I finally rolled up my sleeves and got started on my multiplayer Flash card game. I got some basic scene management running, and the background and border drawing for the base card class. Also, I'm calculating the elapsed time and passing the variable into all of the scenes in my game. Not bad for a few hours work.

I'm somewhat torn. On the one hand, I would really like to get my hands on the 3DS. It's going to be significantly more powerful than the DS, and I love my DS. The 3D might not be significant to games, but it should be interesting at least.

On the other hand, I was considering getting one at launch to supplant my old-as-hell original grey-brick DS. But all the early appraisals of the system clearly state that it isn't a very good replacement for older models. Scaling original DS carts results in undesirable pixel warping, while playing at the original resolution results in a significantly smaller viewing area. Picking up a DS Lite would probably be a better (and more affordable) replacement for my outdated DS.

I guess we'll see.

[Initial Goal: FAIL]

Haven't heard from Richard Kain, so putting that down as a Fail for now.

(Sigh) Unfortunately, you are correct.

Initial Goal: FAIL

I'm going to have to take a big-old fail on this first goal. I spent way too much time this week focusing on getting my local network running, and tweaking the settings for it. Then I spent too much time trying to get my framework running on Windows. (cross-platform bugs can sure be a bitch) And of course, there were the non-game-dev distractions. I played some Little Big Planet, and a ton of Super Meat Boy last week.

On the plus side, I did a decent amount of abstraction in my head, and I also decided that I wanted to try to implement the possibility of multiple in-game cameras, and rendering contexts. I'm going to play around with the OpenTK library a bit more before I set a new deadline. I'm also thinking of focusing on my Flash game first.

Whether a site is database driven or has an RSS feed is not mutually exclusive. You can dynamically create an RSS/atom feed from a database.

Good point. There's nothing stopping a developer from cooking up a quick module to generate the necessary RSS XML from database entries. The parsing isn't even that difficult. I had forgotten that option.

I'm currently looking at re-visiting my personal web-site projects. This week I managed to get my local intranet set-up on my Linux box. (Ubuntu) Now I have a proper testing and development environment for constructing web pages.

Looks like we will be having a battle of the clones in the coming months.

Competition is a healthy thing. And since general game rules can't be copyrighted, it's all fair game. Feel free to post any of your own progress here, or comment/critique my progress going forward. Having a second set of eyes on my progress would be a big help.

Hopefully I'll be able to have a working single-player prototype up by next week.

database driven

More secure, but it makes it so that no one can "subscribe" to it. Of course, I think most people are over the RSS fad at this point. There are a few major feeds that have the branding necessary, but very few new blogs are going that route.

I still remember one of my clients insisting that I include an RSS feed on his site. As if anyone was actually going to subscribe to it. (or as if he would ever have news worth reading about)

I think a large part of it is that not many people know how to handle custom viewpoints in Flash. A lot of local multiplayer action games require the dreaded "split-screen." And camera control is not built into Flash by default.

Fortunately, there is a way to handle this. We can look to the examples set by Flixel and FlashPunk for the answers. You can tell from these frame works that it is entire possible to "abstract" a camera class within flash, complete with scrolling. And we can tell that it is possible to "project" these abstracted scenes into visual elements, mainly using pixel buffers and the copyPixels() function.

My suggestion would be to construct multiple Sprite "containers" that will serve as your viewing windows onto your virtual scene, and then "draw" into them using a virtual camera system. You should be able to use the position and scrolling values for each object in your scene to determine where they should be drawn relative to each player's camera.

I would suggest using Flixel or Flashpunk, but I know that Flixel isn't designed to handle multiple camera perspectives. It might make more sense to roll your own solution, especially if you intend to use Flash's native vector rendering.

The general concept for this card game is not ambitious...not in the least. It isn't original either. The rule-set is taken directly from a different game that has been around for a while. The game in question is Final Fantasy VIII, and more specifically, the mini-game called "Triple Triad." I chose this game to emulate because...

1. It is a very simple rule-set, and I feel my technical experience is up to the task
2. I feel that this particular game would fit very well in a social network like Facebook

Basically, each card will feature a character that I come up with and draw. The face of the card will also feature four numbers. The original game had all four numbers in the upper-left-hand corner of the card. I was thinking it would make more sense to the player to have the numbers arranged on the corresponding edges of the card. The illustrated characters are window dressing, and just there for aesthetic appeal and collecting. The numbers are the aspect that are important to gameplay.

The actual play is executed on a nine-square grid. (much like tic-tac-toe) Each player places a card in turn. If one side of your card has a higher number than the corresponding side of an adjacent card, you flip that card over and it adopts your color. If one player has more cards their color than their opponent when all cards have been placed, they win. It is possible to have a draw.

In the original Final Fantasy VIII, this mini-game was incredibly fun and addictive. I've never understood why Square-Enix didn't attempt to revisit the concept in an on-line capacity. I know there have been fan projects to attempt to re-create it, but most of them have been much more free-form, which detracts from the collectible nature of the original. I think this gameplay would be a perfect fit for an on-line, server-managed Facebook title.

From my perspective you do have Minecraft goggles on a little bit

I think it's a little bit unfair to say that just because he has decided to use the same rendering engine that powers Minecraft. Deciding to use Java is hardly a "bandwagon" decision. The Java platform has been around for some time, and has been used by numerous companies to develop cross-platform software. It is and has been a reliable way to develop software that will run on multiple platforms without any changes to the code. This was true before Minecraft was even a twinkle in Notch's eye.

The fact of the matter is that being able to target platforms in a flexible manner is very desirable, especially for indie developers. In some circumstances, it can actually multiply the return on investment for your titles. And while some people use C++ to achieve this, some of us prefer not to code with lower-level languages.

Now that the WebGL standard has reached v1.0, we will probably see a lot of developers who start adopting Javascript for their game development. Being able to reach a wide audience with minimal effort is rapidly becoming more important to game development than graphical performance.

Whooo Hoooo! Last night I successfully set up an intranet at my condo. I now have my own private Webserver + DNS server + FTP. I can host my own domain names locally, as well as point them to specific locations on my Linux box's hard drive. And these hard drive locations fully support PHP and MySQL development. I can develop full-featured websites on my local network, and access them from any computer in my home.

I tried this once before, but couldn't figure out how to go about it. The on-line documentation for this sort of thing is not very organized. I have some more game-centric coding to finish this week. But perhaps over the weekend I will write a tutorial for this process. For anyone looking to develop web-games, I imagine that it could be very useful.

That was a fairly informative article, decently written. Thanks for the personal account you related. I had always suspected that working on XNA might end up that way. Of course, the ACTUAL reason why I never bothered to use XNA is because I hadn't properly wrapped my brain around OOP when it came out. By the time I did understand OOP, I had moved onto Actionscript 3.0 and OpenGL rendering using Mono and OpenTK. Developing for XNA seemed like a step backwards, and by then it was clear that the Indie channel on XBox Live wasn't getting any love.

At this point, your best bet for platforms is probably...well, the web. Whether this be on Newgrounds, or full-on Facebook support, web games are more viable now than they ever have been. And to top it off, you have a lot more options for languages and coding. Unity and Flash are the two most obvious choices, but soon even WebGL will be a viable platform in its own right. Keeping your platform options as open as you can is usually a good idea. That's why I'm sticking to OpenTK. If one service refuses me, I have plenty of other options available.

Wow, yeah! This is looking really solid so far. The voice acting is quite respectable, I'm loving the art style, the animations look great in motion, it all seems to be coming together. The lip-syncing could stand to be more accurate, but it might not be worth the effort. As it stands it gets the point across quite well.

Make sure you let us all know when you publish this. I'd be happy to lay down some money on the app store for a game with these production values.

No. I just installed Parallels and Windows 7.

Curses, you got my hopes up. I always keep a Windows machine around, and Flashdevelop is part of the reason for that. I love Flashdevelop for my AS3 scripting. It just makes the whole process very convenient and structured. I'm actually going to be firing my Windows XP box up again this week to get some Flash coding down. I've been doing a lot of C# coding in Monodevelop recently, and I can do that on any system. (why can't every IDE be as cross-platform as Monodevelop?)

Game development IS what I do in my free time. My day job is programming and repairing web sites.

Naturally, I also play games in my free time. And I very much enjoy reading, with a heavy emphasis on sci-fi/fantasy novels. And I watch movies and TV shows. But my big hobby at the moment is game development.

Whooof. A lot has happened since I posted this dev log originally. In fact, it's been almost a solid year. In that time, I started work on a port of the Flixel engine, abandoned that, and have since begun working on my own game engine. Unity learning kind of fell by the wayside.

Honestly, I can't say I regret not knuckling down on learning Unity. My port project gave me a much greater understanding and appreciation for back-end game engine design principles. And I like not being reliant on someone else's engine.

But now I am wanting to pick Bull-Work back up as a viable project. After all I've learned, I've changed my mind on the targeted platforms. I have decided that Bull-Work should be created using the standard Flash API, and should be targeted at Facebook. I decided against using Flixel or FlashPunk, despite the strengths that they bring. The game I'm intending to make won't require drastic graphic optimization, or numerous sprites. Using the standard Flash library will also make it easier to stream content rather than embedding it, and it should also make it easier to integrate the upcoming Flash 11 updates. (like 3D support)

A fine break-down of the figures. To address the issue of stock-on-hand, you could always try selling merch that is friendlier towards mass storage, such as posters or prints. (a stack of 100 of those will take up much less room than t-shirts, and will most likely have a better profit margin)

But I definitely see your point. Expecting to make it big off of merchandising is most likely unrealistic, and I don't think anyone should jump into that pool right off the bat. I do still believe it is a viable option for a continuous revenue stream once a brand has already been established.

And I do still think you should invest in a PAX booth, even if you aren't expecting to make a profit selling merch. The $1300 will probably be worth it for the exposure and publicity alone.

Just got Hello World working from FlashDevelop on a Mac!

FlashDevelop is available on the Mac now!?

(rushes to FlashDevelop site to check)

plus do you think a 3d game might be a bit hard for a first project?

Yes, I think a 3D game will most likely be quite hard for a first-time project. If you are insistent on using 3D graphics, I do have a helpful suggestion...

Unity

If you are, as you say, a beginner and/or first-timer, Unity is an excellent option for the 3D-inclined. It is extremely easy to import 3D assets into Unity, from numerous formats that can be created from several major 3D programs. (as well as some indie-friendly open-source programs) Unity uses Javascript, C#, and Boo for coding, and you can use whichever language you are most comfortable with. It is feature-rich and flexible without being as intimidating as more robust engines/development kits such as the UDK. Unity-specific javascript is very easy to learn and use, and C# is there if you want to get a bit more in-depth. (though it probably won't be necessary)

If you decide that 3D is too much, I would recommend Flash as a platform.

So, I dunno, I guess I see merch as just extras to give fans of your game to make them happier, not a serious source of revenue.  Maybe I'm not thinking outside the box.

Well, right here we see one problem. The "brand" you establish should never be limited to the game you make. Branding can be extended and expanded in all sorts of ways, outside of whatever originally spawned it. And then of course you should always consider further opportunities to distribute your merch. Sign up and pay for a booth at PAX, and use that as a way to promote your game while simultaneously hocking merch. Sell enough T-shirts at premium prices and you can actually make back the cost of the booth, and the exposure you get will likely improve your game sales while also helping to expand your branding. (which could translate into better future merch sales)

Or perhaps you could host your own mini-convention wherever you are located. If there aren't any major game conventions nearby you won't have any competition. There are any number of clever ways to market your games on the cheap, and expand your brand awareness.

Also remember that you should push your corporate brand as well as just your games. Do what you can to give your company "personality" in the public eye. A lot of companies these days are doing this through on-line videos, web-comics, and podcasts.

I will always trumpet the strengths of designing a site all by your lonesome. But then I am a web designer/coder by trade. For pretty much everyone else, Wordpress and similar blog services really are the way to go. They're simple, the default shell choices look clean and professional, and they provide a decent degree of customization options if you know your CSS. It's a fantastic way to get the general structure of a decent web site up there displaying things, and then focus on the content rather than the back-end structure. It's what most people actually need for their website.

Stick with that for the time being. You always have the option of re-designing your site later, when you feel more confident. For now its just important to have your content up there.