Kevlar Games

Some Quick Plugs...

2008-09-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

I don't plug other indie games nearly enough. There are a lot of gems out there that deserve to be played.

My first quick plug of the evening is Worminator 3.

This platformer is definately a great throwback to Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, and Worms. It's one of the many indie games that consume a bit of valuable work time here at K.G.H.Q.

Check it out: http://worminator.classicgaming.gamespy.com/

My second plug is, of course, for David Karlgren's Cyberpunk-RPG Project.

His first game Action Cyborg was really fun (still is!) and his latest project is looking just as promising.

Have a look: http://www.terrorpunksyndicate.org/cyberpunk-rpg/

I also wanted to plug a great series of videos on YouTube by GyroVorbis. It's called Adventures in Game Development. They show how human and easy going the indie game development process really is.

Subscribe!: http://www.youtube.com/GyroVorbis

If you would like to have your game plugged in the next plug-a-thon, send me an email to: kevlargames (AT) hotmail (DOT) com

I'll write up a one or two sentence description of your game or game related web-stuff and post a link. If it really impresses me (like John Karlgren's ongoing project), I'll post the link in the "Links" section.

Well, I'm off to bed!

Cheers!

Updates, etc...

2008-09-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! Been a while since the last real update and I think those of you who actually read this blog deserve a new post :)

Cybertronic Armageddon...

Since my last post, a lot the rendering had to be re-written for the sole purpose of speed. We had it running on multiple machines and achieved 32 fps on my main rig. Pretty good, eh? Well, it dropped to a sluggish 5-6 fps on one of our designer's rig. (At his request, his name will not be mentioned)

So I cleaned up a lot of the code and cut out a lot of unnecessary gunk. Then it ran at around 26 fps on his machine and remained at around 32 on mine.

Currently, I'm writing a pretty hefty bit of code that takes all of our resources and packs them into a WAD/Pak-like format. (If you're not familiar, the WAD format was used in Doom-Quake 1 and the Pak format has been used in many many games in the past decade)

As for any sort of release, we're gonna go with "When it's done!" for right now.

SWORDS...

Ah yes, SWORDS. My own project.

Since my last post, I've gotten tons and tons of work done on SWORDS.

For starters, it's actually playable! It's no longer a glorified scrolling-engine! Whoo! For now, the enemies are just poorly drawn tanks and little unanimated stick man who explode into many little chunkies :) Good use for my particle system, yeah?

I'd love to talk to you about new technical things in SWORDS, but it's mostly just been pretty simple functions going in here in there. And yes, I'll admit, I've been playing the game more than working on it. But's only because I'm having so much fun with this game now that it's actually playable! And really, when you play your game more than work on it, that's a very good sign that other people will enjoy too.

Another cool thing I've been working on for SWORDS is the music element. My vision is to have some pretty heavy riffage going on at a lower volume during the normal gameplay and when things get really hairy, up the volume a bit and really unleash the fury (in the words of Yngwie Malmsteen).

I'm also setting a "When it's done!" date for SWORDS. As you know, I'm awful at giving release dates for my projects and I'd hate to promise anything.

A quick word about the projects on the backburner before I sign off and get back to work...

As of right now, they're not being worked on much at all and as much as I'd love to be able to do work on those games too, I just dont have time between working on Cybertronic Armageddon and SWORDS. So the official word is that they will remain mostly untouched until my other projects are finished and out the door.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

The Day That Never Comes

2008-08-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

I was completely taken by storm! Metallica has successfully done something for me no other song since Enter Sandman has done - Make my hair stand up on end!

Lars Ulrich (drummer) said in a past interview that the album was "the missing link between ...And Justice for All and Metallica (Black Album)"

Based on what I've heard from audio clips and the new single, the album is going to be better!

Check it out!: mms://wm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/de/Track04.asf

1h and 14m Left!

2008-08-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

"'Til what?," you may ask...

Metallica's first single from their latest album: Death Magnetic

I'm so pumped for this that I felt like I had to post about it before it even happened. I will, of course, be posting about it afterwards too! :)

\m/

Cybertronic Armageddon and More

2008-07-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Now that the RPG project is in full swing, everybody has agreed on a name for this creation of ours:

Cybertronic Armageddon

We all agreed that it would be best if the title revealed the overall theme of the game. We also agreed that the game will be released as freeware as opposed to the original plan to have a shareware-esque system.

Unfortunately, a bit of the engine was lost in the crash. So I guess I'll be spending the next week or so rewriting it.

Well, that's the update for today, folks.

Happy 4th!

Until the Next Post...

2008-06-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

... This should tide you over.

I'm still getting everything setup on the newly restored computer. When I get back to work, I'll update you.

Not Dead...

2008-06-18T05:45:00.001-07:00

Don't pack up your bags and move on to the next blog just yet! I'm actually not dead. I've just been having a few computer problems.

It started with the infamous UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME message accompanied by everbodys' favorite Blue Screen of Death. After swapping out hard drives countless times, I got every file backed up. How well they all survived remains to be seen.

After jacking around with all of that, I attempted a system restore:

"System restore has failed because a mass storage device was not detected."

It turns out that I had the wrong restore disc. I own a Gateway and apparently the restore disc was for Dell computers only. Gee, do you think it might have been helpful if the label would have said that? So anyway, I called Gateway and asked about their restore disc. They were going to charge me $20 and shipping. I had to explain that the disc wasn't packaged with the computer (like they should be.) After about an hour of telling them exactly what happened, they finally told me they would send it out for free but I would still need to pay shipping. That's fine. I'll gladly pay shipping. But I wasn't going to pay for a disc that was supposed to come for free.

So I get the disc in the mail and go through the whole bit. Now I'm here writing this. Nothing is wrong so far. We'll see how this goes.

LED v.01

2008-04-09T14:41:00.001-07:00

Quick update and a screenshot for you!

This is the first running version of what will eventually be KevEngine 2's primary level editor, a program that I have dubbed "LED"

Until now, I haven't had a good, easy way to make maps for SWORDS and the new RPG (both of which run on versions of KevEngine 2) If you read the forums at all, you know that I've been researching new approaches to programming. I've been studying everything from the Wolfenstein 3D source code to programming essays scattered about the web. What you're seeing is a bit of that research actually put to good use!

When the editor is finished, I plan to rewrite a good chunk of KevEngine 2 to work with the new map format.

Updates...

2008-02-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

A lot has been going on this month...

SWORDS is looking good. I'm getting close to the point where it actually becomes a game and not just an engine demo :) After changing the physics code a couple times, I finally settled on a system that suits the game perfectly. To speed up the process, a friend of mine has agreed to help with the graphics (I definately need help in that area :) I still have yet to see any completed work, but I'm confident that he'll deliver.

Of course the older projects are sitting around, too. I know when they should've gotten completed, but it's looking like it'll probably be awhile. I'm still just as juiced about those games as I am my new ones (Hint, hint), but there are things I need to finish before I can go back to those projects...

Now you might be thinking, "What's with the bold-faced 's' and the 'Hint, hint'?". I'll explain!

I've been recruited to work on an all new RPG set in a futuristic alternate-reality. More details on another day ;)

Before I get any emails saying, "Dude, you're already working on a game. It's going to wind up like your older projects!", don't worry. There's a whole team of people working on the artistic/musical/concept aspects of the game. My only position is lead programmer. I'm still spending most of my time on the projects back here at Kevlar Games HQ.

Well, that about covers it, really.

Thanks again for the support!

Cheers!

FAO Rome.Ro Users

2008-02-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

Some of you people need serious psychiatric help. All you're doing is making yourselves look like low-life dirtbags when you go on somebody's ShoutBox and pick apart everything someone says on their blog. I'm done posting in that. The only thing that does is bring the scumbags of this world out of their cowardly shells to harass someone who did nothing to deserve it. Just remember that what goes around comes around, so those who have been rude for no reason in the past will get theirs. From now on, any post in Romero's ShoutBox under the name 'Bloodspiller' is fake.

Lots of Progress!

2008-01-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Since I last updated with my progress on SWORDS, I've gotten a whole lot done!

Here's what's new:

-Perfected collision detection and thanks to Andrew77, I found some great new algorithms to do it efficiently.

-Added a debug console for various tweaking and catching bugs. I caught a handful of bugs in various algorithms (eg. collision).

-Researched more network programming and typed up a small design document for the technical workings of multiplayer. I'm now turning those ideas into code.

-Began programming the weapon functions.

-Re-designed some of the graphics to make it look a little less ugly until I get a real artist to work on it.

-Began coming up with some guitar riffs for a theme song.

That's about it, but trust me, it's a lot more than you'd think!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T22:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody! Hopefully you're all having a good holiday!

It's going to be a busy year...

My projects are still getting closer to complete day-by-day and I think SWORDS might even be out the door this year. My original goal was to have Project: Undead out by Q1-Q2 of '08, but because of SWORDS, that's been pushed back a bit. I don't have an exact idea as to when it'll be out, so I'm going to have to go with the cliche "When it's done" answer for the time being.

You'll get technical details on what's going on as soon as more stuff starts happening around here!

Until then, have a great holiday and don't drink and drive!

Fotomoto Update

2007-12-29T08:36:00.000-08:00

As I said on the forums, all of the fotomoto malware has been removed from my computer. I used the Windows Live OneCare software to remove that along with other trojans that it discovered. I can now return to programming video games and keeping this place updated with good info instead of cool videos!

Stay tuned!

The Quad-Guitar Solo

2007-12-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

Not as long or as famous as the Double-Guitar Solo, but this is still freakin' incredible!

Michael Angelo Batio Quad Guitar Solo - A funny movie is a click away

Fotomoto

2007-12-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

Ever since Tuesday, my computer has been infected by malicious software called "Fotomoto". I looked into this and my searches tell me a few things that are for sure: Fotomoto is fast spreading, it's a browser modifier, it's adware, and it tries to control processes. While not exactly a fatal piece of software, it's an annoyance and will slow your computer down once infected. It's also extremely hard to remove. So hard that I had to italicize "extremely" just to emphasise my point!

Anyway, take this as a warning from me: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, DOWNLOAD ANYTHING CALLED FOTOMOTO OR WIN32FOTOMOTO. IT IS MALWARE!

Oh, Nevermind...

2007-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Thanks to forum member Andrew77, the collision problem has been solved. You all can stop hunting for any possible bugs in that algorithm, but feel free to join the forum anyway. Me and Andrew need more people to talk to!

Me vs. Collision Detection - Part 2

2007-11-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so, I've been struggling with getting collision detection to work properly in SWORDS.

The algorithm I use works like this:

1. Check map for "solid" tiles.

2. Store the solid tiles' coordinates in a structure array.

3. When there's input, check to see if the player sprite will intersect with any solid tiles.

4. If yes, don't move the sprite. If no, move the sprite.

For you programmers out there that might be able to point out any possible errors in the algorithm, leave a comment or drop me a line on the forums.

This Made Me Laugh...

2007-11-25T22:06:00.000-08:00

Forums!

2007-11-22T10:51:00.001-08:00

The Official Kevlar Games Forum is now live!

You can get there by clicking the link below or by clicking the link on the right (under links).

http://s3.invisionfree.com/Kevlar_Games

Not a whole lot there yet, but hopefully you'll all join up and we can chat in a manner that's a little more sophisticated than the comment pages.

See you there!

Michael Angelo Batio

2007-11-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

Amazing...

Updates...

2007-11-17T12:43:00.001-08:00

I've been just itching for things to say on here about the new game! I might as well start out by telling you all the temporary name of the game: SWORDS.

You might be wondering, "What person in their right mind would call a game SWORDS if it's about tanks?"

It comes from a modern combat weapon that has been dubbed S.W.O.R.D.S., and you can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWORDS

I also wanted to post a screenshot of the latest build:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q252/XtrmBean2/SWORDSsshot3.png

Most of the graphics will hopefully be totally different in the final version. As of right now, they're all placeholders.

As far as the programming goes, I've been trying to get the collision detection working properly, but it's been giving me a little bit of trouble. No big deal, though. I've gotten past trickier bugs in the past!

So that's about it. More updates to come!

The New Game

2007-11-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well, now that KevEngine 2 is totally finished, I'm back to writing actual gameplay code! Because I've changed the game's design a little bit, I feel like I should write something here.

While nothing is totally written in stone, I'm changing the idea of the game being a multi-directional shooter to a vertical shooter. I was playing through Raptor: Call of the Shadows and Demonstar the other day and I decided to have a go at doing another vertical shooter. The game is still centered on the idea of modern tank combat and will still feature multiplayer.

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's a day late, but I couldn't post yesterday, since I was setting things up for trick or treaters and I was also helping my uncle clean his basement after his sewage backed up. Eww!

Anyway, hope ya'll had a fun Halloween and didn't get too much toilet paper on your property!

Obligatory Plug

2007-10-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Because John Karlgren has been totally awesome over the past year and has even been cool enough to give me the code to Action Cyborg, I'm going to plug his new game once more. Only this time, you can actually play it! All you need to do is send him an email and tell him you'd like to try out his new game. His email address is david@terrorpunksyndicate.org. Or, if you'd rather PM him on GameDev, his username is Kada2k6. He also would like to get some feedback if possible.

Finally!

2007-10-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, finally I have a tech-demo to show everyone.

Here's the description from FileFront:

This is a tech-demo for my new scrolling engine "KevEngine 2". It's very basic at the moment, since I've only been programming it for a couple months. The map included in the program is very simple since I threw it together really quick so I could upload this ASAP.There's also a few features that I left out due to bugs.

Download it here: http://files.filefront.com/techdemo0zip/;8844157;/fileinfo.html

Sorry, People...

2007-10-12T15:08:00.001-07:00

Not only do I have to sacrifice what is the best graphical function I've programmed in the engine (as of this writing), I'm afraid that, despite my promise, I have to push back the release of my tech-demo. A couple bugs popped up suddenly (about an hour ago) that I must fix. They absolutely can't be in this tech demo. I don't know what specific day I'll have them fixed, but I can assure you that it will be soon. I apologize to those of you that were getting ready to download the file today...

Tech-Demo Sacrifices

2007-10-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

Because I want to keep my promise to release a tech-demo by the end of this week, I unfortunately have to sacrifice including the background rotation feature. The bug has proven to be quite a match for one programmer. I even have some work to do on the regular scrolling mode to get it ready for a tech-demo. I think I can do it fairly quickly, so I'll probably have something ready for upload tonight. If not, I'll have something ready by midnight tomorrow! I really hate to have to sacrifice the coolest feature in the engine, but a promise is a promise. Sorry, folks!

Whoops!

2007-10-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

The background rotation function that was finished (or so I thought) needed a little tweaking.

Now, I have a bigger problem on my hands: A catastrophic (maybe an exaggeration) bug that causes it to not pivot properly.

Instead of writing a lot about it here, I'll point you to the thread that I posted on GameDev.Net: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=467333

And here's the video that I made to demonstrate what's going on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_SNtwHymnw

Daily Progress

2007-10-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Done:

- I finally fixed all of the annoying bugs that were in the rendering loop.
- I finished the background rotation function.

W.I.P.:

- Collision detection.
- Getting the first tech demo out the door!

This weekend is going to be somewhat of a mini-crunch mode, since I'm hoping to have a tech-demo ready by next week. So don't be surprised if the next post is a bit longer :)

For Dan

2007-10-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Dan Marshall, developer of Gibbage, just made a video about the effects of video games on the brain. Please do him a favor and Digg this: How to use Video Games to Improve Your Brain!

Good stuff, Dan! Keep 'em coming!

Programming Tip #1

2007-10-01T11:19:00.001-07:00

Here's something I just had to learn the hard way: Never open more source files than necessary!

I was sitting here debugging the rendering loop in KevEngine 2 and I realized that I had too many source files open. If you close the files you're not working on, you'll notice how much easier it is to debug and find errors in your code.

Happy coding!

Daily Progress

2007-09-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Done:

- Basic scrolling functions.
- Keyboard input functions.
- Organized variables into structs.
- Improved the rendering loop.

W.I.P.:

- Other scrolling/rotation functions.
- Still improving rendering loop.

Gameplay

2007-09-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

A few people sent me emails and commented about wanting to know more about the new game's gameplay.

I've taken some time to think this over, and hopefully what I say here is the final plan.

The new game (still untitled) is a a top-down-shooter that takes place during a futuristic war fought with tanks and other combat vehicles. In the single player campaign, the player progresses through each level by completing the objectives they're given. In both online and offline multiplayer, players can choose a variety of unique vehicles to play as. Each vehicle has it's own special set of weapons and abilities. There will be two modes: Deathmatch and Co-Op. The map editor that I plan on making a free download will give people the keys to the "world". A lot of you modders should be able to come up with some pretty cool maps :) To the best of my knowledge, not a lot of indie games give you that freedom.

So there ya go! Hopefully you like my ideas!

Now, back to coding and technical mumbo-jumbo.

Pre-Alpha Screenshot

2007-09-23T15:27:00.001-07:00

I just released a pre-alpha screenshot of my new game here.

If you're not registered at Gibbage, click here.

Cash-ual Gaming

2007-09-22T13:53:00.001-07:00

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS A RANT ABOUT CASUAL GAMES. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I have to let off some steam. I could make this post short and to the point, but I'd rather go into some detail about this.

Let's face it, casual game developers are in it for the money. I was reading a thread on the Indiegamer Forums about a male game developer that wrote a casual game about clothes shopping. A male game developer writing a shopping game? Are you serious? Do you honestly think that he would actually play and/or buy a shopping game? What ever happened to people making games they want to play? Typically, if you can think of a game you would enjoy playing, there's usually a group of gamers out there that also want to play that game. I would rather make a game that I love and reach that small group than make another game that every soccer mom and her daughter likes. I'd rather be happy with the game that I have to spend lots of time developing than be miserable and reach a larger group of people. That's the key to making a truely awesome game. You have to like what you're making, or else the end result will reflect you're attitude towards the game. I have a list of ideas for games and the ones that I like the most get made. Every single game I make is the result of me coming up with an idea that I like. I never have (and never will) take a look at the market and see if people will like it. If they like my ideas, awesome! If not, too bad, the game is getting made anyway. I think game developers should start making what they think is badass and not what will make them the most money.

Unfortunately, they don't. So this post is most likely to be continued...

Good one, Lemmy!

2007-09-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not 100% sure, I have a strong feeling that the "Cagey" imposter is actually Lemmy from the indie site Lemmy & Binky. You win! You're the master prankster, now stop!

Imposter

2007-09-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Apparently, some dumbass with nothing better to do has decided he wants to imitate me by registering under the name "Cagey Bradley". Honestly, mimicking is the biggest form of flattery, but whoever this is needs to get a life. If you know who this is, please let me know.

KevEdit

2007-09-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last night, I began working on KevEdit, the map editor for KevEngine 2. I actually got a good bit of it done and it's looking pretty good. I'm thinking about distributing a mod version of the editor with every game based on KevEngine 2, so if you gamers have any suggestions, email me: kevlargames[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Daily Progress

2007-09-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here's what's going on:

Finished:

- Map loading function is totally finished.
- Tilemap renderer is totally finished.

W.I.P.:

- Text functions.
- Player/Input functions.

Something interesting I want to do is keep all of the player and input code separated so that the engine remains flexible for all types of scrolling games. I'm definately going to have something to show soon, just stay patient!

As for work on my actual games, Project: Undead is still on hold. The code is going to be scrapped for my new engine and the graphics are still being worked on. Macabre is still early in development and will most likely stay that way until Project: Undead is finished. I would also like to take this time to mention a side project I've been thinking about ever since I started working on KevEngine 2. It's a futuristic, top-down tank combat game. I don't have a whole lot planned at the moment, but it is definately a serious thought.

A Message to Smithy1185

2007-09-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

Smithy1185,

Thanks a bunch for the comment you left on August 17th. It's taken a while for me to actually notice there was comments, mainly due to the fact that I never get comments. I appreciate your support of this blog and my projects. A tech-demo release is getting closer and closer every day and will most likely be ready within the next month or two. Thanks again!

Sincerely,

KG_Brad
Kevlar Games

Daily Progress

2007-08-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been so immersed in KevEngine 2 that I forgot to keep this updated with my daily progress!

Anyway, here's what's going on:

- Wrote map loading code. It loads text files into a 2D array which can then be parsed as a tilemap.
- Removed the mouse code.
- Wrote a render_player function that draws the player sprite at a given x and y coordinate.
- Wrote a copyright_info function that writes copyright information in the lower left-hand corner.
- Created a colors.h file that stores information about the engine's different colors. So far, it contains black, white, and gray.

Writing the map code was really tricky, since it's fairly low-level and it must work correctly so that nothing gets messed up. It works fine, but if I would tell the program to load the wrong file, it would crash the entire engine and unpredictable things could happen to the loaded file. That being said, I tend to check my code very carefully before compiling and running.

I'm Back... Again!

2007-08-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

Not really a whole lot to say.

Well, I went parasailing, so that's really cool, but that's pretty much the only exciting news.

I tried not to think about programming this time, since the waves were pretty good and I wanted to body surf.

Quake's Legacy

2007-08-15T22:30:00.001-07:00

Earlier, I was looking at the Wikipedia article on the Quake Engine. I took a long, hard look at the "Quake Family Tree". You know what I realized? A huge chunk of 3D games on the market have some of the original Quake's source code in it! That also made me wonder if John Carmack and the id Software team knew that this was going to happen. They were always visionaries, but did they ever predict this? Does Carmack even know that he's still working with code he wrote 11 years ago? Even Doom 3, Quake 4, and their new titles are somewhat powered by Quake code. It's just kind of funny how you can write some code and a decade later, you might still be using the same code. Oh well, some more random thoughts from the mind of a hardcore code junkie!

Daily Progress

2007-08-15T22:22:00.001-07:00

Work done on my new engine:

- Wrote a somewhat detailed design document.
- Continued work on some simple bitmap code.
- Created two temporary source files that handle mouse control. I'll be removing these when the engine is finished.

You know, if I want this thing to go anywhere, I really need to deathmatch less often. I guess the first step is to realize that DMA (Deathmatch Addiction) is a problem!

Anyway, here's what I want to get done tomorrow (before I go back to VA Beach!):

- Begin work on scrolling code.
- Begin work on map loading code.
- Create some simple graphics for a tech demo.

Hopefully, I'll have a tech demo ready soon. I feel that if I release some of those, I can get people's feedback. That'll make it easier to create a game that everyone, myself included, is happy with!

Status Report

2007-08-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

It's that time again! Time for a Kevlar Games status report! This one won't be as long, since I'm working on my new engine.

Engines:

KevEngine 1 - This is the side-scrolling engine that is powering Project: Undead. After I got frustrated with it, I stopped working on it to make way for my next scrolling engine.

KevEngine 2 - This is the multi-direction-scrolling engine that I plan on switching Project: Undead to. I'm not going to talk about it, since I'll be making frequent updates about it anyway.

KevEngine 3D - This is the 3D engine that is powering Macabre. Things are going good for this engine, since I'm keeping it simple and light.

Games:

Project: Undead - Everything is going pretty good for this game. Again, I'm keeping the gameplay simple so that it's a more fun, action packed, blastfest! My next step on this project is to switch it over to my new scrolling engine. That shouldn't be to hard, since the new engine code is very flexible.

Macabre - Still in the early stages of development. Not a whole lot of work has been done lately, since I'm working on making the engine better.

Other Projects:

Action Cyborg - As you already know, this is John Karlgren's game, so I'm not trying to mess with his great formula, I'm just adding new visual features such as particles, blur effects, etc.

John Carmack = Brilliant

2007-08-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is John Carmack's QuakeCon'07 Keynote:

http://www.quakeunity.com/file=2513

'Nuff said!

I'm Back!

2007-08-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Man, the past 10 days were great! They went fast, though. I had a great vacation, but before you get out your tiny violins and play me a sad song, I have awesome news! I'm going back to Virginia Beach on Friday! This time for a long weekend instead of a whole week. Then, the next weekend, I'm going camping. Finally, over Labor Day weekend, I'm going to visit some friends in North Carolina!

Down at the beach, I was inspired to program a water rendering function that using nothing but vector graphics and basic shapes! It seems like it might work out pretty well, actually. If you think about it, it should actually render even better than a bitmap. At the same time, it will save you guys more memory and hard drive space :)

I know, I shouldn't have been thinking about that sort of thing on my vacation, but I'm a techie!

Vacation

2007-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Starting tomorrow, I won't be updating the blog for about a week because I'm going to...

Virginia Beach! So, have fun not reading my blog and go get some sun!

The New Game Engine, Part 2

2007-08-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Until the new engine is done, I'm going to record my daily progress here. This should keep me more productive than before...

Okay, today's work:

-Begin work on new engine
-Announce new engine

Not much has been done today, since I'm still doing a lot of research.

Also, I've casually tossed around a few new game ideas with some people. I'm not announcing anything, but one of them that sounds pretty neat is a top-down deathmatch game. Again, don't take this as an official announcement, just a cool concept.

The New Game Engine

2007-08-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a quick but important update. Today marks the beginning of my new game engine. Even though work on Project: Undead and Macabre is going well, I'm getting less productive each day. So rather than scrap those games completely and start something new, I'm going to put those projects on hold and write a new scrolling engine that I hope will support any type of scrolling game. If it turns out to be better than my current engine, I'll most likely switch over to the new engine for Project: Undead. I've never been massively productive on Macabre, simply because writing a 3D renderer is hard work and I'm still learning a lot of things about it. I haven't lost interest in those projects, but I need more of an incentive to work on them. It's a shame, mainly because those are my two most ambitious games, but maybe the new engine will give me more of a reason to work on Project: Undead. Another motivator would be to limit the amount of time I deathmatch in a day!

Network Code

2007-08-01T08:12:00.001-07:00

Currently, I'm learning how to write networking code. It's an interesting subject, actually. I'm learning a whole lot about how sockets and packets work, which may sound boring, but when you hook two computers up over a serial connection and get a program working that can transfer numbers and letters, similar to a chat program, it's breathtaking! When I saw the two computers transfering information, it blew my mind. On my laptop, I monitored the flow of packets while my other PC sent and received them. Everything is working properly, the right amount of packets are being transfered and none are lost. This must have been what it felt like for the guy who invented the Internet! Or maybe I'm just a technogeek. :P

Deathmatch, Part 3

2007-08-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

After trying for months, I finally got my friend, Jake, to download ZDaemon, the multiplayer program for Doom.

It's fun having 1-on-1 deathmatches with him. It reminds me of the old-school days of Doom when you had to dial a friends phone number and wait for a little while before you could deathmatch. Then, DWANGO came in and changed all of that! Even then, I prefered the old method, it was easy and free. DWANGO was a monthly service that you had to pay $10 a month for. They finally shut DWANGO down in 1998 when the Internet came along and people found free ways to deathmatch. Actually, if you look into the source code for any Doom multiplayer program, you'll see that it still works mainly through telephone lines.

Anyway, he downloaded it and got completely destroyed in deathmatch. I showed him the ropes, how to do stuff, certain techniques, etc. He's getting better, but I think he needs more training before playing in the big leagues. When he's good enough, we might even start a Doom clan and play as teammates.

John Karlgren's Video

2007-08-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

On this blog, he's someone that shouldn't need an introduction. So let's just get to the good stuff.

As you may know, John has been developing a top-down action/RPG. Okay, he prefers to call it a "graphical MUD", that's a better name for it anyway, in my opinion. Well, a few days ago, he released a video of some gameplay. It's looking pretty cool.

Here's the video: http://www.terrorpunksyndicate.org/cyberpunk-rpg/Cyberpunk_Online_RPG_Project_Demonstration_Video.rar

The only thing I'm not crazy about is the character art. It's too bad he doesn't have the artist that worked on Action Cyborg. The textures he made for the buildings and environment are good, but character art is a whole different ball game.

Because his game is still in the early stages, there's always a chance someone will volunteer to do some character art. Other than that, it looks pretty badass!

Kevlar Games Videos

2007-07-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

After getting some good reactions on GameDev's IRC chat, I'm thinking about making a short five to ten minute video once a month that chronicals the development of my projects. I have a few concerns about this, though:

My #1 concern: Documenting the creation of my games might consume valuable time that I could use for actual game development.

#2: People might steal my designs and ideas.

#3: If I create the show, instead of focusing on making a game that I want to play, I might end up making a game that appeals only to other people.

#4: I'm not John Romero. I typically like to stay out of the public eye until I have something good to show to the world.

#5: If the game that I'm working on doesn't totally kick ass, people will flame and rant against me for wasting their time.

If you have any advice or suggestions, please email at: kevlargames at hotmail dot com

Deathmatch Part 2

2007-07-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

This post is somewhat of a follow up to my previous post about Doom and Gears of War deathmatching...

Over the weekend, I played many, many, rounds of Doom Deathmatch. In that period of time, I discovered ZDoom's mouse aiming feature! Man, did I ever feel like an idiot when I found out that most Doomers use it! Ever since then, my gameplay experience has been better than ever. I still prefer the old school controls for single-player, but in the fast paced world of Deathmatch, it's almost necessary to use the "W, A, S, D + Mouse" control scheme.

Another great thing I learned over the weekend is that Gears of War is not only going to be ported to Windows Vista, but also Windows XP! That's really good for us that don't want the hassle of being forced by the Evil Empire of Microsoft to upgrade. I'll probably be even better in the PC version of the game, so my buddy Jake better watch his back :)

Blast From The Past

2007-07-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the good folks at Midway, I can play two of my favorite arcade games, Defender and Robotron, online!

Here's a link: http://www.midway.com/rxpage/ClassicGames.html

For you people who are clueless, those two games are classics from the brilliant mind of Eugene Jarvis, the designer of those games. Those that know me are fully aware that I'm a self proclaimed video game history buff that can give you some background on most famous game designers (except for the Japanese guys. Shigeru is the only one I can think of :) Mr. Jarvis was an employee for Williams Electronics back in the 70's and early 80's. In 1980, he and his partner Larry DeMar programmed and released Defender. After the success of Defender, Jarvis and DeMar used the money to form Vid Kidz, their own independent company. At Vid Kidz, they developed a sequel to Defender called Stargate (1981). They used the money from this success to develop Robotron: 2084 (1982). This was Jarvis's next big success, becoming a smash hit and a classic for decades to come.

No Breakout Game, Sorry

2007-07-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today, I wanted to take some time from developing games and playing Defender to announce that I will not be developing a game in the breakout genre. The reason is because I already have Project: Undead and Macabre to work on, and I'm certain that another project will burn me out and just delay my other projects. If I ever change my mind, you'll find out about it here. I apologize to any fans of the genre who may have been looking forward to some cool innovations.

Funny Fat Guy!

2007-07-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

This guy cracks me up every time I watch the video:

ADHD

Add to My Profile More Videos

Status Report and Project Updates

2007-07-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated the blog with actual information about the status of my projects in a while, so here it goes:

First off, my primary focus, Project: Undead, is going along ok. I'm still in the engine phase which is always tough when you start a project. It's somewhat frustrating because I have a bunch of neat ideas for new designs, levels, etc. Nevertheless, it's been going a lot better ever since I rewrote the core functions of my tilemap renderer. I'm still having some trouble parsing the text files that make up the tilemaps, but that shouldn't be a problem for much longer since I've been coming closer and closer to a solution. Scrolling is actually one of the easiest parts of writing a platformer engine, so that's not even a concern right now. Other than that, not a lot of progress has been made towards actual gameplay. Some of my gameplay ideas have already been coded and stored in other project files, which should make developing the game after the engine a whole lot easier.

Secondly, my secondary focus, Macabre, is also moving along nicely. I recently switched from the Irrlicht API to SDL and OpenGL. It was a hard decision to make, but in the end I think it will be a lot better. SDL is a lot better for input, sound, etc. and OpenGL is the best graphics API out there. I'm still not going to say much about Macabre, since it's still at a very early stage and won't be finished for a while.

Thirdly, the Action Cyborg levels have been put on hold, as I've been doing a lot of extra programming for the game while John Karlgren works on his new project. I haven't made much progress with it, since I'm still learning the basics of his engine. I completed my work on the game's cheat codes and now I want to begin working on some special effects like fog, dust, etc. It might take a bit of time to finish this since I've got my own games to work on, but I'm working equally hard on Action Cyborg too!

Lastly, I've been considering making a Breakout/Arkanoid style game. Despite the fact that I've been a Breakout fan since I was 3 or 4 years old, I think that there's a lot of room for innovation in that genre. As a programmer and a designer, I have some ideas that can push that genre forward. Over the past 20 years, that genre has been abandoned with only a few good clones here and there. I think that as an indie developer, I can, for the most part, do whatever I want with a lost genre. If I actually do decide to pursue this project, I'm going to do whatever I can to push the genre forward and hopefully help bring it back.

And that, my friends, is what I've gotten done since the last update. Hopefully everything goes well with all of my projects!

Gears of War!

2007-06-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I played Gears of War. Now before you throw your rotten vegetables at me, let me say that it was one of the best multiplayer experiences ever. My personal favorite weapon was the shotgun, perfect for headshots and finishing off opponents. The amount of blood and gibs that gun makes is insane! I also like the chainsaw, as it was fun cutting my friend into a million chunks of gore. We were Doom deathmatching on his new 360 and I totally kicked his ass (Me: 20 frags, Him: 2 frags). He told me that he would "own me in Gears." He thought that just because I never played it I couldn't win. Man, was he wrong! I completely destroyed him! I told him that he was in the presence of a deathmatch king, and that he could never beat me in any deathmatch. We never played a second game, I think he was too damn scared!

John Karlgren, You're Awesome!

2007-06-25T15:00:00.001-07:00

John Karlgren, the creator of the kickass shooter Action Cyborg, has given me another opportunity to help evolve the already cool game into something even bigger! A few days ago, I sent him an email asking if he needed help with Action Cyborg while he works on his new game. Not only did he reply with a "yes" but he also sent me the source code! It actually started about 6 or 7 months ago when I sent him a PM on GameDev telling him how cool his game was, now I'm sort of a part time developer of the game! Hopefully, he likes what I do with the game. Unless he knows you're extremely interested in his game like me, I wouldn't bother asking him about the source. He told me that he wasn't going to open-source it for a while. Also, please don't ask me about it either. I promised not to give out the source to anybody.

Doom Archaeology

2007-06-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 17, John Romero, the legendary game designer behind the early id Software games (Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake), released all of the early songs from the Doom soundtrack that were never actually used in the final game. Thanks to his love of preserving video game history, the world knows a little bit more about the origins of Doom. Thanks John for keeping the Doom fanatics happy for 14 years!

Here's a link to the songs: http://rome.ro/media/doom_unreleased_music.zip

Modding, Scripting, and the Undead Engine

2007-06-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

After giving it much thought, I've decided to rewrite the Undead Engine. I have a bunch of new ideas for it, like making it mod friendly, giving it an all new scripting language, and developing a level editor so that I won't have to hard code the levels in an array.

Though I think it's fairly uncommon for indie games to be mod friendly, I think that it's a good way to let the gamers know that I actually do want them to have fun with the game. Not only that, but it will make it easier for me to make and distribute updates and patches. The new scripting language that I mentioned has a BASIC-like syntax and the way it functions isn't much different either. Hopefully, that will make it easier for non-programmers to make mods too. Because BASIC is, without a doubt, the easiest language to learn, I'm confident that even the layman will be able to program a good mod in a matter of days. The new level editor will be similar to the Action Cyborg editor. I originally had plans to make the editor more like Mappy, but I scrapped that idea due to the fact that it's features are too generic and most don't really apply to my game. I also want it to be easy to use for modders and amateur level designers. If I could combine a script editor and a level editor into one SDK, I think that would be the ideal editor for the game. All of those ideas are still works-in-progress, but one thing that I am making a lot of progress towards is my new engine.

After getting extremely frustrated with my old engine and it's ugly, unorganized code, I decided to completely rewrite it from scratch. All of the levels were hard coded into a single header file, making the source bloated and hard to work with. Interactivity was a major issue when the levels were hard coded. It was almost impossible to make something work properly when the whole level is stored in an array. To change or move something, the computer would have to find the tile in the array, remove it, replace it with a different tile, and then redraw the screen. That's can slow the game down to an unplayable speed. The levels are now stored in a separate file and are loaded only when needed. Interactivity is no longer an issue since the level isn't stored in an array, and be customized to my liking.

Okay, so that was it for my daily thoughts on code... I guess it's time to go back to work on the game :)

Suck It Down, Paris!

2007-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

After a quick trip to the controversial game developer Running With Scissors's website, I found two kickass comics about little Miss Paris Hilton.

Here they are:
http://www.gopostal.com/chrisholm/

Stupid Game Engine!

2007-06-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here's something that's confusing me: If I have a working fully-3D engine for my "Macabre" project, why the hell can't a get a simple sidescrolling engine working for my platformer game "Project: Undead"?

Let me see what I've got:

Map Rendering - Check!
Sidescrolling - Check!
Keyboard Input - Check!
Collision Detection - Uh oh...

See, for whatever reason, I can't make the player stop when he/she reaches the end of the map. The sprite just keeps on going and going, just like that little freakin Energizer Bunny. Why? Who knows why! Is it a conspiracy that my computer set up just to made me angry? I'm beginning to think that it might be the case :)

And speaking of game engines, the new "id Tech 5", shown at yesterday's WWDC Conference by John Carmack, looks amazing! Good ol' id Software has done it again! Now let's see if they can make a kickass new IP with it. Over the past 17 years, they've only had four IPs: Commander Keen, Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the WWDC video: http://stream.qtv.apple.com/events/jun/d7625zs/m_99427722_650_ref.mov

Good Luck, Karlgren!

2007-06-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

John Karlgren, the creator of the awesome shooter Action Cyborg, has began work on his latest project, a top-down-RPG. If it's as cool as his other game, we're in for a pretty sweet ride. Though he says he's not a good coder, I think the guy has lot's of talent. If he wasn't so involved in his band, Terror Punk Syndicate, I would suggest that he goes indie and make some cash off of his game. Best of luck from Kevlar Games, John!

Mobile Goldmine

2007-06-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

So there I was, minding my own business, when a buddy of mine showed me Zuma on his cell phone. I watched him play the game and all of the sudden it hit me: If cell phones are getting good enough to play games like Zuma, why isn't every indie and their mother making a cell phone game. After all, the market is young and open to new innovations. Back in the early 1990's, an artist and a programmer could change gaming history, just ask John and Adrian Carmack! Now, I'm beginning to see the same thing happening with cell phones. Who knows, maybe there's hope for indies after all! Maybe, some day in the near future, an indie will create the next big movement in mobile gaming which, like early PC's, isn't even considered a proper gaming platform. Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D changed everybody's opinion on PC gaming. Fellow indies, we need to act now before this gravy train leaves the station!

P.S. Just to clarify, this post wasn't directed towards most indies. Actually, it was directed at the portals and publishers, since they're the ones footing the bill and doing promotion for indie games. There isn't much an indie could do on a cell phone without a portal/publisher...

Action Cyborg Level...

2007-06-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

My first Action Cyborg level is finished! Woohoo! IMO, it's damn good for a first try...

Check it out: Download

P.S. There's plenty of secrets to be found in the level, so there's a bit of replay value. Brownie points for whoever can find them!

EDIT: The level has been placed in the new sidebar labeled "Downloads". Have fun!

Side Project...

2007-05-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

I recently found this really awesome game on GameDev.net: Action Cyborg...

After playing it for hours on end, I realized that I was totally addicted. I saw a lot of potential in the game. Unfortunately, however, the game isn't finished. I found out that the creator, Kada2k6, is now looking for level designers. I emailed him about getting the level editor, so he sent it to me...

I'm now working on a level set that I'll be sending to him. Hopefully he'll like the levels enough to put them in the game. Even if he doesn't, I'll upload them for people to play anyway. Woohoo! A project that I can get done within a month or two!

So, for all you developers out there, if you email him (or PM him on GameDev), he'll probably send you the editor. It's an awesome tool that has special features that most tile-based editors don't include. Check it out!

Promote Kevlar Games!

2007-05-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Want to help kick-off the Kevlar Games movement? Post the following pic in your forum sigs!

Here's the code:

[url=http://kevgames.blogspot.com][img]http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q252/XtrmBean2/KevlarGamesLogo.gif[/img][/url]

First Post!

2007-05-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hey gamers,

Welcome to the official blog of Kevlar Games...

I'm KG_Brad, and I'll be posting here frequently about how things are going with our current projects:

Macabre - A first person shooter that takes elements from horror classics such as The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Cahinsaw Massacre. 3-D shooters are always unpredictable when in the early stage of development, so don't expect to see Macabre until sometime in 2008.

Project: Undead - A sidescrolling platform game that puts you in a world taken over by zombies and demons... and then makes you destroy them! This is still in the planning stage, but will most likely be finished in Q4 2007.

All of our games are shareware-indie titles, meaning that you can try a portion of the game and decide if you want to pay and unlock the rest of it. It's an old concept that goes back to the early 80's, but it's still a good way to support small developers without having to charge a lot of money. Each of our games will be priced anywhere from $10.00 to $15.00, not a cent more!