Angels 2X: Angels 22: Two?
Realizing our new project* is essentially an improved version of Angels 22, we have to really think about why this time things are going to be different. I mean, it's not like we've been captains of industry lately. Sir Sapo and I are both distracted with school, and I even have a girlfriend (don't cry for the single Sir Sapo, however, he flies goddamn airplanes for his school).
*Seriously need to figure out a new name...
I think in addressing the question "why do we think we're going to actually finish a project this time?" we have to understand that our previous ambitions were not only too great, but we didn't really understand what we should be in it for, anyway. I mean, we all harbor this fantasy about creating a big game with an epic story and 12,312 missions, but why?
I think it's because we're all (well, most) of us are conditioned by our experiences with mass media products, like Mass Effect or Halo. It's the same thing with films: most film students who start out with a camera harbor the desire to, if not to equal the Matrix, then to improve on the concept. So after years of intermittently trying to make what is essentially a 2D Ace Combat, I'd like to think we finally realized it's actually more fun to make a glorified demo than an actual game.
With the difficulty of getting that last horrific 5% done on a project, why
not concentrate the 95% that's actually the fun project stuff? I think as hobbyists we have to understand our personal fulfillment is the paramount goal. Realizing that making something with 16 hours of gameplay is a naive goal opens up the possibilities of enjoying making something small but cool for
what it is.
So?
Well, that leads us to our semi-official goal:
Make a one-level demo to showcase our skills in art, design, and programming.
Which basically means we're going to concentrate on implementing all the cool little ideas we've accrued over the years (plus some new ones) and accept that whatever stage we get it to will be a success, by the simple criteria that is was fun to work on. We really don't care that much about story compared to those little neat features, like skipping bombs across the water or a truly epic-feeling explosion.
I want something I can show to someone after saying "oh, me and my friend Thomas make computer games as a hobby" and have them be sufficiently impressed. I wouldn't mind also being able to show it to future employers if it comes to that.
Well! With all that philosophy out of the way, let's see if there's anything actually new:
So it turns out we've been making this space game...
Partisan:Forlorn Hope is slowly inching towards completion, there's only a couple more things to accomplish and then we'll have our own tiny space game, which compared to everything else we've done in the last 2 years, will be a major victory. Sir Sapo is currently involved in some tom-foolery with a jet engine or something up at the US Air Force Academy, so he hasn't had much time to do his part.
In lieu of a release, here's the "End" and "Credits" screen. NSFW if you happen to work at a Christian call center in Nebraska.
Get the reference?
Ahhh... the Glory of our dev team...
On a side note, go check out the journal You Gotta Squeeze Every Pixel by Staffan E, he's working an a neat space shooter of his own.
I Gots Me A Boom Stick
In a bizarre turn of events, I got a Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifle for Christmas. My family is not particulary pro-gun* or anything, but for $99.99, it's hard to pass up on a piece of history, especially one that shoots bullets.
*actually, my dad and I got in trouble once for saying the dread phrase "AK-47" at my Grandma's house during a family get-together
It might be a little familiar to you if you've seen the movie Enemy at the Gates. It's a movie about the Battle of Stalingrad starring British people as brave Soviets, and an American as a Nazi sniper determined to get headshots on them. Anyway, this is the gun Jude Law/Vasily Zaitsev uses, minus the sniper scope.
Aw yeah... notice my dad's Toyota hybrid in the background. Only in America!
Note the Xbox controller for scale. That thing above the gun is the bayonet.
Parting Shots...
It's amazing how much Journal Land has grown recently. I don't know if I had just not been paying attention for the past year or what, but there's tons of new journals popping up all over the place, which is pretty cool.
Other than that, all I have to say is: Get some avatars, Damn kids! Also: Welcome to Journal-Land!
EDIT: And thanks to everyone who commented last time! I'll write more of a postmortem on Angels 22 later.
