What's going on!?

Ok, so Contrasaurus work is wrapped. Finished up with a little Robo-Reagan energy beam attack. No pics, because I don't feel like it.

I took the plunge and got me some Torque2D. I've been going through the tutorials and think I'll be just fine. There are some extra steps code wise compared to what I'm used to, but that's ok. I was going to take YGTS and start porting it over, but I don't think so. Frankly that kind of game has been done before, and I've had some genre mixers bouncing around in my head lately, stuff that as far as I know hasn't been done yet. So, I'll begin full steam ahead on that in the next day.

I hate leaving a game on the floor like YGTS, but there really wasn't that much done yet. That was maybe a months worth of work(or less) over a period of 4 or 5 months. It may get revisited down the road, who knows.

YoYoGames has plans for Gamemaker regarding the iphone and ipad, which means I might get the Shark on there down the road, maybe even Snowball.

That's it for now, I'll be back when I got's stuff.

Bad Eye concept art.

Today I bring to you a rough concept of the "Bad Eye" monster. It's a stalker type of monster, you can kill them, but they reconstitute after a while. This one will track you by sight, so if you stay hidden for a bit, it would go back to patrolling at random. If it's in range of an explosion or cave-in(sound/vibration trigger), it will come to investigate. The stalker monsters in this game don't get along with other types, and will even hunt them if the opportunity arises. I've always liked monster in-fighting! Who wouldn't want to see a Rabid Cavecoon devoured by one of these? Anyway, pic.

A Good Mountain?

No, it's a Bad Mountain! At least that's what I'm refering to this new game as. If the name is not taken by the time this is further underway, I'll go with it. Here's some crap from my overview document, regarding the player and their actions.

"-Sneak,Walk,Run-
Sneaking is used to move without alerting certain monsters to your location. There may be certain terrain types that produce different outcomes given the speed of your movement.
Control - Analogue stick covers this. Keyboard control will require function keys in addition to movement keys.

-Dig with a Pickaxe-
Used to dig out obstacles(rock,dirt) or strike enemies. This method is much quieter than using explosives, but can take longer. Default Pickaxe has unlimited use.
Control - Button press.

-Drop/Throw Explosive(dynamite)-
Use dynamite(etc.) to blow up obstacles or enemies. This method is powerful and dangerous, but fast. It also has the added risk of causing cave-ins. Default Dynamite has unlimited use, the time it take to lay one stick is restricted.
Control - Button press will drop the dynamite in front of you. Holding the button will charge a throw, let go to release it. the longer you hold, the further the throw. Be careful as the dynamite is lit, don't let it blow up in your face.

-Turn On/Off Light source-
If the player has aquired a light source(torch/glow worm) they can hold it in their off hand, or pack it away.
Control - Button Press to swap on/off, hold button down while on to drop/throw similar to dynamite.

-Action-
Used to activate certain things in the environ, talking, picking up a special item, etc.
Control- Button, behavior my vary given the circumstance.

-Swap Equipment-
There may be more equipment that falls under Pickaxe/Explosive/Light that the player can store and use at anytime. Swap them out for when the need arises.
Control- Undecided. On a controller it may be the shoulder buttons swapping in a forward or backward manner for each action type. Keyboard, could be hotswapped with number keys as well as the controller method.

-Talk/Shop-
Player may encounter characters that will talk or sell items, powerups.
Control- See Action. Shopping will have the player selecting from stock to purchase.

-Pick up, Drop, Throw Big Item-
There may be large objects in the environment that the player can manipulate, like a box, or a fungus. The player can only move while doing this, and their speed may be affected.
Control - See Action. Dropping/Throwing the item would function the same as throwing dynamite.

-Pick up Goodie-
Simply move over top of the item to collect it. This could be gold, bones, gemstones, etc.
Control - Duuurr.

-Check Backpack-
Brings up a screen detailing collected items and tools, selecting them gives a closer view with details on various things, like worth, power, uses, etc.
Control - Controller would be select, keyboard would be any non essential key.

*****Life and Death*****
A tolerence meter of sorts, as in a player gets hit, a bit is shaved off, if they remain out of harms way for a few seconds it starts to regenerate. Of course, if it is depleted, they will die in a horrible fashion depending on what did them in. The player can choose to continue on the same map, but doing so will cost collectables and strip them of their extra items/powerups. They could just hang it up and have their corpse/ghost haunt that stage in future games."

I generally have an overview document that details basics for everything, and then break off with more documents with details if needed. I don't know how the pros do it, but I also work primarily alone(at the moment). I have made an effort to outline more though, as it is a help to keep things organized.

I'm working on documenting different types of destructable walls. I also have a few rough sketches for character and monster ideas, but that comes later.

Got a bit more of one Unity tutorial left, and I've already started going over the script functions and such. Hopefully I can get to prototyping in a week.

Learnin' and Burnin'

That burnin' part is made up, I've set flame to nothing.

I continue my trip in Unity tutorial land. Nothing to report there really, you move forward, and all is well.

Laying down some ideas for a game, it's one of those thought rushes you can taste, you can see it play out in your head, and it is good! A few basics.

-Top down 3rd person.
-A maze like cave setting with static and random elements.
-An eco-system comprised of various quirky(yet deadly) creatures/plants that can be pitted against each other.
-Primary player interactions include moving, digging(pick-axe), explosives. Explosives are faster than digging, but cause loud noise/vibrations and the potential for cave-ns. Digging is quiet but slow.
-Grab the goodies and find a way out.
-I'd like some multiplayer co-op or competitive, with other varied game modes.

Basics for now. I mean, there's some more in depth stuff, but I have to have something to talk about next time.