#project 98

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. 

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.

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.