Writing game script: baby steps.

[Image upload blocked by company policy ]

I’m sure back in grade school, when myelf and a group of cohorts were working on a game using Logo Writer, that we wrote some sort of script for it. Memories are foggy, but I do recall a trap door in the floor of one room, and the grade-school Monty Python styled “AAAaaaaahhhh!” that floated behind that falling character.

School Project, Dev Diary 1.

Hello, and welcome to my Dev Diary for our final school project (Acme TV) here at Campus Ubisoft. The level I was assigned is loosely based on the tv show Dexter, and it is to be an action stealth first-person game that spoofs Metal Gear with some Kojimaesque VO work and obscure naming conventions… (for example: the bad guy is named Mercury Advent right now).

finishing the game

Great conversation on this weeks Out of the Game podcast between Jeff Green, N’Gai Croal and Shawn Elliott. The matter at hand was a purported “one button mode” for the new game Bayonetta.

Trick Jumping – design for emergent gameplay.

Trickjumping in Quake engine based games is one of the most beautiful things in gaming. It is a skill that if developed, can give the user real advantages in gameplay, it is an artifact of the game’s engine and how it was designed… it is a real example of emergent gameplay. I’m currently learning some of the trickier bunny hopping methods in Enemy Territory and loving it… will post something interesting about it when the mood strikes me…

Thanks to the guys who built the TrickJump ET mod and set up this site.

back to my HL2 map:

Wolfenstein

Really interesting video game release in the realms of unearthed arcana this week. Wolfenstein!

I haven’t posted on this yet, but I have been playing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory very regularly for 5 years now. When Quake Wars came out my computer wasn’t up to the task, now that I’m a bit better equipped I am very excited to jump in on the next chapter in this id/splashdamage/raven world.

Within the ET community response has been less than pleased with Wolfenstein’s multiplayer, (a beta multiplayer build was leaked a couple of weeks ago). A mod crew are already working on WolfPro, a multiplayer make-over. We expect WolfPro will become the MP baseline and that if Activision continues to support the game there are hopes that they would be working on releasing a SDK.

I picked up the game to play the single player campaign, I can’t wait to jump back into B J Blaskowitz’ boots and kick some occult nazi butt. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed the whole time that the MP works out as well

Interestingly, it was sold out at the 2 downtown box electronic stores, at a more out of the way box store I found a stack of 8 or so copies kicking around. I had a laugh at that store when I pointed out to the clerk that they were selling Matrix online games at 49.95, they even had them prominently displayed, and that this game was no longer supported meaning that there are no servers to play it on… the game is dead!

podcast rundown

Well, there are a bunch of video game podcasts out there, I have a new programming block for the summer/fall season:

portal level. walkthrough.

Here is the walkthrough for a portal level I am working on.

It is the first of 3 in a set. This is an easy level, and assumes the player has played the original game.

You are trapped in GLADos’ mind, these levels take place in the final moments of her existence. A final deep sleep, accompanied by these nightmarish puzzles.

What’s new 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Well, here at Unearthed Arcana the last months have been pretty busy, lots of school work: I finished my first decent Team Fortress 2 map “Arena_Mezz”. Designed a level for a stealth adventure game to be built in Hammer(ep2). Designed a Deathmatch map in Unreal 3. Made a platformer game (Ninja Kid in Blockland) and also hatched an exciting new business venture that, if successful, will be keeping me busy for years to come (news on that when the embargo is lifted, by me).

I also got a dreamy PS2. I have never owned a PS2 and getting one at this point in the game might seem silly to you, but you would be wrong. There are a ton of great games out for the PS2 and many of them should be played by any game/level designer worth his salt. The second hand system I got came with more than a dozen certified gems and I’ll be doing write ups of my PS2 experiences starting with God of War 2, which I beat (on easy) this afternoon.

Meanwhile, I have revised my list of video game podcasts you should be listening to, and will post that in the coming week.

Nice to be back, ggs and hf.

hatsworth… nsfw

so yes, I spent a few hours watching a movie last night while grinding world 1-? to get enough gold for a 3rd silver heart… Don’t know if the world 3 boss will be any easier but I believe I have already lost!

august 7th, update.

Well, I got to the final boss of the final level, world 5. I couldn’t beat him. I went back and beat all of the hidden exit level… still couldn’t beat the boss. I kept dying during one sequence about 15 minutes into the fight. The boss grabs ‘pillars’ from either side of the screen and brings them towards the middle, to avoid being crushed to death you have to wall jump up one of the pillars and shoot a red thing… shoot it several times…
Finally I watched a you tube video to see how the guy beat the boss… a bunch of the comments are from other people stuck where I was. After shooting that red thing the fight is nearly over… I saw the ending… I haven’t played since. YouTube!!

Braid: Opinions are like black holes, everybody gets one once they reach World 6.

“In time he learns to deal with others carefully. He matches their hesitant pace, tracing a soft path through their defenses. But this exhausts him, and it only works to a limited degree. It doesn’t get him what he needs.” -world 6 text.