Squash Those Bugs! (and amusing mario fact)

I know I shouldn’t expect you guys to read so much.  It’s only been a few days since my last post, but give me a chance!  I’m new at this, and soon the glossy finish will wear off and I’ll slow down the torrent of posts.  Plus, I had some classes get canceled this week and got a lot of work done.

I’ve fixed several major bugs, including an erratic message box display, (got to watch those Vectors) a weird extra pause menu that I don’t remember coding in, and an error with skipping bits of story line.

I also implemented a save feature!  Hooray!  Campaigns can be saved now, and levels in Level select mode are locked until beaten in campaign.  All-time stats are also recorded, so you can see how many times you’ve died throughout the entire game. 🙂 I plan on adding high scores and perhaps awards (for fast times, no deaths, etc) for each level soon.

What I’ve got to share:

First off, jagged arrays!  I may use this for my high scores list.  In C#, they are used like this:

// Declare a jagged array
int[][] jaggedArray = new int[6][]; 

// Set the values of the first array in the jagged array structure
jaggedArray[0] = new int[4] { 1, 2, 3, 4 };

I always thought this should be doable, but never knew how.  Know I do!  It’s use should be fairly self-explanatory to anyone with programming knowledge.  It’s an array of arrays – almost the same thing as a two-dimensional array in practice.

Second, did anyone else know that the old Mario games used the same image for the clouds and bushes, just in different colors?  I always had my suspicions, but here’s the proof.  It just goes to show how much of video games are just smoke and mirrors.  Whoever had this idea knew what he was doing – he saved time, money, virtual space, and virtual processing in one fell swoop.  And it didn’t hurt the game a bit!  (If you have time, check out the blog that posted the Mario thing – it’s really interesting)

I’ll probably create a poll sometime soon to get some feedback on my content and see what everyone likes.  For now, I’ve got to get to class!

~Josh

Antimatter Screenshots (Who wants some?)

Yes, yes, I know.  You can’t see antimatter.  But not seeing it wouldn’t make for a very good game, now would it?  So, I went out and learned the fabled art of screenshot taking. (note: it’s actually really easy…)  And here are some of the results, for your viewing pleasure.

Main Menu

What happens when you fail…

Chase Scene!

It’s like synchronized swimming.  Only with more death.

I hope you enjoyed them!  By the way, here’s some shout-outs to people/pages that have been helpful to me recently:

Thanks, Jeff Brown of Robot Foot Games for the great tutorial on save files!

Thanks, Kyle Morrison, for being the first ever commenter on my blog!

Thanks Jon Hodges, for bringing to me the good news of WordPress!

Thanks, readers, if you actually exist! (:P)

~Josh

Welcome!

Welcome to OneManStudios.wordpress.com.  This is the new home for all news and updates pertaining to OneManStudios and the games I develop.  For my first post, I’ll further explain just what it is that I intend to cover in this blog and what exactly OneManStudios is involved in, right now.

What I intend to cover:

• The current progress of games still-in-development
• Art and screenshots of games nearing their launch
• Problems, solutions, and tricks of the trade that I discover
• Beta tests if and when they occur
• Any news pertaining to OneManStudios’ progress as a company

What I’m doing now:

Right now, I have one game about to hit closed beta and another that is still in the design phase.  The first game is called Antimatter (although I may occasionally call it Pipeline, its old working title, by mistake)  I’m insanely busy right now with school and work, so its launch has already been delayed several months, but if all goes according to plan, it will be in the peer review process by May.  The second game doesn’t even have a working title yet, so you can understand why there’s not much to say about it…  Both of these games are intended for the XBox Live Indie Game Market, although I hope to publish them online for Windows eventually, as well.

Well, that’s all for now!  Thanks for reading and be sure to check back for updates!

~Josh