Showing posts with label Games Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games Development. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Camera Work

Today, after milling around on Steam wondering what games to add to my wishlist for when I actually have money, I buckled down to some work.

For the most part I was working on Uni stuff, some of which involved building cameras. This is part of our on-going practical work to build a game engine for use in our project.

This doesn't show the camera actually working but I'm sure you get the idea.

I'm still finishing off this part but will have it finished by tomorrow night, then I can play around with a 3rd person camera which we hope to use in our game project.

I'm still trying to find time to write a review for my other blog but feel free to have a look at the ones already there if you haven't already. The last one I put up was on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which safely gets my vote for game of the year.

Time to sleep now!

X-Box: IkasuKiller
PS3: Ikasu-Killer 
Steam: ikasukiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LeighNorton88
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/leighnorton 


Sunday, 12 February 2012

Global Game Jam, PC problems and more!

First post of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How bad am I at updating this?

Anyway, a few note-worthy events have happened in the last month or so. Firstly, a few of us from my uni class decided to take a risk and enter the Global Game Jam with very little game coding skills to help us. Secondly, I have started trying to make some mods for various games in order to increase my skills and lastly, but most importantly, I have gotten my hands on a better computer so I'm back on the PC gaming scene after a large number of years.

The a-MAZE-ing Caterpillar! Our Game Jam project was brilliant fun to make and, although there was a few things we wanted to change, we were all very pleased with the end result, especially as it was our first attempt at making a proper working game.


Screenshot from the 3rd level of our game

Unfortunately we didn't have the time to learn how to code a game within the 48 hour time-limit so we decided to use Gamemaker, a game making program designed for those who don't know how to code or who only know very little. You still have to have a basic understanding of various logic methods but for the most part it is a fairly simple program to use. Next year we hope to improve by writing our own code and making our game without the help of such a program, and I can't wait for the large amount of stress it will bring. For those who missed it here's the link again: http://globalgamejam.org/2012/maze-ing-caterpillar. Just scroll to the download part, download, un-zip and play.

I also mentioned i had started modding some games, by this i mean i have started learning the basics of Minecraft modding and, now that i have a better computer, i am looking for more games that i can add my own ideas to.


A very simple block mod in Minecraft

In regards to Minecraft, i have gotten my head round the block images and creation, as shown above, and i am getting used to the crafting system (The block above was made by making a 4-square of dirt blocks). Unfortunately it has been a few weeks since i last touched on modding but i hope to make some time for it soon, especially since now I have......


A NEW PC!!!!!! (sort of). My little brother (who at one time had more money than sense) has lent me his PC, which although a few years old can still run new games with minimal effort. Thanks to this I have a much better work station for uni work and any modding I decide to do. Previously when building a very small Space Invaders game as part of a university practical exercise, my PC took just over 5 minutes to build and run the game (my laptop takes at least double this despite being only a year old). Now, I can barely blink before the game is up and running.

Main Hard Drive failed on my old PC

Another upside to having a much better PC is that I can finally play PC games again so I am now playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, which i can highly recommend, and Civilizations V, which has already sucked 8 hours out of me despite only being installed yesterday. So if you're on Steam I can now officially say that you can add me (ikasukiller) and recommend any and all PC games that are worth playing.

I WILL update this tomorrow again, i promise this time. So stay tuned for more and remember to add me on whichever social network you like, you can never have too many friends.

X-Box: IkasuKiller
PS3: Ikasu-Killer 
Steam - ikasukiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LeighNorton88
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/leighnorton 



Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Weekly (Maybe)

This blog is quickly becoming the Weekly (Maybe) and I have no one to blame but myself.......and 9gag.

BUT on the upside I have a lot of free time now that the semester is all but finished and I will be trialling the Blogger app to see if that helps me update this more often.

In the meantime I'll be starting to design my own website to go alongside MercuryForty4's site, you know so I look a bit more professional but it more than likely won't go live for some time. On top of that I have started getting to grips with Unity, a game development tool, although this will mainly be used for prototypes as I've been told, quite rightly so, that developing games directly from the code allows for much more freedom and greater control over the final product. That being said, it is a useful tool for using during development challenges such as the Global Game Jam as it allows for quick development of ideas. So I've been told, as I said I'm still getting to grips with it.

In other, more personal, news, my room is a state once again and I intend to restore it to its former glory again tomorrow and keep it that way....for a few days. After that's done and I've done some revision AND I do some work on personal projects I can start getting into Skyrim again and Saints Row as well. Might even  get a review on one of them for you after I get the Zelda one out the way as well as a few that I've had planned but never got round to.


Okay, how many things can you find to insult me in this picture?

Here I had a short review of Resistance: Fall of Man but it became slightly longer than I thought (I was expecting a few lines but ended up with a decent paragraph) so I've moved it over to A Game Developer Reviews: but don't worry, I'll have a bigger review for you to chew on later on.

You stay classy, Internet.


X-Box: IkasuKiller
PS3: Ikasu-Killer 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LeighNorton88
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/leighnorton