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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Transcending essence into reality


Hi, thanks for taking the time to read my blog, enjoy today's  update.

Transcendence as it stands now

So far I have done 3 days of programming and the game is coming along nicely! 
The basics for platforming have been implemented and animations for the other characters have been coming along nicely. I have even started a mock health bar that seems to work perfectly as well as I have started coding in the special mechanics for my game. To help out with some of the animations I started to test around with Game Maker Studio's particle system which really added some cool effects that I'll show off in my next post in which I hope to include a gameplay video. Remember the full game isn't finished yet, but if things keep up at this rate I should definitely have a polished game before the contest ends August 7th. To hold you over until then this is another character in the game: 

"Delieghla"

Deleighla's background

Deleighla is a product of two creatures who hated each other, one of which you could have guessed was a mermaid. Neither of her parents wanted her and actually considered Delieghla "a mistake" and treated her as such. Growing up abused an isolated drove Delieghla into insanity and she came close to murdering her parents in their sleep but she was caught in the middle of the act and was banished from the sea. Fearing the type of person she might become, Delieghla is headed to the Kytera mountains to achieve transcendence and no longer be looked at as an abomination.


A little more about me:
Among other things, I am currently  a college Computer Science major whose looking to go into the video game industry later on in life. I started working in Game Maker 8.1 3 years ago and started to make the transition over to Game Maker Studio just a little over a year ago. Since then I have completed over 7 different projects (all of which vary in size) won 2nd place in a local game design competition, and I even entered the 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest. Even though I didn't win the grand prize last year I did manage to pick p a lot more skills and this time around I am planning on going big with "Transcendence" for the 2015 Game Maker Contest. I got a lot of feedback that was good and bad, while my game had a few bugs here and there people thoroughly enjoyed it. The main problem people had was with my choice of graphics. This time around I have been working my butt off improving my pixel art skills and I plan to improve my gameplay abilities too.

 So far I think I'm doing a good job, but you can be the judge of that. Tell me what do you think about Delieghla down below. If you have any feedback or suggestions, don't hesitate to announce them. That's all for today and you can look out for my next post on Friday! 

Monday, July 13, 2015

Transcending goals and progress into the second week of the IGMC

Hey everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you're as excited as I am for the development of this game. Since the game is still being developed some of you might be thinking what is done? You want to play it as soon as possible, I understand, but I won't be releasing any version of the game until I feel it is polished enough. You don't want to play an unfinished/broken game right? So I'll keep you up to date so that you know exactly when the game is ready. So......


What is done?

Artwork

Currently about 85% of the artwork is done and I will be releasing sneak peaks every two days to keep your interest. Starting off small but the closer it gets to the finish date the more assets you'll see.

This for example is the face of our hero Zyion:


As more things get done, I might come back and edit Zyion some more but as it stands right now this is him. 

Programming

Today was day 1 of programming for me and I have basic movement done and have started on collision checking. As stated in my other post I am using Game Maker Studio to program this game and as a 3 year GML user I can honestly say I learned a lot of new things today. For instance: I figured out that when using the draw function, the screen may draw your desired sprite but as far as Game Maker is concerned the sprite name/number/ect is still the main sprite that you assigned to that object. This took me a while to figure out as my animation end was going based off the index number of my assigned sprite for obj_zyion, even though I was using different animations for running/attacking.

Story update for readers:

Zyion is a member of the Drix tribe. The Drix live in an area known as Melsa, which is about 5 kilometers south of the Kytera Mountains. As a right of passage, when a Drix reaches the age of 18 they are sent to the Kytera Mountains to achieve transcendence and return home to help guard the safety of their village. The success rate of a Drix obtaining transcendence is about 50/50. Those who don't return within two weeks are assumed to be dead and the village mourns their loss. Zyion's brother never returned from the Kytera mountains two years ago. While Zyion expresses it differently, he wonders if he will be able to complete the task that his brother could not.


That's all for today! Await for the next post Wednesday. Also don't be afraid to comment down below, I'll answer any questions you have and also I am looking for feedback as well. Anyway, till Wednesday! 
   

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Transcending into life through the form of a game.

Hello All,Transcendence is the game I am creating for the 2015 Indie Game Maker Contest in which I have  a month to transcend this game from idea into a playable award winner. This blog has been created to give you detailed updates on the games progress and witness yourself the growth of this game. 

So you're probably wondering:

"What kind of game is Transcendence?"

"What is the story of Transcendence?"

"Why would I want to play Transcendence?"

Well keep reading.......


"What kind of game is Transcendence?"
Well Transcendence is going to be an action platformer with RPG elements that uses a unique leveling/growth system that is being developed by yours truly in Game Maker Studo that hopefully will force people to think about their actions as they progress through the game,


"What is the story of Transcendence?"

Transcendence takes place in the Kytera mountains; which are a strange and wonderful collection on mountain ranges that encompasses nearly every type of ecosystem and landscape known to man. It is also where hybrid creatures go to achieve transcendence or rebirth into one pure creature. One such hybrid creature by the name of Zyion Drix is on his path of enlightenment just when someone has plans to destroy the Kytera mountains and stop the hybrids from achieving Transcendence.  He then takes it upon himself to stop whomever the culprit is and transcend into the creature he is supposed to be,

Want to know more? Keep a lookout for future posts on in depth bios of the characters and the unveiling of more of the storyline.



"Why would I want to play Transcendence?"


Because you will get the chance to find your own path to transcendence and understand the meaning of your own life. 
All games impact a persons life in some way/shape/form. Using this game as a medium I hope to draw in every player and help transcend them into the person they were designed to be. 

Whether this game achieves that catharsism or not, will be decided by you. Play the game yourself and see if you can transcend into a higher being.



Thats all for tonight, look out for my next post late at night on Monday 7-13-15