Meteor Henry is coming along. It’s a slower process than it was the first time through because I’m trying to do everything right, building lots of AS files along the way. Right now I have the elastic effect working the way I like, the variable framerate clock setup and I’m gettin going on one of the more important elements of gameplay: Poles that ropes and chains will wrap around. The real trick is that I’m trying to come up with forms of collision detection that have infinite resolution. Sometimes that’s a snap, sometimes it ain’t.

I won’t be making any updates to Henry for a while though. At least I shouldn’t. . . . In two weeks I’m shooting a 16mm project for school and a few things have gone . . . well, badly. Continue Reading…

Lately I’ve had 3D on the mind. I was speaking to a fine, upstanding gentleman from _futurism about simulated 3D in flash, came across it again in a couple different AS3 discussions, have been reminded of it because of some trig work I’m doing, and also got talking to my friend Ken about it while he tried to finish his old save game of “God of War.”

It’s a really dangerous concept. Lemme explain:

When I think 2D, I can picture some pretty flawless games, many of which are decades old. When I think 3D, much fewer come to mind, and many of them still seem pretty flawed. Maybe there’s some nostalgia tied up in the old 2D, but when I play those games again, I find them genuinely exciting and inspiring. And now and then I find a new 2D for PC or flash that makes me feel the same way. Continue Reading…

Games are an art of derivations. They are paintings of invisible lines that give birth to the visible, the only true embrace of time as an element of art.

Or is it just me?

-Christopher J. Rock

http://www.liquidgeneration.com/Media/Games/The_Breakfa…

That’s the latest game I’ve finished. We had to rush some bug fixes at the end which cost us some sound effects, but we’ll be updating it this week with the right stuff. The game won’t be any different really, so go ahead and give it a try.

Here are a few thoughts on the game and its development. I list some “lessons to be learned” at the bottom, so feel free to skip down to that. Continue Reading…

Probably the most powerful tool in the game player’s arsenal is the jump ability. 90% of games depend on it. Today, I want to go into different approaches to the jump, their roles and the realism behind the jump ability. Continue Reading…

This is the most fantastic game I’ve played in a long time.

Download it free: http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/ (PC & Mac in Japanese + English Translation Patch)

Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead suggested this game a while ago (Feb 8th) and I just downloaded and played it. He says it’s been 5 years in the making. I know nothing of it, but surely I’ll be learning more. For now, it is much too late and my work in the morning starts much too early.

-Christopher J. Rock

—EDIT: I’ve played this a ton and it really is great the whole way through. Tons to do, tons to love. It’s really a beautiful game. I insist you go download and play it right now.

Less than a year ago, I threw together a demo for a game I called “Meteor Henry.” It was based on the idea of creating a “natural” environment for the player by trying to close the interactivity gap between the on-screen world and the player’s nervous system (mostly by making the mouse the primary form of control and giving it intuitive uses, almost as a limb). I hoped to demonstrate simplified physical concepts that I had been observing in Kung Fu class (mostly methods of energy conservation, or efficiency of movement, with an emphasis on circular motion).* The game required quick reflexes, coordination, quick thinking, and puzzle solving skills.

I’ve decided to make this game my first project to be released with Sokay so look forward to some previews. The original coding is a bit outdated and not very efficient (I did it in a number of days) so I’ll have to do some updating before uploading a demo. I’ll also be adding in some new features that I’m very excited about, but it should come pretty soon. Continue Reading…

While speaking with a friend, I realized a statement I should’ve made in the previous post about Art (if you didn’t read it, please do!). It was about my inclusion of naturally occuring objects and phenomena (things not created by humans, like Clouds) as Art. I suppose I took the acceptance of this idea for granted. I shouldn’t have because it’s actually quite strange. Continue Reading…