latenitecali @latenitecali - Tumblr Blog

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Here’s a little something I have been working on. This game has seen three or four engines as I try and distract myself as much as possible from actually making games. I finally have decided to move forward with godot and really focus on making this thing. I’ve had the idea in my head (and prototyped) for so long. It needs to exist.

I’m not *not* working on something...

Metaball shader in Godot 3.1. My first shader!

https://github.com/jonathanhirz/godot-metaball

2019-06

Frog Ninja - 2D platformer made with Godot Engine.

https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/frog-ninja

2018-03

Tileset workflow test in Aseprite. It’s good.

2018-03

8x8 character animation spritesheet.

2018-03

Space Dragon pixel art enemy boss. Planned for, but not yet implemented into, spaceteroids.

https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/spaceteroids

2018-03

8x8 pixel art enemies sketchpad

2018-03

More low poly modeling in Blender and world building in Unity.

https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/flamey

2017-07

ghost: hunter. 2D game made in Unity. Float around, shoot humans, collect their ghosts and deposit them into a portal.

https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/ghost

2017-09

3D diorama world building in Unity. Low poly models in Blender.

2017-05

wow, it’s dusty here...

Well, I haven’t blogged in a while because I don’t have a lot to write about. Until NOW! If you follow me on twitter you know that I “released” a little ghost shooter prototype the other day on itch.io (https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/ghost). I started this game in March 2017 as just some basic tilemap tests with Tiled and Unity, but really geared up the actual game play around the middle of September 2017. I switched to the 2017.2 beta version of Unity at that point because I wanted to try out the built in tilemap system. So really the bulk of this game was made in under 3 weeks, which I’m kind of proud of.

The game is not that complicated at all, and I still have some gameplay ideas I would like to implement, but for now it is totally playable with a full game loop (did I mention that you can play it RIGHT HERE! -> https://jonathanhirz.itch.io/ghost).

That’s it. Just a short note. I’m taking a break from this game because my son came up with a game named Burrito Wizard, and I really need to figure out what kind of game that’s going to be. Bye!

Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop

I bought a new keyboard and mouse, and what better way to test it out than by typing up some random thoughts about it. =]

I love my new Macbook Pro, but since I've been learning how to use Blender and do some more 3D stuff with Unity, I need a keyboard with a numpad. I have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse combo (K360 and M325), and they have been working great, but they use the unifying receiver to connect, which means I have to have a two inch adapter (#donglelife) sticking out of my laptop at all times. It's not awful, but it was enough of a reason for me to start looking for a bluetooth set that could better fit my needs.

So far, I really like both keyboard and mouse. I am not a keyboard expert or snob, but I like how the keys feel and the layout is just fine for me. I like how shallow the mouse it, and the clicks are quieter than they Logitech one. Scroll wheel is much stiffer than the free spinning wheel on the Logitech mouse, which I really like. Also the wheel lacks the side to side clicks, which I would always accidently trigger. The materials feel great too, sort of rubbery matte plastic. I love the slate look of the keyboard too. Almost feels like a Mac product from the dark side, or an alternate universe.

The top row media and brightness keys didn't work initially unless I held down the Fn button. I wanted default behavior to be like the Mac keyboard, where a single press activated the media function, Fn+press would activate F1-F10 etc. The setting to make this happen is in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> [Keyboard tab] -> Press Fn key to...Expand Control Strip. This is on the Macbook Pro with Touchbar, settings might be a little different on non Touchbar Macs, but something in here will probably sort it out.

The only thing I can't change without searching for a third party app is changing the modifier keys. I like to have alt/option and ⌘-command be in the same positions on my external keyboard as they are on the laptop. With the Logitech keyboard, there was an option in the same settings panel mentioned above to change the modifier keys for each keyboard, but it doesn't show up with this (or any?) bluetooth keyboard. A third party app might help add funtionality to the extra keys above the numpad too, because right now they do nothing.

Small update: I'm having (maybe) some Bluetooth connection issues, or maybe just low batteries. It seems like the keyboard disconnects or falls asleep after a few minutes of inactivity, and I can't find a setting to change this timeout. The mouse reconnects quickly when you move it, but the keyboard needs quite a few key presses to wake up.

Moment of weakness

My new MacBook Pro is in Apple's hands for at least a week. New hardware has some unspecified issue (a loud unsettling POP that happens every time it warms up from sleep) that they want to look into and fix. Hopefully it's something simple like the enclosure warming and expanding/clicking against itself. The tech mentioned it might be a clip inside that isn't set correctly. Anyway, I can't do any "work" or learning in unity or blender this week because I have no computer. I'm bummed, obviously, but it has been kind of nice to be able to justify enjoying my free time with a video game or YouTube video without feeling guilty about avoiding game dev. I also had this moment of weakness where I thought about just returning the computer and giving up making games. It's really hard right now with an extremely limited time budget to get anything done. I'm sure even professionals feel that way about time, and especially devs who are parents too. But while I was thinking this, another thought flew into my head: I'll learn and produce even less if I give up now. So, I'm just going to reevaluate my expectations, keep learning and having fun with it, and hopefully I'll be ready to hit the ground running when that magic moment happens where I suddenly have vast amounts of free time :)

Simplify

tumblr site (here) has blog posts. itch.io page (linked above) has games. That’s it. No separate games page here with outdated links, no separate prototypes page (good ones will go on itch.io), no GitHub link (source is all still there, and good examples will be linked in blog posts). I’m trying to build a more streamlined portfolio here and on itch, rather than spread thin. Also, need to focus on producing more rather than worrying about my website.

#everyonceinawhilegamedev

Been a little busy and unmotivated lately. It’s hard to make games when you have literally one hour at the end of the day to sit down at the computer. Usually that time is spent watching Youtube and vegging out for a little bit before falling asleep. BUT, I found some time this week, decided to revisit some basics with luxe engine. I keep drifting away to check out other engines, but luxe is definitely my foundation, and I know it hits all the bullet points for what I need to make games.

I also looked into loading tilemaps up straight from PyxelEdit, rather than drawing tiles in PE and drawing maps in Tiled. While Tiled is obviously more fully featured, and has a few more nice things about it, I really like being able to draw and map in the same application. It’s a small tradeoff because the mapping feature in PE is great, it just takes a little more code to get things up and running in luxe.

Next step is to look into the `samples/examples/platformer` code and figure out how to get some physics on my player sprite.

too tired for #everydaygamedev

All I did tonight was log into the godot engine irc chat room, and read a little bit about GDScript.

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