Blog from the Blacktree

This is a test

Well I haven’t posted in the longest time! As Eldevin approaches it’s beta release (a 3D browser MMO) I’ve not had much time to do anything. I have though been looking at the new Steam software and simce they have put Game Maker studio I thought I;d have a good play and try to figure it out. I promised myself I wouldn’t give up and would really try to learn it so this is what I have so far.

www.blacktreeuk.net/2d/test

When I update I’ve noticed you need to clear the browser’s cache otherwise the sprites get a bit jumbled up but otherwise this seems like a pretty cool piece of kit for developing and producing games. Wile I enjoy AGS (Adventure Game Studio) I think the reason my most of my projects end up getting junked is because I’ve never really wanted to make an adventure game so Game Maker Studio has been great for filling this need.

I have also done a series of tutorials on Youtube so go check them out and start making games!

A small project I’m doing

With the idea of completeing a short film (or series of short films atleast), I have completed the first draft of a script, well, it’s more like draft 1.2 as there have been a number of tweaks. There still a little bit of work left to do and I’ll be doing that with a good friend of mine, Mr Tucker. He has some vey nice ideas which i want to add and I’m sure he can bring even more to the story.

So what’s it about, the film is called “The Dunes And The Butterfly” and without going into to much detail a brief synopsis is:

A surrealist film of a man trapped within the mundane who falls in love with a world in his dreams and the girl that haunts it.

I really think theres something there and the story is very melancholy and bitter sweet, heavily inspired by David Lynch. Now I’m in the process of drumming up help, lets see what happens.

I’ve always loved film, always loved the idea of the production of film: writing, acting shooting and directing. When I went to university and studied animation and design for 3 years I knew it was a deep interest.

I remember writing (and I use that world loosly) for an animation me and a friend of mine created in the second year of university that really turned alot of heads called ‘The Gift’.

For me that was evidence that I had some kind of ability in constructing shots and to write.

I’ve been very blessed in finding creative work, working for Mere-Mortals Ltd creating many titles for Wii, PS2 and working for a studio that did alot of the special 3D effects for 28 Weeks Later and Sunshine, it was amazing as you can imagine. A now, year later I’m in Scotland working for another studio – so I’ve been very lucky, but my interest in film and moviemaking has never gone away.

So I’m taking the plunge, next month I’ll be picking up a camera: the Sony HXR- MC2000E to be exact. It has some amazing low-light functions, a really nice lense and an excellent steady-cam function. A cow-worker (see what I did there? Probably not) has pledged to help and theres also another local filmmaker that I want to try and contact too.

So we’ll see what happens, I’m kicking around a few ideas (as always), playing with some script ideas and seeing what sticks to the wall. I’m excited about next month.

Been a busy weekend in the office, when I should have been playing I Am Alive or Mass Effect 3 I was working more on the neighbourhood. I’ve just finished the base boy and girl player characters and they look great (I cant wait to animate these little guys) and while I spent most of the weekend end on these characters I did get a little bit of world building done.

Player character base models.

The American Dream

Pixel Buick Wagon Power

I’m currently in the middle of a month long experiment, most people who know me well will also know that I usually do rather odd experiments (like using only my left hand for a week). Well I dabble with football gambling.

I usually always make money but I’ve decided to see how much I can make in a whole month. Admittedly I usually let it get to about £20/30 and draw a chunk of that back into my bank but this month I’ll be betting on the big games when I can and by the 31st we’ll see how the balance is doing!

I began this experiment on the 3rd (Saturday), I only had a pitiful £3 from when I drew my last winnings out but so far its been going pretty well and my online William Hill balance is now a whopping £67!

Tottenham are playing Stevenage tonight at 7:30; Tottenham will win..thats for sure…but by how much, that is the question. My bets are as follows:
Tottenham 2 – 0 £2 @ 7/1
Tottenham 2 – 1 £1 @ 17/1
Tottenham 3 – 0 £1 @ 7/1

I generally blanket bet a series of scores, if the odds are good then I usually just bet on a winner (in the tottenham case they’re 1/5 which is pretty shit…which forces me to select predicted scores).

Lets see what happens tonight. If I lose then £4 is no big loss.

Bingo!

I’ve been working throwing stuff into the Eldevin editor and started building a test world, its slow going of course but every new model and texture I drop into the game brings the thing closer to life.

When you start any new project it’s a pretty daunting task and it is quite strange seing an empty Eldevin editor, like stepping into an abandoned house that you know once had a young and happy family living there.

No house without foundations

The style is very low-res and pixelly, not only does Pixel stuff seem to be in these days with the likes of Minecraft and…er..Minecraft its also something I’m pretty comfortable doing. What’s also nice about this style is that it also makes development very fast.

Now it just needs more ground decals and I’ll be laughing.

Cheers!