kevpolson

[kevpolson]

This is what I am handling in.  Its not what I set out to do but its a start.

[kevpolson]

Here is a screenshot.  I got an animated background going, gravity, some basic physics, bullets firing and the leaderboard started.

[kevpolson]

Two pieces concept art for the main character.  It still hasn't been finalized, however it is close.  I'll be happy to get rid of the stick man.

[kevpolson]

My player animations are finally done, now I can work on the fun stuff like collision detection and such.

[kevpolson]

Wow, where did last week go... Here's a video of the player controls, to make up for it.  No movement or gravity/physics yet but I have done those before and they will be added soon.

[kevpolson]

I'm bring it back!

Sorry, things completely got off the rails. However, knowing I was heading back to school I shouldn't be surprised. I'm currently on my third semester and finally taking my first game programming course. The only problem is for the final project I must start from scratch. Apparently, using your own work is considered plagiarism; if it was written for anything else besides the specific class. This means "Harvest", the code name for this project has been put on hold. Although I’m working on my final project which I have code-named "Dante". Project Dante is due August 10, 2012, meaning it must be completed. It’s sink or swim time! The class is going well, but I think we are kind of doing things backwards. So far all we have been only working on is the title screen. I guess it makes sense for the kids in the class who have never used XNA before, it just feels wrong though. One positive is, I have been able spend the time coding a ubiquitous game state manager. It is able to easily switch between the actual game and the title screen, at any given time. I’m really stoked about the code that is powering it! I worked a long time on making my game state manager reusable. Consequently, I will be able to port it into past and future projects.

I hope to update weekly, however it could be bi-weekly sometimes.

[kevpolson]

This is a 5x5 image just for reference

[kevpolson]

What have I been doing?

I have been hard at work planning my collision detect system.  For 2D games XNA isn’t the best—you only have access to a rectangle or a circle for detecting collisions between two objects.  Ideally, the best way to go is a pixel to pixel collision detection system.  Basically, this is a system the will scan the location of a pixel from an object’s image and compare it to al lthe pixel locations of another image to see if they collide.  The problem is if you are continuously collecting and comparing that data things are going to slow down. Just imagine if you had one 5x5 image and had to compare it to five different objects the same size.  To see if any have collided with each other that would be a maximum of 9,765,625 pixels that would need to be compared for collision in every frame.  On average the ideal frames per second is sixty so that would equal 585,937,500 pixels that would need to be compared a second.  All I’m going to say for now is what I have thought up combines the simplicity of XNAs collision detection using rectangles and combines that with a pixel collision system.  This game will not be released as expected in September…

[kevpolson]

What I'm listening to while coding

[kevpolson]

I wanted to post a link to @nickgravelyn tile engine tutorials.  The tutorials show how to make an engine for a top view game.  However, I used these 2 years ago when I was working on my 2d side scroller so the information from these is pretty adaptable.  Even though I am working on something new I do plan to finish that side scroller when I have more time. 

[kevpolson]

What I used to explain my idea at a restaurant

[kevpolson]

Here is a tease, a lot more to come soon!

[kevpolson]

What's the Plan?

I am about to start working on my third project.  My past two projects are incomplete, mainly because of poor planning on my part and making something way too big for a one man team.  This time I want to try something different, so everything I work on will be posted here.  I will aim to do daily updates of the development of my newest project from start to finish.  The updates could consist of screen shots, videos or even just a plain old text based update.  This should only take about 2-3 months to complete, as long I stay on task.  I will also open up testing for a lucky few.  Ultimately, what I'm looking for is feedback.  Positive or constructive are welcome but negative will be mocked.  Check back soon!