The Field of Kings JOURNAL

[Hguols]

Verdite (or anyone), you can actually play the game without a PSP. ‎  Just load the .a files in your browser. ‎  I know it works with Firefox.

Guyra, what you submitted is impressive. ‎  Very impressive. ‎ 
However, I have to weigh in time put into the product vs. product quality.

To me it doesn't seem worth it to put 30 minutes of time on one picture, something that will realistically be looked at for not even 1/30th of that time, just for having better graphics, but delaying the completed project for an additional several months. ‎  I'm guessing there will be 200+ images total when the game is all said and done.

Now, if what you did took 5 minutes, I would have a different tune. ‎  I'd definitely go for that in a heartbeat.

[Verdite]

Thanks hgouls, ill try it out sometime.

Seeing the comparison in the pictures, i think that Guyra has a point, though if you can somehow template pieces, like that tree for example or a brick wall, you'l increase the quality nd speed while making good future templates for games. Thats one reason why i spend time on my custom work for SoM, because i've a keen interest in game making and i know ill be able to use my models for future work.

[Guyra]

I definitely agree, Hguols, spending that much time on every image would take way too much time. But if one was to do this for the whole game, there are several things that would make the time spent on each picture decrease dramatically.

- Verdite's point about template pieces. This would probably decrease the amount of time considerably, though exactly how much really depends on the number of times each template set could be used, and that's not something I know.
- It would take less time for each pic. On the first ones you have to get into how you're doing it, like a learning process. After you'd get used to doing the work, the rest would go much faster than the first, say, ten images. A scene like the example I gave you would probably take between 5 and 10 minutes.
- Work on nature scenes generally takes more time than work on things like for example rooms inside a castle or dungeon. If you've gotten used to the work, the most simple rooms would probably not take more time than a couple of minutes each.
- When I created the example, I also had to create textures and elements from the original image and such. If one were to do this kind of work on several images(over 200 in this case), one would have all this ready for most of the images even before they'd be opened in PS.

So, five minutes on average isn't really that unlikely. For the example I had to figure out how to do things, where to get things, create and edit textures, and actually somewhat a template for the two trees up close - yes, they use the same "half-template", although it's not very visible. If I'd had these things ready for that pic, and knew from the start the general idea of how I would do this, it'd probably not have taken me more than a maximum of ten minutes.

And now I'm going to try and play that demo!


Edit: Having problems loading the game in FF. All I get is the following for the first .a file:

[1]
1=#`^Vdgj.xy$!&{ U5UT
2=f\CA6
3=mXq;
4='^0+
5=m%$m?/+L*6<9G`

Or random images for the rest. Do you need to install something else to load this, or am I just being plain stupid? ;D

[Hguols]

Thanks Guyra. ‎  I think I'll hold off on any image modification for the time being. ‎ 
My focus is more to get the game done.... ‎  Besides, there are people in the Adventure Maker community that are already saying its the best made-for-psp game demo.

Sorry! ‎  I forgot to mention which .a to choose to make it run!

Pick 00124.a and run that in Firefox.

That will start the game off from the start. ‎  The mouseovers don't stay long in Firefox for some reason. ‎  It might ruin the gaming experience a little.

[Guyra]

Alrighty!

Playing the demo now, I really like it! I want the full game on my PSP once it's done!

[HwitVlf]

Reminds me of Stonekeep!

[dmpdesign]

Making a game of this sort is probably more up my alley for right now as 2d is something I can do all day.

Tom, you have intrigued me, i will be playing this one for sure when youre done and probably making my own.

Well done thus far!

[Hguols]

I haven't spent much time on this project lately because I've been SOOOOOOOOOO geeked on the new music I've put together.
...and updating my own site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8tlxBdGRi0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5yOsCUTArM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3w7rsiKhKA

Once the dust settles from this, I'll be back on it. ‎  Right now, I'm trying to get the attention of a few labels...

[Hguols]

I got quite a bit done today. ‎  I had the day off work, the wife was at work, so I decided to kill a few hours on making this game.

I have the Courtyard and Lower Courtyard completed. ‎  102 images total. ‎  The setup file is close to 12 megs and has 506a's. ‎  (I'm guessing that's from the hotspots) ‎  Two areas down, 7 to go. ‎  Tried and tested, this is good to go.

I created the area select and credits section of the game as well. ‎  As far as the game menus are concerned, they're done. ‎  (I just have to add in link to the new areas when they're completed, which will be done in a few clicks.)

Each area will have a intro-gif. ‎  For those of you who played the demo and it says "The Courtyard" in letters that fade out, each area will have that. ‎  I also plan on making multiple "area intros" so you'll be reintroduced to each area as you leave one and enter the next. ‎  The Courtyard leads to The Lower Courtyard, The Valley and The King's Castle, so naturally, there will be 4 letter animations total just for that area. ‎  One for starting a new game, and the other three from returning from the aforementioned areas.

Encountered a minor problem that was easy to overcome. ‎  The Adventure Maker program is sensitive to file names. ‎  Trying to upload a different file from a different folder with the same name results in "uploading" the first image on file.

Since I'm separating each area into their own folder, I've just been adding a number in each file name so I won't run into that again.

Next area to work on, The Forest....

[Hguols]

I did a little change of pace and created a map. ‎ 

The Field of Kings Map

This is of the entire layout of the game. ‎  Naturally, The Courtyard and The Lower Courtyard are complete, and I'm working on the forest area right now. ‎ 

Its huge and there's a lot to look at. ‎  I realized in creating this, it would be a spoiler for The Garden Labyrinth. ‎  Cest la Vie.

I plan on including a map with the game install, when I'm completed with the game.