Ah, lots has happened since the last update.  There was Ludum Dare #20, for which I made a pretty fun little puzzle platformer.  I ended up not submitting it because I didn’t have any real levels created.  I worked on it for a little while longer, but it’s on the back burner for now.  I’ll release some small version of it soon because it really is fun.  The best part of making it is that I got to get used to the new Box2D API.  It’s really very nice!  With a good feel for Box2D, a lot of game possibilities open up.

The biggest thing I’ve been working on is GigaSun Jet.  I’ve stripped down the design so that it will actually get done.  The basic component and upgrade mechanics are finally somewhat settled, which is a huge deal for getting the shop screen made.  A possible story has been written and other important design decisions were made.  Notably, I’m going to try to get something ready for the Riot Digital competition, which means building this game for the Pandora!

There are some other big real life changes occuring, too, but I’ll wait on discussing those…  See ya!

With my first bit of solid free time for a few months, I’ve packed up a demo for GigaSun Jet!  It’s still in the programmer art phase and I chopped out some unfinished features so the demo would be simplified.  Check it out on the GigaSun Jet page!

Whew!  Lots going on lately, but not much on the programming side.  My new teaching career is going well.  It’s tough making all of my curriculum, but I’m past the halfway point for the physics class I teach.  One of the small games I was working on at Muzzy Lane was released.  I would have liked to polish it up more, but you can find it at the ClearLab Project page.  Ahh!  It’s turkey time!!

There goes Ludum Dare #18.  That was fun!  In all, it was another good experience and I got another good game out of it.

The theme was “Enemies As Weapons”, which, incidentally, I suggested!  It’s like I’m a winner before the compo is even over (or something pointlessly motivational like that).  But…  It still took me as long as usual to choose a game concept.

I actually got to help organize and attend an LD Meetup.  We dubbed it the New England Ludum Dare Meetup.  I even took a video!  It was great to get to meet guys on the same wavelength.  We’re already expecting a few more people next time.

Anyhow, on to my game…  I wrote a game called “Fire, fire, where you are, I’m going to fight you with a fire department” (name given by my 4 year old daughter).  The shortest I dare make it without losing the preschool flavor is “Fire, Fire, Where You Are”.  You play as a firefighter burning away grass (fire fuel) before a wildfire comes.  I really think this game is up there near the top of my list.  I’m surprised by how well the fire turned out and that it doesn’t slow down my computer.  The patterns in the burnt terrain are often very convincing.  I can’t wait to see the voting results!

In other news, today is my last day at my summer job.  Perhaps I didn’t tell you, O Internet, that I got a Master’s degree and fled the graduate student scene right quick.  I’ve been at a nearby indie game company, making a couple of science games.  It has been pretty good and I truly got my foot into the game industry’s door.  However, I was offered a job to teach physics at a local high school, so that’s where I’m heading tomorrow!  I’m really excited about it for several reasons, not the least of which is that the standards-free curriculum is almost entirely up to me!  I hope to really get them ready for college-level science and help them understand how a knowledge of physics can help them in any career.

Wish me luck in LD and real life!  See ya around.

I just think this is cool. This is an image of a Meissner Effect demonstration for a lab that I did recently. The effect lets you easily levitate a magnet above a superconductor. That is, if you call attaining temperatures of 80 Kelvin easy (which technically it is – liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K – you just don’t see it every day).

NFont has been upgraded!  Check out the NFont page for details.

Here’s an article about what to try when you’re just plain stuck on a problem or you’ve run out of motivation.

Getting Over the Hump

Blue Dino Code and SDLTutorials.com are teaming up!  You can now find a forum to discuss the games, libraries, and tutorials on this site.  There’s also a forum link on the left panel.  I might not update all of the pages until the Blue Dino Code site itself moves to the new format I have planned (more dynamic, for sure).  Be sure to take a tour of SDLTutorials.com if you haven’t been there before!  There’s a lot of good stuff for beginners to either C++ or SDL.

MiniLD 14 is just around the corner (Nov. 13-15), and it has been announced that it’ll be all about teamwork!  If you’re ready to push creative limits and get something awesome accomplished, send me an email to join my team!  As should be obvious from this site, my thing is C++ and SDL.  I have been working on a secret side project lately to brush up on OpenGL a bit, so that’s an option too.  It has also been good teamwork practice, since I have very little to do with the game design.  See you there!