I won't be posting much on the blog for a while due to Real Life catching up to me after a good 2-3 months of break. I'll be working on the game no matter what however.
Dar13, WasTeLanD Primary developer
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Rewriting sucks
Rewriting an engine in a different language(DBPro -> C++) while also using the greatest extent of that language's abilities is a pain in the butt. I gotta say though, I like the flexibility C++ gives when using OO or procedural programming. So far, I've got a working wrapper for PureGDK that gives me some more degrees of control over the getting and setting of positions/rotations/etc.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Some thoughts
This post is just going to be some ramblings about game development in general, challenges I'm facing currently, and other various things. Just an FYI.
I've been programming for a while now( a good 3 years going on 4), and I've noticed some things that stick from language to language(BlitzBasic, DBPro, C/C++). One of these things is the paramount need to create a system that allows additions. A system that can handle the loss or addition of a new part without too much fuss. How does that relate to game development? Well, a game is basically a big ole glob of parts that work together to create a multimedia entertainment program. How is that? Think of a game, like Halo for example. When you think of Halo what do you think of? The weapons (like the Spartan laser or the assault rifle), the characters(Master Chief/Cortana), the driving, the physics, the enemies(Elites/Brutes), the enemies' artificial intelligence, etc etc etc.
All of those things are the building blocks of Halo. Separate from each other they are nothing, possibly less than nothing because they might rely on another building block to function. What Bungie(Halo's developers) did was fit all these parts together into a framework that allowed each module to be mainly self-contained while giving/taking data from other modules efficiently. That framework is the basis of the game.
That framework is the problem I'm hitting right now. I built my framework without a few critical modules, mainly the story and all the logic systems that go in place for that. So I've been stuck redesigning my existing framework to coexist with the story module without causing game-crashing bugs. I'm making progress, it's just a slow process.
In addition to that programming challenge, I also have an artistic and designer challenge in the actual tutorial level and scripting. Some of you might have noticed, but my current 'level' is a smorgasbord of placeholder media and thrown-in finished pieces. My enemy is a WWII airborne trooper, while my game's setting is in a post-apocalyptic modernistic age. My floor is tiled with the actual word 'Floor' all over it. There's nothing to prevent the player from falling off the edge of the world, the 'arena' is an island in a sea of black at the moment. I'm also working on that as well, with some more indepth maps and better media coming in through the amazing community at The Game Creators.
So don't give up on this project yet. I've been working on this, either through mini projects to work on mechanics or smaller games to build up my skills, for more than 3 years now. It's not gonna die anytime soon.
Dar13 WTLD Developer
I've been programming for a while now( a good 3 years going on 4), and I've noticed some things that stick from language to language(BlitzBasic, DBPro, C/C++). One of these things is the paramount need to create a system that allows additions. A system that can handle the loss or addition of a new part without too much fuss. How does that relate to game development? Well, a game is basically a big ole glob of parts that work together to create a multimedia entertainment program. How is that? Think of a game, like Halo for example. When you think of Halo what do you think of? The weapons (like the Spartan laser or the assault rifle), the characters(Master Chief/Cortana), the driving, the physics, the enemies(Elites/Brutes), the enemies' artificial intelligence, etc etc etc.
All of those things are the building blocks of Halo. Separate from each other they are nothing, possibly less than nothing because they might rely on another building block to function. What Bungie(Halo's developers) did was fit all these parts together into a framework that allowed each module to be mainly self-contained while giving/taking data from other modules efficiently. That framework is the basis of the game.
That framework is the problem I'm hitting right now. I built my framework without a few critical modules, mainly the story and all the logic systems that go in place for that. So I've been stuck redesigning my existing framework to coexist with the story module without causing game-crashing bugs. I'm making progress, it's just a slow process.
In addition to that programming challenge, I also have an artistic and designer challenge in the actual tutorial level and scripting. Some of you might have noticed, but my current 'level' is a smorgasbord of placeholder media and thrown-in finished pieces. My enemy is a WWII airborne trooper, while my game's setting is in a post-apocalyptic modernistic age. My floor is tiled with the actual word 'Floor' all over it. There's nothing to prevent the player from falling off the edge of the world, the 'arena' is an island in a sea of black at the moment. I'm also working on that as well, with some more indepth maps and better media coming in through the amazing community at The Game Creators.
So don't give up on this project yet. I've been working on this, either through mini projects to work on mechanics or smaller games to build up my skills, for more than 3 years now. It's not gonna die anytime soon.
Dar13 WTLD Developer
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