Creature Run Cycle

Run cycle for a creature you may encounter in the 5th world.

Lieton Preview and Screenshot

Box of Crayons

If anyone is reading this blog and/or interested in this project, please let me know. Other wise I'm not going to bother with it anymore. This will be my last update for a long while unless I hear otherwise.

So anyway, work has ground to a halt. I have to learn some Python. I'm sure I can learn it, it just a matter of the length of time it will take. Unfortunately, I doubt anyone would be willing to code for me. I don't want a collaborator, especially if they flake on me. I guess I can continue to do the graphics but I fear I'll have all this work on the graphics side and no way to pull it all together. I'm not sure how to structure the levels once they are designed - do I have a bunch of separate .blend files for each level or one big file? How do I keep track of items collected by the player and save their progress? That's rhetorical really - the answer is Python of course.

My approach to this, from what I've seen, is not the way most game creators do it. Most seem to be coders that struggle with graphics while I'm a graphics artist struggling with code. Also, coders tend to look down on artists, like they are just idiots playing with a box of crayons to make things pretty and add nothing of value to the design of a game (or any software for that matter).

Maybe I shouldn't let the code stuff distract me at this point and keep pushing forward with the my box of crayons. Well, in this case, it's more like a box of charcoal but you get the idea.

Linux Game Development: Death by 1000 Paper Cuts

Though I've done a fair amount of work on the game on Ubuntu Linux, I've decided to move my main development to Windows 7. The short version as to why: too many "paper cuts." The slightly longer version is, there are too many frustrations to deal with that have nothing to do with developing the game and instead eat up my time screwing around trying to get basic things like video and audio working. This last one did it for me - buzzing, crackling audio in the Blender Game Engine. With a bit of googling I found out this had nothing to do with Blender but instead is a problem with the Pulse Audio ALSA plugin. I got nowhere trying to fix the problem. I don't give up easily on these things but I need to move forward on the game.

I like Linux but I need my operating system to just work, not burn up my time demanding I google constantly, comb through obscure forum posts and bug reports to get stuff working. I think one of the big problems is that DESKTOP Linux isn't stable. Fast development is good but kernel updates that sometimes come within a day of each other and break vital desktop functionality is just a tad too fast. Even Ubuntu's 6 month cycle is too much. You can't even get new software updates unless you reinstall the whole operating system! It's insanity.

I'll do my best to continue this project as cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) but the bulk of my Blender Game Engine work will be happening on Windows from now on. Hopefully I will be getting a Mac in the near future so I can get the game working there as well.

Teaser!

The music is by Blind With Rain.

Screenshots!

I now have the graphic assets done for the first three levels! Teaser trailer coming soon!

ZLYTHY Game

I've decided to turn my Zlythy project into a game. Look for updates on this blog. I've got the game concepts http://shanesemler.deviantart.com/gallery/#Zlythy and I've already started on the controls in BGE. There is one more card to do but I've decided not to show it. It's the final stage of the game so I want there to be some surprise.