Blog for Alex Parker at GarageGames.com

Wednesday Apr 27 12:09

Alex Parker — 2005-04-27T12:09:08+00:00

Firstly, I have registered a new domain, Enigmatron. The placeholder site will serve until I have some stuff available for download, but any feedback on the style will be welcome. I intend on developing a small indie business that aims to bring together artists and programmers to create great arcade games. However, keeping in mind that so many people start out with such aspirations, my initial goal is to release some small free games created with Torque 2D, starting with, once it is finished, my current project Hotwired.

At present the project is close to completion, programming-wise. I just need to add the server-side PHP scripts to handle the hi-score database, polish up a few scene transitions, replace the asteroid and player ship sprites with something less "placeholder-ey", add a couple of nice particle systems to the game to represent dust-clouds & distant nebula, and some decent sound FX. I have a soundtrack in mind that should work perfectly, and so I see this thing being finished very soon.

Screenshot-wise, theres nothing that can really be shown, since fade-in and fade-outs aren't really that stunning to look at. If you want some eye candy, head over to Enigmatron. Any comments on how I can improve the layout, questions about what it all means, and general complaints about the fact that you still have a 28.8 modem and it takes half an hour to load the page can be addressed to me, here :)

Thursday Apr 7 16:33

Alex Parker — 2005-04-07T16:33:20+00:00

Just a quick update to show this weeks progress. Today I added the main menu GUI to HotWired, as both a learning exercise and also to tidy up the interface a bit. In the screenshot, you can't see that the background actually has a plasma-type effect, which looks pretty cool in action.

I still need to add a scoring system, hi-score table and possibly multiple levels / styles of play, i.e. bubble-world, viral-world, etc. This kind of game doesn't just have to be set in space :)

Also, a bit of tidying up of the space objects could make things look 100% better, i.e. asteroids use random images instead of just one, and can have slightly random sizes and colours.

Other than that, this game should be finished and ready to go in a couple of weeks, if everything runs smoothly.

Sunday Apr 3 17:29

Alex Parker — 2005-04-03T17:29:29+00:00

I think I've been playing this more than I should be, what turned out to be a simple project is turning out to be too fun for its own good. Despite the time-wasting, er, I mean playtesting, I've managed to replace the placeholder graphics with some nicer ones, they're nicked off the net but the should suffice for the time being. I've added particle systems, sound effects, background music and a scrolling starfield, and after all that playtesting I've tweeked the acceleration / number of asteroids / number of powerups to what I think is a good balance.

I need to work out how to impliment T2D's gui system so I can wrap the game up in a nice menu. I also need to work out how to go about displaying high-scores, ideally I'd like to be able to connect to a server so that people can view their internet rankings alongside their home rankings. I can see this little game polishing up quite nicely, once I've worked out the intricacies of the engine.

Anway, heres some screenshots to show some of the progress:

The ship explodes into little pieces that fly into the screen:

The powerups have a nice sparkley-burst effect when you collect them:

When you respawn, you are invulnerable for a few seconds, indicated by the sparkly blue shield at the front of the ship:

My choice of background music is a selection of tracks from Andy-C's Nightlife 2 album, it goes quite well with the furious pace of the game, its just a shame I won't be able to include it in the release, when I finally get it to that stage.

Anyway, my current plan is to get some sleep before work :)

Saturday Apr 2 21:28

Alex Parker — 2005-04-02T21:28:07+00:00

My first foray into the world of Torque 2D

In memory of an old 10-liner program on the amstrad, Called Liney (or something like that), I'm making a modern variation. The original involved trying to guide a line accross the screen and through an exit door on the right hand side. The object was to avoid the asterixes that were randomly scattered on the screen. The line always went diagnolly upwards, but pressing space made it go downwards instead. If you think it sounds stupid, you never played it.

Anyway, basically you will have a ship at the top of the screen, and you travel through an asteroid field. Unfortunately the guys at the Repair-U-Kwik shop did a bodge up, and you accelerator pedal is stuck down. What's worse, the flight controls are jammed and you can't turn. Thankfully, you've managed to hotwire the port thruster so you can at least strafe to avoid the ASTEROID FIELD THAT YOU ARE FLYING INTO.

This is my first game for torque2D, it is simple and to the point. It might even be fun once its finished. I shall call it "Hotwired"

My first T2D screenshot, Isn't it beautiful? Marvel at the quick 5-minute programmer art!