No big post today, apologies.

So many papers due today. I have no time to talk!

Next main rant will be my feelings on the Final Fantasy XI of 2011. See you Thursday!

Random Rant Ramble (August)

August is coming to a close, and September is coming into full swing. I have several term papers due this week, study sessions with a friend of mine for said classes, and all of the stress associated with that.

I took some time out and finally got Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong 1994 for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. It took me several tries, but I did finish Super Mario Land earlier today. Gunpei Yokoi is one hell of a game designer. (Rest in peace). I greatly admire his work, and SML was a cheap and addicting game.

A tribute song these guys did sums it up well.





Uh, that's about it. Until next time!

Light at the end of the tunnel!

Computer Science -- Bachelor of Science (Primary Degree) (Course Dependencies)

Computer Systems -- Bachelor of Arts: Game Development (Secondary Degree) (Course Dependencies)


I made one of these way back Freshman year when I started classes at the University. Needless to say, things didn't go too well. I didn't know course offerings, teachers/professors, and so on. Assuming I pass all of my classes, this is what's left. I took into account course offerings, who teaches what, reputation of the class, and what I want to get out of my main career as being a game developer while still accomplishing the required courses I need for both degrees.

Here we go... (Tentative)


Fall 2011

PHYS223 - General Physics III
CSE524 - Supercomputing and Visualization
CSE420 - Computer Graphics
CSE489 - Senior Seminar


Winter 2012

CSE431 - Algorithm Analysis
CSE488 - Computer Ethics
CSE460 - Operating Systems**
CSE512 - Artificial Intelligence**
CSE570 - Compiler Design**

Spring 2012

CSE441 - Game Programming
CSE401 - Computer Architecture
CSE460 - Operating Systems**
CSE565 - Systems Programming

Summer 2012:

SPAN290 - Spanish Literature**
KINE10# - Exercise Course

--Computer Science BS Degree END--


Fall 2012

CSE482 - Senior Project
CSE535 - Numerical Computation
JAPN101 - Japanese I


Winter 2013

CSE375 - Computer Design/Analysis
CSE520 - Advanced Computer Graphics
CSE570 - Compiler Design**
CSE512 - Artificial Intelligence**


--Computer Systems BA: Game Development Degree END--



**If offered and doesn't collide with another class.

Rivale Northern Cave

I've been working on areas for Selatria this morning, hence the late-in-the-morning blog post. Today I'm working on the Rivale Northern Cave.

Mage and Luis will be sent here to try and uncover the secret to the Rivale family aristocracy. The path through the dungeon will depend on what class Mage enters the dungeon as. This particular one will be the Elementalist path. There are lots of Elemental monsters that are impervious to physical attacks, rendering Luis useless. This will be the hardest path given that there are lots of fire damage tiles, but this path also has the most treasure given its difficulty.

The Paramedic's/Magician's path will be easier, but not have the kind of treasure that this has.

Moving to PS3 when FFXIV comes out for it. PC can't seem to handle it post 1.18

Hmm, what to blog about today?

I'm starting to believe more and more that my laptop can't handle Final Fantasy XIV, or that the Visual Studio exception handling is poor. Since 1.18 update, I've found myself falling off bridges and off the map and even into locked areas. I'm not pos-hacking or anything like that, so I can't be banned for it, but XIV is a serious resource hog. If too many people are doing actions at one time, then the game freezes or my timers go out of sync. It's very frustrating.

Maybe it's just me venting. I'm not going to go out and invest in a desktop computer, mainly because I'm mobile, but I'm starting to save up money for a PS3 version of the game. I will likely move over to that when FFXIV comes out for there. Normally this would be enough for me to take a respite from the game, but I have too much invested in my character, in the linkshell, and in the game to stop playing now.

Selatria Progress (August 2011)

Area being worked on for chapter 2

I put a lot of work into the game project this week. I'm really liking how it looks so far, to be honest. But the lack of artists is really noticeable in the project as it still looks like a standard VX game, well maybe except for the battles.

I'm going to have to start seeking elsewhere for people who can do environmental/icon art for the project.

Other than that, I'm really happy with the direction the game is going. The music is great, the design is great, the writing/storytelling is great, and the design of the game is great. Or maybe I'm just biased! ;)

We'll see for sure though, my philosophy is that a game has to be fun more than anything else, so if the art isn't quite up to par, it won't be a really big deal. Well, the art isn't -bad- per se, just nothing unique about it yet since it uses a lot of the default art assets. I really want to get away from that, but it seems like no use unless I keep looking for artists.

Phase III of the game project is coming August 27th!

.

Nonsense!

Uh... I need a new post?


So much stuff has been going on, and I'm literally too tired to make any sense out of any of it.

I will tell you that I have an important paper that I haven't started on and an exam I need to take later today.


I really want to get Conjurer to 50. Really. 7 levels to go!

Can you tell my attention span is kind of crazy?


Squirrel!

Naoki Yoshida: Part X

(Official Yoshi-P forum picture from Square Enix Forum)

See also: Letter from the Producer XV (7/27)
See also: Letter from the Producer XVI (8/15)

Some highlights from the post...

Ifrit Battle:

It seems that there is going to be two types of Ifrit battles. One for rank 30 and one for rank 50. This reminds me of the tuning fork idea of FFXI where you could fight an easy version of the avatar at rank 20. Though, I hope this version isn't solo! I imagine the rank 50 version of the fight is going to be pretty tough if the current Dzemael Darkhold is any indication.

Ranks -> Levels / Skill Points -> Experience Points:

They're getting rid of physical levels soon. That's been a long time coming. But with that change, they're changing rank to level and SP to EXP. That's good because I never particularly liked "rank" and "skill points". Sounds unnecessary and redundant, or maybe I'm just being a RPG nostalgic!

Review of Actions:

I don't think Conjurer is going to be a nuker for much longer. I think nukes are going to be given to Thaumaturge where as Conjurer is going to become the main healer of the game. I hope I'm wrong, but with one job being given to one class, this seems likely. (Also, CON just got a bunch of Raise spells to add to this sentiment.)


Character Development:

They're going to have it so there are set automated stats for each level with a little leeway for customization. I'm glad because in the battle poll, I voted for this method when keeping physical levels, and it seems they're doing a hybrid of what people voted for. I don't like having to allocate everything, because then people pigeonhole themselves. (Ie: 290 STR and 0 Piety) and make them useless in other classes, and it sucks because ranks had stat caps and all of that STR would go to waste.

Chocobos/Airships/Ease of Transportation:

Good! I hate running around. Well, I liked it at first. But anima spoiled me. I can get by with airships and chocobos though. That'll make me happy/content. :D

Direct Targeting:

Implementation of direct targeting for objects such as aetheryte crystals. I'm happy about this. I always found it to be kinda stupid to have to open up the menu to open doors or target these crystals. It just seemed convoluted and unconventional.


New Raids:

Possibly the most fun thing to actually come out of last patch, and now we're getting raids involving the beastmen tribes. I'm looking forward to taking this with Viva Eorzea.


-


Anyhow, the patch with all of this stuff is coming late-September. I'm going to get to work on getting Conjurer to rank 50, and then work Lancer and Thaumaturge to 50 and follow suit so all of my class-types are covered. I really want to be able to fill any role in the future so I won't have to demand the shell members to level certain jobs. That's just poor leading.

And... it's because Chaos Thrust is kinda awesome.

Someone

I find that if someone is on my mind, then I have a tendency to try and get it off of my mind by working on my various projects. It's become a severe habit so much so that I find myself not getting much sleep because of it.

If I have someone on my mind, I start working on my game or BETACinema editing in order to feel better. It's one thing to use a hobby or activity to feel better or cheer up by being productive. It's another thing to do it to the point where it's detrimental to health.

Recently, I was asked on a Facebook status I have written on what exactly motivates all of these projects and all of these groups that I lead. I think I'd have to attribute it to someone. Part of me hopes that this person would be impressed or something, but it's kind of unrealistic. We live in a world where you have to be self-motivated if you want to get anywhere, especially with a project like this. But even then, in the back of my head, I still kind of hope that this someone is there looking at my feats and is cheering me on.


I don't think that this blog post was supposed to make much sense, but I felt like writing about it.

3DS!

I finally got a Nintendo 3DS on Wednesday. I had to drive around several Walmarts, but I was able to pick one up for $169 and become a Nintendo Ambassador! So psyched. (Thank you early price cut Walmart. You loss leader, you.)

I kind of feel bad for those who paid $249 at launch, but they still get the free titles. I'm loving it, and it's much lighter than my DS Lite is. Well, and I'll be happy that I'll have a giant gameboy library on it.

Soon, the investment will come into fruition!


Keep in mind my blogs are going to become more short and less to the point. But I also don't plan on spamming everyone out with these posts anymore. I feel a little more liberated to talk about what I want to, and what I actually feel than figuring I'd have to make it have a point. I got kind of burned out trying to have something long and interesting to rant about every other day.

Mid-August Rant

From here on out, this blog won't be auto-posted to Facebook, gives me a chance to actually say what I want to instead of voluntarily censoring myself out to the public given the nature of just linking my page everywhere.

I still feel like I have to write every other day though, as uneventful as things sound. I am looking forward to something that happens later today, I can't talk about it yet, but I am very happy about it.

I think honestly though that it arises from the last two blog posts, people don't seem to care that much, or I think I got annoying to the point where people don't give a damn, not that I care too much, I just liked the blog getting views, even for a little while.

That's it for now. I'll post again on Friday! Hopefully with some actual blogging content and less fluff.

New YouTube Series

I said that today I would reveal my new series that will be appearing on my YouTube channel, so... here I go.


I'm working on a YouTube series that will be an episodic series based off of the game I'm working on, Selatria. (You can download alpha test version of the game here.)

The series will be somewhat considered a machinima of sorts, but since most machinimas are unofficially made, this will be an official one.

It will use the same game engine and game assets for the episodes, but it will essentially be 10 minute adventures of Mage and Melanie (the two protagonists of the game project.) In order to keep things fresh for this YouTube series, this will delve more into the characters youth and upbringing in the Academy they grew up in. So the YouTube series is a prequel to the game itself.

Unfortunately, the series development is only in its infancy at the moment, and the first episode will not premiere until October. But here is a preview shot of the first episode.



While the graphics and text are similar to that of the game project, it will not be playable or have any game-play and will be entirely voice acted cut-scenes. It will be recorded and then put on YouTube in video form.

After the October episode, I'm going to typically release one every two months. At a lot slower pace than the other skits and projects I work on, but this is going to be a much better quality. In any case, this will debut on my personal YouTube channel.

_

Inspirations:

Pokemon Anime:

I think the people at Game Freak and Nintendo had a revolutionary idea when they released a TV series that went along literally with the game and featured many of the same characters. It definitely had the immersion effect on me as a kid, to be able to see something in a cartoon or anime and be like "hey! They have that in the game!" or "So-and-so gym leader makes an appearance in game too!"

Machinima:

Well, the ones that don't suck. This YouTube series is going to not be purely comedy, it's going to be a series on its own, though just because it's a more serious project doesn't mean it won't be comedic at all, but it's going to be something that will go along with the game itself. Though the game can still be played and understood independently from the series.

Selection of Video Game Music - Part IV

I'm honestly not much of a blogging mood today. I'm in a listening mood. So, I'm going to put some themes that I've been listening to lately. For parts I and II, click the label at the bottom of post and scroll down accordingly.


#32 - "Severnaya Installation (Surface 1)" - Goldeneye N64

I remember being 6 or 7 years old playing this game trying to figure out where to go, and I was stuck on this level for the longest time because I forgot that B button opened doors, or something like that. I have very fond memories of Goldeneye, and it's the only shooter I've tolerated, or maybe that's my anti-Xbox self speaking. I'm not sure.

Graeme Norgate was the composer of the Goldeneye series for N64, the whole soundtrack is great, but this one sticks out.





#33 - "Pulifia Flowers" - Lufia Series

This is one of my favorite RPG themes, and also one of the first I can remember. This plays in scenes where the hero and his love interest Lufia stand in the gardens near their hometown talking about their plans. Although it's strongly hinted that they like one another, the Hero feels like he has to go alone on his journey, but Lufia longs to stay near him, so they take off out of town together. Anyway, they have their talk, so to say, in the Pulifia flowers in the kingdom of Alekia. This music mainly makes its first appearance there.






#34 - "Beyond the Wasteland" - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 1/2

I'd have to admit, I never got very far in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, I personally thought it was an awful game, or maybe I wasn't used to it. I gave the TA series another go when I bought Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 for the DS in 2008. I liked it much better, and it was easier for me to ease into the game. The final boss was kind of a pain in the rear, though. Would heal itself if you "took your time", so to say.

Anyway, this song plays in some of the battles in FFTA2, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this was in the first game as well -- I might give it another go. :)






#35 - "Hawaii - Jungle Bump" - Cruis'n World

Great racing game. You can do wheelies at will, go off jumps and do flips. (Or at least I remember flipping.) and a friend of mine and I did co-op until we got to the Moon and completed the game. It was a lot of fun. Cruis'n Exotica came out sometime afterwards, but I never got into it, mainly because by then the N64 was dying out and I was getting addicted to FF7 and FF9 on the PlayStation.

Anyhow, this is the music from the first level of the game.







#36 - "Hot Top Volcano" - Diddy Kong Racing

The level is easy with airplanes, sure. But try it on a hovercraft.




#37 - "Escape from the City" - Sonic Adventure 2

This Sonic game is a treasure, probably my favorite one out of the whole series. I rented it from Blockbuster (remember that store?), and I think I had it overdue for like two weeks due to playing the heck out of it. I got a large way through. Someone stole my GameCube memory card, though, and I'm going to play it again someday. Perhaps I'll complete it before the end of the year. After Super Mario Sunshine... Anyway, I'd be stupid not to have this song on the list.







Only five on this list now. The quality of music in games lately has really decreased, or maybe I'm not playing newer games as much. Too much importance on graphics, I tell you. Games need to appeal to all of the senses, and not just the eyes for maximum enjoyment. Just saying.

Poke and the man and the thing with the guy comes out of the thing AND HE MAKES A VRAHERZAH AH AH AH

It's a made up Cosby quote. Really.






Some time ago (I'm too lazy to check blog posts to determine exact date- check the 2012 tournament label at the bottom), I expressed a desire to go to the Pokemon game championships next year. I was not ready to attend this year due to not having an Unova-only team, and none of which are EV trained.

Anyway, since that blog post, they finally put the Pokemon rankings and stuff online on their website. You have a trainer card online that syncs with your Black and White game and updates as you win or lose trainer fights in randomized battles.

Needless to say, I have been getting my ass kicked. Some people really know strategy, and I'm having a hard time keeping up. I think the default wi-fi score is 5000 and mine has fallen to somewhere around ~4200. In any case, it has motivated me to work on a better EV trained team. So I've been working on the battle subway (the Wi-Fi one), attempting to clear that, get some BP for better items for said Pokemon, and training a new Unova-only EV trained team that I can hopefully use in the future.

I think I'm going to start recording battles on my DS and post them on my YouTube channel. ...Actually, I'm strongly considering it. :D And as of now, my Haxorus is a good way to being EV trained. It has max Attack EVs, and now I'm working on its Speed, but need the item for it >.<

Back to the Battle Subway...


_


Oh, and I finally got a Kyurem! He's probably going to be the mascot of a future "Gray" version. I'm calling it right now.

And a Facebook friend traded me a Totodile. So I have all the starter P from all of the generations, if anyone is willing to trade or battle.

Which would be a good area to post my Friend Code: 4169-3822-6605




Next post will be Saturday... dunno what I'll be writing about. But there will be something! And I just learned that "Semi-Daily" means twice a day. Oops.

Dammit, Dzemael Darkhold Dungeon

This is mainly a post to vent. You've been warned! (By Ahriman monster that does nothing but cause displeasure to your eyes.)




So, patch 1.18 brought two new dungeons into the scene of FFXIV, The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak, and the Dzemael Darkhold dungeons. Toto-Rak is located north of Camp Tranquil in Gridanian territory and is for a party of four rank 25 adventurers. The Dzemael Darkhold, on the other hand, is for a party of 8 rank 45 adventurers. And it's difficult. I mean really difficult. In the terms that you have an hour to complete it, hope that no one disconnects, and literally run through hoards of monsters hoping your party doesn't get killed in all that mess.

If that's not bad enough, there's an Eye monster (can't be damaged, doesn't even have an HP bar) that floats around and does a devastating AoE if you're near it. Doesn't aggro, but whatever.

That ogre? No, no. He's not even the final boss and people are having trouble fighting it.

So the strategy turned out to be like this:

-Enter dungeon:

-Skip intro cutscene to save time.

-Skip the introduction of the eye monster to save time

-Wait for eye to hover over your party and continue ahead on the dungeon. (And hope he doesn't do his area attack on hop of where you and your party are situated. It's hard to react and run before he gets it off, unless you have really good reflexes.)

-Have Conjurers/Thaumaturge in group use party buffs.

-As Gladiator, I had to put on Sentinel, Aegis Boon, Defender, Rampart II, (defensive buffs) etc in order to stay alive.

-Run through the dungeon area aggroing all the mobs, stopping occasionally for party members to catch up and cast healing spells on you, and letting them sleep frogs and toads in the way. (Keep in mind that toads have a draw in attack, so you have to sit and wait for mages.)

-You want to be in active mode when you run. You may go slower, but it's more endurance (and staying alive) than speed. Also known as: Haul ass, but haul ass without killing yourself or your party. You can take hits and let the mages just heal you as you run/stop. Don't get too far out of range from the rest of the party, especially those who are healing you while you run!. I would advise everyone to get Fleet of Foot trait from the Lancer's Guild as well. It's invaluable.

-If you're the tank, skip the first gate, run to the second gate. (That is, unless you're farming.) The second gate will have a cut-scene that opens up the path. Keep in mind that this does not despawn the mobs. You need to run a little further, past some moles and frogs and stand on the various circles to despawn all mobs.


ANYWHO, we ended up doing it 5-6 times. None of them were Gladiators so the instructions were kind of vague, and had to figure them out myself. The run we finally got our sh*t together....

My game crashed.



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