Sunday, August 2, 2015

SFML, JOB, Spring Shoes

I moved my blog here: http://www.makegameshappen.wordpress.com/ However, today word press gave me the error: An error occurred while loading.
API calls to this endpoint have been disabled. It basically won't let me update any blog posts at the moment. So I am back here temporarily. Because logging into Google products is a pain in the ass. This trampoline is badass because you could potentially seamlessly connect multiple trampolines: http://www.springfreetrampoline.com/trampolines/jumbo-square-trampoline However, the Vuly Thunder looks more durable. Especially since I've seen BOTH with cars dropped on them. VULY THUNDER: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vuly-Thunder-Trampoline-Large/171878034664 http://www.ruralking.com/vuly-thunder-xl.html

Monday, June 15, 2015

Moved to word press:

New blog here: https://makegameshappen.wordpress.com Just got sick of google trying to control all my stuff with one global account. Leaves me spending half my day logging into and out of accounts. Very annoying. Using word press will be less disruptive to my work flow. -John Mark

Moving to WordPress

Here: https://makegameshappen.wordpress.com/ I've finally had it with google disrupting my workflow. I log into Youtube, get logged out of the Gmail account I was using. I log into Blogspot, have to log out of Gmail and then into a different Gmail. Then end up having to re-type blogspot.com to get back where I was. I am not a fan of this unification of accounts that Google is up to. It is a pain and severely disrupts my workflow. If there is a decent non-google option that doesn't make my life a pain, I will go for it. I've been dealing with this problem for at least a year. And I've probably lost a lot of productivity. -John Mark

Paint.net Canvas Tangents

I doubt anyone will sympathize with me:

TileLayer Haxe Install

I used HaxeLib Install TileLayer... And it installed.
But FlashDevelop cannot find the library when I include
 in my application.xml file.

I need to focus on making a game rather than pipeline issues...
So I think I am going to go ahead and ignore learning openGL, drawTiles,
or whatever TileLayer is and just work on making a game targeting HTML5 and ActionScript.

If the game is good enough, then I will worry about porting to mobile.
For now, I am just going to design for mobile but release to web.

I don't see myself being productive if I am pulled in so many directions at once.

-John Mark

aze.display

If you see aze.display in a haxe project. The aze namespace belongs to this library: http://lib.haxe.org/p/tilelayer

Sunday, June 14, 2015

OpenGL Haxe Reading List:

http://www.joshuagranick.com/2011/10/31/opengl-triangle-c-and-haxe-side-by-side/ http://old.haxe.org/doc/java/lwjgl http://www.lwjgl.org/ setting up lwjgl with eclipse: http://wiki.lwjgl.org/wiki/Setting_Up_LWJGL_with_Eclipse OpenGL ES Tutorial: http://www.raywenderlich.com/3664/opengl-tutorial-for-ios-opengl-es-2-0 Guessing aze.display.* import in the openGL for Haxe project I am looking at is referencing this: http://lib.haxe.org/p/tilelayer Lightweight wrapper over OpenFL's powerful but lowlevel 'drawTiles', with bitmap-based fallback for Flash. Includes a Sparrow spritesheets parser supporting animations and trimming. The openGL haxe project I am looking at: https://github.com/bmfs/glslTest_openfl

ARGH!

Looks like I need to understand OPENGL before I can figure out haxe's implimentation of openGL. Doesn't appear to be enough documentation to figure it out otherwise. -John Mark //http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16559095/opengl-with-haxe-c @MichaelIV, actually NME's implementation targets OpenGL ES 2.0, which means that it supports shader pipelines (see github.com/haxenme/NME/blob/master/native/gl/GL.hx#L538). Can you edit your answer? – Waneck May 15 '13 at 13:32

Hardware Pixel Blending Haxe

Apparently this shader code: https://github.com/bmfs/glslTest_openfl
from this thread:http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/feature-requests/custom-glsl-shaders-drawtiles/
Is the answer to my problems.

graphics.drawTiles()
http://www.openfl.org/archive/
community/programming-haxe/blending-modes/

pixel bender:
http://www.flashmagazine.com/tutorials/detail/using_pixel_bender_to_calculate_information/

http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/
feature-requests
/custom-glsl-shaders-drawtiles/
OpenGLSimpleView or HerokuShader

i want to write my version of drawTiles() 
using openfl-stage3d, so it would be possible 
to use custom shade

heardtheword:
In looking at how NME is structured it seems plausible 
that there could be a GPUProg object stored in 
GraphicsJob and then passed to HardwareContext. 
This would give the ability to use shaders on points, 
lines, and fill objects as well as Tilesheet. I think 
this would be abstract enough to use for HLSL as well.

Here is my concept of how it could work in Haxe. 
There should probably be some type of caching for 
duplicate shaders although Haxe will only see the 
final linked program.

// static function, returns a GPUProg object?
var program = Graphics.compileShader(vertexShader, pixelShader); 

// in rendering code
graphics.attachShader(program);
tilesheet.drawTiles...

// is this needed or could it be automatically detached at endFill?
graphics.detachShader(); 


I'm willing to take a shot at this but would love 
feedback if you feel this isn't heading in the right direction.

EDIT: Any reason OGLProg::createShader 
adds the precision information for OpenGL ES2? 
You can do that directly in the shader using the #ifdef directive.

#ifdef GL_ES
precision highp float;
#endif

EDIT2: Okay, I created a branch in GitHub 
and edited sample 20-Tile with custom shaders. 
It works as expected as long as you use the 
attribute/uniform variables defined in OGLProg. 
Might be fun to allow custom variables in the future.

http://github.com/MattTuttle/NME/tree/glsl...


1 year later: Updates:
https://github.com/bmfs/glslTest_openfl

FPS , Haxe, and Movies

This explains why I thought a Hollywood movie was a cheap straight to tv drama:
http://www.tested.com/art/movies/452387-48-fps-and-beyond-how-high-frame-rates-affect-perception/

I thought it was the bad cinematography or lighting or cuts..
But it may have been the frame rate.

How to do a simple frame rate and memory profile in haxe:
http://haxecoder.com/post.php?id=24

Expanded upon with colors and stuff:
https://github.com/yupswing/plik/tree/master/com/akifox/plik/debug

BitmapData.dumpBits

http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/bugs/wasting-memory-makes-nme-unusable-non-pet-projects-does-anyo/

TexturePacker

Ah. This is what HaxeFlixel is referring to in it's texture packer data class: https://www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Faster than CopyPixels in Haxe

You need to use tilesheets which abstract the sprite.graphics.beginBitmapfill()
command if trying to render on android.

This is what I have found from my research into why the awesome rendering system
I made sucks when I try it out on my phone.

More info on tile sheets here:
http://haxecoder.com/post.php?id=21

From looking at source code, 
haxe-flixel uses tile sheets.

Reading into haxe-flixel source code:
#if FLX_RENDER_BLIT is using COPYPIXELS()
FLX_RENDER_TILE is using TileSheets.

So: FLX_RENDER_BLIT is used for non-hardware targets like flash and HMTL5.
And FLX_RENDER_TILE is used for hardware targets like android and neko.

This is my understanding.
Will look more into this later.

Haxe Android FrameRate Drop

Doing some reasearch on this: http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/programming-haxe/android-fps-drops/ You might consider what rendering you are using. If you are still using copyPixels or draw, which perform well in Flash's software renderer, its about the slowest you can go on hardware. The display list is faster, or drawTiles/drawTriangles If you are using one of these fps drop is inevitable, because these are using cpu and expensive processes. - Masking - Bitmap drawing or creating bitmap - Gradient line drawing - Filters - Color transform You should also check that you aren't using debug mode also. This may lead fps drop also. I apologize for dropping into an older thread, but I wanted to mention I just created a logical error in our stage rendering code. It was rendering on "lastRender + framePeriod", which, if the application was allowed to sleep, could result in a drop of several frames per second if the "lastRender" was not exactly at the desired time, but later due to an idle wakeup. The system was not under stress, it just wouldn't try to do enough frames. This is the cause of the behavior where more stress on the device would result in better frame rates, much to the confusion of most people. This logic fix will go out in the next version of openfl-native. Have a great day!

Bunny Mark

SO... Either I have a really slow phone...
Or my "optimized" tilemap rendering code is not that optimized...

Going to download 
http://haxeflixel.com/demos/FlxBunnymark/
And run it to see how it works...

Tried using downloadSVN to download the demo from the Git Repo.
No luck. Instead used:

haxelib install flixel-demos
on the command line.


UPDATE#1: Looks like bunny benchmark is dependant on bitFive... Hmm...
        Better look into what bitFive is doing. As I know it had
        something to do with drawing optimizations.

On command line:
haxelib install openfl-bitfive



UPDATE#2: Running the demo from the flixel project failed.
          Did not recognized bitFive was installed.
          Actually, the entire libraries folder was EMPTY...
          Like the project XML wasn't valid or anything..

SO now:
On command line:
haxelib install flixel-tools

Trying to build a fresh bunnyMark example using flixel-tools.
If this doesn't work... I don't know.. I feel kind of stupid having
to try this hard just to get something running that I should be able
to easily download.


UPDATE#3:
Error: ///////////////////////
Error: Could not find haxelib "openfl-bitfive", does it need to be installed?
Build halted with errors (haxelib.exe)."
//////////////////////////////

Using the command line, it installed openfl-bitfive version 3.0.
My guess is I need to take out the version requirements somewhere in
a config file.

Because: When I do "haxelib install openfl-bitfive"
on command line, it tells me:
"You already have openfl-bitfive version 3.0.0 installed.

UPDATE#4:
Went to "C:\DEV\Programs\Haxe\haxe\lib\openfl-bitfive\3,0,0"
And stripped the version number out of haxelib.json in that folder.
I kept the version variable, but it is now set to an empty string.

Hmm... The
""
Within my Project.xml is still causing my "References" folder in my
FlashDevelop project to become blank. I know this happens whenever you
put a library path that cannot be found. When I comment out
 from my Project.xml, the "References" folder
directories show up again in the project explorer...

So I guess stripping the version number out did not work...
Maybe the library is identified differently? I am typing something wrong?


UPDATE#5: Read some read-me files:: Trying this in 
Project.xml (Which read me refers to application.xml)
 //Commented this out.
 //replaced with this.

I can now see my library references in the project explorer, but don't know
if anything will actually run.

UPDATE#6: No luck...
I really want to run this demo to see if I am doing something wrong with my optimized
rendering... Or if Flixel is using better rendering methods than me.... GRRR.
I am pretty sure my phone is just ancient and super slow... That is what I am hoping for
because my flash code runs super awesomely fast.

UPDATE#7: Not cool... I wonder if I can find bunnyMark on the app store and just download it?
          I don't want to use flixel. I just want a bench mark to see how it runs on my phone.


Fruitless search terms:
openfl-bitfive not found
openfl library not found in solution explorer
openfl-bitfive not compiling

Monday, June 8, 2015

Tile sheets. Render in Haxe

http://haxecoder.com/post.php?id=21 Oh my.. I better look into this before I continue my work. Just in case I am screwing up royally. UPDATE: http://seanodowd.me/getting-started-with-haxe-2014/

RoxLib is where it is at for gestures in Haxe

This person did a good job documenting the features in this post: http://fugocode.blogspot.com/2013/07/openfl-gestures-using-roxlib-gesture.html

Haxe Touch Events

nme.events.TouchEvent.TOUCH_BEGIN nme.events.TouchEvent.TOUCH_MOVE nme.events.TouchEvent.TOUCH_END Looks like what I need. Interesting that I coincidentally coded some events in my engine using: START, CONTINUE, and END Very similar to this format. Hopefully that means coding this up will be easy. http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/programming-haxe/nmeeventstouchevent-are-not-sensitive/ UDPATE: //here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9229419/as3-pinch-zoom-and-single-finger-drag-detection Has something called "TransformGestureEvents" UPDATE: //Mentions standards of some sort including MSPointers that might be good to research. Knowing how to think about this stuff is important. http://www.sitepoint.com/unifying-touch-and-mouse-with-pointer-events/

Signing into blogger signs me out of GMail.

I don't enjoy how google likes to sign me out of my gmail when I sign into blogger. When google decided to link Youtube, Blogspot, and who knows what else all together... It became a real pain for me. And my productivity has suffered. Usually my solution is just to... Don't check email that much. And don't update blog as much as I should. Here are some other solutions: http://equalsdrummond.name/2010/01/24/fixing-the-google-account-problem/ I think a better solution might just be... Only using google for gmail. And finding alternative services for blogs that don't kill my productivity. Been reading a book on systems theory called "The 5th Discipline" and context switching is a big deal. ----------------------------------- In games news: Working on some basic Haxe Engine code for a game I want to make for the phone. Writing engines is a dangerous thing to do for someone trying to make a game. I've been down that road before. But I know exactly what I want and I have the experience to pull this off. And it will save me some problems down the road because I wont have to hack-up flixel like I did with my AS3 code base. You try to respect encapsulation, but it only goes so far when you need to make big changes. -John Mark UPDATE: Speaking of the inefficiencies I was talking about with google accounts. This was the original reason I logged in: https://github.com/rockswang/roxlib I am doing research into multi-touch so I can program a pinch/pull gesture for zoom control.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

APK Push and Stuff

Casting: Use Std.int( someFloat); NOT: cast( someFloat, int); Latter will work for Flash target only. Debug APK in relase mode? http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/programming-haxe/android-why-apk-marked-debug/ Installing .apk on phone: adb push c:\TEST2.apk /sdcard/test2.apk adb shell pm install /sdcard/test2.apk alternatively: adb install c:\TEST2.apk or maybe it was... adb install c:\TEST2.apk /sdcard/test2.apk Whatever. One of these works.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

APK PUSH

Casting: Use Std.int( someFloat); NOT: cast( someFloat, int); Latter will work for Flash target only. Debug APK in relase mode? http://www.openfl.org/archive/community/programming-haxe/android-why-apk-marked-debug/ Installing .apk on phone: adb push c:\TEST2.apk /sdcard/test2.apk adb shell pm install /sdcard/test2.apk alternatively: adb install c:\TEST2.apk or maybe it was... adb install c:\TEST2.apk /sdcard/test2.apk Whatever. One of these works.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Bit Packed Cats

So, in an effort to create a pipeline for getting animation frames into game... I decided to add bit-packing to the mix. Advantages: 1. Smaller embedded file size for lots of assets. 2. Makes my scanned sketches look decent with minimal work. 3. May somewhat protect my game from being decompiled and having new assets swapped in. Won't make it impossible, but a lot harder. And people who do that kind of thing are looking for a shortcut. So make it hard enough for them and they won't do it. Because if they wanted to work that hard, they would just make their own game.

Monday, May 18, 2015

SVG vs TTF for Icons in GAMES

UPDATE: This article was more helpful for my needs: http://www.onextrapixel.com/2014/03/21/designing-for-changing-technology-font-icons-vs-svg/ I read this article: https://css-tricks.com/icon-fonts-vs-svg/ Really good stuff.. But didn't cover the one thing I wanted to know.. FILE SIZE. Embedding vector graphics into a custom font I suspect may be better on file size. I say this because SVG format is basically a text file with with drawing commands in it. Sure, you could embed the SVG as a text file and use string compression on the SVG data. That could work. But, if TTF fonts natively store the vector info in a more native/binary format, I think the product pipeline would be best off by using a TTF "vector artwork pack". Than an SVG "vector artwork pack". Going to search a bit more on the internet. Then probably download a wingDings font and check it's file size before I make a final decision. But right now I am heavily leaning towards TTF because many of the complaints against using TTF icons are specific to web development. When using my custom architecture, these things are irrelevant. -John Mark

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Bunnies

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qbitgames/holobunnies-hologram-bunnies-space-adventures?ref=video This looks pretty cool.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

SpaceBenderMap

After a week of work and thousands of lines of code...

.

.

In Game: (Atomic Alice)

.

.

In Game: (Haven't decided the name of this game)

.

.

Same un-named game background: 1 background, rendered in Morning,Sunset, and Night modes:

.

.

My inspiration?

.

The game called "Spacebenders" on www.NewGrounds.com

.

Play SpaceBenders here: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/649245

.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Awesome Blend Modes Lizard:

This person has created some awesome blend mode extensions for actionscript! http://lostinactionscript.com/2009/05/26/custom-blend-modes-for-flash-10/comment-page-1/#comment-3980 In other news.. Working on background maps for game. Going to call it the "Space Bender" map. Because the game "Space Bender" has inspired me with a way to code the backgrounds. -John Mark

Friday, April 17, 2015

TheWayOfTheBox + Music

Listening to this: Avarice in Audio - Feed The Addiction (Feat. Ascension EX) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-sJPZ7dW5E Also: Making exploding boxes. Problem is happening... Seems that collision detection is DE-ACTIVATED for objects off screen. But those objects gravity vector still applies... Because of the nature of my our game, no objects should be DE-activated off screen. -John Mark

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Destroyer of worlds

Working on a fork of Atomic Alice that will be an action side scroller without 1-hit kills from explosions. Taking some cool assets that were not used in Atomic Alice and using them in this new fork. This new forked version is going to be simplified so that we can get a finished game out the door. Better half a game than a half-assed game. Also, listening to music and watching gangster goats. Accessory, Outrun The Gun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAXJmUqlnUw

Friday, March 6, 2015

Haxe Killed My AS3 Debugger

I use flash develop. Decided to take some time on the side to learn a bit about Haxe. I had set it up before... And with a bit of work. I hackishly got it working. I even got the Android target working. Today I try to debug a flash project I've been working on... Debugger crashed on startup... Try another old project of mine. Debugger still crashes. ///////////////////////// OUTPUT WINDOW ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Running process: C:\DEV\Programs\FD\Tools\fdbuild\fdbuild.exe "C:\DEV\FLASH_V2\FV2_PROJECTS\DEBUG\OWMap_DEBUG\OWMap_DEBUG.as3proj" -ipc 126e1256-5858-4bb7-889a-b86381844b02 -version "4.6.0; 3.1" -compiler "C:\DEV\SDK\flex_sdk_4.6" -library "C:\DEV\Programs\FD\Library" Building OWMap_DEBUG mxmlc -load-config+=obj\OWMap_DEBUGConfig.xml -debug=true -incremental=true -swf-version=10 -o obj\OWMap_DEBUG635612101421160768 Incremental compile of 1 Loading configuration file C:\DEV\SDK\flex_sdk_4.6\frameworks\flex-config.xml Loading configuration file C:\DEV\FLASH_V2\FV2_PROJECTS\DEBUG\OWMap_DEBUG\obj\OWMap_DEBUGConfig.xml Nothing has changed since the last compile. Skip... obj\OWMap_DEBUG635612101421160768 (66634 bytes) (fcsh)Build succeeded Done(0) Debugger startup error. For troubleshooting see: http://www.flashdevelop.org/wikidocs/index.php?title=F.A.Q Error details: System.BadImageFormatException: An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8007000B) at net.sf.jni4net.jni.JNI.Dll.JNI_GetDefaultJavaVMInitArgs(JavaVMInitArgs* args) at net.sf.jni4net.jni.JNI.Init() at net.sf.jni4net.jni.JNI.CreateJavaVM(JavaVM& jvm, JNIEnv& env, Boolean attachIfExists, String[] options) at net.sf.jni4net.Bridge.CreateJVM() at net.sf.jni4net.Bridge.CreateJVM(BridgeSetup setup) at FlashDebugger.DebuggerManager.Start(Boolean alwaysStart) [Capturing traces with FDB] ///////////////////////// OUTPUT WINDOW ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I was originally targeting 10.1 in my settings while using debug player "10.0 r2" I am pretty urked right now. I really like the idea of Haxe. And it's given me less headache than Android Studio since I can debug in flash without having laggy emulation... But now it looks like I might have to re-install flash develop to get debugging working again. I think I am going to try and power through what I was working on and fix it without a debugger... Maybe. -John Mark

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Programming Challenges:

This reddit page has other sites like codeeval where you can do programming challenges. Trying to branch out and learn more: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/2kax45/the_algorithms_required_to_solve_all_problems/ http://codefights.com/ http://coderbyte.com/ http://www.hackerearth.com/ https://www.codeeval.com/ http://www.checkio.org/ http://cyber-dojo.org/ http://www.codechef.com/ https://code.google.com/codejam/contests.html http://www.codewars.com/ https://open.kattis.com/ http://www.codingame.com ttp://acm.timus.ru http://uva.onlinejudge.org/ www.codeabbey.com http://www.topcoder.com/tc /r/dailyprogrammer Hackerrank and leetcode .com http://www.azspcs.net/ http://icfpcontest.org/ http://poj.org/ Codeforces beats em all!

Friday, February 20, 2015

CodeEval.com

Been doing some challenges on CodeEval.com
Also been working on the overworld map editor.

Came here to post my Java template for codeEval challenges:

// Sample code to read in test cases:
import java.io.*;
public class Main 
{
    public static void main (String[] args) throws IOException 
    {
        File file = new File(args[0]);
        BufferedReader buffer = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(file));
        String line;
        while ((line = buffer.readLine()) != null) {
            line = line.trim();
            System.out.println( getResults(line) );
        }
    }//MAIN.
    
    static String getResults(String line)
    {
        
    }
    
}//CLASS

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

FEB21_2014_Feedback


All the feedback from Feb-21st. 2014. yes. 2014. Not 2015. This is from a year ago.
But I think some of it is still valid.



Weirdish Sent Feb 21, 2014

Oh, wow, I'm really .. flattered, I mean it. Sorry I took so long to reply. I hadn't been gaming for the past week or so. And yes, I'd be honoured to beta test someone's game to improvise it as much as possible before launching it out.

WarpZone Sent Feb 21, 2014
To make a broader point, the problem you are experiencing right now is you are tightening up the core gameplay too late in development. As a result, you need to change existing gameplay. This means you need to correct existing levels. Even with the version tagging, as you said, you'd need alternate art to distinguish between button types. (Although, to be honest, the gorgeous dynamic lighting and neon aesthetics you've got going on currently make distinguishing blocks and buttons very difficult-- I've just been ramming buttons and seeing what happens, level by level, then hitting R once I have an understanding of that room's physics.)
Anyway, you needed to find the fun very early on in production. Doing it this late in the game produces extra work for you and your team. Although this particular game and situation might feel highly circumstantial, I assure you, this is a general principle of game design, and occurs in every project. Find the Fun is the very first thing you must do, on every project, whenever possible. Here's why:

Bastendorf Sent Feb 21, 2014
Bug Report
-LevelMap05E Seems to have suffered from that broken thing you were talking about.
-A weird particle effect error on LevelMap02P
-On LevelMap04P jumping into the under side of the 4 blocks that fall, after they come to rest, has an interesting side effect. Actually, on closer inspection, it seems like all falling blocks do the same thing. Confirmed. Though, I don't know if that's intentional, or a bug. It seems to be the same sort of issue as on LevelMap02P.
Music
I love it. Still not something that can be sung along to, and reminds me a lot of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfG09iLCKsM later on in the track (around 1:15), but it's much better than before.
Level Select
It's there, it functions, but it was a little confusing. It was hard to tell the difference between the hards. You have Twitch Hard, Hard Like Hell, and Puzzle Hard. Just a suggestion, but maybe Puzzle Challenge would be better for it.
Brightness
The bright level is a great improvement, although now you might need a mild seizure warning.
Overall
A huge improvement with what little was changed. It's not going to change my mind about the genre, but I am now more than willing to double-5 this game.
I hope it's just a debug feature, because I found out that clicking creates bombs.

PlainJake
Sent Feb 21, 2014

So there's just so very much to cover lets start with the intro paragraph to default!
!.The graffiti font you pick is a pain to read it's just no good. be sure to proofread before you add content I found a typo in the second sentence "though I do not really WAN to code a tutorial".
2.If you don't want to make a tutorial then you should get some pointers from egoraptors video on game design:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8FpigqfcvlM&has_verified=1
I think in this video he hits some major points that your game could be lacking.
3.There's no plot all I can gather is that I'm trying to reach an exit before I get blown up by something. am I trying to rescue someone? am I escaping a research facility? am I a weapon? or a person? what's the catch?
4.Why must the controls be so spaced apart? the movement keys for the character should be WASD if you plan on having mouse controls it's obnoxious trying to reach for the D+CLICK when I'm trying to move the character at the same time.
5.my final gripe for tonight is the character him or her self I can't tell what it is it kinda looks like a zombie ducky. I'm assuming with the inspiration to this game that it's a robot or someone in a super suit but it looks nothing of the sort.
Other than that it is still just a work in progress so I'm curious to see where it goes from here :3 good luck and I'll have more feed back for you later!
Wasn't sure where to post my thoughts sooooooo yeah, sorry ^_^;;

CorpseGrinderClock Sent Feb 21, 2014

It'll be interesting in particular to see how the button behaviors affect gameplay
MentalMaestro Sent Feb 21, 2014
Well hello, this is unexpected. A game over a year in the making? I would be honored to test it! In my experience, Deviantart is home to some of the best talent out there, and I love games that challenge the mind.
As for my feedback: in my opinion, reviews are designed to help the artist/designer improve and learn. Without honest details about what a person liked or disliked, there can be no improvement.

PlainJake Sent Feb 21, 2014
Well hi Amanda,
I'm glad you took my review well I was worried I was being a bit strong but I would like to see your game at its fullest. I'm very interested in the future of 8-bit style gaming and would love to give some feed back on your game.
hope it becomes a hit.
-PlainJake
a.k.a. Jake
RealFaction Sent Feb 21, 2014
love his music, i like his dancy stuff. I'm sure you all will figure out something, he has potential
RealFaction Sent Feb 21, 2014
yeah its unfortunate. Also nice beta, but i prefer the old music over the new, new music isn't as appealing to me imo. Other than that good job guys
At 5 minutes ago, MakeGamesHappen wrote:Ah. Have you seen that video of lady gaga playing piano at a concert before she was a crazy pop star?
I think what happens with a lot of artists is they eventually give up trying to be themselves and realize that if
they want popularity they have to do something intentionally attention grabbing. For attention's sake. Rather than
for art's sake. It is sad. But if you look at a lot of popular music. It is all about selling an image and a life-style.
The music seems to come second.

I would say techno is one of the few genres that music comes first. But even that has your candy-kid raver culture tied to it. But raver culture usually is about putting the music first. But then again, raving spans multiple generations and the old school ones may have different opinions than the new ones.

-MakeGamesHappen
(-John Mark)

Kamica Sent Feb 21, 2014
1. Maybe ask the reviewers what they think in general about it =P. You could for example ask them "Did you think these messages motivated you to prove the game wrong?" My answer to that would be: No =P.
There are games on Newgrounds which do the negative feedback in a very good way, for example the game "Give Up" plays very nicely on this, from memory, it basically tells you that it's okay to give up etc. Which sorta feels like they're telling you "Don't worry, not everybody can be awesome" which makes people want to prove it wrong. Furthermore, saying stuff like "You'll never make this level!" etc. probably work better, rather than having reactionary insults, perhaps have pro-active "demotivations", where the system is basically telling you that you can't do it, and you should give up, rather than punishing you for failing, make the game try to persuade the person to not even try, if you understand what I mean? I believe Portal occasionally did the same as well.
2. Got any suggestions on what to use for the video?
3. Cool.
4. Okay =P.
5. Maybe add a score or time mechanic to it then? I believe why bejeweled and other "mind-numbing" games are fun, are because they do produce a bit of challenge, but everyone can win it, just not everyone can win it as fast, or with as many points =P. I'm not entirely sure though, haven't played many of those games.
And game designers are allowed to sound a bit cynical at times =P. Just don't over do it XD.
On another note, from now on, I'll probably only be able to test the game etc. in weekends, 'cause I'll be busy with my course through the week.
Thanks for reading,
Sander Kleven.

vampiretodd Sent Feb 21, 2014
Yes, yes they do. Well maybe not everyone.........Still, their music is awesome! Their newer albums however aren't as good though. \M/
At 1 day ago, MakeGamesHappen wrote:Everyone listens to Metallica. :P
-MakeGamesHappen
(-John Mark)

At 7 hours ago, vampiretodd wrote:I rather take my time......yeah no I'm not going to rely on some sort of satanist ritual just to get really good at something. I'll rely on voodo :P

XD jk by any chance do you listen to Metallica?
Coop Sent Feb 21, 2014
I'll look at it tomorrow, I'm just logging off for bed now
Coop Sent Feb 21, 2014
Sure, I'd be up for that - send me some more info and I can get started.
Will

Vert
Errr, I got the password from above, but not the link to where the file is actually located... sorry!

Imp-beast Sent Feb 21, 2014
YAY!
didn't expect Dr. Who there in a gif XD
first impressions, I like the fact you can plunge in.
It's very intuitive when it comes to moving around, doesn't hold your hand nor does it need to.
I played about 3 levels to get a feel for it, level 10 which led me to another level where a 90* brick falls tetris style
and I had to find the exit, then I figured out I could click the "D" button and the lil flare destroyed the boxes ( had killed myself in that regard before ) but thiis made things easier to clear the skull bricks and go on to the EXIT!
also I like teh fact it didnt lag, it loaded up fast, movement was smooth, no problem timing my jumps ( and I suck at platformers but being the masochist I am I play anyway)
I dunno if you guys have seen the live action japanese movie called GANTZ where players are cynically insulted
as they win or fail. I dig that! even if I died like 67 times in the three levels, it made me want to continue playing.
I like the retro graphics and particle effects too. if you worry about instructions here is my foreseeable predictions!
judging your basic newgrounder the main complainst would be something like this
"insert some random complaint about no info available cuz I like to have things digested for me" and
( sorry went off tangent but I see these a lot!) encourage the sense of gamesploring!
Sidenotes:
I also think youtuber Markiplier should take a look at this game, he has asked indie game developers to send him games to test or try out, and he is very likely ( if he likes it enough, or has an open schedule he might do a review which = more players more bonus fun for you guys, for love of the game or for profit etc it's always good imho butting in)
final impressions
graphics: i dig retro
replayability: 3.5 stars
OF COURSE! I don't let an AI talk to me that way and get away with it!
though I might veer off to another game hen return to it
music? in due time I am listening to the one in *cosmic clicks which blended with this game
game play:
arrows to move "d" to activate the explody powers "r"to restart very intuitive.
unlike the game I played by Luis about Pico where the jump button is the "S" and its next to the fire button,
it was coded for left handed people, I always like it when they let you choose the WASD or Arrow keys options
in this game I am pleased cuz I like arrow keys ( no danger of hitting shift etc )
I dig the game mechanics, plus i like the u fail messages.
I only found one bug! I didnt want to hit "R" because I wanted to send you the screen cap
http://prntscr.com/2up0ki
after I cleared the nasty skull bricks I fell but I didnt get the , you lose message here
I just sat there at the bottom ( intentional? yes no? ) I cant progress, so maybe you count that as a death so
I can start?
misc info:
Browser used: Chrome
screencap application from the chrome extensions
other tabs open are running playdom avengers game and 3 NG tabs of games and this
so let me knwo if ths info was useful

Imp-beast Sent Feb 21, 2014
sure send me the link and I will gladly play it!
I loved that game :D
hope I'm not l;ate I mean it be nice to beta stuff round here after so much time playing!
PVL Sent Feb 21, 2014
LOL Its Joe Estevez playing Rocket Ranger Dan Danger from the film (if i'm not mistaken) "Crimes of the Chupacabra" XD
thanks for the new info, is there anything specific you would like me to cover? or should I just run though the game? test all the triggers? i've tested simplistic games and troll stuff, I really want to do a proper job for you guys ^_^ so tell me what else needs to get done and i'll do it :D
sincerely, PVL
SpaceDazee Sent Feb 21, 2014
Hey there MakeGamesHappen (Amanda)
I was surprised to get this message, I've never been offered beta testing like this before x3
I would love to do beta testing for your game.
I know how important constructive feedback is to shaping an enjoyable game.
So, PM away, I look forward to playing.
If I have any other questions, I'll be sure to let you know.
-SpaceDazee

Siamorain
Countchunko Sent Feb 21, 2014http://youtu.be/4_uNii6Jnh4
Here's the link to the video, sorry if that took a little but i had no screen capture device and i'm kinda suspicious when downloading unknown softwares nowdays..
I'll take another quick look at the levels to see if there's more to be revealed, then i'll post them on the news section as you requested. I'd skip the deviant art thing though if that doesn't change much to you, i'm a stubborn NG'er and don't like that much to register or sign up on the web if that's not mandatory, hope that's not a problem.
Signing out, Marco.
You are very welcome. It is why I was brought on board.
Anyways, yes, your thoughts on color theory and all are exactly what is taught in many advanced art classes. The primary pigment colors are Red Yellow and Blue, but Green takes the place of Yellow in the light spectrum. and in either case, Green is the singular Neutral color, neither warm or cool. Magenta borders on Neutral as well, but the neutral magenta is like, maybe 1-3 degrees on the hue scale. Maybe.
Side note that might not do with anything, printers use the secondary colors of the light spectra, Cyan(B+G), Magenta(B+R), Yellow(R+G) and Black. Due to the way light works, the secondary colors blend back into primary colors, whereas pigments would not. It's wierd, there's a lot of science involved in explaining the process.
As far as drawing the eye to the starting position, you could do a zoom like on death, in reverse, starting in closeup, and then panning back immediately. It's a thought, if other people like the zoom function that's already in play, but just having a circle close in on the player and disappear quickly would be adequate at least as a placeholder until a better concept comes along. Just an idea, and I'm wholly not expecting it to be taken into account. It's your game, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
Inquisitorical-Lad Sent Feb 21, 2014
It's at a level where even if you know the timing and what to do, you still need 100% precision or you'll die :) I can do it 1 of 5 times.
Dizimz Sent Feb 21, 2014
I understand, I know first hand that one wrongly positioned curly bracket can cause the game to implode. Ill buckle down and play the hell outta this tonight/tomorrow
Zerodius Sent Feb 21, 2014
It was a pleasure to write this review for you. I will post it on the page as you suggested.
If you wish me to write additional reviews (either because you want me to elaborate on something) or want me to review future versions, be sure to tell me.
One final criticism, still: as I stated in my review, the idea of putting in bombs with the mouse is actually quite interesting. If you intend to remove it from the final game, I still recommend you keep that mechanic in mind for a future game.
Siamorain Sent Feb 21, 2014

Thanks for clarifying the controls, i didn't even think that the debug controls wouldn't appear in the final version so i took for granted those flareboxes, and without them the levels become actually challenging, as it should rightfully be.
I do agree with you about the default levels being a sort of tutorial, and the signs as explanation on what to do are just perfect for everyone, noobs or cocky hardcore gamers alike.
I tried the new levels and they seem to be pretty fine, eventually got stuck here and there but still able to understand what i was missing/ doing wrong in the end (besides levels 10-12 in the twitch hard pack where the guy spawns on the top left tile, and level 13 where i couldn't just climb higher).
I found a couple of small bugs here and there: lvl 3 on Puzzle Hard, the very first jump to get out may have the guy killed by the falling blocks even high in the air, and lvl 17 on Hard like Hell where i jumped and slipped through the falling ceiling, it looks like while the tiles are stepping down they can either be in the same spot as the guy, thus killing him, or be intangible for a brief second letting him move over. I also coulnd't solve the mentioned level (17H), i can't get to the last button before the tile burns it, no matter what i do.
By the way i was thinking, should the flarebox mechanic be left out the actual game, and i wouldn't complain about it, it could easily work wonders for an eventual sequel/expansion, i found this levels pretty addicting as they are :D
Running out of news so i'll close this here, i'll be still fooling around while waiting the next update hunting for bugs and nasty stuff xD
Cheers, Marco.

Radeshtka Sent Feb 21, 2014
Ah, excellent! I thought it would be today. something made me check. excellent. Providence! now for puzzle mode. mmmmm delicius. i once sovled three or four super tetris puzzles without using all the pieces. this ought to be interesting.
LadyIshtar17 Sent Feb 21, 2014
I'm sorry, I didn't thank you for allowing me to beta test the game. It was very interesting, to say the least.

Inquisitorical-Lad Sent Feb 21, 2014
My contribution to TimeFcuk.(it's not easy)

Sent Feb 21, 2014 Sent Feb 21, 2014
Hey John,
I don't get levelmap04 on Default.
Nothing to break before getting blown up, nowhere to stand to prevent being blown up.
The lighting is still pretty weird around the skull tiles blue on blue is fair if there's one on top, but when there's 6 on top they're impossible to see.
-Kenneth

supabamman Sent Feb 21, 2014
I would be more than happy to beta test your game. I cant believe somebody actually read my review. My name is Ben and I sent a friend request to your account. Just give me a shout when you would like me to start the beta testin'. I hope to hear from you again.
Dizimz Sent Feb 21, 2014
Ive played a few levels so far, a very interesting game, Ill certainly play a lot more over the weekend and provide more constructive comments around then good work tho!

Karasu6
Cool, I'll try it

Kamica Sent Feb 21, 2014
Well, since there's a new version, I'll just start adding more feedback shall I? =P.
First off, I personally don't like it when a game is mocking me or insulting me when I fail at something, I find it rude and unprofessional, instead complimentary messages (Messages telling you to keep trying etc. Like Amnesia had).
I'd like to know what the reasoning behind this was =).
Hmm, I believe in level 15, I just ran into the side of the large moving pillar, and clipped to the top of it (I only just hit the side, one block below the top) It was moving down at this point.
The "Default" levels don't seem like they all fit in a tutorial bit, only the first few do.
Insultingly easy was sometimes truly trivial, and I'm wondering why some levels are even there (Sometimes less is more when it comes to levels.), though some levels weren't actually all that easy, some were relatively tricky.
My suggestion would be to cul the trivial levels, I personally don't believe many people will get any enjoyment out of them, and some people might even think they're a waste of time.
Levelmap04P (to me) seems impossible, it seems like it definitely requires skill, not necessarily large brains... or I'm just solving it the wrong way... Quite a few of the levels from that list are largely skill based, and not really that brain intensive I found.
Level 10T starts me in the top-right courner of the screen, stuck.
I'm sorry John, but it does seem that on average, JoshicusLD's levels seem to be of a higher quality to me than yours. I can't quite put my finger on what's the problem, but I think it kind of feels... organised?
So basically: Some bugs, try to be nice and perhaps convince JoshicusLD to to make a few more levels, it'd be better for the game I reckon. Also just to be clear. I'm not trying to hurt you John, I merely, from a proffessional point of view, find JoshicusLD's levels to be better than the ones you designed.
Thanks for reading,
Sander Kleven.

EcchiKitty Sent Feb 21, 2014
Okay, so I played t hrough the game to beta test it out. Naturally, things are still a little rough and in need of polish, but nothing too major. It did take me a little while to clue in what was part of the game to be tested, and what was editing helpers to assist me.
First up, the music was good. Not something I'm likely to buy a CD of, but it suited the gameplay just fine, didn't distract or annoy me. Sound effects similarly suited the game just fine, different effects were distinct while still maintaining a general theme.
Graphics were simple, but suited the gameplay just fine. Were a few things I had to mess with a little as wasn't obvious what they were supposed to be, but that is a bit of the charm. My only real trouble was things blending into the background, most the switch/triggers, and the little skull-box things. I'm sure on occasion the skulls were supposed to be a little hard to spot, but is something to keep in mind.
Game play worked fine. Controls were simple, and typically smooth. The occasional time with a lot happening where things would lag a little, but that was an exception to a general rule. Also had the occasional problem of swift reactions, but likely more my computer than your game. In all the physics engine or whatever is pretty solid.
I won't currently take the time to review each level individually. In general, they were pretty good. A few I could right away spot the solution and run through it, generally I had to try something, see the reaction, which killed me, and then try a second or third time to puzzle my way through. A few I could see the answer, but getting to it quick enough took a couple tries. Generally on a level of challenging, but not frustrating. Were a couple levels where I 'cheated', placing explosives to clear an area out before I got to it, or set off a reaction early, or something. And were a rare few levels I just couldn't manage. Maybe I just didn't 'get' the puzzle, maybe there's a critical error that makes them impossible as is, but I had to fiddle quite a bit to get through them. These were however pretty rare. And were I to play though again, think are some I'd have a better understanding of now.
In all, I enjoyed the game. You seem to have a pretty solid product, and are well on your way to a winner. You also seem to have all the tools in place to make a series out of it. A little graphics editing, make up some new levels, and you have a Beach theme version. Or 4th of July special. Or a Christmas release. Whatever. Might even give players the ability to build and share their own levels.

Kamica Sent Feb 21, 2014
Well, now you have =P. You've only never heard of something up until the point you hear about it, right?
Anyway, if memory serves me right, Hotline Miami seems like a successful game, having high scores from reviewers, I definitely wouldn't put this as the lower bar for what you want to achieve. Reaching for the stars is fine, just don't over do it.
Also, I'm currently studying for my Bachelors of Software Engineering =D. (Focussed on games).
Thanks for reading,
Sander Kleven.


WarpZone  Sent Feb 21, 2014
Is it true that a lot of the levels you already built no longer work because you refactored the core mechanics?
That doesn't seem very smart to me.
If I may propose a design for future versions: Include with the level data what version of the gameplay it was designed for. For example, if the old way buttons worked was Version 2 and this new beta is Version 3, the game reads which Version it is and then makes the buttons work the way they did in that Version.
This is kinda a pain to implement, but once you have the code in place, all of your levels are now future-proof, and you never need to waste development man-hours on refactoring broken levels again!


Countchunko
Sent Feb 21, 2014
Okay, I doubled back and hit up a few levels that were the primary causes of lag.
- With Sound and lights: Hangups that were the cause of death.
- No sound: The game did hang up quite often, but mainly when the game was trying to render the deaths coming from me trying to blow everything up at once.
- No Lights: The game hung up when there were many explosions happening, but the screen was able to keep up and skip some frames, keeping particularly horrendous lag out of the mix.
- With neither, there was absolutely no lag on my end, and the game was liquid smooth.
Your thoughts on progression sound solid, thank you.
Another thought on lighting was that it seemed maybe it was because when the lights were gone, it was absolutely dark evertywhere, and near-black insta-death bombs were hiding amongst a black everything.
Color progression sounds good, but my gut reaction would be to start with cool colors and go towards red, because warm colors lend a natural tension to things. Just my take on it.
I think the zoom is fine, all in all, but the problem was that sometimes when there were about 6-7 explosions happening at once, it was hard to decipher which part of the screen was me. That and the kick to level introduction screen kind of slowed things down enough to kind of underline frustration, especially after the seventh death in that same area.
played the game once while listening to BoneDance. Was a nice fit. Although something a little less "Tribal" might be more appropriate to the setting laid out by the graphical presentation.


Numeris1672 Sent Feb 21, 2014
I'll send a report but not today, I'm VERY busy today with doctors and school.
And I just found the picture once, saved it and just happened to find it. Google search something or you can add art/artwork after it and you might be surprised what you find.