Worklog for matt!

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Wire Hang(Posted 2004-06-22)
Wire Hang Redux is a BlitzPlus version of a great little Java game called Wire Hang!

You have to use a hook, Bionic Commando-style, to jump from platform to platform. Falling off-screen means game over. I became addicted and wished for certain elements to be added to the game.

Unforunately the Japanese author who wrote the game in 2001 did not respond to my emails, so I decided to rewrite it myself in Blitz. All in all it took about a day over last weekend - tweaking the control mechanic/feel took the longest time!

I'll be adding some nice extra elements to the game in the coming weeks.

Download and discuss here:
www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=35374



Hang time(Posted 2004-06-21)
I was recently told about a great little Java game called Wire Hang! You have to use a hook, Bionic Commando-style, to jump from platform to platform. Falling off-screen means game over. I became addicted and wished for certain elements to be added to the game.

Unforunately the Japanese author who wrote the game in 2001 did not respond to my emails, so I decided to rewrite it myself in Blitz. All in all it took about a day over last weekend - tweaking the control mechanic/feel took the longest time!

I'll be adding some nice extra elements to the game in the coming weeks.



Quartz - my QIX clone(Posted 2003-07-29)
I'm currently prototyping code in Blitz on the PC for my clone of the classic action puzzler QIX. This will be for GP32 and PC.





I'm not dead(Posted 2002-12-23)
recently done Terra Firma (see sig) and now working on a small, tile-based puzzle game. First in Blitz then in Java for my mobile phone.



Simple Soccer - checkpoint(Posted 2002-05-12)
Redoing ball physics.

Far too excited about Platypus.



Simple Soccer - phoenix from the flames(Posted 2002-04-29)
I'm not sure whether it's the pending World Cup/surge in my interest/more coding time/new home/steady life - I've picked up Simple Soccer again.

I've implemented SWOS tactics, so we have a team running round the field into position depening on where the ball is... very nice. I'll be adding this to my game this week, perhaps redoing ball physics whilst I'm at it.

Unfortunately, this means my Kayak Racer is on temporary hold!

see it here (290KB):
http://www.ewtoo.org/~matt/soccer/

:)



Yaking (Kayak Racer) update(Posted 2002-04-10)
Added a new water map, simple gates and changed the turning controls so it requires you to repeatedly press the turn key rather than hold it down.

Some issues with the gates remain, but I thought I'd post this as I'm moving house this weekend, so am going to be disrupted for a week or so.

Yaking is on BlitzCoder Showcase.

Feedback appreciated - as always!



Water sports game(Posted 2002-04-02)
I've been slowly hacking away at the control and feel of my new game.

I've been experimenting with screen size and animation and fine tuning the feel, so expect a tech demo soon!



ROY - a block puzzle game (13 mar 2002 update)(Posted 2002-03-13)
there is a new installer targetting several bug fixes I've made over the past few days.

13 Mar - stage score now displays time and level, time stops while game is paused.
11 Mar - fixed problem with 'quick' sound, problem with game speed, in-game music no longer plays through to main menu. cosmetic chage to hi-score entry system on multiple uses.

Download from the coder showcase or the link below.

As always: feedback appreciated.

Thanks!



ROY bugs(Posted 2002-03-12)
Due to some great feedback from Layden, and some not so great feedback from somebody else, I have fixed a few bugs in ROY. Beta available on my site, new setup to follow soon.



NEW project(Posted 2002-03-07)
Another flash of inspiration, another idea for a game. It's a lot different than my last game ROY (a block puzzle game) but I'm not saying too much. I've got a small test bed up and running and I am pretty sure it's possible. I'm just working out the finer points of the physics behind it.

So, keep your eye out for some screen shots and a demo later this month. Oh and it's a type of water sports game.

No. Not that type you dirty bird!



ROY - a block puzzle game (final?)(Posted 2002-03-07)
OK!

I've been banging my head against a wall with TCP Network programming, so I'm going to come back to the 2P versus/network mode for ROY at a later date. Goodness knows when. I (sort of) give up!

Until then I've made few last tweaks to ROY, including changing the block colours. As always feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!

Grab the download at this page or at the BlitzCoder showcase:
http://www.ewtoo.org/~matt/roy/



ROY - tweaks but still no net play (ARGH!)(Posted 2002-03-04)
Network programming is the bane of my life!

So, until my brain develops the understanding of TCP, and I'm not talking about the medical liquid, here's my attempt at tweaking the gameplay.

Stage mode now finishes after level 15. maybe this is still too easy, though? I've added combo socring - still I'd really like times to be displayed on the STAGE scoreboard. I've added some sounds and in-game music, and tweaked lots of little things. Feedback appreciated!



ROY - he shoots hi-scores (sorry)(Posted 2002-02-25)
Fancy hi-score entry has been added. This was quite a nice thing to do, even having to get to grips with a form of z-ordering. It's in keeping with my excessive use of Sin() and Cos() too!

This means the only thing to do is add the 2player code and tweak this little baby.



26 Feb - just squished a little bug.



ROY - a block puzzle game (21 Feb update)(Posted 2002-02-21)
I've finally added high score tables to my game! This was more hard work than I imagined, juggling numbers and strings and having to write "zero padding" functions to convert the likes of "10" to "00010". Now, the menu system is more complicated than the game!

HELP ME: Reports on what scores you get in each mode on your first and best tries would be very handy.

I've also been working on a small app to demonstrate my network code. This works, but uses UDP, though for ROY I could actually make do with TCP. The app posts it's IP to my server if no slots are available, or starts comms if there's one listed free. Blitz makes this really easy - thanks Mark!

Once I'm happy with this code I'll integrate it into the game so we can have two player competitions!



ROY - a block puzzle game (18 Feb 2002 update)(Posted 2002-02-18)
I've been busy but managed to find time for a small update.

added puzzle/stage mode, please try this.
rejigged intro a bit, more to come.
paved way for combo multipliers etc. scoring.

* feedback appreciated.



ROY - a block puzzle game (update)(Posted 2002-02-12)
ROY has had a few small updates over the last week, mainly cosmetic changes and paving the way for the different game modes. Hopefully this week will see the introduction of Puzzle mode and finalising of the timing of the various gameplay elements.

I also found a nice JavaScript tutorial on matching block shapes in a strange block puzzle game, which I think would lend itself well to my game. That's the only part I've been unhappy with, so we'll see if I can squeeze anything out of that code.



Current project: a puzzle game(Posted 2002-02-05)
Hello all!

I've been working on a little (you'll see why later) puzzle game to get back into the Blitz scene. Life turned a bit hairy this time last year and I lost all momentum to do anything, so my two projects: Simple Soccer and Bendertron were put on hold.

So, last month I had a weird dream about a puzzle game. Work was, and still isn't, too busy so I wrote down all my thoughts in a notebook for the next two weeks or so.

At this point I knocked up a quick, text mode(!) engine to test the concept and prove it's worth to myself. To be honest though, I wasn't convinced, until I dropped in some coloured graphics. Further to this, when I had the dream it was on a Gameboy Advance, so I mocked up the graphics at that resolution! It's all turning out somewhat SNES-ish, which makes me very happy indeed.

So, where are we now? Well, the game is in there, as are the majority of the graphics and some suitably small sounds. Gameplay and control tweaking carries on, my sound grasp of logic seems to have taken a temporary vacation.

I'd really like to only show a demo when it's got more refined gameplay and a couple of extra play modes. So there's no BlitzCoder showcase entry until then! The amount of support my little Soccer game got was, to be honest, overwhelming so I don't want to go there again just yet.

What remains to be done, long term? Well, Internet VS. mode, a comparatively *large* animated intro that I also dreamt up - to a song I've been listening a lot to lately... And to get this baby published on the GBA!

Sorry, I think that was another dream kicking in.

bye for now.