Start

It’s been a looong time since I last updated my blog. I guess real life was just catching up with me. So, what prompt me to even start blogging again? Funnily, it’s Google+.

These couple of days I’ve posted several long post there, reviewing some stuff like the new Google+ games or my new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. And guess what? I really enjoyed writing them, even to the point that I got worried my post will be too long or something. I don’t know, may be because I have several followers whom I don’t know personally, but I knew will be reading (or at least noticing) my post. Or, well, it could be that it’s not really a blogging platform, thus I don’t need to get worried about stuff like formating or layouting, so I can simply focus on the content. And, well, I started to have more and more things I wanted to tell world about.

Anyway, I decided to give blogging a try once more, and will be far less caring about the layout. Hell, may be I’ll just copy my post from Google+ to this blog so I totally wouldn’t give a damn to the post layout. Let’s start, shall we?

So, tonight I decided to take my Wacom Bamboo and have some artistic moments. Funnily, I found out that I’m more focused when I draw than when I code something. May be because drawing is a much shorter activity, I have a certain goal (image) in mind and I simply pursued it. While coding is something that is more continuous, more and more goal will keep showing up as I code.

Oh, and I just finished the title logo for my game! =D

*…now how the hell do I insert a picture to this post…*

My next game title

*…ah, there you go!* Yep, it’s a game about Komodo, though more detail will have to wait =)

Oh, BTW, my Google+ account is https://plus.google.com/114566397062137134211

Long Time No See!

Whew, mid tests are finally done, (there’s still one though, but it wouldn’t really matter) so I can get back to my projects and working on this blog.

So, since it’s been around 2 weeks with almost no update, I’ll work hard this week, first is a review of Heroes latest 2 episodes, it’s under work now, should be up real soon. Next should be another review for Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #003, I haven’t got the time to finish the draft, should be finished soon too. Oh, and since I just get my hands on one of Th series, The Sorceress, I’ll write a review about it once I’m done.

Well, other then that, I think I’ll start some reviews about game, since I’ve just finished 2 shooters, Crysis and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas, and both of them are good games! Oh, and currently I’m being addicted ANNO 1404: Dawn of Discovery as well as Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Sigh, both of them takes some times to complete, not to mention ANNO 1404 sandbox mode @.@

And not just that, I’ve got some plans regarding my projects. I’ll try to finish up my Platformer Engine by the end of November (and I’ve just got a new idea for Collision Detection engine, which of course I’ll share with you guys) then I’ll move on to 3D, probably using Direct3D instead of XNA. Feel a bit rushed, but I’ve just come to a realisation, that by the end of this term, my skill will almost be the same with my classmates(I mean, they tackled Dynamic Array in a single lesson, while it takes me some months before I get into that), so I figure I need another approach to stay above them. Oh, and I also got to learn some PHP, since I’ve just got another project using it.

Well, see you in my next review, then!

“Why don’t you put Google AdSense on it?”

Whew, been some times since I rant here. So, it’s time for some rant!

Anyway, I’ve just started actively blogging in the last 2 weeks, so, in order to use my time efficiently, I’ve decided to bring my laptop to my class and create my post there (well, I suppose it is much more useful than the class I’m taking @.@) So, my classmates of course see me and my blog. Guess what their first reaction is. It’s Why don’t you put google AdSense on it?

That comment has taken me by surprise, since, well, I can’t say it never crossed my mind to put ad on this blog, but this blog is never intended to be my income source. I enjoyed doing this, because you see, I really need a place where I can put my serious thought and people might read it.  So, yeah, my biggest reward is when someone actually reads all the stuff I’m posting, not when I make any money from writing this. Beside, the moment I started to use this blog to generate some money, I will start posting some things that is interesting to the world, but not to me (like politics, etc) so this blog will not serve its initial purpose anymore.

Call me an idealist, but I hate Ad on website, especially a website on free host, it’s disturbing to anyone who browse the site (and also, internet is supposed to be free  ^^). Not to mention that anyone who browse the site may have limited connection speed, and having ad will only slow them down.

Bottom line,  don’t worry, I won’t put any ad on this site. =)

Mini: DotA, House S06, Heroes S04, Ultimate Comics Armor Wars #1

Huh, plenty of things are happening (and going to happen) these days, and I feel too lazy to cover all of them in detail. So, I came up with the idea of Mini post, where I just put the summary of my thoughts there. Well, here we go, first on the list is DotA!

An epic picture depicting an epic battle

DotA v6.63 maps has just been released, and with it, comes another amazing loading screen by kunkka. This one features another battle between the Sentinel, with Stone Giant, Omniknight, Enchantress, Twin Headed Dragon, and Juggernaut on their side, and the Scourge with Chaos Knight, Slithereen Guard, Queen of Pain, Death Prophet and some guy in the back I do not know (the one fighting Twin Headed Dragon, anyone know who he is?). Keep up the amazing job, Kunkka ^^

For those who are interested in getting the full size of the picture, you can get it on Kunkka’s DeviantART here.

Heroes Season 4 Episode 1

Heroes Season 4 Episode 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next on the list is Heroes! Heroes comes back this year on season 4, with its fifth volume, named Redemption (I hope it’s about the writer trying to redeem themselves). Well, we don’t have to wait too long, since it’s going to be aired soon on september 21, and not to mention that it will have 2 episodes on a single day, with the first episode title is Orientation, while the second one is Jump, Push, Fall.

 
And then, another TV Show that will air on september 21 is House!

House Season 6 Episode 1

House engages in a battle of wits and wills against the attending physician in charge of his detox program. When he starts to lose, House resorts to blackmail to gain the upper hand.

Yeah, House Season 6 will also air soon, and it will continue directly from the last season where House discover he is hallucinating and went to a rehabilitation facility. Though, the second episode is about House’s homecoming to Princeton Plainsboro hospital, rendering this event pretty much a filler. Oh, and not to mention, much like heroes, this one will be a 2 hours episode, though this one will not be separated as 2 different episode, but as a single episode called Broken.

Last, but not least, it’s Ultimate Comics Armor Wars first issue!

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?jodajiyinay

http://www.sendspace.com/file/fdgluz

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YNIQRVI1

UCAW #1

Cover by: Brandon Peterson
Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: Steve Kurth
Inks: Jeffrey Huet
Colored by: Guru-eFX
Lettered by: VC – Joe Sabino
Story:
From the ruins of Ultimatum, Tony Stark races against time to save his crippled corporation and stop the theft of his armored arsenal! Warren Ellis teams up with Steve Kurth to bring you a globe-spanning, high-octane thriller with a blast from Tony’s past that you’ve gotta see to believe!

Review:

• Tony Stark’s lines are awesome
• Awesome art, though the battle needs to be more dynamic
• Uninteresting new characters, both villain and ally
• A buildup issue but no cliffhanger at the ends make it less interesting
• Not really “Armor Wars”, it’s only a battle between 2 armors (on this issue)

Final Rating: 7/10
Again, Tony’s lines are awesome, but they aren’t enough to cover other things this issue lacks

Programming Addicted?

Sigh, and I still haven’t got around to writing the about page…

Anyway, I can’t believe I spend my whole saturday programming my Platformer Engine. Yeah, with 2 of my roommates went out of town, another was being busy with his own agenda, and my girlfriend went out of town as well, I didn’t really have anything to do, so I just stayed in my room, sat in front of my laptop, and started coding it, oh, and not to mention that I was fasting too, so I didn’t really need to go out to find some foods. And what’s worse is, I didn’t regret doing it. I mean, with all the games sitting in my laptop (and hard disk), I still chose programming over them, and I feel happy about it. Sigh, and my Fallout 3 is still far from finished. I’m just afraid I’ve become addicted to programming, much like a person gets addicted to gaming, but this one’s with programming instead. And that’s just when I think I have handled my addiction to gaming…

Anyway, speaking about programming, I’ve finally finished the 2D section of Beginning Game Programming Second Edition. There’re still around 4 chapters dealing with 3D, but I’ll leave it for later, since as of now, I want to fully master 2D first. So, my next move is to create an engine for platformer games (you know, Megaman, Mario, etc), and it comes along just fine, there’s a bit of trouble when implementing class, but it’s been solved now. I already have some kind of game in mind, though I would save it for later, since I still need to draw all the sprites @.@

X and his tilesets on Platformer Engine

Oh well, let me give you a little progress report (and a screenshot) of my Platformer Engine for this week. Well, I haven’t modified DirectX Framework much so far:

• Added a tile mapping system.
• Added a map scrolling system.
• Started implementing classes.
• Optimized some image reading functions.
• Added some controls for the character.

The basic engine is really almost done, I just need to add more advanced features like jumping, reading an outside source file, etc. I also need to make myselp a map editor, so I could create a better looking map with the tileset I got.

And yeah, I finally found some Megaman X tilesets! Those are pretty rare actually and would help a lot in imagining and designing the collision detection system. I also got a complete Megaman sprite, which would really help in making the animation system for everything the engine will be capable of, like jumping, climbing wall, air-dashing, etc.

If there’s anyone interested, here’s a link to Sprites INC, where I get the megaman sprite, and VGMaps, where I get the tilesets (it’s actually comes from map images, so you still need to tile and set them properly).