Gulag Optimization

Even though my game has been submitted, I managed to make some tweaks to make the game run more efficiently. I think that the game should have a solid 60fps framerate at this point but I still need to do some more testing.

Gulag Final Build

Gulag is done. I need to work on a different title. So its time to finally part ways with this project. I submitted my last build to Ouya and now I'm going back into development mode.

Gulag updates

I'm running out of steam on Gulag. I've been working on making the game engine so long that I now have writers block when it comes to delivering actual content in the game. I think I'll just finish up adding more levels and build it as finished. There are so much more ideas I have and I now have an engine to work with so I think I will go back to the work bench and whip up something fresh.

Gulag Unfinished Edition 1.3 released

The next update for Gulag has been pushed! I added new levels and enemies along with a new controller type. More news to come

Random thought

Some wonder what kind of programming techniques are used when developing a game by ones self. For me, my technique usually falls between cowboy coding along with the ole "type and pray" technique lol. To be honest I have tried to write clean code as I go on, but a lot of standards fall short especially when you are trying to make a release happen. Usually I try to make an update to my game and afterwards I try to clean it up the best I can in order to build on top. Since I don't really code full time, I try my best to always search for better techniques to code and change it around to make my own.

Trending titles for games that annoy me...

This is just a quick little rant about video game titles. As we jump into the pool of indie games and realize that a ton of these games have similar themes, I cannot help but cringe at some of the more gimmicky titles I have been encountering.

My Indie game is 2D so Pixel needs to be in the title

Why do indie games need to have "PIXEL" in the name. I DON'T CARE!!!! It's like I'm being tricked into buying it just because it has retro 2D graphics.

Insert Generic action word with "Zombie"

"Zombie Defense" "Zombie Panic" "Zombie RPG" "Undead Adventure" This bothers me a lot. I usually see stuff that involves tower defense, rpg zombie hunting game or some other kind of defense game. It's basically an insert the blank kind of title. Give me a break please. Resident Evil was a gripping title for that particular game and even "Biohazard" was unique for the time, imagine if it was called "Zombie Mansion" instead LAME!

Dungeon or Quest or rogue

I am perfectly fine with RPG elements or rogue like elements, but seriously I think that placing these words in the actual title of the game is a bit cliche.

These are just some of the things that bother me in titles today. BY NO MEANS does it mean these games are bad. I just enjoy creative titles, I hope it doesn't discourage anyone from releasing their game, I just hope I'm not the only one who finds this trend annoying.

Progress....

I ran into a small hurdle earlier last week related to the next update. I realized that making the levels bigger and adding more shit kills the ouyas performance lol. I've been using my PC rig as a test device which is something nobody should do! I uploaded my apk to my ouya and it was running at 30FPS. To me thats unacceptable, so I took on the challenge of optimizing it. It now runs at 60FPS and I am currently adding a new test level or two for you guys to play with. I also have changed some of the graphics, the revised graphics are on the top column while the older graphics are on the bottom column. I honestly think I've come a long way lol.

Delays Delays Delays :(

As some of you may already know, I am currently attending grad school and I have a full time job. It's extremely difficult to buy time for this project, so things have kind of been moving at a snails pace. I have added a couple more levels to the unfinished edition and have been tweaking things to make sure that every thing is as fun as possible. I am hoping to have the update pushed for approval by the end of the week, so fingers crossed! A stretch goal of my is to release the demo version of the game to the Kindle fire TV platform. All I have to do is get the controls to work and it should be an easy port. Thanks for being patient with me!

Why MicroConsoles?

I must say I enjoy programming on these micro consoles such as the Kindle fire TV and the Ouya. The most attractive aspect of micro consoles is the fact that they are very low spec consoles. During the early years of the game industry it was almost essential to develop games on as many platforms as possible. These days it seems that computers have advanced so much that even the lowest end of PCs with a basic graphics card can handle most common games. With the advancement of "off the shelf development kits" games are becoming very elementary to create. When you look at the original specs of Doom and even check out the source code, the developer of that game optimized the shit out of it to make sure it ran as fast as possible.

These days it seems like even the laziest development practices will provide decent results. However, this usually doesn't apply to micro consoles (which is the point I'm trying to make). Games are still challenging to make on micro consoles due to limited resources. I find this absolutely fascinating and want to see how I can make my game run as smoothly as possible. What I may do eventually is try to use less of the framework (such as LibGDX) and work on optimizing my own code. I enjoy programming and making things run fast, so this is why I love programming on Micro Consoles!

Just thought I would share

Update 1.3

I'm currently working on the 1.3 update for Gulag.

Right now unofficially I can announce that I've added:
-Mines that can be placed on the battlefield
-Some new AI behaviors
-Final Boss functionality!

Eventually I am going to add a development page that shows more of the technical workings of my engine. Since I am ultimately doing this to find some work in mobile development, I think it would be important to show some code snippets!

More content to come!

Gulag v1.2 Preview

Just showing a brief video of whats in store for the next update.

New Update Coming

Added Sprinting and Knifing in the new update

Also, I added a screen resize feature to compensate for overscan on TV, just one of those things I didn't implement earlier due to time constraints. Other stuff I will talk about later this week... hopefully

Gulag getting surgery

Working on some engine specific stuff. Hopefully I will post new updates related to that. Right now I will come up with a game plan with the Unfinished Edition and the Final Product.

The first image of the main character.

Yeah.... don't really know what to say about this one...

First Concept Build of the game

I honestly thought I lost this video, but this was my first attempt at programming a stable platforming game engine. At the time I was reading into a basic vector math book along with a Libgdx book. I think I'm only getting better at programming game mechanics, but as you can see, you have to start somewhere!

Minor Update

I am working on a small update for my game and so far have implemented most of the features I want in the game, excluding multiplayer. I added some update notes for anyone that is interested in my game.

Graphical Updates:
-Controller Menu text has been changed from red to white (easier to read)
-Animations have been enhanced. 4 frame running and climbing animations

Props
-Added lanterns that fall and explode when shot.

Items
-Throwing Knives, these can be used by the player and are now affected by gravity. The knives can be shot away from the player with a well placed bullet.

AI
-Enemies can no longer shoot you from out of range distances. It seemed a bit unfair that they can shoot from outside of the players view.

Multiplayer to be announced later

Currently, I am trying to make the animation a little more detailed. I'm not so much of a pixel artist, but I'd figure I would share my process of doing a "rig" in 2d Pixel art. Much like 3d rigging, you need to get a basic skeleton of your character. Then you move the limbs around to outline your animation.

from there you draw on top of it...

and finally here is the finished product...

The demo is here!

Check it out!

Just submitted an "early release" version of the game to the ouya team. I just want some people to play it, in order to see if I should continue working on it. If people find it as fun as I do then I may even drop everything and focus all my attention on it. Let's See!

Original Prototype Video

Here is the original prototype video, Hard to believe this was 7 months ago. I took out the idea that the bullets bounce off of everything. There was an issue with the game being to difficult to interpret where the bullet would wind up. There was too much room for error, so I took that out and bullets only bounce off of certain surfaces.

Project Mosin from Duston Allen on Vimeo.

Random Old Sprite Sheet

Here is some old sprite sheet for a game that never happened. I'm not a pixel artist but I thought I'd share anyway. He walks around, blinks and I wanted him to swim also.