Project Win98

Retro Computer Nonsense

[projectwin98-blog]

Week 0 - Fresh Start

It's been a minute. Or several. Roughly about 2,052,000 as of writing this.

Quick Life Updates:

I moved (again) back up to West Yorkshire, my home county, in March 2020. About 3 days into the Pandemic actually.

I'm now a Producer at Red Kite Games, a SUMO Digital studio based in Leeds. I've been there since April 2020.

I made minimal progress on this project in this time. Hooray for overscoping and procrastination!

I plan to kick this "Project" (If you can even call it one at this point) off again. Following my initial considerations, and tendancy to overscope, I'm going to be using Game Maker 6.1 to HOPEFULLY stop me from going off the deep end and try to learn 4 skillsets at once...

Other than needing a new CMOS battery, my chunkly ol' Panasonic Toughbook CF-48 still lives. I'll be dusting it off and seeing what I should tackle first in the (near) future.

Watch this space!

[projectwin98-blog]

Week ??? - Minor Hiatus

Just a quick update for the three two people that follow this blog. The past 8 months have been insane, with a variety of stuff going on my life.

The Good:

I moved into an apartment building about 100 miles away from London up to Leicester, because:

I got a new job! I am now a Producer at NSC Creative, an immersive storytelling studio based at the National Space Centre.

The Bad:

My video game studio Pixel Spill has officially wrapped up, meaning that  ‘Outreach’, is no longer in development. Since this happened, my creativity has had to go into my current job, and I’ve simply not had the energy to work on the project.

The laptop that I was developing Project98 on MAY have broken completely. As a result, I have been unable to access many of my prototyping concepts (as my desktop doesn't have a floppy disk drive).

This massive reshuffle in my personal and professional life has taken over a lot of my time recently. That, coupled with the death of my windows 98 machine has made me re-evaluate the project. I am thinking of switching to something like GZDoom and exploring more modern software packages in order to actually COMPLETE a game. 

I’ll probably come back to the Windows 98 concept in the near future, but for now we shall see what the future holds. 

[projectwin98-blog]

Weeks 2 to 4 - Doom Engine vs Goldsource

After shortlisting the editor for the project to either Valve’s Hammer Editor or Doom Builder, I set myself the goal of settling on one before the end of January. To do this, I wrote a brief task list for both editors to complete within a week each. This list consisted of:

Build a test level with textures, enemies, weapons/pickups and props

Link two test levels together

Make a functional door

Make stairs/ramps/elevated sections

Compile level/run level

(Stretch Goal) Attempt to run level on both Windows 98 and 10

Tests with Doom Builder went better than expected, with all these tasks only taking a few days of part-time work. As I mentioned in my previous post, the amount of video and written tutorials for Doom Builder were very helpful for beginners like myself. The 3D mode allowed me to quickly see what I was making, and adjust textures in real-time. The only issue I had was quickly fixed... I may have forgotten to texture ALL the defs...

In Week 3, I figured that my previous experience with the Hammer Editor would make my list a breeze. However, things didn’t go particularly smoothly. My first hurdle with the editor was with the UI; I quickly realised that I have forgotten EVERYTHING. Secondly, I had real trouble with setting up the Hammer Editor so that levels could be tested. For some reason, the editor simply wouldn’t run the ‘test level’ mode; after triple-checking the settings, I could not figure it out. By the time day 7 rolled around, I was still unable to test any of the levels.

At the end of all this, I have decided to go with Doom Builder (and various other software packages like the eXtendable Wad Editor). With Hammer, I would have more functionality, but I think the limitations of Doom Builder will help mould the project into something unique. Also, I would have to learn more about 3D modelling, rigging and animation for Goldsource; all skills that I am very unfamiliar with. 

As of next week, I will be tackling some more complex tasks, whilst scouring the internet for game design inspiration. I’ll be tracking my tasks using a Trello board, which I will be making public (Project 98 Trello Board). I’ll continue to work on the project part time, and keep this blog up to date roughly twice a month. 

[projectwin98-blog]

Week 1 - Choosing an engine

After taking some time to gorge myself on holiday food and chocolate, I have come back to Project 98 with some decent progress. My initial task is to decide what game engine I will be using on my Pentium III beast. As a result, I have performed some basic tests on previously mentioned platforms over the course of December. 

Game Maker 6

A rather simple yet easy to learn game engine that I used when I was about 11 years old. Useful for making a variety of 2D games from varying perspectives. I even used a version of this for concepting a project for Kickstarter. It acted as a proof of concept for hiring artists and programmers:

Pros:

Easy to use interface

Decent paperwork/documentation

No programming required (can use drag/drop)

Have used previously, not an unknown

Cons:

Limited to 2D games or VERY basic 3D (think SNES Mode 7 at a STRETCH)

Creating anything other than an arcade game or platformer will be difficult

No version will run on a modern operating systems for an executable export

Hammer Editor 3.5 (Goldsource)

Teenage James would be proud to see me going back to my roots. I used the Valve’s Hammer Editor back when Half Life 2 was but an E3 tech demo promising some revolutionary ragdoll-throwing physics. I also used the follow-up Source SDK on a few projects, so I feel both comfortable and terrified of using Goldsource for this project. 

Pros:

Most versatile engine I have access to

LOTS of documentation

Have used previously, not an unknown

Cons:

Requires custom 3D models, rather than just sprites.

Very complex engine, may easily result in scope creep

Will have to learn some C++ in order to achieve much of what I need

Doom Builder

Well-known as one of the original tools for making your own games and maps for a video game with ease, Doom Builder is appealing mainly for its mix between complexity and approachability. While I’ve never used it before, my initial tests have proven that it may yet suit perfectly. 

Pros:

Approachable to newcomers

LOTS of documentation

Can easily export executable to modern operating systems via .WAD file

Lets you make a DOOM GAME

Cons:

Dated version of the engine (can do more in Doom Builder II, which does not function on Windows 98)

Can only REALLY make first person games, will be a stretch to get anything else out of the engine

Never personally used software, the unknown could be terrible

Adventure Game Studio (AGS)

While my personal experience with traditional adventure games is limited, AGS has been used very effectively by fellow game developers that have expressed the engines’ merits. Matt Frith has used it multiple times to create some fantastic games in a relatively short space of time. Matt is also not a seasoned programmer, so this gives me hope for a newcomer such as myself.

Pros:

Well documented

Friends have in-depth knowledge (useful for troubleshooting)

Cons:

Very genre-focused software, similar to Doom Builder in that sense

Limited to 2D games

Never personally used software, friends that use it could be suffering from Stockholm syndrome

Unreal Engine 1 

I have yet to find a copy of Unreal Engine 1 that works on my laptop, so I have been unable to weigh up the pros and cons of using this engine. As a result, I don’t think I will be using it for the project.

Pros:

Looks and sounds ace

Cons:

I can’t find it

After looking into these options, I have decided to shortlist Doom Builder and Hammer Editor as candidates for Project 98. From here, I will perform some basic tests on each platform to see how my ancient laptop handles them. My next two posts will go into more detail about my experiences with both engines, and be followed up with a decision of which I will be using.

Exciting.

[projectwin98-blog]

Hello World

With November (Which inevitably will be followed by Christmas) breathing down our necks, my folks decided to clear out the attic in our family home. Whilst giving them a hand, I came across a slightly crumpled box with my name on it. After digging it out of the mound that it was wedged in, I cracked it open expecting old textbooks and notepads. What I actually found set off the nostalgic part of my brain so hard that I made an audible noise.

This beauty is my 2001 Panasonic Toughbook CF-48. Jam-packed with the latest in portable computer hardware, it sports a Pentium III (600MHz) processor, 384mb of RAM and a whopping 10GB HDD. It also runs (arguably) the best operating system ever created, Windows 98. Between this laptop and my PS1, I must have dumped hundreds of hours into gaming. To my surprise, I even had some of my favourite games still in the bag!

After spending many hours creating extremely terrifying rollercoasters, I realised that this computer was also responsible for my first foray into the world of game development. I made a handful of CS 1.6 maps in Hammer back in my early teens, which are now very much lost. I even had the copy of Game Maker 6 on the laptop; I used to make some very inspired reskins of the demo games and show them to my friends.

This got me thinking. If I had the knowledge that I do now back then, could I actually have produced something good? Or would the software have gotten in my way, frustrating me and causing me to retreat back to dropping guests into bodies of water in RollerCoaster Tycoon? Although I can never answer these questions, what I can do is set myself a phenomenally fun task.

Create an entire game in Windows 98. All the documentation, planning, map design, scripting, sound design, music. All of it, on an operating system that is almost 20 years old. Of course, I have minimal programming experience and various glancing blows with sound design and music creation from my University days, but nothing close to preparation for the task ahead.

Over the next few weeks, I will experiment with a collection of software packages, including various engines:

Game Maker 6

Valve’s Hammer Editor 3.5 (Goldsource)

Some form of Doom engine editor (Doom Builder looks promising)

Adventure Game Studio (AGS)

Unreal Engine 1 (IF I can find a copy)

Once I find one that I am comfortable with, I will complete a brief design doc and scope out the project, to be completed in my free time and weekends. My plan is to update this blog twice a month with progress, and see what happens.

Wish me luck.