Open Source, Youtube vids

So, I know its been quite a while but thanks to my friend Rael I've managed to recover the source to the engine off of my bad harddrive : ) More information and a post on it can be found at:

http://sonicfangameshq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7019

Besides that, somebody randomly posted a promo video of the engine test which is frikkin awesome


So anyway, I might pick this up sometime... maybe create a demo to show an employer for some proof that I've been doing this thing for a while, maybe even port it to make it playable on google TV and android : )  The only thing is I have a pretty primitive game engine right now built in Java that I hope to advance slowly over some time(building up with original, and given that probably more profitable stuff). Right now I'm really busy with programming some kickass games for Android and uh... bumming around for summer lol. You can keep up with me on this sort of stuff at http://www.rob2d.blogspot.com

An Update

Helloo,

Sorry for the lack of updates. To be honest, I haven't spent any time on this project at all. It was a little hard to get my mind into things with everything going on. But some good news :) Between the last post and this one, I've taught myself most of the basics of Java programming. Since I need to practice anyway(#1 language employers want in new york city apparently), I had thought of a really good idea so that I can keep this project rolling while at the same time getting better. I'm going to be hopefully developing a level editor using the Java Swing library(which is pretty much what Java uses for it's windows-esque GUI) and some simple file streams. I'm still learning and I don't know how much time between the gym, school, and whatever you call my social life that I'll have to devote towards this - hence the word hopefully.  But I will post an update next month. I've also got an Android phone finally, and it is completely badass. That is all : )

Awesome

So completely out of nowhere, after writing that post, I get an AIM from a guy named Retronic who used an old base engine of mine for a project of his. Well was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is awesome! If you want to check it out you can find it at SAGE.

Anyway, I just thought that was newsworthy and inspiring.

Catch you all later : )

The Sensible Approach

Well, I just wanted to update you all on whats going on.

I did quite a bit of work and then I realized that the summer semesters are pretty painful at the 300 level. lol. I'm gonna to take a break; But its not the end! I need to balance my coursework with the rest of my life. I know a lot of you guys at SFGHQ and my friends are reading so thanks for supporting me! I'm also getting better through school work. You'll see me again soon. If I don't come back to this, I'll be working on IPhone and Android projects(which was really my ultimate goal), in which you guys know you'll see me post about here <3

~Rob

Accurate Camera, Glitch Fixes

Hello all,

So after a glorious turn of events, my linear algebra class is not going to happen this summer!(not enough students). Wasn't looking forward to that anyway. lol. Anyway, that frees up a bit of time in my busy days to work on this : )

So its been a little slower but I've been working on this engine little by little and I finally have hit another milestone - a new camera has been implemented : ) I will have to credit Mercury for his great blog post on the subject(his "In the Shade of the Wave" is linked to the right), as it probably would have taken me a little while to come up with an idea like that(or at least, the method I was using would have been a painful amt of work). Pretty much the main difference between this camera system and one that stays centered on the player is that if you're moving fast, the player has to catch up with the camera. Aside from that-- when you jump vertically, things feel more in place as things are vertically cut into sections of center points rather than centered(helps to keep track of the action). Last thing to note about the camera system is of course that I finally added looking up/down when you hold the directions up and down, respectively.

(Screenshot: Running faster than the camera with the speed shoes)

Aside from this, I've fixed a few random glitches that had to do with the water shield. For example you cannot bounce on spikes, and some things I overlooked like being able to attack enemies or use your shield moves after bouncing off of a spring. Also thanks to my friend Hezman(who is working on Sonic Classic; info can be found at http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Classic) who pointed out that you can't turn while rolling/spindashing but I guess that only makes sense.

Well, until next time!

Speed Improvement, Ringloss

Long time no see huh? Hahah, I'm starting to amaze myself with how consistent I've been lately(although I'm pretty sure that's gonna change. I start my linear algebra/operating systems 4 week semester summer school class next week... f-ing hell man). Anyway, I've been trying to work on this thing faithfully while I have the time and I may even be able to make it to that SAGE thing to show the engine :) (www.sagexpo.org).

So yeah-- since last update, I noticed something idiotic I did which fixing sped up the engine by about 10% or so - I had all of the obstacle objects with a conditional if that checked if it was moving or not. Super redundant! So I used a moving object child which is also used during a quick check for that type of object. Another thing since last post that I've done was got rid of some glitches I noticed before but never got around to(not properly bouncing off tv boxes when going against a wall, not fireshield dashing against a wall w/the proper anim, some other random stuff). And lastly, I don't know what the hell I was thinking before but I just made the ring loss engine about 5x better ^_^ I began to realize that it was really tacky with them bouncing off of every wall every time so I programmed in that weird genesis thing where they sort of float through it randomly sometimes(who knew it had a purpose?). Suffice to say it's not perfect but its pretty-f*cking-awesome-enough compared to the way it was.(And this my friends, is why I haven't released a test yet. lol)

Animations, Springs, Layers

Alright, well... It was a drill weekend so I'm pretty much exhausted now. So, with every last ounce of energy I have in my fingers *melodramatic*... okay no seriously, I'm still making progress. Since the last update, I've been for the most part importing animations in terms of both the programming and the graphics that I was too lazy to before(springing, tails swimming, looking up, some other random stuff).




Aside from that, I added a new function that can redirect you in any direction and speed relative to the angle your currently standing at(so that you don't have to fall off of a slope at a crazy angle in order to change movement). This is mainly so that you can run up to a spring on a ceiling and get bounced straight back in the same direction,  instead of falling(see screenshot below).

Another thing I programmed in was a stage sensor that can disable all of the forward/backward special loop layer of obstacles(along with another sensor to reactivate them). This pretty much makes it so that you can go through an obstacle on one layer, then go through another one on an opposite layer, and then completely go back through everything to continue onto something new(the ceiling spring was actually a dead end where this happens). Small feature to program, but useful for better level designs later : )









Last but not least, I finally got off of my lazy ass and added the big air bubbles you catch you breath with.