Day 2

Day 2 - 2014-05-07

Since I had to stay at work longer, I didn't have as much time for development as yesterday.
Nevertheless, I came up with some cool ideas for the tutorial area and worked a bit on the prototype.
Here is the result:

The beginning sequence has our main hero waking up in a dark and lonely dungeon, trying to mend his broken mind with dreams, memories and hope (represented here by a ghost of his young self) - that's how he restores his sanity and the game would begin proper.

That's all what I could implement today.
The idea was to harken to the "good old days", freedom and imagination brought by childhood memories, which then re-kindle a person's "inner fire" and stir one towards something truly great - something that can re-vitalize not only the individual, but change the world in the process.

Many say that today's games lack this child-like wonder. I too want to bring the magic back. Will you join me?

The dialogue text used in this sequence comes from a poem my mother wrote once:


"Dreams"
(translated from Polish to English)

Return to me, dreams unfulfilled!
I will discover you anew
You wild, sensual, new...
to revive you
to dust off and resurrect you
to see you through
and fulfill
fulfill
fulfill.

I tried to ask arround deviantART to find a 3D artist, but to no scuccess.
Let's see what tomorrow will bring...

Thanks for reading!

-Michael

Day 1

Day 1 - 2014-05-06

I started working on the game's prototype.
So far I managed to create the splash screen. I made it in the style of old PlayStation demo discs, which was fun to make. Not sure how to go on about making the main menu, but I'll figure out something. Regardless, the game should start as soon as possible with few obstructions in-between the player and the game proper.

The original screens are 640x480 in actuality. It turns up to be PS1's highest supported resolution.
Would be nice to have a YouTube video to showcase it, but I don't have a proper video-editing software to put it together. Any suggestions?
I wish I could find more time, strength and means to work on the game more - but that's what weekends are for aren't they?

As promised, here are some samples from Johnny Butler, a talented music composer/producer, who was willing to write music for this project:

• Music by Johnny Butler.mp3
• Zeranoth 1.mp3

To those who were kind enough to help me out with this project - thank you!
I wouldn't have been able to do this without your support.

Thanks for reading!

-Michael

Development Blog

Hello guys,

After some reconsideration, I decided to re-purpose this blog as a development blog.
It will act as an online diary of sorts, where I will record the smaller things concerning the development of my game project - "Legends of Zeranoth".

Hopefully, I will record stuff on a daily basis, but we'll see.

A lot of things have happened in the time between I left this blog and today.
The game's story changed a bit (which caused an artist to quit) and a musician joined the team a week ago.
I really like his style and hope to showcase it in the near future.

However, when it comes to the graphics, I hit a snag or two.
While I'm pretty good at pixel art, let's face it - I'm not an experienced 3D modeller.
The reason I considered 3D is because:

• You make the model once and then animate it. Unlike spriting, you don't have to re-draw everything for every single frame.
• I'm a huge fan of classic PlayStation games and their low-poly aesthetics (which will likely be the next trend, since pixel art has been done to death).
• I got a full version of 3DS Max 2012 for like 1 Euro in a local store, so why not give it a try?

Well, quite frankly, learning a new tool while trying to hold on to a fulltime job is barely doable.

You know what would have been really cool?

I saw some pretty amazing low-poly models made by the guys from Hive Workshop. These guys create 3D models for WarCraft 3 and they're pretty good at it. Maybe it worth to ask them for help, but how?

I'm also considering making a quick prototype in The Games Factory 2.

I've read an article about the making of Blizzard's latest online card game Heartstone and it inspired me to do this. There, they made the complete game prototype entirely in Flash before the main team even started working on it. Essentially, they pointed at the PC in the corner of the room and said "this is the game, now re-make it", which is pretty neat, but unconventional. However, it gave the project a much-needed structure and showcased what's so great about the game.

Hopefully, I will able to do the same soon enough.

-Michael

Moved to new website

Hey guys,

I forgot to mention it, but I've moved to the following address:
http://legendsofzeranoth.webs.com/

Hope to see you there,

-Michael

Pre-alpha 0

Hey guys,

Short update before I go job hunting.
The pre-alpha 0 is complete.
Not much to show, as the screenshot looks identical to the previous one.
However, the player is able to move Nemo on the screen using the arrow keys.
I'm not sure when I will finish the next update, as I will be busy in the next couple of weeks, but you can expect something in the next 2-3 weeks from now.

Scheduled for the next version (pre-alpha 1) is implementing entities - a framework for all physical objects withing the game, with their own sprites and variables/properties.

I plan the engine to be highly scalable, as to accommodate any future major improvements and porting to different platforms, such as the Sony PlayStation (and by extent PS2 and PSP). But that is for now.

See you next time!

-Michael