Dev - Update 3

So, let's begin with what has gotten done in the last week and a half.

• Completed Start-Menu HUD
• Shop-Menu HUD
• Weather system (either dynamic or static)
• Choices in the Message System
• Animated levels (Animated background, foregrounds, water, grass, etc)
• Animated anything really...(ART Stuff)
• Variable Wall Scaling (where the type of terrain affects if/how you can grab onto it)
• More or less Enemy AI is incomplete (stupid) <-- saving this for last
• A system to control what dialogue/items are assigned to specific objects (Proving to be difficult)
• And the most important facet... De-generative gameplay focus (will be completed when all enemy AI is done...TONS of balancing will be required. ugh)
• [NEW] Cutscene control engine D:

Yep. I've been doing tons and tons of work since I last updated. :| In all seriousness, Siifour Studios has been working pretty hard for the last couple of days. To attest for this, I will be linking to several things this week. In other news, I'm done with just about everything that needs to be done, except the stuff on that list, which, besides the newly added cutscene engine, aren't very important at this time.

Over the weekend, Nekomage (my composer and co-artist) and I have been doing a lot of art. CAS's art is going to be updated really soon now that the base engine has been laid out. It's been a productive two days and here are some pictures to prove it :D

This one is by Nekomage

This one is by me

There are two more currently at my deviantArt ( http://siifour.deviantart.com/ ) and about 20 more to come. I hope to get around 3 to 4 done every day or so after exams end. There's a lot more artistic stuff going on in the background, but you'll soon see the real update with the in-game graphics--which are beautiful. Sadly, I want to keep them on the down low for a few more weeks while we get everything done and looking nice. A possible teaser video is in the works.

Oh, and also--

Lily's body has been updated. :D 

An extremely loose and "revealing" teaser of the new graphics...if you can see her. She doesn't show up well against the old backgrounds. Anyway! Besides this stuff, not much has gone on. So, expect greatness. Ryan Huggins~

Time Spent --> Creative 12+ hours (Also, the time spent marker will be returning now)

Dev - Update 2.1

Enjoy this quick video teaser of Project CAS. :D

It's me depicting how basic non-combat works. :D Combat will be the next video. Haha.

It should now be noted that this video is essentially completely outdated. The mechanics do still work in a similar manner, but the graphics have been redone and gameplay refined somewhat.

Dev - Update 2

Current status of the message system.

Alright then, welcome to the closest thing to a major development update I can include here for the next few weeks or so. That picture at the heading is what I've got of the message system so far. The message boxes can be scaled up or down to accommodate the particular type of text being displayed (with important text (not correctly dictated in the above picture) being displayed in larger boxes. What is left to be done is incorporate a system where choices can actually be made, because right now, it can only display relatively static information.

Other than this, something very important has been added into the game; a new method of creative combat that may or may not take the place of traditional combat. A simple overview of this system is that Lily, the player character has control over what is now will be 4 deployable items (currently 3 of these are mostly coded, but not animated). These items all are deployed in an identical matter but have 4 specific effects on the enemy and the environment. In using these items in specific ways and combinations, the player can do things like slightly manipulate the environment or push enemies right off the map into oblivion. There will be several methods of utilizing these items, and in conjunction with the regular base weapon (4 different weapons that act similarly), there are many possibilities for avoiding or completely annihilating enemies.

What hasn't been done yet is located in the following list.

• Completed Start-Menu HUD
• Shop-Menu HUD
• Weather system (either dynamic or static)
• Choices in the Message System
• Animated levels (Animated background, foregrounds, water, grass, etc)
• Animated anything really...(ART Stuff)
• Variable Wall Scaling (where the type of terrain affects if/how you can grab onto it)
• More or less Enemy AI is incomplete (stupid) <-- saving this for last
• A system to control what dialogue/items are assigned to specific objects (Proving to be difficult)
• And the most important facet... De-generative gameplay focus (will be completed when all enemy AI is done...TONS of balancing will be required. ugh) 

What HAS been completed

• Movement/Basic Wall Scaling
• Collision checking
• Fall Damage and Stress Implementation
• Player-based combat (minus 1 weapon and 1 of weapon-type items)
• Cover System/Basic Stealth system
• About half of the Start-Menu HUD
• Title Screen HUD and system
• Portion of the Message System
• Moving platforms
• VERY basic enemy AI (1 of about 20 :P)
• Some other behind the scenes stuff :D

Dev - Update 1

Title Screen (MAP) :D

Alright, so guess what; pre-production is finally over for Project CAS and I am now moving on into that beautiful thing we game developers like to call, production, or the development period. With the entire story outlined, most of the weapons designed, all of the characters developed and the locations...located, I can enter the process of actually creating game content. Finally, right?

A couple of things will be changing due to this. Since production goes a lot slower than pre-production in small development teams (or is that just me?), I will begin updating as frequently as possible, but with no dedicated time schedule. I will continue to update at least once every two weeks to let you guys know that I'm still here and to detail the other projects that I am working on (usually involving Acrophilia). I should also probably state that my rants will probably be ending here as I have less and less time to actually come up with posts to make. The review thing will be starting up again (after failing miserably) and I will try to maintain as many content updates as I possibly can across every project I have. Until then, take a look at Project CAS's HUD (and some other WIP stuff) :D

HUD (Finalized version is in Title Screen)

Message Box - Mock Up (Working on font and size)

SPRING BREAK!!!

Monday; April 18th, 2011


Today is technically the beginning of my Spring Break. I'm not happy about that because it already feels like it's over... Weird. But in that regard, I don't have any updates for today. I hope to release some really nice stuff soon though! Have a great week!

Week 15

Friday; April 11th, 2011


Not much to say this week either; I am working feverishly on Project CAS. I hope to get some promotional stuff developed soon. And expect a reflection paper by next Wednesday!


Project CAS - It feels like I'm getting lazy on the blog, but I'm not; seriously, I'm finally getting into the coding for CAS and it feels fantastic. Actually, as I write this, I'm preparing to code in the stats for all of the enemies in the game. Right now, I haven't coded any of the AI, but damage works and the player can actually attack enemies. They may not react yet, or well, attack back or anything, but it's becoming more of a game now. Anyway, I've decided to dedicate about 2 hours every night to working on CAS because it's about time I kick game development into gear and get some type of content so I can actually call Project CAS a game without talking a whole bunch of BS. Anyway, it shouldn't be long now before I can get a technical video out showing off some of the gameplay. :D


Acrophilia - Nothing here. Faction filming begins next week. New members. Etc. Same old, same old. :\


Project Duo - Hohoho! A new project has arisen? Nah, this is a web comic project that has finally come to fruition and will go into some major development over the next couple of months. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be dedicated to Project Duo and I'll try to make a post about development every single type I get something done. Soon enough, the comic will be released and, you know, you'll get to see and I won't have to talk! 


ANYWAY, expect greatness. Ryan Huggins~

Week 14

Monday; April 4th, 2011


So today will be a ridiculously short post since I don't have anything to say at this very moment. I did however, just do all of my homework for the week so I can have more free time to work on CAS. :D 


Project CAS - Currently, I'm working on designing all of the enemies and working out their base stats and battle patterns. I've come up with about 30 possible enemies, though that number will probably go up by about 7 or decrease by about 5 by the end of things. I've also come up with a checklist and finished about 2 of the 40 or so things that needs to be done before a playable version of the engine is finished. I also have found a few people who will be alpha testing the game, so expect a mostly bug free experience when the game ends up being released. Anyway, it's my birthday on Wednesday, so maybe expect some sort of birthday themed update. :)


Acrophilia - Not much new on this front. We got a new member. He seems promising and he's fitting in VERY nicely. Additionally, I attacked one of our members for being an ass to another member. It's all good though, I believe everything is forgiven. 


The cool thing is Faction is going into production soon. So within the next month or so expect Acrophilia's first short film guys!!! Anyways, expect greatness. Ryan Huggins~