2 Hidden Issues with Game Designing Programs

My idea for a youtube video upload fell apart (suffice to say, I need better screen recording software, or something), so I figured I should make up for it by filling out another one of the ideas I’ve had hanging out in my drafts. Actually, RockFlor (head of graphics for Megaman Battle Network Chrono X) uploaded the new track I was planning to upload, though in a different way, so you can still see (eh…hear) what I was planning to upload. I’ll be uploading it myself soon as well. Anyway, onward with today’s post.

So you’ve just found a cool new game design program. It lets you create any type of game you want, all without any coding! It does everything for you, even coming with a ton of pre-made graphics and sounds and music so your projects will be ready to go in the snap of a finger! And, best of all, you can SELL any game you make! You’ll be a rich one-man game design factory! Right?

Unfortunately, no, at least, not that easily. You will mainly find disappointment with any game design software unless you are aware of two pitfalls beforehand and know what you’re going to do to avoid them (or at the very least, reconcile with them) before you even get started.

Source: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/easy-button1.jpg

SoulScroll Revival III

Yes, friends, we are back at THIS LOCATION. HERE. Hosted on WordPress. Why?

Well, I moved to zymichost, as some may be aware, and then I noticed it had php safemode set to ON which blocked many of WordPress’s important features. Then, I switched to hostaider, which was great for a while, but for the last 4 1/2 weeks, their server has been down and I’m just tired of waiting.

Mario is Evil? – Written by dixee on yoyogames

I just read this post on the yoyogames forums, written entirely by Dixee. All credit for that hilarious article goes to her. At first you think it’s just going to be some sort of joke, or a spam post, but no; it’s actually a well-thought out and VERY plausible criticism of the Mario series. The best time to tear apart the credibility of a beloved video game character is any time, eh? XD

Here’s a sample of what she wrote. Go to the thread to read the rest.

Of music and midterms

Lame title, I know.

Anyways, I’ve been away from this blog for a while, and I apologize. I still plan to write to it, when I get time. I’ve been preoccupied with a music project and midterms coming up.

I’ve actually got a midterm for my intro to psychotherapy class tomorrow…and it’s pretty late here. I should be getting to sleep, but hey, I can always nap just before the class (I’ve got a 3-hour break).

Anyways, on to the exciting part. For the past…some amount of time, I’ve been working on writing music to what’s looking to be a really cool megaman battle network fangame, called “Chrono X”.  There’ve been a lot of them out there that never get finished and I have to say, I was skeptical to join at first.  But then I saw the videos and downloaded the demo and I was completely on-board.

Anyways, you can find info on it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiWzSWyWX_8
(make sure to check out all 3 parts)

http://mmbnchronox.webs.com/
(official project site, including a demo!)

My music isn’t in any of the videos or the demo YET, but that’s only because I was taken on late into the project. From what I hear there’s something good in the works so just sit tight.

I replaced your homework with fruit by the foot

As some of you may or may not know, I’ve been in college for the last year. Last Monday marked the start of my sophomore year in pursuit of my psych degree. And really, whoever said your sophomore years are your hardest…seem to be dead right.

The SoulScroll Lives!

Yes, I’m back in the world of blogging! However, there are a few conditions. I’ve got a number of things I’d like to go over in this post, so here we go.

First of all, further posts will be focused more towards music and general game design, rather than Game Maker itself. Since I’ve moved on from programming to music design, that’s what I’m going to be talking about for the majority of my posts. Remember, though, I said “majority”; I’ll still be writing quite a lot about stuff on the GMC, yoyogames, Game Maker in general, etc. so if you like to come here to read about that kind of thing you don’t have to worry. I’ll also probably put up a new tutorial every so often. However, music is a large part of my life, so most of the discussion will be about that; a lot of it will be about music in video games since that’s what I intend to do, so at least there’s that.

Agalag Wins Honorable Mention

The yoyogames cooperation competition results came out today. Agalag got an honorable mention, which although was marginally disappointing, was more than I’ve ever gotten in any game before. =D

So the game has been staff picked, and listed under “runners up” on the competition glog entry.
Congrats to the winners! (jumper 3 especially)

In case you forgot where to find Agalag, it’s here:

Agalag
Added: 20 August 2008
By: SoulRed12

Pre-GMC Quick Answers

Got a question?  Going to go to the GMC about it?  Well hold off for just a second.

I’ll outline what I mean here.  The reason I decided to write this article, is because I have recently been seeing many questions in the GMC novice and intermediate Q&A forums that all have a similar or exactly the same answer.

For the list of common question-answer pairs, read on.

SoulHow to use data structures

NOTE: Comments are locked. I no longer answer questions about the Game Maker tutorials on this blog; I suggest you take any questions to the Game Maker Community. For more info, view the FAQ page.

Skill Level: Experienced User (6)

I told you it was coming. The data structure soulhow article. We’re up over 8000 hits, thanks to you, so I figured it was a great time to write another article.

So what are data structures? Well first, before I go any further, I’d like to redirect you to the arrays soulhow article if you haven’t read it yet and don’t already know what an array is. The reason is that data structures are just special types of arrays.

Sadly, this is a pro-only feature. So if you have lite, GO GET PRO and come back.

Back yet? Great. Let’s go.

SoulHow to use arrays

NOTE: Comments are locked. I no longer answer questions about the Game Maker tutorials on this blog; I suggest you take any questions to the Game Maker Community. For more info, view the FAQ page.

Skill Level: Intermediate User (5)

Ever heard of those weird things called arrays?  Me neither.

…

Just kidding of course.  Anyways, arrays are much easier to understand than they sound.  Due to the fact that I realized I had actually never explained arrays in any blog entry (!!!), I’ll explain them here (as suggested by the article title…) If you don’t know what a variable is, either read the SoulHow to code in GML article, read the GM manual, or else you’re on your own.