Major update 1.1

Greetings, 

There wasn't enough changes to be put as a minor update, and most of them were just finishing off implementing stuff from major update 1, so this will be major update 1.1.

Features:

• Added a currency label to the inventory slot
• Slots highlight when moused over
• FPS reader
• removed 'position' debug information because it was irrelevant to the camera position(the absolute position). plus the numbers never changed on it because after initialization the camera controls took over.

That's it!

Stay crazy, Monkey

Major Update 1

So I know it has been a very long time, but I can assure you I have not been inactive. Below is a full list of changes and additions.

1. I have officially switched to XNA 4.0(c# framework )
2. Game is now top down view like the original Zelda

Features:

1. Load tile map from file.
2. Displays map on screen
3. Basic animations 
4. Mobs spawn(no ai yet)
5. Special content pipeline that has ridiculously fast load time.

Working on:

1. Collision
2. AI 
3. Level switching
4. Tools(like entity editor and map editor)
5. Better input
6. Options menu
7. Implement levels to content pipeline
8. GUI system

Near future:

1. Combat system
2. Advanced AI
3. Items
4. Inventory(once GUI is in)
5. Better Graphics(lighting, particles, effects, etc.)
6. Bosses

I will post a planned feature list soon, 

Stay Crazy, Monkey

Pace Change

Greetings,

I know it has been a very long time since the last update I made, but that's because of a shift in mindset. No, I'm not bailing out and quitting the project. The thing I'm changing in the focus of the project. Even though the point of the game is to eventually bring enjoyment to fans, the main reason for the project is learning. I cannot put into words how much stuff I've learned through development with Java. And a better game comes from more knowledge on the material your working with.

So I will I will stop development on "the game", and focus on a long term "game engine". This will result in a more polished and smoother game than something thrown together in a couple months. Because of limitations with optimization with Java, I will be switching languages. You may think that "Oh, well a 2D game doesn't need optimization" and your right in many ways, but I don't want to develop a game that has an thrown together engine running it, instead of a game that has a much more polished engine, that can work for many game titles.

To get a little more technical, I'll state more details. The language I'm switching to is Visual C#. This Language has almost identical syntax to Java, so it won't be much of a learning curve. And it is a native language so it will run a lot faster than Java as well. Obviously making my engine communicate with the CPU and GPU to draw lines and graphics would be reinventing the wheel, so I will use a DirectX header for C#, called SharpDX. I will be using VS10 because I can't get VS12 or 13 to install right.

I appreciate patience, and I am quite a patient person myself, so I find myself most comfortable around patient people, so a long-term goal is my thing. If you have and questions or tips please email me or Arcie at telpathstudios@gmail.com   (I'll be looking into a custom domain)

Stay Crazy, Monkey

I'll be bauk

Hey, very sorry about the expanded leave, but I predict that very soon I will have me work freed up and I'll be back at hauling away thousands of lines of code. Not really, but close.

So I have one more big work project to finish up on and after that I'll be free to go! I have been available most weekends, but I haven't been able to work on the game because on time constraint. Would you want to play AC4, SC, or WoW, or would you want to write out hundreds of lines of code to not make much progress. I know it sounds selfish, but on time problems some things pass time better than others, so that's why I like to work on the game during the week, because most of my day has already been cut short by school.

-Stay Crazy, Monkey

Wallpaper

Working on some concept art for the game. Here is a wallpaper that recently made hope you enjoy it. Download.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/9eo2aye52kcl0/Photos#

Notification 2

Okay, so I had a little time this weekend to work, so I took advantage of it. I completed the following:
      -Complete backend overhaul

Thats it, but it consumed all of my time. The overhaul involved making my custom engine a separate project and using it as a jar library for the game itself.

On a side note, I have been using any free time I have during the week to organize some ideas for a future project. I am unsure of the name, but it will be a space based game. Now just to clear things up -- I will not be beginning work on my new idea until the current game is complete and shipped.
No matter how tempting it is to dump the current idea to move onto a fresh ideas sounds, I wont. I will demonstrate the utmost self control and pace myself. If I begin work on it now I fear that the current project will never get done. Additionally, I am using the current project as 1) an extreme learning tool to make myself fluent in a coding language and the logic behind game programming and 2) to raise funds for future projects. The funds will go to stuff like paying for an actual website host, licensing for music and licensing for software like photoshop, professional sound production software, hardware(such as physical drawing pads), and game engines. To give a few details on my new idea: I am hoping to get it developed in cryengine. Most likely 3, but 4 if it is more available at the time of work. It will be spaced based(this means I'll have to write my own custom planetary gravity system.). It will be open world(as any space game should), and I will attempt to compare it to a space ship assassins creed black flag, but I don't know how relevant that is. --I am aware of the new space sim Star Citizen, and do not want competition-- not saying that my skills are anywheres near that of a whole multi studio team, but I don't want my game to seem like a cheap knockoff of it. So i will try my best to focus more on the single-player intensely story driven style, while Star Citezen is seeming to approach it at more of a Multi-player economy system side(which is perfectly relevant for a space sim).
Anyways I've been rambling to I'll end it here.

Stay Crazy, Monkey

Texture Update 1

Hi, Arcie here and I just wanted to do a quick update about what I am doing. So, as you know it takes a while to texture and stuff and get insperation. I hand draw everything I do and trace it on a computer program, which takes alot of time to do because, you can't get it right on the first try. So, this update i just wanted to say that I have drawn alot of stuff but I have no clue if I would use it yet, just a bunch of concept art right now, so for i have made one boss and two wallpapers and still alot to be done in terms if figuring out what I will keep are not. I can't upload any pics nor do i want to spoil any thing before I am done with all the bosses.

Arcie "stay frosty"