Necro Blog

Hmm.  It's been a long time friend of mine.  If we were to go by the numbers according to years it's been 2 years since I last did anything website/blog related.  In actual time it's been 1 year and 4 months.  It's not too late to revive this blog.  As long as I'm alive, it's never too late.

Lately, I've been creating a Tile-Based 2D Engine in Flash, or more accurately with ActionScript 3.0.  I've created multiple variations because I just don't know what to do.  I'm getting better, my code is getting smaller, and I'm learning the value of Object Oriented Programming (OOP).

I started writing a tutorial and only wrote it as I programmed it, because I know most tutorials have so many errors that it never compiles.  But I got too carried away and stopped writing the tutorial and only wrote code.

I started to implement the engine into an actual game, but my focus kept shifting.  Did I want to do a Mario-like platformer or a Zelda-like top-ish down game?  Both, I found.  And the code is similar up to a certain point.  When it got to that certain point I realized that if I knew how to make things OOP then I wouldn't have to write all this code again.  So I went back and refactored the crap out of everything.

So I'm at a crossroads of sorts.  I got my engine up and running for a Zelda-like to the point that I have tile-based collisions with the map and some other Maths based collisions with everything else.  It's incredibly awesome.  I feel incredibly awesome for having written it without the need for a tutorial to look up (I've written it so many damn times I should know it by heart).  But where do I go from here?

I thought about writing a full tutorial of what I've done.  But my goal is not necessarily to be a teacher, but to make games.  So, while writing this blog, I've decided to finish a game.  I don't know when it'll be done.  I don't know if it will be good.  But I know that I will finish it.  It's not a New Year's Resolution or some such as I don't know anyone who has ever kept one.  This is a promise to myself and a promise to my wife who has been very tolerant of my lax attitude about pursing my dream.  This game will be finished by the end of April if not sooner.  I have a plan for it.

The first step is to basically turn this into a devblog.  I'll be sharing what I think is awesome as well as just providing some insights that I've gleaned in my foray into programming.

Peace out and here's hoping to a productive gaming year!

Just because pictures are awesome and I mentioned Mario earlier on, here's a really cool picture.  I don't know the source (and I saved it so long ago I don't remember where I got it) so if anyone knows the creator send me a line so I can give proper credit.