Blog for Scott Holtsberry at GarageGames.com

Welcome to blog two! (with screenies!!!)

Scott Holtsberry — 2008-05-07T07:51:07+00:00

In the beginning...

So I finally got a hold of TGB and the fun has begun!

So far I wouldn't say I've gotten much done thats concretely for any specific project. Though the more I explore and learn the harder its becoming to NOT go off on project tangents. It reminds me of the different ways things can be done with no one right way being the "correct" way. For example, overall I find I want to explore the underlying organization of the class hierarchies and how they relate with a hope and belief that when I understand that then I'll be in a better position to know how to execute any ideas I have. However, while just straight out examination of the list and noting what is related to what has served to familiarize me with some of the mechanics presented in examples, it requires a significant amount of focus and attention to correlate and memorize the huge amount of commands and names in the hopes that something will spark with familiarity. With the real problem being I have no fundamental frame of reference to base all those references on. The intellectual in me keeps gravitating to this path of learning, while the other path that tends to contrast the previous method is of course whats suggested by many, which is to just go through the tutorials and become familiar with them. Obviously in the end its a matter of bouncing back and forth between using the tutorials to gain an initial frame of reference which I can then go back to the references and start making sense of them. This is why its so important for some that there are a ton of tutorials to begin with so they can get that initial frame of reference. The other though I have is maybe a little more discouraging which is that I still don't know squat and I won't know squat till I can get my hands on how examples of specific game mechanics I desire to explore and hopefully improve are actually executed. For me I keep hoping I can somehow reverse engineer game mechanics but the more I try to get specific I realize it just doesn't work that way. What that does give me though, is it does allow me to know what I'm looking for when I start exploring how things are done so I never see it as a completely foolhardy method to go by. The actual progress is far more chaotic then the implied structure of all this describes but I understand thats how it usually is when anything new and unfamiliar is engaged. The long road of familiarity and understanding usually is spent bouncing around in confusion (and frustration unfortunately) while hopefully moving in a forwardly direction. As long as I remember that then I'm at peace and not in pieces.

I guess what I really wanted to say from all that long windedness is #$%@ this is as slow as I thought it was going to be. Its OK though, I knew it would be and I have learned quite a bit in the process which I AM really happy about. So I'll chat a bit about those things as it allows me to post a few screenies of what I have been about, cause we all know that bloggies with screenies does pleeasies.

...There were Jaggies...

So as my first something to do I really wanted to play around with bringing in images and get familiar with that process so I created a few spaceship images from designs I had around for a while and started to figure out how to best present those and see if I would be happy with the quality.

At first there was the inevitable issue with jaggies and how to manage those. So as the image above illustrates, my first ship attempt on the left had the common scourge of pixel art. Though they could be interpreted as a symptom of the SMOOTH filter mode setting I knew better and drew my ship in a larger 124x124 format then the 60x60 pix of the original and then reduced it down in TGB which worked very well as shown with the ship on the right.

Another thing I tried at first was mounting the camera to the player and having a few more ship graphics without the SMOOTH filter mode since I originally though it was the SMOOTH that was the cause but without that setting the ships jiggled ( I'm assuming because of the raw pixels being shown) while moving around with the camera and so I knew GG wouldn't make a filter mode that couldn't be used yet had to be at the same time. Which lead me to what I suspected already from previous experience which was tightening up the method for creating the graphics before bringing them into TGB. Overall it was a nice warm up excersize to start out with and got me thinking pipeline methodology.

...and Behaviors...

Another thing I got into was playing around with the behaviors and how to assign them.

Which didn't take long at all. Here I have my nice little group of targets floating around randomly while always facing the players.

And then they were fruitful and multiplied...

all with the power of behaviors.

It really was eye opening to see how quickly and easy it was to change object behaviors using behaviors. In fact I'm still trying to find the catch cause its just WAY too easy!!!

...and TorqueScript...

Soon after I played around with the behaviors, I started to open them up and stare at all the blasphemous lettering that constituted some kind of willynilly structure which somehow a computer understood but my mighty intellect rejected as rocket science. Being, of course, a mighty intellectual I was soon bantering around terms like hypername taggidaggles, metafunctional optidynamic fields, cosmilogical influx arrays, ping-pong mallocical class instant refractions. Which of course meant absolutely nothing to torquescript at all. Sooo after that I started to print out and read some of the ACTUAL operators, constants, and other stuff that would work and try to learn how they where being used.

So after a few days ( and a headache or two from straining my brain) of staring at different behavior scripts and a looking up names and their references, I became familiar enough to follow along and get a basic feel for where things where being done and what to expect where. It actually took less time then I expected considering how often I tend to think of it as being some kind of ancient cryptic voodoo that will require years of research to even gleam any basic ray of knowledge from.

...and Ewiee Goowiees...

So from there I wanted to understand how the GUI system worked and how to relate that to what I was learning.

Now, I consider myself...OK never mind I'll stop calling attention to my obvious intellectual prowess...like...I just...um, did...but anyway of course I get a tad frustrated when I can't figure something out right away and react in a perfectly natural and healthy manner. Which is of course to curse, scream and beat anything within my arms reach while cursing everything having to do with whatever trivial piece of information my mind has failed to discern withing a three point two nanosecond time period.

And by the way just for general knowledge, when your in the GUI Builder in TGB 1.7.2 you need to use the Toggle Palette button to open the palette that you then can drag items from to the currently open window. Its amazing how a single piece of information can turn all the tutorials for GUI creation into an amazing wealth of factual bliss rather then a throbbing mass of universal hatred of all things GUI. Just...you know...FYI. Tee hee!

Once that bit of information was understood though I was able to play around with GUIs more to my liking and also able to practice my scripting as well!

...and um...stuff...and things...yea...

I did try messing with particles with mixed results, I was having problems with it being corrupted in some manner which I learned on the forum was a known potential problem that GG was frustrated with because they couldn't reproduce the bug. Given how touchie creating particles can be it was hard to understand if it was an actual bug or just a misplaced number in a table somewhere. Needless to say I decided to hold off on particles for a while yet since they appear to be rather deep in their implementation. I also think its best to use a separate scene to create and edit them so as not to possibly mess with a level thats being worked on. They shall be conquered eventually though!!!

Overall I would say that the one thing that I keep running into the most is my own prejudgments of how I think something is going to work and then how much easier it can actually be in practice. So along the way I'm learning to try and think more simple when attacking a problem. That isn't to say I expect everything to be like that, I expect many of my ideas to require some creative and intensive use of the language to get going. Given enough practice and familiarity and knowledge of how things are done and whats available I expect I'll be able to slowly bring into focus the larger fuzzy picture.

I'm still working toward some kind of shooter to start with though I'm a little dismayed at how many are out there but I remind myself that its just a starting point and not to expect everything at once and how even if someone does something similar what I'm doing will still reflect my own vision which still should make it worth while. From there I'm thinking some kind of RPGish space shooter hybrid would go next. Those two ideas could be stretched out for a long while before moving to 3D.Which is good since I still have much to learn and build upon.

Hello World (I swore I would never use that term)

Scott Holtsberry — 2008-03-26T06:51:13+00:00

Hello World, Indeed!

Greetings to the community here and hello to the rest of the world. I hope this entry will be the beginning of many more as I realized not too long ago I need somewhere to socialize my inner thoughts and ambitions as it relates to game creation. I've just gotta start reaching out and sharing my passions as it relates to computer games. Not withstanding what I don't know my hope is to turn this place into a space I can talk about the issues as I see them. I'm not even sure if I need a response, I just need somewhere to talk about development things as they come up.

I Have A Dream!

To put it bluntly, I am THE independent developer. No money, no dream team, no product, no company. I'm as square one as it gets. A few months ago I started to look into what is available for low to no budget development and was shocked at what I found. I couldn't contain my excitement at the potential and so thus started to document ideas and insights I've been harboring through all my experience playing games. Even without gobs of money for running a business I can't help but wonder how even a moderate income couldn't be achieved with the right skills and contacts. I know, I know. The warning lights are going off in my head too.

I Is Learnded!!!

As some background, I might not be as 'square one' as I dramatically declared, I have some experience creating presentations in Macromedia's Director and Authorware back in the early to mid 90s, so I understand how to manipulate files and content to present in a meaningful way. I do have some graphic design training and I'm artistically inclined which fuels much of the passion inside. I also have some training in 3d graphics and the kind of mind it takes to think in 3d. With that said, I'm not nearly perfect in those things nor am I up to date with all the new stuff available. So theres still a lot I want to learn going into this and I'm excited about the possibilities.

How It REALLY Started!

Ok. Here goes. See, I'm an avid space game fan inside. It really started with Wing commander in 1990 (yea that just dated me) and I've played most of them all, since. The last few years I've been trying out the space games and have been disappointed at the experience they've offered. My disappointment is far more dynamic then that sentence describes but to keep it short thats the crux of it (maybe in a different blog). So I finally realized that there wasn't really ANY game that was going to provide what I was looking for and my passion for art was hungering for expression. There are times in life when the only time change REALLY occurs is because of the frustration and suffering that is being experience. It finally has come to that point for me, enough hoping for others to do what only I know how to do.

That isn't to say my way is the right way, I just have my own idea of how the universe should be. Experience tells me that what I think is going to change...a LOT...cause from what I've learned, walking the walk and talking the talk are two COMPLETELY different things. And maybe thats why those games that disappoint are the way they are, maybe there are limitations I just can't see as the player.

Anyway, thats the start, the impetus for this grand vista of wonderment known as game development.

#$%@ This Is HARD!!!!

Ok now for reality. I like to think that I'm a smart person. I think the reality is I'm a paranoid person. See, I try and read and research a lot before doing something for the first time. In my infinite mass of a brain I have it that somewhere sometime someone has done everything I'm thinking of doing so all I need to do is scrawl through the lower depths of forum hell( thank god for the internet now a days) to find those secret juicy hidden jewels of wisdom just waiting to be harvested. The weird thing is, more often then not I've been correct. In some way or another I've managed to always find an answer to what I seek. Unfortunately for my space game aspirations I've come to the conclusion that I dun know squat. See most if not all of the games I'm basing my ideas off of have TEAMS of people working on all the different aspects. Sound, Graphics, Programming, Design, Marketing, Accounting, Daycare, Barhopping, Pension, Union Dues, Moffia Payout...the list is endless!!! Ok those last few might not have been serious. I know that this is nothing new to you and it really wasn't new to me either, its just one of those things you don't REALLY seriously consider until your fully committed to doing something. Then you gain a better understanding of just how much work and energy is alive in this field!

Plan B!

Thank god for plan B, I LOVE plan Bs. The good news is, the passion is real. I'm still going to create space games. Just not right now...or next month...I might have something going in a year...I hope...maybe...I'm not sure. Release date to be announced at a later date! See what I've learned is that if at any time I feel a lot of discomfort when trying to work on an aspiration then more often then not that is telling me I'm trying to do something I'm not really prepared for. Sooo, I'm going to try something you NEVER EVER DO!! I'm going to start small. You know, the things that every tutorial and every developer with any measure of success worships with an in home shrine. You know, the thing that you do to let your brain take in all you learn at the pace it can handle. You know, the things that you completely ignore when you start a crazy idea!

So with that new mantra beeding through my head I've scaled down my aspirations to something 2Dish while I learn about as many aspects of developing a functioning fun game of purse pulsating pleasure. I'm thinking casual games is a pretty smart idea. For now, maybe. At some point I realize I'll need help and will probably need to bring others in to fill that need. Ultimately what I really think is that I need to change the way I think of the whole process I'm engaging in. I think its kinda of silly to have the whole thought process to be centralized on creating A game. What happens when you've finished that game? Game over! Thats not what I'm really looking for. I want to enjoy the process of creation and learning that goes on and interject the games with the imagination and revelations that go along that process...with you know...the chance for some form of monetary reward for effort that will provide for living expenses and future projects.

Theres an incredibly dynamic balance that needs to occur to realize all the parts and I'm at START.

Enter Torque Stage Right!!!

So as you might have gathered by now since I'm posting on this site, I'm planning on starting with Torque as a basis for learning then seeing where it takes me from there. It just makes a lot of sense from my innocently naive point of view. What you don't see is the jumping of logic thats been going on for the last few months. I was thinking Python and then Lua and then C++ and then Torque then Blitz line of products then Darkbasic for a while there. Ultimately what I realized was that I had no clue how to even start to create a game 'engine'. Which is what I would need to do with most of those products. So humbly I had to say I needed something even more basic to start with. Something that I could gain the awareness of what kinda of things you can do with an 'engine'. Thank god I wait a long time before acting. I was dead set on Darkbasic for a couple months but couldn't get the cash for it so had to wait. During that time I kept reading and researching and try to understand what to do and what to expect and finally relied on that discomfort level to decide I needed to look around some more and be honest about other possibilities.

Finally Torque. I knew about it for a while but let others opinions color my thought process since I had no knowledge for myself to base off of. What stuck with me though was the gentle step process each development product provided and the price was reasonable for what you get. You start off slow with 2d and learn the script language, then you can advance to the basic 3d and scripting then advanced 3d. The C++ based scripting language is a plus cause theres just no way to get away from the fact at SOME point I've got to learn C++. I already know it would be too much to jump in and start with C++ first so with Torque I can still create games and gently use its structure to gain a solid base of knowledge to segway into the more advanced stuff and then greater independence in C++. With most the other programming options I would be doing ALL of that myself without the support and even awareness of what can be done. Its the awareness that I'm really trying to learn. What can be done with all of this and how do I do it? I just don't know yet, but its important that I get those ideas in their proper order and with something I can explore them with.

BLAH BLAH BLAH

My god I'm not used to this much talking!!! Cause really, it all means squat at this point on the page. Its all in the past, and I still haven't done anything with it!

5 Days Left!!!

So I've got 5 days left on my Torque Game Builder demo. I thought I would give a brief run through of the experience for me. I might not be thorough though, that was a lot of typing just now as you know since you've gotten this far down!

For the most part my impressions about TGB is fun! Its going to be fun using it and learning what all those nifty commands and functions can do. I didn't have any problems understanding how to embed code though the tree structure is a lot to take in. I expect to learn that with time. My only beef was really that the demo had none of the behaviors available to it so that limited how much I could really get done with the tutorials. Since it was only a demo I thought it made sense since I could still get a feel for how things worked in the program. Its just, you know, annoying that I couldn't create a space shooter off the bat with behaviors. I did manage to hawk some of the code from the forums for the ASDW object moving controls and get that working, even figured out on my own how to get the game to go to fullscreen mode!

Found out that if you try and drag an image from a web page directly to the editor it would create a while line(1 pixel thin) in the right and bottom side of the image, where if I just saved it to file then imported it properly it was fine. Don't know if that was my system or what.

I imported 3 image of a ship at 252 px, 124px and 60px. Then took the 252px and copied it then reduced it to 60px. Copied the 124 px and reduced it to 60px as well. From this I had them move around to see what kind of graphic quality there would be. From that it looked like its best to resize images outside the program then bring them in for best image quality. Just a simple test I did, though from my experience its similar to the kinds of little tricks in other programs I've explored.

I got some code from the forum that attached the camera to the player. That worked fine, from there I began to try and play with the tile layers and begun to ask myself how I would create a parallaxing layer of stars that appeared to move at different speeds when the player moved in any direction. Not sure if its the same thing as scrolling items but looks like it might be related. Or just moving the tile layers at different speeds. I still haven't figured that one out but those are the kinds of things I'm looking toward with the program. I didn't see anything that would indicate it couldn't be done. Saw a lot of reference functions that might do it.

I'm still trying to wrap myself around the relationships of classes and instances and just what that means. I think I'm getting it and from what I understand its pretty fundamental with C++ and torque's OOP way of doing things.

Another thought I had was if you were trying to target a graphics card with a limited size for the casual game market and you were limited to a 128px texture size, would you need to take a fullscreen background and chop it up into 128px size pieces to get it to show right or what. I'm just trying to anticipate how TGB processes images and how to manage that process. Clearly I don't understand how textures work with the hardware yet.

Anyway, those are a sample of things I'm thinking as I've been slowly playing with TGB this past month. I don't have the money to buy it just yet, that will be a few months off I think but I've enjoyed it too much and really its not much when you consider what you get for it. I remember when Macromedia Director couldn't do nearly all it does and still cost $1000 back in the 1990s. Crazy crazy crazy!

START

So with that I think I'll end this little blog. Who knows what the future holds, I'm always weary of typing out thoughts because they change so much and next week they can be in an entirely different place. Thank you though for the place to at least get out some of what I've been thinking about. Hopefully it will translate into something productive and fun for the future. Enjoy and remember! I'm that silent stalker in the background readying your posts!!! :)