Head on over to http://exequor.com for all the latest news about "Tales of the USCA" and also "The Archangel Chapter".
This site will soon be recycled into something else. Please update your bookmarks. Thank you!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Day 396 : Lots of new stuff
A lot has happened with the project, so much so that I haven't found the time to post a lot on this blog. First and foremost, the official website is up and running at http://usca.exequor.com. I made it with drupal. Can't say I'm in love with drupal so far. The forums are an abomination compared to phpBB. Anyway, I'm staying the course for now. The reason why I wanted the website up is that I've made a teaser for the game, it's available on the site in either WMV or AVI.
I'm currently spending most of my time in blender designing. I've never been in love with Blender but it does the job. And Michael Reimpell's excellent exporter is doing a fine job. I'll start posting screenshots on the website as they become available.
I'm currently spending most of my time in blender designing. I've never been in love with Blender but it does the job. And Michael Reimpell's excellent exporter is doing a fine job. I'll start posting screenshots on the website as they become available.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Day 365 : One year already, and vacations status
It was a year ago today that I started the development of "The Archangel Chapter" using the "Dark Game SDK". One year later I unfortunately find myself with very little to show for in terms of playable demos and such.
These vacations have been the most trying and de-motivating of this project's lifespan. I entered them with the belief that the engine was ready to enter production and that I could concentrate on asset production and integration. Not so. The engine still had big missing or malfunctioning features. In the end I spend 75% of the time doing engine maintenance, feature additions and such, and 25% adding content. As a result, the originally planned milestone of having 1 complete production level with the different menus to lead the players to it not only remained unmet, but will be unmet for at least a few months.
2007 will see a drastic change of direction in the project. So far I've not hesitated to go back and redo things I felt weren't designed properly and with object-oriented optimization. The philosophy has always been to invest time now so that later things will fall in place more rapidly and such. There was also a constant thriving to put as many features in the game engine as possible.
But as a result of this approach there is no game here. No game to be shown and too many rewrites. The game's engine will soon enter a lock-down mode, and the game will be made with whatever features are in the engine (which is already way more than most, if not all, rail shooters I've seen in the independent circuit). Bug fixes only.
To that end I will spend the next few months intensely testing the engine and locking it down. The new milestone for the complete 1 level experience is pushed back 6 months. That's enormous I know, but so far every time I thought I was ready to do production, the truth has been far from it. So I'm playing it safe.
I wish I wasn't alone on the battlefield on this. I've had a few offers for help, but I'm waiting for concrete results before considering them official.
Happy new years to those of you who've followed this little journey. Lots more to come this year. Cheers!
These vacations have been the most trying and de-motivating of this project's lifespan. I entered them with the belief that the engine was ready to enter production and that I could concentrate on asset production and integration. Not so. The engine still had big missing or malfunctioning features. In the end I spend 75% of the time doing engine maintenance, feature additions and such, and 25% adding content. As a result, the originally planned milestone of having 1 complete production level with the different menus to lead the players to it not only remained unmet, but will be unmet for at least a few months.
2007 will see a drastic change of direction in the project. So far I've not hesitated to go back and redo things I felt weren't designed properly and with object-oriented optimization. The philosophy has always been to invest time now so that later things will fall in place more rapidly and such. There was also a constant thriving to put as many features in the game engine as possible.
But as a result of this approach there is no game here. No game to be shown and too many rewrites. The game's engine will soon enter a lock-down mode, and the game will be made with whatever features are in the engine (which is already way more than most, if not all, rail shooters I've seen in the independent circuit). Bug fixes only.
To that end I will spend the next few months intensely testing the engine and locking it down. The new milestone for the complete 1 level experience is pushed back 6 months. That's enormous I know, but so far every time I thought I was ready to do production, the truth has been far from it. So I'm playing it safe.
I wish I wasn't alone on the battlefield on this. I've had a few offers for help, but I'm waiting for concrete results before considering them official.
Happy new years to those of you who've followed this little journey. Lots more to come this year. Cheers!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Day 355 : Getting a grasp
Between family gatherings, playing with my christmas gifts, the worst cold I got for the past few years and what seems to be some unfortunate gastric problems that requires me to rush to the bathroom every now and then, I'm now managing to get the upper hand on the GUI and expect good results in the next few days. I don't think my original milestone for the christmas vacations is still feasible, but I'll give it a good shot for the 10 or so days I got left. I shall do my best to put aside my newly received videogames to concentrate on work. I can play once vacations are over. Now that I think about it, in 10 days will be the first year anniversary of the beginning of The Archangel Chapter. I think it's been a pretty productive years, the first few months anyway ;-). Going back to work.
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