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Emzee

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Blog Entries posted by Emzee

  1. Emzee
    Hi everyone!
     
    I'd like to take this time to unveil a new project that I've started today. Some of you may remember way back when I used to make fan created games in my spare time. I was attempting to do a 3D RPG follow-up to my first two jRPG-style games. Tragically, I undertook this endeavor right as I started my college career studying to be a Software Engineer. The fact is that I simply couldn't attempt both and still expect to get a degree.
     
    I think I made a wise choice to go with the whole get-a-degree thing too, since I now have the paycheck to buy a few more prefabricated game assets and scripts, things which I couldn't hope to afford on a college budget.
     
    Anyway, here's the description of my project, followed by a synopsis:
     
    Working Game Title: Power Lies Beneath (alt titles include: The Power Lies Beneath and BIONICLE: The Legend of Mata Zuto - Episode 3: The Power Lies Beneath)
    Genre: 3rd-person Action-Adventure
    Game Locale: Mata Nui
     
    To better understand the story, it's best to assume that nothing revealed after 2002 is canon. When I first wrote this story (and subsequently, the series as a whole), the only information I had regarding the 2003 storyline was the promotional poster of the Toa Nuva and the "bumps". This poster showed some large cavern or chamber full of protodermis, and I used that to kick-start the game's villains' motivation (and thus, the plot).
     
    The game's story is set right after the Bohrok saga (or, after the events of Mata Zuto 2). In this alternate universe, there is another island in the Endless Ocean that's more technologically advanced. The Matoran on this island (named 'Zuto Nui') worship a god that they built themselves, and in this game, this god wants them to take over Mata Nui and colonize it. Why? Because of the "power that lies beneath" a.k.a. the energized protodermis that was discovered underground. It should be noted that references to the other two games will be minimal; optimally, anyone will be able to play this game without knowing anything about the other two games.
     
    Here's the synopsis I have so far:
     
     
    On the island of Mata Nui, the discovery of energized protodermis has lead to the technologically advanced nation of Zuto Nui (led by the enigmatic Recruiter on behalf of the Great Being Mata Zuto) to launch a full-scale invasion to take the vital liquid for themselves. After sending eight mysterious beings called the Kanorak to steal the six Nuva Symbols, the Toa Nuva are captured, leaving only a single False Toa and his friends to save the island from colonization by Zuto Nui.
     

    “In the time before time, the Great Spirit descended onto our world from Paradise.



    He illuminated us with the Three Virtues, and in gratitude, we named our home ‘Mata Nui’, in the Great Spirit’s honor



    However. Not all of our brothers accepted the Great Spirit’s generous gifts...



    A sect of our people gave more credence to building and rejected the Virtues.



    Instead, they accepted Independence for Unity, Perfection for Duty, and Liberty for Destiny.



    This sect continued to build, inventing contraptions for their own benefit, each one more terrifying than the one before.



    They kept building... until one day, they had built the Perfect God”


     
    Who is the Recruiter and who is the False Toa? I'll explain all of that in the next entry. In the meantime, enjoy the screenshot of the Le-Wahi level that I'm carving out right now (credit for Toa model goes to BZP member Mihunai)
  2. Emzee

    Am I a Wimp

    By Emzee,

    I got a pretty nasty cold from being outside too long in a temperature that wasn't cold enough to even be able to snow in, last week. It kinda sucks, but these sicknesses help with the immune system don't they? And maybe I'll avoid situations where I have to stand outside for a long time.
     
    I should point out that this is, of course, a south Texas winter; it couldn't have been colder than ~40 degrees. My body's just not used to prolonged periods of that temperature though.
     
    It's gonna suck when I (hopefully) move up north one of these days.
  3. Emzee

    OMG Texans

    By Emzee,

    This... this could've been epic, this could've been... anything but what was seen tonight on national television.
     
    Excuse me while I go sulk in a corner.
  4. Emzee

    Blog Design

    By Emzee,

    I've been meaning to make a theme for this blog for some time now.
     
    I'mma be honest: I'm probably never going to get around to it.
  5. Emzee

    RIP Big Tex

    By Emzee,

    Sure, you were Nightmare Fuel that disturbed the minds of countless children (and some adults too), but you were also a 60-year old tradition and official mascot of the State Fair. Farewell, big guy.
  6. Emzee

    Rain is Poison Here

    By Emzee,

    My city can't handle rain.
     
    The people can't drive in this, streets flood everywhere, and the traffic lights go out. Because apparently San Antonio is a desert and the city wasn't built to withstand a thunderstorm.
     
    Leaving work was even less fun than normal.
     
    At least I'm home now though. Today is really a stay-inside-and-read kind of weather.
  7. Emzee

    New Car!

    By Emzee,

    Item by item, I'm getting the things that I require in order to lead a rather stable life.
     
    Life in San Antonio has been different... way different than I had expected. Work is work and will always be work, and I'm still getting used to my shorter evenings.
     
    The most recent item in my list of things I need is a new car. My old one looked okay, 2003 Ford Taurus, but it wasn't dependable. Going to work every morning was like playing a game of Russian roulette with being late. Had that not been an issue, I would've held off, but not that I have it, I gotta say I like what I've acquired!
     
    It's a 2013 4-cyl Nissan Altima. Redesigned, black, sleek, all black interior, and a cool display up front. And the ride's a lot smoother.
     
    I'm not a car guy so I won't be able to give you all the specs off the top of my head. I just know it has good MPG rating, automatic transmission (always - I'm never going stick), and 182 HP engine.
  8. Emzee

    Gah, Writer's Block

    By Emzee,

    This Wokapu role-playing post I've been trying to write for the BZPRPG isn't as easy as I thought. I don't want to spoil what happens, but it's supposed to be rather emotional. I'm currently searching the 'net to try and see if there's a similar story out there that can give me some inspiration.
     
    Only took about a month for this to happen -- I'd say that's pretty good.
  9. Emzee
    Giving my shout out to Ninjo, the former admin here at BZPower. During his time, he was the Admin that seemed least threatening. Certainly counts for something.
     
    I hope you're doing well, wherever you are.
  10. Emzee

    It Never Stops

    By Emzee,

    I thought that graduation would hit me with a brick-like force. It turns out that I've gotten over with it quite well. My head-first dive into my new career is probably to blame for that.
     
    So I've spending much of the past month transitioning and getting ready for my change in scenery. I'm currently at a six-week training stint in Cincinnati, OH. I'm working for a software company, and I'll be moving (and staying) in San Antonio, which is alright I guess. This does mean that I have to learn yet another city (it took me a while to just learn Dallas). On the upside, I've met my future coworkers that are from San Antonio, so I won't be completely lost.
     
    Anyway, I hope everyone's enjoying summer so far, assuming it's a summer vacation and you're not busy like me.
  11. Emzee

    This Is It

    By Emzee,

    I can't believe that in just two days, my days at the University of Texas at Dallas will be over. It's crazy really. I gotta say that I'm really happy about it though. The coursework was really hard, and at many times it wasn't very rewarding at all, but I managed to complete this degree and land a full time job!
     
    While my GPA isn't anything to brag about, I personally that achieving this Software Engineering degree in four years and getting employed more than makes up for it.
     
    Naturally, it still hasn't truly sunk in that I'm leaving this place. I wonder what I'll do then.
  13. Emzee

    He Speaks

    By Emzee,

    Hi everyone. Remember me?
     
    I'm still a bit exhausted from exams and my senior design project. To get you guys up to speed, this is my last semester for my undergrad degree in Software Engineering. This was my most difficult semester (admittedly due to bad planning), but the good side is that I get to start my full time job this summer.
     
    I know what would typically post in all caps or use a thousand exclamation points at this news, but I'm not finished yet. Classes are over, but some hiccups in our senior design project has left us still working to complete it (it's an Android app). There's a good side to this too though: I'm fairly sure we'll all get A's for our are work. Long story short, we had to pick up some slack after a member dropped the course.
     
    I still don't have time to get completely caught up on here, but expect my activity to steadily rise through the remainder of the year.
     
    To those in the BZPRPG, sorry for going dark. Real LifeTM, as you know. Don't send me BZPRPG-related requests yet though -- I'm still trying to decide if I'll still be participating in the RPG.
     
    That's all for now. How have you all been? I heard something big went down about two weeks ago. And Staff Shipping's finally a reality. Anything else that's interesting?
  14. Emzee
    For all the time not spent dealing with real life and the BZPRPG, I've been working on this flash project using an ActionScript 3 framework called Flixel. I really did not realize how simple is was to get a Flash game going (I still thought you needed Flash :embarassed: ). The scripts can't handle anything too intense, but Flixel is good for simple games like platformers. It took me very little time to get something up and running, and right now I'm spending more time trying to fit the many game mechanics I have in mind together than actually programming (I'm realizing more and more that this is a common issue).
     
    Anyway, here's what I was able to make* in about an hour (not including time to learn Flixel and make the graphics). NOTE: You'll need to click somewhere in the new tab in order for the controls to work. Speaking of, here they are:
     
    Move: A and D
    Jump: W
    Attack: S
     
    No, you can't do anything yet. This was really just to show off what I discovered (Flixel!), rather than what I've accomplished. Right now I'm just trying to get game mechanics down and I've taken a break from the coding part for awhile. Once I've made some solid decisions, I'll get back to the coding.
     
    *: as usual, it might not work - but I think all you need is Flash for it to run (and maybe AIR, but I forget).
  15. Emzee

    Back To Normal

    By Emzee,

    I don't know how many of you are the youngest in your family, but for the last 3 years I've had the privilege of getting a week of solace, a week of all the family in one house (and associated chaos) and then another week of solace once the siblings have gone back to work. This is, of course, the last year that I get this privilege, but this pattern of calmness and chaos is something I look forward to every year.
     
    So basically, am I the only one who gets this bonus due to being the youngest?
  16. Emzee

    So This Is The End

    By Emzee,

    As usual, I'm quite excited about the upcoming year. So many high-hopes and resolutions (not that I bother setting any, but it's fun to hear about them ). This year wasn't too bad though, I got my first internship, which most likely helped me spring-board into my full-time job offer (from another company).
     
    I'm also glad I'm not scrambling trying to reboot the BZPRPG like we've been doing for the last oh-so-many years. Continous arcs are fun.
     
    To those fortunate enough to already encounter 2012, happy new year! Hope nothing changed too much.
     
    P.S. I also recommend reading through the RPG entries and casting your votes if you haven't already. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, and I'll let you know my decisions later.
  17. Emzee

    New Avatar And Brickfair

    By Emzee,

    Okay, so this avatar as hardly new now, but still... glad to see no one was freaked out by the slasher smile. I saw that online and felt a compulsion to 'avatarize' that one frame.
     
    Also, I'm going to Brickfair! No, not the one a gazillion miles away (though I suppose that's not officially off the table yet), but the closer one in Alabama. That time will definitely be the best time in 2012 for me to go anywhere, so I thought it'd be best to take advantage of the good timing.
  19. Emzee
    If fellow BZPower game developers came to you and asked what to create, what would you say to them? While there are constraints on what's possible, we often underestimate the capability of our BZP members. I'm inviting everyone to give their honest opinion in this topic.
     
    What would you like to play?
  20. Emzee
    Well, I'm just going to say it.
     
    I'm disbanding the company.
     
    Now, hopefully the natural response (besides "what company?") is "What do you mean?"
     
    Allow me to elaborate: Cyan Productions is a collection of game developers that release games, music, stories and other stuff in the Fan Created Games forum. Unlike most of the "game companies" that swept through BZPower in the mid '00s, Cyan developers mostly did their projects, and reached out to artists when they needed them.
     
    Now however, most of us have moved on. Despite this, the games we created to still hosted and downloadable from cyanproductions.net. Because we mostly each worked on our own projects, this creates a bit of a support issue. I do not know all the ins and outs of my peers' games, and they likely do not know the ins and outs of my games. This is why I've been hesitant to bring the Cyan Productions topic back. There aren't really any active projects going on, and because the games are hosted in my topic, members would likely expect me to be able to help them with bugs, game secrets, and general game support (can't blame them, of course) for projects that didn't work on.
     
    So here's the idea that I'm toying with: I post two topics in FCG, one for each of the games that I made. The rest go to the Software Library. I haven't done it yet because I'm still thinking things over. It sounds like a good plan though. They'll still be playable.
     
    Of course, you wouldn't be able to just casually discuss the other Cyan games since there would be no topic. If enough people ask for it, I may remedy that with another "Official Topic for Older Games," but the last one tanked, so I'm reluctant to start another one.
     
    Well, that's where we are now. I'll make a final decision in the coming days, and I'll update if I change my mind.
     
    Note: Plans for Influx and its associated resources will go in the next entry.
  21. Emzee

    Welcome Back Bzpeeps

    By Emzee,

    It looks like most of you didn't forget about us after all.
     
    So, how did I spend my BZP-less summer?
     
    Well,
     
    12 week corporate internship for one of the largest companies in the world, where I did programming and database work, and received a full-time offer to begin next summer (haven't accepted yet, but there is a likelihood that I will).
     
    BRICKFIESTA! That was such a fun time. Finally meeting with Pat, Andrew, and Ray again after disappearing for 2 years, and meeting Nukaya for the first time. It was definitely a different experience than Brickfair '09. The Fiesta was a lot calmer, and I actually took home a prize!
     
    Oh, and there was also the bats. Can't forget the bats.
  24. Emzee

    Brick Fiesta

    By Emzee,

    With my summer internship coming up, it turns out that I'll be a lot farther from Austin than I had anticipated (Arkansas to be exact). I'll see if I can still make it though. The event's coming up rather quick (quicker than Brickfair anyway, which as usual, is getting all the fanfare).
     
    At any rate though, I am expecting to attend the 2012 Brickfair -- can't think of much of a reason why I couldn't.
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