One Game a Month 2013 - Announcement

What to Expect

Time Lapses:

I will definitely try and make Time Lapses of the development of my games. If anyone becomes interested I can also do live streams.

Twelve New Games:

I will release a new game every month. If I can make a game in 48 hours, I can make a game in a month. I will do my best to release fun and quality games. I might also be trying out new languages and frame works throughout the year. 

Blog Updates:

Since I will be constantly making something throughout the year you can expect  this blog to be updated frequently. If you don't want to miss a post, you can either follow this blog or follow me, Dmitrix, on twitter. You will know if a post is part of One Game a Month if the title includes the #1GAM hashtag.

One Game A Month

One Game a Month is a quest to try and make a new game every month. The website even has achievements and experience points!

Click here to see the end quote in comic form!

#OneGameAMonth!

New Year Game Jam - Update #3

At this point we have a splash screen, menus and a sorta playable game.

New Year Game Jam - Update #2

The Phantom and I are currently working on a blocky 2D monkey side scroller game for the New Year Game Jam. At the moment we are struggling a bit with physics but hopefully that we will get past that.

We got Autotiling to work!

The main menu and our own custom font!

#MonkeysInSpace!

New Year Game Jam - Update #1

Alright guys, doin' another game jam with my buddy The Phantom Lemon! #MonkeysInSpace!

We have some sort of progress, a Monkey that moves around and jumps (sorta). All games start somewhere.

Like a BOSS! - Update

I got the BOSS to work right! He doesn't attack you yet though.

click below to...

Like a BOSS!

I've been working on SPAAAAAAACE!!! a lot recently.

I've added things such as pausing and power ups:

 Most importantly, I've added a BOSS! 

Please keep in mind that the aliens are PLACE HOLDER graphics, I will replace them with something more original in the future.

SPAAAAAAAAACE!!!

I've been working on this game since Friday night and I am temporarily calling it SPAAAAAACE!!!! I think I've reached a point where the game is playable and somewhat enjoyable so go download it now! The enemy and the explosion art is temporary.

Some Screen Shots:

click below to....

Kat

When you are super board and have nothing but your uncle's iPad, what do you do?

I found a great drawing app and drew a bunch of stuff. I call this little piece, Kat.

Just Finished Watching the Minecraft Documentary!

I've been waiting for quite some time now to watch the Minecraft documentary. I found the initial proof of concept video that was posted by 2 PlayerProductions extremely inspiring. I think the best part of the movie was the advice Notch gave to other people that want to make games: "Don't listen to advice!" He continues to say something like, "Just make something, don't sit around doing nothing."

Just Submitted the Game for Ludumdare 25!

So we kinda finished the game. While it may be somewhat buggy and stuff I had a lot of fun participating in the Ludumdare. Ludumdare is something I have been interested in entering for awhile now and it finally happened!

>>View Our Entry<<

Ludumdare Update #6 - Polishing up our Game!

So tonight we are mostly working on polishing up our game! I’m really glad we are going to have an entry and even though this game is basic and filled with bugs its actually pretty sweet.

At this point we have most of the animations and all of the music and sound effects! Bunnies now die when you jump on them and they re-spawn! For our first completed game written in a completely unfamiliar language we are really happy with the results!

We have school tomorrow. We will probably submit around 4 P.M. PST

Click here to see all my posts on the Ludumdare blog!

Ludumdare 25 update #5 - Goats!

Our game is pretty sweet! Now with walking animations and goats!

EDIT: +1 XP For Goats!

Ludumdare 25 Update #4 - Hehe, bunnies...

So Ludumdare is going quite well. It's kinda strange talking about bunnies all of the time though

Ludumdare update #3 - First Playable Build

It's not much, but now you can play. There is still quite a bit of programming ahead.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q001ogm4mkp94co/build1_windows.zip

Ludumdare 25 Update #2 - Some Sort of Progress...

Last night was terrible. I didn’t get to write any code as I had to finish a dumb English essay. This morning I woke up around nine and just started programming. Since this is my very first LD and I am working with a language / framework that I am largely unfamiliar with I am going with a very simple idea. Basically you play as a giant monster and all you do is kill a bunch of cute bunnies. If I have time perhaps I’ll add some mega-bunny boss or something. Anyways here is what I got so far:

Got a monster Waxabie drew to move around the screen!

Oh no, poor bunny! (place holder graphic)

Read this post on ludumdare.com:

Ludumdare 25 - Update #1

It's Friday night and I haven't got any real programming done. At this point I am missing Java and I will return to my original love once this is over. I do however have a solid idea of what I am going to make and I am going to hit it hard tomorrow morning.

Preparing for Ludum Dare 25 - Final Update!

Ludumdare 25 begins in less than an hour. You know it's official when you buy energy in a can!

Just thought I would list my team and our roles:

Dmitrix (Code!)

Andersmith (Code!)

Freewithoutwalls (Art!)

Waxabie (Music!)

Meanwhile, I'm working like mad to finish an English essay that is due at midnight while rocking out to some awesome chip tune!

Preparing for Ludum Dare 25 Update - Löve 2D

This may sound crazy, but 2 days before Ludum Dare I decided to go from Java to Löve 2D!

Anyways, I am able to write basic programs in a minimal amount of code as opposed to Java, so hopefully this will go well. Also, I will be entering the Jam with 3 other friends: 1 programmer and 2 artists / music people. Plus I get 72 hours as opposed to 48!

EDIT: Click here to see my Ludum Dare blog posts.

Preparing for Ludum Dare 25 Update

Hopefully I will be able to enter Ludum Dare 25 next weekend. Ludum Dare is something I have been following for quite some time and I have always wanted to enter. Even though I am not skilled enough to make some super awesome game in 48 hours I am going to give it a shot anyways. This could be a good learning experience and is a great opportunity to do some serious programming! 

Since the last post I have moved away from creating a Super Mario Brothers clone and I am now working on some game that involves this buffalo a kid at school drew. I spent an hour or two in the back of a mini van yesterday animating the buffalo, he now walks and jump and stuff! just pay no attention to the lack of proper gravity and all the glitches.

Super Awesome Sprite Sheet (Still Needs Work Though):

Todo:

Improve Animation

Implement Gravity

Simple Enemies

Auto Tiling

Collision

oops

oops, I almost forgot to post this mistake I made earlier today. Turns out that re-sizing is import and easier to do in code than in paint.net!

Preparing for the Ludum Dare!

I'm taking a huge leap here and I am going to try to enter Ludum Dare 25. I recently ditched C++ and went back to my beloved Java and I made some significant progress.

I began by following The Cherno's Java Game Programming series but found it a little too slow. I got to about episode 16:

While bored at school without access to the internet I went through one of the examples in the book Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius. The program was supposed to take a multidimensional array of string variables and draw tile on screen to form a level. The example code didn't work properly so I heavily modified it and got it working.

After posting that screen shot to Facebook a friend of mine pointed out that the map looks like Super Mario Brothers! So I added a ? block and Mario into the game,  everything is still static at this point.

Bored at school, again, I wrote a proper buffer to allow thing to move and I even added sound! At this point, the user can use the arrow keys to move Mario around the screen and pressing the space bar will make Mario jump (kinda).

Anyways, I'm pleased with the progress I have made in the last few days, especially if you compare it to that of last week. Hopefully in 8 days and 20 hours I will feel confident enough to enter Ludum Dare 25. If I do I will post a video time lapse of the development process.

C++ and New Game Project

I am about to attempt to start a new game and write it in C++ rather than my usual Java. My idea is to take an aspect of real life that is quite pedestrian, such as your daytime job, and turn it into a fun and exciting game. I like Java as a language but many people hate it for games since it sometimes requires more computer power to run properly. Updates will follow.

Ludum Dare - Evolution

Ludumdare is a 48 hour rapid game creation competition. Ludumdare happens about every 3 or 4 months and the last one was in August. Here are two games that caught my attention:

Evolution is the Key

An interesting take on evolution. You play through the different ages of computer gamming and end up in a full 3D environment. I thought this game was lacking a bit of a challenge but I was impressed for it being created in a little over 48 hours. Also the game is written in Java!

Yellow Dog

In this game you start off with a small puppy and raise it until it's full grown. I thought this game was well designed and had good game play mechanics.

Roots of Motive Power Event

Last weekend I went to an event in Willits, Ca. So many steam machines! There were donkeys, tractors, 2 steam engines and a steam shovel.

Electronics - Atari Punk Console

A couple of months ago I decided to tackle my first real electronics project, the Atari Punk Console. Basically it's a circuit that uses two 555 timer chips and some variable resistors to make some Atari like noises. The original circuit is by Forrest M. Mims but here is the schematic I used from Kaustic Machines:

Two hours after my initial trip to Radio Shack the prototype is functional.

I can't just leave it on a bread board! Time to bread out the soldering iron and drill for a more permanent solution.

Doesn't the final product look like a face?

Stuff I've Created in Java

So just to log what I have made in Java here is a list of all runnable programs I have made so far:

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe:

   Let's face it, Tic-Tac-Toe is kinda boring. The game is just about impossible to win and it gets boring after a while. Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe is a game some friends and I used to play when we got board at school. You have a sheet of graphing paper and one player places an x and the other places an o. The game utilizes the entire piece of paper, the first one  to 5 in a row wins! In this computerized version you have red and blue tiles, same rules of course.

Play it here!

Pong:

    Pong is a classic, and is usually something I make when either learning a new language or just playing around. This pong clone was created in under 2 hours and may contain some bugs, but contains working sound effects and everything!

Play it here!

Fun with Trig Functions!:

    Fun with Trig Functions is just a little java applet I made when I started my trigonometry class. Basically you have two balls move up and down the y axis in a sinusoidal motion. The balls also move along the x axis in  a sinusoidal motion. So double sine'd!

Play it here!

Java Cook Book Arrived

The other day I received my Java Cookbook in the mail the other day. I think this book will be great, it is mostly a reference book. This is the first programming book I have actually bought, I have read Head First Java plus watched all The New Boston's tutorials. 

I even got some sticky notes to match.

Opened to a page about adding a sound clip.

Java Programming #1

Today I'm working on Java game programming. I am currently following thenewboston's Java Game Programming tutorials. After about tutorial six I realized that I might be able to apply some previously attained knowledge from mybringback's Java Game Applet series. Anyways long story short I made this:

I meant to center the circle, instead got this cool 3D effect.

With the circle centered.

Codecademy

      Let's start this site off with a link to something cool. Codecademy is a website that teaches people how to code using interactive lessons. Here you can learn the basics of the web (html, css, javascript and jquery). As well as programming languages such as Python and Ruby. The site also uses badges and points for you to keep track of your progress and keep you motivated. It is important to remember that you will not be a brilliant programmer after a couple of lessons and that you will most likely have to look into other resources as well such as books to further your programming knowledge.