Blog Moving

I've decided to move this blog over to a new location. It feels more professional and I can put it on a resume. All posts have been transfered over and I'll be continuing there.

Here's the full URL in case the link doesn't work:
http://anthonytesija.blogspot.com/

C#, XNA, and My New Game

Over the past month I've been learning C# and working on a game in XNA. This project is HUGE for a single person to undertake. All I can say so far is that it's a 4-player party game that I'm hoping to release for XBLA. I got the idea when playing the original Super Smash Bros. with my roommates. How was it we could still play something so old and simple, and have a ton of fun? It's because the game had an endless amount of possibilities and we were always able to find new ways to beat each other. The game is timeless and I'm hoping to emulate that with what I'm doing. I want a group of friends to be able to sit down and battle all night long. Drinking, cursing, and rivalry encouraged.

So far I have tested the core mechanics with family and friends. It was fun, and even after I was bored nobody wanted to put down the controller. I've transfered that over to a full project where I have the physics working. Maps are loaded by using serialized data (no more making my own .txt files). Right now I'm working on the map editor so I can have a nice set of levels to test on as the game grows.

Here's a video of a bug I had when first hacking it together to test the mechanics. (It's long since been resolved)

What I've learned so far:

• How to serialize data (saving and loading maps)
• Using controllers and controller states
• Platformer physics
• Collision detection and resolution
• The C# language through game development in XNA

What's coming next:

• Map editor
• Player weapons and shields
• Learn a shader language for fun effects

Random Building Generator

Here's a quick building generator I wrote to learn a couple of things. First is per-pixel manipulation to learn how to change color palettes, and second is how to randomly generate levels and make sure they are playable. Take a look at the video to see it in action!

New ideas

I've had a ton of great ideas since I finished Sneak Thief so I've been messing around with some new art styles. I've been working on my pixel art and applied it to some isometric tiles. Final Fantasy tactics games have always inspired me so I was thinking of working on an isometric game, but had other ideas that i ended up liking better. At the bottom of this post I'll have a bunch of pictures with some of my ideas. I decided to work on a 2D adventure platformer (and build my first real engine to go with it). I still have a long way to go, but in that time I'll be making the game art and posting it here!

Learning C# / XNA

On a whim I registered for Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play game development competition. I decided it was time to learn C# and XNA as I've only heard good things about it. So far I'm very happy with what I've seen and learned. I've got a great idea for my next game and I'm hoping to get it working for pc and 360!

Sneak Thief Finished!

I've finished Sneak Thief, the game I started late in December. I'm really happy how everything turned out. Give it a try! If you like what you see subscribe to my blog. I'm already starting to work on a new game and I'll be posting demo's frequently as I develop.

Here's the link for the Windows installer (installs on desktop):
SneakThief.exe
Or if you prefer the .zip file you can grab it here:
SneakThief.zip

I made this game from the ground up using C++ and SDL (event handling and blitting).
A few things I learned from this game are:

• Global variable may make code cleaner and easier to work with (we were taught never to use them in university)
• How to really focus and push through to the end (the last 10% is always the hardest)
• How to structure game data better

Where am I going from here? I think I'm going to get out of the tile-based games and give a side-scrolling platformer a try. I have a great idea for an adventure game that I've been wanting to start. I also want to learn how to stretch all the images on screen when it is resized (SDL doesn't support that natively).

Here's a video with some in-game footage:

[DEMO] Sneak Thief Final Demo

Here's the final demo for my game Sneak Thief. It currently features 20 levels of sneaky puzzle action.
The final game will have:

• Music and sound effects
• At least 50 levels
• The ability to make and play levels using a level editor
• More puzzle action and thievery than you can even handle!

Here's the link:
Sneak Thief Demo

Something I've Realized

I've noticed that I can come up with some amazing game ideas and quickly prototype them. I'm also pretty happy with my skills as an artist and a programmer. The two things that seem to hold me back on all of my projects though, are user interface and music / sound effects. If I were to ever join a team or work with people I would for sure need those spots covered. It's not that I can't do it on my own. I just feel like they're both long processes that drag on forever. That's the main reason it's taking me forever to finish Sneak Thief. I don't want to release a half-assed game. I think it's time to expand and find people to work with!

Anyways, more updates shortly. I've started a new project and will be posting that plus the main Sneak Thief demo later.

Reddit's Screenshot Saturday

Here are some new images of my game Sneak Thief. I've got a working level editor which will be available to users for custom maps when I release the game. I just finished the main menu (the buttons are click-able and resizing doesn't mess up the layout). The art for the menu is not final though. There are about 15 maps, but I plan on making a ton now that the editor is working.

[GAME] Blender, My Wolverine Soft 48-hour Submission

There was a game development competition at my school last weekend and the theme was combine. This is what I came up with and it ended up getting me third place! I didn't want to just stick to what I knew how to do so I learned mouse events and playing music. The music is not mine, it was taken from Newgrounds audio portal. The authors of the songs can be found in the readme.

My initial idea for the game was to combine colors to unlock new parts of a world somehow. I ended up with a maze where you collect colors and combine them to unlock doors. Give it a try! I've also put the source code in the file if you want to dig through it and see how I implemented things. It was all written in C++ using SDL.

Link:
Blender

What I learned:

• Mouse events
• Playing music

Where I'm going from here:

• Continuing work on Sneak Thief (close to finishing it)
• Starting a game with procedurally generating terrain

Images Posted and Game Dev Competition

I've added images to most of my posts so that you have a preview of what you're downloading. I realized nobody wants to download and run an exe without knowing at least a little bit about it. Hopefully the pictures have helped with that.

I'm also entering a game dev competition this weekend at University of Michigan for fun. This is going to be my first one ever so I'm pretty excited. Whatever I come up with will be posted here.

[DEMO] My second game, Sneak Thief

Here is a demo of my second game currently titled "Sneak Thief". It's a puzzle game that will have many levels, a level editor, and import/export of custom levels. The demo only has one level.

How to play:

• Use the arrow keys to walk around
• Use the space bar to interact

The object of the game is to find the gem hidden in each level. To do this you must collect items and use switches to power objects in the level. The switches can turn on lights which reveal items, open powered doors, and turn on lasers. Touching a laser will kill you unless you have the invisibility potion (found in the demo level).
Give it a try and have fun!

Sneak Thief Demo

A couple things that I've done that I'm proud of so far are the resizable window and smooth movement of the character.