also me, hITLER IS SILLY

Sup 64 digits, I am doing stuff.

I have finally decided to get off my arse and continue working on this project I have been stuck on for 2 weeks.

A while ago, back when I did a lot of GM stuff, I would have had this done in a day or two, but for the fact that I haven’t really done any engine stuff with it for a very long time, (only experiments and cool visual things), coupled with how my perfectionism level has raised significantly since then- meaning I will not accept any of the crappy solutions I may have come up with a year or more ago.

I am working on a platform engine which has pretty much all of the features I can see myself needing (although starting off with the basics of course). So far I have got the ability to play the game with either a keyboard or an xbox360 controller (and have also set it up so that adding local multiplayer should be easy) which is something I have never done in GM before, but I am rather happy with the result.

The problem however is slopes, the bane of every GMnoob (which I do not consider myself). I have created several platformer engines before that support slopes, but none that will support the current model.

I have got to a point where I do not understand where I have gone wrong, so here I am, asking for help on something quite simple.

Here is a link to the file, all of the problems are in the step event, highlighted...

//VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
...like this
//^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It is GM8.1 but I don’t know how to use LateralGM so sorry if you don’t have 8.1 :(

You can press enter to change control scheme

Keyboard:
Left/right arrows - move
X - jump

controller:
left stick - move
A - jump

Oh, and i just found another problem, the game starts off with extreme lag. this seems to fix itself if you attach a controller, and then disconnect it. even if you don't change the control scheme. I have no idea why...

Yay, I got home from work today to find the virgin media man setting up our new network.

I AM NO LONGER TIED DOWN WITH AOL! (and their 1-3Mb/s broadband)



This blog is not short, most of the content is just not written in it. (Modit: Noted.)

edit from the future

this is now, same package :(



less than 1% of what it is supposed to be, and it has been like this for a week so far

Dream journal

Hey guys, this morning I had a weird dream, and 64digits members were in it, so I thought I should post it here :)

So, it started off at some 64digits meetup at some gig, where there was no music playing, but instead we were all doing something with computers. There was Ferret, Juju and JID, as well as some others who I recognise from the several blogs where we posted pictures of ourselves, but I can’t link a username a face. I think Cesque, RC and Sirxemic may have been there.

Later, it turned out we were all ninjas, or batmen or something, so we went off to fight crime together with our parkour and martial arts/swordfighting skills. We got split up in a crowd after we gave a warning to some crime boss who hadn’t really commited any crimes at all, but just acted like a general dick. To escape, I threw a knife at a door to unlock it (wut?) as the police came after us for some reason.

As I went out the door, I woke up in the middle of an exam (I have just finished a 20 hour ICT exam IRL) which I had already finished an hour or 2 before the end. However, some things from that dream had leaked into “reality”. Some of the 64digits members were there. I left the examination room early because the invigilator saw I had finished, however, I appeared to be doing the exam in my workplace, (a delicatessen) and some parts of the dream appeared here as well, including 64digits members as my colleagues, and the knife on the door I had thrown in the other dream. My boss got very angry at the knife, and threatened to fire me.

For some reason, I went outside, which was my friend’s back garden, and I made my way over to a van or tractor or something. Behind it, there was a small, yellow and black wriggly thing (apparently a leech). I turned round, to see that the floor was now covered in leeches.

I ran back inside, while stamping down extra hard to squish the leeches, and as I got in, I was attacked by a swarm of wasps that materialised from thin air. Then I woke up, and the wasps were my pillow, and the leeches were my earphones, which I had been using to listen to vsauce the night before, and had forgotten to put away.

Game idea

Also today, I have thought of an idea for a game which I may actually have some enthusiasm towards creating (something I have been lacking for a while).

It is a platformer, and one special feature is that it can use image files to create it’s levels. This is something I have been wanting to try for a while.

Each pixel on the image represents an object, which will be placed in its relative location when the level is loaded. Each level is made from several different images. One for the objects, with black (#000000) pixels being blocks you can walk on, and other specific colours being other object types like enemies, signposts, light sources, the player, and the goal.
The second image will be used for texturing the level, similar to tilesets. This will also allow for animation, so a level can be animated to include rushing water, smoke, or snow etc.

These will contain more colours, and each colour represents a different tile image.

I will also have images for various different levels of background and foreground.

All of these images, and other variables too (such as background music) will be identified in a text file(which is what the game will load).

This method should allow me to create large levels, quickly, and easier than with game maker’s level designer. It should also allow me to create levels with my graphics tablet, and any image editing program, as well as making it quite easy for others to create custom levels, as long as they make sure to use the correct colour code.

I have already put quite a lot more thoughts and ideas into this than anything I have done recently.

See ya later sexy four digits.

"Error creating standalone, unable to find valid runner data"

this happens EVERY time I try to run a game. also, I cannot open the program straight up, the only way to open it is to find a game created in this version, and open that.

no I cannot reinstall, I no longer have my activation code.

I hope I don't have to buy it again, brining the total i have spent on this program to about £200 (312.12 U.S. dollars)

I only just bought it again last month ;~;

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

hey, I have been having a problem with this site lately, when posting a comment (especially when editing existing ones) I get this:



It is getting very annoying, because it quite often leads to double posts, or even posts not being posted at all.

has anyone else been having this problem lately?

Hey guys, I am finally starting my scary four digits entry. I know, I am very late, but between the coursework, and stress, and lack of inspiration, it took me a long time to get started. However, I have an idea now, and I have made my first sprite :D



Shortblog blablabla.

Edit:
I have finished the work I had to do for tonight, and now I can finish this entry.

I improved the skull sprite I made:

The teeth are larger (thanks orange for pointing that out.) the shading is improved, and the cheekbones are no longer black


And in this one, I put flames on it… just because.


I just got a Hoya R72 infrared filter for my Lumix G1 camera, it is awesome. If anyone wants to know about infrared photography (and I highly recommend that you do) click this link.

Here are my attempts at it so far:



They don’t look nearly as good as the ones in the link because I haven’t quite worked out how to white balance them correctly yet, but I’ll get there.

I don’t think I have posted about photography here before, and I was wondering if any of you were interested in it?

Hey guys, I am in a good mood right now because I have thought of an epic (imo) game idea.

It involves parallel universes, the creation of the universe (and others) the destruction of aforementioned universe(s) gods, demons, corrupted gods, magic powers, platforming, varied landscapes, a strong focus on visuals and gameplay, an original storyline (I think) and I think I may actually be motivated enough to get further than just an engine this time :D.

I also plan on making the music tracks change as you get to different areas, so if you encounter a large group of enemies, a faster drum beat and more action-y melody kick in, and if you pass a pretty view at a vista, the music gets atmospheric and ambient. etc.

I will start work soon after the end of the scary four digits competition ends.

In other news, I am starting to learn C++, and so far, I understand it pretty well (although I am still in the basics, and I doubt it will stay this simple for long, but I will persevere.) having learned the general process of programming from GML, things are easier to understand. What about you guys, who uses C++, and what would you say your skill level’s are?

Right now I am using code::blocks as my compiler, which seems pretty nice. It has a lot of features which could speed things up a lot, small things such as automatically adding a close quote if you open one could make a big difference in the long run.

How advanced is the closest equivalent in C++ to GM’s surfaces? I want to be able to create a 4D array, and then render colours based on the values per pixel onto it.

Hey guys, I haven’t blogged in ages, so I felt like doing so today :D

School:
So, I have moved onto the second year of A levels, and already this year is looking better than the last. Last year I found it incredibly hard to motivate myself to do anything for some reason, and not just school related things. My grades weren’t great, I dot 2 D’s and an EE (for double ICT, which is averaged from both parts, my single ICT was a C, but that was brought down by a U in the double section) :(, A levels are definitely harder than GCSE’s, in which I got A’s in all 3 sciences, and in maths, and a whole bunch of B’s and C’s.
Choosing universities is hard… I want to do computer science or games technology, but I am still working on a personal statement for them, which isn’t working out too well.

Stuff:
I got my braces removed this morning, feels great, it’s like someone took out all my old teeth and gave me some new ones. It’s going to take some getting used to though.

I also drew my first decent picture with my new graphics tablet, despite getting it a while ago. I hadn’t drawn anything good with it yet because, as I said earlier, I couldn’t motivate myself, and when I am not in the mood, everything looks like crap.


It’s Finn and Jake from Adventure Time (I love that show)
By the way, does anyone know anywhere I can watch season 3 episode 2, “Memory of a memory”? I have watched all the others, but I am having trouble finding this one. I can’t even pay to watch it here in the uk.

Minecraft:
1.8 pre release is awesome, and really revived my interest in minecraft. I love the new terrain generator, and online play seems more fun, although experience is done really badly, and lags servers every time someone dies, it would be much better if experience orbs joined together when they are near to each other and get bigger meaning there are generally less orbs. I want to make a town on the server where all the houses look like the skins of the heads of their owner it would be called skinville, or headville or something. Also I want to make a town out of pistons just so I can call it Pisston. I found a good texture pack and I would really recommend it to anyone who wants something which fits with the feel of the game, but in a much higher quality.



At the bottom of a ravine


Sheep having a threesome in a tree


The town on the server, that’s Stevenup’s house, and my unfinished, vine griefed house in the background.


I made a solution to the xp problem


More vine griefing


Kabob and some silverfish


A farm

The sphax pack(it’s 64*64 so you will need MCPatcher, which has been updated.)

I also got Deus Ex HR recently, and that is very fun. I upgraded my RAM from 4Gb to 8Gb and it runs very smoothly now (unless I turn up ambient occlusion). I like the semi freeroaming aspect of it, and I love the way hacking and newspapers/ebooks etc. are done so you view them through your character’s eyes. You can even look around while reading something by holding down both mouse buttons and moving the mouse.

see ya,
Moikle

Hey 64digits, how’s it going?

I haven’t blogged in a while, but I just felt like writing one this morning.

A dream
I actually managed to remember a dream last night. This is something I have only ever managed to do once or twice.

So, it started off in a forest, and I was on some kind of trip with some people I know. Apparently I was using the Minecraft Painterly texture pack IRL, not that it looked any different from normal, but the dream wanted me to know that. Also, I felt bad for not using my own, WIP texture pack; the dream apparently saw me as a traitor.

Anyway, some of the people I was with decided to go quadbiking, while the rest of us wandered around the woods.

We found a clearing with some bits of wood, and part of the quadbiking track, we decided to set fire to some of the wood. At this point, two of my friends decided to sing, really out of tune, and really loudly, and the lyrics were a sort of literal of everything we were doing.
(I guess even my dreams show my complete lack of musical talent :P)

Me and one of the others decided it would be cool to put one of the flaming logs next to the ramp so the quadbikers would jump through flames, like in an action movie.

But the other guy decided to put it right under the ramp, causing it to catch fire. This got me really worried, and I told him to put it out, but he just looked at it, laughing.
The first quadbikers were approaching the ramp, so I tried to put it out before they burned to death on it, however, I was too late, and as the first biker went onto the ramp, I woke up because my cat was calling me in the real world.

school
Also, I have finally finished a massive chunk of AS level ICT coursework which I was sure from the start I was going to fail. According to the teacher’s first marking, I got a C which isn’t too bad, judging by the fact that I was expecting no higher than an e.
There is another half of this coursework to do, because I take double ICT, but I have been allowed one resubmit at the end of this year, along with half (5 people out of 10) of the class, who were in the same situation. So I have until the end of the school year for that which is nice.

And I also finished a 4, full days long art exam, which I think I did quite well in, despite forgetting to print some photos which I need to add to my portfolio, but I can add those next week. The final piece went very well.

Physics exam is coming up in a few weeks, but I refuse to do any work or revision this weekend, I have just finished loads of work and I need a rest, I haven’t properly played a videogame (other than short sessions of minecraft here and there) for about 2-3 months :(.

Oh and also, I have been offered a (kind of) job, which I will be sharing with my friend, its just once a fortnight, and it is just a bit higher than minimum wage, but hey, at least I will be earning SOMETHING

Have a nice day my 64digits
-Moikle