The 3rd World Rocker

So Dan & RobTom were able to fix some of the bugs, the game still has some glitches, but its a much more playable version of the game.

Its a flash game, so I think you might need the application to play it. You can download the zip file here, I haven’t tried it yet, so make sure to let me know what you think if you get a chance to play it =)

7:20pm (Sunday Feb 1 2009)
Well, I wasn’t too happy to be honest…

Here is what happened:
We didn’t set deadlines for specific things, so the 2 programmer/ artiest, kept working the details. Then an hour before it was time to submit, a technical error happened, and Dan lost all the “collision detection” programming he’s been working on the past day. With so much little time, he had to scramble up a working skeleton of the 1st level. Rob was trying to figure out a specific animation for his character (and unfortunately didn’t get it) so about 45 minutes to due time, he had to drop that and work on the game’s story intro (which came out good on “our” machines). I had to get on their tail to give me the files I needed in order to submit it in the format needed.
Also unfortunately, we didn’t get to use my music for the Splash screen, the level, or the game over =(.
But luckily I had edited the audio for the game story, so at least ONE of my pieces were used.

When it was presentation time, the flash file some how got out of sync, the audio & the lyrical animations were WAY off. I had to explain that because of the trouble we JUST had, everything is basically jacked up. Never the less we were able to get our point across, and even got a few laughs from the crowd.

We were Awarded “Best Concept” for this theme, I’m actually pretty excited about it, I thought we might get the “better luck next time” or “you have potential” type of awards, but “Best Concept”? wow. That really brightened my perspective.

Dr. Harmeyer then told us that the IGDA had voiced interest in having some of our games “redone” to be displayed at their big meeting in San Francisco next month. That is great news! both Dan & Rob are excited about getting the game in the working condition we wanted, and since I like to learn from my mistake, I gave Rob until Thursday to figure out his animation =). I’m also hoping that Dan will figure out what he needs in time to re-submit the game by this weekend.

I think we have a really good chance to having our game chosen, we apparently have the Best Concept =), and the coolest audio, I’ve heard the others in Rockville…we TOTALLY got best audio =)

So there you have it, even with all this craziness, it was still an awesome experience, I can’t wait for the next one =).
Now…to catch up on sleep.

Salaam.

Its 2:00pm (Sunday Feb 1 2009)
Well, the final count down has officially begun. We have only one hour to (if not less) to finish the game, place it in a zip folder and uploaded it to Game Jam Site.

I’m a little restless, because my 2 team members are still “tweaking” the game. Not sure why, the game is now shorter, so it should have been done by now.

I was able to create the voice over needed for the Introduction story, so that the player wouldn’t have to “read” the instruction, the audio quality is not the best, but I think it came out well given the circumstances & equipment (cheap mic & an old laptop).

Dr. Harmeyer has put me down as the Team Leader, so I received instructions on how to properly “package” the game. I’ve been pacing back and forth the past few minutes, I won’t rest until I’ve uploaded the game to the site. I’ll let you know how it all ends.

Wish us luck.
Salaam.

Its 10:46am (Sunday Feb 1 2009)
So a few changes have been made, we’ve decided to go with only 3 levels for the game (which I’m happy about). We will doing some voice overs for the introduction of the game, hopefully that would go well. Its good that there is 3 of us, because there are 3 voices needed, yours truly here will be Mr. Idman, the evil man’s voice, niiiice =)
Its crunch time, so hopefully things will start working now please, thanks =)

Salaam.

Its 9:14am (Sunday Feb 1 2009)
I woke up a few moments ago from a 2 hour sleep, I grabbed a cup of tea and a bagel, Dan & Rob have informed me that they are running into some “minor” issues. One deals with the boundaries of the game, and the other with the animation of the main character. I only wish I was a more useful Flash programmer, I’m pretty much handicapped with it comes to ActionScript. But I believe they can do it, I voted to keep the Prototype Ball placement Dan had been using all this time, it was sleek, and working.
I think we are about to try one of the levels out.
Later.

Salaam.

Its 5:20am (Sunday Feb 1 2009)
RobTom is up, and Dan is now resting =)
I was able to complete all the audio with more than enough time, and I handed it to Dan so he can try it out once he gets back. Energy is defiantly low at this point. Since RobTom was asleep, he asked me to create a Red & Blue pill for him. Being that I’m not an artist, I didn’t have Photoshop or Flash on my machine, so I had to go old school and make it in MS Paint, I must say it came out pretty good =). Now that Rob is up I gave you the files for the pills so that he can artistify it for Dan =).

I had a nice long talk with one of the hosts here, his name is Steve, really cool guy, he wants to do some quick recording with out breaking the bank. I ended up showing him some of the free programs that I use like Audacity & Acid Express, and he really got pumped to actually start recording, since the myth of its complication has been revealed to be non-existent by yours truly (for a simply recording).

Also apparently they have been taking pictures of us and posting it up on the web, not just us but all the other locations as well =)
I still can’t find me though, I’m the one with the big headphones & bigger afro =). They should be located on Flickr.com/Photos/GlobalGameJam

Also I “think” they will put the games up for people to see and play on the UB Game Jam Site… but I could be wrong =)
Till the next update.
Salaam

Its 11:38pm (Saturday Jan 31 2009)
I have just finished creating (or should I say editing) the sound effects for our game. I’ve put the Game Score into a play list and I have it playing in the background, and I’m liking the vibe, sweet =)

Hopefully pretty soon we’ll be running a little prototype test to see if things are playing together nicely =)
Wish us luck.

Salaam.

Its 7:42pm (Saturday Jan 31 2009)
Alright, so I have finished the music for the whole game, YES!!, I finalized everything moments ago, and converted it into the format we need.

Now all I need is the sound effects, which I will get to right after some pizza =) w00t.
I’ll have to figure out how to upload audio on here for you to check out the Game Score.

Salaam.

Its 2:55pm (Saturday Jan 31 2009)
I’m on a little break.
I think we’re doing pretty good so far. Dan J has taken the initiative to work on the physics of the game (we decided to use Flash 8). RobTom has been working on the game levels, he’s up to level 3, and its looking pretty good. We’re trying to keep it simple and fun.

I on the other hand am having a ball =). That last time I was on a Game Jam, I ended up being an assistant programmer, but this time I actually have Audio (my semi specialty). What I’m going for is a very elaborate and almost sci-fi sound, I figured since the game will look simple, I will do my best to make sure they have the best game score EVER! using all free software and samples =)
I’m using Sony’s Audio XPress & samples from Free-Loops.com

So far, I have 4 out of the 5 levels done, as well as the intro. We’re taking a little breather now to decompress and chit chat and walk around a little.

I think our game will be really cool, we’ve haven’t decided on the name yet, but RobTom says that they will ask us for a soundtrack of the game =). He’s so nice.

Alright, over and out.

Its 11:55am (Saturday Jan 31 2009)
My team “UBer Gamez” have already started on the game. My team members are Dan J & RobTom, they are both good friends of mine and fellow UB Alumni. I was assigned AudioMan (YES!), so far I have the Intro, Level One, & Illusionary State done.
What’s left is four more levels, a game over, and a few sound effects.

This event is super cool, we have almost everybody, from high school novices to software engineers, its quite awesome.