Messages

1

Developer's Corner / Re: XNA Magic

« on: February 17, 2007, 09:06 AM »

Pure speculation - maybe they're trying to put the finishing touches on before the GDC, so they might contact you by then...

2

Developer's Corner / Re: XNA Magic

« on: February 16, 2007, 06:47 AM »

Yes - a Mac could be a great investment (still wishing for a Mac to magically appear at my door... )

3

Developer's Corner / Re: Writing Arinoid using pyGame (4 ShowMeDo videos)

« on: January 31, 2007, 01:38 AM »

I'm sure you're going to like Pygame. I find using it very intuitive, although I must admit that I've had little experience with only a few other game programming frameworks, so I might have missed a framework that is "easier", such as Torque Game Builder.

As for me, hopefully I'll have the chance to tinker with Torque Game Builder soon. I'm currently using a Linux machine though, and it says in the product page that a community-supported Linux version is available. I hope that I'll be able to make that work.

Hopefully, there'll be more gamedev-related happenings here on DonationCoder . Or even Python-related ones .

4

Developer's Corner / Re: Py++

« on: January 30, 2007, 09:01 PM »

Thanks, tinjaw. I actually started using Python as a stepping stone to learning OOP in C++, but made it my primary language in the process . Hopefully with tools like these, I will be able to take advantage of what C++ has to offer without actually using C++ .

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Developer's Corner / Re: Writing Arinoid using pyGame (4 ShowMeDo videos)

« on: January 30, 2007, 08:58 PM »

After Asteroids of Orion, I'm sure you wouldn't need the videos

6

Developer's Corner / Re: XNA Magic

« on: January 30, 2007, 08:58 PM »

Yes, I think this is very unfortunate . I've always loved the Mac as a platform. I've never owned a Mac, but I try to use one at school every once in a while, and I really hope to own one in the future. Too bad not many games, and game tools, are being actively developed for it.

7

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: --> Results of the Accessibility Game Programming Contest Are Now Posted !!!

« on: January 23, 2007, 05:42 AM »

I'm now a proud owner of TGE and TGB indie licenses!!! And I'm so excited to receive my first issue of GD Mag. Thank you so much! I am sure that these will be very, very helpful to me in my dream to pursue game development as a career. You did a great job with optimizing the prize distribution, mouser. 

I am so grateful to DonationCoder, to the sponsors, and to the IGDA Game Accessibility SIG for all the time and effort that they have put into making this contest possible. You have provided us with a wonderful opportunity to participate in this (very, very fun) challenge, and I am sure that everyone is pleased with how everything turned out. 

Congratulations to all the winners! I hope that a lot of people will enjoy playing the games. 

8

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: Winners Will Be Announced on January 22nd

« on: January 22, 2007, 11:09 PM »

Here in Manila, it's 1 pm, January 23 Maybe we should be more patient... I'm sure the time is being used to optimize everyone's happiness with the results control theory at work

9

Developer's Corner / Re: XNA Magic

« on: January 18, 2007, 01:24 AM »

Looks amazing! I think that this is a great idea - building an engine that's free from legacy code, or at least built with such an intention in mind. My concern though is that the games won't be able to run on a Mac. Most probably, they'll work on XBox 360 though, and this is another tool that smaller game development houses (or individuals! ) can use to get that big break .

This looks very similar to OTEE's Unity, a fantastic-looking Mac game development tool (which unfortunately I haven't had the chance to use yet ). Despite being a Mac-only development tool, Unity is able to produce games for both Windows and Mac.

10

Developer's Corner / Re: How To Create Games Incredibly Fast

« on: January 18, 2007, 01:11 AM »

This article links to Kloonigames, an AMAZING site maintained by someone who I think has two interests - making games with original gameplay, and making those games very quickly. I really like the fact that he takes the time to write down his thoughts, walking us through the design and development process that he uses. I think his goals are very similar to CMU's Experimental Gameplay Project, which I think was the project that made rapid game development very popular recently.

He made a couple of posts that provide a very helpful annotated list of rapid game development articles, which I think is a very valuable reference!

11

Developer's Corner / Re: What Websites Offer Free Multimedia Resources For Use In Software?

« on: January 18, 2007, 12:51 AM »

Ari Feldman's Spritelib is a high-quality pixel art library which I use a lot when I write games. The games on my site use them, and so do the video tutorials, and a couple of the entries that I submitted to the Accessibility Coding Contest.

12

Developer's Corner / Re: Writing Arinoid using pyGame (4 ShowMeDo videos)

« on: January 18, 2007, 12:45 AM »

Thanks for posting this, tinjaw! Yes, the videos have made their way to ShowMeDo, and I'm very excited about this because they'll be made available to a lot of other people. I really hope that a lot of people find it helpful, and I would really appreciate any type of feedback.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish the fifth video soon!

13

Developer's Corner / Re: Py++

« on: January 18, 2007, 12:42 AM »

How does this compare to SWIG? I'm really interested in finding ways to make C++ libraries work in Python

14

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your favorite computer game from when you were young?

« on: January 13, 2007, 03:25 AM »

Round 42!!!

That game was amazing 42 levels of Space Invaders-type gameplay - but the enemy types were different in each level - not just in the way they looked, but in the way they behaved, so you had to approach each level differently. And the graphics were nice! We had a CGA card back then, but I was really amazed that the game ran in 16-colors - which was probably made possible by the "Lores Toolbox" which the authors (Elven Software) also sold.

They indicated that the game was written in Turbo Pascal - one of the things that made me realize that games can actually be made at home with the right tools I really wanted to learn Pascal back then to make a game just like that!

I think Borland even marketed "starter kits" to go with Turbo Pascal back then - I can't remember the exact term. They had a game pack, I think something like a spreadsheet pack, etc.

15

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 07, 2007, 08:52 PM »

Deozaan: Thanks for your suggestions regarding Bounce! I'll try to factor those in. This project actually began life as the two-button game I described earlier, and I will try to make that available as well. I'm glad you liked the games .

mouser: I agree with you on this one. Flight is obviously a test, and Bounce, as I have said earlier, was actually designed as a two-button game, and right now both really feel unpolished. Herder, on the other hand, was designed 100% to work as a switch game, and I'm actually very happy with the way it turned out. I think that it's a lot of fun to play, and, with some more work and balancing (to make its difficulty more reasonable, etc.), I think that it has the potential to be there with Solitaire, Minesweeper, Pinball, etc. - the types of games that non-gamers (who I think make up the majority of computer people) would play in between waiting for e-mail to load, etc. I hope, with the help of everyone, for the games to reach that potential! 

Thank you so much for all the feedback! Work will continue on these three games, and hopefully they can eventually turn into games that a lot of people will enjoy.

Thank you so much for this contest! It has been a great opportunity for me, and I'm sure that it has been a great opportunity for everyone who has joined this contest. Through this contest, a good number of new games came into being for everyone to enjoy .

16

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 07, 2007, 12:11 AM »

I'm really glad that you like the games 

Deozaan: Yes, I agree that the game needs more variety. I think that it would actually work better as a two-button game, pressing left and right instead of space; with that, the game's difficulty would still remain reasonable even if more jumping characters were onscreen simultaneously. Another option which I think might have worked better is to still make the game one-switch, but the dragon should just have two positions. Again, with that, more sprites could be added to the screen, potentially making it more exciting. Yes, Flight is a start - unfortunately, I wasn't able to add to the December 22 version, but I hope to complete this eventually. The same goes for the other two - still lots of improvements to be done! As to why they seem to be more high quality...  perhaps it's because they actually work this time  Although I guarantee, upon my honor, that the only things that I have changed are the two issues mentioned above  Perhaps the games look good at your monitors' native resolution instead of 640x480/800x600? 

mouser: Thanks for the suggestion!  I will incorporate this change when I update the game. Right now, only one ring is added for every bubble herded. Try to herd multiple bubbles at the same time for bigger points! 

17

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 06, 2007, 10:39 PM »

Yeah!  I haven't become familiar yet with the Python-related happenings here on DonationCoder.com, but I'm really willing to help out! 

18

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 06, 2007, 08:04 AM »

The previously mentioned issues have been resolved, and I've uploaded the new zips . Please use the same links in the first post.

By the way, the zips contain Windows versions of the game. If you use a Mac or Linux machine, or if you're simply interested, you can grab a copy of the source code versions of the zips:

Herder
Bounce
Flight

To run the source code, you will need Python and Pygame. Please feel free to experiment with the code!

And finally, screenshots!

Herder:


Bounce:


Flight:

19

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 05, 2007, 10:22 PM »

Yes - no added features - just to fix bugs In particular, the two issues mentioned. I'm hoping that the judges will use the fixed entries  Thank you so much!

20

Accessibility Game Contest / Re: my switch games

« on: January 05, 2007, 10:14 PM »

Deozaan: Oh no!  and thank you so much for this very important feedback! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test my code on other machines, and I think I made the mistake of making EVERY key a switch!  And thank you so much for telling me about the fullscreen issue - I actually agree with this  Unfortunately, I'm using a PC different from the one I code in, and I don't have my files with me - hopefully, I will be able to change the switch to spacebar only, and take out the fullscreen. Again, thank you so much for this important feedback - it could've cost me a lot 

mouser: I'm glad that you liked the game! I'll be updating the game to remedy the problems the games currently have - I would just like to ask if it would be okay for me to enter the "fixed" versions instead? I promise that the only things that I will change are:

• Make the spacebar the only switch key.
• Make the game run in a window.

Nothing more. I hope that this issue wouldn't cause my game to be disqualified because of being unplayable  . Thank you so much!

The reason why I'm posting this request in this public forum is so that other people, in particular other contestants, can dispute this request of mine just in case it seems unreasonable - but I hope it isn't 

Again, thank you so much!

21

Accessibility Game Contest / my switch games

« on: January 05, 2007, 05:50 AM »

Hello everyone! I'm really sorry for uploading my submissions this late... I'm from the Philippines and the recent Taiwan quake has made accessing the internet very difficult in this part of the world Fortunately (and surprisingly!), I found a PC with fast-enough internet for me to make the entries available to everyone. Here are the links to the zips (I'll post this as a draft first while uploading the zips... the links will follow ):

Herder
Bounce
Flight

I have to admit that Flight is unfinished though, but you may want to take a look anyway . Here are the instructions:


Herder:

Hold the key to change the orientation of the snake's rotation, and encircle the bubbles using the snake to make them disappear. In order to eliminate the floating bubbles, which is the objective of the game, you need to have the correct orientation and the snake's color should match the bubble's color - this will be better understood once the game is played, and I think it can be easily figured out .

Bounce:

Press any key to change the position of the catcher, and make sure that none of the characters fall.

Flight:

Hold any key to flap the wings of the dragon, and avoid the bombs.


Right now, I'm having a bit of a problem making screenshots, so I'll try to post them within the next few days.

Thank you so much for this amazing contest, and good luck to everyone!

edited to attach picture