Coding.

So, I've realized that much of my coding has been really sloppy and should have been made much more organized. At this point, I really don't want to go back and reorganize all my code, but it looks like I might have to.

Part of the problem lies in that I have certain variables which I want to remain constant throughout the span of the game (ex: points), other variables which will only need to be refreshed with each new level (ex: health) and the remaining variables would be particular only to the portion of the level in which they belong (ex: enemy variables).

So I would need at least 3 different layers of code, each spanning over various chunks of the game.

Also, I realized how terribly ugly and poorly written my hitTest coding for all my enemies has been. I really should go back and condense it, not just for the sake of organization but because the way that I currently have it written is just plain embarrassing.

I just don't feel like going back and dealing with this quite yet. Maybe once I've gotten a bit more of the art I need done, I'll go back and fix all this junk code.

I did however already go back and fix a bit of the code that I realized was just plain stupid. I managed to condense about 30 or 40 lines of code down to about 2 or 3. I don't even want to talk about how I did that because I feel really dumb for it was written before.

For some of the hitTest stuff, I think I'll have to go back and make some new hitboxes. I really realize now why making hitboxes are so important. It isn't about the structure of the box, or where it is that's important to the programmer, it's because it serves an independent purpose as an instance which makes coding SO much easier. This may however negatively effect the way some interactions occur between Daisuke and his enemies.

Gameplay Trailer.

Ok, so I made a little gameplay trailer using footage of me playing the current build. It shows off the first map and the various enemies that inhabit it. Enjoy!



YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKhEZQ8BXl4

Bomb Bandit details.

"Bomb Bandit" isn't a very strong guy, which is why he doesn't attack you directly like the other bandits. Instead, Bomb Bandit will hide behind something, or someone and chuck his powerful bombs at you.

Bomb Bandit hiding behind Hammer Bandit:


Together they make one tough barricade!

Bomb Bandit, Naginata (MiniBoss) Bandit

I made another bandit character! I think he will be the last of the regular bandit baddies.

He throws bombs! So watch out!


I've also made this character who is currently called "Naginata Bandit", but I'll give him a real name later. He is going to be the first MiniBoss fight.

Adding baddies.

So, I've been adding bad guys to the level, and it has been a bit of a pain in the ass.

It isn't so much the adding of guys, it's the fact that I'm making more complex bad guys than before. When it was just the bandit swinging his sword around and chasing Daisuke like a madman it was no problem, but with the new bad guys I'm putting in, it has become a bit more difficult.

"Bow Bandit" is a character I had in one of the early builds of Daisuke, he was very simply a bow and arrow guy that just repeated the animation of shooting over and over again and didn't give a crap where Daisuke was in relation to himself.

For this new and improved Bow Bandit, I will be making him shoot arrows at Daisuke. The secret to beating this character will be to keep moving and not to stand still, otherwise he'll hit you. Also, this guy is in a tree, so it should make it a bit more interesting.

Here is a pic of the first "new and improved" Bow Bandit:


The "Spear Bandit" is pretty new. I first made him about a week ago. Originally he was just going to stand around and stab at you with a spear, serving as a type of barricade, but I figured that that was kinda lame and that this character had a lot more potential.

So the Spear Bandit has become my most complex bad guy so far. His main function is that he runs at you holding his spear, which not only hurts you, but pushes you backwards and will continue to do damage. You can jump over his spear and get in his face to slash him, but if you don't act quickly, he will use his close range attack to knock you back into spear-range. I'm also thinking about possible adding a way to deflect his spear with an attack.

Here is a pic of the Spear Bandit, complete with hit boxes:


Neither of these baddies are done yet, but both should be finished pretty soon.

HUD Expressions.

So I've been doing a lot of work to the HUD lately. I think I'm pretty much done with it for now, and am going to go back to finishing other aspects of the game. The last thing I added to it was expressions to Daisuke's face depending on how much of your various stats you have left.

For example ...

Daisuke at 5/5 health, 100% energy (genki) and 100% defence:


Daisuke with 3/5 health:


Daisuke with 2/5 health and less than 50% defence:


Daisuke with 1/5 health and 100% defence:


I might add in a few more faces later, and I might put sweat or something in for low energy. So far, I like the way it turned out.

HUD again.

So, I learned how to make a real functional draining bar by looking at the coding of a preloader, and I applied it to my HUD. I also turned the Genki meter into a 3rd bar so that I can change the values without distracting people with random flashing numbers and decimals.

So here is what it looks like now:



Only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the colors. I might make the defense bare more of a grayish blue, and I don't know what to make the Genki bar at all. It's yellow right now because it seemed appropriate, but I'm starting to think it may just be a bit too obnoxious. Maybe orange? Health will stay bright green. And he health bar still drains in chunks, because you only actually have 5 HP.

Also, a cool feature I'm going to add in, is that Daisuke's face in the HUD will show different expressions based on how much health/genki/defense you have. It will be cool, I promise.

Another HUD upgrade !!

So, I have been feeling very creative lately, and have put into motion several ideas that were stirring around in my head. I feel pretty accomplished.

I threw some animations into the mix and have a couple more little tidbits I want to throw in there.

I also upgraded the HUD yet again !!



The defence % meter had been pissing me off. I thought it was really ugly. Even though it was accurate and technically got the job done, I just felt like it was an eyesore. SO, I turned it into a smaller 2ndary lifebar!

So when your blue defence bar drains, you lose 1 chunk of your green life bar.

The blue def bar only shows every 10% defense, so you won't be able to see down to the single % how much def you have, but that isn't really all too relevant since you can refill your defense by using Rin.

I also put the points or "Yen" on top of the lifebar, and moved the Genki meter underneath .. although, I might change the way the genki meter looks as well .. maybe, maybe not. Impressions?

New baddies, obstacles.

So, I've been putting quite a bit of work into Daisuke over the last few days. I've found new motivation since I leaped over some major programming hurtles I had in my way. I'm pretty proud of myself, not just for getting it done, but for doing it totally on my own! With no help whatsoever! I feel like I'm really getting better not just at using AS, but at problem solving and figuring out creative ways to deal with issues.

So !! I made a few cool additions to my Daisuke level, which will SOON become the official Daisuke Demo. It's really starting to look like a real game now! I'm excited.

Here are some new baddies I've added into the mix ..

Spear Bandit:

Hammer Bandit:

They will be joining the Sword and Bow bandits in the "Bandit's Lair" level, that will be the playable level in the Daisuke Demo. I'm also working on a couple of boss "bandit" characters to make the level a bit more exciting, possible a few more regular bandits just to spice up the level a bit more. I am planning on making a naginata bandit, who may be a boss, and I also will be making a "Bandit King", who may become a reoccurring character in the series, so he'll need a real name ..

I think I'm gonna throw in some other different kinds of baddies in there just for fun too.

ALSO .. !! The game can't just be ALL bad guys and Daisuke .. I made some obstacles for Daisuke to overcome as well.

Wooden Gates:

Spike Logs:


Daisuke will have to avoid dangerous obstacles, and figure out how to overcome those that stand in his way. I'm going to make at least one more variation of the gate, and I'll try and think up some more interesting obstacles for Daisuke to deal with.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Tougher baddies and keeping a tab.

So, it finally came to me today. Sitting down and squeezing ideas out of your brain doesn't always work, most of my really good ideas come to me via epiphany. They can't be forced, rather they just pop into my head, usually when I'm really relaxed or something.

So, the problem I had been having was how I was going to make enemies in Daisuke take multiple hits. It was something that I just had no idea what I was going to do about, so I kept avoiding it for as long as I could.

Suddenly this afternoon, the answer to my problem seemed not only obvious, but downright simple. So after about 20 minutes of coding and testing, the game now acts almost EXACTLY how I wanted in terms of enemy damage.

I can now input how much total life I want an enemy to have, as well as how much damage Daisuke's various attacks will deliver. This works both ways, so different enemies will be able to do different amounts of damage on Daisuke as well.

TOO GOOD !! I can finally make really tough guys and bosses and all the good stuff I've wanted to make for a while !! I just need a new mouse so I can get to drawing again.

The only problem I'm having with this new system is that I'm having a LITTLE bit of trouble making hit-sparks. Not a huge issue right now, I'm pretty sure I can figure it out in no time.

The second thing I've added is a points system. This system goes hand in hand with the enemy health system, as well as the story.

We need to remember that Daisuke is a ninja for HIRE, and he'll present his clients with an invoice after he's done with a mission. Daisuke keeps a tab on EVERYTHING .. not just what he collects, but who he fights, and even how he fights them. The tougher the enemy, the more points your attacks will be worth. The fancier the move you use to hurt an enemy, the more points you will get. You'll get different amounts of points for just about everything you do, and those points translate to a dollar amount for Daisuke .. or rather .. a Yen amount?

Kuji-in: "Rin".

So I came up with a creative solution to an issue I was having.

I originally adopted a % health system with X amount of lives. I changed it to a % defense with X amount of health system and only 1 life.

That probably didn't make any sense to anyone besides myself.

The way Daisuke's health/life system works, is that you can take a certain amount of preliminary damage before losing a chunk of your health bar. This allows different types of attacks to effect Daisuke in different ways. For instance, if you get hit by one arrow, you'll lose a certain % of your defense, but you may not lose any life. On the other hand, if you get hit by a flaming arrow, it will do more damage to your defense. If you get a flurry of sword swings, your defense will be drained so quickly that you will probably lose one or two chunks of your health bar.

So to put it more simply, you start off with about 5 chunks of life, and 100% defense. Once your defense is drained to 0% you will lose 1 chunk of life from your life bar, and then you will go back to 100% for the next chunk of life.

Different types of attacks will drain your defense at different speeds.

The big problem with this is that because of the way that the hitboxes work, you will sustain some damage to your defense when you strike an enemy, even if you don't get hit.

I could go back and do some major work to the way the hitboxes work, but I came up with an interesting and creative way to work with this system.

OK! This is the way that Daisuke has been working, and I've had mixed feelings about it for a while, but I found something to make it a little more fun.

If your defense is less than 100%, you can hit space while standing still to perform the first Kuji-in which is "Rin" for strength. This will quickly allow you to gain back your defense back to 100%. You won't however gain back any health, so once that is gone, "Rin" won't help you get it back. Also, you must be standing still and not performing any other actions to use "Rin".

Right now, "Rin" does not cost any Genki, and I'm not sure whether or not I'll make it cost any .. I guess I just want to get some impressions before I make any decisions like that, maybe I'll try a few things out first.

Took some damage:

Use "Rin":


Defense is back full again:

Also, if anyone has any creative ideas for levels, characters, skills or anything else that would be cool in the game, let me know.

Daisuke Update.

This is an update of the functional gameplay aspects of Daisuke. This video highlights some of the changes I've made from previous builds including size, and gravity. There is a TON of other functions I want to add to the game, but they will take more time because there are a lot of bugs I need to work out.



This video is also on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVOivyzKb6U

Beta Overhaul & Standing Position.

OK, so after a lot of thought, I realized that before I switch media, or jump onto a new platform, I should at least finish what I started. So I went back and made the decision to overhaul the Beta Engine using aspects of Alpha.

So I spent the morning doing that, and I am VERY satisfied of how it came out. The code is much less messy, and the sprites are more organized. It will be much easier to work with from hereon out.

I also tweaked the gravity to make it a bit less floaty, and shrunk Daisuke down to 75%.

There is still a lot I need to do, but I am happy with the way it is developing.

I do need opinions on one matter however.

I need opinions on Daisuke's standing position.

Should Daisuke be holding his sword, or should it be on his back?

Holding:


On his back:


Right now I'm leaning toward moving the sword to the back .. but that would mean I would have to redraw several sprites. Opinions?

Here is a side by side:

Frustration with AS3.

So, it turns out that neither of my engines are going to work in the future, because they're not written in Actionscript 3. AS3, is the future of flash, and is a more compatible scripting language that will be able to export directly to other media (such as the iPhone) in the future. This means several things, none of them favorable to me. What this means to me is that, I'll have to scrap all my coding and learn AS3 from scratch if I want to make Daisuke worthwhile.

There are other alternatives though.

I could try and find someone who already knows AS3 and is willing to help me make this project.

OR

I could BUY a game engine.

Here are the problems. First, I don't know anyone who programs in AS3. I don't even know anyone who programs AS 1 or 2! So I don't know where I would find someone who would work for free.

The problem with buying a game engine is that .. I'm broke. Licensing a game engine to develop my own game from what I've heard would cost around $1500 depending on what it is used for, which is money I just don't have right now. And even if I did license an engine, I would benefit from having an AS3 programmer, so as to customize it and give Daisuke the depth I've imagined.

Oh, there is also another problem. I'll have to BUY the new version of flash when it comes out, which is probably another $700 that I just don't have.

So a list of things I would need are .. ~ $1500 for the engine, ~$700 for Flash CS5 and then I still need to either, LEARN AS3 from the ground up, find someone to help me program or HIRE someone help me program.

OH! And I still need to be able to pay rent.

Things are not looking so hot for me right now. I've got about $9 in my wallet.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Should I apply for a loan? Should I look for investors? Should I just buy a book on AS3? Should I just keep tinkering with with AS1&2 for now?

All that I know is that I need some help here.

Quick Size Comparison.

Beta Engine:

Alpha Engine:

As you can see, Daisuke is smaller in the revisited Alpha Engine. His size is 75% when compared to the Beta engine. This was a much easier task to accomplish by switching engines, rather than resizing him frame by frame in the Beta engine. Even if I had tried to resize him, there would have been a good chance that he would have been very buggy, and would have had some major hit-test issues.

Switching Back.

When I initially started making this game (way back at the beginning of this year), I had learned how to make a rather code heavy (at least for someone barely learning actionscript) game engine, which I will refer to as the "Alpha Engine". The Alpha Engine did not provide platforms or side scrolling, as well as several other elements I desired for my game. So after I had reached the point where my scripting knowledge was maxed out, I moved on.

I learned how to make a side scrolling, platform hopping world for Daisuke to run around in. This newer engine, which I will refer to as the "Beta Engine" was VERY easy to make, VERY user friendly, and versatile enough for me to throw in some cool stuff. This is the engine you see in the 1st Daisuke teaser trailer.

I eventually hit a coding brick wall, and realized that I didn't like how several elements of the Beta Engine worked, so I stopped working on the game for a while.

I then took a look back at the Alpha Engine I started the game with, and realized that I have gained a significant amount of knowledge about actionscript in my time working with not just the Beta Engine, but a few others as well. My understanding of in game graphics has improved as well.

So today, I have reopened the initial Daisuke Alpha game engine, but this time with significantly more tools on my belt. Although it will take A LOT of time and energy to get the Alpha Engine to the point where I would want it to be, I think I have a better chance at this task, than I would if I just kept trying to work at the Beta Engine. I think that the Beta Engine just has way too many issues for me to try to work around, even though I had a lot of fun customizing and working on it. The basic mechanics of the Beta Engine were just not what I was looking for. Also, it had become a huge mess of code, and had become a pain to work with.

In just today, I have been able to get the Alpha Engine LOOKING much better than either had before. I have been able to fix the choppyness that was an issue in the Alpha Engine before, but I have done so without the floatyness of the Beta Engine, which means I have reached a pretty happy medium for the time being. I have also been able to successfully shrink down the characters to 75%, which is something that would not be easy to do in the Beta Engine. Combined with the 700 x 500 size I switched to before, there is plenty of space on the screen for all kinds of cool stuff.



It will take a while before I get this game working the way I want it to, but at least now I think I am more prepared to handle it. Hopefully this doesn't just turn out to be a big setback.

Opinions on Character Eyes.

When I designed Daisuke, I meant for him to be simple and easy to draw (over and over again). Every now and then I wonder if I should have given him more detailed eyes though.

I think his simple vertical line eyes get the job done, and convey his expression sufficiently enough. Overly complicated eyes would probably be too distracting.

I made several other characters with similarly simple eyes.

Opinions?

Daisuke:

Character A:

Character B:

Character C:

Character D:

Character E:

Character F:

Character G:


As you can see, most of the characters have very simple eyes, with the exception of the last two. But even "Character F" is relatively simple in his eye's construction. "G" however is more complex .. so I guess my question is .. do more complex eyes look better? Or should I make all the eyes simple?

Daisuke Trailer #2.

I just finished and uploaded Daisuke Trailer #2.



This is not a gameplay trailer like the first one was. This trailer is actually a cutscene that I plan on using in the game. The in game version will be fully voiced, however this version is not. Instead this has the song "Sadja's Soul" playing in the background.

The reason I didn't put voices in this trailer is because..

1: I have not yet decided who I want to do each character's voice

2: Daisuke wears a ninja hood which covers his mouth and the Tengu character's mouth wont move when he talks, so I thought it would look weird if two characters were exchanging lines, but no one's mouth was moving.

Anyways .. Here is the link again:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/513803

Twitter, New Levels, New Graphics.

So even though I am not a fan of twitter, I caved today and made one for GenjiPig. So if you use twitter, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/genjipig. I'll update there every so often I suppose. I'll still keep updates here whenever I get a chance, and probably update my Newgrounds blog sometimes as well.

Anyways, I am working on a couple new levels, one is a foggy/snowy forest, and the other is a rooftop hop level where you're under constant fire from archers beneath you. They're currently not much to look at, but they'll be finished sooner or later.

I also made some very cool graphical upgrades.

I dramatically upgraded my UI/HUD.

Here is a quick evolution:

Original HUD

Second HUD



New HUD




So as you can see, my first HUD was fugly, the second was boring, and the new one I made looks fantastic. Everything fits perfectly into a snug area on the upper left side of the screen.

Also, you may not have noticed that the aspect ratio of the trees in the images seems a bit different in the three pictures. That is because I stretched out the display width of the game, so now the game is in "wide screen" meaning you can see more of the level at any given time. Blogger squished all three of the pictures into the same size, but if you view them at full size, you'll see the difference.

FINALLY, the other cool graphic change I made, is that I made the super slashes a lot more super, by adding a cool glow effect to them rather than just making them blue slashes.

Here is a sample:

"Daisuke: Ninja for Hire" Teaser Trailer.

OK! So, I finally came up with a name for my game! Th official title of my game will be "Daisuke: Ninja for Hire".

So the name is as straightforward as it sounds. It is about a Ninja named Daisuke, and the ongoing story will involve him doing various missions for all types of characters.

I also have been doing a lot of bug fixing and adding a lot of content to my game lately, so I decided to make a bit of a teaser trailer.

There isn't too much to it, but I just thought I would give the people a little taste:



The video is also on youtube.

On my ZNOLMT Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsGcLNoCtd8

And on my GenjiPig Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umFkczwvtQ8

Banner.

So I made this banner today. It isn't anything too special, but it has my piggies and it says GenjiPig.

I gave Toshi a halo since he passed away last week. I really miss him and love him forever, and I know Genji and the boys miss him lots also. I'll write something nice about Toshi later this week. I am also doing a special cartoon dedicated to him.

As far as things I'm working on, I have made significant progress on my game, and even started working on some animated cut scenes for it. Several of my friends are interested in being voices, even though barely any of them have even seen any of my recent progress.

I still don't have a name for my game yet. I know I want it to have "Ninja" somewhere in the name.

I do however have a name for my main character. The rest of my cast of characters remains unnamed. I have about 15 characters so far and I am considering making a few more. Keep in mind though, many of them are just generic bad guys.

Suggestions welcome.
Previews to come.

Blog Get !!

So the other day I decided to open a production blog for the projects I'm working on. Some of my projects are just for fun, and some are business related. Some of my other projects I might actually make a separate blog for, as they don't necessarily relate to the types of projects I will be posting here.

I will mainly be using this site for my flash projects, which will include cartoons as well as games. I am also planning on using this space for some other types of projects as well.

Anyways, keep checking in on this page if you're curious and I will unveil some of the things I am working on soon.