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Dantztron 3030

Mammy's Favorite Storyteller!
August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« on: August 10, 2008, 06:05:09 pm »
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Volume 1, Issue 4 - August 11, 2008
irc.windfyre.net #zfgc
This week’s banner courtesy of Moldorma and icon courtesy of MetaKirby


Hello members, and welcome to another issue of ZFGC Weekly! Here’s what’s in this week’s issue:

1. Community Announcements (Ctrl+F CA0104)
2. Best of the Forum (Ctrl+F BF0104)
3. Weekly Awards (Ctrl+F WA0104)
4. The Big Question (Ctrl+F BQ0104)
5. Featured Project: Kirby's Rebound and an interview with its creator, Moldorma (Ctrl+F FP0104)

Community Announcements (CA0104)
-- ZFGC needs staff for various sitely duties. Prospective contributors can inquire within http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30262

-- Infini has recently finished the new site for ZFGC, and is planning all sorts of awesome new features to go along with it, including ZFGC-API and onsite game hosting. Read about the site and the exciting new ZFGC-API technology at http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30259.0

The Best of the Forum (BF0104)
Here are some of the best quotes of the past week or the most relevant topics of the moment:

XFD GREEN TEXT SUCKS !@#$%...Or Does it?
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30284.0

It Takes Two to Chatango
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30321.0

If we would ever get chatango put on this site, so help me god I would find Tim and kill him. That is all.

ZFGCON
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30280.0

The Ancient Debate
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30334.0

This topic is new and exciting.

Goodnight, Sweet Prince ;_;
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30292.0

Ripping Sprites with VisualBoy Advance
http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=29850.0


Here's a couple of screenshots, the red boxes indicate actual sprites as they are stored in the oam to which you might know stores it in bits and pieces, to remedy this I've added in some additional code that basically attempts to guess what sprites belong to what which in these screenshots is represented by a green border.

Got a topic you think should be featured? PM Hoffy or Dantz!

Weekly Awards (WA0104)
Curiosity Piece of the Week
Hoffy's Logo for His Secret Project, "The Patron:" http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30282.0

The Big Question (BQ0104)
In this section, we'll ask a relevant or interesting question to the community each week, which everyone can discuss, comment on, and generally go gaga over.

This week's question: If a game could only excel in one area besides the core gameplay/fun factor, which one would be the most important: story, graphics, sound, dialogue, internet integraton (like Steam or Live Achievements), music, or an interesting gimmick?

Join the discussion at http://www.zfgc.com/forum/index.php?topic=30335.0

Got an idea for a Big Question? PM Dantz or Hoffy!

Featured Project (FP0104)
This week Dantz bounced with Moldorma to discuss his new project, Kirby's Rebound. The results, besides a pounding headache from hitting so many walls, were pleasant, and give an interesting insight into the philosophy behind simple games.

Can a brotha' get some Tylenol?!

How did this concept originate?
I actually played the Gameboy game "Kirby's Block Ball" at a friends house a long time ago. I always thought that it was a really fun spin on breakout to have Kirby as the ball. Years later I played it again, and having some rudimentary game development skills at the time I decided to make a similar title.

What are you using to design the game?
I use a game engine called Unity. The editor itself is for Mac OS, but it can export finished products to Mac, Windows, or a Web Plugin that can be played in a browser (which I'll be using for this particular game). The system is based around objects that you can set in the stage which are basically just 3d models. From there you assign components to each object, such as textures, audio clips, and Javascripts.

You mention a "physics engine." Is this based on any particular physics API, and is it truly real-time physics, ala PhysX?
Unity actually uses PhysX for its physics. Unfortunately it's not PhysX's full capability at this time, meaning we miss out on some cool features like softbodies, fluid simulation, and deformable objects.

How exactly does the Unity Web Player work?
The Web Player is a plugin that can be installed in your browser, like Shockwave or Flash. It's a really quick installation, that doesn't even require you to close the web browser while it installs. Once you have the plugin installed, you can just open the game's URL and play it.

Can the game be played outside of a web browser?
Like I said earlier, Unity can export Mac and Windows standalones. Actually though, Windows Standalones are a feature of Unity Pro, which is a significant upgrade cost from Unity Indie which I have. So, I'll probably offer a Mac Standalone for the time being, and when I do get the money to upgrade I'll put out a Windows Standalone as well.

Besides Breakout, what are some of the games that inspired Kirby's Rebound?
Well, Kirby's Block Ball obviously, but also Kirby's Tilt n' Tumble, Kirby Canvas Curse, and pretty much any other ball-kirby game.

Oh, hello.

Both of the "Mole" brothers seem to have a unique graphical style in anything you two create: bright colors, crisp textures, and simple, clean designs. What games or anything have inspired this style?
I think a big inspiration for us would be Katamari Damacy. It made up for its simple textures and modeling with a bright and well organized design that I think really left us with an impression. Of course, we have some more serious and detailed games on our roster, but that hasn't really been apparent with the games we've put out at the time.

A lot of the games I've seen you guys design are really simple. Some would call that different, some would call it programming laziness. How would you respond to that, and do you think simple games can be better than complex ones?
I'm not sure that I would call any of our current work "programming laziness", because as simple as the game may seem there's definitely a lot of code that goes into it. I think that you might be thinking of an earlier title of ours, Sky Sky Panic 3D, but the intention there was to make a simple arcade game that could be played in a small session multiple times, and I think we accomplished that. We're currently working on a mid-sized space shooter, and that's one of our smaller projects.

What are some of the things that will set Kirby's Rebound apart as a game?
Kirby's Rebound will include inhalation, contrary to previous ball-Kirby titles where Kirby takes his powers by simply crashing into enemies. In addition it will include the power-combining that was introduced in Kirby 64, which for some reason has never been implemented again since that game.

Tell us about those boss battles.
Kirby will have to face off against a mini-boss and a boss for each of the seven worlds. If Kirby has a power than it will just be a matter of getting him close enough to the boss to use the power, but without a power things get more interesting! In older Kirby games if you didn't have a power in a boss fight you would wait until the boss dropped something that can be inhaled and then tossing it back at him to incur damage.

In Kirby's Rebound the bosses will have a bit more a problem-solving element to them. For example, the first boss battle is against Whispy Woods. Players will have to keep Kirby out of harms way while directing the apples that Whispy drops back towards him. It will be really fun to play these battles.

How will Kirby's inhalation work in a game like this?
In older ball-Kirby games, like I said, you just smash into people to take their power. That's not very true to the Kirby style, so in Kirby's Rebound you will be able to actually inhale. If you hold down the inhale button you'll see Kirby begin to inhale as he spins. Then everything edible within a certain range of Kirby will be drawn towards Kirby. If they move out of that range, anything in motion will drop to the next solid platform. Thanks for having me here on ZFGC Weekly!

Know a project you think should be featured? PM Dantz or Hoffy!

Authors of this week's issue: Dantz
« Last Edit: August 10, 2008, 07:52:52 pm by Dantz »
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well i dont have that system and it is very hard to care about everything when you are single

Mirby

Drifter
August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2008, 06:08:37 pm »
  • To bomb or not to bomb...
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YAY! My icon was chosen! Anyways, great interview. About the Unity Web Player, I went to the game page, installed Unity, and ddn't even have to refresh the page. The game loaded on its own! Another great issue, Dantz.

And 4Sword thought his banner was horrible (I think he said that)
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Mirby Studios | Share & Enjoy now available! (Links above!) | Games I've Beaten
Quote from: Mamoruanime
I like-like it :D
  • Mirby Studios

Dantztron 3030

Mammy's Favorite Storyteller!
Re: August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2008, 06:14:07 pm »
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I didn't realize 4sword's banner was unfinished; this was corrected thanks to a PM from him :P LOLPINKSPACES
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well i dont have that system and it is very hard to care about everything when you are single

Mirby

Drifter
Re: August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2008, 06:16:27 pm »
  • To bomb or not to bomb...
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Ah. I didn't either, I just thought he thought it sucked. This one is nice too.
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Mirby Studios | Share & Enjoy now available! (Links above!) | Games I've Beaten
Quote from: Mamoruanime
I like-like it :D
  • Mirby Studios
August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2008, 10:39:20 pm »
  • Lionfish App dev
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:D I like how this one came out. It was tough to get my game featured right after the amazing Twinsen, but I'm honored to have been!
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Mirby

Drifter
Re: August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2008, 10:43:27 pm »
  • To bomb or not to bomb...
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Yeesh, you're double-featured this issue, Moldorma. Your game and your banner! You must be popular! please don't tell me you slept with one of the staff members so you could be featured...
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Mirby Studios | Share & Enjoy now available! (Links above!) | Games I've Beaten
Quote from: Mamoruanime
I like-like it :D
  • Mirby Studios
August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2008, 11:22:21 pm »
  • Lionfish App dev
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Uh, no. I didn't. I'm just lucky like this. Definitely just luck.
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Hoffy

Hero of Fire
August 11, 2008 - ZFGC Weekly
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2008, 06:21:00 am »
  • Silly cat!
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Alright, my logo got somewhere XD.

Nice interview as well, Dantz :D.
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Hoffy.
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