Scrolling Game Development Kit Forum

Deep apologies for reviving this old thread, but I kinda wanted to give a small update on my situation for those that did miss me.

Since the last time I was here, I finished college and got my degree in Bachelor's of Science in Video Game Design & Development (and yes, I was told the ampersand was important). However, I got myself sucked into a major year and a half long deep hole of a depression that basically prevented me from being productive at all. In the most cliche way possible, I've found myself a mate who also has an interest in game design which has been slowly getting me out of this depression hole I dug myself into. I can say that I've never been happier in my life!

But yeah, about this project. Reading back through all the posts (and head-desking at just about every small mistake my 16 year old self made) I enjoyed working on this project and I've learned so much about game design, even if the project itself kind of flopped. Recently, I've been re-teaching myself C++ and working more with DirectX and am having loads of fun with it, mostly because I actually fell like I have so much more control over the type of games that I, myself, want to make (as opposed to, for example, using Unity3D as a 2D engine which I feel is a huge waste of resources). So yeah...

As for this project, I want to thank all of you for the support you've given me over the years. All the help I received, all the times I had one annoying small problem, those times where I would change one line and it was considered a full update. I cannot thank you all enough for showing me support over these years. As for the future of this game, I'm not 100% certain. I want to come back and finish this game (after giving it a much needed overhaul and a bit better of a direction), although the exact time I will begin once again, I'm not certain. When that happens, I will make sure that you all will be the first to know (even if I somehow have this game made with the help of a professional studio and I would have to give you all NDAs and all of that fun stuff).

Once again, thank you all for the support over the years. I don't think I could get as far as I did without you.

-SmaryBoy16
Wow, this name is old.....

Hey! It's been forever! I just thought I'd update on what I've been doing the past few years with a Demo Reel.

[[There appears to be no youtube embedder....bummer]]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpkXEBhReQ

I'll be finishing college in about 6 more weeks then it's off to find a job (most likely California, since that's where all the jobs are now, or I can risk it by joining one of several of my classmates' independent game studios or be lucky and find one in the midwest)


So I've been gone for so long and I've got my whole life ahead of me now, so it might be safe to say that I may not be coming back here for a long time. I just wanted to say thanks for all the friendships and advice for all of these years. It's been a blast and I think I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for any of you.

- Joel Green AKA SmartBoy16 Wow that name is old!

PS: If you still want to stalk follow me online:

YouTube - SmartBoy16
Twitter - @B0b_2012
Tumblr - b0b2012.tumblr.com
Steam B0b_2012 (Contact me via twitter first before adding me, I don't accept random requests because of a certain hat)

Oh....I haven't actually tested this out myself. Maybe it's because I usually have 5 or 6 tabs open at once and some usually run flash too.

Wow, I'm running FireFox on a little laptop and Chrome on a powerful desktop, yet FireFix outperforms Chrome by a lot!  I wonder why.  I posted a question about it ar http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7965592/html5-canvas-slow-on-chrome-but-fast-on-firefox

It might be because Chrome uses a lot more memory than other browsers, which may explain why it runs faster is because it allows itself more memory to work with at once. I learned that quickly since I noticed that games like Team Fortress 2 lagged a lot more when Chrome was running.

Not all advertising is non-free.  I got a free Google Adwords Trial.  And creating a web site is a form of advertising.  That could be considered free if you already have a web host, or if you use a free web host.  And posting messages in relevant forums is also advertising.  But advertising and word of mouth both usually work better when your product is complete.

Well I guess that's true, too. But of course, there are those who completely avoid advertising (like myself) so there's that risk of simply being ignored. I guess in a ways I've created a website by making a tumblr. Eventually I'll make a dedicated website for all my games, but I want to wait until I make significant progress on this game first.

bluemonkmn has a point: it's often better to advertise when your project is completed or near completion.

While I was working on LoK:Revival, I joined a website for another lok fan game called Lok: Prodigal Sons.  The guy working on this project launched his website maybe two years before I started on my project and said that it would take a year to complete.  I don't know how he did it, but he got a wide fanbase that joined his site, like 300+ members and a lot of activity in the forums.  Now, around 4 years later, his project is still nowehere near completion, he doesn't give new information often (like once or twice a year, no more than that) and most of the fanbase he had abandoned the website or are completely pissed at him.

That's why I launched my website for my own project a couple of months before it was completed.  I didn't want to fall in the same trap.  But then again, I never tried to make a "development diary" out of my website and it looks like that's what you want to do.  So maybe it's okay.  But, if I was you, I would really avoid announcing release dates that you are not 100% sure to meet.

I don't know if you were here when I started, but I tried to make a game on SGDK1 that I gave myself a deadline of right before I started college. It wouldn't take long before I started to come up with excuses that I would not finish it like the software was too buggy or it wouldn't be that great anyways. Whenever I updated, it was usually because I changed like 1 or 2 lines of coding. I've learned from that experience, so I'm trying not to make those same mistakes again.

I still want to make a few a few deadlines for myself so I can make significant progress though. That's why I'm merely focusing on finishing a prototype (gameplay, 1 dungeon, some enemies, boss, ect.) by the time I graduate. I'll worry about the story line a bit more once I finish that.

I could have sworn I saw an option where you could follow without tumblr, but I could be wrong. If you don't want to make your own tumblr, there is an RSS feed you can follow too: http://2wentydungeons.tumblr.com/rss

[EDIT 10/18/2011 1:40PM] Google Chrome users! Install this! You can now use RSS Feeds! https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nlbjncdgjeocebhnmkbbbdekmmmcbfjd I just discovered this today...

I know I said some things in the past about how I would start up on this project but then just leave it behind. Well, I made a blog at http://2wentydungeons.tumblr.com that shows the current process of this game. I think for sure I can finish this, but I can't do it without any support. All I need is something that assures me that somebody out of the 3,000,000+ who use the internet every day who will take the time to listen to what I have to say. A simple follow on the blog would help, please.

But anyways, I'm finally starting this up again. At this current time, I'm planning on using XNA (maybe flash) as an engine, but if I find something better, I'll use that instead. I'm making it a goal that I complete a playable demo of this game by the time I graduate from college (Spring 2012).

If there is anybody who still visits here left, please let me know if you support this game. This has been my lifelong dream and I can't do this alone and I'll need any help that I can get.

[EDIT 10/18/2011 1:27PM] Please follow my blog at http://2wentydungeon.tumblr.com or RSS Feed: http://2wentydungeons.tumblr.com/rss

With love, hatred and respect,
Joel Green
AKA SmartBoy16

PS: For those who don't think I've started on this yet, here is some concept art.

Three words: Duke Nukem Forever.

I finally realized the pun in that name. There is Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D, and Duke Nukem Forever.