Back on track
Well, so that's that. My computer broke in about 2 weeks into my vacation, and the new only arrived just now. I still need to reinstall some of my programs, but after that I'll get back to working on both RemindMe and the unnamed ball game.
Just an FYI.
Releasing details about my new game
Well, my PC finally died today so I guess I ain't got nowhere to run. I'm making this post to reveal all the details I have so far of a new game I've been working on for the past week or two.
DESIGN
I've been inspired by the classic Marble Madness for NES and want to create a new game much like it, except with a more "calming" atmosphere with mostly puzzle-based progression instead of only platforming. I've already started working on it and got a few game models and concepts done, and I was about to release a few screenshots of my progress but couldn't.
In the game you control a ball which can change into different materials such as stone (for pushing heavy objects and fire-based obstacles), wood (intermediate properties), rubber (very light, can be pushed by fans) and possibly others to pass obstacles in the level.
The game will have a few different environments such as sky, jungle, volcano and others, all with their own look and hazards for the player to pass. I plan on integrating those into the game with a "world system", where you need to complete the levels and find keys in secret locations to unlock bonus levels and shortcuts, much like the system seen on Super Mario Brothers 3.
I'm aiming for a calm, but also nerve-wrecking feeling for the game, where you have to concentrate and have precise control of your ball to make it through various obstacles; plus you be a good thinker to solve all the puzzles you will find on the way.
CREATION
So far I've recorded and downloaded a few sound effects for the ball rolling on stone, wood and metal, created a few level pieces on SketchUp, got a few ideas for obstacles and puzzles and got a few friends to help me make some levels and playtest the game. I've also already started programming and got to the point where the ball is controllable on a test level and there's a working camera system, but there's still a lot of tweaking to do. Unfortunately, I'm only gonna be able to work on it when I get a new computer because I didn't upload any files to my FTP server.
Phew. And that's all I have about the game.
Making progress on RemindMe & Finals
Hey guys. Since I have this spare time to post something, I might as well! Anyways, earlier today I finished programming task saving & loading for RemindMe. It's something very simple, but in terms of completion it's a large step. Next up is refining the GUI a little bit and then adding a menu for adding new tasks. After those are done, I guess I can release a early beta and then add the features I mentioned in the last post later on.
Also I was thinking about having some kind of "gold" version for people who donate anything more than $1, but I can't really think of any extra features I can put in it. I don't wanna be a jerk and just fill the free version with ADs and limit it to 4 tasks only, but then again I want the people who donated to have something special, and for those that haven't, a reason to do so.
I think my best bet right now is to add in simple, but useful things. I could maybe add in e-mail reminders (to go along with normal pop-up reminders I plan on adding for the simple version) for tasks you need to get done in one or two days, a special "access pass" which you could use to download new versions of my applications before their release... things like that might just convince someone who's on the wall to donate. Well, I guess I'll just wait and see what happens later on.
Anyways I've gotta get going, gotta study for 3 tests tomorrow and more 3 for this Saturday (and guess what, the tests on Saturday are at 7:00am, yuck!). I'm hoping it wont take long for me to finish the first application to be up on my site, but rushing ain't gonna get me anywhere now is it? Well, I'll be seeing you guys next time.
RemindMe is near it’s beta release
Hey guys, I finally got some content for a new blog post after the last one from weeks ago! Took a while for me to get back into developing RemindMe because of all the school projects I had to do, but I finally finished them all. From the last post to now, I had to work on 5 projects, so you can imagine how my weekends were.
Anyways, I've got to a point where all I have to do is add some input functions (adding new tasks, etc) because most of the core functionality is already programmed, I just need to let the user access it. As of now, you can add new tasks with a due date and then the app tells you how many days left until due date, it has some nice animations when you take a task off the list and the appearance is fully customizable via PNG files. Off the top of my head, these are the things I need to do before releasing the app:
- Add right click menu for editing, moving and deleting tasks;
- Add a bar where you can add new tasks easily and quickly;
- Add function to swap task positions;
- Add an hide-able "old tasks" list.
So yeah, maybe I can get it finished by this weekend or so, but no promises though. Let's just say I'm really close to finishing the basic functionality and after I do, I'll put up a beta download here. And after I do so, I finally have something classified as "content" so I can put advertising on my site! Anyways, I've gotta head off to school, so I'll see you guys later.
Working on RemindMe
Hey guys, finally here to post a new update. This time it's on a program I'm working on, it's called RemindMe and basically, you type what you have to do in it and when do you need to get it done and that's it. It comes in a nice blue-ish GUI, but that can be modified via PNG files. I'm currently programming it in C++, using SFML2 for all the rendering and Code::Blocks as my IDE.
This was originally a project I was working on in Game Maker, but it was becoming too bloated for such a simple program, so I just decided to scrap everything and start again from scratch. I've been working on the C++ version for 3 days now, and it's not exactly functional yet. I'm still programming all the features such as date countdown, fancy fading out on task completion and etc. After I'm done with those, I'll add in a GUI so you can add new tasks, work on saving your tasks to a file and then it's pretty much ready for release.
The program itself is gonna be freeware of course, but there will be an option for people who want to donate. I'll also see if I can put up a small database of custom themes for it, if I get someone to make a few just to kick-start it. Anyways, I'll try to keep you guys up with the progress, but I'm gonna slow down the development just a tad and start focusing on finishing all those 4 school projects for next week.
Yeah, I better get to it quick...
New website is up!
So after my absence because of school tests and computer shenanigans, I'm finally back and put up a completely new site. It's running on WordPress just like this blog, so I can edit things really quick without even having to access my FTP server. I'm hoping I can put up RemindMe, a todo-list-app I'm working on for download soon enough, but there's no guarantees on that so far. I should be more active over the next few weeks, since I've got all my computer crap sorted out and my tests are finally done.
I am gonna have tests again in 2 or 3 weeks, but after those I'm finally free from school for quite a while. Anyways, while that doesn't happen, I'll try to be more active for the next few weeks. I'll try to post on this blog more often and tweet about stuff I'm doing, but there's rarely anything worth posting/tweeting right now, but that'll change eventually. Well, I'm gonna go watch some TV then get some sleep so I can go work on RemindMe monday after I get back from school, so I'll be seeing you guys later!
I’m not dead!
Hey guys. Once again, haven't posted anything in a while now. School's all over the place. For the last 3 weekends, I had a bunch of friends from school over to work on some projects. Now they're all done except for one, but on Monday my tests are starting again. Sorry I've been so inactive, but it's not really an option now. Yesterday, I went to sleep at midnight because of stupid bees flying into my room. Before yesterday, I went to sleep god knows when because I had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night see my dentist, because a part of my braces broke off randomly.
Hopefully though, after these tests, everything will go back to normal and I can finally get doing things again. However, in the free time that I had, I slowly coded bits-and-pieces of a new program that's almost reaching a usable state. I'll be making a blog post about it when I have the time - probably some day in the middle of this week - but it's coming along pretty nicely. It works, and it looks nice. I plan on putting it up for free on my site and ask for donations, maybe that'll get some little bit of money going for the C++ book I'm wanting to buy.
Also, I'm going to re-design my site again. Yeah... a few weeks ago I read a few tutorials on web design, saw a bunch of people's W.I.Ps and I just decided my current page is too "trashy". I'll get to redesigning it the weekend after my tests, so the new site should probably be up next monday or so. Anyways, there's really nothing else interesting to talk about right now, and I need to go study then sleep, so I'll be seeing you guys next time. Hopefully, this time "next time" doesn't mean "in 3 weeks". See ya 
Bullet Fusion: Planning
Hey guys. Sorry for not doing anything for a loong time, I have been having tests for the last week, and now I have 3 school projects I have to do so I didn't even care to log into my accounts in the meantime. Let's just say that I'm lazy and school's being boring. Anyways...
I've been getting back to working on Bullet Fusion now. As of right now, I've been trying to think of an design so I can already make a website for it so I can put up screenshots, videos and information there, but nothing came to mind so far.
Also, the level selection "menu" is pretty much done - just a few touches here and there and ta-da, so I decided to put it aside for a moment. I'm now trying to get the ship upgrade menu up and going, and so far, all I really did was think of a basic design and the "parts" I want to make upgrade-able. Those are, so far:
1) Ship's Body (I'm thinking about making it so a few parts can only be used on ships from certain price & up)
2) Ship's Gun (each gun has different properties: fire rate, damage and accuracy)
3) Ship's Engine (every engine has: friction, speed and acceleration)
4) Special Fire (homing missile, death laser, 8-way shot, etc)
Next, I'll be thinking on every single part that you can buy, and then, I'll get working on the GUI for it, because it's gonna be tricky. I'll try not to have too many items, but still have enough that by the endgame, you still have a few guns you can buy. Anyways, that's pretty much all of the progress I made so far, so I'll see you guys next time.
Bullet Fusion on Facepunch
Well, a few days ago I made a thread about Bullet Fusion on facepunch.com, and the thread is already full of replies. If there's anything you'd like to suggest or really if you just want to get updates more often, you should check the thread out, because here I'll only be posting more major things like: "Hey, I've got the ship upgrading menu done!", and there I'll be posting "The GUI for the ship upgrading menu looks like this *picture*, any suggestions?".
So anyways, let's just cut right to it. Here's the thread for the game, feel free to follow it!
WordPress Blog is Up!
Pretty much. Had some trouble there configuring my things and accidentally broke it, but now it's up again, and looking as pretty as it will ever, most likely.