[Daniel] PyWeek: One Giant Leap

New version up, this time it's v0.5 "One giant leap...". I skipped v0.4 completely simply because this release has all of the features of both versions as I worked on them pretty much simultaneously. If I can code up the remainder of the particle engine tonight, I will be fully caught up on my spec and able to breathe a little easier the rest of the week. Time to get back to it.

[Daniel] PyWeek: Less Productive

Tonight was much less productive than previous nights. I had a lot of real world stuff to take care of. However, the menu systems are almost done and there's now 100% working high score code, which turned out to be harder than one would think but much easier than I was making it out to be earlier in the day. Hopefully, I will finish the menus tomorrow night very early on. From there, I hope to start (and finish?) the particle system.



Sleepy now, must rest...

[Daniel] PyWeek: Final Hope v0.3

Another fairly productive night. I've released version 0.3 ("Power Up!") and I'm pretty excited. It's actually playable, with a defined start, gameplay and end. Gathering power is implemented and the timer is fully functional. Additionally, all of the code is a little better laid out and there's support for difficulty levels.



Roughly speaking, I'm about halfway done wiht the features I wanted to be in the game and about a point release behind where I had hoped I would be in my spec. Not too bad considering I've got about 4.5 days left to go in the competition. Tomorrow, I will be adding in the scoring system, the high score list and menus. I also hope to get a start on the particle engine, the MOST ambitious part of this entire game. Nothing else I do will be as techincally challenging as that.



If nothing else, I am achieving my goal. I have never had this much fun with a computer before. And that is saying quite a bit.

[Daniel] PyWeek: Collision Detection

VICTORY IS MINE! After 4 hours of struggling with worthless tries at collision detection, I have succeeded at creating an effective and extremely flexible solution. Collision detection in video games provides the game engine notice of when two objects (such as player & wall or bullet & opponent) hit each other's outmost region. This is usually done using rectangles to surround the objects in question. However, the method I finally thought up and used uses a "mask" (or black & white) version of the landscape. The white are areas you can roam in, the black is a wall. This worked far better than all the previous tries and I am super-excited that it works this well.



But this version is not called "So Tired" for no reason. I have to get up in 5 short hours and work. =( Oh, well. I had a good night and, while I'm slightly behind schedule, I'm doing way better than I thought I would. Tomorrow night, I tackle the scoring subsystem and the power meter.



As usual, the screenshot and download are located above.

[Daniel] PyWeek: Final Hope v0.1

Final Hope v0.1 is complete. Most of the artwork is done but there's quite a bit of coding left to do. I'm a little behind schedule but here's hoping I can make it up throughout the week.



Still trying to get one more release out tonight. The game should be playable after that.



As usual, details can be found above.

[Daniel] PyWeek: Specification Complete!

Specification is complete. It's ambitious at best and I think I can already see having to cut some features due to time but who knows? I'm already further than I thought I would be at this point.



Anyway, I've planned three more releases tonight so it's time to stop yacking and get hacking.

[Daniel] PyWeek: Basic Functionality

New screenshot is up. Got some basic functionality into the game so far. Now that I have a good portion of the art done, I'm going to go back and plan out the remaining details which will be much harder than what's done so far. Next post will include the plan.

[Daniel] PyWeek Begins!

And so it begins. I have been waiting for the PyWeek Game Programming Competition to start all month. It began promptly at 7:00pm CST this evening and I have been working on it off and on throughout the course of the night. I have the basic concept behind my game laid out. Simple 2D game based around the chosen theme of Power. Not the one I wanted but hopefully this will go well anyway.



For those interested, I have my first screenshot up here. I'm pretty excited as I think I have a good start but a long way to go too. I'll probably post more details tomorrow as it's going to be a big work day and I need a plan.

[Daniel] More Hella Nice Weather!

More nice weather. :D

[Daniel] Reason To Switch, Daniel-Style

Some people think I'm crazy for using a Mac. Here's why I'm not crazy. So :p

[Daniel] All Quiet On The Home Front

Obviously, it's been pretty quiet on the home front. One of the reasons is outside projects. I've been working on several things lately. One is Moriah's recipe database, getting it situated for posting here. Another is my pet project, PySudoku. There will be more details on that in the near future. Finally, I've been working on creating some e-store software, prominantly for Mom S.'s site.



Still getting pysched up for the competition at the end of the month and hoping I can actually produce something

functional. I'll probably be posting a lot that week, just to keep a journal of my progress.



The Software page received a much-needed update, I'm still thinking about a better way to organize everything that's there but for now, it doesn't matter much.



And Bear says "Woof!" to everyone. Actually, he didn't really bark so much as just lay there but still. :D

[Moriah] It's A Niece!!!

We received word yesterday that my sister's baby is a girl, so we are very excited to hear what they decide to name her. I am looking forward to being an aunt and spoiling the heck out of my little niece when she comes along in December/January. This is all so new for me, as I have not had much experience with babies or children. I'm sure I will learn a lot. Watch for future posts about this special little girl and the experiences we will have through all of this. How exciting!