Monday, December 19, 2011

We Now Have a Level Editor

Yeah, this is exciting news because this will really help us speed up creating new levels for the new episodes. Although the creation of this did set us back a little for releasing Episode 1 but it is well worth it. While creating this I also added some new sweet features. Like ladders. Well let me explain better, ladders that you actually climb up and down instead of acting like stacked platforms. Also the levels are (background coding) more efficient so DooM 2D should run that much better. As an example, I dev the game on a 1Ghz X2 cpu and I did see a nice little boost in hectic scenes. The game is coded to run @ 60 FPS.

Well that's it for now

Neuntoter

Friday, December 16, 2011

Minor Updates

I found out that the weapon switching after levels is still broken and for the life of me I can't find the issue this time. It's a mathematical issue with arrays but when I modify the equation it either increments too much or not at all which means the weapon either switches to the next highest or previous lowest. Over all it makes no sense at all.

I did make changes to the health and level caps though. Now you can no longer hit above 100 health nor can you go above the ammo caps either. I played through with it like that and made (to me) a more enjoyable play through since you were really using ammo better. These updates should go live tonight for the demo.

Also tonight Nonulok and I will be working even more on Episode 1 which should introduce improved particles for when barrels, enemies and the player get hit. I am also thinking about creating another version of the DooM 2D game and make it so it is not stage based but having encounters. For example fighting boss after boss in either waves or a boss fight then next level which contains the next boss. Or even barrel puzzle levels. But These will truly intended for short quick plays for those that are always busy and on the go.

Please any one with comments or ideas by all means leave them. Now that the demo is out we would greatly love to hear what you the players are thinking and maybe even what you would expect in the future for this series.

Thank You

Neuntoter

Monday, December 12, 2011

DooM 2D Versioning

I actually made the mistake of thinking that when a game, whether it is a demo or an episode, would stay a fixed version with out updates and that the updates would then be released for the next episode release. WRONG..... Very bad idea, .. Why? When I die or go to the next level I go back to my hand gun, My bullets go through the bad guys head.... These issues have been fixed and I am told over and over that they are present in the game. Which as far as the player is concerned if the game or release that they are playing has these issues they have not been fixed. So solution. Going forward we will have a small version note section displaying what current version of the engine is out and what version of the current (individual game) version is out.

What this does. Engine updates means that something that effected all games was fixed and or updated and that game updates are things that effected that game in particular like GFX or sound FX fixes or updates. an update to a level or enemy found in that game etc.

Currently the version you are playing is listed in the top center screen, so you would compare that number to this blog pages current Engine version. So far not sure how we will be showing or giving the bug fix log but those are our plans and will be implemented within the week.

Thanks for your interests and patience

Neuntoter

Friday, December 9, 2011

Side Project

The past few days I have been tinkering with designing an Isometric Tiling engine. They are very interesting and have lots of awesome possibilities. Clearly throughout gaming history they have been used over and over again for obvious reasons. But they always interested me and I thought , eh, why not, and decided to play around with one.

Over world open exploring and side scroll levels, Hmmm.....

Later and more on this later.

Neuntoter

Worked On Episode 1 a Little

Cleaned up some collision boxes for enemies, changed some sound FX to make more sense. gave the boss a better projectile animation. cleaned up alot of the highly used tiles to make them less redundant. Going to work on the shooting patterns for the enemies so each enemy in the level has a unique pattern and not the enemy type. So far it's cleaning up nice.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Demo.

Neuntoter

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Demo is Released to the Masses

Today is a big day for us. The games (DooM 2D) demo is finally live for all to play and try out. The demo, once again, is gameplay, level design, and game flow. Once Episode 1 is released the level detail will be amped up greatly along with sounds.

Click Here for Download

Download and follow the install txt file. very straight forward.

Thanks all for sticking with us. we will soon be posting pics and other fun stuff.

Neuntoter

Download link fixed. -Nonulok

Friday, December 2, 2011

Quick Update

Just trying to get some more sound effects before it posts live (the demo). So in all honesty it should be out tonight which when it does go live I will make another post with the link.

Neuntoter

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Demo Release

Oh, 1 day away and so excited. So far receiving some really good feedback from our testers. alot has been either updated to be smoother and better for gameplay and just added to change some stuff up for the new demo players. I have some big plans for this project in the future that will keep it simple, fun but hopefully addicting. Do not want to give too much away but will say that it should bring some back into the day lol if you know what I mean.

Neuntoter

Monday, November 28, 2011

Just a Few Days

Goes out to the masses in a few days (Friday), getting pretty amped up about it. So far I have heard positive things about it along with some annoyances, which I am currently smoothing out. The Demo release will (should) be free of these annoyances and a little prettier than the beta demo.

Neuntoter

Friday, November 25, 2011

A Little Late But Finally Out

This would be an official milestone.

The game (beta demo) is finished and sitting on a file server. Right now it is limited but will be full access next Friday to the masses. I am taking a risky guess but believe the Episode 1 release will be within 3 weeks, along with that we will try a 2 - 3 week release per episode but we will have to see how that goes.

Neuntoter

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Crunch Time!

It's the night before our game's demo is released and we're staying up till it's done. This release WILL be coming out on Monday even if we have to stay up all night to finish it. We don't have that much left to do. Most of it is fixing a few graphical glitches and adding a few new animations. The coding is pretty much done...for now. The big thing is going to be level design. We have one level pretty much done and hope to get at least 2 more done for release. We're going to start with a limited release to a few select people for bug testing, then it's going live for all! Check back for a MediaFire link (or similar site) after a few days when we know everything is at least functional.

-Nonulok

P.S.
If you want to be a tester, E-Mail me at nonulok@gmail.com

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Right On Schedule

Just like I stated last post, both Nonulok and I are right on schedule with the Demo Release. With a few modifications, It is being released as a Beta Demo. We will be selecting 6 or so testers. It will be released Monday 11-21-2011 to the testers. If all goes well with that, then it will go live to the masses within the same week.

What the Demo is:
A dumbed down version of the official Episode 1 release.

And what does that mean exactly?
Level detail will be minimal. Decor to bring out atmosphere will not fully be in place. Stages will be a little shorter. GFX may change.

What will stay the same from the Demo to the Episode 1 release?
The core of the gameplay mechanics.
The overall layout of the initial level pieces.
The animations and effects. (this also includes characters)

so essentially the demo is to test how the game is played on levels that will really exist and not just a "Tech Demo" level showing off capabilities. I believe that when showing off what an engine can do and then receiving a game that is totally different than your first go at it can be both very misleading and kill the experience. Both of which we do not want to do.

So recap. Demo = short level to test overall gameplay and control. Episode 1 release will be longer and better in visual appearance.

Neuntoter

Monday, November 7, 2011

Current Activities

Alright, a quick update as far as were we are and what we are doing.

DooM 2D:
Designing levels, polishing up some sprites. As far as the engine that runs the game minor tweaks will be happening here and there to fix or should I say optimize enemy AI a little more. Polish up the collision detection. And we still need to add music (which the demo will not have). But a 3 level demo is on it's way withing the next few weeks. I can actually guarantee that it will be out before December.

I will dub thee engine Basic 2D. That will be because the way it was programmed was mainly as a one style game sorta engine. We will release a few more games based upon this engine but that will bring us into the next topic.

Ground Zero Engine:
This I actually started the ground work on yesterday. This will be much more of a modular engine to keep it very versatile with how we will be able to utilize it. I am naming it Ground Zero because I am making it modular with the knowledge of when I want to test a new concept, there is my new module. So it will be used as a testing ground also. With this engine I am hoping to bring in more life as in FX, physics, and the likes. This engine will also be 2D. I believe our first mini game may actually be released as a personal test of mine while working on this engine, so the mini game will have some new features that DooM 2D will not be receiving.

That's it for now, all have a wonderful day

Neuntoter

Friday, November 4, 2011

Now for a big announcement

Nonulok and I both sat down and discussed the future of DooM 2D, and it came to this. We believe the game will do well as an episodic style game release. This will allow us to continue on making regular level releases on it, while improving it and start working on our commercial release game all at the same time and not kill quality in any of the products. Now with that being said we both drew up some levels that will act as the introduction for the on going story line that will be DooM 2D. With where everything sits at right now I would not be surprised to see something official in about 2 weeks or so. The demo will still be released as a short version of the first few levels release just to get all of your feet wet.

Questions, please ask away and leave comments.

Neuntoter

Monday, October 24, 2011

Big Announcement, Well... Sorta

I kinda took a step back from the programming end as a break I guess you could say. last thing I was working on was per pixel collision detection (Fun, fun). IMO, the game runs more than good enough to at least release a short demo of it to the public. Nonulok and I have to sit down and design the levels and add the music. After we release it there will of course be updates to it as we improve our engine and start to work on our new game which will be a very original title. The whole mini games thing will also start to happen so we did not forget about that.

I have also been working on an epic texture pack for Terraria based off the Castlevania series. It is actually turning out really well. More on that when I have a few more things completed. Well thats the update for now, thanks everyone.....

Neuntoter

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Video Update

Nonulok and I ended up talking more business end then we anticipated, We now have a company name and some sound statements about the company and its goal for the gaming community. So unfortunately we did not get the video completed. But it should be this wed. that it will be posted. It will be short (compared to last one) but will go over the updates.

Neuntoter

Saturday, October 15, 2011

NEW VIDEO SOON

not just yet so please no nude dancing in the streets or anything. This Sunday, Nanulok is coming over so we can record and edit a short but sweet video of the updates since last video and explain their functions. Show you some play footage and get people ramped up for the game itself. We are both very excited that we are this far and the progress we are making with this. We do want to thank everyone that has and will continue to tell others about this and those who are waiting for its release. Now not stating any release dates but it should not be too much longer.

Neuntoter

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Currently Working On

Particle emitters and enemy spawners.

The Particle Emitters will be for some sweet multi-particle effects. Ex, smoke trails, fire (not based off sprite animation) etc. should be cool.

The Enemy Spawners, .. we all know what these are and do, need I say more. These will work wonders for boss fights. Adding kindle to the fire never has been so easy ... whu ha ha ha.

Neuntoter

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Game Play Question

Kind of torn here. lots of enemies with lesser life or less enemies with more life for better battles. I know they both have their advantages and disadvantages which is why this is a tough decision. The coding makes this a very easy change so no extra programming time for this type of choice, it's more a level design type matter. Hell, we could even mix the two and make some levels have crazy battles and others levels like Contra style were you just go through it killing tons of guys. Hmmm, Think I just answered my question. Please, let me know what your thoughts are on this matter.

Neuntoter

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Minor Updates

Nonulok and I have been looking into a few forums now and will really soon. The name we will use in the forums will not be our individual names but the "Company" chosen name instead. that is why we are taking a little to make this work, that and he works crazy hours thanks to his "wonderful" place of work. any ways, thats it for now new posts coming really soon about the new updates and new this and new thats.

Neuntoter

Friday, September 23, 2011

Progress Update

Code wise I actually took a mini break but am back on full force. between trying to put the finishing touches on the "Mini Game" and adding some new things to DooM it does kinda get a little, crazy and fun in very interesting ways. I myself can not wait to get ahold of the new death and idle animations. Nonulok does some great work and the random aspect of how they will die and just not being the same thing over and over will some some extra excitement to the game. The code is actually fully in place for deaths, idle, and hit particles (meaning upon being hit, they will bleed differently everytime). so this will be uber cool.

Neuntoter

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Random Animations

So I've been working on some new animations for the characters that are already in game. The plan right now is to have 5 animations that can be randomly called when each enemy dies as well as (hopefully) 5 animations for when the enemies are idle. This system will be based on 2 random numbers generated for each character. At least, that's how it's currently being worked in. This might change. So far, I've been focusing on the Former Human's animations since he's kind of the canon fodder enemy of the game. Currently he has 3 unique death animations and 2 idle animations. I've made more, but that's how many of those I'll actually use and look decent in game. More on this later when I have more of it done.

Nonulok

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A Few Updates

Have not posted for a while and yes this project is still very ALIVE and kicking. This is actually more than just a 1 game venture for both Nonulok and I so we have been working on building a business model, including::
1. Building a community
2. A structure on how we will advertise our existence and promote our creations to the masses
3. What changes we will make about the way we will build our community
a. We will post and be more active in Indie based forums and communities.
b. Post in forums and communities that are related to our current project.
(These seem very obvious, but when your heart is focused on the game itself these can easily be overlooked.)
4. We will release "Mini Games" while we work on our main current project.
a. "Mini Games" will consist of a simplified game based off our current engine.
b. They will be 1 or 2 levels with a boss fight at the end.
c. Every week or two another 2 or so levels will be released. (kinda like very short episodes)
d. We understand that 2 levels is kinda not much but they are free and they will be a good 5 or so minutes of fun. And who knows, maybe after the main project is done we will compile all the "episodes" into 1 game and release a free compilation game.
e. These "Mini Games" will be a way of showing that we are active and providing a little gift from us for staying current and an active member in our community.

As far as DooM 2D goes, there has been alot of nice updates and additions. This Saturday we may be doing another video on it's current state. So it is going very well and we are very pleased with it thus far.

As far as a "Mini Game" is concerned, I am already about 1/2 way with having one finished. I am guessing maybe 1 or 2 weeks tops. Oh yeah, where will you get these at???? Well that is easy, we are working on updating this blog space to be like a home page with links to my server that will host the files.

Well that was a huge post but I had a lot to tell ya, until next time......

Neuntoter


Edited by Nonulok for lies.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Player Animations

Well I will say that I am very glad we decided to hold off the alpha testing. Even though the game (looking) is coming out really good, special effects and other such things like a head and gun arm that follow the curser really adds to the overall experience. We also want to add a few more effects to damaging world tiles and enemies themselves. I do understand that it is after all a 2D game, but to go cheezy and not make it special is really just an insult to mine and Nonuloks vision and you the gamers. So special effects will be added in great numbers to hopefully immerse you further into the Hell known as DooM.

Also something to be worked on, ....... wait for it............... a custom death animation for each enemy when killed by the chainsaw. Hmmm, I wonder what that could look like....

Neuntoter

P.S. new video should be posted this Sunday or so with visual updates.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

New Player Mechanics

????? New Player Mechanics?????? Whu?? Well, let me explain. As you could clearly see in the video, you always looked forward even while shooting at angles and scoping out your enemies with missiles to the face. Well, I personally wanted to add visuals that would show your currently selected gun in your hand and also show in what direction you are facing, as in angles. Hence new player mechanics. the head, chest, weapon arms, and legs are now all separate pieces that get their own animations, meaning we can do some really cool animation combos with out having to make tons of sprite sheets, .... this makes Nonulok very happy : ) My brother watched the video and funny thing is the first thing he said to me was "he should aim where he is shooting" and I said, "I know, I really want that but not fully sure if I should add that"

Well, I'm adding that, and it seems I was not the only one to think it so, there ya go. When all the angle math and placement works, I will post some short video pimping it out. until then, happy gaming...

Neuntoter

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

More Sprite Info

To help my buddy Nonulok out with the whole side step issue, I believe I have a very nice elegant solution. I do want guns that aim at the mouse curser and up until now it always looked a little silly the way I was doing it.But it just now dawned on me a sweet solution. The head will angle a little and so will the body, (both being separate sprites) The gun/arm sprite and legs will also be separate sprites . this will allow for the whole aiming thing to happen without the overall need for a side stepping animation. I am not the sprite guy so this may be something Nonulok and I team up on, but a solution none the less it is which I think will look nice and fluid like on screen.

Neuntoter

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Yay Graphics!

So I figured I'd make a quick post here since I can't seem to sleep. Graphic production has come to pretty much a complete stop as I've taken up some jobs for the game that are much more work than I anticipated. The two biggest: The "facing the screen" sideways walk the player has to do and the Former Human's handgun. The original Doom never had any reason to show the player strafing, so those animations need to be completely custom made. The Former Human's handgun is just annoying. Drawing human arms in correct proportion is apparently ridiculously difficult for me. It's coming along, but slowly. I've done plenty of editing of sprites in very short amounts of time, but making completely new frames out of existing frames that aren't really that close to what I need isn't as easy as I had thought. Sorry, just needed to rant about that. I'm closing Photoshop and attempting to go to bed again. 1337 dr34m5, internet.

-Nonulok

Alpha changes

Well, it has come to my attention that releasing an alpha version this weekend may not be the wisest choice. And unfortunately this is mainly because of the HUGE lack of interest in the game currently (by the community). I believe that my time is better spent finishing up what I feel are important features, get all the animations and enemies and items in game. get the menu fully working and get the level editor working well. Unless I have a show of interest I would rather put out what my gaming heart really wants from this project and not rush things to put out something that others clearly do not want right now. I still appreciate all the great support that I am receiving and I (of course) will continue to leave update posts to let all know where it stands. I will start to post more videos and pictures from this point since there is alot to be seen and heard from this project now.

Oh, this project will not die like all the other 2D DooM games that all actually looked very promising. So if you do want to see a 2D DooM shine I promise that I will not let you down.

Neuntoter

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Alpha Around Corner

Well, now the alpha is in a distant vision. We are putting some finishing touches on the alpha content. I would love to say next weekend will be the date it goes live. Once again the purpose of the alpha release is to get feedback from you the players, both good and bad cause it will only help make the finished product that much better. I am about 1/2 way done with my to do list and Nonulok is mostly finished with his.

Up until now everyone has been dead quiet, seriously, this is freakin DooM not the Tella Tubbies or Barnie. We would both love to hear your comments, questions, concerns, feedback, even just a peep or a "Whuzzzz UUppppppp!!!!!" let us at least know there's some life. DooM is part of almost all gamers past lives and if it does not interest you, I am sure that you have a friend that is all hard core DooM fan in one way, shape, or form. Tell them about this, ..... Spread the love, spread the message, spread the prophecy that Hell will once again unleash upon this tiny world and that once again they will have to take arms and send the demons back to the hell in which they came from.

Neuntoter

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Major Update

Major??!!!, what could be so major???

Well first would be a low feature sound engine. Thats right, we now have sounds with volume control. Any of those that watched any of our videos has most likely realized that there was not any sound during them. That was not by us muting it, that was truly because there was not any. The engine will be built up of course but for now it has volume control and it puts out sound. will work well enough for the Alpha release.
:::Planned additions to the sound engine will be:::
1. Sound panning (AKA Stereo Sound)
This will allow creatures to be heard on their proper sides of the screen.
2. Ambient Sound Channels
This will be under a separate volume control than the SFX and Music. This will allow us to scare the hell out of you the best we can in a 2D. Plus it will just add to the atmosphere.
3. Music Sound Channels
Under separate volume control. Will allow for some sweet music to be played that will be performed and composed by yours truly, Nonulok and Neuntoter.

And for the next major portion of the update. Area of effect damage. Missile blasts, barrels, and BFG. They now hit multiple targets including yourself and depending on how close you are to the blast will actually depend on damage you take from the blast. I added player damage from the BFG if you are close but the damage is super dumbed down compared to what it does to the enemies. I did this for strategy reasons. It is a shooter yes, but if you know you get hit point blank then you will think twice about certain attacks before doing them. It basically prevents the game from being too easy.

Well there you have it. Alpha right around the corner and some juicy news to get excited about.

Neuntoter

Monday, August 22, 2011

Used Assets

Just a quick update on where the assets are actually coming from. This is a DooM game so the assets are being pulled from DooM, DooM II , DooM 64, DooM 3, and custom made based off of the previous 3. This includes, all textures and sounds. (sprites included) So far sounds will be D3 sounds since those are the easiest to rip, sound awesome and are much more rich than the old school sounds. The GFX are meant to be retro to a degree but the sound and music I believe should be great. Along with the sounds and all, lets talk about the soundtrack. Nonulok and I are both musicians and will be completely writing an original score for this game. None of this music will be featured in the Alpha release but will of course be in the final game.

Certain textures my come over from the 3rd DooM or we my include D3 GFX as an option to choose from so it will be DooM, DooM64 or DooM 3.

Neuntoter

Quick update

Well, the Alpha Test release is coming very close. We have to smooth some more code and make a few changes to some of the GFX. After that add some sounds and create 5 levels that will be worthy to reach the hands of our loyal following. Since last post we have both done a lot of additions and alterations (for the better of course) to getting closer to the alpha goal.

Till next time

Neuntoter

Friday, August 19, 2011

Alpha Release Coming Soon

Right now Nonulok and I are doing a lot of cleanup and polishing (for what is all still unfinished) and we will be releasing what we have very shortly. What will be released will be all finished portion of characters (enemies and player) features and functions. Why will it be considered Alpha?? Well very simply put, we will be making about 4 or 5 levels that will actually have nothing to do with the finished story line. They will be levels to be levels so you can test what the game will play like (overall) and maybe give us some suggestions if we possibly missed something. Of course more features and characters will be added after the fact of the Alpha release but this is kinda a taste test for all you really waiting for this to rear it's head.

Guesstimated time may be two weeks, maybe less depending on how smooth everything goes from this point. One final question??.... Should we release another video of the Alpha release before it goes out or should we just release the Alpha and let you all be surprised with what has been added since???

Neuntoter

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Moving Forward

Not going to say too much about code today but I do want to point out the awesome work in the sprite and tile department known as the mighty Nonulok. His attention to detail and his shared vision for this project is letting him some amazing things. My code is coming out rather well but without the images that the code modifies the code (in my opinion) is essentially useless. So I would like to thank Nonulok for his great dedication and excellent work in this project.

We have been using so far the DooM 64 sprites and the original DooM tile sets. But like I said in an earlier post, this project is influenced bu DooM, not a complete 2D recreation of it. So with that said, Nonulok has been making slight alterations to the sprites along with creating all new animations for new movements and so on. play-ability wise it is feeling good, and visually it is looking great. A few people (friends, family) that have tried the current state exe are loving it and so I hope it just keeps getting better and then we will pass the greatness onto everyone wanting to play it : )

Neuntoter

Monday, August 15, 2011

Quick Update

Like I said I would do, I finished up the AI. In all honesty, I am so glad I just fixed it and cleaned it all up. Now it is so easy to go in and edit and I can add new things to it quick. Close combat enemy AI now works, I also have it so enemies can hear you gunshots now. so if you stealth into a group and fire off a round, lots of bullets will fly your way. I tweaked a few animation coding so no animations should now stick in place. (this was really annoying lol, and cool in it own funky way)

Should I work on a BOSS coding (level and all) or projectiles and particles, hmm, the options, and the teasers. Remember this is a platforming shooter inspired by DooM. Anything is possible like bosses besides the CyberDemon. what to do, what to do.

Neuntoter

Video's up!

Yay! After several issues I'm finally uploading the video(s). We recorded this in one take, but didn't realize that it ended up being about 19 minutes long. YouTube has a limit of 15 minutes per video. I didn't know this however, so when I uploaded it, I got a rejection notice for length. I then had to re-render after splitting it in half. Fun times. It's up now, so go watch it by clicking here.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

A Break From Coding

So I took a little break from coding after fixing the stuff from the last post I mentioned and decided to play a little Zombie Driver. At first, meh, but holy crap, after a while it was really addicting. Next thing I know 5 hours later and I beat it. It is a very fun and very easy to play. The car mechanics made it a blast to drive things over. The GFX were nice to look at while smothering zombie guts all over the place. Look for it on steam, very in expensive and very fun to play. plus with all the different modes you will get a lot of play with this game.

Well going to finish AI tomorrow and if no vid is posted I will put up some screen shots to hold you all over.

Neuntoter

AI Almost Finished

All projectile throwing enemies are finished and the code is optimized pretty well. A lot more stream lined than before and way easier to read. Also, enemies can no longer see through walls so thats always a big bonus. Now I just have to finish close combat AI and AI will be complete. then off to a new portion. I am thinking projectiles and particles will be next. They are already implemented quite well, but I do not have such things as spray and splash damage particle/projectile working yet. and the projectile and particle code is already optimized. So this should be a quick implementation.

thats it for now....

Neuntoter

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Yay for rendering issues!

Video is recorded, but there were a few issues. We used Fraps, which separated the video into a few different parts. One of which was corrupted. Luckily, the corrupted file was just a copy of the original which was fine. This did mean that we had to transfer a 4gb file over the internet. It took about 4 hours. Seems to work fine now. Starting to edit a little bit, then re-rendering the whole thing. Should be uploaded later today.

Friday, August 12, 2011

AI Updates

The AI I tell you is a beastly thing and I think it's not only a beastly thing, it's also a very important thing. Now I do understand that after all it is only a sidescroller and the AI is nothing like say Thief but it still is a very important part of a game. So I decided to actually polish the AI up now and make the AI what I want it to be for final release when we put out the alpha test. And because of this we may push it back a little but I really am hoping that within the next 4 days I can polish it up really well for what it's worth.

I am trying to give the AI an interesting twist for this game considering that it is an action 2D sidescroller. Some levels will be set up for some stealth, but please do not let this fool you, it will be packed with action. I would like to try to make some parts of the game "suspencful".

Nonulok should be posting that video real soon today and I will be working on polishing up the AI. So that is it as far as the updates are concerned.

Neuntoter

Video Recorded

So the video was recorded and both Nonulok and I had a blast recording it. It was kinda funny, about 10 minutes of recording and I was messing around and died lol, so we re-recorded. Overall I would say it came out pretty good. Nonulok will edit it later today and then post it.

Added blood effects for the video, they will stay in game but get improved by alot when polished. Please keep in mind that the video is alpha and not even close to being polished. Animations are still being smoothed out and so is the code. When the video is posted I hope all enjoy.

Neuntoter

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Fun Filled Update

Ok, just a quick post.......

We have all been waiting till the initial video release, well here it is, tonight is the night it will be posted. Now about that Alpha release for a 4 or so day download time frame. Nonulok and I discussed how this will be an exciting moment for us and that we will post it for a short time frame so everyone following this and interested in what it's all about. Now with this Alpha release we will ask you to keep in mind that it is un optimized code, not all characters, levels and or features will actually be in it. We will give you a few levels with some enemies to give a quick feel. There will also be no sounds or music and that controls may also change a little in final release.

We will be releasing this Alpha to get comments about, will this be in game, will this feature be available, and other things. We are hoping to get ideas and partial direction on where this should go. Please do not get us wrong, we both have a 100% direction of how this game will be played and where this game will end. But we also realize that we might have left out some mechanics and or features of such that will make it that much better of an experience.

Well enough about the Alpha, we will discuss that more when the release date and time frame have been stamped final.

Neuntoter

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Possible New AI and Video release updates

Well first I just want to say I purchased LIMBO from steam and the game is an amazing platform puzzle game. simple controls, forward, jump, back and action (for flipping switches and stuff) almost all the puzzles are physics based some using gravity and others using momentum. But either way the game is great, give the demo a try at least, get it through steam.

Now about DooM, going through the AI code I was thinking, "You know, it works, it's functional, it's also cluttered as crap and could be coding so much more efficiently". So I may do this but in the process it will also help me make it more robust for many forms of AI instead of rehashing almost 80 lines of code over and over for different enemy types. The video will be made before this code overhaul just for the sake that the video is meant to demonstrate the game and our goals with it. When it is done it should be a full shiny finished optimized product.

Going to work on some special things to shine up the video experience, and yes, it should all be in the finished product unless we get complaints or it really just does not fit in to the way the game plays. Oh and one last thing before I let you go before next post. Video will be recorded tonight or tomorrow. Then some compression time and uploading, should be from anytime tonight to Friday night. Commentary will be so so for now until we get a little more in game and have a little more to talk about.

Neuntoter


Edit by Nonulok: LIMBO also available on PSN and XBLA btw.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Possible Alpha Test

I have been throwing the idea around in my head to give a link to the alpha gameplay for about 4 days or so and see what kind of suggestions and comments come from actually playing the game. I Have to discuss this with Nonulok of course before anything is final but who knows it may happen. And if it does it will be soon, and so will the video.

Any way, if you get bored this week and find you have nothing to do, go play either Terraria, LIMBO, or Aquaria, 3 amazing indie games. Just some food for thought.

Neuntoter

Just a short post

Please, post comments and ask questions. We are really hoping to build an interest in this and get people excited about the idea of a 2D DooM. I as the programmer would love to hear about what others may want to see as features and Nonulok would love to know if any other items/characters should be added since he is the one making the sprites.

So if you have questions by all means comment on our posts and ask questions about whats going on, maybe some great ideas will spring up from this and make this game that much better.

Well off to code some more, hope everyone has a fantastic day.

Neuntoter


Edited by Nonulok: Adding labels. Again.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sorry about video

Due to AI not fully being complete, a video will not be made tonight. Although I did make great progress, having the Cacodemon flying and attacking you and all, now my issue appears to be the pink demon. See, he does not shoot projectiles so he is far from what most the AI is actually based off of. So I actually have to write completely new AI for him, at least with the Cacodemon I just had to modify some stuff and add some new stuff, but the pink demon is a whole new bag of worms.

Once again sorry,

Video will be coming super soon.


Edited by Nonulok: Added tags.

Enemy AI

For the past week I have been working on the AI for the enemies. I was all set polishing it up and Nonulok says to me, "So what are we doing with flying creatures??"

My response "uhhmm , " *pause* "well I guess I have to make them work too"

so that means today I'm work on flying creature AI. Honestly, it should basically be the same as all the ground enemy AI but these ones will use the Y axis for movement also. so it should be done today.

So about that video, hmm, that should be recorded tonight if the whole AI thing goes well. I have that to finish and also want to add some controls to some of my testing visuals so we can explain them better and not have a kinda mess on the screen the whole time.

well, thats it for now, back to coding to bring you guys that wonderful video tonight.


Edited by Nonulok: Grammar fixes, Labels added

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Where to begin

Well a few questions should be answered up front and maybe explained. DooM..... is this not so successful FPS from back in the day....... Yes actually and one of my most favorite games that I played many, many times.. Although I am not a complete FPS fan I always loved DooM and Quake games. So why a 2D DooM game. Easy, why not....

I have seen a few projects start and never finished and and it always upset me because I love 2D platformers and I love DooM, so why have they not both been put together. Well people get dreams and never complete them. I am here making this game to fill my dream of playing a 2D DooM. And by this I hope many get a chance to experience this joy with both myself and Nonulok. So with these posts, you will get to experience the creation of this hoping to become 2D masterpiece and then upon completion play it and enjoy the wonders that DooMs world can give us as a 2D platform shooter.

I will post more later but for now I must call it a night.
I would like to thank you all for joining Nonulok and myself in this journey

Neuntoter


Edited by Nonulok: Grammar fixes, Labels added

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Recovering from an Epic Fail

Back up and running. Mostly. Video is going to delayed a little, but it'll be up soon. I promise. If all goes well, it'll have commentary with it too. ^_^

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Epic Fail

Had an epic fail today. The main files for the game just suddenly stopped working earlier. After a LOT of tinkering Neuntoter found that the image files were corrupted after being transferred to a flash drive. The entire file structure needs rebuilt, but thankfully we have backups of all the images. All of the code put into the engine so far is also fine, so we're not that screwed. Just some annoying busy work.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

First Post Again!

So I'm starting this blog to be dedicated specifically to game development. Currently, we are working on a 2d side scrolling game based on DooM. I posted this update previously on the other blog (which is going to serve as my own personal blog about everything else)

First game progress: The engine for the DooM game we're working on is almost complete as well as most of the character graphics. Sound and level design are the main things left to do. A lot of little things are needed too, but we'd rather get the game up and functional before doing minor tweaks. I'll get a video up of the current status of the game soon.

The other blog can be found Here.