Monday, October 31, 2011

Oh Yeah, Almost Forgot…

Happy Halloween and some junk.

Happy Halloween

Game Update


Over the weekend I decided to try my hand at programming the game I'm developing as this year's resolution. The problem is, I'm also trying to learn Java while I create it. It's not that the language is all that difficult, in some ways it's actually a lot simpler than C++ but the weird little conventions are really killing me.
The game programming book I bought to help me conceptualize the dynamics of the game had this very long program that I had to input manually. Why? Well, because the book's author is "remodeling" his site and all of the sample programs are nowhere to be found. But I figured, at least entering it myself will give me time to think through the logic of the example and maybe lead me to understand the material better. HA! No.
In fact, the whole thing took so long that I would end up forgetting that I had created methods to handle certain tasks only to end up using them much further along in the programming phase. I had to keep looking back between my classes in order to remember what the hell I was asking the program to do.

Eventually, and I'll admit I learned a thing or two, the entire program was entered into the compiler. For about 5 seconds, I could feel the ground beneath me shake with the epicness of the moment (yes I know "epicness" isn't a word, thank you spell-check). And THEN... I tried to run it. Apparently ... in spite of the program being an applet, and not needing a "main" method, it wouldn't work as a jar file, or as an applet running on a browser because it didn't have a main class. I can't set a main class, and the compiler (NetBeans) doesn't show me any way to make a class into a main class. I can't just add a main method in the main class because it's not a application... well, I could... but that doesn't really solve the problem.


 

So 3 hours later after checking through several forums and googling the hell out of it (damn it, spell-checker, that IS a word... or should be), I hadn't found the answer. Needless to say I threw the book through my window and went to watch that episode of South Park that's been waiting on my Tivo. This could take a while...

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Awesome Band Names 1

Just a quick, short list of awesome band names. One day, I hope to start a band and quickly switch names to make use of all of these. But until then, you’re all welcome to steal them.

1) Windmill of Death

2) Shine Get

3) Bubblegum Haircut

4) Adorably Tipsy

5)  Very Important Pagan

Impressions: Real Steel

RealSteel

I came into this movie a bit late even though I’d been wanting to see it for a while. The trailer gives the movie an interesting vibe that really appeals to me: Dark future where complex technology is an everyday thing. Add to that Hugh Jackman, who admittedly is hit or miss with his roles, and you have my attention.

What I didn’t expect from the movie is the interesting interchange between Jackman’s character, Charlie Kenton, and his on-screen son, played by Dakota Goyo. The first few minutes of the film revolve around Charlie’s “down on his luck”, ex-pro gone amateur persona. Yes I admit that some of it is quite cliché, but as we get further into the film we see how the character is fleshed out without resorting to the usual pound-it-into the audience methods of film making. There is some of that, demonstrated by Charlie’s gambling addiction, but as we see more of him we’re led to realize that the gambling is more of a symptom of his character flaws: Charlie is impulsive and quick to act, traits that may have served him in the past but now become a hindrance.

Interestingly, Charlie’s son, Max, is exactly the opposite at the start of the film and watching the two change throughout the movie, bringing their personalities closer to each other, is charming. Not all the dialogue is gold here, but there are some really nice exchanges pulled off very well by the two actors. One of the better scenes revolves around Max’s decision to retrieve an old, junk robot from the scrap yard. Charlie’s response to his pig-headed son’s adamant behavior is to say “If you want it, you’ll have to bring it in yourself.” Which, of course, he does. As Max pushes the old robot along on a cart towards their tractor his reply doesn’t even need words: he just starts punching away at him weakly while Charlie simply tries to parry.

Evangeline Lilly does a good job of serving as the love interest in the film, she looks good and is charming even when chastising Charlie. But part of me feels that she was directed to be a bit weak rather than the tough woman she should be. When she becomes legitimately angry at Charlie she yells at him with a partial smile on her face. Several times during the film I wish she’d just slugged the guy.

And speaking of slugging: the final star of the film is, of course, Atom the robot. I haven’t done any real research on this but the robot scenes often look like a mix between CGI, puppetry and live-action robot suits. Some of this is more evident than others during certain scenes but over-all it works quite well. The only thing that didn’t work for me was the attempt to make Atom seem more human or even sentient. We spend a lot of time seeing how these robots are NOT human and have no independent thought. The film then tries to tell us, through Max, that they MUST have feelings after all. No. No they don’t.

Ultimately I think the movie works because it’s about the characters reacting to their world rather than the world acting on the characters. In fact, the world they’re in isn’t really that different from our own. We’re told the story takes place (by inference) after 2016 but we don’t really know how much after. Other than the presence of robots and a few really big screens outside of stadiums, the technology is more of less the same as our own. I think this works in favor of the film because we don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out how things got to where they are; we already know: time passed.

I’ll say two things about this movie to finish up: First, this movie is an interesting mix of elements but they aren’t necessarily original. Second, I don’t care because it’s charming and entertaining enough even in this incarnation. The movie has a lot in common with the movies “Over the Top” and “Rocky”, two Silvester Stalone movies. I have to wonder if the writer is a fan of Stalone’s. But in spite of noticing the similarities even half-way through the movie, I still enjoyed it. I just wish someone had interviewed Jackman while he says “Yo Adrian, we did it!”

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Is it fun yet?

A little while ago I decided to learn to design games. Then, at the beginning of the year, I made it my resolution to design and program an entire game by December. So far, I’ve learned a lot about design but still don’t feel like I can tackle an entire game. But, having made the resolution, I have no intention of backing out.

The one thing that I’ve realized as I continue learning about design and games in general is that making things fun is actually very difficult. Designing a game itself is easy. That’s just a matter of putting together a series of rules that have to be followed sequentially or conditionally to make events occur that are either declared “in favor” of the player or “against” the player. But really… that’s not fun.

Have you ever been so bored that your start bouncing a ball against the wall. And after a while you say to yourself, “Ok, now my goal is to bounce the ball at THAT specific spot”. If you were to ask yourself “was that fun?” the answer would probably be “no'”. And yet it was a kind of game.

Right now, that’s how I feel my game design is going. I’m putting a bunch of rules together that either get the player closer to their goal or impede them from their goal. I don’t ever feel like I’m actually making anything FUN.

So at this point, I’ve decided to do a couple of things. First, I’m going to build a game that isn’t really a game. I’m going to build an engine that can be used to put together a point-and-click adventure game. Whether that takes the form of a Myst style game or more of a Monkey Island style game, I have yet to determine. Second, I have to play a lot more games than I have been. I need to get to the root of what makes games fun to play. I have some theories floating around from what I’ve read, but I don’t always agree with those. The only thing I tend to agree with is that games that are most “fun” are those in which the player is always learning something new. Even if the thing they’re learning is only how to be better at the game. So that’s my starting point. Always have the player learn something new about the game, the mechanics, or about the level. The player should always feel like there’s something new happening to them or their avatar.

The only question now is, “How the hell do I do that?!”