Hehe, I have forgotten to tell you, that some time ago, with some memory help from the SharpUsersClub forum, I finally found the original classic game to which my Bug Blaster "re-make" is based on.
The original was a game called Cosmic Jailbreak, and it was released for the Commodore Vic-20 in the beginning of the 80'ies. :D
And information about it is almost non-existent... But I found one Youtube video which contains a short piece of gameplay footage from it:
The video has 3 games in it, Cosmic Jailbreak starts at 1:50.
All that is needed is a distant memory of something, and by tuning into that memory, and into the idea or archetype that make up that memory, one can accurately reproduce that something in the present. For all memories are actually made of the same substance as ideas; and so both can be channeled into your logical mind, and transformed into physical manifestations in this world.
And although this is just the first Beta/Test Version (v0.9), things are already looking quite promising. :) It's easy to use, the menus are simple, and the game engine is fast.
There are still some small issues in it, like a few missing features, and some work is still needed to improve certain parts, but I think it's good enough for public testing already.
Click that link, and scroll down a little bit, until you see the entry for BlitzPlus. If it's still free, the price will say "Free for a Limited Time!". Then just follow the instructions there on how to download and register it.
I just found out about this a few days ago, and I don't know long it will stay free. But go and get it while you still can. :)
Okay, so it now looks like it won't be ready during October either. :D Still need some extra time to finish it.
Right now the program status is this: The Editor itself is now almost ready. The menus work 100%, the graphics are 100% done, and all sorts of data handling and load/save routines are ready and working... But the Game Engine itself is still unfinished. And as long as the Engine isn't ready, the Editor can't produce any meaningful results (games).
So right now I'm making the Game Engine, together with 4 so called "Visual Editors", which will then allow quick and easy "Drag&Drop"-style mouse editing of any part of the game. Of these Visual Editors one is 100% finished, another one is 75% finished, and the remaining two are in the beginning stages. But when these 4 are ready, then so too will be most of the Game Engine routines, and with that: the Program itself.
But it's hard to say how long it'll take to make them ready. I would again like to say "one month, hopefully sooner"... ...but since I have already used that phrase, I'll now instead say: "Two months at most, hopefully sooner...and at one of these days it'll just be Ready, and like a Lighting Strike from the Heavens will be the day of it's coming. You can't know for sure when it'll happen...One day it'll just stand there, as if it always had been."
Okay, here is the current state of the "game creator" project:
I'll finish the program and release it during this coming month, which is October.
Originally I imagined that it would already be ready this month (September), but I have underestimated the size and complexity of the program. Some features that I imagined could be programmed in just a few hours, instead take a few days. And so the release of this thing has been delayed time after time. :)
This is the biggest program I have ever done, and more complicated than all my other programs put together. And now, after doing some 75% of it, I realize that maybe it would have been better to leave some advanced features out from the first version, and instead add them later, so that the code wouldn't become so huge and complex. But it's too late to worry about it, what has been started, must be finished.
But now, when the finish line is already visible in the horizon, I know that I can do it. Just a "few weeks more", as the saying goes, and it will be ready. :D And as you know, I have now said that several times already, but this time I think it really will be true. Sometimes during October, sooner or later, it will be ready. Hopefully sooner.
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And then starts the public beta-testing period, which means that all you brave volunteers out there can then test the program, to see that it works as intented.
And all who are interested to try it out, can already start making some graphic and sound files ready... The graphics files must be in PNG or BMP format, and the sound files in MP3 or WAV format. Name the graphics files "image1", "image2" and so on, and the sound files "sound1", "sound2", and so on.
But do not try to do anything too ambitious just yet, just get some basic resources ready, if you want to test the Beta-version.
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Okay that's all for now. I shall now concentrate finishing this project, so that it finally gets done. :)
Here's a nice video, which shows random footage from several old Amiga games. :)
Back then all games were like that; almost everything was presented using 2D graphics. Games were simple, very easy to learn, and fun.
And if you now take a closer look at some of those games, you'll notice that many seem quite similar...only the graphics and the sounds are different, but otherwise they look like almost the same game...and if you could get the game engine from one these games, you could then quite easily create a new game by just changing the graphics, the sounds and the level design.
And this is exactly the idea behind my current project: I will provide you the game engine, and an easy-to-use "visual editor program", which together form a "game creation kit" of sorts. So this way you'll already have the actual game "program" in your hands. The only thing that you have do, is to provide the graphic and sound files, and then you use the editor to "build" any game you wish.
So it'll be a little bit like Windows Movie Maker...in it too the user just needs to provide the graphic images and sound files, and then put them together, and bang, a new video is born. No programming skills needed, just creativity.
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And soon it'll be ready. Hopefully. Just a few weeks more. Stay excited. :D
The main thing here is that orange arrow under the letters... At first glance it looks like a smiling mouth or something...
But when you pay closer attention to it, you'll notice that the arrow starts from the letter "A" and ends at the letter "O". So it points from A to O. AO = Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.
Also notice how the letter "Z" seems to "jump up" a little bit in order to give more space to the arrow's head. And the letter "Z" of course is the "code letter" for "God"; Z=156, God=156.
So, not even God can avoid the Beginning and the End. Because in the beginning God is born, and in the End he/she/it will die, in order to be born again.
The nature of reality is like an endless stream of Alphas and Omegas, "A"s and "O"s, which form a stream of "AOAOAOAOAOAOAOAO"s, or , if we use binary code, "1010101010101010101010"s. This "AO data stream" is the "program code" of reality, and "God" is the self-conscious program execution process which/who experiences and creates this code; and this is the purpose of existence for him/her/it/us.
And all that was needed to kill him was a topless woman with a chainsaw. :D
We have some great symbolism in this video: First the cross is destroyed, this means the end Christianity. And after this the woman makes a "jesus pose"; this symbolises the Divine Feminine, which has now replaced the old patriarchal religions.
Great video, so spread it around.
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And about my latest programming project, I think it'll be delayed until next month after all. It's so huge, and other things have taken my time... But I'll make it, eventually. :)
The blueprints and the data file structure for my "game maker program" are now ready, and this means the actual coding/programming process will now start. So we are entering the critical phase here. :)
Some of the program routines can be copied from my older programs, but a lot of new ones must be made as well. And I don't know how hard those new routines will be. But in theory I should be able to make them. So let's hope everything goes well...
I'll try to get the first version ready during this month. And that will be the Beta version; which allows me and everyone else out there to test the capabilities of the program, and to find bugs, and so on. And gradually the program will then evolve from there.
Right now it looks like that the first release will be mainly a "shoot 'em up construction kit" type of program...so it has been designed to make 2D shooting games, with support for vertical and horizontal scrolling, as well as static screens. This is probably the easiest game type to make an editor for, so this is why I'm making this module first...and then later I'll add more features to this "basic engine", so that the user can create as many different game types as possible.
But more info will come later, as the program neares completion.
