Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Week 11_12



     Learn from this game project, I have got deep understanding of game engine. We use melonJS as our game engine and finish a RPG game (we built a game which we all like it). 
     Game industry nowadays is changing rapidly. Lot of tedious work had been finished by game engine. Standing on the shoulders of giants, game developers can spend more time on game design now. Lots of function include map editor are done by engine developers. By learning how to use engine. We can focus on what we want our game to be instead of wasting time to make a great idea out. I think most of commercial game will build base on game engine in future. And game developer will do less coding(engine developers will do it). It is a tendency and it obey the rule of social division of labor.
    Next project will base on unity, great chance to learn a fascinating commercial game engine.





Monday, November 5, 2012

Week 10

  At first, I want to explain why here is no week 8 and week 9 in my blogger.
  Week8 is fall break, so it just my spare time in Yellow Stone. And Week9 is the fourth week for XNA game. Everything goes in smooth way as usual, prototyping, pizza bonus.
  Back to week10's studying experience. This week we start a new game project(based on HTML5 and JavaScript), and my team choose to develop a Shoshone language learning game. After two days' brain storming process, we decide to try a RPG game like Pokemon, which using top-down view and round-based mechanism.
  I am so excited about this plan and can't wait to work it out, since I have planned to develop a RPG game for a long time.
 
  It is unrealistic to build a RPG game from scratch in three weeks. In order to make our game decent we decide to find an open resource engine to base on. So I search the Internet and got Construct2. It is this Engine that shocked me so much. With event
sheet in Construct2, you can build your own game without programming.......
  And I finished its tutorial within two hours, a survival game shooting monsters and avoid them to touch you.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Week 7

Fall break is coming *.* O(∩_∩)O~.......
This week I finished the whole UI staff  and load pictures and models into the game, which follow producer's presentation. And I also built a game structure for  expanding game function easily. I believe that not only I have managed the XNA, but also  got some useful knowledge in 3D models  and 3D game from this project .  Our master program offer us these  precious opportunities every four weeks.  I can feel that I am going to  familiar with game programing more and more. Other words, although we use different kinds of tools and programing language in developing game. The core knowledge behind game developing itself does never change.

I will go Yellow Stone tomorrow....So my teammates will merge our codes together and maybe finish the whole game in few days. Thank you very much guys.


Again break is coming *.*   I am coming.  Yellow Stone .

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Week6

   After a week company with dear..XNA , I realise how powerful and easy to use that it is.  With its benign inner looping system and component management skills, We can lean it quickly and achieve many functions as soon as possible. At same time, optimize our code structure base on different component.  Our team continue to solve problems one by ones.  But 3D world elements and 3D models are still in pending.  My next mission is to emerge UI component into previous code and make it well organize.(I am working on right now ~), besides figure out a component to load 3D content stuff which my teammates working on.
   C++ class have begun to teach us how to manage programing efficiency in cash align, it is truly the first time that I can write program to handle computer hardware~. And this week I finish programing home work in Thursday, So I can prepare some basic template knowledge for next class.
  If I can get more free time, I think I would learn some 3D artist knowledge, it's a wonderful and interesting work ~.~
 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Week 5

Here comes a new project. So here we face lots of new technologies again..........
XNA C# and 3D Model tools maybe MAYA.

This week I spent all of times in both Thursday and Friday (We have busy class schedule on Monday and Wednesday, So maybe it's a good idea to call the whole week) study XNA programing.
Beginning from zero I got:(Until Saturday night)
1 What the XNA stuff use for and it's future commercial area.(It is easy but I need know what am      doing for)
2 Basic coding rule when dealing with 3D game.
3 Adding 3D model into XNA project using VS 2010 and some basic animation for the model like texture, moving, rotating, 
4 Metrics one of the most important stuff in XNA system.
5 Figure out how to build some easy UI, which will be used in our game like show point and background.
6 Building a graphics engine camera in game and differences way to move the camera including rotating.(This is a assignment which our producer gave to me)
7Just begin to learn how to built 3D model by myself.

What is more, I got some websites to prepare 3D model for using in game. 


For  C++ class on Monday evening.
I have to say it is very very useful O(∩_∩)O~  I absorb many tricks to optimize coding structure and memory.
I will continue working on my actor and controller system after this blog,

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Week 4

As time goes by, a month has passed since I came to this tranquil City. Phone number, bank account, tuition, transport issues, new food.........  I finally overcome these kinds of routine problem and gradually focus my energy in to learning and practicing, of course programming.

Our first game project ends smoothly after the pizza party, So I got lots of time in reading this week (I like reading in the quiet night with cup of tea coool...) 
The Game Design Reader is surely a excellent book, inspire me in both game design and thinking problem in different way. I will post reading experience in detail for game design class assignment.

Beginning from this week I will work out a complete program every week to ensure my C++ programing skill keep go on. I choose book of Programming and Problem Solving with C++ as test book. Because I think the examples in the book are practical and interesting, and it also contain the gist I mentioned in last blog(Thinking in a big project way).

Known that next game project would use C# and XNA, I begin prepare it in advance in order to make sure the project would be more easy to handle..

Game engine class in this week is very useful. We begin to separate our game and game engine in different project. I also got lots of understanding for code file management and reuse by finish C++ homework.




Monday, September 10, 2012

Week3

    

   Always busy... busy....I gradually fit with this kinds of  life in USA now.
   Our team continue work on our game "cheesy bee" this week, and we have basically finish it until Sunday (left some tiny bug waiting to be repaired).
  Most of time focusing on AI of  enemy in the game, I realise that it is a great challenge in making a "smart enemy", you will experience lot of difficulties and frustration until you figure out all of the situation that the enemy could have. What is more, something unpredictable would always happen without tiny clue....  Luckily, I finished it and made the enemy woking fine. I believe I will spend lots of time studing game AI in future(It's funny and challenge *-*)
   From this first project, I realise manage a project in a efficient way is very important. We should consider many stuff when implement a function for future expand or reuse. So, knowledge
about software engineering should be summarized in every project on future study. It is a good and important habbit.
  Look forward to work on next project using C++ and some new tools.
  Keep go on....  programing and progressing, I like this way, I mean learn form practice.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Week2

Time fly~~~~
Since I finished my blog on Saturday on the first week, I realised that something important advance may also happen on Sunday If I go to library or lab.So I decide to publish my game developing experience on Sunday night or Monday in future.
This week, all of our classes begin moving on track. And the biggest problem for me is "game words" in game design class. All of classic games the professor mentioned in the class are in English like "Grand Theft Auto","The Elder Scrolls". It was my mistake that only care about game's Chinese name in the past..... So I need make it up and get familiar with these names in order to  eliminate language
gap as soon as possible.
Second, lots of my classmates have working experience and thus they are skillful in coding. I think I should spend more time in self-studying since I just finished my undergraduate study without lots of time in practice coding skills. And I may the youngest one in class....  So hard working now!!
After finish programing of C++ homework "Monster Chase", I got better understanding of iterator.
Our Game: I have finish the basic interface and hero's movement. And my team mates have plug in game looping, next time I will add enemy function base on his game looping. I think we can finish the game soon.


 
        

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Developing experience week1



New country, new life, new semester, new beginning, of course, a new blog.. to record my game developing experience.
The first week is laborious, much of things to do, kinds of finding and fitting the lifestyle in this foreign country where I would spend at least two years in future as my third hometown .
Here back to the topic(homework actually), the first week, our team get an assignment of developing a game for a cheese company.
A kinds of advertisement game to make player remember their brand. And it is the first time that I discussing with people have same interests in developing game and working together under commercial atmosphere. Honestly speaking, I believe it is a good opportunity for us to get familiar with workshop and prepare our future careers.
Engineering track:
1 Have built the Moai developing environment in sublime text2.,Including the configuring of Moar SDK. 
2  Understood the basic principle of how Moai works and why we need this developing tools.
3  Got familiar with some SDK for building our game and functions I believe would be used in next three weeks.
4  Coding for testing SDK and functions.
5  Until Saturday, I can move the character on screen, and figure out how to detect collision. 
Next few days

6  I will test the function of self:seekLoc ( baseX, baseY, 3.0, MOAIEaseType.LINEAR )in tutorial sample. I believe it is important for one of our game elements. 
7  Focus on Prop layer to make sure game elements can be printed out in right way and used for collision.
8  Read more coding example.