Programming again. Woo.

Leave a comment

On Monday the programming course started and even though it’s been two years since I last used a programming language it quite easy to pick up again. Two years ago I used the language Java and there are similarities between it and C++, but I’m not complaining about that.

I went through the PDF with exercises thinking they were relatively easy until I got to Program 23. I could not quite get my head around how to do it and consulted the book. I found that it wasn’t all that bad, all I needed to do was:

int var;                            // Declaring the essential

for (var = 0; var < 8; var++)        // Start of loop with initiation, expression and incrementation
{
std::cout << var << std::endl;     // Output variable ‘var’
}
if (var == 8){                        // If statement of ‘if var being eight is true, do this shit right here below’
std::cout << “Going down.” << std::endl; // Output ‘Going down.’
for (var = 7; var >= 0; var–)    // Loop going the opposite direction of the first loop
{
std::cout << var << std::endl;    // Output variable ‘var’
}
}

Also, everytime std::cout is typed you have a sad face in the middle :c

Developement Diary; part 10

Leave a comment

Earlier today I justified my choice of music that I felt represented the game’s ‘feel’.

This is what I said:

“As I heard the song ‘Success with Baboon’ I had a vision. This vision became, for me, the intro sequence of the game and it was similar to this; Monsieur Singe, our protagonist, is awakened by murmurs. Drowsily walking over to the window facing these muffled voices, he discovers that strange creatures wielding the power to revoke his claim to territory (sponges), have invaded his property. I then felt the intro sequence needed a little more than a minute of music, so exploring the same theme I kept listening to the album and found ‘Baboon Teleportation’ which fit the bill perfectly.

‘Professor Pumplestickle’ was not my first choice of gameplay music, my first original choice being ‘fanvacoolt (men om nånting)’. But as the concept grew and we established that Monsieur Singe is in fact a gentleman, a more classical tone seemed more fitting.

‘Game over’ music is usually either designed to be ‘sad’ or mocking and I wanted no part of that, which is why I chose ‘Plasma Pool’. The game over screen is often dismissed within a second or two, I wanted it however to capture the attention of the player and let them know Monsieur Singe was sponge bathed because of their inability to with a jetpack. Also, sponge baths are serious business.

The soothing and mysterious melody of ‘Waltz of the Willows’ I thought was perfect for a narrative slide show.

‘Insectoid’ is the perfect dramatic flare for an introduction of a badass enemy with ‘Archangels of Sidaroth’ as the follow up to say “this is real and it is going down!” But if it were the case that the fight between a gentleman orangutan and his arch enemies lasts longer than two minutes, we dial it down a little with ‘Koala in the Spider’s Web’.“

Concept document: Developement diary

Leave a comment

Development Diary!

October 13th

Our jetpack orangutan project is in progress!

We have agreed to create the concept for our game about an orangutan with a jetpack.

October 14th

I worked from home today. I searched for a fitting audiovisual representation of what I believe the game could be.

Idea for main character name; Monsieur Singe, being French for ‘Sir Ape’.

Idea for a Power-up; top hat of temporary invincibility, acts as a shield.

Idea for a Power-up; monocle of true sight, slow motion enemies and enemy projectiles.

Super Power-up; if both top hat and monocle are equipped the player receives the status of ‘Gentleman Primate’. Enemies will stop attacking (and instead admire) Monsieur Singe.

I finished the sound mood board at 16:40 today.

October 15th

We are determining the best high concept for our game. I believe the one we’re going with is ‘Monsieur Singe, the jetpacking orangutan, uses his arsenal of fruit to defend his home’.

We discussed my ideas for Power-ups, which were accepted by the group and we chose the setting and story this day:

The setting is an artificial jungle in a zoo and the story is Monsieur Singe thinking he is still in the jungle and is trying to escape the zoo keepers’ sponge bath.

We peered at my choice of intro sequence music from the sound mood board, popular opinion said it was good.

We started talking about game play, if it should be a ‘fixed-to-player’ (like Super Mario Bros.) or ‘sliding’ (like Jets’n’Guns) side-scrolling game. We did not decide.

October 21st

We decided on a sliding scroller.

We started with our paper prototype today and hope to finish it today as well.

We also discussed power-ups in the paper prototype, we will tape the entire upside paper prototype and use a highlighter to mark it on the level.

We did finish the crude paper prototype of our game and we are happy with the results (we did test, but nothing conclusive was found). I am in charge of keeping it safe until tomorrow; I am the keeper.

October 22nd

Today, we will be working on the pitch. The outline was completed.

Today

We are playtesting the paper prototype more thoroughly before Marcus playtests it, to find obvious flaws. Again, no conclusive results.

Feedback on our paper prototype is as follows; it felt straightforward and uninteresting. A lot more things should be added to the program inculding enemy variations and environmental influences (which feels a tad obvious in hindsight).

Tools

For this project I have used;

Grooveshark – a music service I used for the soundboard.

YouTube – also for the soundboard

FreeSound FX – soundboard

Paper, paper towels, tape, magic markers (for the paper prototype)

Everything schoolish