I’ve been keeping them in small plastic bags, . . . → Read More: My Game Design Prototype Toolbox]]> Last year I posted about my shopping trip to a hobby store to buy game design prototyping tools. Some weeks ago, I bought even more items, such as tiny wooden barrels and glass beads. These tools are great for doing quick and easy paper prototypes of game designs.

I’ve been keeping them in small plastic bags, and all of those bags were in a larger freezer bag. While this was functional, it felt a bit lame. I’m a game designer, and some of my most important tools are in plastic food bags? It’s not right.

So I went shopping again and found a nice toolbox for less than $15. It has these cool compartments that I can move about relatively easily, and when the lid is closed, everything stays in place.

I put all of my wooden pieces and glass beads in the toolbox, and each gets its own compartment. I realized I had a lot more star-shaped wooden pieces than any other piece, though. I even had room for more things, so I put in some dice. My dice collection isn’t much, but I had them separate from my prototyping tools before. Now they’re all together.

Here’s a shot of the toolbox opened.

And here’s a shot of the closed toolbox.

The plastic bags were a bit more portable. I could put the entire collection in my bookbag when I left home, but this toolbox is its own luggage. By and large, I don’t find myself going out to do prototyping, so it isn’t that big of a deal.

What’s in your game design prototype toolbox? How do you store your physical paper prototyping tools?

Now you have no excuse not to play! Well, assuming you don’t use a Mac. Or some other OS. Then you have an . . . → Read More: LD18: Stop That Hero! Ported to Win32!]]> I’ve updated my LD final entry page, but I wanted to let you know that I finally created a Stop That Hero! Windows port (2.2MB)!

Now you have no excuse not to play! Well, assuming you don’t use a Mac. Or some other OS. Then you have an excuse.

So far, the Stop That Hero! Linux version (1.6MB) is all I have. I just started using CMake for my build scripts, so please let me know if the game won’t run on your computer. Get the Stop That Hero! . . . → Read More: LD18: Stop That Hero! Is Finished!]]> I apparently needed sleep and a third day to get this game completed, but here it is!

So far, the Stop That Hero! Linux version (1.6MB) is all I have. I just started using CMake for my build scripts, so please let me know if the game won’t run on your computer.
Get the Stop That Hero! source

I’ll work on a Windows port, but for now, I’m going to relax! It’s been a grueling 72 hours!

UPDATE: Windows port (2.2MB) created and available for you!

I also updated the Linux build. It’s the same code, but the build was done on an older Linux-based system, so it should run on more systems without a problem.

Basically, the tasks I have left:

In the last iteration, I was play testing and balancing as best as I could. I decided that the bat was too expensive, so I moved it down in front of the slime in . . . → Read More: LD18: I’m In the Home Stretch]]> I’m at the final iteration!

Basically, the tasks I have left:

• create instructions screen
• add sound effects
• package this baby up!

In the last iteration, I was play testing and balancing as best as I could. I decided that the bat was too expensive, so I moved it down in front of the slime in terms of costs. I lowered the starting health of the Hero and gave him fewer lives. I also tweaked the level design a bit to accommodate the AI’s inability to see too far ahead. There are also victory and defeat screens now.

I finally got the AI working well enough that I realized that I wasn’t just debugging the program anymore. I was playing the game! And it’s actually not that lame! B-)

After a good night’s rest, I woke up with bug fixes. Seriously, I was lying . . . → Read More: LD18: Let’s Keep on Jammin’!]]> I missed the deadline for the main compo, but I can still submit my game to the Ludum Dare Jam. The deadline is 24 hours after the end of the compo, so I have until 9PM tonight to finish this game.

After a good night’s rest, I woke up with bug fixes. Seriously, I was lying in bed, slowly waking up, and I thought, “Oh, yeah, I implemented cooldown for the entities after they attack, but I forgot to ensure that cooldown ends.” I fixed a crash bug which also prevents the creatures from trying to leave the world map. And I improved the exploration mode of the AI so that the entities should no longer wiggle or fidget. They pick a direction and go until they reach it. I found that the reason why the hero was getting stuck in place. It was due to the fact that I was checking if he had reached a very exact location, and with his speed, he sometimes overshoots it. When he tries to go back to it, he overshoots again, forever. I enlarged the collision detection box to compensate.

When I finished Iteration 4, I found out that accidentally implemented some stories from Iteration which deal with entities attacking each other. I’ve simplified combat so if entities are not in cooldown and are touching, they’re attacking. That implementation left Iteration 5 fairly moot. In fact, I decided to skip the remaining story in Iteration 5 which dealt with some nuanced AI that I’m not even going to look at, so I’m on to Iteration 6. You can see the backlog of skipped story cards under the Iteration card.

I’m pretty excited. It’s only 10AM, and I’m on the last two iterations. Iteration 7 is basically sound effects and packaging the game up, and frankly (and sadly), sound is optional at this point. B-)

Iteration 3 was a bear. It was where a lot of the advanced AI had to be implemented. I’ve never done A*. Most of my AI was very simplistic, which . . . → Read More: LD18: Missed the Deadline but Continuing On]]> I got to Iteration 3 by scrapping some of the art and animations I had planned for Iteration 2. Those story points go back into the backlog.

Iteration 3 was a bear. It was where a lot of the advanced AI had to be implemented. I’ve never done A*. Most of my AI was very simplistic, which went with the simplistic games I’ve done before. This game was going to be different.

Or at least I hoped it would. Entities would bumble about, get stuck, and fly off the world map even though I explicitly told them not to!

I had a quick lunch which was easy to make while I continued to work.

Unfortunately, the deadline for the main Ludum Dare compo passed when I finally figured out the A* algorithm (it turned out that there was a greater-than sign when there should have been a less-than sign, which is why the entities were moving so strangely). After the pathfinding, the entities still had to interact.

I had the Hero moving toward targets it sees nearby, although every so often I see that he gets stuck in a certain tile for some reason. Enemies seem to have trouble moving to the Hero like I expect, but they find him soon enough.

But with Iteration 4, they fight!

Do you see how the Hero’s health is down?

That’s the first time it has been like that outside of arbitrary tests being conducted. One of the dragons did that! Good job, my babies!

Since the main compo is over, the only option I have left is to continue on. I can still try to enter the Ludum Dare Jam, which gives me an extra 24 hours before the submission deadline.

For now, though, I’m going to bed. These last 48 hours have been grueling, frustrating, and exciting.

I went to bed after 5:30AM after getting some rudimentary AI in. I don’t know why the ground-based characters have no second-thoughts about going through the trees and mountains. If anything, they should want to avoid them. I’m sure there’s a bug in the implementation.

I woke up feeling fairly crappy, but I know what will fix . . . → Read More: LD18: Good Morning, Ludum Dare!]]>

I went to bed after 5:30AM after getting some rudimentary AI in. I don’t know why the ground-based characters have no second-thoughts about going through the trees and mountains. If anything, they should want to avoid them. I’m sure there’s a bug in the implementation.

I woke up feeling fairly crappy, but I know what will fix that!

Yeah, OJ! Oh, and, yeah, sure, I suppose Banana can come along, too.

What you see is the game’s rendering of a small 50×32 image, blown up below:

Besides creating a world tile map, it also figures out where to place towers, chests, and the castle. The black spot is the hero’s spawn point. Red squares represent chests with health in them, and yellow ones represent chests with weapon upgrades. . . . → Read More: LD18: My, What a Fancy World You Have There!]]>

What you see is the game’s rendering of a small 50×32 image, blown up below:

Besides creating a world tile map, it also figures out where to place towers, chests, and the castle. The black spot is the hero’s spawn point. Red squares represent chests with health in them, and yellow ones represent chests with weapon upgrades.

The tile map will also help the AI figure where and how it can move. I need to do some trickery to make sure it deals with towers and castles correctly. They’re larger than a single 16×16 tile, but the AI should act like there is an impassable wall where it looks like there is one. Also, I need to make sure the hero knows how to get to the entrance of a tower or castle.

UPDATE:
Iteration 2 of 7 started with a little over 20 hours left in the compo.

My fantastic and amazing girlfriend made me a taco dinner, which was so delicious that my taste buds were fist-bumping each other.

I went to a party my friends were hosting so I could take a short break and get some much-needed social time, . . . → Read More: LD18: Lots of Work Left and LD Is Halfway Through?!]]> I had some fig bars as a snack as the evening wore on.

My fantastic and amazing girlfriend made me a taco dinner, which was so delicious that my taste buds were fist-bumping each other.

I went to a party my friends were hosting so I could take a short break and get some much-needed social time, but I came back home shortly.

Looking at The Big (Cork) Board, I can see that I’m almost done with the first iteration of work.

Unfortunately, I still have 6 more big iterations to do, and a lot of it is doing AI path-finding and other AI things I’ve never done before.

And the deadline is looming.

I’m feeling pretty screwed.

Wait a minute. I think I have some Red Bull shots in my fridge…

I don’t drink caffeine usually, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Let’s roll.