Sunday, January 3, 2021

Ame's REE Timer v0.0.0


Hi fellow teammate/ 

I would like to announce, Ame's REE Timer (v0.0.0)

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Description:

Basically a Pomodoro Timer to keep you productive... or at least keeping you from sitting like a shrimp, lul. 

Thought of making a timer to keep track sitting sessions. My back is killing me. 

Heavily inspired by an online Pomodoro Timer

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Update:

Works everything like a Pomodoro Timer should be, in terms of functionality.




Also available on itch.io and gamejolt:




Things to achieve in a sense:
- Play around with timers 
- Manipulate window autofocus (i.e. Allow windows to autofocus when needed)
- Get a simple, rough prototype up and running for personal confidence boost or smthg idk

Future implementation:
-  Add own ringtone
- Customizable work/break durations

p/s:
This is my first ever finished product in ages.
Just manage your expectations a little.

Past Me Future Me - A Youtube channel


Hi internet/ (a rare second post on the same day, i know) (don't worry, the v0 build is going up as scheduled) 

Not really game dev related, but i've been thinking of creating a YT channel that stars blah blah two characters future me and past me would say

Initially i wanted it to be a pure game dev channel with animatic/ episodic shenanigans with the two. and maybe upload game dev progress? idk.

The problem arises for me is whether to create a new channel? or stick to one channel and upload everything there. Makes sense to upload everything in one place, but rn my gut is telling me to separate them stuff. SO, i'm not sure what to do anymore.

I have animatics planned out y'know.
EP 1:
"So, you wanna be a game developer?"
"A piece of advice from me to you."
"Don't" - END -

Then stuff like, EP 0 be like past me is trying to be funny getting on with the "Ha ha, i'm in the bathroom for a year" joke, while ended up in the future (or past idk) in the same room with future me. EP 2 be like future me told past me to not make the same mistake, as future's future me told him the exact same thing to NOT do game dev but future me did it anyway. 

Gonna be light hearted banters i guess. NO POLITICS. NO BASHING OTHERS. (well i guess commentary is a pass?) (still working out what is better for the channel doe) Purely banter between two characters, programmer jokes, game dev jokes. Should i create under the persona of the character doe... another big headache. SHIT.
...
...
...

Imma have my conclusion here. Have it in the same channel, and separate it via playlists. I know my dumbass self that i can't manage two channel at once, even if i want to and tried. Maybe i can then focus on being the joker of all trades in one channel. At least is in the same niche if that makes sense. I'm going to talk about Nintendo stuff anyways lul. 

Owh yea. SUB TO MY CHANNEL PLIS --> Ahwen

k bb/

Project DrStrange - A Podomoro Timer

Hey internet/ 

Remember last time i blabbered about making a Rhythm game dedicated to Vtubers? Yea. It's on indefinite hiatus. But in all seriousness, i still do want to make something in honor of them being here, in the now (a blessing, truly).

Anyways, i thought of something small just to get something out and break my lazy ass streak. 
A Podomoro Timer. 


Just a quick summary for those who aren't familiar with the term: 

A Pomodoro Technique is a way to break up your workload and/or responsibilities for the day into smaller, manageable chunks. While having short breaks in between, referred as pomodoros. After repeating for four times, you get a well deserved long break.

So... yeah. I actually finished something functional. I can't believe is that simple... at least the base of it is lol. Version 0 gonna be out in 1-2 days. If it's possible i want it out tomorrow dammit. So... there's that for an update.

Ngl i was going to rant how shitty work is, my life is, followed by questioning in general how everyone is making progress while i'm stuck unsure what to do.  I used to blame why things aren't going my way in the slightest. But now, i'm just tired from ranting i guess, and just do good work, regardless of feedback or lack thereof.

Nobody will ever know the struggles of a person, yet i'm spending all my energies trying to prove such a pointless battle to no avail. I won't say i'm wise to point it out, but rather, i'm stupid enough to repeat such a mistake in plain sight. 

2020 taught me to know my place. A nobody. I guess that's when i can start being what i want to be. Guess the anime. : D

Anyways, cheers to 2021 guys/

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References i think might interest y'all
~Pomofocus~

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Project VtuberBGM - A Vtuber-themed Rhythm Game


Hey all. Random update here.

Never expect the Vtuber craze got me wanting to make something in honor of them existing, lmao. Speaking like a true cult. The second coming of god's creation or something like that.

Anyways, story's like this - i wanna pay tribute to them, i really do. At first, i'm only thinking stuff like fan arts, or animations, to get dem attentions. Problem is there is just so much i can do as a person. Not able to watch them all due to adult-ing, personal projects, and crying to sleep, i simply can't keep up with content and dem blazing fast speeds of talented artists out there. 

Midst of contemplating of a way around this, i'm nodding away to how catchy the Vtubers' BGM they put in their intros. Vibin' yo.

Then it hit me. I can make a game out of this.

Rhythm gamerrrrrrr 最強だ 

ナイス


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So, for starters i'll go with the standard 4-key input in the oldie rhythm games, and work my way up from there. Thinking of adding a separate control for the snare/ percussion to keep things busy. Plans to have each Hololive member a distinctive mechanic based on the feel i get from each one of their BGM. For example.

~Mori Calliope BGM Loop - 1 Hour~
Mori Calliope's BGM gives me a spooky spooky skeleton vibe, so
i might be adding skeletons, and players to
(in Reaper fashion) kill the souls that comes with the beat.


~Takanashi Kiara Intro BGM - 10 Minutes~
Takanashi Kiara's BGM makes me wanna lead a marching band,
and serve fried chicken to how the song is played.


~Amelia Watson Piano BGM (1 Hour)~
Amelia Watson, hooooboi. Slams desk at the right beat for additional points. 
Roughly similar to how AD-LIB works in Groove Coaster


~Gura Hums Her BGM / Gawr Gura / HoloLive EN Songs~
Gwar Gura.... hrm... i really dunno tho. the song is really cheerful.
I'll do my best to make it challenging, but not too intimidating
that it is too weird for a simple song.
Felt bad that she can't stream MuseDash anymore


~Ninomae Ina’nis Intro BGM - 10 Minutes~
Ina ina, Ninomae Ina'nis. Honestly this song is comfy as hecc.
For this i can only think of gathering the takos while vibin to the song.


I realised most songs came from this channel
~DOVA-SYNDROME YouTube Official~


Not sure if i should add swiping mechanics lol. Anything goes i guess. If possible i can add a hub world where players can interact with easter eggs like mori's old PC setup, Kiara's dream KFP... stuff like that. To-Be-Continued and Subject-To-Change.

There are other Vtuber projects i wann get my hands on, like Pekora's PEKODAM Gundam-esque sequence with this sick ass dope metal track lmao (song here) (Need to study up her Minecraft vids lol). Also, Watson being a ground poundin plumber fan-art.  Ohh ohh. and like, believable storytime animations of Vtubers? yea... i wanna do that some time.

For now will be featuring Hololive EN first, since this gen led me to the rabbit hole. Plan to add in the JP in later updates. Will update rhythm game details in the next update. Ciao/


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References i think might interest y'all
~Lo-Fi Room~

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Personal game dev journay - A realization

If anyone is expecting anything here, i apologize. As far as promises concern, i know plan to continuously update the progress of the development for Project Roommate, but in reality not much is being kept for word. Updates are slow or non-existent because i've been putting thee project off for days, turn to weeks, and months.

Tbh, i'm being greedy and took too much on the plate for the fact i can't handle it, for a multitude of reasons. Mostly stems from my current state of mind (i believe) and the fact that i simply do not have the capabilities to juggle between my personal webcomic, two planned webcomic series (TBA), a planned upcoming Youtube channel (TBA), and now, this.

Starting with so many project ideas, but ending up not continuing it really hits my depressive episode, hard. I guess is the thrill of starting a project that led me to start a new one it one after another. Nothing wrong with starting a new one or abandon old ideas that isn't worth the time, but in my case, not finishing the initial project commenced is the BIG red flag here.

Second reason that (i guess) correlates to the matter is that i cant really make a head or tail out of the current project i'm working with. What is the direction of the story to be like? Gameplay-based or story-driven? Personally i liked to have both, but again, due to limited skills i currently have i guess this isn't probable and i hate to part with the idea of including all.

Third, i guess is part of my laziness during my depressive episode. Games (like ACNH, Fall Guys, Among Us, Genshin Impact, and other titles) and VTuber phases helped me go through my existential crisis and insanity instances.

To combat all these problems i guess i have to drop the project entirely if what i can produce isn't going to satisfy me. In other words, Project Roommate is to be shelved for now. Instead, imma create clones of exiting titles just for practice's sake. I always forgot that game developing is a skill to hone and inevitably requires practice to get accustomed to and to 'git gud' at it. I always got side-tracked that my game to be published must be good A-tier. Not only that, but aiming for my first ever completed game to be published, which is kinda impossible to achieve. (For context, i rarely have a finished game, let alone a published one, which explains alot)

Fail faster.

That's all for update to date.

Saturday, October 10, 2020

ProjectRoomate - Update 10/10/2020

Sarcastic yeah is sarcastic. 
And hey, new look!

TWO months of hiatus, and i'm back... with ZERO progress. Woo!

Frankly speaking, i was caught up with life, i guess. Changed jobs (again) recently and the transition from WFH to the dedicated office (despite the RMCO) was a daunting task. So, goodbye 3 hours of extra sleep _(:3/

Anyways, just a quick update to inform that i'm not dead. However, this project kinda is though (KEKW). Renewed motivation is scarce, i must say.

The 2 months i spent playing games during my downtime, my internal mental struggles, multiple outside factors/suggestions (for the sake of inspiration of course)... i came to a temporary resolution to go all out and make it into a RPG-esque VN series. It is a big dream no doubt, but i really can't imagine to draw everything all the way through.

If you guys didn't know, i intend to create a story revolving my three OCs, AhWen, Angie, and Devin. Premise is about AhWen, a 20-something college student/ college dropout/ blue-collar modern slave navigating the grey morals of modern society, with his 2 buddies, Angie and Devin.

AhWen, a 20-something college student/ college dropout/ blue-collar modern slave. 
A lazy protagonist with a loosey moral-sense. 
His decisions and actions are always questioned by both Angie and Devin...
...at the expense of his sanity.


Angie, an innocent, somewhat ditzy angel who was let-off from Heaven.
It was due to her speaking out of terms by accident.
Her blissful innocence is the last defining traits she ever has.


Devin, a devil who quit Hell on his own terms and agendas.
His favours to dominate the world on his own one day, by hook or by crook. 
A devil with standards. A true devil, you might say.


Well, that's the jist of it.

Which explains why i kinda loathe to draw everything in a manga format. A good senpai of mine have me a final push/ realised that rather doing it conventionally (referring to the manga format in this case), why not utilising the knowledge i have thus far? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. HELL. YES. Why i didn't think of that? Hence the decision for the transition.

Build ver0.0 of "Roommate" is still in the works. But i might favour an overhaul (or at least expecting a major change) based on mentioned resolute for the transition. The 2-month-pause was really a breather for me to think things through imo.

Onto the updates.

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Updates

This section is where i post all change log of the development.

Development's still bare, albeit a prototype room to walk around in.

Build ver0.0:
- Character movement
- Character-switching function
- Camera-switching function, between first-person and third-person
- A prototype level/room

Screenshots:






Update ends here.

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Misc/ Note to self

This section is where i write all the reminders, to do stuff, or just stuff to reflect in each update.

Hopefully this is the last time being an ass and abandon the projects as a whole. One of my wishes is to see a development that i can see through till the end.

While thinking of making the game a full-fledged VN, i thought of implementing a morality system, different story routes and endings, and file manipulation (like DDLC, but more of a Easter egg than an integral part of the story.

Then there are iffy ideas like a time travel mechanic into the game, meta-commentary or meta-gameplays, and file-save disruption when hacking or cheating is detected in the game.

These are only plans on paper, in which i have no confidence whatsoever in implementing it, also had concerns whether if said mechanics jive well with the existing game mechanics, such as character-switching and camera-switching mechanics.

Expect some well-thought out game design elements in the next update.

Ciao.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

ProjectRoomate - Introduction

Without further ado, i present to you:-

ProjectRoomate


As mentioned before, i plan to create some sort of life simulator-type of game. You play as a character, and interact with the world around you. Not much gameplay per se. I figured it helps with the world building i'm working with my webcomic series, so i decided to have a go with it.

My OCs. Main cast in the project

Room layout as of now

Planned controls for the game

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Updates

This section is where i post all change log of the development.

For now, i would say development is bare bones to say the least. In summary the main stuff i got it to work as follows:-
  • Character movement
  • Character-switching function
  • Camera-switching function, between first-person and third-person
  • Prototyping a room with unity store assets
Sadly to say i have no build at the moment to showcase the update because [insert excuse here]. I'll most probably port over the change log in the next update along with the build. Sounds good to me.

Also i will add in game designs elements into the project as development progresses as well.

Update ends here.

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Misc/ Note to self

This section is where i write all the reminders, to do stuff, or just stuff to reflect in each update.

  • While writing this i just noticed the typo. It's 'roommate' instead of 'roomate', lol. Too far into development to change anything now i guess. I had all the repository set up with the typo (ー ー;)

  • I found myself always switching between projects that have either little to no relation with the project's development. From game dev, to drawing, to animating, then onto other game dev projects with surface level development, sigh. Shiny object syndrome at its finest i guess.

  • I have to dig myself into learning 3D modelling if i ever want this to realise, but the outcome of default normal shaders/ texture is not to my liking to say the least, need more research on that

  • I might need to start working on a GDD and advance the project forward. Though i remembered i did it a some point between this and the last update, but i can't remember where i put the documents on the project details.

Saturday, June 20, 2020

First post :v

Hey all, first post here. Let me first introduce myself.

I'm a guy who graduated with a degree majoring Game Development. Being the child with a stereotypical Asian upbringing... let's just say society from where i came from has a rather shallow opinion on my decision. 

Jk jk. My parents, although reluctant at first, they are quite supportive of my decision then. 
Love you ma and pa.

Over the years, despite still having the stigma of being an artist isn't a real job in the older generation, i'm kinda glad that by today's standards the thought of having creative jobs have shifted. But then, for me to work as a graphic designer for 10 months, then jump ship to become a mainstream game developer the last 9 months, i can safely say... this isn't what i want at all. Passion aside, working as an artist or a game programmer work some company is really no different from a conventional 9-5 job. 

Then i thought of a rather crazy idea. Why not i make my own stuff? Why not i become an entrepreneur

Yikes and double yikes

I had this idea of working for myself the moment i've graduated university. A pretty bold statement for some freshie who know nothing about the world. Luckily my friends and family stopped me to pursue it in the name self-doubt. The turmoil of being unemployed for 6 months took a toll on me. And i am forever grateful to them for that.

Although that being said, after a year and a half in with two job experiences, that feeling of wanting to work for myself crept back in. Being an entrepreneur is still a rather bold statement, especially with the global pandemic going on these few months. But i feel that i'm much ready now... mentally, of course. With this setup, i hope i can work out something akin to my liking yet creating something that can resonate with the masses. Or at least, to the people who supports me and likes my stuff.

To be honest, i have much doubts, no prior experience of doing 'real' game dev, and my track record of actually complete a project or seeing things through were undoubtedly, questionable. I hope opening up this blog helps me resolve that problem. There isn't much stuff to show now, but i promise to make it at least something worth indulging.

So... expect an update at least once a month. For the next update i'll be posting the specifics of a game idea i have in mind about my OCs. More of a life sim than anything else. Sounds boring compared to the past works (if you guys interested there is a link below), but eh. It's something i'm looking forward to work on next to my web-comic about my OCs _(:3/

Hope i can make money out of this. Heh.

Until next time my doods and gals.

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Shameless plug, link to my past works here.

Jargon:
jk = joking
game dev = game developer
OCs = Original Characters
life sim = life simulator (games like Sims4, Animal Crossing... you name it.)