Tuesday, June 30, 2015

So Jimmy, How'd You Do in Florida?

Hey all,

As an update for the tournament results, here's what happened:

I won my first two matches very easily, I got to practice my Chun Li lightning loops! For the uninitiated, "lightning loops" refers to a (rather difficult) technique where Chun Li can do massive damage and look stylish. It requires me to "slide" my finger down the buttons (that is easy to mess up) within a fraction of a second, followed by a brief pause, and then a tight 1/60th of a second link into the next move.

My next match was much harder, against a player named 801Strider from Utah. I got destroyed, I lost 4 rounds in a row. I did my best to keep the rounds close, and I succeeded, but his experience clearly was above and beyond what I could handle. The match was streamed here: Capcom Fighters on Twitch. I was overall happy with my performance despite losing, I gave him some difficulty. Also, 801Strider ended up getting 2nd place...

The match after that was against a player named AceUnlimited. I lost a close set... I really shouldn't have lost, I just panicked for no reason. I won't provide any excuses but... I'm not losing to him again, I'm better than that.

Overall I ended up 2-2, in losers semis. Not bad, but I could have done better.

Evo is next, and you can bet that I'll be practicing hard to climb out of pools and show the world what I've got!

Thanks,
Jimmy

Friday, June 26, 2015

While in Florida

Hey all,

So, on the plane to CEO 2015 (https://ceogaming.org/), I managed to get some reading done from this book: Shigeru Miyamoto book, and felt REALLY inspired. I felt so inspired that I redesigned the first level of Chang-e, it's based on my hometown and I plan to put in many interactables to give the universe a very "alive" feeling.

I want the player to feel like the world of Chang-e is one that is worth revisiting, sparks curiosity, rewards exploration, and has interesting people.

The "final" outlook came out like so:


(A friendly reminder to not steal! Please don't steal my content, I work very hard on it.)


P.S. If you want to know how I'm doing at the tournament, my pool starts at 2pm on Saturday, June 27th. I'm in pool 10, tag: JimLi. I was doing well in casual Street Fighter 4 matches, made one guy very angry. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Off to Florida!

Hey all,

A quick update, I'm flying to Florida for a fighting game tournament, called CEO 2015. It's going to be a lot of fun!

I'm bring this baby with me: (Apologies for the rotation, I'm on the bus.)

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

MUSIC! PRODUCTION! MAKING THINGS!

Hey all,

So, I've reached the point in the process where the engine is pretty much done, the game code too. All that's left for me to do is make the freaking game, and I can't art, so that's been a rough process.

...BUT

I have been writing music, because I can do that!
Fun fact: I was classically trained during my time learning piano, so most of the stuff I write are lonely piano ballads.
I'll attach the link to my SoundCloud again, check out the two new tracks I uploaded for Chang-e:
DON'T STEAL, KIDS

Anyway, I got sidetracked. Basically I have to now work on the game, exclusively. No more engine work, or not much (cross compatibility restoration, it was working at one point, then I upgraded SDL and well, I'm here.) The last thing I really did for the engine was an optimization that allows for super huge maps, we're talking double the size of what I was working with before, it's amazing. Not to toot my own horn TOO much.

I've been working on the opening sequence to the game, and I think it will really introduce players to the concepts I want them to feel. I have to admit though, getting the tone right is difficult. That's the nature of working with an art form though, right?

From here on will mostly be art and music, screenshots etc. If anyone wants me to do a code article I'd be more than happy to, I love to share my experience with others, and perhaps you can teach me something as well!

I know these thoughts are a bit scattered, but I've been running on 3 hours of sleep, work has been stressful too. I'm surviving, but being the only engineer on a team really gets to you.

P.S. I have a YouTube channel that I'm running with a friend of mine, if you could check us out and maybe let us know how we're doing with this "Let's Plays" thing? I'd appreciate it. Shameless plug, I know. Forgive me.

P.S.S You get to hear my terrible voice!

Feasible Gamers

Thanks for reading!
Jimmy