I'm now testing using the program 'Drivel' in Ubuntu 8.10
Behind the scenes of an independent games developer.
29 August, 2009
27 February, 2009
Thank you VirtualBox :-)
As I have posted in an earlier blog, I have switched from using the Microsoft Windows operating system to the Ubuntu Linux distribution.
However, one major problem and stepping stone was that I am programming for the MS Windows environment (and therefore need to constantly test any progress in the Windows operating system) it meant that I had to boot into Windows when I was working, which was a major downside (and maybe one of the reasons that added to my previously described lack of motivation).
All has been solved this year, as I have eventually downloaded VirtualBox onto my Ubuntu system, and now can run the two versions of Windows I have from inside Linux, without the need to dualboot my laptop.
VirtualBox has answered my prayers. I can now stay within Ubuntu, which has all my favourite programs and settings and security, while continuing proamming and testing my compiled programs.
Lastly, one big advantage is that I have a big widescreen laptop, and with virtualbox I can easily resize the VirtualBox environment and emulate different screen resolutions easily so I can check that my programs work on screens from small resolutions such as 800x600 to big widescreen resolutions.
Hurray for VirtualBox!
I've installed VirtualBox on both Windows and Linux and have fun installing and trying different operating systems on it.
PS. I'm using the free Open Source Edition (VirtualBox OSE).
Lastly, VirtualBox can be installed on Windows, Linux and OSX and used to install many types of operating systems, which is great for either functional purposes (such as I'm using as described above) or just to test a different operating system, without installing properly (which I've had fun doing).
However, one major problem and stepping stone was that I am programming for the MS Windows environment (and therefore need to constantly test any progress in the Windows operating system) it meant that I had to boot into Windows when I was working, which was a major downside (and maybe one of the reasons that added to my previously described lack of motivation).
All has been solved this year, as I have eventually downloaded VirtualBox onto my Ubuntu system, and now can run the two versions of Windows I have from inside Linux, without the need to dualboot my laptop.
VirtualBox has answered my prayers. I can now stay within Ubuntu, which has all my favourite programs and settings and security, while continuing proamming and testing my compiled programs.
Lastly, one big advantage is that I have a big widescreen laptop, and with virtualbox I can easily resize the VirtualBox environment and emulate different screen resolutions easily so I can check that my programs work on screens from small resolutions such as 800x600 to big widescreen resolutions.
Hurray for VirtualBox!
I've installed VirtualBox on both Windows and Linux and have fun installing and trying different operating systems on it.
PS. I'm using the free Open Source Edition (VirtualBox OSE).
Lastly, VirtualBox can be installed on Windows, Linux and OSX and used to install many types of operating systems, which is great for either functional purposes (such as I'm using as described above) or just to test a different operating system, without installing properly (which I've had fun doing).
22 February, 2009
Planning
This has probably been said by a million others, and there are people who can create small games without any form of planning. But, I have learnt that this is true, to create anything serious, planning is a must.
Planning will not only help you in the initial programming stage of your game, but also in the future if you need to revisit your code again, as shown in the following true example:
Before, I had even discovered PureBasic or BlitzMax, I had already made a basic plan of what I hoped my game would look like, what it would do, the navigational layout and some of the mini games.
However, after revisiting one of the mini games that I had not planned and has just basically hacked the code, I have seen what a big mistake this has been. The code is commented with some basic comments, however, I have found it extremely hard to understand how the mini game works properly.
So for me I think that it is back to my year old notebook, to plan the game out again.
Planning will not only help you in the initial programming stage of your game, but also in the future if you need to revisit your code again, as shown in the following true example:
Before, I had even discovered PureBasic or BlitzMax, I had already made a basic plan of what I hoped my game would look like, what it would do, the navigational layout and some of the mini games.
However, after revisiting one of the mini games that I had not planned and has just basically hacked the code, I have seen what a big mistake this has been. The code is commented with some basic comments, however, I have found it extremely hard to understand how the mini game works properly.
So for me I think that it is back to my year old notebook, to plan the game out again.
05 February, 2009
Diary tag added
If you only want to follow the diary of my venture into independent game programming (yes it's pretty bare at this moment), I have added and will add the diary tag to all relevant posts, which will filter out all other posts such as opinions and stories.
03 February, 2009
Motivation of a Bedroom Programmer
I don't know what it is with me and motivation. It's true I enjoy programming games (even though I've never finished a game post-Klick & Play days). Secondly, I enjoy the code style and instant environments of BlitzMax and PureBasic, where I can run and test anything I have just written in an instant. Also, once I get started on a days work I ussualy don't stop for hours.
But that's the problem, getting started, sometimes I have found myself opening up the development environment, but then proceeding to not do any work. with the programs up in the background for hours. Until, now sometimes I have spent a couple of days in a row either programming or learning, however other times I have seen myself not touch my projects for days at a time.
I guess the problem with being a so called 'bedroom programmer, is the lack of deadlines, the lack of someone constantly nagging me to finish or asking on my progress.
However, there are some things that I have noticed that motivate me. The biggest one is when someone shows interest in my project, I've only mentioned it in small talk, but from people who are in the education business of teaching English to foreigners (or locals over here in Spain), they think that it could do well, and I've even been offered some possible testing and selling opportunities.
Also, I'm really motivated when I search on the Internet for other independent programmers, who have gone on to sell there game or games, and on some websites there are sales statistics, (one example being Game Producer), from which even the lower sales are motivating. Even though I am aiming high (and this might come back for me to regret saying it) but I wouldn't mind even if I sold only one game every two days, because I just want to get it finished and see it in use, and it will provide a big learning experience for me and my future projects, which I will document in this blog.
But that's the problem, getting started, sometimes I have found myself opening up the development environment, but then proceeding to not do any work. with the programs up in the background for hours. Until, now sometimes I have spent a couple of days in a row either programming or learning, however other times I have seen myself not touch my projects for days at a time.
I guess the problem with being a so called 'bedroom programmer, is the lack of deadlines, the lack of someone constantly nagging me to finish or asking on my progress.
However, there are some things that I have noticed that motivate me. The biggest one is when someone shows interest in my project, I've only mentioned it in small talk, but from people who are in the education business of teaching English to foreigners (or locals over here in Spain), they think that it could do well, and I've even been offered some possible testing and selling opportunities.
Also, I'm really motivated when I search on the Internet for other independent programmers, who have gone on to sell there game or games, and on some websites there are sales statistics, (one example being Game Producer), from which even the lower sales are motivating. Even though I am aiming high (and this might come back for me to regret saying it) but I wouldn't mind even if I sold only one game every two days, because I just want to get it finished and see it in use, and it will provide a big learning experience for me and my future projects, which I will document in this blog.
01 February, 2009
Switched to PureBasic
As much as I like BlitzMax, I have found the PureBasic programming language to suit my needs more, in that for me at least it has been a lot easier to set it up so I can use it when I running Micro$oft Windows or my favoured operating system Linux Ubuntu.
Also, being based on basic, switching from BlitzMax to PureBasic has been a fairly easy process, with only a few problems learning the slightly different ways that PureBasic does things. However, I have already got the basic menu system of my English learning game running and working perfectly. So unless I come up against any problems or limitations I think I will stick with it.
In other news I've also had some interest in my educational game, but it's only early days.
Now, If only I knew an artist!
Also, being based on basic, switching from BlitzMax to PureBasic has been a fairly easy process, with only a few problems learning the slightly different ways that PureBasic does things. However, I have already got the basic menu system of my English learning game running and working perfectly. So unless I come up against any problems or limitations I think I will stick with it.
In other news I've also had some interest in my educational game, but it's only early days.
Now, If only I knew an artist!
05 January, 2009
One year on: Developing a Commercial Educational Computer Game.
It was just over a year ago that I came up with my initial designs to create a computer game to help non-English speakers learn English, and what are my thoughts about the last year? Well to be honest, mostly negative.
What have I got to show for a year of work, well not a lot really. A semi functional program with only about five or six working games out of the twenty (or even more) that I had hoped to do. To me it will be a year of wasted opportunity, with extremely sporadic bursts of work and enthusiasm for the project.
But, I guess everything hasn't been bad. I do actually have a good framework of the game, where pieces and games can easily be inserted into it. and the framework could be used for future projects too. One of the card games from the project is complete and it could easily be taken out and made into it's own separate game, which I am seriously considering.
Secondly, I now can actually program well in a language (blitz, pure basic and some others) and even enjoy it, something which I was nowhere even close to last year.
I also have done extensive research of other so called bedroom programmers who have sold their games, whether they have been successful or failed. And from this I also have an idea of how I will market and sell my game, whether online or in person.
So overall, I guess even though in terms of progress on the programming side, I have achieved no where near what I wanted to, there are some really good positives to come out.
What have I got to show for a year of work, well not a lot really. A semi functional program with only about five or six working games out of the twenty (or even more) that I had hoped to do. To me it will be a year of wasted opportunity, with extremely sporadic bursts of work and enthusiasm for the project.
But, I guess everything hasn't been bad. I do actually have a good framework of the game, where pieces and games can easily be inserted into it. and the framework could be used for future projects too. One of the card games from the project is complete and it could easily be taken out and made into it's own separate game, which I am seriously considering.
Secondly, I now can actually program well in a language (blitz, pure basic and some others) and even enjoy it, something which I was nowhere even close to last year.
I also have done extensive research of other so called bedroom programmers who have sold their games, whether they have been successful or failed. And from this I also have an idea of how I will market and sell my game, whether online or in person.
So overall, I guess even though in terms of progress on the programming side, I have achieved no where near what I wanted to, there are some really good positives to come out.
04 January, 2009
Development Difficulties and History - part 3 or 3
I haven't been able to update the blog much over the Christmas period, as I have been visiting family in the UK.
But good news is that I have a new lovely laptop, it's not too expensive but it does pack hell of a punch and can manage all 3D games I have tried so far.
Anyway I thought I would finish this tedious history of mine in the quickest way possible.
...After downloading Blitz3D and having a month of experimenting I knew that this interpretation of the basic language was for me. Unlike my failed study of Java and brief tinkering with C++ and another version called C-Lite (if I remember correctly), the Blitz3D syntax seemed to suit me well, and this was the first time I actually enjoyed programming, with complete understanding of what I was writing and the great ability to see if what I had written was working in an instance.
Within weeks I had created a simple 3D Star Trek game where you could fly in a giant sphere representing the Solar System and fly from planet to planet and even been chased by an enemy ship (but only with six or seven lines of ai). Also, I even managed to create my own 3D models for the first time.
After also creating another basic game with a sea landscape and some island and a pirate ship that could move about, I decided to work on my educational computer game for learning English.
While my initial enthusiasm was great and I started well. Eventually, my enthusiasm dropped and appeared in brief spurts, maybe this was due to the fact that the only place I could receive a wifi signal to connect to the Internet was from my bed, and this was an awful and uncomfortable setup for programming, as I couldn't sit-up as the table was to low, so I was always slouching. This went on for about three months, and I barely had anything to show for my time.
I don't know at what point I decided to try out BlitzMax, but even though at first I thought it was too fiddly, I eventually got hooked, especialy by it's more object orientated language, which is fantastic for me compared to Blitz3D which wasn't object-orientated.
Using BlitzMax also gave me the chance to start again with my educational game, with a new approach and a more modular design, where I keep everything seperate, like graphics, data, each of the game screens, the menus. This has and will help me, as code can easily be changed and new bits added and removed. However, the same problems of enthusiasm appeared and I found myself sometimes only doing one or two hours every week or even every fortnight.
I did manage to get back on track in September, when I moved to a newer and bigger flat, that it included it's own studio and a massive desk for me to work on. Work on my game continued well all through the month of September and for some part into October, and initial fears of how and from where I would get the graphics and music for my game where put to rest, when I decided to make my own graphics and actually found a cartoon style that looked good and I could actually draw (well except for the main characters, for whom I am still undecided of how I will draw them). I also found a couple of websites where people submit their sounds and music and these can then be legally used for commercial games and programs, all just for a possible mention in the credits.
However, programming did come to a halt during October, as financial worries and concerns where at the top of my head and I never managed to sit down and even do a decent hours worth of programming. This lack of work continued through November.
Finally, In December as mentioned in this blog, I finally took the plunge and changed from the Windows operating system to the Ubuntu version of Linux. This lead me on to a quest to find a high level programming language that I could work with on Linux, and then run on Windows.
My initial thoughts where to try the scripting language of Python and Pygame which is designed to help with making games in Python. But this language wasn't for me, with the forced indenting which wouldn't compile unless I got it exactly write and the general syntax and layout of the language.
I also tried some versions of the basic programing language, like Free Basic, but even though I liked it a bit, the lack of tutorials for the type of game I want to do, and the default graphic engine not being for commercial use, led me to try something different.
After playing around with a few other versions of basic (I can't remember all their names), I landed at Pure Basic, which even though I have only played around with it for a week, I think it could be a serious contender for me to use instead of BlitzMax, as it is easily setup in Linux and Windows, and using my dual-boot computer I can compile nearly (if not all) the same code for both operating systems. So here I am now, considering whether to continue with BlitzMax or switch to Pure Basic.
Any other suggestions for basic like and cross-compatible programing languages are welcome.
But good news is that I have a new lovely laptop, it's not too expensive but it does pack hell of a punch and can manage all 3D games I have tried so far.
Anyway I thought I would finish this tedious history of mine in the quickest way possible.
...After downloading Blitz3D and having a month of experimenting I knew that this interpretation of the basic language was for me. Unlike my failed study of Java and brief tinkering with C++ and another version called C-Lite (if I remember correctly), the Blitz3D syntax seemed to suit me well, and this was the first time I actually enjoyed programming, with complete understanding of what I was writing and the great ability to see if what I had written was working in an instance.
Within weeks I had created a simple 3D Star Trek game where you could fly in a giant sphere representing the Solar System and fly from planet to planet and even been chased by an enemy ship (but only with six or seven lines of ai). Also, I even managed to create my own 3D models for the first time.
After also creating another basic game with a sea landscape and some island and a pirate ship that could move about, I decided to work on my educational computer game for learning English.
While my initial enthusiasm was great and I started well. Eventually, my enthusiasm dropped and appeared in brief spurts, maybe this was due to the fact that the only place I could receive a wifi signal to connect to the Internet was from my bed, and this was an awful and uncomfortable setup for programming, as I couldn't sit-up as the table was to low, so I was always slouching. This went on for about three months, and I barely had anything to show for my time.
I don't know at what point I decided to try out BlitzMax, but even though at first I thought it was too fiddly, I eventually got hooked, especialy by it's more object orientated language, which is fantastic for me compared to Blitz3D which wasn't object-orientated.
Using BlitzMax also gave me the chance to start again with my educational game, with a new approach and a more modular design, where I keep everything seperate, like graphics, data, each of the game screens, the menus. This has and will help me, as code can easily be changed and new bits added and removed. However, the same problems of enthusiasm appeared and I found myself sometimes only doing one or two hours every week or even every fortnight.
I did manage to get back on track in September, when I moved to a newer and bigger flat, that it included it's own studio and a massive desk for me to work on. Work on my game continued well all through the month of September and for some part into October, and initial fears of how and from where I would get the graphics and music for my game where put to rest, when I decided to make my own graphics and actually found a cartoon style that looked good and I could actually draw (well except for the main characters, for whom I am still undecided of how I will draw them). I also found a couple of websites where people submit their sounds and music and these can then be legally used for commercial games and programs, all just for a possible mention in the credits.
However, programming did come to a halt during October, as financial worries and concerns where at the top of my head and I never managed to sit down and even do a decent hours worth of programming. This lack of work continued through November.
Finally, In December as mentioned in this blog, I finally took the plunge and changed from the Windows operating system to the Ubuntu version of Linux. This lead me on to a quest to find a high level programming language that I could work with on Linux, and then run on Windows.
My initial thoughts where to try the scripting language of Python and Pygame which is designed to help with making games in Python. But this language wasn't for me, with the forced indenting which wouldn't compile unless I got it exactly write and the general syntax and layout of the language.
I also tried some versions of the basic programing language, like Free Basic, but even though I liked it a bit, the lack of tutorials for the type of game I want to do, and the default graphic engine not being for commercial use, led me to try something different.
After playing around with a few other versions of basic (I can't remember all their names), I landed at Pure Basic, which even though I have only played around with it for a week, I think it could be a serious contender for me to use instead of BlitzMax, as it is easily setup in Linux and Windows, and using my dual-boot computer I can compile nearly (if not all) the same code for both operating systems. So here I am now, considering whether to continue with BlitzMax or switch to Pure Basic.
Any other suggestions for basic like and cross-compatible programing languages are welcome.
02 January, 2009
A guide to installing new themes on Ubuntu
I have written a small and simple guide showing how to install new themes on Ubuntu linux.
Click here for the article
Click here for the article
Another Guide: Installing the restricted extras in Ubuntu for MP3,DVD,Video and flash playback.
Here is yet another article I wrote for installing the restricted extras package in ubuntu, it also shows what to search for if you are a Kubuntu or Xubuntu user.
Click here for the article
Click here for the article
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