2010 Archive

March 1st, 2010:

Wow, has it really been a whole month since the last update? :O

Well, I haven't anything new to report yet. I've been busy looking over the basics of XNA and trying to figure out what to make first. I had some good ideas for what to do first, but I've had to set aside each one as they all had something about them that wouldn't make them good starting projects.

I do have one potential idea that so far fits within my ability to make... It's a 360-degree shooter along the lines of the Descent series originally made by Paralax Software before they split to form Volition and Outrage. I've only just started brainstorming it so I'll know soon enough if it'll be worth pursuing.

I'll try to have some new stuff up soon, but I want to get at least something started with XNA first before I devote more time to the website. I know some people really want to be able to play Space Fortress 2 and I hope I can find some time to get it ready for a release in its abandoned state.

And please, someone remind me if I go an entire month without making an update here! ^_^;

February 1st, 2010:

Been doing a lot of planning for the past month, trying to figure out which direction will work best when I start making games using Microsoft XNA, considering I have only a limited amount of time to work on my projects at the moment. I'm leaning towards a first person shooter at the moment as I have a very unique idea for one which returns to basics and would have a very retro feel.

As for the website, I've got the PixelShips Guides back online! The original Strategies and Complete List of PixelShips are back, along with a quick little section detailing the Weaponry! Please note that this information applies only to the ORIGINAL PixelShips game, not PixelShips Retro. I'll have a bunch of guides for PixelShips Retro up soon enough. Next on the list is the Star Gladiators 2 guide, then I want to get Space Fortress 2 prepped so that it'll be completely playable in its unfinished state.

As for the Miscellaneous Stuff, there's a lot of content I want to put in there, but I'm pondering what to add first: My Console/Portable/PC game collection, MP3s of all the music I've made over the past decade, my custom-made levels for Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Descent 3 and Stunts, or my 2D and 3D artistic works... If there's any particular one of those you want to see first, drop me a line from the contact page and let me know! ;)

January 10th, 2010:

With the launch of my new website format, you're going to see a distinct change in the way I do things around here. No more will I be hiding the fact that I do indeed work by myself. Contrary to everything everyone else told me not to do because it would be bad for business, you're going to be seeing more of the sincere me around here. So let's start with the first big change, the Miscellaneous Stuff.

The new Miscellaneous Stuff pages will house all of the things I've done in my spare time just for the heck of it or to learn new things. You'll find my artwork, my music, my musings, and I'll even be compiling my entire game collection into a list to give everyone a good idea of just how much experience I have with gaming. Those lists will also indicate which games I've beaten and with what skill settings. Unfortunately, these pages are not quite ready to go yet, but with any luck they should be ready soon!

Also, new versions of PixelShips Retro and Super Minesweeper have been released. These versions have primarily been updated either for compatibility or to update pricing information. Super Minesweeper also now includes the expansion pack by default! If you purchased the original game without the expansion simply head to the downloads page and patch yourself up to the most recent version to obtain the expansion boards! (NOTE: Anyone still using v1.1 specifically will need to contact me to obtain a new download link from Share-It. The patch only works with v1.11 and v1.12.)

Space Fortress 2 is now officially abandoned as it does not fit in with my new game development plans (as it would make a lousy console game) and because I simply don't have time to work on it anymore. I will soon be releasing the unfinished version for free and will let everyone know when that happens. I'm also going to be setting up pages for other games I've abandoned and will even have a download up for one of them just for sake of curiosity. ;)

I'm also going to be adding a section for my REALLY old stuff, some of which dates back, seriously, to 1993, the beginning years of my programming. It'll be like a time capsule, pulling these files up, provided anyone can get them working! ^_^;

Last but not least, I've added a couple more links to the personal pages of two particular software developers who have not only made software I've loved growing up, but whom I've had direct digital contact with at some point or another, and thus follows the websites of Patrick Aalto, the creator of the Line Wars games, and Ken Silverman, known originally for Ken's Labyrinth, mostly for creating the Build Engine, but nowadays for his special programming application EvalDraw and his interest in voxels.

Stay tunned as there's many more developments to come! :)

News for January 2nd, 2010:

Sorry folks, but despite having two weeks to myself to get my website update done, it's not until you have a working framework and start re-building off of it that you realize how difficult it is to reformat over 100 webpages... x_x;

I'm going to aim to get the most important sections of the new website up next Sunday on the 10th and will then get more sections up and going on a weekly basis.