benArcen

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About benArcen

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  1. Team Building Thread

    Hi there! I've listened to the pod for several years now but never really posted much in the forums, not sure why just haven't. In any case I just heard about this jam on the last episode and at first I thought I'd try and put something together really quick by myself, I first thought it best to see if anyone else needs some help as right now it's getting near finals time at school and it's probably best that I don't get wrapped up for a week in something that is too time intensive. What I mean to say is, I have time to write some code but probably not enough time to design a game AND write some code. Anyway, I'm a Junior majoring in Computer Science w/ a concentration in game design and development. (I know my math(s)....kinda). I've done some level design work and a whole lot of testing along with personal projects. Right now, because I'm in school and I tend to get really focused on the language I'm currently studying/using most in my classes I can offer my services in the following programming languages: Python (Pygame or just python if from scratch or whatever module you'd like) UnityScript/C# I've recreated Mario in Pygame so I'm fairly familiar with it and python in general but that was a while ago. I've created several games in Unity3D and mostly use Unitys version of C# for my own stuff although I've used and studied JS before I prefer UnityScript. To be honest I'm not sure why anything but Unity would be used at this point for small games like this because it just sets up so much of the groundwork for you but there's something to be said for designing your own framework, I understand trust me lol. TLDR: Computer Science Student Able to commit some time to aide jam project/group Not choosy about project, just happy to be a part of it Python/C# Proficient Pixel Art/Some Graphic Design experience Pygame and Unity3D experience but able to work in other development environments. Send me an e-mail at [email protected] if you'd like some help! Also, I'm not just a developer, my concentration is both design and development. To be up front I am probably a designer first, developer second.
  2. Amateur Game Making Night

    I agree with that for sure. In the past I cannot remember using an array for anything other than storing a group of objects together so they could be iterated through whenever I needed. I could see it being useful for 2D tiling somehow but I'm not sure how that'd work out.
  3. Unity Questions Thread

    I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread where those who are getting started with Unity can go to ask questions about working in the engine. I write my script in C# so I suppose someone else will have to answer questions about Java/Unity Script. After I get out of class, studying, and homework I'm usually working in Unity and don't mind helping out. Unity does have an official Answers website where you can ask questions and get answers from the community but it does not lend itself to discussion and I remember not wanting to post questions there when I first began. I only ask the following of those asking questions because I really don't have a lot of experience with other development solutions other than Python and Pygame which basically requires you to code your own game loop and "engine". I've heard that Boo is similar to python so I may be able help you out there as well but I honestly don't see anyone choosing to use Boo over JS or C#... Questions should be concerned with Unity or:C#/JavaScript/Boo scripting Asset Store Development Tools Development tools not found in the Asset Store but used in conjunction with Unity (Importing assets, using pixel editor program to implement pixel-perfect camera setup...)
  4. Amateur Game Making Night

    //Declare an array of type int int[] myNumberArray; //set a variable for length of the array so the loop knows when to stop int arrayLength = 10; //this is a standard for loop in c# for(I = 0; I < arrayLength; I++) { //you can do whatever you wish with your array in this for loop myNumberArray[i] = I; } Can you post your code? I guess my question is why a foreach instead of a for loop? I see that in C# elements are not mutable in a foreach loop. I don't use them often so I'm not super familiar with them but from what I can tell a foreach loop is good for outputting the elements of a list, not for mutating them. For instance in Unity you could use it to monitor values in a list of variables by using a foreach loop and inside doing Debug.log(arrayElement). @danimo: I was thinking about starting a Unity questions thread seeing as there are quite a few people getting started and Unity being one of the more popular engines. Unity has an official Answers website but it's not somewhere I'd have a detailed discussion over time and I remember being hesitant to post my questions there starting out.
  5. 3 questions for those of you who work in the Industry

    I was working on a Biology degree but as soon as homework and studying was done I was at my computer writing code and working on projects, that's how I knew I was on the wrong path. I've only ever worked on independent projects but as far as worrying about your study track, I think it comes down to what's more important to you? I could really care less about having material goods and it's far more important to me to be happy as a human but that has a lot to do with my views on certain beliefs and philosophies. What I ultimately based my decision on was the fact that I wasn't really interested in that actual application of medicine, only the end result of making people feel better while ludology is something that I can have a conversation with anyone about. Also, I found that I enjoyed video games at a deeper level than anyone I had met at that point (I didn't know video games existed and didn't understand what was actually enthralling me). I was doing really well in biology also, straight A's in the several early semesters. The Computer Science advisors couldn't understand why I wanted to switch but I just felt like I was wasting my time and I felt like if I didn't switch I'd end up quitting because my heart wasn't in it.
  6. New people: Read this, say hi.

    New to forums myself and I find it difficult to keep up with any thread that is even moderately active because I'm too busy to check it usually. I think the forum has a system that lets you follow topics but I'm still not sure how someone would make sure to not miss posts directed towards themselves or replies to posts they posted earlier... advice?
  7. Amateur Game Making Night

    One of the defining mistakes that beginners make when it comes to game design is not taking into consideration scope. In fact, I'm pretty sure that getting in way over your head is akin to how nearly everyone has a disastrous first love. I've heard that there are theories that "first love" is an evolutionary process we've acquired to introduce us to pitfalls of poor mate selection at an early age in development so we avoid making the mistake in the future when it counts. When it comes to "first loves" I'm sure there are a few people who hit it out of the park the first try and have a happy life. However, like most people, what usually happens is that it teaches valuable lessons and hangs around in some fashion for a long time. What I'm trying to communicate is that it's important to start small for a good number of reasons, one of the major reasons is that a lot of folk who start up end up never finishing anything, ever. That leads to frustrations which in turn leads to giving up. Start small, really small. Pong is a good start and if you feel like it's boring then try spicing it up but resist the temptation to start designing a multi-hour RPG or minecraft clone after you learn about OOP or classes, you'll struggle and probably give up due to frustration. Remember that it's a process and you're never going to know everything because it's an art and is still being innovated upon, that's part of the fun at least in my case. It's not about talent or determination, it's about not having a firm grasp of how long it may take to develop content. A lot of the games developed out there have many workers per team and even they usually underestimate the scope of their ideas. I've been making games for about a year and a half and only recently completed my first solo project but I learned a lot by working on different aspects of development on different projects after an extended period of time. However, finishing a game was very satisfying and reaffirming so I highly recommend biting off only that which you are able to chew comfortably, there's no rush! I'm new to using forums so I have some questions about some ideas I have: 1. How would I go about submitting a topic for sticky? Is there someone in charge I could speak with? 2. What is a good way to keep track of people who reply to my posts? I don't want to ignore someone who may have asked a question due to my ignorance. Is there software that is available or maybe the forum itself has an option to notify you if someone quotes or replies to your post?
  8. Video Game mechanics to retire

    Regarding morality systems... I think the problem is what was described in previous posts on the subject of modern games that feature these systems. Just so it's known, I like these systems at time like in the Mass Effect games. However, I honestly can't say that I felt very much that my choices were not really all that meaningful because I felt that as if I was just choosing from a list someone else had already chose as appropriate. Usually I chose from the options based on the choices available instead of any rationale or decision making process. What I'm getting at is that these types of games don't really have a morality system but more like reaction systems. It's fake decision making which is what makes games that feature truly emergent gameplay so interesting. The designer, writer, or one of the devs already made all the decisions while designing the game. I feel like this is what makes the standard morality system feel cheap and dated. As far as an alternative? I feel like one way to accomplish this is to keep the player in the dark as to how their decisions are actually influencing the game. This would require that the player to be ignorant of the system's logic. This will take away the feeling of not having to make true and meaningful choices and leaves the door open for feelings of regret or pride based on previous choices made which are very strong emotions for a video game to be able to tug at. Mass Effect did this in a strange way, based on your decisions, . The problem is that it felt like a lottery at best. My choices didn't really have that much meaning, it was a domino effect. At a certain point in the chain I didn't really feel like my having helped a stripper had anything to do with whether someone lived or died months later... Also, I agree the dialog tree doesn't help to make me feel like I'm making meaningful decisions. Maybe separating the dialog from the morality system somehow would feel better. The morality system could be manipulated according to how the player makes use of environmental interaction and action based mechanics rather then sentence selection. Assuming that these mechanics allow for their usage to be diverse enough to either mask their affect on the game or they are so versatile that it would be difficult for any one player to map usage to result, maybe it could work.
  9. Amateur Game Making Night

    Unity for 2D development, in the version 4 update, became much more digestible for beginners. Before update 4 you basically had to use a 3D environment, flatten a camera's view, and use some math to make sure everything was pixel perfect. For someone like me starting out before update 4 it was a nightmare. However, now almost everything has a "2D" version. There were tools made by Unity App devs that automated 3D to 2D scene conversion and now they're basically irrelevant except for some importing features which are probably still useful. I'm not sure if they changed that too. I mention this because I read that some forum members are checking out tutorials. I'm just throwing out a warning so they don't get confused and I urge that you watch a tutorial that matches the version of Unity you are working with. Otherwise you might be very confused which can lead to frustrations I dealt with when starting out. If anyone has a question I'm not a Unity guru, especially with update 4 because I haven't worked in it much aside from toying with the new 2D code, but I do have a good bit of experience making games inside the engine and I can probably answer most questions that don't get to technical concerning Unity's internal structure.
  10. Amateur Game Making Night

    Hi, long time listener, new forum member. I'd be into this as long as the deadlines aren't super strict. I'm studying Computer Science at school with a concentration in game design and development. I would be willing to volunteer my services to anyone who needs a programmer. Also, I've worked on a few projects previously as well as many small recreations of classic games by my lonesome. I'm familiar with a few different languages. I've never actually joined a forum before, always just lurk and read topics, am I doing this wrong? lol
  11. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Hello everyone I've been listening to thumbs for a few years now I suppose and with the guys shamelessly plugging the forums I decided it was time to join in lol. I finished USAF enlistment almost 2 years ago and continued pursuing my degree at ULL in Computer Science w/ concentration in Game D&D. I'm approaching my junior year and loving it. As far as game D&D is concerned I have worked as a tester on a few PS3 titles but I'm more into design and development than I am actually into playing at this point. I've worked on a few small projects volunteering as a programmer that were never finished but proved to be valuable experiences plus I kept my code for later use lol. I'm always open for anything and I'm interested in experience more than anything else. I do still play a good bit of game and I'm up for game nights or team based games. I'm actively playing the following: Dota2: I have actually stopped playing because I started late and almost every match one or more players just drops from the game. I've been told this is offset by gold rate increases but it doesn't seem to help that much. I could just be unaware of how to utilize the increase. That being said I practiced via co-op bot matches quite a bit and I feel like I'm a decent player. If a team has an open spot or looking to bring someone up that would be cool. About the only thing I'm not decent at is item choice because I haven't learned the progressions yet. DayZ: I play from time to time but I'm kinda waiting for the devs to fix some of the more glaring issues as well as refine some of the systems. I do think it's a really interesting game but at this point it just makes me super nervous and jumpy lol. I don't know anyone else who plays this so playing with other members would be rad. TF2: Still good, that is all. Path of Exile: I tried this out way back during the beta and recently installed the steam full version. It's diablo 2 refreshed and refined. I played a lot of D2 so it's losing it's appeal pretty quick. If I'm missing some element I'm not aware of please let me know.