Journal

Journal! The purpose of this page is to show basic steps on what I am learning, these are approximates so it wouldn'tbe fair to me to say "I have known how to make a main menu for 162 days exactly." But this page is just meant to show basic, so that you can see what I am doing and trying to achieve. Imagine a timeline but more intricate.


 * March 7**: The game...is complete, for the most part. I released the games to a bunch of my testers, and they will look for glitches and bad things (Hopefully) but other then that for the most part the game is complete! Now it's just getting ready for the presentation!
 * March 5:** Sorry about the lack of posts, but a LOT of things have been done, with little to no actual recording...Sound (Natural sounds, explosion sounds, Seeker hitting you sounds, shooting sounds, power up sounds...) have all been provided! And the FINAL BOSS HAS BEEN MADE! Check it out! It has 5 distinct stages: Summoning many Seekers, summoning 2 Supreme Seekers, firing rockets from all around, firing rockets directly at you, and creating a shield that hurts you if you hit it! Also the sources page has been made! So pretty much...the game is complete now. Yah. There are infinite touch-ups and things I would love to do (But I can't due to time restraints. One of the things I wanted to do was make it so enemies shatter/explode when you hit them. :P ) But for the most part it is complete! All that is left is details!


 * February 13:** Due to a bunch of different things going on (And being sick) not much work has been given to Seeker Survivor, but do not fret! For a upgrade has been provided! Sound is being added to the game! Monsters currently make a Nom Nom Nom noise, and a chomping noise when they hit you, and all weapons have noises now!


 * January 28:**Some minor changes, the game was made easier in terms of getting power ups. And we had a major issue with lag once you get power ups, so that problem is now fixed. We also made the levels a little easier on you. (I kind of regret this to be honest. Just because it isn't a hardcore game from the start, I liked it how it was hard from the start, but most people complained about it...so we have to make it easier...) There were also some other minor changes that make the game a lot better. We also created the end screens, which are very nice. Oh! And the last level was created. I'm not sure what the next goal is, either sound creation of high scores


 * January 23:** Today I made the second to last boss...The SHADOWSTALKER. This enemy is the first enemy that messes with the lights. He has the ability to turn everything dark so all you can see is faces, during this time he is invincible and he sends Seekers at you, after 20 seconds he sends 8 missiles at you from all directions unfortunately if you destroy all the missiles the lights turn off again, so you have to hurt him WHILE missiles are coming at you. This guy is fairly intense and I'm really happy how he turned out. I might change him to look like the Turret, but with white eyes instead of blue and a black body. We also change the colors of the seekers and the fog to black. This lowers the unnatural factor, but black mist is JUST as unnatural, but according to my testers more terrifying. It's like "This shouldn't be happening" versus "This is scary and an inevitable death."


 * January 17 (Night)**: For a while now I have been promising the ability for your weapons to upgrade over time...Well while I was trying to figure out high scores (Which was what I was working on since January 7) I decided one night (Amidst Star Wars Clone Wars and Thor) to finally get it done...so I did. You start with a 6 round clip and a reload time of 2.8 seconds, after every level you get +1 to the clip and -.2 seconds to reload time. So the first level is 6 and 2.8, then 7 and 2.6, and so on. On the final level (Level 8, the endless level) your total will be 13 round clip and 1.4 seconds. This'll help you guys out a lot. :) I also am increasing the amount of time power ups come, since I know that this game gets ridiculously hard and you need them. I am almost done with High Scores, but unfortunately there is some issues, they work like they are supposed to, but won't save your scores...


 * January 7:** For a while I have been sent requests that a message pops up when a Boss Comes, and at the beginning of a level. And now...IT HAS ARRIVED. These menus will simply pause the game, and give basic information about the new Seeker that level. Also a message will pop up for each new Boss. This will be helpful because when my Testers (Ethan, Robert, Roger, Chandler, and Mackenzie) said when a new Boss came they became confused at what it was doing and kind of freaked out. Most video games grant animations to the monster, so you can figure it out. But since I don't have any animations it makes it hard. This'll be a nice help. I am trying to get started on the Scoreboard, but it requires a lot of time, and good internet. And I'm usually lacking one of them.


 * January 3:** Recently I discovered a problem with Power Ups, when you used one it wouldn't let you use any other power up unless it was the same one as the first. So in a complicated process (That only Mr. Elsinger and Ethan know, but unfortunately they only saw it in the form of my mad gibbering and the insane scrawlings on the wall.) it is all fixed. The App form has been more perfected, unfortunately there is the occasional bug. And I can only get it to you by way of Zip Drive. If anyone wants it please bring it to me, and if there is any bugs bring it to me for fixing.


 * December Christmas Break:** In total I didn't work on this game at all to any great effect. But what I did do was some touch up the odd problems that came up. And worked more on the menus. Pretty much it.


 * December 17-22:** The power ups are complete! They are in total, SMG (The Machine Gun), Mines, Lazar, Sniper Rifle, Dual Shot, and the Shotgun. Bosses also now drop health (+40) after death as a little bonus. A system has been devised also to show which power up you have in storage and are in use. Unfortunately something happened...at the Basketball Game on Friday. Being there early I decided to work on Seeker Survivor, and I discovered Blender could be updated, so I tried to update it...and crashed my Blender. The game was safe, but the program died to death. After finally getting it to work again many aspects of my game were fiddled with in odd ways. Things turn rapidly and in wild directions, things disregarding gravity, or disregarding physics and collisions entirely. This is a bit of a problem. So now there are things that need to be fixed, they should be all done before the end of Christmas Break. Other then that...I GOT THE GAME IN THE FORM OF A APP! Granted I don't mean iPad/iPod/Phone app. But on a laptop. Shoot me a email if you want to play. It's not complete and there are some bugs, but it works! Also send me your scores!


 * December 14 and 17:** The power ups have begun! Currently the Dual Shot, Shotgun, and Sniper Rifle are all in production. The probability creators however is still not in affect. But this is going quite well, next is the Machine Gun, Mine Launcher, and the Lazar Cannon. Then it goes into the actual system for acquiring them.


 * December 11 (Night):** This one is a little late, and that is because I forgot to post it, but I have made a major advancement that has been ordered by my Dad. When I started this game my Dad said my primary goal should be a Beginning, Middle, and End. Until now I mainly focused on the Middle, the beef of the game and the most important part in my opinion. But during a time where the internet was bad I decided to make...THE MAIN MENU! That's Right! There will be 5 different areas you can go to, Start (The actual Game), Story (You didn't think there was a storyline did you? WELL THERE IS!), Stratagem (Instructions, explanations, ect.), Score (I don't have a real highscore yet, so clicking it will do you no good.) and Sources. (Where I'll finally give credit to people for things, not sure what all to put in there) The things currently done is the Story page, and work has been given to the Stratagem page, unfortunately I cannot continue it. For the upgrades system and the power up system has not been made yet...so that is the next goal!


 * December 12:** 2 Advancements have been made! 1 Major, and the other not so much at all. The minor one is the unofficial Highscores page on the wiki, this is very unofficial, and since I didn't right down their points/kills they are almost meaningless, if anyone wants to try to get on the Highscores however, feel free to ask and I'll let you play unless I'm working on something major. :) The next thing that is serious is another reworking on how levels work. Originally the system worked on a system of 20s, that every level would increase by 20. This is now different, the rate has been increased to 30, this means that level one you must kill 30 guys, and on level 7 you must kill 210. Another system has also been added to the Strongs, for a unknown reason when a Strong was summoned after it was dead the actual Supreme that round wouldn't come, so a newer system has been added. This one is based on ticks, for every 30 kills a counter ticks a point. On the second level after 30 kills the tick goes once, to summon the Strong, after the second tick the Boss is summoned. This cleaned up the system and made it easier to think of. Also now every level you definetly get to kill each Strong you have already fought, on the seventh level you have to fight (Not all at once, over time) every single Strong (There is 6) and THEN the boss. This will make things harder, and the game to take longer. :)


 * December 10:** During the blizzard I thought it would be a good idea to give a little work to my video game, so that day I finally completed the Strongs, the Strongs are mini-bosses that are weaker watered-down Bosses that will pop up intermittantly during levels. For example the first level you need 20 kills to get to the boss (SupremeSeeker). On the second level it takes 40 kills to get to the next Boss (SupremeSlider), but 20 kills to get to the Strong, which is a half-SupremeSeeker. This will add a lot more difficulty which aligns with my belief that video games should be very fun while being very hard. :) Strongs (Once I implement this) will also have a higher chance of giving power ups. The power ups are these so far: Dual Shot (Same as before, but 2 shots), Machine Gun (No reload, faster rate of fire, and you can hold the space bar instead of tapping), Laser Gun (Like the machine gun, but lots and lots of shots that are weaker then normal), Sniper Rifle (Less shots, but the bullets will go through shields, instantly kill Splitters, and have 3 times the damage), Shotgun (Like normal gun, but with 5 shots fired), and HP. (Increasing your health has been majorly requested!) These aren't made yet, but it's what I'm planning on. Oh and by the way you can Pause now, just hit P, and then use your mouse to get out of it, how great is that?!


 * December 5-7:** A very large breakthrough has been made with the creation of a HUD (Heads Up Display) Now on the screen you can see your HP (Increased to 100 now, and enemies normally do 20 damage, while rockets do 5) your number of kills, points (Each enemy is worth a amount of points) the level your on (There will be 8 total, including the endless) and your clip/reload time. The clip system is something that was extremely requested by my primary testers (Ethan, Robert, and Roger) and basicly you have a fast rate of fire, but only 6 shots, once you have fired the 6 shots you must reload, which takes 3 seconds. This ability will make bosses easier (Because when they are open you can rapid fire them) but normal enemies harder (Because 1 bullet will only kill 1 guy, so when 20 are coming at you the 3 seconds it takes to reload will take a eternity) Considerations for upgrading your clip over time are being considered (By that I mean that at the end of the level your clip will increase by 1, so at level 1 your clip is 6, at 2 it's 7, and so on until at level 8 it is 13.) And as a small bonus the SupremeSHIELD has been made, with the concept of firing shields at you that don't hurt you, but get in your way. And while this is happening summoning ServantSHIELDs to attack you.


 * December 3:** Oh my goodness I got a working Rocket! Admittingly due to a lack of desire to have good graphics the rocket itself doesn't look like much, but that's not important, the important thing is that it acts the way it is supposed to, and it does! The next goal is to make the Sabotage unit, which regularly fires rockets. Then it is time for the Shooter Boss, instead of a Sabotage Boss it will simply be THE Boss. And I plan to give it many stages and different abilities.


 * November 30:** The SupremeSpringer is finally complete! Some changes have been made however, more then 1 tail cannot be made. (The when it was set up for more then 1, the tail rapidly doubled to the point of almost crashing the computer.) and the Springer also will rapidly rush towards you but stay back a small distance. Also the more you hit it the more it gets away from you while still sending it's tail. While this gives you more time to shoot the tail it also makes timing the shot to hit the Springer itself harder. The next goal is quite literally Rocket Science: Figuring out the rocket for the SupremeSlider and the Sabotage Unit.


 * November 25-8:** Bosses have been made! SupremeSeeker has been made, it's the first boss and it fires small sliders and seekers at you. The next boss being worked on is the SupremeSpringer, the basic idea of this boss is that after a certain number of bounces it generates another springer behind it, then after a few bounces the new one makes another one,this continues until there is 5 total, then the 4 (Not the original) come after the turret. Unfortunately there is a problem, the 3rd joint doesn't want to follow the 2nd joint, but instead runs away...it's very odd but funny at the same time. After this the SupremeSlider will be made (It's gonna shoot rockets!) and then the SupremeSHIELD unit (It'll fire shields at you! While maybe calling miniature SHIELDS!) And then the final 2 levels must be made: Shooters and Sabotagers, which are enemies with guns and rockets respectively. Then after that a Endless level will be made.


 * November (Generally)**: More rounds and more bosses! The round system was a success, it is based on how many enemies you kill instead of which enemy, quantity over quality. Bosses will then come, most have nothing special about them other then more hit points, but that will change in the future, right now we are working on a base. A HUD system has been worked on, a HUD is any information you would always see on your screen, whether it's points, kills, health, anything. And so far...unsuccessful, very much so. Progress is starting to be made, but it isn't going very far.
 * October 30:** For a while a problem has arose that all video games posses: Increasing difficulty. The Spawn idea wasn't working, instead the game will progress in a form of rounds, that after a certain number of kills a boss will come, and after the boss dies things will change making everything harder. This is currently being experimented with. But it should prove satisfactory. A Mist effect is also being added, granting a more realistic (If you can call it that) effect, but it's mostly so you don't see enemies just pop into existence, but instead you see them come out of the Mist. Making it the same color as the enemies (Red) also adds a good effect.
 * October 8:** So...I accidently deleted the entire Seeker Survivor. But! Now that I know how to make the game it is being rapidly rebuilt. And also I am figuring out a system of making Seeker Survivor harder the farther you get along, this is based on how many points you have (Enemies are worth certain amounts of points.) as your points increase more spawns are added.


 * September 10-18**: I am figuring out how to make basic enemies. The selected one ( >: is the basic enemy, it moves forward towards you at a uniform pace, and it's called a Seeker. The ^.^ Is the Springer, It acts similarly to the Seeker but it bounces every time it hits the ground, and it's forward momentum is slower, what this means is that there is less of a chance to hit it but it takes longer to get to you to kill you. The >.> and <.< are the Sliders, they slide in the direction their eyes are facing. So what they do is while coming towards you they spin around you, making them harder to hit. The 0.0 is the Splitter, if you hit it it will split into 2 0's, which are smaller, then if you hit the 0's they split into 2 (4 Total) )'s, and when you kill those they finally die. And lastly there is the SHIELD ( :3 ) The Shield is most likely the most difficult enemy, because it generates a shield for 1 second, every 3 seconds, so effectively it turns invincible. Another idea was to make a Subterfuge unit, this unit would teleport randomly while slowly coming towards you, unfortunately the last time I tried it would only slide around, or vibrate rather violently. Eventually I will learn how to give units Hit Points, and when I do that eventually Bosses will be made, those will be bigger versions of these with odd abilities. For example, it might spawn little enemies.


 * September 4-7:** I am learning now to make a Turret defense, which is basically enemies come at you infinitely and you being the turret have to kill them all. Most of this stuff I've learned already, but the important thing is learning how to make enemies spawn and react to you in a way that involves you being dead. Another thing that I've been taught is how to make a recoil action to the turret for realism, but the animation is stupid in the way of either it'll recoil once and you can still fire 5 more times, or it'll throw the character around ridiculously. Therefore it has been decided that recoil is silly, and we'll focus on using laser guns, which have little noticeable recoil. This is a picture of the current turret, no it's not a Pig, Iguana, Crocodile, or anything like that. It's a turret. Really.


 * End of August to Beginning of September:** I have discovered how to make a main menu of sorts, with a Start button (That goes to my Wall Destroy Game) and a Exit button (That quite out of play mode, which considering that you can get out anyway with ESC seems pointless, this most likely won't be used in actual publishing of games.) When you hit Start it goes to Wall Destroyer, and acts just like before. Here is a screenshot, I can't post a game with it though because the save system is based on "Start game from file X" and I don't think that if I posted it on the internet it would work the same, so learning how to publish games will have to be a endeavor we work on later on in life.

(This timeline started on 9/7/12, all other things in the past are approximates, so there is no point in quoting.)