So I figured that having a blog with just one post is a little lame, so here's the solution... do a second post.
Like I said before, this blog is all about showcasing the random stuff that makes it out of the hangar that is my mind and takes off into what is not known as the sky that is software development.
Here's the current project I'm working on.
At a glance
Platform: Game Maker 8 for Windows
Genre: Role Playing Game/Educational
Concept: A partially Scribblenauts-style approach to an RPG, attacks are co-ordinated by using tiles of Japanese kanji.
Background
It's been a while since I pulled out Game Maker, the last time I used it I think it had only reached version 5 or 6, back in high school. It's a great program for that age group to get accustomed to actually, it teaches the basics of programming concepts and I highly recommend it to anyone out there at high school that's interested in game programming. Best of all the standard version is free!
Originally I made a simple maze game about a bear moving around a maze collecting animals, rather unoriginally titled, Bear. Then I moved on to a 2D platforming game, Bear 3 (Bear 2, another maze game, was 'in production' at the same time) that never really got finished, mainly because I lot of the file references for sounds and pictures got moved around over time.
Lesson: Always keep a copy of files you're using in a game consolidated in a folder/folders.
...I'm going to try to avoid doing that sort of thing actually, I can't say I've been employed by the industry to give definitive advice on the subject. Take it as a suggestion then.
So to stop me from waffling on...
About the project
I'm going to try and limit the complexity on this as much as I can, also I realise most people don't take Japanese as a subject so bear with me...
Essentially I, like many students learning Japanese, find kanji difficult to remember. So the idea behind the project is that with immersion and an interesting environment (i.e. not behind a classroom desk), I might be able to pick up on the meaning and readings on kanji a bit easier. Like a "you don't know you're learning" thing.
It's like any other RPG really... do quests, go places... the main gimmick is as you level up, you unlock the ability to use harder and more complex kanji, each of which has a real English definition, which becomes the effect in-game. Things like...
水 - water: A basic water attack,
刀 - sword: Attacking with a sword,
...to more complex ones like
地震 - earthquake (to use this one you need to combine the two seperate kanji).
Each new kanji is picked up from tiles, dropped around the land as they would for any RPG, chests, monsters, etc. Although (and here's where describing it to non-Japanese learners gets tricky for now) there are also ways to create new kanji by 'upgrading' existing kanji by adding or combining radicals.
Like 大 + 丶 = 犬 (big + dash = dog), I realise that doesn't make a lot of sense but it's there for now.
Current Status
 |
| Collect all the shiny things! |
And yes, I have something to share with everyone...
Just use the arrow keys to move around, talk to the guy down to the left (that rather suspiciously looks like you), and that'll start the mini game. I'll leave you to figure out the rest. My record is 4200.
I hope to keep in touch as I go... hopefully it'll turn into something fulfilling!
Credits
noxaeXXX - For the tutorials that got me started.
Mack - Tile set artwork.
Denshi Jisho and Japanese Kanji Dictionary - Reference.
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