Shadow Kid Prototype Download / Indie Game Maker.

My teammate Jonathan and I demonstrated Shadow Kid today. While the prototype wasn't all that great, everyone seemed to really like the concept of me using Indie Game Maker. Both of the professors involved with game development at the school and the lead designer of Vector Force were impressed with my idea as well as the maker so I decided to post a link to that. (Above.)

Notes:

It's 60 dollars to use the license.

License enables use of all of Enterbrain's materials.

Program is fairly complicated to use, but easy enough for beginners in programming to understand if they just want to use the graphical aspects of the program to create a basic game.

The powerpoint I presented today to the class can be downloaded here.

The final (in documentation form) as well as the game prototype I used for my 440 final can all be downloaded here. (Controls: X to jump/confirm, arrow keys to move.)

It was a great quarter (in terms of this class, at least), and I'm looking forward to taking Game Programming in the Spring!

Finals

I'll keep this short, since I have a severe headache and I don't feel like typing much. Actually, I'm going on three days of 2 hours of sleep, and I don't think I'll get a good rest until Friday.

I'll start with the good and then the bad!

Good:

I got an A on the KINE205 final, good thing for open notes? The teacher was pretty interesting. Hyper, but interesting.

There is some progress on Shadow Kid. You can check out our tentative presentation for CSE440 later this morning here.

I wish I could show some prototypes of the game project, but it just doesn't look all that great. I'm going to redo the game in Unity and actually have that as a senior project. Maybe.

Bad:

I have no idea how the hell I did on my Digital Logic and Calculus finals. I'm kind of scared, really.

Gaming and Relationships.

(Inspired by this link. Note, this blog post primarily is attributed to MMORPGs (such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Age of Conan, Aion etc) but I guess it can be applied to other games as well that require a lot of player commitment.)

I was reading (lurking) through the Allakhazam forums earlier today and I came upon this thread. (See: Link above.) Olorinus talks about how her girlfriend is accepting and willing to put up with her gaming "addiction", so to say. And she was curious about how other people in the Final Fantasy XIV community are able to handle the commitment of an MMORPG as well as a real-life relationship. There was a variety of responses from ones that had girlfriends/boyfriends that found their gaming to be tolerable, to a guy whose girlfriend thinks video games make people stupid and he ends up admitting to the whole community that he only wants her for sex.

My response is: "I don't even consider having a relationship with someone who isn't a gamer. Well, personal preference anyway.". A handful of people seem to have agreed with me seeing that it got an "Excellent" rating. (Of course it's biased based on the people I was posting to. Preaching to the choir?) But my response rings true. I don't consider girls who do not play video games as dating/relationship material. Someone might come reading this and call me a shallow asshole, but I call it efficiency.

I find gaming to be fairly important in my life. Not only is it my dream career to be a video game designer, but I do gaming as my primary form of recreation. I don't spend my time going to parties, drinking, or gambling, I like experiencing a good game in my spare time, and if I am seeing someone who does not even like what is such an integral part of my life, why would I think to spend any of my personal time with them?

Now, I'm not saying this as an excuse to not do anything else with the person. But in the thread above, some relationships are seriously suffering from the fact that some of the men or women involved on the other end find games to be a nuisance or driving a large rift within the relationship. I agree with the fact that one can't ever completely ignore the other person in the relationship in the sense of just a game, but instead of games driving two people in a relationship apart, why not use games as means to bring two people in a relationship closer together? In a sense, it's a great way to spend some quality time.

There are lots of guys (as well as some girls) that would kill to have a significant other that plays the same game with them. For a while, I had a girlfriend that played the same MMO that I did and we had lots of enjoyable time as a duo, and I considered it to be one of the main aspects of bringing us closer together. I also have friends that have invited their girlfriends to their World of Warcraft game and level and do content with them (some even go the extra mile and pay for their account too). I actually find it to be quite a sweet gesture to see couples like that. They are willing to try new things and explore each others interests rather than shutting them off and "putting up with it".

Of course, this doesn't mean to cop out and be cheap and use gaming as an alternative to going out and actually doing stuff with your significant other. It's important to spend one-on-one time doing real life activities as well, I just wish games wouldn't be so streamlined and stereotyped towards just one person and driving wedges where they shouldn't be.

I also want to make it clear that I'm not being selfish and applying it to just the gamer. People in general should take time to explore what the other person in the relationship likes. Get to know their interests and try them out, don't treat it as a hassle, but rather as an opportunity to get to know the person better.


(I just realized I wrote this blog post on the release date of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Irony?)

20 Different Things I wish I could say to 20 Different People

A quite different (more serious) approach to a blog entry that I thought about posting from earlier today. I chose twenty people who are in my life right now (doesn't really matter the influence, or how long I've known them), and I've come up with twenty statements that I wish I could say to these twenty people that I have selected. Of course, their names aren't going to be listed here, but I guess (in my mind), it was supposed to be more reflective and meaningful, if anything.

I may release the name of the person that the said message is attributed to, but only if messaged in private, and it depends on who's asking me, of course.

Person #1: Thank you for being such a good friend. You're the only person who's stuck it with me since elementary school and I'm very honored (actually, "honored" doesn't do the word justice) to have you as one of my dearest friends.

Person #2: I'm not quite sure why you've been rude to me for the longest time, but in any case, losing to you consistently in various video games (heck, almost any video game) keeps me inspired to keep practicing my gaming skills. (Even though, I most likely will never beat you in anything!)

Person #3: If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be a fraction of the person I am now (or even exist?). I think my leadership role was probably inherited from you!

Person #4: Toontown!? TOONTOWN!? On a serious note, Geometry in Whitmer's class has to be the highlight of our high school time as friends. Also, I will never forget the time you danced to "Ring My Bell" in College Orientation. Actually, it's burned in my head, thank you for that disturbing visual! It was hilarious to watch though! Oh and by the way, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know not to trust the Red Cross. ...Or Pikachu for that matter.

Person #5: Thanks for being so incredibly awesome. Seriously. You come with me to game design meetings, you are a hilarious actor in our skits, and I don't think there's really anyone out there who , even remotely, hates your guts. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be half as interested in being a part of FFSEntertainment for the time I was a member, or be as motivated to write these skits for BETACinema! Thank you!

Person #6: I really miss our adventures in Vana'diel together. Ever since you left, I really haven't been motivated to play as much. I think a huge part of me not playing in Vana'diel anymore (Aside from version updates) was attributed to the lack of an adventuring buddy to explore with.

Person #7: If you were still alive, I would ask you: "What the hell were you thinking?"

Person #8: I don't really know you in person, probably never will. However, you helped me create an exceptional group for Final Fantasy XIV, and I'm largely indebted to you for your contributions and assistance to make the group a success.

Person #9: You know, if you just took a minute and stopped seeing people at random and just open your eyes and find someone who likes you for who you are rather than what you have, you would be a much happier person in the process.

Person #10: Thank you for effectively ruining my middle school experience. Thank you for framing me and getting me suspended for a fist fight. Thank you for stealing $50 from me in 7th grade. Thank you for making those years the worst three years of my life. Thank you for being the one that made me reclusive and solitary for six years.

Person #11: You sent me a message a while back telling me that any girl should be lucky to have me in the future if I ever changed my mind about marriage. Thanks for those very kind words, it was a great boost to my self-esteem!

Person #12: I'm glad you started playing the PlayStation 2, Final Fantasy X, and Kingdom Hearts. It really makes me happy that I've helped someone become a gamer. You wouldn't even know.

Person #13: Your right-wing policies and our political discussions greatly amuse me. We should play a game of Age of Empires III sometime!

Person #14: You can be egotistical at times (Always?) but it's part of your nature. Why/How the hell did we never meet in high school?

Person #15: I'm going to miss you in my classes in the future. I feel bad that you're changing majors, but you're following your new-found goals in life and I salute you for that! PS: Invite me to your class for career day in the future! Please?

Person #16: We teamed up to take over the world together! What happened? Why did you back out like that? I call it cowardice! Cowardice!

Person #17: I don't quite understand why you're such a ladies man. It would be more respectful to treat women as equal people and not call them such demeaning names. I find it to be brash and insulting, but that's my opinion.

Person #18: I'm not quite sure what your gripe is with the family, but it's a shame I never got to know you and you only call once every 25 years or so. Your loss, really.

Person #19: As a game designer that has Asperger's Syndrome, I really look up to you as one of my idols. You single-handedly created a multi-million dollar video game franchise that's known by many people worldwide and still are rarely known throughout the average gaming community. I would like to say that I highly appreciate and admire you, and what you've done. You're a very brilliant person.

Person #20: I met you not too long ago, but I think you're really cute [and beautiful. I really do not use that word often.] I would ask you out if I had more courage to do so, but I think I will play the wait-and-see approach to find out whether you like me back or not to risk any misunderstandings/awkwardness.

Viva Eorzea Linkshell

Pre-blog information/background:

Linkshell - A group of people in Final Fantasy XI and XIV that work with each other as a large group. Whether it be chatting to each other, or a group that helps one another out. I guess it would be equated to a guild in another MMORPG.

Entry:

Over the last week or so, I've been playing the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV (since it's been updated) and it's been taking up quite a bit of my free time (well, the free time that hasn't been studying for finals or doing related schoolwork, of course)

For those that know me in the game itself, in addition to working on building my character, I'm working with my friend and co-leader Ricocant Tribal to rebuild our linkshell, Viva Eorzea. The linkshell itself was built just after the launch of the official service back in September and had about 40-ish members with 10-15 on at any given time. As players started to realize more and more how sucky and crappy the launch version of the game was, people started to leave in droves (myself included, partially) and chose to wait until the game got updated or just quit then and there convinced that it would never improve. The social linkshell was reduced to 1-2 people on at a time and the linkshell itself got bare and empty.

Fast forward to the update, the UI interface got much better and I've started to play a lot more, Ricocant, Nekovivie and Bellock Uhlrahzi largely led the LS in my 3-week or so absence from the game, but the LS itself was largely empty upon mine (and many others) return to Eorzea.

However, a lot of people aren't willing to give Final Fantasy XIV a second chance after feeling burned/ripped off from the launch and put the game to rest for good, which left the LS, still, largely empty.

I'm not one to give up on the linkshell, and neither is Ricocant (we formed the LS in July, it's been about 5 months, why let it die over a month over a game with a crappy launch?) so we're currently rebuilding the linkshell back to it's former glory, even if it has to have an almost entirely fresh roster of people to replace those who have quit. Surprisingly, it's been fairly successful so far, we've recruited a lot of nice, optimistic Eorzeans that are (as well as we) hopeful that the game will improve. We're working with each other to try and beef up our ranks in order to team up and beat all of the content that's to come our way in 2011.

Of course, the older members who have left are always more than welcome to come back, I don't blame them in the slightest for giving up on a game that at launch that disappointed the vast majority of its players. Most of them probably won't come back, some of them are waiting until more patches come, some of them are waiting until PS3 release to see how that version fares.

Whatever the reason is, I'm hopeful that we will have a great linkshell on Figaro Server that people are open to join and advance their characters as well as the linkshell itself. Especially with the additions of linkshell/company owned ships, vessels, and buildings, I'm very hopeful for Viva Eorzea's future and I'm hoping we together can have some memorable in-game experiences in Eorzea that match or even surpass my eight years of adventuring in Vana'diel!

Catch our linkshell on Facebook!
Also: Check our our linkshell's website!


Grover Eyeveen
Viva Eorzea Linkshell Leader

A look back on 2010/December Goals and Updates!

A new month! The last month of 2010!

I've found this year in general to be much better than 2009. 2009 was a year filled with heartbreak, widespread political change, and a deep insightful look at what the hell was going on with my life. While I've found 2009 to be forced change upon myself (whether I wanted it or not), I've found this year to be one of personal change and a sense of advancement in my life. I've met a lot of new people and got to know some of my older friends a lot more, I experienced my first Anime Convention, I've become much more social around others (even though I'm still largely withdrawn/reclusive), I've started a new video group and met a lot of exciting and interesting people (and that video group implicitly hooked up three couples XD), I've learned how to both tweet and text people (thanks Fuego for the latter), and I've stopped using MySpace in favor of a better blog site (You're welcome, Blogspot). I've completed lots of video games that have been in completion limbo (like Final Fantasy I, and Legend of Dragoon for example).

In short (if you didn't want to read all of that mess), I've greatly enjoyed this year, I really couldn't be any happier of where I am now, and if I had a choice, I wouldn't have lived through 2010 in any other way.

Now on to December goals and updates!


Video Game Design Projects:

Shadow Kid:

My second game project, tentatively titled "Shadow Kid", is being worked on in both Unity 3D and Indie Game Maker, I'll have to present a prototype of the game sometime next week, so I'm working on it and I should be providing early screen-shots with placeholder graphics in a future blog post.

I'm looking for voice actors and level artists to help me out in the future. If you're reading this and may be interested, please message me on Facebook.

(See also: Shadow Kid Artwork/Designs)


Dojo Adventure:

I'm working on Dojo Adventure too, I've been getting messages and comments that the end of the game has a steep climb to it in terms of player vs monster level. I'm adding some areas in a couple of weeks that smooth-ens the leveling curve and makes it more enjoyable to level up between the 40's and the 60's. Expect an update to be posted around the 18th.

You can download the current version at the link below.

(See also: Dojo Adventure Download Page)

School:

Finals are coming up and I've been working my double to make sure I do well in all of my classes. I've pretty much singled out the one class that really needs work on (Digital Logic), and then I can try and hopefully pass that course and not have to worry about it.

I'm optimistic about it and hopeful that I should be in good shape. Next quarter I'm taking General Physics, Geology, Machine Organization, and Software Engineering. Fun!

(See also: Computer Science Class Flowchart)


MMOs:

Final Fantasy XIV:

I'm currently really enjoying my time in Eorzea. Since the update, I've been playing every chance I get (which, honestly, really isn't all that often due to school), but I'm aiming to play more during the Winter break. The game is at the point where I can start recommending to my friends (even though they'll most likely not listen and still not play, save for my XI friends) and I plan on having lots more adventures. I'm eagerly awaiting the December patch so Ricocant and I can continue shaping Viva Eorzea to be one of the best linkshells on the Figaro Server.

(See also: My current Final Fantasy XIV character status)

(See also: My views on Final Fantasy XIV Post-November 2010 Patch)


Final Fantasy XI:

I'm going to return to Final Fantasy XI this weekend to get level 85 Paladin and prepare for the update on December 6th that adds to the end of the Wings of the Goddess storyline. If this turns out to be the last patch they add with any sort of storyline content, I may retire from Vana'diel to continue working on FFXIV. As for the time being though, I'll be playing both FFXI and FFXIV and it makes it much easier that I get the two for $19 a month. Take that, World of Warcraft! Two addictions for $4 more than the price of one.

(See also: My current Final Fantasy XI status)


Relationship Thesis:

For people who have been keeping up with my blog posts, I've been working on a thesis of my personal view of [romantic] relationships. That can be viewed at the link below, and gets updated sparingly (as I see fit).

(See also: Relationship Thesis)


BETA Cinema:

I've outlined a detailed list for the plans for BETA Cinema this month and it is all listed in the link below.

(See also: BETA Updates)

BETA Updates

This last weekend, we had our monthly video group meeting. Because of some personal issues I had to resolve that had me cut the meeting short on Saturday, I had to split the meeting over the course of two days (Friday and Saturday) to get the necessary amount of filming work done.

BETA Movie Updates:

As of right now, there is only one main video on our YouTube channel, Kingdom Broken Hearts. We are hoping on having three new movies and a handful of older movies posted within the next month:

New: Control Freak (Kingdom Hearts Themed)
New: If Jon Ruled the World
New: [Untitled Ginja Love Story]

Season 0: Chocolate Pizza
Season 0: Pizza Time
Season 0: Secret Agent Yachiru
Season 0: Talking With Jon

The first two new movies have been filmed and are being edited. The third one has been scripted and is in the planning phase.

Seasons:

Our shorts, skits, and sketches will be posted on the YouTube account in a Season format. Season 1 movies are ones that take place if the filming occurred in October 2010 or later. Season 0 movies are for movies that were filmed between June and September of 2010 in our former group. The uploads will be organized as such into these playlists in order to not throw off any viewers on why our quality of filming is good in one movie, but poor in another.

Improvements:

Each meeting we have, we try and have a better quality performance than the one we had before. It's only natural that we improve as a group over time. In our old sketches, we failed to overlook smaller details such as shadowing, or sound effects, or misplaced voice clips. The more we do, the more we re-film and try and minimize these small but glaring details from our movies, and hopefully you (as the viewer) can notice that too if you watch some of our older and upcoming skits.

_

I love working with the group, and we always try and make our newest sketch much more entertaining than the last. Please support our group on by liking us on Facebook or subscribing to us on YouTube! We appreciate all of the views and the comments! (Well, the positive ones, at least.)

BETA Cinema on Facebook
BETA Cinema on YouTube