Legendary Breakthrough

 Just like the overused saying goes: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”…Neither is anything else that requires effort.

So I got off my ass and started putting in!The last blog I wrote was about me complaining I wish I could sprite.  That is no longer an issue for me now that I’m actually putting in effort to do what I couldn’t do.  I may not be a standout spriter at the moment, but I definitely am WAY better than I ever was before.  Not only that, but I’ve also started working on game music (Alongside my hip hop music).

I pretty much was just lazy before, making excuses for why I couldn’t sprite instead of practicing.  I had let laziness become a plaque in every area of my life actually.  Whether it was music, programming, or game development it all was affected by my negative mentality.

NO MORE!  The only thing that can stop me from doing what I want is me.  Only I can choose to go forward or back down from the initial resistance my mind puts out.

I’m starting to consider having the Customizable Megaman Battle Network Engine be my last fan game creation.  Although I love the challenge of recreating a games engine, I just really want to create a universe of my own.

I’ve written tons of ideas for games that I can develop into a fantastic series if I could pull it off.  Alas, I feel I can’t make the leap from fan games into original. 

As mentioned before, one reason why I feel I can’t make this leap is because of art.  I hate being limited by my lack of artistic and spriting ability.  It’s really the only wall blocking my way, and I’m not sure where to start.  I know one option is to form a team, but it seems either most spriters are taken, or their spriting style isn’t what I’m looking for.  Then again, how would they know what style I’m looking for if I can’t convey it in some way?  I have to develop at least basic drawing skills to give off some examples.  This is why I have to take this step into expanding myself beyond just programming. 

If I ever do develop a fan game again, instead of borrowing sprites from the game itself, I want to completely revamp it.  Also,  whether its completely changing the genre of a game or enhancing it’s current engine, I don’t want to be limited on what I can do.

I know if I chip away at my goal that I’ll finally accomplish it.  I’ve done it before with many other goals, so why not this one also?

Seriously, I have always had so many ideas for original games, but the one thing that always stops me are original sprites.  I really want to get into spriting, but I already know it can’t be done overnight.  Practicing for years isn’t really appealing, but its the only way to come out with decent sprites.  In the future, when I’m less cluttered with current work, I’ll probably try to focus a large energy to it.  For now……Just gotta stick with fan games and remakes.

 In other news, I bought 3 VC games today (Totalled 2000 points).

Galaga 90: Played it and beat it…Ah does it bring back great memories! I love this game.

Neutopia II:  This is actually a pretty good game.  Beat one boss so far, definately takes it’s elements from Zelda.

Super Metroid: Haven’t played it yet, but I already know its good.

Eagles really pissed me of Sunday…No, more specific Eagles punt returners.  Honestly we had green bay shut down, but 3 botched punt returns screwed us over.  In good news, one of my Fantasy Football teams one (On Yahoo).  My fantasy team on FoxSports however lost.

Last minute spills:

New SlickSet out.  Get it, make some games, send ‘em to me so I can play!

I wish the best for Kevin Everett.  For those who don’t know he plays Football for the Buffalo Bills, and he suffered a spinal cord injury during a game.  Great news has came in though, he is able to move his arms and legs voluntarily.  Initial analysis said that he most likely wouldn’t be able to regain movement, so this is a great sign.  He may not be able to play Football again, but atleast he’ll be able to move around. 

I’m officially becoming somewhat of a game collector.  Not in the sense where I need everything from the Box, covers, ect… but I just collect actual games.  The used section in shops are my friend (When I’m in the states, that is).

I’m making faster progress on this than I expected, so a release may be coming pretty soon.  I’ve done tons of updating and bug fixing.  If you want to hear about all of the updates, click here.

So yea, I have been developing this with java using Slick and SlickSet for almost a week now, and it is making progress.

Video of it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOvt1ri9XRE

I’ve been trying to keep it as customizable as posible while not making it dificult for others to pickup.  Right now you can add any playable Navi that you want (Well, their sprites anyway) and have them controllable.  It’s also pretty simple (Due to the fact that I am no where near done yet) at the moment, with you only have to worrying about reposition, sprites, and position where your sword addon appears.  Like I’ve stated, I still have a long way to go, but I’m glad to be working on this instead of just imagining it.  A huge thanks goes out to bost Kevin Glass and Jon for the Slick and SlickSet libraries in Java, which are a wonder to work with.

~ J Dilla

So..I haven’t updated in quite a while?  Shit, I didn’t know !  Well, today I beat Lunar Knights, which is a wonderful Action RPG for the DS.  Konami sure does know how to make great games with vampires. 

I”ve also played Osu Tatakae Ouendan 2…I think this may be my favorite out of the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents series now.   I love all three games nearly equally, and can’t wait for an EBA 2 to be made (Which it should).

I’ve also made large progress on the Trigger Editor, but I’m not sure I should tell ya about that just yet.

 As always I’m in a rush so this won’t be a “Legendary” entry, but I couldn’t let this blog sink six feet deep.  Just lifting it out of the grave for a quick minute.

I’m loving this game.

If you have not downloaded it AND played it, I suggest doing that quickly .

I’m also hooked on the Streets of Rage Remake on the PC.  This is a fantastically done conversion (and improvement) of the Streets of Rage series.

If you want to try it out, pick it up at 

 http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_e.htm 

 56K user beware, it is a pretty large file.

Aight not really a legend, but Legendary MMSX now has a blog!   I am now known as Hoamaru on the net nowadays, but I still use the name MMSX sometimes. 

Some background info: I am a huge Megaman fan and have played them all from Original, X, Zero, Legends, Battle Network, and ZX.  Since Star Force isn’t released here I haven’t touched it yet.  I also attempted to make my own Megaman games, but do to unintended crashes, computer upgrades, and procrastination not many onther than myself have known about them.

One of the games lost in the crash was an X series untitled game that was developed in TGF.  I had a great original Custom Engine, very creative level designs (Even thought there were only 5 at the time), and some original ideas for it.  I was happy to finally be making great progress torwards a full game, but due to a hard drive crash that all came to an end.

Even though it was the end of a great project and a strong motivation, I didn’t give up game creating forever.  I attempted to make an engine for Megaman Battle Network’s Battle System.  Also developed in TGF,  it allowed users to create their own enemy AIs by editing its command setups (Stored in a text file).  This also was making some progress, but due to lost interest (For reason I don’t know) I eventually stopped working on it.  I also eventually stopped using TGF altogether, not motivated enough to attempt another gaming project for a long time.

In 11th grade, I took AP Computer Science A, which introduced to Java.  The more I began to use it, the more I liked it.  This pushed me to take AP Computer Science AB in 12th grade, and also to take the Certification Test for Java.  I passed both, but after graduation took a break from Java due to mostly procrastination and demotivation from having to get two eye surguries.  I am slowly getting Java back into my mental, and it is a lot easier than before.  I still have to get over procrastination however, as it is a killer when it comes to getting into anything. 

Other Notes: Along with being a Megaman fan, I am also a fan of 2D Fighters!  My favorite 2D Fighting Series is The King Of Fighters.  It used to be Street FIghter, but over time I grew to like the KOF Universe a bit more than the SF.  My favorite fighting game overall is actually not a fighting game, it’s an engine.  It is a very popular program known as Mugen, which allows you to import others or your own characters, stages, and music in your own fighting game.  Many people convert characters from company released games to be playable in Mugen, so you can finally mix and match desired fights.  I record many videos from Mugen (and other games) and place them on youtube for others to watch.  You can check them out at:

http://www.youtube.com/Nemera

Thats about it…I’ll start off this blog with atleast one entry a week, then pick up the pace later on.

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