Question of the Day

Can a Triceratops jump?

Code...Code...Code.

Things are coming along pretty smoothly. Right now I have the dinos moving back and forth. They turn based on a movie clip. This means we can be even more dynamic when it comes to movement. I'm trying to get the raptor to chase you right now. Problems arise when I try and get him to jump over things. Not to worry though. It'll be ok.

This weekend I'm going to get the third dino working. His ability to smash things in order to get past them will be tricky I think.

Anyway. Don't forget to get what the schedule says you need by Tuesday. If it's not done there's no more time...Epic Fail.

What we have here....

I have been doing some re-working on the level concepts. I have been focusing on how the player could backtrack in certain areas without a dino. Example, if the player gets to the end of the level and they don't have enough Earth elements, how would they return back over the tar pit they just crossed? Have vines and a tree top route for return? That's what I'm dealing with right now. I will post revised sketches.



Malina - I have a few environment assets (plants and Earth elements) to add to your list. However, with the new level tasks at hand, I will not have time to contribute any more. Please let me know what you have and plan on making before interfaces.

Everyone Should be posting to the blog.

Malina, I've noticed that you aren't posting and that you also aren't listed as a contributor. When you read this, please accept the invitation and contribute to the blog. Thanks.

-Mgmt

C'mon, Gordon! You trying to get me into trouble?

I spent the better part of Monday and a lot of tuesday with Tom rewriting code. As the game sits now the player can shoot and the dino's detect that they have been hit. Also, the dynamic attack system is in place and the game changes the players attack based on which dino he/she is riding.

Laser vs. World collision is still giving us problems. I don't forsee it being too large a hurdle to overcome.

Some folk'll never eat a skunk, but then again some folk'll...

So I'm starting to work on Dino AI. I'm also fixing bugs being found by our collision code. I'm still hoping this is the right direction to take with the collision. It may be reworked for next semester. I would really like to figure out how games like Fancy Pants made their collision.

Anyway, I'm wondering what the team thinks about the dinos. Justin and I were talking and I'm curious as to what each type of dino should be doing. We decided the raptor would attack you even if you didn't shoot him. Just because he's hungry. I'm trying to decide if the Pterodactyl should swoop down at you before you shoot it, or if any other dino should do anything else besides walking back and forth.

Let me know what you guys think.

Augh!

So I'm sick as ever today, and full of all kinds of nasty things I don't want to share with all of you. So I'll save you the trouble and not be there today. (I WILL be there on Thursday, sick or not!) But I'll post up whatever I've got for you today. The list you wanted is a few posts down, I'm still open to editing and adding to it however the team sees fit, just let me know and I'll get it done!

I've also got these reference sheets that weren't posted on the schedule, but Kim wanted them. And so she shall have them. The sheet for the alien is still in the sketch phase, but it'll be done before today is over. I want some input from the team on color ideas, mostly for the raptor and the t-rex. (Also, all of these are posted up on the photobucket if for some reason blogger makes these not very big or clickable.)

If I'm missing something important, or whatever, let me know. Anything yo want done by Thursday ALSO let me know. Being sick just means that i have a lot of time to sit here and work right? :)

...and the flowers are still standing! I've always wanted to do that.

So, I have just battled my scanner. I lost. That's ok though...I have a plan. I'll need a hammer. Why? I'll corner it, throw my coat on it, then hit it with a hammer! Sorry about the quality, I'll scan them at school. I'm still working on more...TONS more. Anywho, I'm going to go drink a Samuel Smith Taddy Porter for everyone on the team. So, raise up your cups, CHEERS! Here is to a great run with Team Superfluous and Interfaces ass kicking!

Comments? Questions? Toilet Paper?

Recode work

So the new code is up and running. It's kind of a step backward and forward at the same time. Right now the player cannot shoot, but all the code is separated into pretty classes and such. With the new collision code for the floor we can have slopes that the player slides down. Don't know if this will help with the level but it's cool.

Hopefully Justin and I will meet up tomorrow. The school is open and I will be up there. Anyone that wants to come join is more then welcome. Once things are more set in the game we'll post it up for you guys to try out. Any thoughts, questions, ideas, comments, or general wonderings let me know.

Lists!

Been working on those lists you asked for! Let me know if you want more, think things should be changed, added, etc. The biggest problem I've so far is the pterodactyl's abilities. The list seems pretty small, but I don't really know what else it can do. It's already at kind of an advantage because it can fly above all the other obstacles. But let me know if you have any ideas!

Characters:

Alien, Triceratops, Pterodactyl, Raptor, and Tyrannosaur.

Enemies:

Enemies will be any of the above mentioned dinosaurs before they are controlled. There will also be a ‘boss’ tyrannosaur at the end of one of the levels (perhaps the end of the game?).

Abilities:

Alien – Run/walk, jump, shoot, use his mind control device, and gather the ship parts and energy cells.
Triceratops – Run/walk, jump short distances, bash enemies with tail, smash breakable items with head/horns.
Pterodactyl – Fly, spit eggs at enemies, and bite.
Raptor – Run/walk, jump long distances/higher up, sprint faster than other dinosaurs, and attack with claws and/or teeth.
Tyrannosaurus – Run/walk, jump, bite, and roar to scare smaller enemies away.

Title:

I will be making 2 levels.

1 - Tutorial
2 - Level 1

The tutorial:
This will essentially tutor the player in the gameplay. It will allow time for the key aspects of the game to be performed. Example: the player gets to the riding dino; the "screen" will be semi locked on this area until the player accomplishes the specific task at hand. I'm thinking 3 areas, the player start, the riding land dino, and the riding flying dino. The flying dino will be the end of the tutorial, letting the player exit via pterodactyl. These will be comfort zones, hopefully developing the players core skills to promote better (future) gameplay.

Level 1
A jungle feel. Lava and/or tar pits. Attacking vines. Poison plants. Other dino's. Obviously theses are all things that could possibly be in the level, feedback would be excellent. Or maybe a desert? I don't know...the art department might enjoy drawing cactus and tumble weeds over ferns and angiosperms?! Either way, this is completely flexible. The art overlay itself, on the level, will be the ultimate deciding factor. No more rambling. Thank you.



I will post sketches today.

I'll slap yer face off!

I'm gonna post some scans in a few. A couple of level concepts and some possible different obstacles for the level. As commented on certain posts, some of these sketches will have jump thru block in them. I'm going to draw up some stuff in the next couple of hours. About the other day, for some, it's very unfortunate, however it is nice that nobody was booted out of class. To our noobs...welcome to the team.

Question about game geometry.

Should the player be able to jump through the bottome of certain floors or floating platforms? You could jump through certain things in mario (clouds, elevators, etc) but not bricks and floating metal boxes.

For now I think for simplicities sake I'll make it so you can not.

Y'all Ready For This?

Like I said in the previous post (if you read it first, I posted this pretty close together) this will seem impossible. However, I believe this is what NEEDS to be done for a good Interface presentation. If there are any concerns or something I forgot, don't hesitate to tell me. Please read everybody's schedule. This way you know what other people are doing. Remember: We need to be working very close together for this. Use the blog for anything and everything. So here we go, the schedule for each person is as follows:

Joe’s Work

Friday May 22

Work

Saturday May 23

Level Description Due – Write out what you plan on making for the level. This doesn’t need to be the final outcome. Remember as we go through the rest of the semester and next, the game and the level will change.

Tuesday May 26

List of Sounds – While you’re working on the flowchart you’ll most likely come across what sounds you’ll need.

Thursday May 28

Level Flowchart Due – All great levels need to flow correctly.

Friday May 29

Work

Saturday May 30

Level Blockout – Use the code for the game to block out a level. Can be given to team on Tuesday.

Tuesday June 2

Level Blockout Due – No way around it.

Sound Samples – Seeing no evil isn’t your job. Hearing it is. Not all sounds are necessary but the more the better.

Thursday June 4

Music Feel – It would be good to have background music. If nothing else we need a basic idea of the music feel.

Friday June 5

Work

Saturday June 6

Kick Interfaces Ass – Join the team to present the game.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Shelby’s Work

Friday May 22

Work

Saturday May 23

Work

Tuesday May 26

Lists - They’re everywhere!!! We need a lot of them. Final ones. Character Lists, Dino Lists, Enemy List. Who can we ride? What can they do?

Thursday May 28

Thumbnails – One thumbnail should take an average of two minutes. We need a lot of them for ideas. They’re also good for portfolio stuff.

Friday May 29

Work

Saturday May 30

Thumbnail Refinement – Refine the thumbnails. Keep in mind we’re not expecting all the artwork complete right now. As much as humanly possible. In fact, make one more than humanly possible. That should do it.

Tuesday June 2

Final Art – Take the most important pieces and make them final.

Thursday June 4

Work

Friday June 5

Work

Saturday June 6

Kick Interfaces Ass – Join the team to present the game.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Malina’s Work

Friday May 22

Work

Saturday May 23

Work

Tuesday May 26

List – What? Where am I? Well things in the environment will help me figure that out. It’s your job to list them out. (Need to work closely with Joe)

Thursday May 28

Thumbnails (UI) – Thumbnails aren’t much. BASIC sketches. Lots of different ideas. Scrape off that top layer of paint. (Work closely with Tom)

Friday May 29

Thumbnails (Assets) - Again thumbnails are short and sweet. Let’s see those different ideas. Not every asset needs to be thumbnailed. This process will help you figure out what style works best.

Saturday May 30

Work

Tuesday June 2

Final Art (UI) –The user needs something pretty to look at. Otherwise they get confused and angry. Like a bear.

Thursday June 4

Thumbnail Refinement (Assets) – Take the thumbnail ideas and make them better (and bigger).

Friday June 5

Work

Saturday June 6

Kick Interfaces Ass – Join the team to present the game.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Justin’s Work

Friday May 22

Work

Saturday May 23

Code Rework - Figure out how to tackle the code. Our code is very antisocial. It doesn’t like other code.

Tuesday May 26

Work

Thursday May 28

Working Code - New code worked out being built from the start with classes. This will avoid conflict later.

Friday May 29

Work

Saturday May 30

Work

Tuesday June 2

3 Dinos and an Alien – The alien should be able to use three different dinosaurs to do his bidding.

Thursday June 4

Programming Flowchart – I don’t think it should be done until our code is. Working backwards! That’s how the pros do it.

Friday June 5

Prepare for Presentation – This isn’t the only day you’ll do this. We’ll all help too.

Saturday June 6

Kick Interfaces Ass – Join the team to present the game.

* there may not seem like a lot on this schedule but if you know what’s going on there’s a ton.

_________________________________________________________________

Tom’s Work

Friday May 22

Work

Saturday May 23

Code Rework - Figure out how to tackle the code. Our code is very antisocial. It doesn’t like other code.

Tuesday May 26

Flowchart – If the user can’t get to our game they won’t play it. Flowcharts make sense. Hail flowchart.

Thursday May 28

Working Code - New code worked out being built from the start with classes. This will avoid conflict later.

Friday May 29

Work

Saturday May 30

UI Test – Make sure the UI works. Test with people. REAL people.

Tuesday June 2

3 Dinos and an Alien – The alien should be able to use three different dinosaurs to do his bidding.

Thursday June 4

Programming Flowchart – I don’t think it should be done until our code is. Working backwards! That’s how the pros do it.

Friday June 5

Documentation – Stay up until the wee hours of the morning getting everyone’s work together and printing it out into a 300 page document that looks awesome.

Saturday June 6

Kick Interfaces Ass – Join the team to present the game.

Final Note:

I do believe that we can get this done. I don't know about you but this class is top priority. Nobody wants to suck at Interfaces. Nobody wants to wait three or four more semesters to retake this two semester class. We want to graduate and soon. I'm very excited for what this team can accomplish. GO TEAM SUPERFLUOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!