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Back!

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 03:03:35 +0100

9/17/11 11:05

I haven't updated my blog in a few weeks and I want to get back into the habit of doing so. I tried out Tumblr but I like the ease of updating and style of Yola over Tumblr. The last few weeks have been a bit hectic for me. School has recently began again and I'm still getting used to my classes. There have also been a few big storms recently which have aided in stalling any progress on any of my ideas. Anyway, I'm back to Yola now and life is returning to normal. Blog updates will be more frequent and better now.

I have an Idea!

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:59:49 +0100

9/17/10 11:00 Been an while since I've updated the blog and even longer since I've posted in the Game category.

Recently I was trying to think of what I should make a game about. I originally said that I wanted to make an "Open World" type game but now I'm thinking that the best type of game for my Idea would be a more linear type of game.

I'm not going into specifics about my idea for several reasons. One, I find that if I keep my work a "secret" I will get farther into doing that idea, and two I'm not entirely sure of how I want the story to play out. I plan on going into more specifics as I actually start to create the game and as I get closer to releasing it.

I can say that I want the game to be a "Horror-Survival" type game and I want it to be somewhat ridiculous.

More information to come soon!

Manual Transmission for GTA IV

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:29:17 +0100

8/25/2011 10:01 PM
I got bored yesterday and decided to start working on a mod for GTA IV that would create a manual transmission for the car. Only problem was that I had no idea about how to code for GTA IV. Luckily I had a decent understanding of C++ and the jump from C++ to C# was pretty seamless.

Here's the guide I used to learn the basics: http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=401577
I'll add a link to the source code later...

The mod works by checking every 10 milliseconds for gear switching, showing the gear the user is in, and setting the speed of the car.

I'll start with the gear change handler:
The code works by first checking if the user has the clutch enabled or not. The user can change this setting by setting the value of the clutch to false in the .ini file. If the clutch is enabled, it checks if the button for the clutch is being pressed. If the button is not being pressed the gear will not change. The actual gear switching is just adding and subtracting from a variable. There is a max gear of 6 and a minimum gear of 1. If the user is pressing the clutch, and the gear up button, then the car will shift into the next highest gear. I added an if statement to check if the gear is equal to 6. If this is true (the gear is equal to 6) The user will not be able to shift higher even if they are pressing the gear up button. It's the same concept for the gear down button but instead of 6 the gear must be higher than 1 to shift down.

Next, Showing what gear the user is in:
This was the easiest bit of code to write. It starts by checking to see if the user is in a vehicle. If the user is in a vehicle it draws the string ["Current Gear: "+gearState] in the upper right corner of the screen. If the statement is false nothing is shown.

Finally, setting the speed of the car:
The hardest piece of code to write by far. Even now it isn't perfected. What I have so far starts by declaring a vehicle variable "V" and setting it equal to the vehicle the player is in. Then it starts a very long if statement. First it checks to see if the player is in a car. Next it starts a switch statement based on the variable of the gear. In the case of the user being in gear one, the script checks if the car exists (to avoid errors) and if the car is not running. If both of those requirements are met, then the car is told to start. In a separate If statement, the script checks to see if the vehicle exists, as well as if the car is at or above 30MPH. If that is met, The car is set to go at 30MPH until the user shifts up or slows down. Gears 2-6 works the same but cap at higher speeds. Gears 2-6 also do not check if the engine is running. Instead they have an if statement that checks to make sure that the user is not trying to accelerate from 0MPH in a gear higher than 1. When the player leaves the car the gear is set back to 1 for the next car.

That's a big enough wall of text for now.

1HB/1HE Advy Cont.

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 02:51:28 +0100

8/14/2011 4:07 PM Okay yesterday I posted a piece about how I was planning to make a 1HE/1HB Advy with a Kur'Ush Mallet and a Hatred of the Xan.

Today I'm going to add in the things I forgot yesterday because I was tired.

Okay Current Req: 1271
-20 QL 220 Strong Helm I have.
-15 Cloak of the Reanimated Gladiator
-4 Melee Manual
Base Req: 1232

Much Closer than I was yesterday.
I still need 29 points of 1hb though. I'll see what I can dig up.

Yesterday before going to bed I posted a topic on the Forums asking if research was shown added to base or as a buff.
Link to post.
After testing what effects research had on the skill window I found that It was not shown added to base, but as a constant buff. This makes my life somewhat easier.

Current Req: 1232
-1 Full Agility Research
-2 Full Strength Research
-2 Full Stam Research
Base Req: 1227

26 Points off... Towers would be nice right about now. I'll see when the time comes

1HB/1HE Advy

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:03:25 +0100

8/13/2011 11:41 PM At the moment I have a few Ideas about what I want to do in Anarchy Online. One of those ideas is how to get on a Kur'ush Mallet on my 220 Advy. Along with the Kur'Ush Mallet I would dual wield a Hatred of the Xan. Now to address the problem of equipping it.

I'm not concerned with the Brawling or Fast Attack because I have already equipped the Hatred on my Advy. That leaves the 1HB requirement... 2251... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU**.

Okay it looks like I'm going to need to exhaust every resource at my disposal and even some which I do not have.

Lets start with the obvious buffs:

Req: 2251
-153 Trader Umbral
-20 Comp Melee
-87 Brutal Thug
-14 Thugs Delight
Base Req: 1977

*Does quick Google search* Fun fact, 1977 was the year Apple became incorporated.

Anyway seems like I'm going to need some armor, equipment, and implants:
Current Req: 1977
-30*6 Combined Mercenaries set(without the head)
-75 Level 3 Combat device
-286 Alphas
Base Req: 1436

Well implants sure took out a nice chunk of the requirement but I'm not sure if they'll be the easiest things to equip either. That's a twink for another day though.

Now for perks:
Current Req: 1436
-93 Champion of light infantry
Base Req: 1343

-.- This sh*t ain't gonna be easy.

Maximum allowed base: 1203
Okay, that makes me feel a bit better, I thought that I would have a max base of 1100ish.

I'm gonna need a trickle calculator: http://www.lotekk.net/ao/trickle/
Now the Abilities which go into 1HB are: 50% Strength, 40%Stamina, 10% Agility

Time to factor in Trickle:
Current Req: 1343
-13 iBehe
-5 Prod strength or IC (They both give the same in the end)
-1 FG
-20 QL 200 implants for all 3 abilities
-5 QL 200 ring of Essence x2
-6 Atrox Primary Genome 8
-5 Freak Strength 3
-11 Enhance DNA 10
-3 Comp Abilities
Base Req: 1274

So close yet so far, still need 71 points.

*NOTES*

I'm not quite sure if research is counted in base so I did not factor any additional research in.
Used 200 ability implants
Not using CM Head piece but not quite sure why lol.
ATM this is all a concept so I'm not sure if it is actually possible. Time will tell
I'm broke atm. Actually that's a lie, I have 50m at my disposal but I want to save it for a S10 twink Crat to farm money to fund this Adventurer.

11:59 PM I'll edit the post tomorrow.

Anarchy Online

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:54:59 +0100

8/10/2011 6:31 PM Just finished uploading the logo to my Blog and Youtube and decided that while I'm here I may as well start the Anarchy Online (AO) section of my blog.

For those of you who don't know what Anarchy Online is, it is a Futuristic MMORPG. The part of the game that appeals to me the most is the in depth character customization and skill system which the game offers. It's one of the less popular mmo's but I still like it. It came out in 2001, and I started playing in 2005. The game has some out of date graphics but the players have been promised (although it was a long time ago) that the graphics will be updated in the future.

Depending on what server you play on, there are two of which you can choose from, your experience in the game will differ.

Atlantean:

Large population
Inflated Economy

Rimor:

Smaller population
Normal Economy

The free to play game takes place on a planet far away in the early 22000's. Yes that's right the game takes place about 20000 years in the future. On the planet the Hyper Corporation Omni-Tek is battling the Clans of Rubi-Ka in a civil war. The Omni-Tek came to Rubi-Ka to mine notum, a mineral in the game which is quite valuable to the corporation. The Clans are miners who are fed up with Omni-Tek and want to make Rubi-Ka their new home. (Official Back Story)

In the game you create your character and are sent off to Rubi-Ka. The shuttle you are on is shot down by aliens, but your pilot was able to land you in one of the oceans of Rubi-Ka near the beach. You make your way onto the beach and talk to a local named Brandon Thorn, who sets you off on a series of quests to introduce you to the game. This is the starting area of the game where you choose your profession, breed, gender, and side. As you are about to leave the Island and go to the mainland where all of the other players are, you must choose who you want to fight for.

Factions:

Omni-Tek

Choose to side with the Omni's and you will be employed by their corporation.

Clans

Choose to fight for your freedom on Rubi-Ka and side with the Clans

Neutrals

If you believe in peace you may choose to take no side in the fight.

The choice really doesn't matter as you can switch between Omni and Clan whenever you want. Personally I like the neutrals due to the less restrictions they have.

*looks at the time*

7:00 Well i need to get going, if you would like to try the game got to www.anarchy-online.com and download the client.

Have fun!

Logo

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:29:20 +0100

8/10/2011 5:43 PM - Been a few days since I've updated anything on the blog. A few nights ago I thought about the large black space that I have on my home page. The space would be the perfect home for my Logo, but there's only one problem... I don't have a logo. Time to fire up Photoshop and see what I can come up with.

5:47 - Okay, I remember a tutorial from Tutcast on Youtube about how to create a gold looking effect using layer styles. Although I don't really like the color of gold, at least not for a logo, I bet that I may be able to use the same effects with some different colors and achieve some sort of metal like effect. I'll get on that.

6:10 - Just finished the outer ring of the design and I'm quite pleased with it for the time being. Okay now onto the text inside. Looks like I'll need a text size around 400 and The letter's I'm putting inside, an A, 0, 1, 4.

6:14 - Looking at it now I'm probably going to use a font around 600 px for the A and 350px for the numbers.

6:20 - Finished, Saving the file and uploading to yola now.

minutes because I was typing on here and I'm not great with Photoshop.

Computer Problems on Day 2 :O

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:25:32 +0100

8/6/2011 - 12:08 AM Today I found out that after my 2 week vacation there was a problem with my computer. The display was not showing when I turned on my computer even though everything seemed fine inside the actual PC. This was the first time I had ever experienced this type of problem.

    I'm pretty decent with computers so i decided to take a look inside and see what was wrong. I unconnected and reconnected all the power connections. No luck. checked to see if the cable connecting the Graphics card and the Monitor were working properly. No luck again. I tried a few other things to attempt to find the problem with no luck with each attempt. Finally I gave up and decide to give in and Google the answer. I checked out about 10 posts with people who had what seemed to be the same problem. Through out the day I read 10 posts; 6 before going to the store and 4 afterwards. The 6 posts said that when the monitor would not display anything from the computer, although the computer would appear to set up everything fine, the problem lied with the graphics card.

    Thinking that my problem lied with the other 6 posts I decided to invest in a new, up to date, graphics card. I went to the store, and bought a $200 Dollar GPU. At the store I must admit that I was worried that the new graphics card wouldn't solve my problem. Keeping my doubts down though, I bought the card and brought it home. I took out the old card and installed the new one. I attempted to start the computer and.... NOTHING! The same problem was still occurring! Upset that I had just spent $200 on a new GPU, I decided to try what the other 4 posts had said.

    The 4 posts I had not read until after spending the money on the GPU said to try and switch around your memory (RAM). I decided to try this. I switched around the RAM and attempted to start the computer and... IT WORKS! Oh my god! It turned on!

    I suppose the moral of this story is to make sure you try your options in order of convenience to you, so you don't end up wasting money like I did. As for now on I will make sure I exhaust the easier of my options before attempting to waste money. Luckily I'm pretty sure I can return the GPU for a full refund.

Game Design Progress - Day 1

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:32:41 +0100

8/4/2011 10:27 PM - I need to plan out my game.

What i know at the moment:

I want the game to be open world

This means that the game should be able to be explored by the player whenever and wherever they feel. They can choose to start missions or just run around and be crazy. This is an aspect of games such as Saints Row, GTA IV, Fallout 3/New Vegas, and Assassins Creed which really appealed to me and I think it would be good to have in my own Game

Player customization may be tough to code so I am unsure at the moment if the player will be able to choose things such as the size of their player or the clothes they wear.

What I don't know at the moment:

STORYLINE!!!!!!

Setting Up the Blog

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:25:51 +0100

8/4/2011 10:24 PM - Set up the blog. I'm truly unsure on whether or not I will actually use the site but I suppose it can't hurt to have the site available just in case I decide to get organized.