Ability and basic inventory are go!

Basically everything that I said I'd get working from the last post I got working. I can walk around on the map, see which items are around, and pick them up using an ability that is run by scripts. This is a HUGE step and I'm really happy that I was able to get it done before the baby comes along. She's due to be born November 1st, but those due dates are never very accurate...

-Califer

Scripting

Alright, I have the scripts set up so that they run correctly. For anyone who is interested in making their own mods, start studying Lua since that is what is being used. I'm currently working on adding a script-writer to the game maker. Hopefully by this time next week I'll have a hero with an inventory and an ability! The hero would then be able to use the ability (gather) to get all the items nearby and store them in his inventory.

Next up, start getting menus up an using the mouse!

Of course, if I happen to become a dad between then and now I probably won't get that all finished.

-Califer

My Japanese Coach!

From my last post, I decided to go with option 1. This could have been decided with a simple coin toss, but instead it was decided by Peter. He mentioned that we could handle the mouse interface differently, so I'm going to go through and decide exactly what I want the mouse to do before I get into programming what it will do. Adding in scripting is exciting for me since it allows for players to make their own content.

Peter mentioned beforehand that we both did some work on My Chinese Coach and My Japanese Coach for the Nintendo DS. I did some work on My Chinese Coach, but spent most of my time working on My Japanese Coach. The biggest things that I worked on in the game were translating the dictionary, writing the lesson plan, and helping make design decisions. Even though my title at work is 'programmer' I didn't end up doing as much programming as I'd have liked because there was so much other work for me to do on it.

Looking at Amazon today My Japanese Coach is listed as the 8th best seller for the DS. 3 of the top sales are actual DS's, so it is the 5th best selling DS game on Amazon right now! I'm pretty excited about it :D I just wish that Amazon would start selling them, seeing as how it is for sale in gamestop since yesterday... Anyways, I'll be stopping by gamestop on the way home to take a look at the box so I can be happy about the second game that I worked on being in stores :)

-Califer

Item Fantastic!

Now it's possible to simply put in that a location will have 5 red berries and when you run the game there will be five berries randomly placed in that location. This is great for making maps since I no longer have to systematically place every single item on the map that will be on the map. They show up on the map as little bags, and when you walk up to them they display the actual item picture on the top screen.

There are two big things that I could work on next. I can either (1) start getting skills, abilities and scripting in followed quickly by an inventory system so that I can create a gather ability to get these items, or (2) set up the inventory system and then make it so I can use the mouse in-game and set up things to display menus when the mouse goes over them and make use of those menus.

Next I can work on fixing that nasty run-on sentence. In any case, when I finish either of them I'll start working on the other one. And I imagine that it doesn't really matter to you guys which one I do first since it won't be released any faster no matter which I do first. Not even sure if we still have readers since no one put a comment on the last post that I asked for feedback. Oh well.

-Califer

Guuuuuh

I got some basic things done this week, but not a whole lot to talk about. I blame it on the bout of insomnia that's been beating me up all week long. It's hard to focus on getting work done on a project when you've already spent the whole day at work programming.

Anyways, at work I've been working on the multiplayer part of a DS game that has not been announced. This is the second DS game that I've done multiplayer for, the first one hasn't been announced yet either. With all this multiplayer going on I'm highly considering making a MMO after I finish Darkened Dreams 2. Or should I start working on my book again? Or should I do something else entirely? I already have a collaborator for the MMO, we've got a wiki hidden away where we put in our ideas of how we want to set everything up, and he's able to get a server for us to host it on. It will NOT be Darkened Dreams based though...

Lastly, Nintendo has announced a new DS system! Am I excited about it since I'm a DS fan? Not really. It's got a camera and a music player, but that's not really a big deal for me. I'm more upset about the loss of the GBA slot, since I always seem to have a game in there. And what are they going to do about games that use that slot like the guitar hero game, my health coach, and arkanoid? And what about the awesome idea that I had and was going to start programming a demo for at work as soon as things slowed down? :(

-Califer