mittens

Cubegasm Source Code Release in Game Developers Stardock Forums

Short story made shorter: I'm putting my XNA Action/RTS Cubegasm on hold. My framework isn't nearly robust enough to make the kind of game I want to make and, since this is strictly a hobby project, I'd rather not have to put all of the gameplay on hold while I flesh out the necessary backbone in order to get to the "fun stuff." I didn't see this as a reason not to release the current code for the project, though. So I'm doing that. You can get the source package: <a href="http://www.polycat.

Mechanics 6: You're the Hero Now, Dog in Console Games Stardock Forums

Ruff, ruff! This quote comes from one of the only, if not the only (aside from Half-Life 2's Alyx Vance), video game companion that never becomes annoying or troublesome to gamers. One of the most recurring problems in any video game is that of trying to create a companion in a video game that can tag along with a player character's exploits throughout a game in a fashion that is not only realistic but, more to the point, doesn't require constant babysitting to avoid

Reply to mittens' fanclub! in Demigod Demigod Forums

I'm mittens and I endorse this message.

Reply to TA v2.0 bug(s) in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

What do you mean by "no save?" As in the functionality to save a specific governor out for later use isn't in or when you save your game the governor list isn't retained when you load it back up?

Reply to No Sandbox Play? Only Campaign Play? in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="Ilumino" reply="4" id="1926846"]What do you mean by "sandbox mode"? Do you refer to "skirmish" or "quick battle" where you set up pre-conditions against the AI/other players? I've just never heard of "sandbox" used in conjunction with a TBS or RTS.[/quote] Sandbox is actually the traditional gameplay type for turn-based strategy games. There is no set mission or storyline, just a world created from a player's options, inhabited by the number of AI opponents he/

Reply to About Art in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="vieuxchat" reply="3" id="1926677"] EDIt: and one question .. Is cell shading used?[/quote] No, cel-shading is a form of non-photorealistic rendering where lighting values are calculated for 3D models but then, once calculated, are simplified to a very limited set of colors (for instance: black, grey, and light grey). This creates a really defined set of shading values that give in-game assets a very cartoony look. What we're doing is more of a mix of tradition

Reply to Random map generation? in War of Magic Elemental Forums

The game not only will feature random map generation but our current internal build does feature random map generation. It's nowhere near perfect yet; one of the biggest problems with our approach to map generation is that we want to be able to create really rad looking maps like, say, that of Middle Earth or some of the old-school Final Fantasy games with as little precreated assets as possible. The problem, though, is that getting consistently awesome results takes a lot o

Reply to Runes on cover in War of Magic Elemental Forums

The runes actually compose words that, when translate, are readable in normal english. Paul Boyer, our Art Director, is solely responsible for their existence. Some other sleuths have already started decoding some of the words/phrases: https://forums.elementalgame.com/329016

Reply to Elemental IRC - Chat with Developers & Fellow Gamers! in War of Magic Elemental Forums

The developers are typically in the channel a great deal. A number of us are already on IRC anyway, so one channel certainly doesn't hurt. Your best bet for a lively discussion is probably "business hours" (which for a number of developers is around 9am-6pm).

Reply to Kingdom improvements visible on map in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

The building of a town is entirely in the hands of a player. Early on in the development we realized that while the one tile city that simply visually expands as players build on to it in a game like Civilization really doesn't communicate the epic scale of a large kingdom that we really want to promote throughout Elemental. So, for a gameplay feature, we're going to have players choose how their town expands when it reaches certain population levels and such so that if you, say, want to make

Elemental: War of Magic in Turn-Based Stardock Forums

The game I've been working on since I started at Stardock more than a year and a half ago has finally been announced . The game's official site is at https://www.elementalgame.com/ and it contains several screenshots and pieces of concept art. Elemental is due out in February 2010. <a href="https://www.elementalgame.com/Screenshots/Kingdom_Knight_Snow_1

Reply to Elemental - War Of Magic (Gamespy Preview) in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

[quote who="Alfonse" reply="7" id="1925553"] 1: The UI. It seems, well, too polished for this stage of development. One of the most crucial aspects of any UI is that it is made for the player. And until the gameplay is really nailed down, I'd be somewhat concerned to see a polished UI. It suggests that the UI was built while the gameplay was being worked on, which allows for another GC2-like UI: an interface that is not well-designed for playing the game as it was made, rather than as th

Reply to Elemental: War of Magic Announced! in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="Annatar11" reply="2" id="1925298"] Trent His is mittens![/quote] This is not false.

Reply to The new Fantasy Game! in PC Gaming Elemental Forums

[quote who="Sorceresss" reply="21" id="1924443"] The GameSpy preview talks about 5 schools of Magic : the 4 elements + Life magic. No Death Magic ?![/quote] There's death magic.

Mechanics 5: Vault-Tech Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.) in Gaming Stardock Forums

With the development of Fallout 3, Bethesda Softworks faced a dilemma: they had to make a first-person RPG engine that was typically used for high-fantasy RPG/adventure games handle the intensity, gore, and statistical probability of the gunplay in Black Isle's cult-legend Fallout and Fallout 2 in such a way as to not annoy either first-person shooter gamers, fans of the Fallout games, and long-time patrons of the games in The Elder Scrolls series. The problem with mixing a first-pers

Reply to So Many Games, Such Little Time in Gaming Stardock Forums

Fable 2, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, and LittleBigPlanet are all so fantastic.

Reply to Mechanics 4: Integrating the UI in Gaming Stardock Forums

At not point did I equate realism with fun. I was making the argument that user interfaces do a lot to hamper a player's immersion in a game, but I don't really care about realism whatsoever.

Reply to Game Critics, what for? in Gaming Stardock Forums

I don't even know where you begin to gather that, somehow, critics care more about criticism in the vein of literary and cinema critics as opposed to "the gamers view." The mere idea that critics are somehow not taping into the vein of the mainstream is just absolutely absurd. A majority of journalists right now write exactly the kinds of articles you're looking for and that, to me, is a crime. You could be drunk and blind and point at any game review for any game on Metacritic and you

Mechanics 4: Integrating the UI in Gaming Stardock Forums

Interfaces of all sorts are one of the most game-specific features of any entertainment medium; there's never an ammo counter on-screen when watching John McClane do Die Hard thing or a health indicator attached to Forrest Gump's forehead in his movie -- that would be ridiculous. Yet throughout the history of the gaming industry UIs or HUDs are featured in just about every game; it's not a question of whether or not to have a HUD in a game so much as it's a question of what kind of graphics s

Mechanics 3: Achievements in Gaming Stardock Forums

Everyone likes candy. Diabetics or people on a strict diet may nay-say such a statement but, for the rest of us, a bit of candy here and there is a little treat composed solely of sugar and happiness . Achievements in video games are similar class to a piece of candy. Players can gain achievements for beating a level in a normal progression of the game, beating a hard boss without using certain items, completing an entire playthrough of a game without dying, or, in the case of the rec

Dead Space in Console Games Stardock Forums

On paper, Dead Space is a game where a voiceless protagonist fights aliens aboard a gigantic space ship whose crew has been ruthlessly slaughtered. In practice, though, Dead Space's existence is a fresh entry in the action/horror genre that justifies its existence from the introductory sequence to its movie-caliber conclusion. Every chapter is more violent and horrific than its predecessor while, at the same time, it demonstrates a more comfortable new franchise that excels when its vacuum, z

Reply to Mechanics 2: Choke and Capture Points in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

I am indeed familiar with Onslaught, I just ran out of room to add it to the column.

Mechanics 2: Choke and Capture Points in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

The Battle of Thermopylae is a battle in ancient history where the Greek forces led by King Leonidas used the pass of Thermopylae to funnel the Persian army, hundreds of thousands of troops deep, led by Xerxes into a small pass where 300 Spartans (and <a href="http://

Reply to McCain wins second debate in Politics Stardock Forums

It seemed to be, largely, a replay of the first debate. I don't agree with him but Obama's responses to the economic portions of the debate seemed more thorough than McCain's did and, if nothing else, Obama's attitude when answering showed that the economic woes of the US are a major impetus for his campaign. On the other end, McCain took foreign policy and showed that with experience comes a great deal of comfort and logic when handling foreign affairs. Obama dodged questions and used

Mechanics 1: Randomness in Strategy in Real-Time Stardock Forums

A real-time strategy game is, by definition, a game where players are forced to make strategic and tactical decisions in real time. As the game industry grows, the real-time strategy genre has narrowed its focus to a very specific type of game that does little to force players to consider an over-arching strategy as comprised by numerous tactics . Instead of allowing a player's large- and small-scale decisions to adapt and change as events in a given skirmish unfold, RTSs jus