Maps and Demos


Hey guys,

This post is going to be short and sweet. The Designer and I have been working towards creating a working map in Maven. We also decided that I should be put in charge of creating a demo for the game. While The Designer's main focus is creating the finished game, I have been extremely eager to give people a way to experience the game before it is completed. So, that is what I aim to do. I am finishing some preliminary concept sketches (Similar to the one in the previous post) for the demo map, which will then be made into a fully functional map within the editor! It'll be a while before it's done, but that is what you can look forward to in the future.

See you soon,
~Freedan

Pre-Production!


The longer one works with digital media, the more one realizes just how necessary planning is. For Maven maps, this is especially true. After creating the first section of a larger map (The garrison, which I showed in an earlier post), I decided to draw a simple map of the next section: The marketplace.

This section is designed to evoke the crowded feel of a chaotic marketplace while also being simple to navigate.  To the left and right of the market will be living areas, and above it will be the garrison, whose soldiers guard the market from potential thieves. In the game, characters will also hopefully be able to obtain food and armor from market stalls. I hope to create a more immersive environment by including different areas in this map like this rather than just slapping a bunch of tents onto it.

Next up: Actual graphics for the marketplace! For now, here's my quick concept sketch. The Garrison paper is just a list of object markers so that I know where my garrison objects are in the editor.

Enjoy!
~Freedan

Things Aren't Always Epic (And They Don't Have to Be)


This week's post was, at first, difficult to write. The Designer and I were both busy, and I had nothing incredibly exciting to post. The map is slowly being built, and progress is being made. I wanted to write about something big though, like a finished map, or a new game mechanic.

And then I realized that I was falling victim to something I have fallen victim to many times in the past. That is, I wanted a major event or accomplishment to the point that it hindered my other work (Like actually writing this blog post). Sometimes, however, it is the mundane things, such as plugging away slowly at a job, that eventually get things done and lead to a major accomplishment. When that time comes, I will certainly be excited to write about it. For now, however, I will just let you know that the game is being worked on :)

~ Freedan

When the Bugs Bite


Have you ever worked on a project, only to find that it didn't work as intended? This was the issue the Designer and I faced last week. As I was working with the level editor, I found that some of the sprites were not loading correctly. The issue caused map creation to come to a halt as the Designer and I investigated the program. What was going to be a time of map designing and planning turned into a tedious hunt for elusive program errors.

I have found in my many years working with digital art that, whenever I tackle a project, there are always errors that cause considerable frustration and delay. I have also found, however, that I am always glad to have worked through those problems in the end. In fact, the Designer has already fixed the level editor, and I am once again creating levels. Both the Designer and I are learning from this experience and adapting accordingly. For example, code for Maven is now being stored using GitHub, for easy access for members of the project.

Additionally, now that the bugs are gone, I have an updated screen shot for you:

Enjoy!
~Freedan

P.S. There are NPCs in this map! See any other changes that you like? Any that you dislike? If so, let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated!

A Merging of Elements


Hello! I'm the creator of Freedan Studios, and lead (Well, sole) artist for Maven. I'll be contributing to the blog for a while, as Solovid's founder and lead blogger (He would prefer to remain anonymous, so I'll just call him "The Designer") is busy with an internship this summer. So basically there will be more graphics - related posts for the next few weeks.

One of the most exciting events graphics - wise is the development of the first fully customized map for Maven! The Designer wrote a browser - based level creator which has made level design quite a bit more straightforward than it would otherwise have been. One of the best things about using the level creator is that I can see how all of the visuals in the game will work together as I'm placing them on the map. Until recently everything has been isolated ... tents were separated into their own individual sprite sheets, backgrounds were just single images, etc. Now they are all coming together to form a whole image, be it an outpost or a merchant's camp. Here's a small taste of the first map. I will be making changes to the doorway (E.g. the grass should cover the bottom of it) and adding additional props to make the scene more interesting, but I think this will give you an idea of what levels will be like visually.

Hope you like it!
~Freedan

P.S. I will post an update later this week showing an improved version of this scene.

To Object or Not to Object


I object!
These words are often seen at weddings in movies, but I've never seen it in real life...
However, that's not what this post is about. I kept putting off posting this week because I hadn't done much and was hoping for something amazing to spring up, but unfortunately you get something less-than-amazing. What follows is pretty much a stream of thought regarding the use of object-oriented programming in the Maven engine.

In the effort to make code more efficient, I inevitably come to the crossroads of simplicity versus extensibility. Should I give the user (me in the next stages of development) more options to choose from with a longer form to fill out every time? Or should I assume the user will would rather have a smaller form with less options?

Second to this is the issue of memory management. Currently, I forsee Maven consuming a fair amount of memory during runtime. The more layers of objects introduced, the more memory the game will consume.

This battle almost makes me want to scream in frustration when I have gotten to the point of Action (e.g. swing sword), Motion (e.g. walk), and Status (e.g. poisoned) systems. I have decided that Statuses take priority and can stop Motions and/or Actions; also, a single character may be afflicted by multiple Statuses simultaneously. A single Action may occur per frame and may block Actions. A single Motion may occur each frame in addition to the Action. The idea is that the developer-user may create his/her own Actions, Motions, and Statuses; but how much freedom should they be allowed/forced?

On top of all this, JavaScript inheritance is outright confusing compared to C++.


In other news, you may not see me around for the rest of the summer. (Don't miss my blog posts too much!) If the LORD is willing, another team member may step up to blog in my stead for the summer.

This Week .2


Though I missed one week of blog, you are in luck because this week you get TWO UPDATES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!!!

Our composer Michael Shawn Carbaugh II has a VLOG to accompany a song he has written. The content that follows is from his blog post.
Hey y'all! 
     As you know (or will be informed in the next phrase), I'm scoring for a video game we are currently calling Project Maven (see previous post). This is a little news that I thought would be interesting--especially to you that are in to music, technology, or music technology. This is some work I did in order to complete the attached piece of music that is tentatively the credit song for our video game. I used two custom sample libraries that took a long time to craft. This video is a little bit about that process. It took literally about 10 or so hours to create the two libraries, but I think the piece "turned" out quite well (see it's funny 'cause it's a pun*)

Hope to talk soon!
-Michael Shawn

*If you're not good with puns check out the name of the piece.

When 200 Lines Becomes 80 Lines


So...I missed last week's update, and this week's is late. Sorry about that.

This week I have a big surprise: improvements to the engine!!!
*cricket*
Someone: "But you said that a month ago..."
Quite right. Clearly this indicates that as a programmer I am a [fill in the blank] (newb, perfectionist, slowpoke, et al.).

Let me show you what I am talking about.
^^That right there is the smell of success. 

Exciting Update


I bring news of an exciting update.

Some more music has been underway this week, but you'll have to wait to hear it (potentially)...

In the last 15 minutes, the engine successfully ran a test level generated in the level editor, but you'll have to wait to see any completed level...

That is all.

New Art


vs.