Some time ago, while preparing to move to NYC I dug through a pile of old Mac floppy disks and found a bunch of old “games” I made as a kid (7-8 years old, almost twenty years ago) by drawing their title screens in a paint program called Modern Artist. This is the second of four five-game-set where I share the best with all of you. You can find the first set here.

It’s worth noting that while these were pretty much just badly drawn images of a title screen, you actually COULD play these. I’d be there manning the mouse, and when you wanted to play, I’d erase the title screen (double click eraser, baby!) and draw the first level for you. I’d sort of act as a dungeon master, and would draw the results of stuff depending on what you wanted your character to do. At 7, game engines were largely left up to the imagination. Anyway, here’s the next five:

Caverns of Calio
North American Release Date: September 25, 1989

For a game supposedly about caverns, I really don’t know why there aren’t any in the title screen. Looks like a bright, sunshiney, cavernless day out in the fields of Calio. As you can see, I was being original with the sword-in-the-stone motif by having it SIDEWAYS. Always pushing the envelope. Also, note the Super Seal denoting extreme quality and fun. You can also see my technique of killing badguys in my games by noting the orange remains: spraypaint tool. This is quite obviously the height of adventure gaming of the late 80’s!

I chose this one mostly because of the effort that went into it at the time. Can’t you tell? Actually, this was one of my more ambitious games as a kid. This is probably the first game where I had enemies, weapons, and items all drawn on construction paper. And there were a LOT OF THEM. I want to say at least 10-12 sheets of paper, each with about 20-30 drawings on it. I’d love to see if any of these still exist.

I remember a few things though: weapons started off with your basic wooden sword. You had swords, guns, bows, and I want to say things like grenades and bombs too. The most powerful weapons though were the “ciphers”. Pretty much ripped off from Strider. The weapons each had different classes, too: So after your plain sword, you had the super sword, then the hyper sword, then the force sword. So the most powerful weapon in the game was the “Force Cipher” which swung in a split second, and the sweep it makes stays for a second and does damage to anything touching it. Not bad for an 8 year old, huh?

There were also tons of enemies, too. The basic enemy was a sort of octoroc, although I can’t remember now what it was called, and the only reason I remembered it at all was from the mostly dissolved enemy on the right. (It’s the orange stuff.) You had three big bosses though, which were Mother Brain, Dragonlord, (both ripped off from their respective games) and the final was a massive giant with a giant force cipher. Forget what his name was.

Hyperbike
North American Release Date: November 17, 1989

If you remember the way the weapons worked from Caverns of Calio, you’ll know that HYPERBIKE is a really, really awesome bike. Fuck Superbike, Hyperbike is where it’s at. But where’s the Hyperbike at? Not in this picture. It’s off in Bikeland. And apparently you start off as some poor schmuck who has to walk his happy ass all the way to Bikeland to get the Hyperbike.

And you gotta think what kind of fucked-up place Bikeland must be. It’s a magical land where everyone has their own bike. Maybe there’s gang wars between different brand of bikes, and there are traveling merchants dotting all the roads that sell you water bottles and those stupid pointy helmets. Who knows.

I’m not even sure if the Hyperbike is supposed to be a bicycle or a motorcycle. It’s shrouded in mystery. What I do know though is that Hyperbike is in no way connected to me learning how to ride a bike as a kid. Because I never did. I sucked so much ass at any sort of vehicle that it was embarrassing. Bikes, skateboards, roller skates, forget about it. I hoofed that shit. I never knew how to ride until the eighth fucking grade, where I basically rode around the house, crashing over and over again until I got it so I could go all the way around without crashing into a ditch. Fuckin’ bike.

Also, look at this picture, then look back at Caverns of Calio. Is there a reason that whenever I draw nice, grassy terrain, there’s always exactly three rocks? Something to ask that inevitable psychologist, I guess.

Onward to BIKELAND!

The Galactic Hover Board
North American Release Date: October 19, 1989

In space, no one can hear you SHRED ON YOUR HOVERBOARD.

No doubt inspired by Back to the Future Part II, The Galactic Hover Board takes the concept one step further: into SPACE. As you can see, I’m taking the laws of physics and semantics for a bit of a spin. Apparently, since there’s no gravity in space it causes your legs to grow really fuckin’ big. And never mind the fact that getting into space isn’t hovering at all, it’s flying. (And while you’re out in space, you’re really doing neither.)

Luckily, there’s just enough gravity to stay standing on your board out in the ether, and space has enough mass to actually propel yourself forward through it with your foot. Marty McFly never had it so good. Maybe because he had one of those lame 2015 hoverboards, and not this totally sweet hoverboard built with brown-rectangle technology.

Sure, you laugh now, but when that red sun there goes supernova, you’ll all be crispy fuckers peacing out of life on Earth while this guy here is surfing the shockwave.

Dragon Land
North American Release Date: October 1, 1989

Dragon Land, which geographically, is located not too far away from Bikeland, is a special place where retarded kings put regular swinging doors in the sides of their castles, and spray paint “PUSH START” around them. And if there was any sort of ground here I’d count to see if there were three rocks, but alas. Fifty-foot long battlements are also common.

Your main weapon in Dragon Land is, apparently, some sort of fucked-up saw. Remember part one, where I made the distinction between swords and knives? Swords are pointed in the center, and knifes have the point to one side. This one is neither. But such an abomination of blacksmithing is surely necessary for killing all the dragons in Dragon Land.

The trees, however, are state of the art. Using an early version of the greenery engine that would later go on to power the scenery in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, these trees sport both foliage and multiple branches. There’s even one half obscured by the castle, proving I have sweet depth sorting skills.. And if the orange-on-blue scheme hasn’t burned your eyeballs out yet, check out the Super Seal. This game was segregated out into the “POPULAR GAMES” folder, along with its sequel. I was clearly on to something too, as the “Dragon Warrior” franchise that I so blatantly ripped off is now up to its eighth installment, with nine on the way!

Death Quest: The Conan Age
North American Release Date: October 10, 1989

I leave you with the best title I’ve ever seen for a videogame. DEATH QUEST. How fucking awesome is that? Also of note is the subtitle. CONAN AGE. Is it possible I preempted yet another blockbuster IP? I THINK IT IS.

Anyway, I don’t remember much about how this game was supposed to work, but just from the title I can tell you it’s totally manly. Too manly for art, apparently. If I were to take a guess, the game stars you as Conan or some equally muscley barbarian, and you chop a bunch of dudes with your axe, and then you wash up by banging hot amazons. (At 7, I don’t even know if I knew what banging was yet. I’m still not sure I do.)

And look at that torch! Holy shit! Obviously the torch engine licensed for DEATH QUEST cost way more than the crossed-swords engine. The swords are shit, but that TORCH. OH MAN. It’s the perfect kind of torch to help light the dark times of THE CONAN AGE.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Part three coming soon! Watch in horror and amazement as I dig into my sci-fi repertoire, create all-new characters, and when that fails, just blatantly rip off characters from existing games!

I’m noticing a trend- I wouldn’t call it disturbing, just disappointing, on XBLA. I’m talking about games that really should be awesome, but for some reason or another, they’re simply not. I first noticed it with Assault Heroes– it’s still a fun game, but it falls flat when you compare it to the other arena shooters on XBLA (Geometry Wars, Mutant Storm 1 and 2, Robotron, Smash TV come to mind immediately.) Then I noticed it big-time with Small Arms, Band of Bugs and Arkadian Warriors. All these games should have been awesome. Small Arms is a Smash Bros. type brawler featuring animals with guns, Band of Bugs is basically Final Fantasy Tactics, and Arkadian Warriors seems like the closest thing XBLA has to Diablo. But they’re all boring as all hell. More recently, I tried out Rocketmen: Axis of Evil. Same deal: should be a fun game, but it just sucks.

I have a theory- I’m tempted to call it Academia Syndrome. This is when a game is done “right” by almost every standard: super high production values, superb art direction, use of a good engine, an impressive bullet list of features and unique selling points, and they seem to be by gamers for gamers, but when it comes to actually having fun with the game, it’s flat as coke that you opened months ago. The game is the sum of all these parts, yet there’s that little-something-more that just didn’t make it in. You could call it the heart & soul of the game, but it’s not gameplay… but yet it is. It’s weird. You could read the design docs of these games and easily tell that they have great gameplay. Smash Bros with guns? Casual FF Tactics? XBLA Diablo? All awesome. I could have fun for tons of hours with any of them. But there’s feeling and, believe it or not, emotion, that needs to be conveyed along with that gameplay.

This is really not something that can be taught formally, and I would say this is the single biggest thing that would qualify games as art (which is territory I’m not going anywhere near today.) Gameplay can evoke emotion, the same way music or movies can. And, in my opinion anyway, it’s our responsibility as designers to ensure we convey that emotion. You can’t just say “My game is Game X meets Game Y with Twist Z” and leave it at that. Sure, that’s a great way to get the idea on paper, but once you start programming, you need to keep the following in mind. How did Game X make you feel when you played it? How about Game Y? You need to evoke those EMOTIONS as well as just combining the game mechanics of Game X and Game Y, or your game will be flat.

I think this is also why it’s crucial for designers to have an active role in development, and also need to be able to do some programming and art assets. Consistency is more than just art direction- the designer needs to make sure that the appropriate feelings are conveyed by the game at all times.

Got a Diablo clone? Feelings of exploration, feelings of Gauntlet-style, one-on-many combat, the strategy of planning the development of your character, and the feelings of triumph when those developments allow you to slaughter your foes.

Got an arena shooter? Feelings of intense adrenaline, with some claustrophobia thrown in for good measure. Feelings of incredible, jarring impact from gunfire and explosions. You’re not just spawning a bullet object. You’re firing a cannon. Your enemies aren’t playing their death animations and being removed from gameplay, they’re getting fucking slaughtered. Convince me of that, or your game is flat.

I’m back in Las Vegas now, after bookending 12-13 hours of walking around NYC with redeye flights. One thing that’s painfully obvious (literally) is that I’ll have to get used to walking everywhere again. My legs are complete mush. Wads of cookie dough.

And, as Bruce Morrison so effectively predicted, I got some bitching to do. Two major points, and if you read Bruce’s post (and you should) you’ll know what’s coming.

So apartment wise, I struck out in NYC. I had an apartment all scoped out, and finally saw it (the neighboorhood is okay, the building is a dump, but the apts themselves are REALLY NICE.) However, I come to learn that they don’t have anything open, which I’m trying not to be furious about because my fucking mongoloid of a broker (yeah, I’m talking to you) explicitly told me that YES, there would be units open and ready to move in to on May 1. What the fuck? It’s also worth noting that I have not had any contact with this broker in weeks– the person to actually show me the place was a mook of a mook of this actual broker. Seriously, what a fucking racket. They were happy to show me other buildings though, which were consequently all shit. Bruce introduced me to another broker though who is actually really nice and helpful, so hopefully fortunes will turn around soon. I can also check out the original building I was looking at again after May 1, as units will almost definitely open up, but I almost want to find something else just on general principles after being jerked around.

Not only that, but a quick desperation search on Craigslist revealed a few nice places in the Lower East Side, and even a few in East Village. I’d have to see what I’m sacrificing in terms of space and convenience, but it would be really cool to head back to that same area. I do like the constant bustle of Manhattan. Brooklyn in comparison feels really quiet, residential, and suburb-y. I also realize now I haven’t given uptown the look it deserves either– Harlem and Inwood/Washington Heights probably have some nice places, too.

But because of all this, I definitely need to rethink my plans for departure. Originally, I would be getting a truck on Thursday and beginning the drive over the weekend, but that obviously isn’t going to work. I may need to fly out and secure some temporary housing (either mooching people’s couches or finding some sort of motel) so I’m able to search New York without any time constraints, and then when I find something, go back to Vegas, get the truck, THEN drive out all my shit. It’s a way to go that doesn’t involve me putting my eggs in the basket of a moronic realtor.

So as promised, I’ve selected the 20 best “games” out of my childhood stash. These were created by me– the dates of creation are all in ‘88 and ‘89, which means I was 7 or 8 years old. I didn’t know how to program at the time (I picked up Pascal a few years later) so to make a “game” I’d draw a picture of it in a program called Modern Artist, which was basically a 256-color MacPaint. Some of them are just too funny to not share, so here we go, just five out of my selected 20:

Blood Stream 2
North American Release Date: July 21, 1989

Wow, whatever happened in my childhood to make me so fuckin’ sick and twisted, happened before July 21, 1989. And also before I began properly using capital letters. This is the type of thing I could very well be explaining to a psychologist at some point down the road.

I’d tell my poor psychologist that the game stars you as a badly drawn bright yellow dude that wields a gun with a 1-inch barrel and 2-foot stock/magazine and who can shoot grenades out of his ass. The object, apparently, is to ride and jump on grassy islands floating in a river of bubbling blood while shooting dudes in the head (how is the dude in the back getting shot, anyway?) and collecting all the sweet sweet monies they drop.

And check out those bitchin’ particle effects on homie in the back. And by “particle” I mean “wow, the default MacPaint brush shape makes freakin’ sweet midair blood droplets”. Also of note is that Blood Stream 2 featured a password system. START OR CODE: THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

How could you possibly resist this action-packed, blood drenched, grenade-shitting shoot-fest? I don’t think you can.

Gladiator
North American Release Date: October 17, 1989

Most people don’t realize that Ridley Scott’s epic blockbuster Gladiator is actually a video game adaptation. And you’re looking at the title screen.

While the limitations of technology at the time prevented computers like the Mac IIx, even with the displays cranked up to a full 256 colors, from accurately capturing the look and feel of ancient Rome, it was enough to provide a solid foundation for the movie over a decade later. And notice that even at the time, the display was sophisticated enough to differentiate between knives and swords. (Notice how the point is off to the side? That’s a knife. On swords, the point is centered.)

Another thing most people don’t realize is that Ridley Scott left out important details about the background of the character Maximus, which are obvious here from the glaring rainbow color scheme, that Maximus was actually a raging homosexual. That’s right. It’s all in the title screen. Not only from the colors, but from the option for 2 players. The second player gladiator was actually supposed to be Maximus’ butt buddy in the movie, but his entire character didn’t make the final cut. He would have been played by Gilbert Gottfried.

Ridley Scott… I’m still waiting for my royalty check.

Justin 3
North American Release Date: July 23, 1989

Turns out that even at 8 and a half years old, I was one seriously narcissistic guy. Justin 3 is the third game in the “Adventure of Justin” series, starring, of course, me. Naturally, this was one of my most popular series of games.

The title screen always featured me in really bitchin’ fighting poses, and generally looking cool. Here I am on a high rise girder in full snowman figure glory (that’s 6 ellipses baby!) swinging some SAVAGE NUNCHUKS. I mean look at it. They’re in full extended bust-your-ass position. And there just happens to be LIT FUCKING DYNAMITE right under me. Why else would I be practicing my SWEET FUCKING NUNCHUKS a few feet away from LIT FUCKING DYNAMITE, other than the fact that I am BAD ASS?

CHUCKS FOR LIFE.

KILLERWATT
North American Release Date: October 17, 1989

Ok, let me get this out of the way. I still think this one’s pretty cool. Seeing this again totally rang a bell for me: Killerwatt was this giant electrified octopus type monster. You can totally tell by the many eyes, two mouths shooting lasers and the eight legs. Kind of like an electric Cthulhu.

Also notice the “Super Seal” towards the bottom left. Nintendo had their own official Seal of Quality, so I, naturally, had to have mine. You’ll see this on a lot of my games, but not all (I don’t think there’s any reason for that, I probably just forgot to put it on. Seal of Quality indeed.)

Anyway, I have no idea what the dude in the corner is supposed to be doing. He’s probably shitting his pants at the mere sight of KILLERWATT and is in the process of accepting his fate and making peace with the world before he gets FUCKING SLAUGHTERED. Also notice that I’ve ditched the six-ellipsis method of character modeling, and have moved on to using the line tool for arms and legs. This method both keeps the polygon count low, and allows for better articulation of joints. When I found this file, it was kept aside in a folder called “POPULAR GAMES” and I can see why. The graphics are mind blowing. LOOK AT THE FUCKING LIGHTNING. That’s got next-gen written all over it.

With that said, it’s cheesy enough to make me want to make something like Killerwatt. Total B-movie monster mash kind of stuff. I say even keep the corny name. Just watch. You heard it here first!

Slime Worm’s Revenge 2
North American Release Date: July 6, 1989

Even as a kid, I recognized that Nintendo was successful because they had a really popular character. Mario was in everything. So I needed some mascot characters.

The one I chose was “Slimey” which was based off of a stuffed snake I had as a kid. This thing was huge. Like boa constrictor huge. A kid could disappear in it. But we couldn’t leave it as just a snake, oh no, we had to up the stakes. So, he became a Slime Worm. IT FUCKING SLIMES YOU TOO.

Slime Worm’s Revenge, if I recall, got all the way up to 7 sequels. We’re talking major franchise. And that’s not including spin-off games: Slime Worms had a game show, comedy show, casino game, and Olympic Games, to name a few.

You can tell just how big a smash franchise the Slime Worms were going to be just from the graphics. There’s a lot of debate among nerds on the Internet, but most agree that #2 was the height of the series, where it really hit its stride. The Slime Worms are rendered on screen with real-time smiley face stamp brush technology, unheard of at the time. It was a big deal. And the way the “2″ is rendered with every single font style known to man (that’s bold, italic, underline, outline, AND shadow. That’s a lot of shaders) emphasizes just how anticipated the sequel really was.

Stay tuned for the next five, where I rape the laws of physics, make the worst bike game ever, and make some really fucking sweet torches. Don’t change that dial.

The past week or so I’ve been slowly going through all my stuff, trying to cull off everything that won’t have some definite use or purpose in New York. I’m scheduled to move in about a week, so I really should be hauling ass but it’s always an emotional process and I’m kind of lagging.

In my cleanings, I found a stash of old floppy disks, and had to share them with everyone: (click for big)

From left to right, top to bottom: A Guided Tour of Macintosh (This came with the original Macs, and taught you how to move a mouse, how to click, drag, double click, etc.) SimCity, SimCity 2000, Minotaur: Labyrinths of Crete, SimLife, SimAnt, Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego, Wolfenstein 3D, MS Flight Simulator, Kid Pix, SimEarth, Hypercard, and Battle Chess.

These defined my gaming youth almost as much as my NES tapes (which have also been found.) Not all my old diskettes are making the move- I mostly kept gaming disks, and a few game related disks, like Hypercard (which is where I cut my game dev teeth.) A find that made me happy is The Rodney Caper, which is a game I made in Hypercard as a kid, where you played a dude named Rodney who had to fight and jump through 9 levels to kill some jerkoff so you could get out of a speeding ticket. I’m not kidding. Every level was split up by commentary by Beavis & Butthead. I can’t wait to dive into it again, but it will probably take a Carbonized Hypercard Player, and I’ll need to get the game out of the .sea (self extracting archive. Oh, the memories.)

Also of note, I found a treasure trove of “games” I made as a kid by drawing their title screens in a program called Modern Artist (essentially a 256-color MacPaint.) They’re all dated ‘88-’89, which would put me at 7-8 years old. It’s actually amazing to see how much I put into it- I had games, a few of which had sequels. I had a “company” called Mac Master Games, a magazine called On The Air (kind of like my own Nintendo Power) and even pictures of my own arcade and restaurant. I even had fucking catalogs. I was going to put the best ones up here, but I was trying to pick out my favorites, and there are so many that I’ll have to put them in a separate post. First one’s coming later tonight, but here’s one to whet your appetite:

I really hope you’re ready for this.

I hate being at the point where every update I make begins with me apologizing for the lack of updates recently. So this is the last time I’m doing that. Sorry for the lack of updates.

So a lot has happened. First, and most importantly, Freeverse has offered me a job back in New York City, and I’ve accepted. So I’ll officially be a Game Designer with them, working with Bruce Morrison. It’s been hard as hell coming to terms with picking up and leaving Vegas, as well as friends and family, but this is too exciting to pass up.

I’ll be in what Bruce is calling The Pirate Cove, which I’m hoping is named after our respective pirate flags that hung on opposite sides of the wall during Marathon development. The Fic flag flies again, baby! In the meantime, I’m doing some design work from Vegas, although my main priority now is just wrapping up all my loose ends, and getting my ass to Mars Brooklyn.

As for my current projects, they’re mostly on hold until I get out there and get situated. My code is priority #3 right now, behind moving, and design work. I’ll still be working on the FicEngine, although it will likely be aimed for prototyping in the short term, with the possibility later on of being used for a game. The speed that I can prototype stuff with is great, but frankly when it comes to commercial dev, there are existing engines out there with support teams that offer more features. It comes down to what tool is right for the job.

As for my game ideas, I’m holding on to them and bringing them to Freeverse with me. I’ll pitch em to the guys, and if all is well they’ll get pitched around to the industry, or maybe as a Mac/PC title. I’m definitely not losing anything here- if they don’t pass through the Freeverse gauntlet, it’s unlikely they were feasible money makers anyway. And if they do, you’ll see a Justin-Fic-designed game that actually has some production value (Exercise to the class: Compare Kill Dr. Cote to Kill Monty. Yeah.)

So it’s definitely an exciting time. I’ll keep the blog updated as things commence!

cheap propecia
propecia online
buy propecia online
lasix
buy lasix
lasix online
purchase lasix
accutane
buy accutane
accutane online
cheap accutane
buy accutane online
diflucan
buy diflucan
diflucan online
viagra
buy viagra
buy viagra online
viagra online
discount viagra
order viagra
cheap viagra
acomplia
buy acomplia
buy acomplia online
acomplia online
tadalafil
buy tadalafil
soma
soma online
buy carisoprodol
order carisoprodol
carisoprodol online
buy soma
order soma
levitra
buy levitra
cheap levitra
levitra online
buy levitra online
order levitra
cipro
cipro online
buy cipro
zithromax
buy zithromax
zithromax online
viagra soft
viagra soft tabs
buy viagra soft tabs
cialis
Buy Cialis
Buy Cialis Online
cialis online
Online Cialis
Order Cialis
Cheap Cialis
Discount Cialis
rimonabant
buy rimonabant
cialis soft
cialis soft tabs
cialis soft tab
buy cialis soft tab
amoxil
buy amoxil
amoxil online
order amoxil
voltaren
buy voltaren
order voltaren
voltaren online
finasteride
buy finasteride
finasteride online
flagyl
flagyl online
buy flagyl
vardenafil
buy vardenafil
vardenafil online
sildenafil citrate
sildenafil
buy sildenafil citrate
buy sildenafil
propecia
buy propecia
order propecia
cheap propecia
propecia online
buy propecia online
lasix
buy lasix
lasix online
purchase lasix
accutane
buy accutane
accutane online
cheap accutane
buy accutane online
diflucan
buy diflucan
diflucan online
viagra
buy viagra
buy viagra online
viagra online
discount viagra
order viagra
cheap viagra
acomplia
buy acomplia
buy acomplia online
acomplia online
tadalafil
buy tadalafil
soma
soma online
buy carisoprodol
order carisoprodol
carisoprodol online
buy soma
order soma
levitra
buy levitra
cheap levitra
levitra online
buy levitra online
order levitra
cipro
cipro online
buy cipro
zithromax
buy zithromax
zithromax online
viagra soft
viagra soft tabs
buy viagra soft tabs
cialis
Buy Cialis
Buy Cialis Online
cialis online
Online Cialis
Order Cialis
Cheap Cialis
Discount Cialis
rimonabant
buy rimonabant
cialis soft
cialis soft tabs
cialis soft tab
buy cialis soft tab
amoxil
buy amoxil
amoxil online
order amoxil
voltaren
buy voltaren
order voltaren
voltaren online
finasteride
buy finasteride
finasteride online
flagyl
flagyl online
buy flagyl
vardenafil
buy vardenafil
vardenafil online
sildenafil citrate
sildenafil
buy sildenafil citrate
buy sildenafil
propecia
buy propecia
order propecia
cheap propecia
propecia online
buy propecia online
lasix
buy lasix
lasix online
purchase lasix
accutane
buy accutane
accutane online
cheap accutane
buy accutane online
diflucan
buy diflucan
diflucan online
viagra
buy viagra
buy viagra online
viagra online
discount viagra
order viagra
cheap viagra
acomplia
buy acomplia
buy acomplia online
acomplia online
tadalafil
buy tadalafil
soma
soma online
buy carisoprodol
order carisoprodol
carisoprodol online
buy soma
order soma
levitra
buy levitra
cheap levitra
levitra online
buy levitra online
order levitra
cipro
cipro online
buy cipro
zithromax
buy zithromax
zithromax online
viagra soft
viagra soft tabs
buy viagra soft tabs
cialis
Buy Cialis
Buy Cialis Online
cialis online
Online Cialis
Order Cialis
Cheap Cialis
Discount Cialis
rimonabant
buy rimonabant
cialis soft
cialis soft tabs
cialis soft tab
buy cialis soft tab
amoxil

The latest addition to the FicEngine is the concept of Tilemaps. Tilemaps were used extensively in old-school NES and SNES games, and are still a part of the hardware of the Nintendo DS. Many platformers still rely on Tilemaps.

What is a Tilemap? At its most basic, it’s a method of constructing levels by piecing together smaller tiles in different patterns. The set I’m using now is simply 8 different shapes, which can also be rotated and flipped in the x or y axes. The result is I can create pretty much any shape I desire. If you look in the picture above, each floor “square” is a tile, and you can use that to discern where the different shapes would be. You can see the exact shapes I’m using below:

So what I have going right now is an editor program, that can save/load/edit levels, and also a game program that loads in a level set and allows you to run around in it, as if it were a top-down, dual-analog shooter *cough*. The best part is that the Tilemaps interact with the engine flawlessly, so anything I throw in here can hit, slide against, and bounce off the walls of an arbitrary level. One thing about Kill Dr. Cote / Kill Monty is that the gibs don’t bounce off of anything besides the floor– they go through the walls as if they weren’t there. The logic was easy enough, I just never bothered to code it in. Now, it just happens. In fact, because of the interchangeable logic I used in the beat-em-up prototype, and also the arcade game prototype, I was able to throw in a player, with a gun, with zombies, that gib and leave blood decals on the floor when you kill them, all in a day. I essentially got the game logic of Kill Dr. Cote AUTOMATICALLY.

The cool thing is that I can use these tilemaps for damn near any kind of game I want. There are two obvious candidates right now: One is a duel-analog shooter, a kind of spiritual sequel to Kill Dr. Cote / Kill Monty. I’ve had a design for awhile now, and it’s looking more doable than ever. The other possibility is taking the beat-em-up prototype I have, and turning that into a pure 2D platformer, a la Metroid. The beat-em-up is fun, but I don’t think there’s enough gameplay/value there to warrant a full game.

As for tilemaps, one improvement I could make right now is having support for multiple tilemaps in a single level. I would use one for passability (walls, floors, etc) and have a few for decorations and other assorted things (triggers and whatnot.) Having separate maps for passability and decoration means I can add several layers of detail to an otherwise bland looking map (which is what it is now) and it would also be a way to implement false walls, for instance.

More to come on the upcoming games!

Hey all, so it’s been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened.

Macworld 2008 happened mid January, and it was good times. Got to see the Freeverse guys again, which is always fun. Between the unveiling of the MacBookJones, rocketing Freeverse up from butt-naked last to a healthy second place in the annual MacBowl, and narrowly dodging some bad cilantro, I definitely came back with some stories to tell.

I also came back with a bit of a dilemma. Up until that point, I was working pretty much with blinders on, and only on my own code for Mac/PC. But I made a few realizations while I was out there, as to the tools I have at my disposal, the platforms I develop for, and the types of games I’m working on.

The result of all of that is I’m at a bit of a crossroads as far as development goes. The first road leads towards Mac/PC development. Furthermore, along that road I can use my own code, or, get back into Unity. It’s always been in the back of my mind as the option if I need a full 3D engine, but logic wise it does a lot of similar things to my own code, and I’m trying to give the trial period a good long look. It’s got the advantage of immediate deployment, and relative ease of development. No SDKs or TCRs or anything- nothing’s stopping you from shipping any build you want. The problem is, the main audience on PC/Mac seems to be WoW players and soccer moms playing casual games.

Another road leads towards the Xbox 360. I have experience coding a full XBLA game with it (Marathon) and somewhere floating around Freeverse there’s a build of Kill Monty for 360. And no doubt, this is where my target audience is now. The hardcore aren’t using their Macs as their primary game consoles. God knows I’m not. I still have access to the XDK, but without one of the (very, very expensive) dev kits I can get as far as compiling successfully.

Yet another road leads to the DS. The past week or so I’ve hit the homebrew hard, and yes, there is a build of Kill Monty that runs on the DS. It doesn’t do everything yet, but it’s very cool. At first glance, the DS doesn’t seem like the place of my target audience, but I quickly realize that about 90% of my gaming time is spent on the DS. At least. The downsides are that it’s probably the hardest platform to port my code over to. Kill Monty is going smoother than I thought it would, but not nearly as smooth as moving it to Windows or 360.

Finally, as far as what game to make, the beat-em-up is going to go through a few changes. I’m currently going to whip up a quick editor for levels, and the way it’s planned, I can use it for several different genres of games, and it’s pretty simple to create and read. This will allow me to turn the beat-em-up into more of a platformer, and go from 2.5d to pure 2d with 3d elements. However, the editor will also allow me to easily create another game, one that I’ve been particularly dying to make, and one that a lot of people have been asking for…

So 2007 is about to end. For you east coasters, it’s already over. Happy New Year.

A quick update, since I haven’t written in over a month.

Prototyping is going well. I have three prototypes now- the first one sucks, but I’m keeping it around until I can figure out something to do with the game mechanic. I’m leaning toward the scrap-that-shit-and-make-something-cooler approach. The idea is to give the Fic treatment to old arcade games, and the one I wanted to start with is Missile Command. But, as it turns out, going back to the game, I realized that I never really liked Missile Command to begin with. Oops. There just isn’t all that much you can do with that mechanic. The change I really want to make is allowing the cities to move around, but then it’s not Missile Command at all- it’s Space Invaders. So this idea I think needs to be brought back to the drawing board.

While that’s going on though, the second prototype I’m working on is awesome. I really want to take this further. It’s a beat-em-up, so think Double Dragon, although right now the gameplay is similar to the beat-em-up levels in Battletoads.

As an aside, I finally got to playing Battletoads, both to find ideas and inspiration, but also because I never played it as a kid and everyone kept saying how hard it was, especially the bike level. It’s worth noting that I FUCKED THAT BIKE LEVEL UP. Oh man. Not only did I ruin its shit, it was also one of the most fun moments I’ve had with a beat-em-up. The level I had the most problems with was that fucking level where you’re on the unicycle-type-thing and the giant orb is chasing you- mostly because it actually points out a problem with the 360 sticks. Namely, the use of analog sticks for directional control when you need frame-perfect timing.

For those that haven’t played it, the level has you on a track which twists and turns in the four compass directions. You have to hold in the direction the track is going to pick up speed. If you hit nothing, you slow down, and if you hold in the wrong direction, you slow WAY down. The whole time a giant orb is right on your ass, and if it catches you, you instantly die and have to repeat the level. Now, using analog sticks, this level was impossible. I just couldn’t get the precision I needed to hit all the turns without slowing down. The only way to get through it was to switch over to the keyboard and use WASD, which let me switch directions the exact frame I hit each turn. This game is hard as hell.

Anyway, back to my prototype. All you need to know is that beat-em-ups are getting the Justin Fic treatment. That means fast action, awesome controls, and blood and dismembered limbs like you wouldn’t fucking believe. It will use the familiar 2.5D angle, and combat will be much closer to Battletoads, or the newer Castlevania games. I’ve added a cool system for melee attacks to the engine so attacks can be as complicated as I design them in XML. If you listen to the Best Damn Podcast Ever you have heard that I will be at MacWorld showing off what I have. If you’re going, I will be helping Freeverse with their booth this year, and will be there for the entire expo. Stop by and ask me about the game and I’ll be happy to show it off!

Finally, the third prototype is still very early in development. It’s the same type of idea as the first prototype, but as it happens, Bruce Morrison is interested in a game that uses its exact mechanic, so I threw something together. With the FicEngine, it took maybe a few hours. Most likely it will remain under wraps for awhile, at least until after MacWorld, and depending on how the beat-em-up is received. Rest assured it’s a game mechanic I’m familiar with, and very good at, and it’s a game that does absolutely need to be made. I’ll keep you posted.

Anyway, happy new year. Peace.

Yeah, you saw that right. That’s me in a suit. Much like how Michael Corleone, despite his best efforts and the efforts of his family to keep him from becoming a mobster, ends up as the ruthless head of the family business– I, despite my best efforts, can now be seen in a suit and tie.

It’s the result of taking a side job with a company that produces media (powerpoint, videos, etc) for lawyers for use in trials. I obviously can’t talk about anything, but I can say it will help keep me going financially while I work on the games.

If you’re wondering, no glasses in this picture. I lost them while moshing to Rage Against the Machine back at Halloween. Whoops.

Also, as a bonus, I biffed it on the street something fierce today, but am in good shape thanks to Maria Daniela’s OVERSIZED PIRATE BANDAIDS:

So thank you Daniela. Without you and your wicked first aid I’d surely be dead. Or mortally wounded. Or just hobbling around like a gimp and bleeding on stuff.