Checking in!

Back from Vacation, and working out states. Not US states, but states like modes or something. I have to build a bit more of the basics to get into the nitty gritty of the combat portion because those details rely on such things like states. It'll make more sense later I swear it ^.^

I'm also working on some placeholder menus to help facilitate things. I have family visiting this upcoming week though, so not much will get done during that time.

Time Transplants pls!

Okay I don't have much to actually show, because all my work has been just doing things in code that don't change how it looks. I don't even have anything working to the extent that I could post a video or gif. BUT what I have been doing is getting everything in place and working to make the A* pathfinding working, which also comes into play in allowing the the player to move their character. I went a head and made a tile class, a node class, converted the multidimensional array into a working list, and had that draw the tiles for the tile map.

I've also picked up a short order job to model/texture a 3d portrait, as well as I am still working on a 3d logo for someone else, which I'm trying to focus on currently. SOOO, for the next week it's just me, Maya and Zbrush. Then after that it's vacation time for a week. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to this as soon as possible, because I know what I need to do, I just need time to hash it out. I need a time transplant!

Pxl Perfect

Alright! I haven't posted anything in a bit even though I've been working diligently. I found out that moving the character is going to be a wee bit more difficult than previously thought. I need to use A* path-finding to create a moveable field. This seems to be part of the AI (small part)as well.

I did fix the camera size ration portion so all the pixels show correctly for the map. I also figured out the values needed for the diagonal movement when not in a battle ( aka not restricted to tile to tile movement). Check out the pixels! Well now you can see my place holder tiles have holes, which I knew. The tiles I'm using as placeholders are 64x31 for some reason. My tiles will be 64x32.

Tiles tiles and more tiles!

Look, look!!

I was able to get tiled maps working using data from Tiled. Yay me! Okay so ... now that I'm done that... I guess... hmm.

I know! I'll work character movement I guess! It seems to be the next hardest thing to figure out.

Iso Grid ... WORKING?!

As you can see I've gotten farther with my stuff, I have a moveable character and an isometric grid, but there is something off with the way the pixel art is rendering as it's not crisp and beautiful as I want it to be. It's probably because I just don't know what I'm doing with the camera and units yet. I'll look into it more later. The tiles are all placeholders, so is the character - though that is actually my own art.

I think I want to have the map layout zigzag style as opposed to the diamond style though. Figuring out this stuff was extremely difficult considering the only examples were poorly explained, had no comments, and written in languages other than C# or included code with no unity C# equivalents (such as sprite batch, which I still don't really know how that works).

What I ended up doing was Instantiating prefab tiles(cloning a pre-made tile) instead of what all the examples I found were doing - which was finding a sprite within a sprite sheet. I was able to get a top-down square tile type map to work absolutely fine so if I can't get the finesse of the isometric tiles to be what I want I may just scrap the iso theme and stick with something simpler. I've come this far though, so I think there's a good chance I'll be able to do what I originally wanted to do- beautiful iso tiles!!!

Update: Well it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, and I found errors and issues that I also fixed, but I have the isometric map drawing like I want it to. Now to implement a way to change up the tiles.


Update2 : I can use Tiled to create my maps and then use the data saved in the txt format for the actual maps within Unity. I'm doing this for now because the idea of writing a tile map editor that does Iso tiles... just no. This work around will be very nice and I'm fine with doin' it this way for sure.

Tiled maps and such

So I've moved on from the inventory portion and the profile portion to trying to make an actual level or tiled map. I've run into a problem in that all the resources I've found that go over any sort of tile or map engine or whatever you want to call it, all of them are using XNA. Now that alone isn't really all that problematic, but I've run into something called SpriteBatch. Now I kinda know what it does, but not enough right now to figure out how to make a unity equivalent.

~Sigh~ So I'll be tackling that. I would just use uTiled and then use Tiled maps, but I need to know how to make a character navigate using the tiles and indexes, so I need to know how such things work under the hood so to speak.

Then again maybe I'm over complicating it.

Layering, Color changing, and string to Color32 done!

So I've done the layer of the images as a layering of a sprite, that way I can easily turn on and off the sprite renderer to show coats and what-not. 

 As you can see here I've moved the shading layer to expose the other layers which just have color information. The actual layers will need to be white so that changing the tint won't obscure what color it turns out to be. The colors here are just for my own visual confirmation.

Basic layers a dragon profile picture would have is the body layer, the hair layer, the extra layer, and then shading. Nothing happens to the shading layer.

When I press play to test out my color changing system it works! I've only applied it to the base  body layer, but what you don't see is that I take a string that holds the rgb colors and then turn them into a working color32. What I don't have working yet is getting the colors from the dragon image database (Database that holds all the information needed to create the images of that dragon).


I've also gone ahead and created a menu that draws the user's dragon party. Right now I'm struggling with some simple GUI controls, but I should have that figured out in no time.

After I get that portion done, I want to change gears and start creating a navigational field and see if I can do it with the normal isometric map using Tiled and uTiled. We'll see how well that goes.

So! What I have done this week is more ... research. Well I did some other things too like more coding stuff and more writing my own versions of what I learned. I was able to layer the images to get the results I wanted as well. I'm not too sure about performance right now, but so far it looks good. I also set up a virtual database so I can start laying down the meat and potatoes stuff. It worries me that I'll have to learn about php, encryption and so on. It still seems way over my capabilities right now.

One thing at a time! Right? I'll be focusing on database structure right now so that I can use that to create more functionality. From there I'll focus on the image creation system. Then I'll go to combat. Those are the two big ones. Well... the combat stuff is HUGE. Image creation is more like a warm up. Actually I think almost any of the features would be warm up to getting the combat portion done. At least right now I know that everything I want to do is possible and I have a way of doing it. From reading the case of characters to determine breeding, to logging age, and layering images. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get the image system to work without having to learn how to code custom shaders. I may need to do that still depending on how I'm going to handle the player's units on the combat map. I could layer sprites- them being small and all the alpha sorting wouldn't be too much draw I would think. We'll have to see.

I'll have to update this with some pictures later on ^.^

Sunday, sunday.

I told myself I wasn't going to work on anything this weekend and relax given that I was starting to dream in code, wake up early to work/learn, and at the same time seeming to not get rid of a bug that's made me feel pretty meh for a week now (Like a mild lingering flu, probably something Dan unknowingly took home from the studio).

Even though I set down that rule for myself and had every intention of keeping it, I found myself sitting here at 5pm, notes open, wiki open (the wiki is the work-in-progress Andicuri game design doc) and attempting to get something done. I don't understand what's wrong with me. In any case I've discovered whole areas of the doc that still need to be fleshed out and corrected, or translated into something I can use code wise. While I would attempt to close my notebook and stop, I know I'd just go back to working in some shape or form- whether it's cleaning/ house-making/ chores, modelling/ creating store assets, or working on the game. It might as well be the one I want to do most.

As for the code thing, I've discussed, thought, and researched ability systems for RPGs. For the game I'm doing I believe the simplest thing to do would be the classic rpg turn style, but the monotony of such a style isn't really something I want. I've looked into the tactics style turn based vs the classic style in terms of fun, and tactics - also being my favorite type other than real time - wins out when pitted against the classic style. The problem is that the tactics style battle would be much harder for me to code considering my current level. SURE I've gotten better by leaps and bounds in like... a week, but who knows if that'll continue. I may just peak out at intermediate to junior type levels and never be able to get any better. In any case I did actually research the tactics battles more. I know what I would need to do, but I don't know how to do what I need to do. I also don't understand the why behind some of it as well, but more on that later.

Currently as it stands I need to figure out abilities regardless of classic turn style or tactics turn style. This is what I have so far:
I want the player units (dragons) to have two sets of abilities.
One set is a constant unchangeable set, though the abilities inside the set can change.
*Second set I either want the player to be able to assign or the unit inherits the set from the parents.
Abilities can be leveled
Abilities will earn experience for that ability when used
Abilities will need to be learned either by leveling another ability to unlock
**Special combo abilities will be unlocked and learned @ leveling two abilities from different sets
More abilities may be added later

* - This I think I'd need opinion on

** - So far I know that most abilities will be able to be stored in a database, with the level and current experience being stored somewhere else. Say maybe something like having a small table or list for an individual unit/dragon that stores the ability information, but adds an ability to that list dynamically, as it's learned. The other idea is having a list that's already there, as in technically the dragon "knows" all the abilities in the entire game but what the list stores is the level and experience of the abilities- then only displaying the abilities the unit can actually use based on the current sets and the current levels.

If I go with inheriting the abilities so that the secondary set of abilities never changes, then the list of potential abilities is much smaller and I can probably store that somewhere more easily perhaps? If I want to add more abilities later, it would be more difficult to add them as each table that holds abilities would then need to be added onto, and it would be a rather large table. Should I break down that information even more?

These are just some of the things I'm running into that I know I'll need to come up with a solid design for that just isn't there right now. Anyways I'm off to try and figure it out.

Getting Back on the Blog!

A lot has happened since my last post. I've done a lot of small jobs, reached a lot of conclusions, drove across the US twice... again and never touched my Pazuzu model during that time. Haha. Also I'm getting married and I have been attempting to plan a wedding, etc etc. I'll just pretend like I wrote out everything that happened and all that I aspired to do in the past year or so of not posting anything.
Good. Imagination is now in full effect!
Now I can move on to more important things, like what I'm doing now. So lately I've been ambling about, taking care of Dan(household things, so on) as he works till he's ragged with hours even sweatshops wouldn't do. In the mean time, I've been doing several other things, one being creating a stock for an etsy store. The other, which is more recent is teaching myself through mean of the internets on how to code. Code in C#. Now for those of you who know me, you know how incredibly difficult scripting or coding of any sort has been for me each time I've tried to pick it up before. This time though... this time is different!

No, I really mean it, it IS different. I think I'm really getting it this time. Currently I'm working in Unity, with C# using that monodevelop program that unity comes with. So far I have a working item database and player inventory. Granted I did follow a tutorial- which I have to finish the last part- I also created and implemented a few of my own things. And they work. It may not be the best way to accomplish these things, as I am still learning it all, but it works. It's way better than I've ever done before at any point in my life when I've attempted to do scripting/coding/programming/whatever you wanna call it.

With this renewed ferver I am going to attempt to create the coding for the Andicuri Project, which I started YEARS ago and never really was able to get a programmer to come help me with. I do have a lot of programmer type friends, but they're a hot commodity, and I'm a poor person. I'm determined this time to make this work!

DETERMINED!

A nice side effect of this will also be that I'll know the ins and outs of the unity engine like a pro by the time I'm done. I might just be unstoppable! Also I might be able to do more tech stuff which would mean more jobs, more pay, and more job security. Also, just with the little bit I've done, I've been able to approach my game design in a much better fashion. What I mean is that I have to think in a completely different way to figure out how to make a bit of code work, and when I go back to my own design doc, I can see now what's off, what's fluff, what won't work, and so on.

A series of unfortunate events... or awesome events!

Well I had plans for getting my portfolio and site all nice and updated, also got that 2 week job to tide me over, right? Well they kept extending me over and over. Now my contract is up and they might be extending me again (though I guess giving me a new short term contract would be more technically correct). They're all in crunch mode too so I had no time to get any portfolio work done with 10-12 hour work days and 45 mins for the bus ride to and from. I've had two interviews as well, but they both decided to go with someone else and it's probably because I having no high res film anythings on my site.

So the search for a good job here in Vancouver continues, and with time off (unless extended) I'll be able to update my portfolio, website, and my new Paz as I had planned!

A nice turn of events

I am taking an extremely temporary job- of two weeks. It seems that I keep finding myself in a "save the day" position where they bring in someone when deadlines are looming and the work doesn't seem to be getting done in time. Let's see if I save the day again like I did before ^.~

And now for something completely different:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Redoing My Pazuzu Character

You can find my original Pazuzu character on my portfolio site if you really want to see it. I decided a bit back before I moved to Vancouver to redo this character. Originally it was hastily done while creating all the assets for Tribes of the Eternal Moon. While this character was a bit of an after thought and for the most part, wasn't even supposed to be textured, I powered through it as I put together my demo reel in the last month of Full Sail. Given that I've learned quite a bit and I've kept at enhancing my skills, I decided he needed a make over (only doing him as a bust). 

So here is the old Pazuzu, God of Pestilence. 

Sculpted

Edge Flow- untriangulated

Basic Diffuse texture added

Now what I ended up doing is making him into a bust, fixing his edgeflow, going back in and fixing some of his anatomy, like his jaw which the new one now closes perfectly with bared teeth overlapping nicely. I also didn't like flaps of skin hanging down either and so I changed those to be a leather patch nailed into his bone. =D

This shows the newer sculpted version. For those who don't know, the colored squares are checkers used to make sure the UVs, or textured area on the model match in size, and also aren't skewed or wrong in some way. The flesh to bone area on the muzzle now has... a fleshy area of skinless tissue. These are all just screen caps in maya by the way.

As you can see the edge flow is much more organic. The leather strap area has a max stretch (current mouth position) and will fold over when the mouth closes. The 5 star is located in a relatively safe place in terms of potential animation deformation. I'd say this is still a medium quality in terms of poly count like the original.

I've been neglecting the Spikes and collar so far and just started going into painting the diffuse. This time I'm not spending 2 hours to texture the entire character like before, and I'm hand painting the bust like I wanted to do with the original. At this moment I have hardly touched the diffuse other than to block it out. I've been working on some pick up items and such for another project, and getting my citizenship/sin/applications for jobs done otherwise. I will be taking breaks at some point to get his diffuse going this week though. =D nothing better than taking a break to paint!

St George Coat of Arms

To celebrate the attaining of my very own SIN after many trials and tribulations (which include being attacked by crows ) I'm going over a small and quick project I did for my father as a Christmas present for last Christmas. What I did was take our original Coat of arms, or Heraldry and redid it. Originally I was just going to work off the original but as I was listening to all the research my father had done for our family and how inaccurate and cookie cutter heraldry sites tend to be, I decided I needed to do my own research.

This is the original. 

I don't really know where it came from, 

but it's kind of sloppy, wouldn't you say?

So looking into how these Heraldry images are made, it became apparent to me that it wasn't just this equals that. It turned out that every family has a written heraldry, which is much like a word formula, called a blazon, which can then be used to create any heraldry image based on a sentence. For the St. George family, ours was this:

Argent a Chief Azure overall a Lion rampant Gules crowned Or.

The Blazon means this: Silver Shield with a Blue top, Lion positioned over all the shield, with an attacking position facing to the left (3 legs up), colored red with a gold crown.

Starting point where I focused on the lion.

This Blazon is incomplete since it only goes over the shield and mentions nothing about the treatment of the helm. For some of it I had no choice but to go off what the original depicted. I did find out that the knots on top of the helm are basically the feathers coming out of the helm, as well as the "leaves" that decorate the space around the shield. These ornate parts don't seem to have any meaning other than to ornate the image.

 I did change one thing which I thought was necessary since the family did attain knight/nobility hood at some point in their history (it's been 6 months I'm foggy on the actual details of who and when). The Helm with an open visor means that the family had attained nobility or knighthood. 

Changes made, rough coloring.

With everything ready and blocked in, I went a head and finished it off for the final piece shown below:

The Final

Hurray for finishing my dual citizenship ... ness!

From East to West: Arriving in Vancouver

I've arrived in Vancouver, BC, and I have to say, this city is pretty great. I traveled by my self from Michigan, driving the entire way. It's now been a week since I've arrived, and I'm still pretty sore, though I suspect it's from the large amount of walking I've been doing, and not from driving 6 days straight.

As for my road trip, I do have to say that technically I DID drive from Maryland to Vancouver with a couple month stop at Michigan- So I'm keeping my claim of traveling across the country. I was staying in the "suburbs" of Detroit if you can call it that. It was basically the Utica and Rochester area.

I ended up leaving Michigan only to stop and stay in Michigan City, Indiana. Nothing really all that amazing about the drive there, but I did like my stay at a Microtel Inn for the first time. The next day I traveled to Hudson Wisconsin. This also meant that I was traveling through Chigaco. For the most part I ended up seeing a great deal of industrial areas.

After Chicago as passed it was apparent that I was in the land of Cheese and farming.

I stayed the night at a small place called Royal Inn, which I believe was a family operated hotel. It wasn't a holiday inn or anything but it was pretty nice. From there I took off towards North Dakota, passing along the rolling hills and farm land which seemed to go on forever. Then I encountered some curious hills, which signified me entering the 'Bad Lands', or so the oil guys told me they were.

I finally made it to Medora North Dakota, of which I thought for the longest time was some made up place the Google guys put on a map as a joke. There is only one road into this tiny town and one road going out. I think the town was all of 4 blocks big. This area is just amazing though, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to "get away from it all". There was a nice ranch, and tons of fun little things to do for summer time. It was a good thing I stayed before their tourist season started, because it was hard enough to get a room with the demand from the lack of places to live for the oil boom employees. And I saw plenty of oil pumps and rigs on the way to Medora. The Gas price was pretty cheap as well, but from Medora on out, the price just climbed.

Leaving to get on my way was a bit tricky considering that I had to find where their one gas station was hiding. While I waited on my pump, which was ancient, I got a good picture of the building across the way. The Badlands soon gave way to a flatter terrain.

After a while I saw something looming in the distance. If my Chevy Tracker had eyes and feelings, it'd probably would have been in emotional pain.

Needless to say it was pretty painful driving up those mountains into Bozeman, Montana. My little Tracker just isn't happy with hills, and even though I used the truck lane, and the power option, it was a struggle. The temperature went from a cool 75 / 80 degrees to 50 or lower in a matter of an hour or two. At some point it started snowing.

 So I finally arrived in Bozeman. I was exhausted at this point, but I checked into my hotel, comfort inn, and took a look around.

I found that the Museum of the Rockies was open and I woke up early the next morning so I could at least see their famous Dinosaur exhibit. I was not disappointed! The exhibit was just amazing with very detailed fossils on display, quality I hadn't seen before. It might have been that they were the actual fossils. I also was able to see laboratory where actual Paleontologists were cleaning and preparing fossils. It was fantastic!

After Bozeman, Montana, I took off to my next destination; Moses Lake, Washington. I Drove down the mountain back into more rolling hills. This time the hills were pretty empty. Some scattered farms were here and there, but it was mainly lakes, wind, hills, and nothing much else. I ended up at the "Interstate Inn" which was also more of a family run business. They were really nice and friendly though, and I had the best sleep of my travels there. That's right they had special beds with those expensive memory foam mattresses.

The next day, and the last day, I'm off! But what do I see again? More Mountains. It looks as if the white caps of the mountains feed off into clouds.

And then it snows again. More this time. I'm thinking to myself at this point, "Geeze I wonder if the roads are icy... "

Finally I get out of the mountains and up to the Canadian border. After 2 hours with the immigration office there, I was allowed in! Haha. Mainly the hold up was them checking the content of my car and on my Citizenship. In any case I arrived in Vancouver at last. The end!

*All photos were taken with my Android phone.