Character Building

Finer detail than world building, but also necessary. I need to start making up decent generic bases for characters. But before that I need to start researching mythical creatures again. Humans are all well and good, but if I start on fantasy or sci-fi, I'm going to need some ideas from the myths and legends of the world.

Like, I have ideas for a Naga-like race, but need to draw Naga's to help develop the idea.

Thankfully, I have a small book by one of my favourite artists, Finlay Cowan. The book in question is Fantasy Artist's Pocket Reference: Incredible Characters. It has a large number of characters and different ideas - I find it very easy to get lost in it. It's very wide ranging, taking ideas from Western, Eastern and other mythology. The variation helps, I've been stagnated in Western mythology for a while.

So I'll probably get stuck into that and come up with a few character/race ideas.

World Building

I'm looking at trying some proper world-building. Of a Sci-Fi or Fantasy setting, I haven't picked yet. I have a few written ideas for Cyberpunk universes, and bits of concept art for one, but I want to try something else for a change.

If I went with fantasy, I would try not to go Tolkien-esque. I have some old ideas for a very dragon-centric world that I may revive. Otherwise I'd probably try to aim for more "gritty", little to no magic and intrigue-filled universe. Lots of warring noble families...this is possibly heading into Game of Thrones territory.

Sci-Fi is a little harder. I've spent a long time developing Cyberpunk universes that I haven't really thought about straight sci-fi in a while. I may go the Firefly-esque route of a ragtag society with two very different faces, or I could go more along the lines of Star Wars/Warhammer 40K and try and build a few/many different alien species, heavy military, etc.

I need to settle down and write out some ideas in the next few days...

ROM hacks

Lately, I've been drifting back to the modding and ROM hacking scenes, just to see what's going on. I stumbled across some semi-decent Sonic ROM hacks - one of Sonic 2 where Sonic is now Shadow, and Tails is a Chao. The Shadow sprites used are pretty good! The Chao is good as well, aside from the times it doesn't have a suitable replacement and switches to a blue Tails on certain frames...

I also found a version of Sonic 1 where you played as Amy instead. I liked it aside from one problem - most of the game now had a fairly horrific pallet set. The lava is now yellow, the sky is often pink and I weep at the awful colours.

That aside, it still plays as well as normal Sonic 1.

I do recommend looking around at ROM hacks. There are a lot of terrible ones (which at the very least will amuse for a while) but hidden among the unfinished and the terrible there are some real gems.

Desura

Slowly but surely, I'm broadening my profiles and trying to get to a point where I have places to distribute my games other than Github/my site.

Now I'm getting my Desura profile sorted out (very slowly). It's 8BitGoggles on there, the profile picture is the same as my Twitter one.

I'm hoping to have stuff on both Desura and Itch.io eventually. It may be a while, what with this "making games" thing, but I will let people know when it's all finished.

Demakes and remakes

The LudumDare mini-jam has the theme of De-make. De-makes, for those who don't know, are games remade in the style of an older console - for example, @deviever is making an Atari version of the NES version of Legend of Zelda. Sticking to the old sprite size/pallet conventions, people hope to capture the spirit of the original game in an older format.

It's fascinating. Some pirated clones do this - there is a SNES version of FFVII out there somewhere, which is actually a fairly well done de-make (for a cheap Chinese knockoff...)

Then there are things that straddle the line between de-make and re-make, like the project I most remember - MP2D. A group of Metroid fans were trying to remake Metroid Prime in 2D. It was kind of de-made, as in regressing a dimension, but the sprite style was so beautifully done and detailed it didn't feel like a de-make, more like a very beautiful re-imagining of the original.

There's also stuff like Counter-Strike 2D, which I have yet to try.

I'd love to make a de-make or a re-make, but at the moment there isn't anything I'm inspired to convert. I'll have to keep de-makes in my mind as a possibility.

The myriad of things I'm planning

A more comprehensive plan for stuff to put on OpenGameArt might be a good idea.

As well as items and enemies and the usual fare one would find in a sprite-laden RPG/platformer, I also want to make characters for visual novels. There doesn't seem to be much out there, which is both understandable and slightly disappointing.

So I'd -like- to plug the gap there and make up some characters. May take a while to get them to the right standard - they'd either have to be pixel-dolls (which would take a mild age) or get my skills up to scratch and get a graphics tablet (which I need anyway)

It may take a while until I get to making Visual Novel characters for open use, but I'm fairly determined to make it a reality.

Otherwise, it's mostly sprites and UI elements.

OpenGameArt

It's rare I sprite these days. But I think if I had an aim, I'd make more. I want to contribute stuff to OpenGameArt just to get my stuff out there...

So I'm going to try and make little things. An enemy sheet here, some items there. Maybe I'll have enough that I can start giving out huge packs of worlds to people.

I need to have -something- out there because I really don't have much that is completely original content. To have it out there and being used is just a bonus.

MiningRL update

Not really -much- of an update. I've been ill over the last few days (as those on Twitter would have seen) so haven't really been up to much since trying to implement flood-fill and mining points.

I have had some progress though. Generation of caves is reliable (though should probably be rolled back to the more extensive generation I had), mining points are being placed in the walls. I had no luck with flood-fill as I went with a far too recursive method that FireFox cried at.

So next is player addition, movement, being able to interact with mining points and generate a result (jewels or a cave in).

I'd say I'm a good third of the way to being done. Not sure whether there will be a scoreboard now, maybe if I have the time (MiningRL is my 1GAM after all)

Storycade

I found Storycade by total accident a few days ago. I do love my interactive fiction, and to have a site that's dedicated to several facets is pretty awesome.

http://storycade.com/

For instance, it has lists of games on all sorts of platforms - mobile, PC etc. Plus a load of resources - tools and tutorials. I could spend a while just looking through the site for new stuff to go through and learn.

One thing that does kind of disappoint me is that it doesn't seem very up to date with HTML5 tools that are starting to emerge. I mean, it has Twine, but nothing that's cross-all-platforms. I'm finding stuff out through Twitter about such tools which is good, but places like Storycade should have a bit more up-and-coming tools. I may construct a list of tools that should be included and send them to Storycade someday.

That's my take on it anyway.

Less games, more other stuff.

I really need to start building some commonly used things. Like map generation + flood filling, puzzle generation, all sorts of little useful programs and modules that I'd find really helpful yet have to re-write a lot.

I'll make a list of things, then start on them slowly. With any luck I'll have a nice little library of my own of gamedev tools.

I've also got a few little projects I need to start working on, like a webapp and a pattern conversion script for US > UK crochet terms.

Shapeways - tutorials

The more I look at Shapeways, the more I'm impressed by what they do.

They have a whole host of tutorials here, for people wanting to make stuff to be 3D printed. As well as that, they have a pilot print service, where you can do several iterations of a print to see if the design works/is strong enough.

All the 2D -> 3D stuff is brilliant as well - the flat designs given a thickness for depth and the online ring designer are great just to play around in.

I -really- need the time to settle down with Blender and start making stuff.

New RL project: MiningRL!

I've been looking at "coffee-break roguelikes" - 5-10 minute play-to-completion rather than half-hour/hour epics (or repeats)

What I've come up with and will implement, is a little single-level cave in which the player needs to find as much gems and materials as possible before they either empty the mine or accidentally die by a cave-in. There will be a little leaderboard, so it's quite focused on the idea of "get more than your friends!"

I'm using rot.js for this - I'll also host the scoreboard. Eventually I may put in some form of social sharing integration thing if anyone wants that sort of thing (some might, I dunno)

Shapeways

3D printing has fascinated me since it came into existence. The advent of commercial and home usage has just further ignited that love for what can be done.

Shapeways is a brilliant place where you can sell your designs. It's a little more complicated than that in reality (I believe you give Shapeways the right to sell your work in return for royalties/markup and they also handle all the customer side of things.)

More importantly, it's a potential source of revenue for me. I need to learn 3D modelling -anyway-, so trying to make things that can be printed as well as making worlds in Blender would be great - particularly if anyone likes them enough to buy them! I have a few little ideas after looking around some of the sections, however I won't be able to do much until after I've played with Blender a bit.

A ClassicFM program featuring Video Game music

You may have seen me mention this on Twitter a couple of nights ago, but I wanted to write a post on it now that I've listened to it all.

Link to the episode on ClassicFM player.

It's 2 hours long, and there's a fair mix of pieces. The first three are Final Fantasy - Aerith's Theme, the intro of FF8 and To Zanarkand. All of which are the beautiful orchestral renditions. Then it moves off to Nintendo, with an orchestral melody of Super Mario Brothers main themes, then Mario Galaxy's Gusty Garden Galaxy.

They look at modern games as well - there's tracks from Remember Me, Bioshock Infinite and Thief. There is a version of all three Tetris themes done by what I think is a string quartet - I remember being utterly mesmerised by the skill of the cellist and violinist. One of the last pieces was Simon's Theme from Castlevania, plus Dracula's theme. Both were amazing to hear in orchestral form - I'd only ever heard both as chiptune.

The program itself was well done - though the first half hour of "this is coming from a game, believe it or not!" was a little bit grating. It moved past that thankfully. I was quite pleased that the presenter themselves was -not- a gamer, but had an appreciation for music in gaming. It gave me a little bit of hope that some of my favourite music can be appreciated by more people.

Open for Commissions!

DevArt thread.

If anyone's interested in some art from me, then feel free to message me on DevArt or comment on that thread. 

On the off-chance you're wanting something embroidered, sprited or written up, throw me a message anyway - particularly for anything embroidered or sewn, I charge money for those.

Adoptables and other DevArt things

In an attempt to get a load of points and premium membership on DevArt, I'm looking into making adoptables to sell. For those who don't know what adoptables are - they're original characters that you sell to people for points or Paypal donations. They can be in any medium, animal or original species.

I may also be looking into making designs for things I can sell on the DeviantArt shop, like mugs, calendars and other things. Just another potential money-making method...Even if it's a few quid here and there - it's a few quid I didn't have before.

Moving away from DevArt a sec, I may look into starting a Folksy store soon - again, just so I have some place to sell things that I make. I need some form of income, and I'd love to be able to make some off of my own creative abilities (aside from, y'know, the whole trying to be an established indie gamedev thing)

Digital Art tools

I'm heavily considering investing in a Wacom Bamboo tablet for drawing and digital colouring. Plus, the fact I have a non-working scanner is limiting my opportunities to colour my current art (I have no colour pencils or Copic Markers...)

Bamboo for two reasons - 1, they're good quality tablets, 2: most importantly, they're Linux-compatible. I really need something that's cross-platform, as I do most of my stuff on Linux anyway, I'd rather not be forced to use Windows as a working OS, it's fine as a gaming OS for now.

I just need to work out -which- to get. Choice is sometimes a terrible thing.

Massive DeviantArt update

I re-discovered a load of drawings in two different sketchbooks that never got uploaded, so I uploaded them to DeviantArt over the last few nights in an effort to expand my portfolio.

As well as that, I've also categorised some of my art and pondering embarking on theme challenges for writing and drawing in order to broaden my skills further. I've already selected a writing challenge to start, I have yet to look for a drawing challenge. Hopefully I'll find something. For the writing challenge, I'll try basing it off a few universes/characters I've created, but I may decide to veer off and try using these themes to build worlds and new characters off. Who knows, a few may end up as games!

Following a themed drawing challenge would probably head off in similar directions.

Making up cross-stitch patterns

I have a great deal planned out, but I've actually recently selected sprites and arranged them into suitable patterns for making up - I have a whole list of ideas that I've been meaning to sew up for a couple of months now, so to have the patterns ready is a big step forward. 

So I've made up the following today:

• Second Gen Eeveelutions (Pokemon)
• Sonic, Tails and Knuckles (Sonic The Hedgehog)
• Will (Illusion of Time)
• Hero (Secret of Mana)
• Kirby (Kirby's Dream Course)
• Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad (All Stars SMB2)

Expect more cross-stitches in the future!

YouTube possible channel?

Yup, YouTube is looking more likely as another place for me to put stuff up on. Now I've discovered guvcview, I have a semi-decent recording program. Just need to find a screen recorder (I have a few to test) and I should have a decent way to record playthroughs of roguelikes and other games, as well as talk about games and other things that strike my fancy, which is pretty awesome.

I'll be planning what to do for a while, then as soon as I set it up, arrange a schedule and post the intro video, I will link to it on here and on my site.

More patterns coming up

I've made a Cave Story cross-stitch pattern (featuring Quote, Curly Brace and Misery) and a Final Fantasy 1 Four Fiends line-up pattern.

So Lich, Kary, whatever the Water Fiend is called I don't remember, plus Tiamat. NES graphics, rather than say, Dawn of Souls (GBA) or FFI for PSP level. Those may be a little beyond me right now. After blasting through Blaziken in about a week and a half, I'd rather make up some simple ones, with 3 colours plus black.

Binding of Isaac fanart

Judas vs Mom's Heart!

I drew this over the weekend, took about 2 hours to draw and ink - but I took my time as I was trying to do a few other things at the same time. 

With any luck, I'll have some time in between other commitments (eg NeonRL) to draw some more stuff for DeviantArt. It's a nice break from coding.

Other RL ideas

I often have flashes of inspiration while playing games, of ideas for games I can make myself. So for instance, when playing Lego Marvel Heroes, the idea of a superhero Roguelike came to mind. Where a generated hero has to use their powers to help or harm, meeting their end either by an overpowered hero/villain, law enforcement, or an angry cat at the top of a tree.

It could take Yet Another Stupid Death to hilarious proportions.

Mining/looting-based roguelikes also feature pretty heavily in my mind lately, after blasting through 10,000,000. I may spend a few months writing Roguelikes just to get these ideas out of my system...

Research?

I will be doing a lot of it over this month. I'm making an effort to look at retro games in places other than the beloved consoles of my youth (SNES, Megadrive, Gameboy) and looking at DOS games, with the emulation help of DOSBox.

I've already downloaded a load of RPG's (including the first two Elder Scrolls games) - some well known, some less so. Even found an interesting Final Fantasy spinoff.

If anyone can recommend DOS games I should look at for ideas or even just "This was the haven of my childhood!" do feel free to let me know.

YouTube

I've been thinking for a while about opening a YouTube channel, for a place to host some video tutorials, maybe speed-runs, let's plays and other things. Since getting a new video card and finding a screen-recorder, I'm more tempted.

I'll spend a bit longer pondering this, hopefully I'll come up with an answer (and a channel) soon!

DeviantArt Updates

A lot of my artwork is getting put on Twitter, but more importantly going on DeviantArt as well. At the moment, I've been drawing Binding of Isaac fanart and concept stuff, but hopefully I'll be able/inclined to draw more.

I'm also considering doing more sprites that end up on DeviantArt and eventually have the majority of my portfolio sitting on there. Maybe some day, I'll even have prints to sell - after blasting through Romantically Apocalyptic in 2 days, I'm considering making printed mugs (Zee Captain's mug has inspired me!)

Neon RL - March 1GAM

I was torn between a visual novel game and a Roguelike for this month's 1GAM, finally I'm settling on the roguelike.

Since I found out the word for this month - Neon - the idea for a roguelike centered around collecting colours and using them to fight and progress through levels came to my mind.

It will be expanded upon, but I believe I will be making a little mutil-level roguelike, probably with libtcod unless I find another library that I fancy learning.

Blaziken Cross-stitch

I've uploaded the pictures to imgur, finally. So now the progress of the whole thing, as well as the final image, are available for all to view!

The album will also be linked to on my website. The final image will end up on my DeviantArt profile as well.

The next sewing project

Blaziken is done! There will be a progress album and the completed picture up in a post coming soon - just need to move the photos off my phone first.

After my recently discovered love of Street Fighter, I decided that I should next sew up a Cammy, as she is my favourite character so far. Also, in order to pay a little homage to my first loved side-scrolling fighter, I'm planning to make up a Blaze as well.

So keep your eyes open for some classic fighter goodness appearing on your screens soon!

Post-Comic-Con review!

I spent most of Cardiff Comic Con wandering around with a sing proclaiming "Praise be the Helix" in honour of the Twitch Plays Pokemon Helix Fossil religion. Enough recognised it (and took pictures) that I may end up internet famous, who knows.

Aside from that, I got to take part in the Retro Game Challenge qualifiers that were happening in the Con, which was quite fun - got to play Super Mario Kart, R-Type, Kaboom, a pinball game for Megadrive I can't remember the name of, and Super Street Puzzle Fighter. I was around 20th overall, which I'm pleased with.

There were other games around that were not challenge related, like Street Fighter 2, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye 64, Pokemon Stadium and bizarrely, Ikagura(GC). Which I am now pretty in love with and need a copy - it's a beautiful bullet-hell game.

March 1GAM - ideas

After playing Long Live The Queen, I've been thinking about writing a Visual Novel game, possibly Cyberpunk in nature.

So I now have to look into both Visual Novel game structures and the framework RenPy in order to get an idea as to whether this is a good idea.

Otherwise, I'm sure I could try writing a Roguelike again, which is always good fun.