Dev.Mag - 13

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

1/35

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

2/35

REGULARS

EdsNote.........................................................................................P03

News...............................................................................................P04

FEATURE

Games,DevelopmentandPascal....................................................P05

SPOTLIGHT

DominiqueLouis-PascalGameDevelopment.com.........................P10

OPINION

UniqueisntAwesome......................................................................P14

BacktoBasics.................................................................................P15

Addictiveness=Bad........................................................................P16

REVIEW

BowmasterPrelude..........................................................................P17

DESIGN

BlenderIntermediateTutorial:ModelingwithCurves.......................P18

HTMLforNoobsPart3:GoodWebDesign......................................P21

PROJECTS

RoachToaster2:BigCity................................................................P23

Postmortem:OverseerAssault........................................................P24

TECH

CodingEtiquette:FunctionUsage...................................................P26

HISTORY

TheHistoryofI-ImaginePart4:RenongHouse.............................P28

TheHistoryofTwilyt/Celestial.......................................................P30

TAIL PIECE

ChoosingaGame:AnAdventureintoShareware...........................P31

CONTENTS WHATS INSIDE

05

14

17

31

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

3/35

EDS NOTE THE BIG CHIEF

TherearetimeswhenIcanveritablysaythatIlovethisjob.Thisisoneofthosetimes.Forthepastcoupleof

months,wevebeenwaitingwithbatedbreathforthegreenlightonseveralmajorpiecesofnews,oneofthem

beingGame.DevsdealwithMindset(www.mindset.co.za/learn/)thatinvolvesawhoppingR10000sponsor-

shipforComp15,thesecondsuchprizecompetitionthatGame.Devhashadthefortunetohost.Imagine

sittingonthatforafewmonthsandnottellinganybodyaboutit?

Becausethiscompetitionisabiggie,wevenaturallysplashedremindersaboutitalloverourpages(HINT:THISISONE

OFTHEM)tomakesurethatpeoplegetthemessageandstartparticipating.IfyoureaSouthAfricancitizen,resident

orpassportholder,youshouldhigh-tailitovertotheGame.Devwebsite(www.gamedotdev.co.za)andenteryourown

creation.Dontbeshyprizeshavebeenreservedespeciallyfornewentrants,sodevelopersacrosstheboardwillhave

ashotatthemoney.

Competitionaside,MindsethavealsodecidedtodistributeDev.MagandGame.Devadvertisingovertheirdatacastservice

toschoolsalloverSouthAfrica.Thisisamajorstepandhopefullythewordwillbespreadmuchmorequicklyconcerning

thejoysandbenefitsoflocalgamedevelopment.DidIhearTVappearances,anyone?

Concerningthemagazineitself,Ivealreadyfalleninlovewiththisissue,andIhopeyoudoaswell.Featuredthismonth

isPascalGameDevelopment.com,anamazingwebsitewithagreatcrewwhohaveshowntheworldthatnotonlycanyou

makegamesinPascal/Delphi,butthatyoucanalsobeahugesuccessintheprocess.Turnafewpagesandcheckit

out.OurTailpiecethismonthisalsosomethingwellworthcheckingoutitwasasurprisinglittleentrythatsnuckonto

myproverbialdeskbeforedeadlineandgenuinelygrippedmefrombeginningtoend(beingthearrogantsodthatIam,I

considermyownopinionofapiecetobeworthafairbit).

Crammingalloftheannouncements,newspointsandmassivefeaturesintothiseditionhasalsohadanotherprofound

effect:Issue13isofficiallythebiggestDev.Mageditionreleasedtodate,meaningthatyouregettingevenmorebangfor

yourbuck.Manyhandsgaveuptheirfingerstocountthepageswevegotfilledwithawesomestuffrightnow,somaybe

itsabouttimeyoustoppedreadingmywaffleandgottowhatreallymattersenjoyingtherestofthemag!

Editor

Rodain Nandrew Joubert

EDITOR

Rodain Nandrew Joubert

DEPUTY EDITOR

Claudio Chippit de Sa

SUB EDITOR

Tarryn Azimuth van der Byl

DESIGNER

Brandon Cyberninja Rajkumar

MARKETING

Bernard Mushi Mushi Boshoff

Andre Fengol Odendaal

CARTOONIST

Paul Higushi Myburgh

WRITERS

Simon Tr00jg de la Rouviere

Ricky Insomniac Abell

William Cairnswm Cairns

Danny Dislekcia DayAndre Fengol Odendaal

Heinrich Himmler Rall

Matt Flint Benic

Luke Coolhand Lamothe

Stefan ?rman van der Vyver

Gareth Gazza_N Wilcock

WEBSITE DESIGNER

Robbie Squid Fraser

WEBSITE

www.devmag.org.za

EMAIL

[email protected]

This magazine is a project of the

South African Game.Dev commu-

nity. Visit us at:

www.gamedotdev.co.za .

All images used in the mag are copy-

right and belong to their respective

owners. If you try and claim other-

wise, we send DB after you. And you

dont want that.

OOOH, WHATS THIS?

Sayhitoournewmascot,DB(pronounced

deebee).DBisourresidentDev.Bot,andyoull

findhimpoppingupquiteabitfromnowon.Hes

smart,hessassyandheservesasaneatreplace-

mentforZeldaontheeditorialpage.Asitso

happens,mostofDBscircuitryiscommittedtothe

logisticsofgamedevelopment(howconvenient!),

makinghimagrandadditiontotheDev.Magcrew.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 123

This months opinion columnists:

Tarryn Azimuth van der Byl

Gareth Garson Gibson

Simon Tr00jg de la Rouviere

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

4/35

R10 000 up for grabs!

http://www.gamedotdev.co.za/

Game.Devs Comp 15 commences on the first day of June, this time with sponsor-

ing from Mindset Learn amounting to R10 000. Entrants will have two months to

create their game based on an educational premise, and the top three games (as

well as the best new entrant) will be eligible for cash prizes. Check out the web-

site, the Game.Dev forums and further on in this issueofDev.Mag for further details.

The Everyman and the Action Hero

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1420/the_everyman_and_the_action_hero_.php

Gamasutrahaspublishedafeatureoncharacterdesignwhichtakesalookatjustwhatplay-

ersarekeenforinthisdayandageofGreekwarriors,trash-talkingstreetgangstersand

infinitelypowerfulplanet-eaters.Thearticletakesacriticallookatsomeoftheimportant

ideassurroundingagamecharacter,includinghowfreetheplayerfeelswithit,howmuchthe

playerrelatestoitandhowmuchtheplayerdesirestobelikeit.GamessuchasPsychonauts

andPlanescape:Tormentareexamined,andthearticleisoverallaveryenjoyableread.

NEWS HEADLINES

Programming for kids

http://scratch.mit.edu/

Itsnottoodifficulttocomeacrosstools

thatpromiseeaseofuseandnopro-

grammingexperiencenecessary,but

itsentirelydifferenttofindsuchatool

gearedspecificallyatkids.Scratchisa

promising(andfree)programmingtool

thatintroduceschildrentotheideaof

makinggamesoranimatedstoriesus-

ingstandardprogrammingtechniques,

albeitcleverlydisguisedbyakid-friend-

lyinterface.Thetoolhasbecomevery

popular,andtheresnothingstopping

grown-upsfromusingittoo!

One game, one day ...

http://www.gameinaday.net/

Forthosespeed-freaksoutthere,Gamedev.netadvisesthatyoucoulddoalotworsethanheadingonovertoGameInADay(GID),

themonthlycompetitionwhichhasdeveloperscreatinggamesin--youguessedit--24hoursorless.ThenextGIDistakingplace

onthe16/17June,sogetyourthinkingcapsreadyandseewhatyoucangetoutoftheexperience!Formoreinfo,checkoutthe

website.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 124

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

5/35

Before therewas PGD, therewasnt too

muchofa largeportof call for aPascal

game programmer to go to for informa-

tionforhisorhernativecodelanguage.There

wereafewplaceshereandthere,suchasthe

(nowdefunct)TurbositerunbyMichaelturbo

Wilson, and DelphiGamer ran by Dominique

Louis.Butthesewerenttoomuchtogoasthey

weresmallandusuallyrunbyonlyoneortwo

people. Another missing factor was forums.

Itwas2002andacomponentsuitecalledDel-

phiX for DirectX-based components was all

therage.ThatNovember,agentlemannamed

IanAshburyakaBlueCat,createdaforumsite

called DGDev. This was probably what was

needed tostart bringingeveryone togetherto

meet and discuss ideas. Itreally helped turn

what was so fragmented back then into the

growing community in the years after. Infor-

mation about new game and graphics librar-

ies started to reach others where feedback

could behad. Also new projectsand project

sites stemmed from the people that were

sharing ideas in the forums. It was only six

monthslaterthatIbecameamember,myself.

Attheend of2004 I had become verymuch

involvedintheactivitiesatDGDev.Ialsobe-

came a news reporter for the DelphiGam-

er site to help out there. DelphiGamer had

turned into one of the two major news sites

GAMES, DEVELOPMENT AND PASCALThe website that has them all

FEATURE Pascal Game Development

inthegreaterDelphigameprogrammercom-

munity, theother being, of course, theTurbo

siteat GameDev.net.There werenewgroups

onYahooand otherplaces, but I was never

big onthose soI couldntreally tell you how

successful they were, only that they existed.

Alsoaroundthattime,theteamworkingonthe

Free Pascal compiler had been doing some

seriously extensivework andit becamemore

and more ofa viable alternativeto Delphi. It

had abit togobeforeversion2.0, but itwas

worthy of questioning why we called it the

Delphi game programming community back

then. Borlands commercial name butcher-

Pascal Game Development, or PGD for

short,isacommunitysiteforgamedevel-

opersandprogrammerstocometogether,

shareideasandnewtricks,andjustenjoy

thefunofmakingagame.Itsjustlikeany

other game community, except for one

difference - the programming language

of choice is Pascal. Members love mak-

inggamesandthey love programming in

Pascal,itsjustthatsimple.ThePGDsite

is currently run by both Dominique sav-

age Louis and Jason WILL McMillen.

WeinterviewedDomforthiseditionofthe

mag, while Jason was gracious enough

togiveusanoverviewofwhatPGDwas

all about. Heres what he had to say.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 135

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

6/35

ingaside,thatswhatitwascalledbackthen.

Iwasneverquitehappywithhownomadicallof

theDelphi-basedsiteswereandIhadcomeup

withtheideaofmergingwhatcontenttheyhad

intoonebigPascalcommunitysite.Iproposed

aconceptI hadworkedoutmyself tothetop

4Delphisitesatthetime.DelphiGamerand

DGDeveventuallyjoinedontowhatwouldbea

mergingofallthesitesthatwouldtakepart.The

resultwouldbeonebigsupersiteforallaspects

ofPascalgameprogramminganddevelopment.

After a long year of coding and organiz-

ing the Pascal Game Development site was

eventually launched in January of 2005!

Why Pascal?

ThepopularityofthePascalandObjectPas-

cal languages has receded much over the

years since C had become the default lan-

guage for schools and the industry. Despite

that,therehasactually beena risein its use

over the last few years, specifically its OOP

variant, Object Pascal. Borland played a

huge role inkeeping the languagealive with

itsDelphi compilerand IDE.Another notable

groupis the people that haveworked onthe

Free Pascal and Lazarus tools, a cross-plat-

form compiler and IDE respectively. These

greattoolsalongwithRemObjectsSoftwares

Chromefor.NET,arethePascalprogrammers

mostcommonlyusedtoolsformakinggames.

Now most of these tools were not around

when the PGD community started out, but

I like to think that the very reason they ex-

ist today isdue to the love of the language.

The PGD Annual Competition

The PGDAnnual isa yearly eventin which

teamsfromallovertheworldaretaskedtocre-

ateagameusingPascal.Anypubliclyavailable

libraryorgameengineisallowed,butthecore

ofthegameenginemust bemade inPascal


orObjectPascal.Eachyeartheorganisersof

the competition choose a gameplay theme,

selectapanelofjudges,writeuprules,gather

sponsors,andeverythingelsethatsinvolved.

Its a really exciting time for the site. Each

year, participants, sponsorship, site traffic,

seem to grow. Final entries are submitted

and scored, then judged. The top 3 are then

awarded with prizes provided by the spon-

sors. This year the sponsors have been re-

allygenerouswithover$6,000 inUSdollars.

The coolest thing about the PGD Annual

competit ion is that each theme is about

gameplay rather than some tacky season

or holiday as others have done. What kind

of game you choose to make is entirely up

to you so long as it contains the piece of

gameplaythat isaskedfor in the rules. This

makesforawidevarietyofgamesattheend.

This years theme, dubbed Multiplexity, is

about combining 2 ormore game genres to-

gether.Wecolourcodedachartwithdifferent

gamegenres,andallowedteamstochooseasmanyastheyliked,solongasatleast2colours

wererepresented.

In 2005, Dogfight was chosen as the

themewhere you had togo one-on-onewith

anything from people to tanks to space-

ships. Eleven final entries were sent in.

In 2006, The Big Boss was that years

theme, where the game had to be broken

down into levels or stages with bosses you

had to face at the end of each and one big

boss to fight at the end. It was a very suc-

cessful event that year with 20 final entries.

PGD at the IGF

Before last years PGD Annual, Dom and I

wanted to do something special for the first

place prize. It was supposed to be a big-

ger competition and we really wanted to upthestakes.Iwasthinkingofsomethingalong

thelinesofapublishingdealofsorts,butwe

DEV.MAG ISSUE 136

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

7/35

couldnt find anyone willing to do the deed

for us. Itwas thenDoms idea toflipthe en-

try fee for the Independent Game Festivals

main competition. The idea worked out per-

fectly and wehad our amazing prizeall set.

The1stplacewinnerthatyear,DirkNordhusen

inGermany,wasmorethenhappytotakehis

gameTANXtothe2007IGFcompetition.His

gamewonoutovertherestandwasgenerallyverywell receivedby all PGD sitemembers.

SincetheIGFisabiggereventthanthePGD

Annual,Dirkwantedtoputalittlemoreintohis

gametobeabletocompetewiththosethatwould

havelikelybeenintodevelopmentforyearslon-

gerthanhewas.SoIhadofferedtojointohelp

him withstoryanddesign,and westartedto

workonthetransformationofTANXintoIron

Strike:Stormfrontwithonlyfourmonthstogo.

Working with Dirk on his game was a great

experience. He is a really talented guy and

has alotofenergythat you see comeout in

hisgames.Wewereabletoreallyaccomplish

alotinashortamountoftime,especiallycon-

sideringthatwebothalreadyhadfulltimejobs.

Wejustbarelymanagedtogetthegamecom-

pleted,despitesomeremainingbugs,andsub-

mittedtotheIGFsFTPservers.Alas,wedidnot

placeinthepreliminaries.Dirkhassincevowed

torevisithisgameengineatalaterdateandfix

alotofthebugsbeforereleasingtothepublic.

More Glory To Be Found

ItsnotonlythePGDAnnualwinnersthathave

found their way into the professional arena.

Othershavegonetheirwayintocommercialde-

velopment.SteveSlyWilsonhasbeenaround

sincetheold daysand heworksfor Krome

Studios, the company that makes Spiro and

other console based games. Dom has done

someworkonafewgamestoo;HeroXandSiegeofAvalon,bothofwhichweremadewith

Delphi.Thelatterwasoneofthefirstepisodic

contentbasedcommercialgamesanditsen-


gineisnowopensource.MichielandFrankof

NecroSOFT arenowunder apprenticeship at

Team6.AbraAcademy,createdbyamember

calledwagenheimerisapuzzlegamethatwas

recentlypublishedbyBigFishGames.Theau-

thorshavestuckadealtomakeasequeland

arealso lookingat thepossibilityof porting it

tobothMac and Linux. EricBehmwho runs

Magic Storm has released a few shareware

gamesandis workingonhislatest,TheIm-molate.MarsMiner, a Bomber-man inspired

game,isanotherrecentsharewarereleaseby

another member called RetroStyleGames.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 137

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

8/35

Plus awholecast ofothers... Maarten Kron-

berger, Jeremy Darling, Mike Weiring, Dave

Kerr, Christina Warne, Christen Fihl, the list

goeson.

And Now Some More Cool Stuff

Obviouslycommercialgainisnttheonlything

on the mindsof Pascal game developers.A

lot of these people simply enjoymaking fun

games and creative developer tools. Both

Free Pascal and Lazarus are open source,

with a rather large following onto their own.

Other such projects include translated API

headers,gamemedia, andnetworking librar-

ies such as JEDI-SDL, DelphiX, Asphyre,

GLScene,Omega,Phoenix,S2DL,ClootiesDi-

rectXheadersandNoeskasOpenALheaders.

There are even game engine projects such

astheLEAFgame engine byRelfosandthe

Rage 3DGame engine from SULACO. Or if

you prefer there is the open sourced Quake

2 engine translated tocompile underDelphi.

Someofthecoolestnewstuffcomingaround

the corner these days has been the gaming

platform support projects. Francesco Lom-

bardihasdoneextensiveworkonaddingsup-

portfor theGameBoyAdvanceandNintendo

DSto the FreePascal compilerfor a project

called FPC 4 GBA in the last year, and al-

most half of all hardware for both platforms

isnowsupported.Duetohisworkitisnowa

main-stay target platform for the compiler.

ThereisnowaprojectinspiredbyFPC4GBA

to add support for the GP2Xhandheld gam-

ing platform that uses Linux as its core OS.

Another recentplatformto receivesuchtreat-

ment is Microsofts XNA. Dominique Louis

and WilliamCairns have beenworking away

with RemObject Software at adding full sup-

portforthegamingframeworkintotheChrome

compiler. Several demos have been put to-

getherandresultsarequitepromisingsofar.


Games, Oh the Games

Ofallthepubliclyreleasedgamesyoucanfind,

whicharealmost countless, justa few ofthe

mostrecentandstunningonesincludeaworld

dominationgamecalledProjektWbySascha

Willems,anadventure-puzzlegamebyDirkNor-

dhusencalledValgardsFate,andtheGenesisEnginenextgenFPSgameenginebyLuukvan

Venrooij,whichhassomeofthemostimpressive

realworldgraphicsIveseeninanyPCgame.

LastDawnisazombiesurvivalplatformgame

createdforanAustraliandemocontest.Itwon

5thplace.UberChesswasauniversityclass

DEV.MAG ISSUE 138

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

9/35

language.Withouthavingdonethese2things

on my downtime from the military, Id likely

havesnappedoutofboredomatsomepoint.

Id like toextend a huge thanks toeveryone

thathadahandinthegrowthofPGDoverthe

years, nomatter how big or small. This site

isnt just a place for usPascal programmers

toswarm,butacommunityofcreativepeople

that has a passion for making greatgames.

project by Michiel NecroDOME Gijbels that

turned into a visually amazing chess game.

AndletsnotforgetGunsReloadedbyJason

Farmer ofCerebralBicycleCo., a revamped

version of his original artillery game, Guns.

TherearesomanygamesthatIcangoonprac-

ticallyforeveraboutthem.

So Whats So Special About PGD Anyways?

Thefirstthingthatcomestomindoftheben-

efitsof asitelike thisis the forums.Notonly

has the site been run by amature group of

people,buteveryoneisgenerallyfriendlyand

helpful.Itsacommonthingtohelponeanother

atthesite.Probablythemostprominentforum

is the My Projects forum, where members

canpostaboutthelatestandgreatestprojects

that they are working on. It can be anything

from a game to a development tool, or from

a commercial game to an open source one.

We also have a great directory on the site

called the PGD Library. Its a sizeable cata-

logueofarticlesthatcanbefoundonexternalsites related to a specific subject like graph-

ics,networking, 3D animation, music design,

gamesindustry,postmortems,onlinemagazine

issues (like this one!) and many other game

developmentrelatedtopics.Ofcourse,itgrows

all the time and is worth checking out from

timetotime.Thenthereareourownstaffpub-

lishedarticles,whicharealwaysagreatread.

ThenofcoursethereistheNewssectionwhere

well report allnew goings-onrelated toPas-

cal,game projects,othergame competitions,

or game development and the game indus-

try atlarge.Weliketocovera widerangeof

content sothatwe not only coverthe basics

of making a game with Pascal, but can find

whatotherthingswouldobviouslybe required

inthemaking ofthatgame aswell. The rule

of thumb is inclusive rather than exclusive.

You should know that not all PGD mem-

bers are programmers. Some are also art-

istsandmusicians.Althoughwedonthavea

hugenumberofthem,theydoexisthereand

come back to contribute from time to time.

Onapersonalnote,Ihavebeenapartofthe

site and the communitys growth for the last

4yearsand itsbeena blast. I cantthink ofanothercommunityonthenetthatIdwantto

havehadthiskindofanexperiencewith.Ilove

making gamesand I love the Object Pascal


DEV.MAG ISSUE 139

Pascal Game Development website:

www.PascalGameDevelopment.com

German Delphi / OpenGL community:

www.delphigl.com

Free Pascal website:

www.freepascal.org

Lazarus website:

lazarus.freepascal.org

CodeGear website:

www.codegear.com

RemObjects Software website:

www.remobjects.com

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

10/35

What made you personally get into gamedevelopment using Pascal?

IwrotemyfirstgameinCwaybackin1986.It

wasasidescrollingshooterusingASCIIchar-

actersontheDOSprompt.Theenemywas

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

11/35

regularly.MeanwhileotherBorland/Pascalsites

hadalsosprungup,liketurbo(nolongeractive)

andmorespecialistsiteslikeDelphi3D(http://

www.delphi3d.net/-butnolongermaintained)

andSulaco(http://www.sulaco.co.za/ -started

bythelate/greatJanHornandnowmaintained

by Maarten McCLaw Kronberger). Shortly

afterwards, the DGDev forums were formed

and Jason WILL McMillen became one of

DelphiGamersnews posters.After somedis-

cussionaboutthefracturingoftheDelphiGame

community wedecided tomerge the DGDev

forums with DelphiGamer. PGD was formed

andwentliveinJanuary2005,theideabeing

thatwewouldbecomethecentralpointforall

thingsPascalandGameDevelopmentrelated.

What appeal would PGD have for game

developers in general?

PGD is mainly geared to cater for game

developers who have a love of using Pas-

cal as their language of choice. We dis-

cuss all aspects of game development and

even talk about porting games to Nintendos

Game Boy and the GP2X games console.

Do you guys cater for beginners?

We certainly cater for beginners and always

welcomenewbloodtothefold.Developersof

allabilitiesarewelcome.Wecanalllearnfrom

thegurusandthebetterdeveloperscanalways

give something back to the community and

teachthenewbies.Ithinkoverallwearealla

fairlyfriendlysortofcrowd.Ifthereareanyis-

sueswetalkaboutitandtrytoresolvethem.

How does a site like yours market itself,

especially in the early days?

Wehave mainly marketedourselvesby con-

tacting more general game sites and letting

themknowwhatsortofeventswehaveon.Site

likeGameDev.netorDevMastersandthelike.

SPOTLIGHT THE PASCAL GUY

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1311

We also post messages about our competi-

tionsonCodeGearnewsgroupsorMSDNsite

ifanyoneasksaboutPascalrelatedquestions.

What sort of obstacles have there been?

Themainobstaclehasalwaysbeenthatmost

gamedevelopersseePascalasnotbeingequal

toC/C++.Ouraimallalonghasbeentoshow

thatthis it a falsehood.As mentioned earlier,

therearecommercialgamesouttherethatwere

writtenusing Delphi -there was alsoa game

projecttoporttheQuake2sourcecodetoDelphi

(http://sourceforge.net/projects/quake2delphi)

which showed thattheengineworked justas

wellastheoriginalCcode.Theonlyotherob-

stacleisthat99%ofSDKsonlytargetC/C++

asdevelopers,sothisusuallyinvolvesateam

ofPascalcodersportingthebindingsover.Like

AlexeyClootieBarkovoy(http://www.clootie.

ru) has donefor DirectX.Thislast issuewill

probablybecomeamootpointoncemoregame

developersuseXNAandthemanagedDirectX

APIandtheycanuseanymanagedlanguage.

What has been your greatest success to

date?

My greatest success was working on Siege

ofAvalon(a6-chapterepisodiccontentRPG)

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

12/35

and Hero X as a remote developer. Seeing

myfinishedgameonastoreshelfwasoneof

the greatestbuzzes inmy life.I happenedto

betravellingthroughSingaporeatthetimeand

walkedpastasoftwareshopandthereonthe

rackwasacopyofHeroX.OfcourseIhadto

buyit.IamalsoproudoftheworkIhavedone

on the JEDI-SDL. They are Pascal headers

thattalk to theexcellent SDLlibraries.Sofar

IhaveseenitworkonWin32,Linux,MacOS

X and recently some ofthe PGD guys got it

workingonGameBoyAdvanceandtheGP2X

console.IfIcanseeitworkingonaWii,PSP

andPS3,thenmydreamwillbecomplete.Im

also working onportingSoA,now that ithas

beenopensourced,overtoSDLsothatitcan

beplayed onmore platforms. Its a very un-

der-appreciatedgameandhadsomefeatures

which only recently started appearing in 3D

games. Its depthof story is second tonone.

Can you tell us about the latest PGD com-

petition? And what about PGDs plans for

the future?

ThelatestPGDcompetition(itsanannualcom-

petition) is called Multiplexity. The idea was

that wewanted topush the entrants towrite

somethinginnovativethatincorporatedmultiple

genres andcomplexity. After Jasonand I did

muchbrainstorming, I thoughtthat Multiplex-

ity,asaninventedword,fittedthebill.Hence

thename.Ouraimwasalsotogetentrantsto

try toworkto certaindeliverabledeadlines to

simulatethe ideaof delivering toa publisher.

Thewinnerofthisyearscompetitionwillalso

have their entry fee into the IGF ( www.igf.

com)paidfor,amongstotherprizes.Someof

oursponsorshavebeenwithussinceourfirst

competition3yearsago.Ivehadafairlygood

relationship withCodeGear ( formerly known

SPOTLIGHT THE PASCAL GUY

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1312

Quick Questions ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Go!

How many games have you made?

Ihaveworkedon2commercialgames,

namelySiegeofAvalonandHeroX,using

Delphi.

Any games youd recommend from the PGD

community?

Inmyhumbleopinion,thePGDcommunity

hasproducedsomeexcellentgamesover

theyears.Infact,justjumpovertothe

mainPGDcompetitionpageanddecidefor

yourself.

What famous cartoon character would you

compare yourself to?

ThecartooncharacterImostidentifywithis

FoghornLeghorn.IthinkImalwaysdishing

outadvicewhenpeopleleastneeditand

givingthemthewrongadvicewhentheydo

needit.

What are you playing at the moment?

RightnowImplayingSpellforce2.

asBorland)sowhenIaskedthemaboutthe

possibilityofsponsoringthecompetition,they

said yes. We also approached a few other

companiesinthehopethattheywouldhelpout

withprizes.Afewsaidnoornevergobackto

us,butquitea fewsaidyes,asyoucansee.

Next year, we plan to revamp our competi-

tion structure in the hope of attracting even

more entrants and, of course, more spon-

sors.WewillbepartneringwithDelphiGamer

( www.DelphiGamer.com ) and www.Sav-

ageSoftware.com.au in an effort to provide

a showcase site as well as a distribution

channel for Delphi/Pascal developed games

to be downloaded, played and bought. The

next year will be very interesting indeed.

NANDREW

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

13/35

MAKE A GAMEAND GETYOUR

PIECE OF

R10 000Here at Game.Dev, we believe that games are more than just entertainment or a silly fad

games can (and will) change the world and make a difference. Mindset Learn are keen on doingjust that, making a difference. So theyre challenging us and you to produce the next gen-

eration of entertaining and meaningful games. That challenge takes the form of:

R5000 for first place,R2500 for second place,R1500 for third place and

R1000 for the best new entrant.

So all you have to do now to get a shot at that prize money is put together a game thats fun

and focuses on a concept you enjoyed or found challenging at school. You dont need to pro-

duce a fully fledged educational experience, in fact were looking for quite the opposite: fun

games that are enjoyable because theyre well-designed and entertaining, you just happen to

be playing within rules or a setting that match something youve learned. Think guerrilla learn-

ing and youre on the right track!

The competition begins on 1 June 2007, and the deadline for entries is 31 July 2007. Thats two

months that you have to make the ultimate game and win some big money!

For more details, head on over to the Game.Dev website at http://www.gamedotdev.co.za

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

14/35

UNIQUE

ISNT

AWESOME

One of 2006s juggernaut successeswasIronLoresTitanQuest.Aclickn

slashmonstermashthatsawplayers

doinglittlemorethanscuttlingaroundavariety

oflocales,killingstuff,andcollectingstufftohelp

themkillmorestuff,TQwastheembodimentof

bog-standardactionRPG.Forallintentsand

purposes,itwasDiablowithharpiesandCorin-

thianarmour.Andthatswhyeveryonelovedit.

Theresanoldmaximthatsagelyadmonishes,

Ifitaintbroke,dontfixit,andthisis readily

applicablewhenitcomestogamedevelopment.

Theres noneed toreinvent thewheelwhen,

withitsruggedrotarydesignconvenientlyand

purposefullyengineeredforisobilaterallocomo-

tion,itsalreadyquitecapableofrollingalong

withoutfurtherassistance.Similarly,thereare

certain fundamental concepts ingamedesign

thatjustwork,e.g.shootingstuffiscool,col-

lectingstuffiscool,andvillainousmutatedpur-

pletentacleswithdespoticambitionsarecool,

andtheaspiringdeveloperwoulddowelltore-

memberthis.Therealityisthatthevastmajorityofgamersreallyjustwantmore ofthesame.

Look before you think before you code

So youve decided to make a game. Fan-

tastic. Is there already something else out

there that - even remotely - resembles what

you have in mind? Chances are, there is.

So get your claws on a copy of it, and tin-

ker with it. Think about it. What is it about

this game that really engages you? Whats

atotalbuzz-kill?Makeanoteofyourconclu-

sions,andplotyourwayforwardsfromthere.

Lets go back to our previous example. Thebeating heart of any action RPG is its item

collection. Playersmight wax indignant about

levelling, character development, narrative

arcs,andotherintegralelements,buttheyd

befilthy liars.Alltheyre really interestedinis

the next cool item theyre going to trip over,

and thats what keeps them click-click-click-

ingaway,red-eyedand raw-fingered,intothe

wee hours.Now TitanQuestwasnt the only

potential usurper to Diablos long-held gilded

crown.BeforeTQ,therewasSacred.ButSa-

credjust didnt cut theproverbial yellow con-

diment.Why?The itemswere rubbish.Ergo,

ifyouregoingtodevelopanactionRPG,the

collectible stuff had better be the top-drawer

shizniz. Trying to hinge your action RPGs

playability on an ever-evolving hairstyle, on

theotherhand,isquitelikelytofailwretchedly.

OPINION WHAT YOURE THINKING

Hello Dolly

Imitation, says thewiseold owl,is the sin-

cerestformofflattery.Wemightadapt thisto

say,Imitationisthesurestformofsolidgame-

play.Thisisnttosaythatoriginalityiswithout

merit (were all on wriggling tenterhooks for

Spore,afterall),buttheresnothingwhatsoever

wrongwithsimplyreproducingsomethingthats

gonebeforeespeciallywhenyourejustget-

tingstartedinthisbewilderinggamedevelop-

mentbusiness,andyourheadsawhirligigof

nebulousideas.TitanQuestisanentirelyun-

abashedDiablo clone, and has proved tobe

an immenselyentertaining rompnotonlybe-

causeyougettopunchcentaurs,butbecause

itscomfortinglyjump-in-and-playfamiliar,and

allawashinsoftlydappledshadesofnostalgia.

AZIMUTH

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1314

The Dev.Mag staff does not expressly support or agree with the views of guest columnists in this section.

In fact, the Dev.Mag staff does not expressly support or agree with the views of Dev.Mag staff writers in this section.

Its a crazy world, isnt it?

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

15/35

BACK TO BASICS

When you are a programmer yousometimes forget the basics,

and I dont mean the Basic lan-

guage. Im talking about the basic assign-

ments you make in your code. I dont like

theorymuchmyself,soIseldomcomeacross

anything - much less read it - that handles

the basics of a programming language.

Tomysurprise,Ifoundoutaboutamonthago,

afteralmostfiveyearscodinginJava,thatwhen

youassignanametoanewobjectyouactually

onlycreatetheobjectindependentofitsname,

wherethenameisonlyareference(pointer)to

saidobject.Thisofcoursehaslastingconse-quencesifyoudidnotknowthat.Forexample,

if you take that object and assign it another

variablename,youwillnotcopytheobjectbut

onlyhavetwodifferentlynamedpointers(ofthe

sameclass)pointingtoexactlythesameobject.

Justthinkingofhownotbeingknowledgeable

of the basicsmay have aneffect ona large

programisenoughtohangmyheadinshame

atmyerror. This ofcourse brings meto the

nextstep: Manualexecution.Its importantto

be able to execute a program in your head,

whichconsistsoflessthan100writtenlines.If

youcantdoit,thentrainyourselftodoso.Not


onlywillthishelpyouunderstandwhatyouare

coding,itwillalsoenableyoutocodemoreef-

ficiently,effectivelyandmore timely themore

you think like the machine youre coding on.

Thisall ofcoursebrings medown tomy last

piece of advice. Know what you are coding

before you code! I remember Computer Sci-

ence class back in High School started with

these Weiner-Or(?) Diagramsor something, I

rememberhatingthembecausetheywerejust

damn stupid, writing outeverythingyouwant

tocode into pseudo-code. That isnot what I

wantyoutodo.Ijustwantyoupeopletoknow

whatyouwantyourprogramtodo,andifitis

a big program pull out that writing block and

writedownwhatyouwanttodo.Notonlywill

thishelpyouunderstandwhatyouarecoding,

but it prevents staring at the screen or cod-

ing nonsense. Ofcourse,onlyput the basics

downaswell,alltheadditionsthatyouwantto

maketo yourprogramcanbeaddedin later,except if it is fundamental to your program.

IknowthatallthesenewIDEsofferincredible

debuggingsupport,butpleasetryandnotrely

onit,asitwillonlymakeyouabetterprogram-

merifyoudont.Intheend,donotletthelimit

ofyourprogrammingskill,duetolackofunder-

standinginthebasics,influenceyourprograms

outcome,butratherthelimitofyourimagination.

GARSON

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1315




8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

16/35

ADDICTIVENESS

=

BAD

Yes,youhearditright.Infact,afterreadinga thread onpeoplesug-

gesting how they would change

thegamingindustry,amobiledeveloper,

Flint from Smallfry Mobile, said that he

would let goof the term addictiveness

whenmarketingagame.

If you market your game as addic-

tive, you might lose potential cus-

tomers. You might be baffled by

this statement, but it has its merits.

We, as long time gamers/develop-

ers find that a game with an addictive

quality is obviously a good thing, but

if you look it through the eyes of the

general public, it can be detrimental.

The public still see addictive assomething negative, something that

you become obsessed about, some-

thing that you cant put down. The

obvious connotation is drug abuse.

I think it still depends on which market

you are aiming for. The bulk of themo-

bile/casual market is clearly not hard-

core gamers, so they would stil l see

addictive as a bad quality of a game.

Thisdoesntsaythatyourgamedoesnot

needtobeaddictive.Heck,ifagamecan

beaddictive, it should be byall means,

just be careful when marketing your

game toa certainmarket as addictive.


Whatisthemoralofthestory?Becare-ful what labels you give your game

when aiming for a certain market.

TROOJG

If you fancy saying something about game development and

have enough faith in your writing ability to do so, feel free to

submit content to our monthly opinions section.

Send your work, 400-500 words in length, with the subject title

Opinion Submission to [email protected], and you may

just wind up in our pages. Please note that we reserve the right

to decide what material is suitable to publish in the magazine.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1316




8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

17/35

Flash games are commonly frowned

uponinthegamedevelopmentcrowd,

mostlyduetotheirlowaveragequality.

Fewexistthatrequiremorethanamodicumof

thoughttoplay,orfeaturegameplaywithanyde-

centamountofdepth.Butthereareexceptions.

Bowmaster Prelude is one such exception.

Atheart, Bowmasterruns under a basiccap-

ture-the-flagpremise.Theenemywilldispatch

wavesofunitsinanattempttocapturetheflag

fromyourcastleandreturnittotheirown.You

cancompletelevelseitherbycapturingtheene-

mys,orbydefendingyourownagainstallwaves

ofonslaught.Asanelitearcher,itisyourcharge

tohelpsecureyourvictoryusingyourbowas

wellasnumerousotherskillsthatyoumaypur-

chasewiththegoldearnedfromyourexploits.

Skillsincludearrowsimbuedwithfire,aswell

as skills that allow you to summon meteors,

storms, or your very own unitsthat can cap-

turetheenemysflag.Overtimeandwithuse

yourskillswillgraduallybecomemorepower-

ful,gainingtheabilitytodestroyenemieswith

asingleshotorevenmorethanoneatatime.

Thegamealsofeaturesanovelwayinwhichto

varygamedifficulty.Ratherthancreatingmore

enemiestofight,ormakingthemhardertode-

feat,thegamechangeshowyouaimyourbow.

Attheeasiestlevel,yousimplyclickwhereyou

wantyourarrowtogo,andyourHerowillfireat

thatpointexactly.Athigherlevels,youwillneed

toadjustforgravity.Thehighestlevelsworkin

amethodthatsimulatespullingbacktheactual

bowstringandrequiressomepracticetomaster.

BOWMASTER PRELUDE

REVIEW IN THE GAMING WORLD

The game does little to vary the experience,

though, and especially since this isa more

casuallypacedgamesomegamersmaybe-

come bored with it. There are few enemies,

andonce alltheirweaknessesare discerned,

the game only really varies in landscape,

and that is little more than a subtle change.

However,mostgamersshouldbeabletofind

considerableenjoymentinBowmaster,nomat-

terhowmonotonousitmaybecome.Perhapsit

willholdyouenoughforyoutocompleteit,per-

hapsnot.Whatiscertain,however,isthatthe

experienceis worth thetimeyouspendonit.

CHIPPIT

Developer:

LostVectors

2006

www.lostvectors.com

Action

Yearofcreation:

Genre:

Website:

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1317

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

18/35

UsingbuttonsbuiltintoBlender,Imakeacube

withrounded,nicelybevelededges...

Now,youmaychallengemeby asking How

isthisdifferentfrommodelingthecubewitha

mesh?

Weallmeetthingsthatchallengeus,

andmostly,ifwearenotforcedto

face it, we shy away from those

things.Modelingin 3Dwith CURVES,or cre-

atingdesignsinPhotoshop/Gimp/PaintShop

withCURVESisoneofthosechallengingthings.

This tutorial deals with CURVES, so youll

need to make the decision before start-

ing out thatyouwillbewillingtolearn anew

concept that will frustrate you at first, but

save you huge amounts of t ime later on.

What makes 3D curves good to work with?

Simplyput,youcanuseasinglelinetodraw

the outline of a shape, and ask your soft-

ware to make that shape into a 3D object.

Not only that, but you can demand smooth,

roundededges(bevels)withoutmodelingthem.

Example: With a curve (yeah, I know its a

straightline,butsee, thelineis a curveob-

ject),Idrawasquare...

DESIGN ENTER THE 3D WORLD

Well,IhaventchangedthebasicshapethatI

drew. I canadjustthicknessanddepthofthe

bevelinanon-destructivemanner.Also,I can

adjustmyinitialshape,andthe3Dshapewill

adjustwithit.

Thistutorialwillteachyouhowto:

1.UseCurves

2.BuildText

3.Buildgamescreenassets

Imgoingtokeepthissimple:

Acurveisaline,connectedbypoints.These

pointscanbechangedtoeitherpointstraight

at the next point, or draw a curved line to

the next point. The handles attached to

the point allows you to change the shape.

Makesense?

HavealookatwhataletterPmightlooklike:

(ImagepreparedinTheGimp)

BLENDER INTERMEDIATE TUTORIAL:

Modeling with curves

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1318

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

19/35

Canyouseethatitwouldconsistofstraightas

wellascurvedsections?

BeforewedoitinBlender,youneedtolearn

how to change the manner inwhich a point

connects to the next point. The direction ofthehandlesdeterminestheshapeofthecon-

necting line, and the type of handle is indi-

catedbycoloureitherpink,blackorgreen:

Aligned:ShortcutHKEY

Free:ShortcutHKEY

Vector:ShortcutVKEY

Remember that you can always refer to the

Blenderwiki(wiki.blender.org)foradditionaltu-

torialsandinformation.

So,letsstartmodelinginBlender3D

StartanewBlenderfile.

Selectallobjects(AKEY).

Deleteall(XKEY)

ChangetoTopView(NUMPAD7KEY)

PressSPACEBARandselect

Add-->Curve-->BezierCurve

Youshouldseesomethinglikethis:

Makesure thatyouarein wireframeshading

mode.Now,letsbuildacapitalletterP.

Select the point on the left (RMB on the

middle dot). Press EKEY and then YKEY.

This will extrude the point and constrain

its movement vertically on your screen.

Ifatthisstagetheextrudedpointdoesnotap-pear tomove upwards or downwards with a

mousemovement,youprobablydidntaddthe

curvefromtheTopView.Inthiscase,startagain.

Now, complete the outline of the capital let-

ter P by extruding the point on the curve.

Fornow,dontworryaboutthetypeofhandle

(dontworryaboutwhatthecurvelookslike).

Work untilyourcurvelookslikethis: (Ihave

overlayedavaguePoutlineinGIMPtoindi-

catethebasicshapeforyou.)

WeneedtoclosetheshapeoftheP.RMB

thestartpointonthe curve,makingsurethat

younowhavethetwoendpointsselected,then

pressCKEY.


This action closes the curveends,making a

closedshape.

Now,letsanalyzetheshapeoftheP,todeter-

minewhattypesofhandlesweshoulddefine.

Firstly,weknowthatthereareseveralstraight

edges on the curve. So, we select (RMB +

SHIFTKEY)thepointsthatdefinethosestraight

edges, andassign their handles accordingly.

Selectthepointsasshowninthispicture,and

pressVKEY.

Please take note of what this key does: it

changestheeffectofthehandlessothatthe

linerunsabsolutelystraightbetweentwopoints.

To correct the rounded aspect of the P,

grab (GKEY) one of the handles of the

point indicated by the white arrow. Move

the handle so that the pink line is vertical.

You wil l see the curve changing shape.

Now grab and move, one at a time, the

handles indicated by the orange arrows.

Youll see the handle changing colour from

green to black automatically, indicating that

the type of handle has changed from vec-

tor (straight) alignment to free alignment.

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1319

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

20/35

The orange circle indicates that one of my

straight lines is skew. I correct this bymov-

ingthebottompoint(attheedgeoftheimage)

tothe left, so that the line ispulled straight.

We need to create the inside of the let-

ter. Select the point as shown, then

follow the shortcut keys closely.

RMB+SHIFTKEY(selectthethreepoints)

SHIFTKEY+DKEY(copy/duplicate)

SKEY (scale)

Copythepointsandscalethemtoasizesmall-

erthantheinitialroundedge.Movethecopied

pointsintopositionwiththemouse.Selectthe

twoopenendsandconnectthemwiththeCKEY.

Whenyouhaveclosedtheends,youcanswitch

toshadedviewwith ZKEY tosee the result.

ExitEditmodesothatyouareinObjectmode.

Go to the Objects edit buttons (F9KEY).

Rotate your object so that you can see

it from an angle. Locate the curve edit-

ing buttons as indicated by the arrow.

UsetheExtrudebuttontogivetheobjectsome

depth.ThenaddsomeBevelDepth.BevRe-

solwillsmooththebevel.Ifyourobjectgrows

toomuchinsizefromaddingBevelDepth,use

Widthtoscaleitbackdown.

Welldone.Nowseeifyoucanunderstandhow

Ibuiltthefollowingcurves.Idecidedtobuilda

gaminginterfaceforagamecalledJOZIDash

(shownbelow).


Bydrawinga2DcurveIcanshapethescreen

tomytaste,renderitwithatransparentback-

ground,thenimportitintomygameapplication

and start adding graphics and programming.

If I should feel that anything wont fit, I

can always go back to my 3D app and

adjust the curves for a new render.

Youcanalwaysloadimagesinthebackground

anddrawyourcurvesontopofthem.Thisis

the bestway toapproach buildinglogos and

textaccordingto specific fonts.Thistechnique

is detailed in the Blender manual that you

can find on the internet at www.blender.org.

Therewego.Ihopethatthistutorialsparked

some interest with you, and that it may of-

feryousomeverynicesolutionsinthefuture.

?rman

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1320

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

21/35

Nowthatyouknowthebasicsofbuild-

ingawebpage,itstimetounderstand

the most important part. Everyone

hatesabadlydesignedwebpagesopayatten-

tion.

Whattodo:

Text

-Backgroundshouldnotinterruptthetext-Textisbigenoughtoread,butnottoobig

-Columnsoftextarenarrowerthaninabook

tomake readingeasieronthe screenorelse

nobodywillreadit

Navigation

-Navigationbuttonsandbarsareeasytoun-

derstandanduse,keepitsimple

-Navigationisconsistentthroughoutwebsite.

-Navigationbuttonsandbarsprovidethevisitor

withaclueastowheretheyare,andwhatpage

ofthesitetheyarecurrentlyon.

-Alargesitehasanindexorsitemap.

Links

-Linkcolorscoordinatewithpagecolours.Ba-

siccolourcombination,people!

-Linksareunderlinedsotheyareinstantlyclear

tothevisitor.

General Design

-Pagesdownloadquickly

- Pagesshould generally have some content

immediatelydisplayedonthescreen.Abannerthatis600pxhighisgoingtoobscurethecon-

tent,nobodylikesscrollingdown.

-Breakuplargeparagraphsoftext.

-Everywebpageinthesitelookslikeitbelongs

tothesamesite.Therearerepetitiveelements

thatcarrythroughoutthepages.(Keepitcon-

sistent)

Whatnottodo:

Backgrounds

-Defaultgraycolor

- Color combinations of text and background

DESIGN LEARNING ABOUT THE WEB

thatmakethetexthardtoread

-Busy,distractingbackgroundsthatmakethe

texthardtoread

Text

-Textcrowdingagainsttheleftedge

-Paragraphsoftypeinallcapitals

-Paragraphsoftypeinbold

-Paragraphsoftypeinitalic

-Paragraphsoftypeinallcaps,bold,anditalicallatonce

-Underlinedtextthatisnotalink

Links

-Defaultbluelinks

-Bluelinkbordersaroundgraphics

-Linksthatarenotclearaboutwheretheywill

takeyou

-Linksinbodythatdistractsreadersandsends

themofftoremote,uselesspages

-Textlinksthatarenotunderlinedsoyoudont

knowtheyarelinks

-Deadlinks(linksthatdontworkanymore)

HTML FOR NOOBS - PART 3:

Good Web Design

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1321

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

22/35

Graphics

-Meaninglessoruselessgraphics

-Thumbnailimagesthatarenearlyaslargeas

thefull-sizedimagestheylinkto

-Missinggraphics,especiallymissinggraphics

withnoalternatelabels

-Tables

-Bordersturnedonintables

- Tables usedas designelements,especially

withextralargeborders

Blinking and animations

-Anythingthatblinks,especiallytext

-Underconstructionsigns

-Animationsthatneverstop

Junk

-Countersonpages,whocares?-Toomanylittlepicturesofmeaninglessawards

onthefirstpage

-Framescrollbarsinthemiddleofapage

Navigation

-Unclearnavigationoroverlycomplexnaviga-

tion

-Complicatedframes,toomanyframes,unnec-

essaryscrollbarsinframes

-Orphan pages(nolinksbacktowherethey

camefrom,noidentification)

-Uselesspagetitlesthatdontexplainwhatthe

pageisabout

General Design

-Framesthatmakeyouscrollsideways

-Nofocalpointonthepage

-Toomanyfocalpointsonthepage

-Navigationbuttonsastheonlyvisualinterest,

especiallywhentheyrelarge

-Cluttered,notenoughalignmentofelements

-Lackofcontrast

DESIGN LEARNING ABOUT THE WEB

Right,ifyoudidntbothertoreadtherestofthis,

just remember the number one rule:NEVER

BREAKTHEHORIZONTALSCROLL.Viewers

shouldneverhavetoscrollhorizontally.

Youshouldalsoknowsomethingsaboutlinks

andimages.First,linksmustalwayshaveati-

tle.Thisisthelittlebitoftextthatpopsupwhen

youmouseoverthelink.Thetitleshouldtellthe

userwhatisattheotherendofthelink.One

ofyourHREFparametersistheTitle=param-

eter.Secondly,imagesshouldalwayshavean

alternatetextespeciallylinkimages.Alternate

textcan beaddedusingtheAlt= parameter

inanIMGtag.

Also,allweb browsersworkdifferently.Make

sureyoutestyourpageindifferentones.Inter-

netExplorerinparticulartendstodisplaypages

rathererratically.

Well,thataboutconcludestheseriesonHTML

and beginners website creation, now go out

thereandmakeyourownwebpages!

SQUID

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1322

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

23/35

AftertheunexpectedsuccessofRoach

Toaster 1, I knew I had something

special toworkwith,which isobvi-

ouslythereasonwhyIchosetoworkonRoach

Toaster2.RightatthebeginningIdrewupalist

ofgoalsandexpectations.Heretheyare:

Goals:

Iwanttoshowtheworldmyuniquegame.

Iwanttosellamaximumof20(yes,only20)

copiesfrommyownsite.

Iwanttolearntheropesofsellingandmarket-

ingonlinesharewaregames.

Youmightrealisethatareleasedateismiss-

ingfrommygoals. InitiallyI expectedbeta to

hittheworldinDecember2006.Asofwriting,

Istillhaventreleasedthebeta.Ialsoexpected

tohavethegoldversionreadybyMarch30.

Expectations:

Iexpecttohaveasure-firehitinthegameplay

department.

Iexpectittosellquitereasonably,butIdonot

atallknowwhetheritwillberunawaysuccess

ornot.

The expectations tie inwith the fact that the

market for thiskindof gameis stillsmall.Al-

though it is small, it is growing substantially.

ThemarketIamreferringtoisindieturn-based

strategygames,andturn-basedstrategygames

asawhole.Theindieturn-basedstrategymar-

ket is pretty much dominated by the likes of

ROACH TOASTER 2: PICKING OUT THE BUGS

PART 4

PROJECTS LEARNING HOW ITS DONE

GalacticCivilizationandLux-typegames.Afew

yearsagoOasismadeabigsplashandeven

tookawaythegrandprizeatIGF(Independent

GamesFestival)!

Soyeah,intheend,Idonotreallyknowwhat

toexpect.Asofwriting,theopen-betaispracti-

callyready!

For more info onRoach Toaster 2:Big City,

headontohttp://www.shotbeakgames.za.net

TROOJG

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1323

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

24/35

Overseer Assault is a freak of na-

ture.Nowthatstatementmayseem

harsh, especiallycoming from the

gamescreator,butitstrue-OverseerAssault

isagamethatshouldntwork,butthroughsome

darkand twistedmeans justdoes.Oneneed

onlylookatthedescriptiontounderstand:OAis

ahybridtop-downshooter/turn-basedstrategy

game.Italsohappenstobethefirstgamethat

Ievermade.Ambitious?Absolutely.Flawlessly

executed?NotentirelyThisisanoverviewof

theMakingofOverseerAssault,andnewde-

veloperswoulddowelltoheedthepainfulles-

sonscontainedherein.

Andneerthetwainshallmeet

OverseerAssaultwasconceivedforGame.Dev

Competition12,wheretheaimwastobuilda

multiplayergamethatcouldbeplayedonasin-glecomputer.Iwantedtobuildagamethatsi-

multaneouslypittedplayersagainsteachother

intheopposingrolesofattackeranddefender,

asawayforbothtoexercisetheirtacticalskills

fromtwoseparateviewpointsandplaystyles.

Theoriginalplanwastohaveareal-timesplit-

screengamewithbothplayersfullymobile,one

equippedwithpowerfuloffensiveweaponryin

ordertokilltheother,whowasloadedoutwith

cunningsnaresandtrapstodeterthepursuer.ThisideaquicklyevolvedintoOAasitisnow

turn-basedwithafullymobile,powerfullyarmed

attackertaskedwithdestroyingastationaryop-

ponentwiththeabilitytoplacedefensiveturrets

toprotectitself.InitiallyIdismissedthewhole

ideaasunworkable.Itwasanambitiousproject

foranewbiewhohadonlyevercodedinVB6,

POSTMORTEM:

Overseer Assault


andIwasonlyjuststartingtogetthehangof

programminginGameMaker(theframework/

IDEusedtobuildOA).Nonetheless,anannoy-inglittlevoiceinthebackofmyheadurgedme

on,andtheresultwasInteresting.Themoral:

thinkbig!

SeekingBalance(Whatwentright)

One thingthatI realizedfromtheoutsetwas

thatOAwouldhavetobemeticulouslybalanced

ifitwasgoingtowork,andtomygreatjoybal-

ancewasoneofthemainareasofpraiseforthe

game.Now,IwishIcouldsaythatIsatdown

forhoursonendmappingtheinterrelationships

betweenweaponsandsidesonaspreadsheet,

but Iputfar lesseffort intobalancethan one

may think. This was due to my core design

philosophy:noonesideshouldoverpowerthe

other.Bykeepingthis mantrain mindwhen

conceivingtheweaponsandgamemechanicsI

wasabletoeasilyimplementthebalancingwith

verylittleeffort(evenforlast-minuteadditions).

In fact, I spent less time tweaking the game

balancethananythingelse,andthetwosides

stillworkedtogetherbeautifully.Thelessonis

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1324

BOOM!

An Overseer fights off a d ual-pronged attack.

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

25/35

simple:determiningandkeepingtoacorephi-

losophy/philosophiesforyourgameplayin the

designphase canreapgreat rewardswhen it

comestoactuallybuildingthegame!

Aaaagh!Theyreeverywhere!

(Whatwentvery,verywrong)

Assomemaybeaware,theoriginalversionof

OAwasoverrunwithbugs.It was suggested

thatthiswasduetothescopeofthegamebut,

alas,IknewbetterTheattentionthatIpaidto

the game mechanicswasnt duplicated when

itcametothecode.Codewasunplannedand

hackedoutatthespurofthemomentwiththe

soleaimofgettingthegametofunctionasIhad

initiallydesignedit,andwithacompletedisre-gardforanyfuturemodifications.

Well,thegamedidwork,untilItriedtochange

it!Agoodexamplewashowthecodeforallthe

turretswaslumpedintoasingleobject,some-

thing thatwould giveany self-respectingpro-

grammeraseizure.Thecodeendedupbeing

soconvolutedthataddingasinglenewweapon

orturrettothemixwasanexerciseinmisery

and frustration, and resulted in some truly

game-obliteratingbugsduetothesingle-object

structureoftheturrets.EventuallyIwassolost

inmyowncodethatIconsideredtrashingthe

wholelotandstartingfromscratch,butwitha

competitiondeadlinelooming itwouldbecer-

tainsuicide.SoIcleanedupwhatIcouldand

submitteditwithbatedbreath.

OAendedupwinningsecondplaceinthecomp

duetoitsconceptandbalancing,butitbecame

a shallow victory whenthe judgesmentioned

the bugs.My own lazy coding practiceshad

killedapotentiallygreatgame.

Redemptionisnigh!

Fortunately,Competition13camealong,andI

resolvedtoturnOAintosomethingIcouldbe

proudof.TheaimofCompetition13was,quite

conveniently,topolishanexistinggametothe

pointthatitcouldbesold.Outcamethepenand

paper:OAscodewasrippedapartand,where

necessary,rewritten.Turretsweregivenafully

ObjectOrientedmakeover,whichinitselfkilled

abouthalfthegamesbugsin onefell swoop

and made the game much easier tomodify.

Thecodethathandledtimingandplayerturns

wasrefined,thegraphicsweresprucedup,and

sloppydesignwasrectified.Inshort,thegame

wasrebuilttoplaythewayitshouldhave.The

codestillisntstellar,butcomparedtotheorigi-

nalversionitismuchimproved,andthegame

finallyplaysasbeautifullyasIintended.

Intheend,OAturnedoutagamethatIcould

beproudof,andendedupwinningComp13,


whichwas as gratifying as itwas surprising.

I also learned why a games code structure

needstobedesignedsolidlyfromtheoutset,a

lessonthatIdliketoshovedownthethroatsof

alltheothernewbiegamedevversreadingthis.

AsforOA,itsaconceptIdliketoexpandon

sometimein thefuture.Itwasmentioned that

thegamecould dowith agraphicaloverhaul,

andImlookingintothat.

GAZZA_N

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1325

The almighty firebomb wipes out another bank of turrets.

One hot rocket coming right up ...

At the time of this issues release, the most recent version of Overseer Assault could be downloaded atwww.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=8

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

26/35

Theprocessofbreakingupyourcodeintowhat

usuallyamountstohundredsifnotthousands

oreventensofthousandsofsmallerscalecode

blockscontainedwithinfunctionsisnotsome-

thingthatshouldbetakenlightlyifyouwishto

keep your code neat and maintainable. The

challengetoprogrammershereisthatinorder

for your functions to add to (and not detract

from)otherportionsofyourcodingstyle(such

ascommentingandnamingconventions),then

thepropercreationanduseoffunctionsissome-

thing that needs to be done discriminatingly.

Knowing when to turn a section of code into

afunctionisactuallyaveryeasything,andin

mostcasestheonlythingpreventingprogram-

mersfromdoingitwhentheyshouldbeistheir

ownlaziness.At thecore offunctioncreationthere exists three very simple rules that are

designed to help programmers decide when

toplaceablockofcodeintofunction.Ifthese

straightforwardguidelines canbe adhered to,

theninalllikelihoodyourcodebecomenotonly

more organised, but also more maintainable.

Thefirstruleoffunctioncreationisusuallythe

mostdifficultone to interpret.It specifies that

any blockof code that performsa specific or

defined task should be isolated into its own

Functions,as defined inhigh level lan-

guages such as C and C++ (along

with their respective counterparts in

various other programming and scripting lan-

guages),arean integralpartof programming

gamesintodaysworld.Evenintheolddays

ofprogramming games inpureassembler,or

eventhenot-so-olddaysofusingBASIC,the

functionality of functions has been conveyed

through the use of various label and jump

style commands. Today, itis actually next to

impossible to create even the most simple

of computer games without separating your

codeintovariousfunctions,merelyduetothe

fact that the logic behind computer games

is not linear in nature and needs to jump

aroundinordertoperformvariousoperations

based on a multitude of potential conditions.

function.Now,ifthatrulewastobetakentoo

literallyit would actuallymean thatevery line

ofcodeshouldbeseparatedintoitsownfunc-

tionaseverylineofcodedoeshaveaspecific

task. Instead, the rule is designed to be ap-

plied in a more broad manner whereby sec-

tionsof code that are responsiblefor achiev-

ingsomethingmorespecialthanarbitrarydata

assignment or simple arithmetic are targeted

for function creation. Therefore, you wouldnt

place asimpleadditionoperation intoits own

function, but you may create a function for

a more complex sequence of mathemati-

cal operations such as some form of matrix

manipulation or a collision intersection test.

Thesecond ruleof function creation is pretty

straightforward. It specifies that any block ofcodethatperformsataskconsideredtobege-

nericenoughtobeusedmorethanonceinyour

programshouldbeseparatedintoitsownfunc-

tion.This istheonerule out ofthethreethat

programmersdotendtofollowonaconsistent

basisasitappealstothelazynatureoftheav-

erageprogrammer:Whywritecodemorethan

onceifIcaninsteadwriteafunctionandthenac-

cessitmultipletimes?.Theinherentlazinessof

theprogrammerisfinallycorrectforonceasitis

CODING ETIQUETTE:

FUNCTION USAGE

TECH ELECTRONIC PLAYGROUND

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1326

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

27/35

mostdefinitelyapreferredpracticeforprogram-

merstoreusewhatevercodetheycaninstead

ofwastingtimeredoinglogicagainandagain.

Thethird andfinal ruleof functioncreationis

notonly themost difficultoneto follow,butit

isprobablythemostcontroversialoneaswell.

Itspecifiesthatallfunctionsshouldbelimited

toroughlyasinglecomputerscreeninlength.

Thereasoningbehindthisisthatifcodeinside

ofafunctionexceedsthislength,thenyouare

obviouslynotfollowingthefirstruleoffunction

creation; that thereare blocksof code within

your overly long function that can be turned

intosmallerfunctions oftheir own.The effect

oflimitingthelengthofyourindividualfunctions

isthatitforcesthemtobemorereadableand

understandable,aswhatevercomplexitiesyou

may be creating within your code are forced

intobeingbrokendownintosmallerproblems

which are easier for other people to digest.

Most computer programmers generally view

functionsasmerelytoolstobeusedformaking

theendresultofaprogrameasiertoaccomplish.

However,theproperuseoffunctionswhentak-ing programming etiquette into consideration

canachievenotonlythat,butcanalsoallowfor

functionstobeusedasatoolformakingcode

muchmoreunderstandableand maintainable.

COOLHAND

TECH ELECTRONIC PLAYGROUND

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1427

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

28/35

Impretty sure thatnot many ofyou have

had the pleasure of experiencing the 18

hour non-stop flight between New York

and Johannesburg. For those of you who

havent, re-read the previous sentence and

replacepleasurewithmisfortune,andadd

from hell directly after flight if you would

likehaveanideaastowhatitreallyfeelslike.

Actually, I could fill an entire separate article

justdescribinghowthose18hours feelmore

like3years,andhowInolongerfearwhat

may awaitme inthe afterlife. But I digress...

Whenmyplanefinallydid touchdownon the

tarmacImanagedtomakemywaythroughim-

migrationwithsurprisinglylittledifficulty...Ithink

itwasmostlikelybecausetheguyondutywas

takenoffguardbythefactthatsomeonewas

actuallymoving toSouth Africa forwork. Re-

gardless,oncethat finalremaining hurdlehad

beenpassedImetupwithDanandofficiallybe-

camethesecondemployeeofI-Imagine(after

Dan).Iwasthefirstpersontoarrivefromover-

seasandIstillrememberhowfullofaweand

excitementIwaswhen,onmy firstnighthere,

IwalkedoutintothemiddleofSandtonSquare

fordinner.Allof thepeople,the bright lights,

andthatstupidlittlefountainthingshootingwa-

tercametogethertoformasign,tellingmethat

Ihadreachedaveryimportantpointinmylife.

MyisolationatI-Imagineendedquitequicklyas

the nextdaysaw the arrivalof HoangPham,

whowasanartist(formerlyofVolition)brought

onboardbyFelix.Therewereactuallysupposed

tobetwoartistsfromVolitioncomingtojoinus,

but the second one endedup usingtheoffer

fromI-Imaginetonegotiateabetterdealforhim-

THE HISTORY OF I-IMAGINE

Part 4: Renong House

HISTORY WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

selfatVolition.Afewdayslater,DaveGierok(a

programmerfromLookingGlass)andhiswife

Stacia arrived,andabouta week afterthem,

MattKeeleandhiswifeAndreashowedupand

broughtI-Imagineitsfirstcaseofdrama.The

twoofthemwereattemptingtobringtheircat

Oscar(IcantbelieveIactuallyrememberthat

stupidcatsname...)intoSouthAfricawiththem,

buttheyranintoaproblemwhentheylanded

astheyhadntcompletedthenecessaryforms

correctly.Iseemtoremembersomethingabout

aforgedveterinarianssignature,butIcantre-

memberforsuresoIlljusttellyouthatafew

connectionsandabottleofJ&Blatereverything

managedtogetsortedout,andleaveitatthat...

Nowforthoseofyouwhodontknow,I-Imagines

officesalongwiththelivingquartersforall ofus,

wereinaprettylargehouseintheSandhurst

suburbofSandton.Theplacewassobigthat

itevenhadaname,RenongHouse,thatwas

spelledoutinbigbrassletteringoutsideofthe

frontgate.Ithadsixbedrooms,aguesthouse,

swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam bath, sauna,

bar,giant loungewhichwe turned intoa the-

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1328

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

29/35

atre,gasbraai,maidsquarterstosleepsix,and

aboutfourhectaresofgarden.TheMalaysians

actuallyusedRenongHouseastheirEmbassy

justpriortousmovingin,andtheykeptaflock

ofpeacocksandaherdofsheepinthegarden.

Thatishowflippinghugetheplacewas!Aswell,ontopofalloftheseresidentialfixtures,italso

hadtwolargeopenplanofficeroomswhichwe

converted into our development studio (one

fortheartists,onefortheprogrammers).Allin

all,wecouldnthaveaskedforamoreperfect

placetouse abaseof operations for a com-

panycomprisedofmostlyoverseasindividuals.

ThefirstmonthorsoinSouthAfricawaspretty

muchanextendedholidayforthegroupofus.

Itwasactuallyquiteawhilebeforewereallygot

downtodoinganygamedevelopmentwhatso-

everasnotonlywereallofusforeignerstrying

togetsettledintoanewcountry,butI-Imagine

asacompanyalsohadalotoflittlethingsto

sortoutbeforewecouldproperlygetdownto

business.Weneeded computers,software, a

server,networkingconnections,Internet,office

furniture,andmostimportantly,anideaforus

touseforourfirstgame.Sooncethesettling

inperiodcometoanendandourofficeswere

allfitandreadyforworktobegin,thegroupof

us(minusFelixandKennyKupiswhowerent

planningonarrivinguntiltheendofOctober)sat

downandspentmanybrainstormingsessions

tryingtocomeupwithanideaforourfirstgame.

Itwasquicklyapparentthatwealllikedtheidea

ofdoinga3rdpersonaction/adventuretitleas

therereallywerentmanygoodonesavailable,

andwethought thatwewouldbeabletoex-

ploitthatholeinthemarket.However,wewere

worriedabouthavingtodevelopthetechnology

required for doing goodcharacteranimations

andasaresult,wedecidedtoplayitsafeand

notgodownthatroad.So,oncewehadcome

totheconclusionthatthedirectionofourfirst

titleneeded tobe dictatedby the technology

thatoursmallteamwouldbeabletorealistically

develop,wedecidedthatourbestbetwouldbe

tomake a racing/drivinggame.With thatpart

of thedecisionmaking process settled upon,

the next step was to come up with a game

idea for us toput this technology touse on.

This was easily the most difficult part of our

gameconcept brainstorming.We didnt want

tomerelydoanormalracinggameduetothe

factthatwewouldcertainlyjustgetlostinthe

crowdofthe dozens of racing titles released

everyyear. Itwasnteasy totocomeupwith

something original to do in this overly satu-

ratedgenre,butafterthrowingaroundalotof

potentialconcepts,wecameupwith theidea

of somehow incorporating stunt driving into

ourtitleasitwassomethingfreshandfunthat

hadnt beendonebeforeas themaincompo-

nentofadrivinggame.Onceweweresoldon

theideaofstuntdriving,wethendecidedthat

whatbetterwaywouldtherebetoincorporate


stuntdrivingintoagamethantohavetheplayer

takeon the roleofanactualstuntdriverper-

forming the various exhilarating chases and

crashes required for Hollywood action block-

busters?Itallseemedtocometogetherquite

naturallyforusattheendofourdiscussions,

and the entire team was quiteexcited about

workingonagamethatwasprettymuchoneof

akind.Littledidweknowhoweverthatthiswas

onthethebeginningofwhatwouldbeathree

yearjourneyofhighsandlowsonthewayto

completing Chase:HollywoodStuntDriver...

COOLHAND

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1329

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

30/35

OneofthefirstrecordedSouthAfrican

gamedevelopmentstudioswasCe-

lestial, led by TravisBulford. Their

firstcommercialgamewasaplatformercalled

ToxicBunnybackin1996.Ithadyoucontrolling

acrazywell,bunny.Thegameplaywassimi-

larinstyletoMegagames(anoverseasstudio)

JazzJackrabbit.Somearguedthatthelevelde-

signwasflawedcomparedtoJazzJackrabbit,

butitisamatteroftaste.Thegameinteracted

morewith theenvironment,unlikeJazzJack-

rabbit.Itwentontosellintheregionof150000

copies.

After Toxic Bunny they released Tainted in

1999. Tainted had slightly flawed gameplay.

Itwas too hard for the player toget into the

game.Italsohadslightlysub-pargraphics.As

aresult oftheabove,itwasnot receivedtoo

wellwiththepress.WithTaintedtheylearned

a lot in terms of what works and does not.

SoonafterthereleaseofTaintedin1999,the

developersof Celestialchangedname inDe-

cember of that year to Twilyt productions.

Asking where the name came from, Tw-

ilyt responded that they work most-

ly during the twilight hours of the day.

Twilytconsistedof13membersthatstartedtheir

developmentjuicesbydevelopingagamecalled

SilverRaininconjunctionwithNAGmagazine.

Itwasasimplistic3Dgamedesignedjusttoed-

ucateeagerdevelopersaboutthewayitworks.

They wrote the game development articles

for South Africas premier gaming magazine.

Twilyt Productions first commercial release

wouldin fact have beenZulu-war, a strategy

gametakingyoubackinSouthAfricasbloody

historyandplacingyouincommandoftheZulu

orBoere.AlongsideZulu-wartheywerealsode-

THE HISTORY OF

TWILYT / CELESTIAL


velopingAnglo-Boerwar,asimilartitlewiththe

EnglishfightingtheBoereinsteadoftheZulu.

Apart from these2 titles theyalsoplanneda

game called TincansColouring-inbook. This

titleisaself-explanatoryeducational/childrens

game.Toxic Bunny2 for the X-boxwasalso

planned.

Notoneofthesegamessaw the lightofday.

TravisBulfordwastheonlydeveloperandhis

money went into the funding of Twilyt. Due

tolack ofother funding,Twilyteventually lost

steam and had to close its doors in 2001.

Althoughitsnolongeraround,Twilytservesas

abastionof hopetootherSAdevelopersout

there,showingthatithaslongbeenapossibil-

itytodevelopgamesingoodolSouthAfrica!

TROOJG

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1330

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

31/35

Ihave three children: a daughter of 10,

and twosonsaged8 and 6.Mydaughter

isprettytypicalofa10yearoldgirl-she

lovesherdollsandthecolourpink!Myeldest

son isgrowing upquite quickly and isin the

Cowboys and Indians stage of life where

fighting games are cool, while my youngest

sonlovesartandengineering,andishappiest

whenpaintingthecarsskinsinTrackManiaor

justscribblinginTuxPaint.Allthreekidsplay

Chessandhaveanappreciationforgamesthat

involve thinking instead of just pure reflexes.

Imyself likestrategyandbuildinggames,my

favourite games of all time being Zeus and

Ageof Empires,withCivilisationa close 3rd.

The original idea was that we would enter

an online shareware site, each of uswas to

choose two games that wewoulddownload,

and everyonewould play all the games and

thenbeallowedtochooseonegamethatwe

would buy. In addition I already had a few

games that I had downloaded and we could

look at them as well. I also included a few

free games that I had already downloaded.

In reality weended upchoosinga few more

gamesthanplanned.Wedownloadedmostof

thegamesfromwww.BigFishGames.combuta

few fromwww.alawar.com andwww.Popcap.

com.IngeneralwelookedattheKidscategories

whenchoosinggames,thekidschosegames

thatIthoughprettytypicalfortheirageandsex,

girly fashion games for mydaughter, fighting

stylegamesformyeldestsonandpuzzlegames

for my youngest son. My youngest son also

choseaverykiddiesgamethatcontainedmulti-

pleminigamessuchasracing,colouringin,etc.

The games we downloaded:

-Peggle

-Fizzball

-LegoLeChicBoutique

- SpongebobSquarepants ObstacleOdyssey

(theonly3Dgamedownloaded)

-TheWonderfulWizardofOz

-VirtualVillagers

-Theseus,returnofthehero

-DiegosDinosaurGame

-ProfessorFizzwizzle

Brief reviews of the games:

Peggle:A simple shooting game where the player

shoots a ball into a field ofPegsand blocks

TAILPIECE SHAREWARE AHOY!

tryingtoremoveallorangeitems.Somepegs

havespecialabilities,andthegameandallthelevelsareverypleasantlythemed.

Fizzball:

TheevolutionofArkanoidcontrolaballusing

Arkanoid-stylecontrolsbutwheretheballislim-

itedtowhatblocksitdestroysbasedonitssize,

whileeatingasmanyblocksasitcaninorderto

grow.Verycartoon-stylegraphics.

LegoLeChicBoutique:

ALegobrandedgame,withabsolutelynoLego

effects. Solve a match-three puzzle to score

pointswithwhichtomodifyashopenvironment

selling jewellery. As items are removed you

buildthestocklevelsintheshop.Betweeneach

levelyoucanspendpointsonnewthingsforthe

shop,attractingmorecustomers.

SpongebobSquarepantsObstacleOdyssey:

Theonly3Dgamewedownloaded.Alongwith

Lego Le Chic Boutique, it shows how copy-

rightedmaterialismakinganimpactontheca-

sualgamemarket.Basicallyasimple3Dgame

CHOOSING A GAMEAN ADVENTURE INTO SHAREWARE

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1331

There are lots, hundreds, maybe even

thousandsof new shareware titles avail-

ableat themoment.Howandwhysome

games aresellingbetter thanothersis a

questionregularlyaskedbymanyindepen-

dentgamedevelopers,myselfincluded.A

fewweekendsago,inthespiritofMarket

Research,Ispentsometimewithmykids

buyingafewsharewaregames.

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

32/35

whereyoudirectSpongebobtosolvepuzzles

onplatformsinspace.

TheWonderfulWizardofOz:

ABejewelledclonealongwiththestoryofthe

WizardofOz.Includedinthepuzzlegameare

munchkinsthatmustbereleasedasthematch-

threesarecomplete,aswellasayellowbrick

roadthatmustbeclearedtofinishalevel.Re-

leasing fivemunchkinsgrantsyouadiagonal

movethatcanbeveryveryhandy.

VirtualVillagers:

Downloaded for myself really. Give general

directionsto a collectionof villagersstranded

onan island.Theybreed, get foodand carry

ontheirlivesevenwhenyouarenotwatching.

Soloonlinemultiplayergameisthebestde-

scriptionIcanthinkofforit.

Theseus,returnoftheHero:

A top-down isometric shooter with hordes of

evillookingenemies.Manyoptionstoallowthe

playertochoosetheweaponstheylikeaswell

aspickupssuchasammo.Thisgameseemed

tohaveaveryhighlevelofdifficultyforanew

player.

DiegosDinosaurAdventure:

Acollectionofminigamesaimedatverysmall

kids,includingracing,pickingupeggsanddi-

rectingdinosaursoutofamaze.


ProfessorFizzwizzle:

Apuzzlegamewheretheplayerneedstodirect

professorFizzleWizzletogetfrompointAto

pointB.Varioustrapsandobstaclesareinthe

way,andneedtobesolved.Eachlevelisneatly

createdtolooklikesomethingsuchasagiant

fishorhippothataddssomeextravisualappeal

tothegame.

Eachgamehasitsownstyle,eachbeingvery

different from the others. Peggles graphics

and graphical effects are exceptional, while

LeChicBoutiquekeepstoverysimplegraph-

icsthatarejustfunctionalinthescopeofthe

game. Fizzballs cartoonish style is very ap-

pealing.Thegraphicalstyle,however,hadlittle

impactonwhatthekidsthoughtofthegame.

Afewofthegameshavespecialgraphiceffects

the zoom in, and particletrails oftheballs

inPeggleareabsolutelyfantastic,whileother

games havevirtuallyno special effects,even

whentheycouldveryeasilyhavebeenadded.

Spongebob Squarepants Obstacle Odyssey

had nothingto showtheplayer thattheyhad

reachedtheirgoal,butjusttransitionedintothe

menu.Specialeffects,while niceand doadd

tothepolishedfeelofa game,arenotabso-

lutelynecessarytomakingthegameappealing.

I personally am very bad at identifying good

andbadsoundinagame.Iwillnotplayagame

whereIcantturnoffthemusic,andoftenplay

agamewithmyspeakersoff.Theonlygamewhere thesoundeffects reallyhadan impact

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1332

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

33/35

onmewasPeggle,wherethepingsoundasthe

ballhitapegchangestomakeitmoreexciting

eachtime.Alsothedifferenttrackstoshowthat

youhadfinishedalevelwerereallynoteworthy.

Myyoungest son isstill attheagewherehe

playsgameswithverybasiccontrolshedoes

notyethavetheunderstandingofhowtobuild

basesinanRTS,orcauseandeffectofneed-

ingfoodtobuynewtechlevels.Inadditionhe

willoftenplaythesimplestgameoverandover

again as long as there is something else to

discovereachtime.Onething thatfascinates

mewhenwatchingmykidsplaygamesisthe

waytheywillclickoneverythingonthescreen

toseeifitdoessomething.Thissortofreplay-

ability isdifferentfrom solving thesame puz-

zlesoverandoveragain.Noneofthegames

downloaded included this sort of effect at all

andthereforemissedtheyoungerchildmarket.

Somegamesareendlesslyreplayable.LeChic

Boutiqueallowsyou10daysineachofabout

10citiestobuildyourjewelleryshop.Everyfew

levelsyougetnewitemstosell,andnewitems

tobuyfor your shopto reallymake itstylish.

Without playing through all the levels (about

100),youwillnevergettoseeeverythingthats

availableinthegame.Othergamesdothesame

thingoverandoveragainwithnewspecialef-

fectsoranewlooktoscreen.Pegglewasfun,

ithadgreatgraphics,andthebestsound,butit

wasboring.Thedemowasquitelongenough,

andafteranhourofwatchingalittleballbounce

around the screen there was just nothing

moreofferedfromareplayabilitypointofview.

The games ranged widely in difficulty. Other

thanTheseus,ReturnoftheHeroallthegames

were chosen from the kids section. Theseus

waswaytoodifficultformyson,whileonthe

other extreme Diegos Dinosaur Adventure

was too simple even formy 6 year old son.

LeChicBoutiqueseemstohaveaveryinter-

esting method of managing game difficulty

to player skill (a negative feedback loop) by


bringing in customers based on the way the

shoplooks,whichisimpactedbyhowwellyou

do thus ensuring the number of customers

matcheswiththeplayerspuzzle-solvingskills.

Akeyaspecttotheenjoymentmykidsgotoutof

thegameswasthenongameaspectsavailable

inthegames.LeChicBoutiqueworksbecause

ofthenongameaspectsbuildashop,stockit,

andselltheproductstocustomers.Ihavealso

seeninothergamesmykidsplaythatthegame

itselfisnotnecessarilywhytheyplayagame,

buttheenvironmentthatthegameisinisjust

asimportant.Forexample,intheTrackMania

gamestheypurposefullydriveoffthetrackand

spendhoursdrivingaroundintheworldjustto

findcoolplacesandthingstodo.Atthesame

time the additional activitiesmust not just be

readingpagesoftext.InTheWonderfulWizard

ofOz,eachlevelandstageisbasedonexcerpts

fromthebookbutdisplayedasafullpageoftext

toread.Myyoungestsonat6 cant readyet,

sothesepageswerejusttimewastersforhim

andresultedinhimlosinginterestinthegame.

Formydaughter, the themewas very impor-

tantshechoseherdownloadgamesbecause

of their theme.Themewasless importantfor

the boys,who rather used the description of

thegametochoosetheirtitleshowever,Ido

think thattheSpongebobSquarepantsbrand-

inghadabigimpact.Manygamesdontfitinto

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1333

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

34/35

anydefinedtheme.Peggle,for example,isnt

themed,butitdoesseemeasierforthekidsto

associatewithagameifitisthemedproperly.

Onlyafewgameskeptmykidsbusyfortheirfulltrialperiod,andeachofthesegameshad

their own reason for captivating the kids. Le

ChicBoutiquecapturedmydaughtersimagina-

tionbecauseofitsthemeandcolourscheme.

As soonasshe had worked through the trial

periodshewantedtobuythegame.Theonly

competition forLeChicBoutique inhermind

was Fizzball, and in reality it was a distant

second.My eldest son spenta lot oftime on

Spongebob Squarepants Obstacle Odyssey,

butinrealityIthinkitwasthe3Dinterfacethat

caught hisattentionrather thanthe theme or

gameplayitself.Myyoungestsondidntspend

more than ten minutes or so on any game

except Diegos Dinosaur Adventure, where

heplayedeachoption onceandthenhehad

enoughofthegame.Theothergamehespent

sometimewithwasPeggle,butIthinkitwas

morefromaphysics(seehowtheballbounc-

es) pointof view than the actual game itself.

Whilethegamewiththebestproductionqual-

ity(polish)wasclearlyPeggle,notoneofmy

children gave it a thought when choosing a

game to buy. The games we bought were:

LegoLeChicBoutique(Thebestgirlygame,

butalsothegamewithalotofreplayabilityand

ithadtherightcolourstoappealtomydaugh-

ter)andSpongebobSquarepantsObstacleOd-

yssey(Ithinkthe3Dviewappealedtomysons

senseofModerngame,buthehasntplayedit

muchsinceweboughtit).Myyoungestsondidnt

findagamehelikedandwentbacktosomeofthe game demos from a localPCmagazine.

The payment process was in some cases

OK, while in other cases a pain.Buying the

games fromwww.BigFishGames.com worked

fine,butthesamecreditcardwasrejectedby

www.Popcap.com as expired. As the games

weretobeusedbyallthekidstheyneededto

beinstalledonall ourPCsathome.InitiallyI

thoughtthiswouldbeaproblembutthesecond

installation happenedfinewitha new license

beingsent byemail quitequickly fromwww.

BigFishGames.com. It seems that i t is now

normal for the games to register themselves

overtheinternetwiththeirhomesite;luckilyI

haveADSLathometoenablethisconnection.

Sowhatshouldyou dowiththis information?

Good question. This covers the experience

withthreekids.Allthreekidsknowcomputers

well,spendanumberofhourseachdayplay-

ingavarietyofcomputergames,andassuch

are actually pretty experienced gamers (for

theirage). Tome thewholeprocessshowed

methat everyaspectof agame is important,

butoften todifferentpeople/markets. If these

kids fall into the targetmarket for yourgame

youmay find the insightsherevery relevant,


andif not Ihope it goes to show the sort of

thingsthat,asagamedesigner/developer,you

needto keepinmindwhencreating agame.

My feeling at the end of the whole processwas Make games for girls, not boys, as

boysareheavilyinfluencedbytheAAAtitles

theyplaywhilegirlsaremoreattractedtothe

themeofthegameandintrutharelessinter-

estedin the fancyspecial effects and graph-

ics. Rather spend time making a game that

playswell,haslotsofoptionsandisthemedin

averygirly fashion,coveredall overin pretty

pinkcolours.AtleastattheendofthisIknow

my daughter will be hooked on my game!

CAIRNSWM

If youre interested in checking out any of the games featured in

this article, try the following links:

PopCap Games:

http://www.popcap.com/

Alawar Games:

http://www.alawar.com/

Big Fish Games:

http://www.bigfishgames.com/

DEV.MAG ISSUE 1334

8/14/2019 Dev.Mag - 13

35/35

Documents

Dev.Mag - 13