Blog for Andrew Nicholson at GarageGames.com

Long time, no blog

Andrew Nicholson — 2007-02-26T13:58:09+00:00

Ok so Ill start of with the usual, haven't blogged here in ages gag, it's the truth, its been over 12 months, and what have I achieved in that time? Not a lot really.

In the last blog I talked about setting up my own company making educational software, I was also receiving advice from the local business centre until I told them I didnt have a product to sell, and that's where the help stopped abruptly. They told me to come back when I had a product, which is fair enough, I can respect that.

As for educational software, I started to research it and after a couple of weeks Id gone off the idea totally, it just wasnt for me. Once I had sat down and started to plan it all out, a year from now, two years from now and so on, I quickly realised that it wasnt the direction I wanted to go in.

Ok enough drab, lets get down to games.

Current project is a racing game, based on Rollcage (Pysgnosis), Wipeout Fusion (Sony). I have a single page design doc, which gives me the most basic of information, obviously this will grow and evolve as the project does. At present Im working through a list of objectives and jotting down ideas for how I might approach each scenario, kind of a planning stage.

Eg: Terrain - How do I create flowing Tracks? Do I use Torque terrain or a Static mesh?

Then Ill try and go through the pros and cons of each one, as in what amount of work is needed to achieve the desired result. Ill post more on the decisions made and why when Ive made them, early days yet.
Whilst working through these lists Ive been looking at the wheeled vehicle code, to try and get a better understanding of how Im going to handle the vehicle physics. Ive had to print it all out and sit down, get the maths books out and try and work out whats going on, Its been ages since Ive done any maths.
Ive got a basic vehicle system written down that I want to implement, Im just comparing it to whats already there and improving what I have at present, then once Im happy its going to do what I want then Ill code it up and test it. That's it for now, although I have some other things in the pipeline that Ill talk about at a later date.

Im going to try and keep this blog up to date from now on, with a monthly update of progress. So until next time (obligatory image).

Modelled using Blender, oh yeah I forgot, as I modelled this flying vehicle I took notes in order to make a TDN resource/article. When Ive typed them up Ill post it up there.

Tuesday Nov 1 0:33

Andrew Nicholson — 2005-11-01T00:33:41+00:00

Last week I made the decision to go it alone:

Since leaving University I have applied to numerous game companies for graduate programmer jobs, and always got a reply of "we are looking for someone with more experience" or something along those lines which is acceptable I suppose, but darn frustrating. Due to the frustration and lack of money, I was getting desperate, and I started applying for every job in the local newspaper that looked interesting, and guess what, still no job.
My brother works at a local primary school, and mentioned some of the software they were using at the school to teach mathematics, and after looking at some of the on-line demos, I thought hey I can do that, in fact I can do better than that. So I've decided to set up my own company, making educational software for primary schools (short term).

First I got in touch with the local business support unit, and had my first meeting with a business adviser. These meetings will take place every two weeks from now on, which I think is a good idea for me, as it will keep me on my toes (and its free).

So without further ado, a brief run down of the business plan he gave me. It may be of interest to those starting their own company? (uk)

Details Of Principles
Name and address ... etc
Human Resources: List qualifications, transferable skills, work experience ... etc
In the case of Partnerships: How do your skills complement the business and each other?
Details of key personnel (employees): Include job descriptions ...
Which bank, accountant and solicitor will your business use and why?
What will happen to your business if you are ill or injured?

Summary Of Your Business
Describe the main functions of your business: Its local, regional, national and international implications.

Business Legal Issues
What will be the legal status of your business?
(Sole Trader, Partnership, Ltd Co): and why?
If partnership, attach copy of the partnership agreements.
If Ltd Co, attach a copy of memorandum and articles of association.
Business name:
Is your business name currently in use? (include www..)?
Are there any copyright or trademark issues?
What vat registration issues will your business face?
What types of licence will you legally require?
What codes of conduct or practice affects your business?

Health And Safety
What health and safety legislation impacts on your business?
Are there any health and safety measures you need to take? ( if yes, what are they?)
Where was this information obtained?

Environmental Issues
What environmental issues impact on your business?
What environmental measures will you need to take?

Insurance Requirements
What insurances will be legally required for your business?
(public liability, product liability, professional indemnity, employers liability, etc)
What transport insurance is required?
Office, equipment, stock (fire, consequential loss, etc)
Other insurances (key person, export, etc)

Premises Obtained / Required
Business address:
Is this your home address or commercial premises?
What permissions have you obtained to operate from this address? (planning, home insurers, mortgage co, landlord, lease, etc)
What are your premises requirements? (include leasehold, freehold issues, size, location)

Vehicles, Equipment, Tools Owned
List : total value .

Items Required
List: total quotation .

Suppliers
Name main suppliers:
Availability of suppliers:
Delivery / Collection:
Credit / Payment terms:

Your Business: Terms & Conditions of Trading
What are your terms and conditions of trading.
What credit facilities will you offer?
Why are credit facilities necessary?
What implications will giving credit have on your cashflow?

Market Research
Who are your customers? (identify market groups)
Where are your customers? Local and National (How far will you need to travel?)
What are they prepared to pay for your product / service?
Size and state of market (Increasing, Decreasing, Static ?) Provide statistics.
How will your customers expect to hear about your products / service?
Is the market seasonal?
What seasonal trends will affect your business and how will you overcome them?
How was this research compiled?

Market Research Competition
Name three or more competitors?
SWOT analysis on competitors. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
SWOT analysis on your business.
Why will customers prefer your product / service to your competitors?
What can you do differently?

Marketing Strategy
What are your business' short, medium and long term objectives?
What is your company's mission statement?
What is your business' customer care policy statement?
Product List / Service Range:
Price list: (How have the prices been calculated?)
Place you will operate from and why?
Promotion (How will you generate business?)

Business Plan Financial Elements
First Year Profit and Loss Budget
Break Even Calculation
First Year Balance Sheet
Cashflow Forecast (12mths)

The last few were all charts and tables and I didn't want to go into all of that, if any body wants a copy, click here

Anyway enough of business talk, carrying on from the last .plan I promised some blender models and gimp stuff. Well I haven't used the gimp much as of yet, but I've been doing some blending. They're not specific game models, just 3d max tutorials from the web, Im basically trying to learn blender.

Joan of arc tutorial

Audi a3 WIP

Nissan 300zx WIP

Nigel's axe tutorial

Cheers to Nigel Symes for the blender tutorials, they are what I used to get started with blender. Thanks again.

Wednesday Jul 6 16:23

Andrew Nicholson — 2005-07-06T16:23:21+00:00

Two brand spanking new hard drives!

Well the old one crashed and burned, I say old but it was only about 4 or 5 months old. So I took it back and they replaced it straight away no questions asked, in fear of this happening again I bought another of a different brand. Now I have two brand spanking new hard drives.
I plan to stick Window's on one and Linux on the other, I figured that if I'm going to make cross platform games then I should be familiar with the different operating systems. I know I've left one out but all in good time.
I've never used Linux before, and according to the Linux Bible 2005 Edition I just bought, SUSE is quite friendly for beginners. This will be installed within the next few hours. I'm looking forward to using some new tools, Blender and Gimp for starters. It should be quite challenging.
I know it's another boring .plan with no piccies, but I promise the next one will have some Blender models and Gimp images.
Oh yeah! Some good news as well, I just got my degree results and I got a Second class honours, First division (2:1). So I'm buzzing at the minute.
So until the next plan happy torkin
Andy Nicho

Wednesday Jun 8 23:31

Andrew Nicholson — 2005-06-08T23:31:20+00:00

Just Finished Uni

Just finished Uni today and it feels weird, I'm kind of lost, I don't know what to do, so I've cracked open some lager. For the past four years I've come home from College or Uni and had assignments to do or exams to revise for, and now I don't have any, it just feels strange (don't worry I'm not complaining). So I decided to make a start on one of the three game ideas I've got floating around.
For those of you that don't know me I'm a bit of a petrol head, Formula 1, Touring cars, Rally, Stock car racing, Motocross and Super cross are some of the sports I enjoy the most. So as you can probably guess the games I tend to play are of this kind with the odd exception. I've raced a couple of Rally's with my uncle in his mkI Escort and I used to race a Honda CR250 in Motocross, in the end I had to sell the bike as University was killing us financially, its something that I want to get back into though once I get back on my feet.
Anyway on with the .plan, the first game on the list was a Motocross game similar to MXM2, but as it involves characters (riders), I've put it on hold for a while, not because I cant do characters, its just that my final year project was all about 3D character generation and I just want a break from skeletons and bones and stuff, for now. Second on the list was a futuristic racing game similar to Rollcage, but I've knocked that on the head in favour of the third idea. What is it you ask? Well you'll have to watch this space, it would be better explained with images and the sort so until then you'll have to guess.
I know that making replica games is not ideal, its just my way of getting familiar with the huge code-base that is TGE, even though I've just done a degree in computer games, there's still a lot I need to learn about making games and this is my approach.
So until the next plan happy torkin
Andy Nicho