Day 16 (?)
I did quite a bit today, at least compared to what I expected.
I got a lot more mapping finished - inners and outers. I'll even show something to ya at the end of this post~ Basically, the inn is looking a lot more complete, as is the pub, most of the houses in the village and a few forested areas. The new edits came in handy, making them look a lot more homey and complete.
And yes, I did manage to do some more resource editing. Nothing big, just bits and pieces here and there to make the game areas look a little different. Mainly half-walls and pictures - decorations and stuff like that. Also, took forever trying to figure out how to set the tables at the pub. Damn thing nagged at me for at least half an hour and I'm still not sure I like what I finally ended up with. ;.;
I gotta admit, a lot of the tiles I edited didn't actually get used... They kinda turned out not being needed and since they were pretty easy edits I just deleted them after the fact. Also, I realised I have a love of pillar-walls almost as strong as that of freakin long grass. Not quite as much, but close to~
I was going to start doing some more of the DS facesets I'd begun in the past after Nessy showed me that they were referenced in a topic elsewhere (heh heh, shameless self promotion ahoy! Not that most can see since they're DS buyers only...) and did open the files, trying to remember where I last left off, only to close in a huff because I couldn't remember. I'll definitely have to look into finishing both that series and the generator Ace hero faces that I started ages ago, too.
I also did another two tutorial videos.
The first dealt with natural mapping design and how to make a forest map look more like a forest and less like a bunch of trees in lines. I also talked about mazes a bit and extensively on forest hills, the importance of indents and why long grass is awesome (to which EE can attest ;p ). It ended up a lot longer than I meant for it to be, but I'm happy with it - I just hope it's not too loud as I forgot to adjust the sound before compressing it and didn't realise until after I already uploaded. ;.;
I tried to touch on basic mapping techniques but really, there's so much to say on the subject that it's easy to retread old ground and get lost in what you're talking about - as I did a few times, actually. I did at least three maps worth of mapping in that video - which is about an hour long guys! - though the last one was a bit, uh, less than stellar since I was getting a bit tired at that point. There's only so much you can talk about while mapping for over an hour...
The second video was the long awaited lighting tutorial... which I messed up in a few ways, actually. Firstly, and most embarrassingly I forgot more than a few steps since it'd been a while since I did that kind of lighting - I was aiming for the kind where the background is actually affected. Yeah... But the biggest screw up was about halfway through saving the video when it just... fizzed on me. I tried so hard to get it fixed and salvage the footage but alas, it wasn't to be. So, sorry guys! I'll have to redo it another day. I'll be sure to write down some steps so I don't forget them next time. At least next time I won't mess up quite so badly, too... maybe. Well, I hope anyway.
I also worked some more on that stupid scripting issue, though I still can't crack the damn thing. Yes, I know, I said I'd seek help (harr harr) but I've come this far with the freakin' thing I figured I'd try my hand at stubbornness (not a new thing for me, I'm afraid) and see if I couldn't just brute, brute force it.
I couldn't.
Lastly, I gave some feedback on someones' game graphics. I can't say they liked the feedback as I was a bit harsh with them, but hopefully they did take something away from what I said. There was some good information in there. The odd thing, I find, about criticism is that to many it's an all-or-nothing type of deal. It doesn't have to be that way - though, granted, it took me many years to realise that.
No, you can pick and choose what you apply to your game and what you choose to act on can be just as much a lesson as what you don't. A lot of the biggest lessons I've learned via game making were when I didn't listen to criticism and chose to push forward with what I had. A lot of the time it ended up in failure, but there were times when I was right not to listen. Some people just didn't realise what I aimed for with the game, and that's okay. Sometimes they just don't get what you're going for.
Of course, you do take a risk when you don't listen to advice, especially when there's more than one person giving it. Personally, if it has something to do with bugs or balance, it's a good idea to listen. Even harsh criticism can be helpful - just highlight the pertinent information (thank you Mr. Whitehead! He taught me at high-school that the best way to answer a question was to highlight only the necessary information. I use that piece of advice in a lot of areas, especially critiques) and ignore the rest.
That said, I do hope the guy takes what I told him and works it into his image of his game. Learning to integrate, tinker and edit others' critique can be a very powerful skill, especially if you're willing to learn from others but still keep true to your vision. Flexibility is core, as is knowing what you want out of your game.
Here, for your troubles, a picture and a video. Lucky you~<3
Freakin' tables annoyed the hell outta me.
I still have to organize these behaviors to working sheets as well eventually.
