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Well I have some bad news. I have to stop work on the new project I was developing that I mentioned in my last post. Reason why? I got a job with Gunnar Games in Miami. So for the past week I have been helping repair my dad’s BMW 328i convertable so that I can take it with me to Miami. Thats not the crazy part of this adventure though. I have ended up in an apartment that is basically inside a jungle inside a city. Let me show you what I mean.

Well it was about time I posted something new. I have been very busy lately with various projects. Unfortunately nothing I have really done I have felt was worth any announcement… until now. A few friends and I have decided to develop a small game for XBox using XNA. This has been my first real experience using XNA and while it has its advantages it also has had some minor disadvantages. Most of these issues have been sorted and while the game is still under heavy design development I decided to work on a level editor that will hopefully be robust enough to support not only our upcoming game but maybe future games as well.

What about some of the progress that has been made? Don’t worry I have pics.

As you can see so far models can be loaded into the level editor and moved around. All objects can rotated or scaled and the floor in this picture is actually comprised of a block scaled to zero on the Y axis and scaled up on the X and Z. The black in the background is just the grid requiring some minor adjustments.

Next is the asset manager I created for the editor. This tool allows for any .x file to imported and used at a placeable object in the level. This gives me the ability to simply hand the tool off to my level artists or level designers and allow them to craft whatever they need into the level.

The last major feature I want to show off is the camera track. Under our current game design the player perspective will follow along a camera track. So far this is the only game specific addition to the editor. It simply allows someone to place cameras where ever they want in the level. The in game camera will then move from camera to camera along the track. You can see the cameras as white boxes with spheres attached, this is simply placeholder art for now.

Lets preface this by saying I really enjoyed this game, but I have a few issues I just need to put somewhere so I have decided to put this website to good use. I will try as much as possible to avoid any spoilers.

Now for my review / critique of the latest Prince of Persia game.

I unfortunately have not played the previous games in the series. I have heard nothing but good from them and look forward to the day I sit down to play them then promptly kick myself in the ass for not playing them sooner. This does give me a clean slate so I can judge this game unbiased. There are basically two parts to the game, moving about the terrain and fighting enemies. 

Movement

The ease of character movement was one of my favorite parts of this game. Moving around and jumping up walls and between platforms felt satisfying. I made very few mistakes or accidental drops and those were usually caused by me not pressing the correct button to perform a move. Animations look great and as the game progressed I really felt I was getting much better at utilizing my acrobatic moves around the terrain.

Now when you do fall or get caught by a trap you simply start back from the last piece of terrain you were able to stand on. I am usually against games that don’t allow you to die but this one pulls it off well. Things become frustrating enough when you nearly reached the end of a long string of jumps only to miss the jump completely or accidentally run along a wall instead of jumping upwards along the wall. Starting an area all over would be unbearable mostly due to a lack well executed gameplay elements we will cover later.

Combat

 All fights are one on one which feels a little weird. I prefer a more traditional brawler combat system where you can pummel multiple enemies at once. As with the movement part of the game you can not die during a fight. When you are pinned by enemies you are given the chance to avoid certain doom by pressing a button displayed on the screen. If you miss this button all that happens is some of the enemies hitpoints are restored and the fight continues on. You can execute a large number of combo moves on your enemies. Some combos stop when done and others can be chained into other types of combo moves. If you learn the moves you can easily perform a long chain of attacks. Even though you have these attacks the game can be easily played by simply mashing buttons. So there is no real need to learn more than a few combos unless you get tired of seeing the same old attacks being dished out.

The Seeds! - Warning! Lots of opinion below!-

Now for those poorly executed gameplay elements mentioned earlier. In order to progress through the game you must collect a certain number of items called light seeds. This must stop! What was a nice game about acrobatic platforming becomes a chore of sheer boredom as you hunt down items that are only used to unlock the next part of the game.  This really confuses me since it would have just been fine to do a linear progression through the levels. Collecting items just feels like its only there to extend the game. The worst part is only about half the seeds are required to finish the game so the extra aren’t even necessary. I feel sorry for the guy who was in charge of placing those items since half his work has little to no consequence on the game at all. This is one thing I hope to not see repeated ever again in future games. Item collection that only blocks the ability to progress through the game is not fun! So much could have been done to complement the light seed retrieval. Here are some things that seeds could do for the player to help create the want to collect seeds instead of just the need.

List of things:

• Increase player’s health so it takes it longer to pin him down
• Increase player’s damage
• Keep combo moves locked until purchased with seeds

This not only makes the player want to collect seeds it gives him a much more satisfying feeling of accomplishment. The main character for the game also shows progress instead of being the exact same at the end of the game as they were in the beginning of the game.

Conclusion

As I said before I really enjoyed this game. I liked the characters and story and I loved the graphical style of the game. I can’t wait to see the next incarnation of the series that will hopefully improve on some of the less desirable elements in this game.

Wait no more the final release is finally done here for download on my web page under group projects or from Epidemic Pants under the Game page. Be ready to have your faces melted off by shear awesomeness and please enjoy!

Rock Rivals Installer

Swear I have been working hard on our game Rock Rivals and that is why I have not been updating. Also because Foley has been doing a good job of keeping people up to date on our project. So for an update, the game is nearly done and rightfully so since we have about one week before it has to be presentable. Assets have been quickly streaming in thanks to our asset guys and our external producer riding them to finish work for us. They enjoy it though since our theme has really given them the ability to let their imaginations run wild for better or worse.

Now the game has reached the stage where the final polish can be applied. Most of the things missing at the current step are special effects and various sounds that are quickly being acquired.

Now for some personal stuff. Thanksgiving, same old as always visit relatives eat food and try to describe exactly what I am going to school for to completely confused people. Graduation, I may have to give a speech unfortunatly. Somehow I am nominated for an advanced achievement award. This is completely out of the blue for me. Its not that I don’t think I deserve it but this kind of thing never happens to me so I am currently still in a state of shock over it.

Enough of that though, time to present what you all really want. Now when you start the game keep in the mind the blue trash can is place holder art for a van. So the introduction might be kind of confusing.

Rock Rivals - Beta Installer v2.exe

GDC this year was extremely satisfying. I met a lot of interesting people and a few not so interesting people which I think makes them interesting anyways. I got a chance to go to a CCP party which ranks up to one of the greatest experiences of my life. Unfortunately I came back with more than just swag and have been feeling under the weather the past few days. To everyone: if you ever have a chance to go to GDC, DO IT! On top of the convention visiting Austin was amazing as well.

I leave you all with a picture courtesy of Gamasutra. Its me from behind!

for a great man. He will always be with us in spirit.

Looking to improve your Rock Band drum experience? Then check these out from morgantemple.com.

The Rockband drum pads I have specifically designed and created for Rockband drum kits to drastically reduce noise save your kit from harsh wear and tear and give the kit the overall darker/custom look.
Sold in a set of 2 or 4

The material is a commercial grade low duro neoprene rubber, for added spring, with an adhesive backing. I have tested these pads on expert mode with over 5hrs of play time with little to no wear and tear. Also for those who are concerned that they may not want them in the future or to replace the adhesive will peel easily leaving no residue.

http://morgantemple.com/rockband.php

After much waiting it has finally arrived. All I have to say is awesome!

I’ve been neglecting to update my blog over the past few days since I wanted to make this announcement when I knew more about it. I have finally reached final project, the last step on my trip through Full Sail. So whats all the fuss about final project? Our class is broken off into four groups, five people each. Each group has the next five months to create game from scratch. We start our by pitching two basic game ideas. Afterward are told which one we have to make. Then the fun begins as we take our game concept through development and finally we present our finished product in front of a big crowd of people, who will all laugh at us.

Our group has some pretty solid ideas I think can be accomplished in the five month time limit. We will have more information on the game when we finally know what we are working on.

We also have a website setup for our group. Please check it out.

http://www.epidemicpants.com

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