Development Update - October 29, 2010

[Mycal]

I stopped working on BSGame for awhile and started focusing on code for school, in particular my senior project. I'm biased, but I think its a neat project, a UPnP media server to browse, convert, and stream flash video to other devices like XBox 360 (our priority) and Playstation 3. We are basically done with every aspect except sending the video back to the device, so I think the project was a full success, a full month ahead of schedule . Anyway, enough of the sidebar.

I spent a little time converting some of the projects over to C# from Vb.net since C# has become my language of choice; I was using VB.net out of obligation since the converter automatically upgraded it to VB.net. So that took a little time, and I've been overall fixing and changing some things inside of BSGame that will overall help the process along when I continue with Client<->Server interactions.

On a side note, after seeing the success of Minecraft (written in Java), I couldn't help but wander how powerful the language really was. I absolutely despise Java and have never really given it a chance for things other than school homework and projects, so I decided to test the waters a little and play around with some platform style games. Didn't get very far in creating it, but working on it gave me some great ideas for BSGame so I think it helped out quite a bit. I personally still find Java a little to limiting (and a huge memory eater) for anything serious, but Notch continues to prove me wrong. However, I do want to say, I was pretty impressed with the drawing speed and power of Java graphics compared to my tests with GDI in Vb.net and C#. Even without using DirectX or OpenGL (don't even know if DX is possible in Java), it was very fast and quite simple to do complex things without breaking the graphics (like I do all the time in C#) and without using locks. Oh, and don't expect me to release this Java platformer in any form. It has no actual graphics (just colors) and is not really very functional. Gravity is 100% broken (you often fall straight through the ground or fly super speed out of the screen) and bullets have some weird effects after travelling a certain distance and I have no desire to fix them. It was just a testbed and proved very useful in certain concepts.

One thing I'm still having trouble with is depth, I change my mind very often on how to handle changes in depth for the over and under the bridge concept. I now can't remember what my final decision on how to handle this was :? . So, where was I going with this topic...? Hm, maybe I should play around with some ideas on this for awhile.

Ok, here's my plans for the next few days/weeks (no idea how long it'll take, Fable 3, Fallout New Vegas, plus Sunday's Minecraft update make me think I'm going to be busy for a little while ). I'm going to draw a simple sprite, probably just a block of color as I did in Java for now, and get it moving around the screen properly in the client. I'm going to create a simple bridge and just play with a few ideas until I find something that works well.

 

[steven]

Whats the point of Minecraft? I googled and found it, but I was just moving some blocks, there has to be more, I am just too lazy to research.

 

[Mycal]

Well it's still in alpha, but here's a basic description. Minecraft is basically virtual legos, with zombies, skeletons that shoot arrows, and walking green penises that explode if they get near you called creepers. You explore, collect materials, build, and just survive. It is actually very addictive and very entertaining. The multiplayer aspect sucks right now, too buggy to even bother with. However, a huge update is coming on Halloween that adds many new features and may or may not fix some multiplayer bugs. It is very worth the $10 it costs while in Alpha.

A friend introduced me to the game by telling stories, so I said I was going to look it up and his exact words, "No don't! It's too addictive, just stay away." I doubted him and looked it up anyway, and watched a few videos on youtube then just decided to try it out. It's only $10, so I didn't think too much of it and bought it without trying the creative version (which is free but no longer updated). Turns out he was right. Minecraft is a very addictive game despite it's rather simple graphics. It takes a very simple concept and presents it very well. Though, I do think my friend's advice is very good. Stay away from the game unless you have a lot of free time. Also watch some Youtube videos first (make sure you are watching one that says Alpha in the top left corner of the game screen) to see exactly what it is about. Particularly adventures in minecraft type videos.

Also, sorry, keep missing your IMs. My sound is on my Xbox and the monitor times out so I don't notice while I'm playing until I decide to do something on the computer. I'm feeling a little sick today (had a bad Frito Chili Cheese Wrap from Sonic I think), so I'll try to talk to you tomorrow if you've got the time.