Today marks the final day! As of the time I am releasing this blog, Prism has officially been released. However that doesn't mean that there wasn't much to do today. Today our final focus was to finalize the game completely, fix as many minor bugs as possible and optimize and comment the entire code. I also got together all of our 180+ files for our external documentation. Thank you for this ride! It was incredibly awesome to make Prism with a group of such good coders and collaborators. I'm happy to call everyone on Foo Games my teammate. With that being said, I hope everyone has a GREAT time playing Prism!
Day 19, the day that we all have been waiting for. Unfortunately this must come to an end because it is time to release Prism into the world. Together we wrote over 4500 lines of code, 190+ files in the directory which included a database. We created what we set out to make. I am so proud of the guys, their efforts made the experience much more entertaining. We had our peaks and our lows but we went through it together. Thanks for keeping up with our crazy announcements and watching all the videos. I had a great time working on this project and I hope you enjoy playing the game.
Today is the last time of development :( After excessive commenting, bug fixing, crashes, and testing totaling about 8 hours of work today it makes me sad, but happy, to announce the launch of Prism. I'm so happy I got to be a part of this adventure and that I had such an amazing team. It was truly inspiring being surrounded by such hardworking and creative minds and I hope in the future I can do something like this again. Thank you all for keeping up to date on and prism. Please remember all to 'Let The Light In'.
Today is the Final Day. Prism's development is finished-- we're just playtesting the game to work out or find any kinks in the code. It's a rather bittersweet moment I think. I'm really, really proud of the team and of what we've produced, I'm just disappointed that it's over already. I hope that in the future that we get to work on something like this again, because I've had such an amazing time! We've really done quite an amazing job in my opinion. I know this paragraph is super choppy but frankly, I don't care. It's not like an English teacher will be reading this or anything. Anyways, final thoughts-- This was awesome. I hope everyone who plays Prism enjoys it as much as we've enjoyed making it.
Today I worked on the final component for our main game - bugfixing and testing! It's a tiresome process, but Shot in the Dark is almost done! Along with that, I got a brief idea of what to write for my part of the Final report, and finalized it tonight.
These few days have been awesome for the team. Maged and Adam's components are essentially done barring some optimization and minor bug fixing. Seb and I finished ALL the collision for the arcade, every nook and cranny have some sort of collision to it so you can't just phase through the objects. I also continued working on a VERY VERY important feature that basically sets us apart from the rest of the groups. If I can execute it flawlessly, it will be amazing.
Today was a slower day. Worked on double checking code and making sure everything worked as intended.
Today, collision was essentially finished— and i know, i know, it’s late. We’ve been focusing on other, much more important things. We added a secret function that you’ll see in-game that really adds to the atmosphere of Prism, just for aesthetic. Anyways, excited for the 14th!
Today, Alden and I suffered a tragedy.
Prism encountered a horrifically game-breaking bug unlike any we've seen in the development stages thus far-- or ever for that matter. Alden and I have been slaving away for 3 hours. It began at 12:15AM, and at the time of posting this it is now 3:15AM. However, if it weren't for this ungodly, painstakingly horrible bug, Prism would be broken completely, as playing KeyMatcher would be utterly impossible. A glimpse of light in the darkness, we discovered hints of a similar bug in Adam's game... but that sounds like tomorrow's problem-- or well... today's problem I guess.
It's ya boy, Sebastian-- signing out. If you don't hear from me again, I'm probably still passed out from exhaustion.
Peace! (Thanks for the support Alden)
Today I finalized Shot in the Dark with it's controls, boundaries, and other essentials of the game. I also added additional quality of life changes such as sound effects and optimization. The game is really starting to feel alive!
Today, I officially broke Prism. I left FooGames after I added a monumental feature. Kidding of course, I would never abandon this game, we all worked very hard for its release and I want to see it through to the end! Also I kinda sorta maybe fiddled with the SQL language to do some crazy stuff as seen in the patch notes page that will change the scope of the game forever. It's a feature found in some games as buggy but executed into Prism perfectly. SOON! You will find out about all these hidden gems. We also are releasing a closed beta testing for Prism, keep an eye out for announcements!
Confession day, I haven't been commenting, but I'm a changed man. Comments here, comments there, comments everywhere!
I also made worked on creating a map for the component I'm working on ALSO IT'S ANIMATED WOOO!
Today, I overhauled KeyMatcher and gave it a fresh new look, one that we'll be keeping under wraps for now and for the forseeable future ; ) I also put extensive effort into LightPong, and am proud to say it is nearly done. It was quite a day-- I fixed a problem that has taken me 3 days to figure out, (and I know, how awful, but we delegated our time properly don't worry.) and I have never felt more catharsis in my life.
Although I didn't speak to the team much today, on my own I created a prototype for the point system in Shot in the Dark. I also went to the extent with fully commenting my code, and going over comments and redoing them where needed.
Today, Sebastian and I continued working on the arcade, he created something really special that really encompasses the story being told. We are also working on a forum, which really will allow players to submit feedback and ideas. Moreover we may do a closed beta release if we finish ahead of schedule. I may or may not have written a python script to utilize an sqlite3 database for something extremely unique and game changing?! All will be revealed soon......
Today was a slower day. I spend most of my time optimizing my portion of the game and putting finishing touches. Will soon branch out and bring other stuff to the game. Stay tuned!
Today, Alden and I worked together on polishing the arcade up and setting up deadlines for some final goals we want to achieve for Prism before release. We also are working on a forum, to allow people to ask questions and get answers from either the community or us, and also to allow people to get information they may not have been able to find on our regular site or in-game. I also did minor work on the one of the two remaining components of Prism. Aiming for tomorrow or Thursday to be done with that.
Today I made HUGE progress on how my arcade game works, the functionalities of it and the scoring. I am really excited for the entire game to go live, it's really coming together! Sadly, I'm forced not to spoil anything, so I hope you're as excited as I am!
Today, was an amazing day for the team! The guys really pulled together to fix some bugs while I took a break. They managed to figure out some impressive solutions and also include some more math into the game. This math makes one of the pieces of Prism so much more fun and if you haven't already checked out the new update video, you should do so now! Seb highlighted some subtle menu changes, showcases the map and also RELEASED the arcade game names!!!!
Today I can finally say, Shadow boxing is functionally complete. All that's left are the visuals, but I'm very happy where the game is and now I just need to make the game slightly easier for the average person. Now I'm beginning to work alongside seb on light pong. Stay tuned!
Today I implemented some more pieces into Prism's story, and after doing so began working on the final component of Prism. Maged and I had encouraging success doing so, and expect to be done in the next day or two. So, Prism is nearly complete!
Today I continued working on one of the main platforming aspects of the arcade game I am currently working on. Alden's assistance on the code really helped me out (thanks again!). I also aimed to assist Seb with his main map.
Today, Seb and I worked on the last component of Prism, we also had an early morning because we introduced PATCH NOTES! We use this page to show all the finer details we may fix, to update everyone on some of the bugs we found while coding. We also use this as a platform to go back to previous versions and recognize the implementation errors we've made from previous versions. Seb has been on the grind lately and he has added so many features to Prism since version 0.0.5 -- STAY TUNED for version 0.0.6 highlighting all these updates!!!
No major leaps, but a lot of fine tuning on the game. Fixed a major lag bug and fine tuned functions to be more universal throughout the game. Tomorrow and after tomorrow I plan on finishing all basic mechanics and interactions of the beat-em-up. Stay tuned!!!
Today Alden and I put massive work into one of the FINAL components of Prism, as well as put together a Patch Notes section on the website for those curious of what Prism's development has been like. Patch Notes features more heavily in-depth descriptions of what changed in each version of Prism and also, conveniently, effectively shows Foo Games' version control for the game. Furthermore, I got deeper into implementing a crucial gameplay system, as well as added more speech for Dylan in-game. He now has the ability to 'think' as well-- these texts boxes will appear at the top of the screen and aid the player in furthering their progression into Prism's story! I also began implementing the story fully into the game (as things in the game change as the story progresses) and had encouraging success. Prism Alpha is well underway!
Today I worked on creating one of the main arcade game control functionalities. Alden helped me out via VSCODE on the topic and we got together a working build. Good stuff, Alden!
Today, I received an overwhelming amount of support from the guys for helping them with their code! Thanks team, we all deserve it! Secondly, I spent time Adam working on the third custom arcade game, we shot ideas back and forth and we are very excited to showcase it soon. Lastly, me and Seb made some changes to the menu and arcade lobby to provide a more realistic experience, Seb made an amazing video demonstrating these updates, great job Seb!
Call me Newton cause I feel like I've just discovered physics! Just implemented some ideas I never even thought about until 2-3 days ago and they're looking awesome. Seb just cooked up some of the final assets for my portion and I've got to say, thank you Seb! Shoutout to Adam & Alden also because they've been underrated this whole time. Foo Games will blow all your minds cause "oh, yeah. it's all coming together"
I completed the main map, finally, and reworked and compressed the SFX. I finished the art of Maged's component of Prism, I reworked the main menu and re-made the assets to give it a fresh new look, and Alden & Adam had encouraging success with a major component of Prism. Foo Games is gearing up to blow the world away on April 14th!
Today was another full day of coding. I designed core components of my arcade game's controls and planned out what is still required for me to create for the rest of the game. I also gave Seb my thoughts on the new Trailer that was released.
Today I continued working on the main menu and main arcade lobby. With Seb's help, him and I updated the main page of the website. In other news, we released our first official game trailer check it out!
So we've decided to shut down the entire studio. Thanks for all the support, but unfortunately it's time to go :( April Fools! The game is nearing completion and I can say with confidence it's all coming together. Stay tuned!!
Unfortunately, we at Foo Games have decided to shut down production due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We apologize for any disappointment and intend to fully resume production once it is deemed safe. KIDDING Today I spent the morning putting together Prism's official trailer! It has been released on our YouTube Channel for the world to see. In other news, I finalized some assets of Maged's components of Prism, and began working on the final component of Prism! I think it's safe to say that Prism is going to be in Alpha very, very soon!
Today was actually my first day of coding! Little late into the development process, but I am currently working on one of the final core components of Prism. I've developed the core concepts, and am just currently adjusting its playability.
Today was a good day for me, I spent time looking at other Pygame examples on forums to add new implementations for our game, I also worked on polishing up the menu.
Final touches of Shadow Boxing are coming in. Get excited people, cause the team will blow your mind like never before. Stay tuned!
Today, I finally got back into coding! I got the map and the movement to look exactly how I wanted, and also worked on reducing the file sizes of Prism's sound effects. I also integrated other Foo Games members' changes to Prism into the main code, and it all runs fluidly.
Today marks the halfway point for the software development process. After finalizing our team's scope document and UML diagram, I finally got to start actually coding. I got whatever progress was on one of the final arcade games and caught myself up on the game's basics.
Today I spent most of my time fixing minor bug changes and adding more stuff to the main menu. I also tested some more mechanics which could potentially be placed in our game. More to come in the following days!
Today was a huge day for the team. Seb developed some new textures for the beat-em-up, which will now be referred to as (DRUM ROLL) ---------------------- "SHADOW BOXING"! ---------------------------------------- New media coming soon.
Today, I spent most of my time putting the finishing touches of the art of Maged's portion of Prism, as well as finally setting up the collision of the Arcade. Now that these two tasks are finally out of the way, I can get into the thick of it and get back to coding! Tomorrow, I'm expecting to get a lot of work done code-wise and SFX-wise, and hopefully, we can finally put Prism into Alpha!
After meeting with the client, me and the team got together again and discussed and actually put together the beginning of the game! I managed to finish the UML in time for revision and finishing touches for the weekend, and got some edits done on the scope document.
Today, I built upon Seb's basic pause menu. At first it only displayed the string 'PAUSED' but now I have added buttons to compliment it with features like and options menu to enable/disable music and also the ability to quit. I have also added the enabling/disabling music in the main menu, the main menu is not yet complete, but you can check out the pause menu on the Prism announcements page.
Had an excellent meeting with our client. Discussed with some points of improvement as well as the future of Prism's direction and its media. Aside from that, I, with the help of my team, managed to integrate the beat-em-up into the main game and have sucessfully implemented combat.
Today we finally started putting all the key components of Prism together, and I continued my work on the graphic side of things. I refined some of Prism's code as well as made some adjustments to sounds and such. Pretty productive day, and it's quite nice to see Prism really starting to come together-- It's like music to my ears. It's nice sometimes to take a step back from coding, pause, and focus on what really needs to be fixed.
I continued to work on the group’s UML, and double checked our company’s google drive. I cleaned it up to make it look a bit more presentable. Aiming to finish the UML by Monday.
Today, I collaborated with Seb to create new artwork for Prism. This artwork will be released in the near future on our media page. Secondly, I redesigned the main menu to incorporate the game colours as that was long overdue. Furthermore, I continued working on the component I had mentioned above and it is turning out nicely, I fixed a major bug that caused lag to the game. All this and more will be revealed soon, keep an eye out!
Today the team and I made beautiful progress on the development of the beat-em-up game. Not only can the character attack, but the enemies also take damage! Really exited to begin fleshing out this game now that the main mechanics have been built.
Today I yet again focused on graphics and am proud to say that the Arcade's final look is really starting to piece together. I also helped Maged with his beat-em-up game, as well as implemented the final pieces of Dylan's character art into Prism-- but I am planning on getting back into full coding mode again tomorrow.
After finalizing the GANTT chart for our group, I finished the scope document for our project today. I ran it by the group for proofreading to improve its insight in the project. Afterwards, I got a start on our group’s UML diagram.
Today was a slow day for me, I took a break from collision detection for the main map as Seb is re-designing it! I spent today working on another component of the game. This component is one of many pieces contributing towards the overall look of Prism!
Today I gave enemies animations and improved on basic collision detection. I began implementing attacks and testing out various hit-boxes with the player's punch. Seb also contributed to my portion by developing graphics for my game. Thank you Seb!!
Today I followed what I did yesterday, and focused heavily on graphics. I am also rebuilding Prism's main map-- to make it easier to code collision detection. Ideally, this map will be even better than the previous!
Today my focus was on the scope document, I am currently aiming to finish it for the group by tomorrow to work ahead and start actually coding with the rest of the group. Other than that I finalized the GANTT for the whole group and got everyone on track for the remainder of the week.
I spent most of today re-coding the lobby of the game. I realized that I could write the code more efficiently given my knowledge, and have begun to do so. I tried implementing more object-oriented methods to add more re-usability and functionality. I re-wrote my XML script because it was ineffective in detecting collisions. This taught me a lot about my approach towards problem solving some aspects of this game. Finally, I trialed the use of an SQLite3 database for future components in the game. It is a really powerful tool and may enable me to do some cool things in the future.
Today I managed to get the basis for enemy on player collision detection and some primitive A.I going. The team made some beautiful assets for my portion of the game and I'm really excited to begin implementing attacks into the game.
Today I put most of my focus into the graphic design, music, and SFX of Prism. I had very encouraging success and am proud to say that there is very little left to do in the SFX and Music departments regarding Prism. Also, I re-coded parts of what I coded yesterday, for efficiency and easier integration into Prism's main game. In very, very exciting news-- Prism's animation for the main portion of the game is complete! Today was a great day for development!
Our group just had our March Break, so I got the group together and got everyone back on track for our development of Prism. I set some goals for ourselves to accomplish by the end of the week and ran it by everyone. After we all have our tasks together, I continued on our Scope document and aim to finish it soon for the group.
Today was our first back from March Break. I spent most of my time editing the website based on our teacher's comments and suggestions. I also got back to fixing the collision detection bugs that I created over before the break.
Today the team and I did our first ever online work session! I fixed up the hit-boxes on the beat-em-up and added the ability to have walking animations now. I'm really proud of how the game is progressing thanks to the work put in by the team and I.
We're back from March Break, technically. Foo Games' first day back in the studio for Prism was a surprisingly productive one. I myself managed to finish one of the core components of the game, minus some minor polishing. I also got back to work on the Sprites in Prism, and made some good progress. I'm glad to see Prism really starting to come together.
We are making really good progress as of now! We got together as a group to witness the main hub area controls in the game (almost) complete with graphics and movement. After finalizing our GANTT chart, I decided to create a test plan for us to help improve our game and figure out what exactly is needed. More to come. .
Day 4 was a vital day for figuring out our collision detection for the hub. Sebastian and I, along with our teacher went over several possibilities to implement collision detection efficiently. After several variations we landed on the ideal one. With this method I wrote a simple python script to extract all the x and y coordinates from the map we built.
Today the team showed some amazing progress on the visuals. I've begun developing attacking for my portion of the work and it's coming along nicely.
Today Alden and I worked towards determining and creating an efficient method of collision detection. After consulting with our teacher, we discovered a method that will allow us to create Prism much quicker and allow it to run faster when put into effect.
Today I got with the rest of the Foo Games team and discussed the main components of the arcade games and topics such as what they’re gonna look like and basic pseudo code. We now have a good grasp on what to do with our game and the tasks we need to tackle in order to succeed.
Today was an important day, the team and I hashed out ideas on a white board and discussed several options to implement our ideas. We managed to figure out the basic foundation for the ideas, and are now beginning to implement them over the next few days. I also changed the theme of the website to reflect more on the colours of the game.
Today me and the team fleshed out even more individual components of Prism. The actual back-end development still on the way.
Today the team and I got together to discuss the core components of Prism and the logistics of how they will operate, as well as begun the very early stages of development of one of the said core components. Prism is firing on all cylinders development-wise, and those anxious to see more can expect more to come in the near future.
After getting caught up with the rest of the group, I proceeded to start the Preliminary Scope document. I reviewed the GANTT chart and made adjustments where needed.
Day 2 was a slow day. I spent my time working with sprites and an idea that could change the look of our game. I was proceeding with caution as I do not want to over-complicate the game, given the time restraints. I also implemented Sebastian’s concept into the application for testing and debugging purposes.
Learned new things on classes that I believe have a place in our project. Continuing with the beat-em-up for now. Progress is steady
We had a much more constricted timeframe today, but I still managed to perfect the movement / camera style that will be used ingame. I’m very excited to see this game slowly get put together over the following weeks, and I’m eager to see all the attention to detail us here at Foo Games will put into Prism.
Today I created a basic GANTT chart for the Foo Games team. I managed to get a good hold of the events we need to take in order to succeed in the project, including but not limited to deadlines, workings and goals for us to complete/fulfill. I ran it by the team to get everyone on track.
Today was a busy day for me. I optimized the menu that I built over the weekend. I rewrote classes to implement more functionality and re-usability. I also showed the team how my menu worked and how we can implement our ideas around it.
First day of coding. Nowhere near done, but really feel it coming together. I started working on a beat-em-up type game. Movement is coming along nicely and have planned some techniques out for the side scrolling aspect of the map.
Today, with the help of the the rest of the Foo Games team, I managed to cobble together the first working build of the "Main Hub" esque area that will be in the game Prism. I also was able to create a working version of the camera movement system for the game, which has really excited us as a team to really delve into development for the rest of Prism.