Major Update 2i

I decided to make a Major update out of a couple of minor updates, because I like the idea :). So there will be 3 major update 2's to come all ending with the aspect of the game that it changed.

So I'm changing Minor Update 3 to Major Update 2i. The i is for inventory since that was the major thing that changed. There was some changes between Minor Update 3 and Major update 2. 

Major Update 2i:

everything from Minor Update 3 and:

• Character  Screen
• Slots for equipment(only the right piece can go into the right slot)
• Equipment displays on character in the center of the armor screen
• Action Bar
• Has 2 sec cooldown

Upcoming:

Major Update 2c for combat

Major Update 2g for graphics 

Minor Update 3

Greetings,

It is I, Monkey, here to bring more great news of improvements and additions. I have been working very hard on the inventory system lately and it is a a point of sharing!

Inventory:

• Slot highlighting much more consistent
• Pick up items
• Put down items
• If there is an Item in the slot already, it will swap.
• Item count(moves with item)
• Currency(Haven't come up with a name yet)
• Points(required to progress to next level)

Other Changes/Additions

• Fixed fullscreen to also change resolution, not just stretch
• Allowed camera to adjust to different screen sizes
• Improved resolution scaling across the board for sharper, better textures

Currently working on:

• Procedural UI System(Buttons, sliders, drop-down boxes)
• Tweaking inventory here and there
• Starting to work on a database system for storing large amount of data(ex. items)

Very soon:

• To finish off the GUI Systems bulk will be Armor and stats buffs and that stuff
• Completion of databases to begin the implementation of lots and lots of items

Near Future:

• Combat System
• Lighting(Brainstorming currently in the works)
• Multiple levels

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#