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Emzee

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Blog Entries posted by Emzee

  1. Emzee

    So, What's Up?

    By Emzee,

    Not much has changed in Emzeeland. I'm still in school, for one. In fact, I'm taking two summer courses because I'm behind. There's the Electromagnetism (Physics) class (with its lab as well), and Linear Algebra. I really don't know how to describe Linear Algebra other than "an alternative way of playing with numbers". You take this after Calculus I, but the subject itself isn't really based on Calculus. Like I said, it's a different way of working with numbers completely.
     
    Money is still tight, but as long as I keep getting approved on loans, I should be able to get my Software Engineering degree, and hopefully, a good job that will help me pay back my impending dues quickly.
     
    So, how goes it with you guys?
  2. Emzee
    This title of this devlog comes from my most recent series of projects for my upcoming RPG, Legend of Mata Zuto 2: The Infestation: and that is cut scenes. There will be around nine or so cut scenes in this new edition, and I've just finished making four of them.
     
    Cut scenes are a very fun to code, because not only are they easy, it allows for a great deal of storyline input, which I value almost more than gameplay. There were quite a few "holes" in the storyline in the Silver Edition of The Infestation, and one of my "fixes" for this new edition is to fill in all those holes, or just remove them. Because of these cut scenes, you will learn more about the individual characters as well as the villains. For example, you guys who played The Infestation knew (and still know) hardly anything about the Bahdraak in terms of personality, and they were the final bosses of the entire game! Also through the cut scenes, you will learn more about Haci (who was the blacksmith in Fall of the Conqueror) and become immersed in a love-triangle involving him, Kai, and Kaj. I will also flesh out the romance involving Luka and Gali (who hooked up in Fall of the Conqueror as the try and free Ra'lhen (who calls himself Ronkshou) from the new Makuta's influence.
     
    Yes... there will also be hints concerning a "new" Makuta to replace the Makuta of Metru Nui who was killed by the Toa Mata. The third side-story (along with the quest for Ronkshou and the love-triangle) is the Dark Vengeance, founded by Nui Laka. It's a team of four consisting of Nui Laka, Wokapu, Ronkshou, and Tailua's confidant (if you payed attention to Tailua's last words in Fall of the Conqueror, you will recognize this name), Kenzor, the Toa of Nightmares.
     
    As I said, I use cut scenes to bring out the story aspect of The Infestation. They will be shown almost as a reward after every dungeon, nest, etc. Some of these cutscenes will not be your average little book-on-a-screen either. Three of the cutscenes will involve the WIP Particle Engine, and these are the "battle scenes". The first one is the fall of Makuta. That'll be cool, and then there are two more near the end of the game. I can't really discuss those without giving away spoilers, but they will be awesome. The only thing I'm worried about is the possible lag that may come, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
     
    Well, that's it for this week. Here's a screenshot from one of the cutscenes, and thanks for reading!
  3. Emzee
    I was bored during the summer of 2002. I didn't have enough sets to really MOC, and I didn't have a camera to take pictures, so much of my time was spent on my Windows 98 desktop. My site that had really piqued my interest during this time was bioniclemusic.com. It had a flash application that let you mix several tribal/techno tracks together to make music. It was beyond awesome. Another Bionicle-related thing that I found on the 'net was this BIONICLE flash game, where you would choose a Toa and then battle Rahi in several levels, increasing your score. They had a contest where the highest scorer got a free Manas set (still curious on who was the lucky person). Well, these two sites (along with a painful longing of anything remotely similar to the cancelled PC game) are what ultimately got me started on my quest for BIONICLE multimedia. This being the time before the BIONICLE Media Project or even BZPower however, my searches were not very fruitful.
     
    One day, I stumbled across a BIONICLE site that I can't name. Since I can't really discuss it in detail, I'll just say that it was the first fansite that I had ever encountered and was blown away by the set reviews and official BIONICLE images that they were able to put up from time to time. Continuing on... there was another site that Google returned in my search: "Xitan's BIONICLE Corner". I guess Google was not very fast at updating their links, because when I encountered this site, it had been moved to another domain for some time. This domain: bzcommunity.com, would be my second fansite that I encountered. Honestly, I didn't like it. You were greeted with the disembodied head of a maskless Toa with fiery red eyes gazing into your soul, and I barely was able to notice the BionicleZone under it. Not to mention, this being the very first forum I encountered, I simply couldn't make my way around the site. There were links everywhere going to all kinds of different places, with little icons and images strewn about everywhere. It had been the oddest website I had ever encountered, boasting what looked like thousands of webpages with URLs that I couldn't make out. It was through this heap of links that I discovered Brickshelf, where they supposedly hosted pictures of peoples' MOCs and BIONICLE figures. The folders were never public though, so I ignored it and continued on, searching for any more BIONICLE multimedia.
     
    Finally, Google showed my Kanohi Power, another BIONICLE fansite that (IMO) looked miles better than Bionicle Zone. Everything was clean and not too many links. I reminded me of the first BIONICLE site, but with less pictures. At the time, I need pictures and videos to keep my interest in anything, so I quickly moved on.
     
    However, every time I'd try to search for something BIONICLE-related, I'd generally always find myself at one of those three fansites, and mostly, I just wound up at either BZCommunity or Kanohi Power. I had also managed to grasp what a "forum" was, and consequently had an easier time navigating BZC. I finally just stuck to BZC - the Toa head didn't bother me anymore, and I learned that people were making all kinds of cool stuff in their Creative Outlet, including a 3D BIONICLE game in the works (written in C++ no less!)! As you can probably guess, that particular project fell through.
     
    I continued following the discussions on BZC until one day when I saw that BZ's layout had changed dramatically. It turns out it merged with Kanohi Power - that other site that I paid little attention to! Well, that was convenient! BZP then felt like a brand new site (cause it was!). Contrary to what I thought, it doesn't look like I felt the need to post in the FotR topic at all, considering it was almost a week after I joined before I did. I guess I just decided to join just-cause. Anyway, three days later (technically 2 days later, and I joined a little bit after midnight), I decided to sign up.
     
    And that's how I found BZP!
  6. Emzee
    I'll just come right out and say it: it was the stuff of nightmares. Remember that XKCD strip where the guy was in class and they had a pop test, and he had no idea what to do, and it turned out it was all a dream? That would be my weekend, except it wasn't a dream. Sure, I knew the concepts, but in Calculus-based Physics, concepts isn't enough. It's the cruelest form of problem solving known to man, and combine that with my (general) inability to solve problems (whether real or conceptual) right the first time...
     
    *sigh* I just hope I can still pass.
  7. 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.
  8. Emzee
    Well, Cyan generally likes to work on many projects at once, but this particular project, spearheaded by longtime FCG resident, =Blur=, is the completed and revised version of The Son of the Toa. As my signature says, it will be released tomorrow morning.
     
    Clicking on the banner will take you to the Cyan webpage for The Son of the Toa, but here's the original, uncut description of this RPG:
     

     
    It would be awesome if you could let us know what you think of this upcoming RPG, either in the Cyan topic or just in this blog.
  10. Emzee

    Contest?

    By Emzee,

    What contest?
     

     

     

    [url="http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=305447"][img=http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/matoran2000/BZPRPG-banner.png][/url]
     

    [url="http://www.bzpower.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=305447"][img=http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/matoran2000/BZPRPG-banner2.png][/url]
     
    I know of no contest.
     
     
     
    P.S. I can make more. Send me a catchy slogan and I'll put it in.
    P.S.S. Those slogans aren't serious.
    P.S.S.S. (XP) Crimson Jester made the Locus Abeo map you see there, and therefore is full of win. Everyone should go to his profile and tell him that.
  11. Emzee
    Here's a screenshot of the Character Stats menu that I've been working on:

     
    The Kanohi images need a little bit of tweaking, but function-wise, they're pretty good. For the Skills Panel, you click on the glassy orbs to choose your skill level (green is low, yellow is medium, and red is high). However, each level upgrade requires a certain amount of Skill Points. Clicking on the button will do nothing if there aren't enough SP.
     
    My biggest issues are coming from the Equipment Panel at the bottom though. Allowing an easy way for the player to change equipment in a highly visual manner is a lot more complicated than one would think...
  12. Emzee

    Wow Deevs

    By Emzee,

    ... I guess awesomeness really does get you far. That means I need to build up mine, and fast!
     
    Congrats to you and all those other promotees!
  13. Emzee

    Spring Break Is Here!

    By Emzee,

    Finally after months of labor, we get a break from school. I'm not going anywhere though, and I have even more work to do at home. You can't win -- you just can't.
     
    Well, happy St. Patrick's Day at least. I hope you wore green, because I didn't!
  14. Emzee

    Two Exams Today!

    By Emzee,

    My brain hurts. This morning I had to take a Calculus I exam. I went pretty well (and rightfully so -- I had been studying for that for over a week!), however there were these two problems that, while based on concepts I knew, were missing what I was sure was vital information. For example, there is a Linearization problem [L(x) = f(a) + f'(a)(x-a)], but I wasn't given a formula, just some constant number.
     
    Don't worry if that confused you. That aside was targeted only to Calculus students.
     
    Next was the Computer Science I exam. Those tests are always shaky because I don't know how to study for those. Being a combination of language and mathematics, the subject throws me off because I'm torn between studying by doing (math) and studying my reading (language). Fortunately I did well on that test. I'm really trying to make an A overall for the semester because I have a lot of programming experience. Unfortunately though, I'm not as good with tests.
     
    So, that was my day. With those two exams out of the way, I can afford a little more time to BZP, but I still have an 8 page essay and a programming project to do, along with a History exam coming up in a couple weeks.
     
    Welcome to college life.
  15. Emzee

    I Dropped My Phone

    By Emzee,

    ... and now there's this spider-web of cracks across the top. This has happened to virtually everyone except me, until now.
     
    Oh well, at least it still works perfectly fine.
  17. Emzee

    Windows 7

    By Emzee,

    I using it now (Evaluation copy), and I gotta say, it's pretty good. But, considering that I liked Vista, I was expecting so much more. This is indeed "Vista 2", or whatever you would call it, and I don't know if I hate Vista enough to switch over to this OS so quickly. So in conclusion, I can't think of much to talk about in regard to this new Version of Windows. It has cool themes.
     
    I think I'll just keep my Vista/XP dual boot for now.*
     
    *Yes, I'm using a completely different computer for this '7' test.
  21. Emzee

    O_o

    By Emzee,

    People like to make some very interesting entries here. Some are delightful, some are frightful.
     
    ... just thought I point that out.
  22. Emzee
    Hey all, I'm back with my second devlog entry!
     
    As promised last week, I will be going over the process I took for making a Kahu Riding system in RPG Maker XP. However, what I did not expect was that the process would be overly simple -- too simple to write an entire article about just this system. That said, I'm gonna write the systems that were in the original Infestation and in Fall of the Conqueror, and how I'm putting them into this game.
     
    First thing's first though: the Kahu.
     
    After dodging booby traps, persuading a vengeful warrior to join you, and defeating a Bohrok twice, no doubt you'll want a big thank you, along with perhaps a little something on the side. That little something comes in the form of a flute (similar to the one in MNOLG 1) given to you by Kongu. With this flute, you don't merely summon a Kewa, but a Kahu that will transport everyone in your group. Like I said before, it's so basic that it's laughable. I made a new item called Le-Koronan Flute, gave it a description and linked it to a Common Event. Common Events are a special group of events (processes) that either run non-stop throughout the entire game, or can be called at any time, anywhere. This is different than "Map Events", where the commands in that event can only be executed in that map (in GameMaker these are called "rooms"; other engines call them "levels").
     
    Anyway, in the Common Event, I've set a variable that will determine where on the "World Map" the player will be transfer to. This variable is set in almost every map because depending on where the player is, that will determine where on the World Map his Kahu will appear. The Map is just a panorama, and the Kahu is simply the Takua character with its graphic changed and his speed increased. Other things like clouds and sound FX are added as well, but that doesn't change the fact that this was a lot easier than I expected.
     
    Alright, on to the next topic.
     
    Systems from The Infestation
     
    There's only one. But no worries, it still made it into the new Infestation. This, of course, is the Caterpillar System. I'm not going to bother showing you the RGSS script because it would just look like gibberish to you. However, a Caterpillar System is where everyone in your party follows you, meaning they're seen on the map. This is unlike Fall of the Conqueror, where the other members of your party only appeared during important events. Even better, this system is more realistic. Instead of the characters moving in a formation, they move like an actual group of people would, shuffling around and whatnot.
     
     
    Systems from Fall of the Conqueror
    Okay, there's three. The first notable one is the Limit Break System. That's right, it's also going to be in the new Infestation. It won't be as... can't think of the word right now, but let's just say that there won't be as many spells. That's simply because of lack of battle animations, and I can't have a skill without an animation to display it with. Each member get 4 spells and they learn a spell as they level up (levels 1, 10, 20, and 30). Unlike Fall of the Conqueror, this system features a "gain mode", where the player chooses how his/her limit bar will be filled. I found a cool script for it and just put it in. No editing is required (for right now anyway), so it's all good.
     
    The second feature of FotC is the Party System, which is also much better in this game. It is kinda Final Fantasy 7 styled, where you have members of you party on one side, and available party members on the other.You can have a maximum of 4 people, and I heard it's rather difficult trying to increase that number without drastic changes to the very foundations of the game (like the battle system). There are some lines of code that are edited from the event command menu. Through that, I can decide which party members appear, which can be taken out/put in, and other stuff.
     
    The third feature is the Skill system. Similar to FotC, a character can hold two elements at a given time. However, they can choose one of those elements. For example, Takua as a Fire Orb equipped because he cannot equip any other Elemental Orb. The Skill Orbs can be equipped by anybody though, so that leaves room for choice, which is always fun. This system still has a little bit of tweaking to do, but it's nothing big. Much of this type of stuff will be done right before the RPG's release.
     
    Well, that's pretty much it folks. I hope you enjoyed this devlog. I'm out!
  23. Emzee

    Making The Switch

    By Emzee,

    Alright, guys. Brickshelf may be back, but honestly, there's no reason to use it any more. Use this tool to download all your images from there, and switch to a more dependable image host.
     
    Thanks to Cholie for reminding me about this tool. Unfortunately, you can't get you Maj pics from this.
  25. Emzee

    To My Brickfair Friends

    By Emzee,

    Have fun and pleeeeeease be safe (you know how safe you guys were last year? BE SAFER!!) I'd rather not see any "In memorium"s on the front page during this weekend.
     
    Other than that, do as many Brickfair activities as you can (unless you're the coordinator and/or this if your first time to Brickfair and meeting people, I'd recommend against spending the whole day at the BIONICLE table), and do enjoy yourselves, on my behalf at the very least.
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