether I fail or not.
I plan to start the first of these on Monday. Stay tuned!
As an aside... if you check my youtube channel, the 3 most recent videos are short videos created for an animation class this semester...check 'em out.
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