I remember when the PS2 was getting close to launch. I had a launch console reserved along with Madden NFL 2001 and Tekken Tag Tournament. I was a bit caught up in the pre-launch hype, but I remember getting a phone call from the retailer I had my reservations at days before launch to inform me that those games were available to be picked up!
I was sorta confused. I mean, the console isn't even available yet but I can buy the games?!? Oh well. Picked 'em up we did, and I remember the joyful feeling of having two PS2 games before the console launch... and it also added to my excitement. Allow me to recreate that idea here and now.
I said Boom Blocks Proto would be available on the 5th of October...well...head over to the showcase to find the link to prove it is available NOW!
Enjoy!
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Friday, October 02, 2009
Reintroducing Boom Blocks (Proto)!!!
You know, one of the things I used to fantasize about with game development was the unveiling and pre-release hype. ...I'll settle for somewhat of a simulation of that feeling with this "surprise" announcement on my blog.
Those of you who have followed this blog at all in any recent time may have read the story of the ill-fated Boom Blocks project. I'm confident a search of those two key words will bring up most, if not all associated blog posts. Long story short: Boom Blocks was originally meant to be my final pedagogical 2D game project before I made the leap into 3D game development. My laptop used for development bit the dust fairly early in the process and I had no other suitable workstation to use for a while. With school starting back up, I made the (unhappy) decision to kill the project. Well now, as part of my final "Major Design Experience" of school, I had all the reason to revitalize the project. This is indeed a surprise announcement as this is the first I've mentioned any activity on the project (that is, besides the fact that it popped back up on the showcase concept section not too long ago but I doubt anyone saw it). Furthermore, the reason for being called "Proto" is at the root of one of the most exciting things (for me) about this project.
Boom Blocks was a thorough project. Before it was shelved, I put in a LOT of work just to get to the Tetris prototype represented in the screenshots. A lot of that had to do with the fact that it was my first full DirectX game, furthermore, I was handling at the lower-level DirectX stuff such as initialization myself instead of using a pre-existing wrapper of some sort. It was also a lot of work getting the Tetromino collision detection and rotation logic working correctly. In all, I spent over a month just doing solid coding to get that build, more time if you wanna consider design. How long has it taken to build Boom Blocks Proto to the state you see in the screenshot? About 2.5 weeks.
There are two main reasons for this:
1: The game runs on an engine developed by a friend of mine called the Zenipex Library (or Zenilib). Its a well-done engine that had a pleasingly moderate learning curve for what I needed to get it to do.
2: The game design is greatly simplified from its original form (hence Prototype) I trimmed off gameplay mechanics such as the use of Tetromino blocks and the immediate goal being to create a horizontal line to clear blocks and used linear 3-Block clusters that need to be cleared. I also added the dynamic of making the clearing process color-specific among 5 different types.
I feel the game is indeed is indeed quite "complete" at its core of being a simple, amateur arcade game, but there are still a number of things I envisioned for Boom Blocks such as sharp graphics and dynamic visuals/animations that are non-existent. Therefore, this is indeed a Prototype of my original vision for the game.
Why is this idea so exciting for me? Well there are a number of reasons. I am reminded of the development of Space Out: V-Style and Light Wrap in that I was able to put together a game that can be thought of as "complete" in context in a short amount of time. I am happy that I was able to bring Boom Blocks to life in some form. I won't rave about my own work and say the game is awesome, but I will say it is without a doubt the most solid game I've made on my own yet, especially for it being the product of about 3 weeks of work (Design + Implementation). Being solidly functional is good enough for me. Finally, I've often read about how time and cost-effective it can be for developers when they license existing technology such as the Unreal Engine. I'm happy to be able to experience the concept of that for myself. As I said, it took me over a month just to get a framework for Boom Blocks in place, largely due to manual implementation of the lower-level functionality. By adopt existing tech in Zenilib, I've experienced first hand the time-benefits of such a route. 6-8 weeks of work condensed down to 2-3 with better a product is far from trivial. It is quite a satisfying feeling.
So...as I said to begin this blog, this is my own little way of experiencing my fantasy of a surprise game announcement. To add to the experience, I must also say the game is not yet done. It is in the final days of polish and will be released on October 5th. Enjoy an idea of how Boom Blocks was meant to be!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Realize the flaws of your ways...
It has been quite a while since I last showed any real activity on this blog or my website, but that does not mean I have lost interest in them (as hard as that may be to believe). There are some things that have been going in the past year, and perhaps most significantly, in the past couple months that have made it hard to really share on this blog in the essence of what it is all about. With that being said, this blog does not end the drought, either. I hope the time when I can be honest with what has happened isn't too far into the future, but for now I just want to keep it simple. On that note, what I really wanted to blog about was my recent experience playing through Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
First and foremost, my discussion does not bear any true spoilers so please feel free to read on if you have not played the game but intend to.
The Phoenix Wright trilogy are some of the most engaging and intellectually thrilling games I've ever played. This is so not only because of the interesting characters and entertaining dialogue, but also because of the superbly written thriller storylines and intellectual twists. I played through each of those in awe at how well-planned and brilliant the mysteries were, unable to imagine producing such thrilling writing myself.
However, one thing gradually came to my notice. That notice gradually became an annoyance, and that annoyance continuously grew with every case and every installment. The most obvious aspect of this annoyance is that judgment of a defendant is based on a concept that is backwards relative to (at least) the American Judicial System. That is the concept of the defendant as "Guilty until proven Innocent". This concept inevitably highlights potentially blatant illogical proceedings. For example, the defense can present a million and one reasons why you can't say for sure the defendant committed the crime he/she is on trial for, yet if you cannot literally prove someone ELSE, that is, A SPECIFIC OTHER did it, then the court concludes the defendant is guilty, despite there being no real proof and every reason to cast doubt on the claim.
Now for the record, I realize these are games built on the challenge of finding and exposing lies and solving mysteries, thus, they should not be imperatively judged in a realistic fashion. However, I again stress the qualities that make these games appeal to me so much. For games that are so intelligent and are personally engaging BECAUSE they are so intelligent, it pains me to experience such annoying flaws in the proceedings that spawn from illogical concepts. These include the lying witnesses that are constantly allowed to to revise their testimonies and rarely seem to be charged with perjury afterward and the fact that the defense is strained to present evidence as proof for every little thread of logic discussed while the prosecution is allowed to spit out as much conjecture as they want without having to back it up and even lead their witnesses. This is all based on the flawed basis of the defendant standing as guilty of the charge(s) until proven innocent.
I very much enjoyed the trilogy, they are three of my favorite games ever. However, that annoyance constantly grew on me the more I played. I still have audio memories of myself shouting such things as "Why don't YOU show some proof!" "I didn't prove he didn't do it? You didn't prove he did!!!" "I need decisive evidence to prove innocence?!? Where is the decisive proof to the contrary!!!" And most recently "So what if I can't prove the witness did it!!! That doesn't automatically mean the defendant did!!!"
The last shout is perhaps most symbolic of the outcomes of the cases in the series, because it ALWAYS boils down to proving innocence by proving someone else's guilt. You cannot simply cast reasonable or decisive doubt on the accusations towards the defendant.
It was a culmination of all these feelings that, sometime during my experience playing Apollo Justice, the of declaring this the last Ace Attorney game I will ever play actually crossed my mind. I no doubt enjoyed the experience as a whole, but the nonsense buried in the otherwise intelligent writing stung me that bad.
And now, this is real reason I wanted to blog about this. I've just finished the game approximately 30 minutes ago as of this typing and I experienced something that made me take all these annoyance-spawned feelings and cast them away.
You know, one thing I often ask myself when I'm playing an annoying segment of game spawned by bad design is, "WHAT THE HECK WAS THE DESIGNER THINKING?!?!?" I often wonder how much and how often the designers of games actually experience and feel the product of the their work come back to give them a bad taste in their mouths. How often does a designer think to him/herself "thats actually designed kind of poorly and may piss off some players" I can't help but feel sometimes a designer ships the game feeling confident that a particular aspect was designed well, only to have that craft end up in front of me and have me cursing under my breath, all the while wondering how that person could be so ignorant!!!!! ARGHH!!!
Well, the writers of Apollo Justice just gave me a memory among this context that I will never forget. For all the annoyances I continued to endure with each and every installment, growing to the point of know longer wanting to subject myself to them, regardless of the fact that I was enjoying the overall experience at the same time, for once I got a concrete answer to my pondering. For once, I actually knew there was a designer out there, somewhere, who knew they shipped out a game with an aspect that would annoy people. To be even more specific, an aspect that knew was illogical and contradicted the otherwise intelligent nature of the game. What was the most satisfying part of this realization? I actually witnessed the designer MOCK that very aspect. They actually called it out and ACKNOWLEDGED it right in the middle of the game.
This is not a true spoiler, but this is something that caused my mood at the time to go from being dampened by illogical annoyances, to having my spirits raised high, actually causing hairs to perk up on my body. This series, so built on trying a defendant as guilty until proven otherwise, so biased and lenient on the prosecution while so strict and unfairly demanding of the defense, so willing to deny the freedom of the defendant unless EVERY possible thread of doubt was absolutely conclusive, so willing to judge guilt if there is even the slightest suspicion of committing the crime although common sense easily outweighs in favor of the contrary.....finally allowed common sense to do just that.
For those of you who have played through this game, you know exactly what I mean. For those of you who haven't, you will come to find out when/if you reach this point. To remain spoiler-free, suffice it to say that I applaud the writers of Apollo Justice to be as so bold to outright mock, acknowledge and correct what was perhaps the biggest contradiction in the design of the game. It capped off one of the the most memorable experiences I've had as gamer and was THE decisive factor in my distinguishing it as one of my all-time favorites.
First and foremost, my discussion does not bear any true spoilers so please feel free to read on if you have not played the game but intend to.
The Phoenix Wright trilogy are some of the most engaging and intellectually thrilling games I've ever played. This is so not only because of the interesting characters and entertaining dialogue, but also because of the superbly written thriller storylines and intellectual twists. I played through each of those in awe at how well-planned and brilliant the mysteries were, unable to imagine producing such thrilling writing myself.
However, one thing gradually came to my notice. That notice gradually became an annoyance, and that annoyance continuously grew with every case and every installment. The most obvious aspect of this annoyance is that judgment of a defendant is based on a concept that is backwards relative to (at least) the American Judicial System. That is the concept of the defendant as "Guilty until proven Innocent". This concept inevitably highlights potentially blatant illogical proceedings. For example, the defense can present a million and one reasons why you can't say for sure the defendant committed the crime he/she is on trial for, yet if you cannot literally prove someone ELSE, that is, A SPECIFIC OTHER did it, then the court concludes the defendant is guilty, despite there being no real proof and every reason to cast doubt on the claim.
Now for the record, I realize these are games built on the challenge of finding and exposing lies and solving mysteries, thus, they should not be imperatively judged in a realistic fashion. However, I again stress the qualities that make these games appeal to me so much. For games that are so intelligent and are personally engaging BECAUSE they are so intelligent, it pains me to experience such annoying flaws in the proceedings that spawn from illogical concepts. These include the lying witnesses that are constantly allowed to to revise their testimonies and rarely seem to be charged with perjury afterward and the fact that the defense is strained to present evidence as proof for every little thread of logic discussed while the prosecution is allowed to spit out as much conjecture as they want without having to back it up and even lead their witnesses. This is all based on the flawed basis of the defendant standing as guilty of the charge(s) until proven innocent.
I very much enjoyed the trilogy, they are three of my favorite games ever. However, that annoyance constantly grew on me the more I played. I still have audio memories of myself shouting such things as "Why don't YOU show some proof!" "I didn't prove he didn't do it? You didn't prove he did!!!" "I need decisive evidence to prove innocence?!? Where is the decisive proof to the contrary!!!" And most recently "So what if I can't prove the witness did it!!! That doesn't automatically mean the defendant did!!!"
The last shout is perhaps most symbolic of the outcomes of the cases in the series, because it ALWAYS boils down to proving innocence by proving someone else's guilt. You cannot simply cast reasonable or decisive doubt on the accusations towards the defendant.
It was a culmination of all these feelings that, sometime during my experience playing Apollo Justice, the of declaring this the last Ace Attorney game I will ever play actually crossed my mind. I no doubt enjoyed the experience as a whole, but the nonsense buried in the otherwise intelligent writing stung me that bad.
And now, this is real reason I wanted to blog about this. I've just finished the game approximately 30 minutes ago as of this typing and I experienced something that made me take all these annoyance-spawned feelings and cast them away.
You know, one thing I often ask myself when I'm playing an annoying segment of game spawned by bad design is, "WHAT THE HECK WAS THE DESIGNER THINKING?!?!?" I often wonder how much and how often the designers of games actually experience and feel the product of the their work come back to give them a bad taste in their mouths. How often does a designer think to him/herself "thats actually designed kind of poorly and may piss off some players" I can't help but feel sometimes a designer ships the game feeling confident that a particular aspect was designed well, only to have that craft end up in front of me and have me cursing under my breath, all the while wondering how that person could be so ignorant!!!!! ARGHH!!!
Well, the writers of Apollo Justice just gave me a memory among this context that I will never forget. For all the annoyances I continued to endure with each and every installment, growing to the point of know longer wanting to subject myself to them, regardless of the fact that I was enjoying the overall experience at the same time, for once I got a concrete answer to my pondering. For once, I actually knew there was a designer out there, somewhere, who knew they shipped out a game with an aspect that would annoy people. To be even more specific, an aspect that knew was illogical and contradicted the otherwise intelligent nature of the game. What was the most satisfying part of this realization? I actually witnessed the designer MOCK that very aspect. They actually called it out and ACKNOWLEDGED it right in the middle of the game.
This is not a true spoiler, but this is something that caused my mood at the time to go from being dampened by illogical annoyances, to having my spirits raised high, actually causing hairs to perk up on my body. This series, so built on trying a defendant as guilty until proven otherwise, so biased and lenient on the prosecution while so strict and unfairly demanding of the defense, so willing to deny the freedom of the defendant unless EVERY possible thread of doubt was absolutely conclusive, so willing to judge guilt if there is even the slightest suspicion of committing the crime although common sense easily outweighs in favor of the contrary.....finally allowed common sense to do just that.
For those of you who have played through this game, you know exactly what I mean. For those of you who haven't, you will come to find out when/if you reach this point. To remain spoiler-free, suffice it to say that I applaud the writers of Apollo Justice to be as so bold to outright mock, acknowledge and correct what was perhaps the biggest contradiction in the design of the game. It capped off one of the the most memorable experiences I've had as gamer and was THE decisive factor in my distinguishing it as one of my all-time favorites.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Changes in plans and refocus
As I recover from the mental and physical fatigue that resulted from this past school year, I also take a look at whats ahead of me for the rest of the year. With an important semester ahead of me that includes a game development-based major design experience, a commitment I have repeatedly made to the XNA project I am contributing to as well as hopes of transitioning from an amateur to professional software developer in the near future, I have slightly restructured my immediate plans to be more accomodating and more concise.
It begins with Video/Game Database 2, a project that is now on indefinite hold. It was originally my intention to research, plan/design, and begin developing the database this summer (not necessarily finishing it, though). However, given the time that is past, the research and planning I'd still need to do, and development commitment all relative to the amount of polish I want to have among my other plans, I decided it was best to put the project off until there is a more solid, safe, consistent time to dedicate myself to its development. As I said in the first showcase update in almost a year, VGD 2 is very important to me. Its predecessor has been one of the biggest, most ambitious projects I'd worked on to completion since the Game Wand engine. I want the successor to be an even bigger product with a high amount of polish as I want to freely distribute it for anyone to use. In a similar mentality towards my Rails of War game concept, if/when VGD 2 gets done, I want it done right. So I will work on it when I feel I have the opportunity to develop the level I polish I desire.
Now that being said, what are my immediate plans? I have resumed my study of Game Code architecture from "Mr. Mike" McShaffry though the lastest (3rd) edition of Game Coding Complete. I've enjoyed and learned so much from the 2nd edition and appreciate his active support of his readers on his websites that I personally consider him a remote mentor on the field. As I had yet to complete the 2nd edition, and I didn't really hesitate to pick up the 3rd edition updated with a compatible/working physics API (whereas the previous edition used an outdated and unsupported version of PhysX), a chapter on scripting with Lua, a chapter on C#-based tool development (something I actually have some experience with), and a chapter on A.I in addition with every existing chapter given a fresh coat of paint.
Conveniently coinciding with this is my desire to put some new math skills to practical use. I didn't take a course on Linear Algebra for nothin'. As Mr. Mike's source code is still using DX9, I will resume my study of 3D game programming using DX9 simultaneously. With my newly acquired Linear Algebra knowledge/skills, I hoping the the learning experience will be a bit smoother for me now.
I'd like to say I'm planning on going quite hardcore with this study as, again, I will be formally applying related skills this upcoming semester, and thus, is a major reason why I push VGD 2 out of the way for now.
Finally, as I have said, I reaffirm my commitment to the XNA project. The main programmer of it has been consistently working so hard on it. I continue to grab the latest source from the SVN repo and be amazed at just how talented he is. When the project reaches a solid playing a build, I think it will really show to those are aren't involved with its development.
So while there still some to be desired, Magglio's numbers are perking up a bit these days...
It begins with Video/Game Database 2, a project that is now on indefinite hold. It was originally my intention to research, plan/design, and begin developing the database this summer (not necessarily finishing it, though). However, given the time that is past, the research and planning I'd still need to do, and development commitment all relative to the amount of polish I want to have among my other plans, I decided it was best to put the project off until there is a more solid, safe, consistent time to dedicate myself to its development. As I said in the first showcase update in almost a year, VGD 2 is very important to me. Its predecessor has been one of the biggest, most ambitious projects I'd worked on to completion since the Game Wand engine. I want the successor to be an even bigger product with a high amount of polish as I want to freely distribute it for anyone to use. In a similar mentality towards my Rails of War game concept, if/when VGD 2 gets done, I want it done right. So I will work on it when I feel I have the opportunity to develop the level I polish I desire.
Now that being said, what are my immediate plans? I have resumed my study of Game Code architecture from "Mr. Mike" McShaffry though the lastest (3rd) edition of Game Coding Complete. I've enjoyed and learned so much from the 2nd edition and appreciate his active support of his readers on his websites that I personally consider him a remote mentor on the field. As I had yet to complete the 2nd edition, and I didn't really hesitate to pick up the 3rd edition updated with a compatible/working physics API (whereas the previous edition used an outdated and unsupported version of PhysX), a chapter on scripting with Lua, a chapter on C#-based tool development (something I actually have some experience with), and a chapter on A.I in addition with every existing chapter given a fresh coat of paint.
Conveniently coinciding with this is my desire to put some new math skills to practical use. I didn't take a course on Linear Algebra for nothin'. As Mr. Mike's source code is still using DX9, I will resume my study of 3D game programming using DX9 simultaneously. With my newly acquired Linear Algebra knowledge/skills, I hoping the the learning experience will be a bit smoother for me now.
I'd like to say I'm planning on going quite hardcore with this study as, again, I will be formally applying related skills this upcoming semester, and thus, is a major reason why I push VGD 2 out of the way for now.
Finally, as I have said, I reaffirm my commitment to the XNA project. The main programmer of it has been consistently working so hard on it. I continue to grab the latest source from the SVN repo and be amazed at just how talented he is. When the project reaches a solid playing a build, I think it will really show to those are aren't involved with its development.
So while there still some to be desired, Magglio's numbers are perking up a bit these days...
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I feel like Magglio Ordonez...
...in the essence that I've been, in a sense, "benched" indefinitely due to a chronic slump. For those of you who don't watch Major League Baseball, Magglio Ordonez is a vital member of the Detroit Tigers roster who has been in an uncharacteristic slump all season with his batting stats much poorer than what are typical and expected of him. As a result, Tigers manager Jim Leyland has benched him indefinitely in hopes that some time off, some time away from the game will help him to clear his head, allow him an opportunity to refocus, and hopefully come back stronger.
For the past month's worth of time, I've felt very similar to the way I felt the summer of 2005 after that extremely stressful schoolyear...practically depleted, mentally and physically. Needless to say, that much is reflected in the activity (or lack thereof) of this blog. I hate to use the word "lazy" but I guess it is accurate as I have no excuse other than to say I'm confident I am feeling burnt out because of the two demanding programming classes I took this past schoolyear. Also, it is not a coincidence in the slightest that one of them (Network Programming), was taught by the very same professor as the programming class at the core of my stressful 2005 year.
I feel ashamed to have let things get this way, because I spent so much time daydreaming of the open summer time to work on projects. Yet, through the many days of 2+ naps in addition to a full night's sleep as a result of, for lack of a better explanation, physical exhaustion, and short, brief periods of work and study as a result of, for lack of a better explanation, mental exhaustion, I haven't gotten much work done on the XNA game project, little preparation for Video/Game Database 2, and not much exploration through my gaming backlog.
I admit, I have been in a slump, and again, I offer no excuse but to say my body has been forcing my to rest because the energy and focus hasn't been prime when it has come to work, and it has happened, noncoincidentally, after stressful, demanding schoolyears.
As I've said multiple times in the past, I don't like long gaps between updating this blog, I honestly don't. I don't like the fact that this entry comes after so long a hiatus. I don't like the fact that this year is shaping up to be by far the least populated of entries, either. I haven't forgotten about it. I look back in recent memory and I remember times when I've thought about this blog and told myself, "I have nothing to say". But I also remember times reading things such as industry news, forum discussions, etc and knowing at that time there was something I've wanted to say. Even now I have things on my mind, so I again offer up no excuse other than what I have presented.
I really just want to say this. I don't intend on remaining in a slump...
For the past month's worth of time, I've felt very similar to the way I felt the summer of 2005 after that extremely stressful schoolyear...practically depleted, mentally and physically. Needless to say, that much is reflected in the activity (or lack thereof) of this blog. I hate to use the word "lazy" but I guess it is accurate as I have no excuse other than to say I'm confident I am feeling burnt out because of the two demanding programming classes I took this past schoolyear. Also, it is not a coincidence in the slightest that one of them (Network Programming), was taught by the very same professor as the programming class at the core of my stressful 2005 year.
I feel ashamed to have let things get this way, because I spent so much time daydreaming of the open summer time to work on projects. Yet, through the many days of 2+ naps in addition to a full night's sleep as a result of, for lack of a better explanation, physical exhaustion, and short, brief periods of work and study as a result of, for lack of a better explanation, mental exhaustion, I haven't gotten much work done on the XNA game project, little preparation for Video/Game Database 2, and not much exploration through my gaming backlog.
I admit, I have been in a slump, and again, I offer no excuse but to say my body has been forcing my to rest because the energy and focus hasn't been prime when it has come to work, and it has happened, noncoincidentally, after stressful, demanding schoolyears.
As I've said multiple times in the past, I don't like long gaps between updating this blog, I honestly don't. I don't like the fact that this entry comes after so long a hiatus. I don't like the fact that this year is shaping up to be by far the least populated of entries, either. I haven't forgotten about it. I look back in recent memory and I remember times when I've thought about this blog and told myself, "I have nothing to say". But I also remember times reading things such as industry news, forum discussions, etc and knowing at that time there was something I've wanted to say. Even now I have things on my mind, so I again offer up no excuse other than what I have presented.
I really just want to say this. I don't intend on remaining in a slump...
Sunday, April 12, 2009
From concept to completion
Its been quite a little while, I admit, since I've been able to say this and feel this way. I believe the last time was the completion of Space Out: V-Style which was some time ago. But regardless of the time it has taken to go from concept to completion on a major project, the satisfaction of achieving the objective has always made it worthwhile.
I indeed remember when I first discussed the idea of the Video/Game database. The concept was born in my head, honestly, as the original V-Studio game database reached beta (yes, that long ago). I became very comfortable with the idea of writing a program with a graphical user interface following my Java class in which I discovered how easy the AWT and Swing libraries made GUI development.
I have found pedagogical learning-by-application to be very effective for me. This was self-proven with my endeavor of building a 2D Game Engine by porting and enhancing a Win32-based engine to Allegro. By the time the engine was complete, I'd grown very comfortable with the Allegro API and developed fundamental skills with 2D game logic. This was largely why I as able to develop Light Wrap and Space Out: V-Style each within 2 weeks. As a programmer learning C#, I ultimately found the Video/Game Database project to be an excellent opportunity of pedagogical learning-by-application. What better way to reinforce my newly acquired knowledge of the language than by experience through practical application?
I must say, through working on this project, I have discovered just how much the C# programming language "agrees" with my tastes as programmer (in order words: I FREAKIN' LOVE IT). So much so, that I enjoy C# programming just as much as I do C/C++ (and in some ways more). Like AWT and Swing to Java, Windows Forms GUI development on .NET makes GUI development VERY easy. I can happily say it was not a difficult task developing the database's interface, that eased half the battle right there.
As for the functionality of the database, my main goals (as listed on the project page of the showcase) were:
- An intuitive and easy-to-use GUI
- Store videos, games, accessories, platforms and storage locations
- Store various additional information such as physical location, developer and publisher
- Store personal scores
- Filtered searches
- Favorites lists
- Automatic database stat tracking
I am happy to say the Video/Game Database is equipped with each and every quality/feature in that list. I owe a lot to my prior experience with the original Game Database in that I was able to structure the code much better which allowed me to implement these features while keeping things from getting messy.
I am also happy to say I have now logged every video, game, console and accessory that I own or want into the database. And perhaps one of the most satisfying successes of this is one of the, if not the biggest motivation for wanting to write this database in the first place: EVERY ITEM IN MY COLLECTION HAS ITS PHYSICAL LOCATION TAGGED SO I KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS! You may recall these motivations as the subject of this entry. And with subject of this entry, I'd like to say, once again, it is great feeling to go from talking about those plans then, to reflecting on the execution of those plans now.
My Video/Game database is my database for such items (I no longer rely on Gamespot). My database is the only accurate record of my collection in existence. Last night, I finished Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, logged its score in my database, logged the storage tote I placed it in, looked up the location of my copy of Devil May Cry 4 in the 100% complete collection record of my database and found it, and I am please to announce, at the dawn of my summer vacation:
At version 1.1.1 (Alpha), V-Studio Game/Database is done!
Concepts/Planning for V-Studio Game/Database 2 is underway!
I'll detail this more as I move forward with the improvements/enhancements I am planning/deciding on for the next version. But for now, as the title says, I have indeed accomplishment my goal. A GUI-equipped successor to the original Game Database has been developed, I have strengthened my knowledge of and gained experience programming in C# (and using Windows Forms), and now, one may ask me if there is any game or video in collection, and not only can I tell you if it is, I can tell you where it is!
Friday, April 03, 2009
Goodbye Yu Suzuki
In case you simply have no idea who's picture that is near the bottom of the right column of this blog, that man just happens to be perhaps the most influential person of multiple of my life choices once I entered college.
The story of my crossing with Shenmue is one I've expressed in great detail multiple times in the past. This has not happened with this blog particularly, though I have briefly expressed it as part of a similar experience here. I have done it so many times, both orally and in writing that I simply don't have the will to do it anymore. Forgive me.
The story of Shenmue itself (as an intellectual property of SEGA, not the compelling quest within) is quite sad for someone like me. In many ways it opened my eyes to the business aspect of the game industry and the many factors it encompasses. This was mainly because I was able observe and understand what it was, and also how much (or how little) it was appreciated.
Shenmue was a product of game developer whom I've molded many of my personal context-relative philosophies after. It was the product of a man possessing the very qualities I've tried to express in my most recent blogs. It was the product of a man whom envisioned an epic storyling spawning quite litterally from his own personal experiences. With this vision, a brilliantly creative mind, a fearless ambition, a strong talent for cinematic storytelling and a masterful ability to mold innovative interactivity, he produced the first chapters of his epic vision in the form of the masterpiceces of art known as Shenmue I and II. His name is Yu Suzuki, and not only did he craft the greatest gaming experiences I have ever had, in multiple ways he changed my life.
I could probably write the longest entry of this entire blog talking about this, but again, I simply do not have the energy/will to do it anymore. I could probably go just as long explaining why. At the same time, I regret as I type this very line that I will not do these memories justice as a result. That is, as if the words I have could ever truly expess and justify them.
Just know that my respect for Yu Suzuki does and will forever run deep. I will always remember his impactful contributions to the arcades with extra rich experiences aided by innovative cabinets. I will also remember the night my mom and I arrived home from Toys R Us with a brand new SEGA Saturn that I will always cherish if for nothing else but my the copy of the original Virtua Fighter that came with it. I will always remember how he continually set the standard for 3D Fighters with that very series. I will always remember the day I knew I could no longer stand Tekken and could not imagine a deeper design as I played Virtua Fighter 4 for the very first time. I will always remember the day I watched an interview with him on Extended Play as he explained the concept of Shenmue's unique genre he described as "F.R.E.E." That is, "Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment".
I will always remember thinking to myself as I watched that same very interview how much I'd like to talk to him, myself. A very thought that helped lead to my decision to stop my academic advisor in her tracks as she was setting up me for an intermediate Spanish course as a freshman and telling her, "I'm going to study Japanese instead".
I will always remember I, as someone with a quite minimal affinity for mathematics in high school, learned Yu Suzuki was actually a mathemetician. A fact I can honestly tell you is the SOLE reason for my decision to purse mathematical study beyond that required of my curriculum and study Linear Algebra (concepts crucial to computer graphics).
And...I will always remember how easy it was for me to decide to become a programmer with a special interest in game development. Why am I? I tell you honestly...because Yu Suzuki was the same.
Yes, I am a programmer, a hard-nosed student of the Japanese language and a hobbyist game developer very much so because of Yu Suzuki. That is why that caption under his picture reads:
"Forever Inspirational, Forever Legendary......."
Indeed...
Recalling one of the very first Japanese phrases I ever learned on my first day of class:
鈴木 裕, さようなら
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