Game Pictures #1 (and some updates)

                As I promised in the last game update, I am going to be posting my drawings whenever I can. I decided to scan these drawings and explain what they are and how it is going to be implemented in the game. These are just some drawings because the other drawings are being used by Denmen7 to program. The three images that I am showing to you guys right now are these:

                This picture is the main menu, the place you start off in when you open the game. As you may see, I have already added the image for the buttons. The exit button is meant to be a wing, kind of like a metaphor, since I was trying to compare people leaving the game with people flying away from a place to go to somewhere else. I have also put a question mark as the “about us” button as well as the wrench as options. In the left of the bottom bar, the arrow has two buttons, the feathers are the credits and the rest is for help. As you may see, I wrote the title “The Lost Tales” temporarily just so I get an idea to where the title should be. So far I don’t have the buttons to play the game because I want the programmer to copy and paste the knife below the title first, which I am going to explain later when it is done.

                Next on is the default look in game. This is what you are going to see when you are going to be playing for the first time. We are planning to make options for the player to change how it looks. In the top left hand corner I drew a minimap in a shape of a compass. Denmen7 loved this idea so I hope you guys do too. Next to it are the HP and MP bars as well as the level. These bars tell the player how much health points or mana points they have and the current level of the player. Below it are empty bars which I am planning to put buttons on for people to access their inventory. To the left, there is a pop-up which is a monster description. I am planning to make it so the monster the player has selected appears in this window and it describes what level it has, how much health and mana and some information about it. Last but not least, the bottom bar is currently empty but it’s going to be the spill bar and Inventory hotbar. This is where the players put their skills and items for easy access instead of always going to the inventory or skills page.

                The last image I got is not so exciting but the first image is the drop bar. This is for when the player click a button below the HP and MP bars, the bars will drop down, giving the players even more buttons to choose from. And the last image is the buttons for the pause menu, when the players hit the pause key.

                These are, once again, just a preview of the images I have done and more are coming soon so hold on because time rushes by as quickly as the rushing wind. Sadly, I got some horribly sad announcements to make which might make you guys either sad or impatient… Or you might not even feel anything about it. dRagon has decided to turn this game into indef. What is indef you say? Well, indef is the abbreviation for indefinite, meaning, we are not sure if we are going to publish it or publish it anytime soon. Since we have just begun, we decided to back up a little and start another game and make it much simpler. This means that, this game might not even be published until maybe even after four years (sad face L). For those who are sad, I am happy you are sad because it means a lot for us that you guys care about it but hold on, we are making another game, but not as complex as this one. Information for the next game is going to be displayed in the next post. That’s all for today, kind of longer than expected, my name is StevenSYM and until next time.

     -StevenYQM

Mockingjay Reflection

                    As a huge fan of the Hunger Games, I have decided to finally finish the series that has made me so excited to keep on reading. Last year I have started reading Mockingjay but I wasn’t capable of finishing it because I checked it out the day before the last day of school. Since I am a reader which seeks for details thoroughly when it’s about a book that has hooked me so badly, I didn’t read fast enough to even pass ¾ of the book. Just lately, about a week ago, I went to the library to check out a book to read independently for English and in the corner of my eyes, I re-encountered Mockingjay. Last year I was assigned to read the Hunger Games which I assumed would be really boring because of the title. This also connects to the quote that probably a lot of people have heard, “never judge books by its cover” and it is so true. After reading the first chapter, I was already hooked tightly, incapable to set free from the bond. As soon as I came back home, I read the book nonstop except for some breaks, making me finish the book in around two days, filled with knowledge and details of the Hunger Games. In desperation to get hold of the next book, I head to the library to check out Catching Fire. Unfortunately, every single Catching Fire was checked out by other people that were fascinated by Hunger Games as well. This made me read the book in the last 2 weeks of school.

                What I like about Mockingjay is that it has made Katniss’ life so much harder, making the book more interesting. After the kidnap of Peeta, Katniss has begun to hate the Capitol so much that she is willing to start a rebellion to take the Capitol down. In the middle of the book, we reach a point where Peeta returns to the rebel’s possession but I like what Suzanne Collins. The writer, knowing that the re-encounter of these two characters will make the readers happy, decided to change the plot so that the Capitol injects Peeta with a poison from JabberJays, which changed his mind giving him desire to kill Katniss. This part of the book was so astonishing and unexpected that I literally took a moment from reading the book and congratulated Suzanne for doing this. Even though this gave me headaches because I wanted Peeta to notice that he was being controlled by poison, I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, when I finished reading the book I got depressed, realizing that this was the last book of the series but happy that this book has made me happy. I am glad that Ms. Ludwig showed me this book and making me want to learn archery sooner or later.

                Enough about Mockingjay, The question of today’s blog is: Who is the best hero in The Avengers?   Leave your comments or queries on the comment question below and don’t forget to follow my blog. That’s all for today, my name is StevenSYM, until later, bye bye. 

    -StevenYQM

P.S. Well deserved Capitol!

My Game’s Improvement/Updates/Progress #1

                 As I have mentioned in an earlier post, me and a group of friends have started a game which we are still not certain how to name it. However, we do know how to call our group, and that is dRagon (capitalized R, the rest minimalized). Lately we were given a lot of work in school so we haven’t work on it last 2 weeks but now we started to make progress after all our work and projects were over. I have started drawing some new basic monsters which will be seen in the beginning of the game. We are all really excited to finish this game but due to all the schoolwork, we don’t expect to finish it until two years have passed.  In one of the drawings I made, which was for the main menu, I did write a temporary name to the game and since I wanted to make this an epic game, I named it “The Lost Tales”. I made it plural for a reason since I wanted to make follow-ups and develop as we make the game, improving graphics and art as well as the gameplay. I am not sure if this is the official name for the game, as I said before we are not certain but I really enjoy this name and I hope it becomes the official name.

                Our programmer (Denmen7) has started to imply hit points (health points) and mana points (magic points), making it work and it looks great. He has also made monster spawning working and now it’s “playable”.  We are currently in Indev (in development) as we are certain that we want to continue this and make this game widely known and played. Our Server manager and CEO (Fil1p) has made and set up a running server and has made a website which we are excited to publish and let everyone get access to it. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen until our game is ready to enter Alpha, meaning until our game has more than a player just walking around killing slimes. The website is currently private only for us three for now and it looks great. We have decided to work on this on summer since we have a lot of free time. I am planning to get some drawings of weapons and drops that the monsters will drop as well as develop the plot with the team. This also means that it is really likely that we might publish this game (as an alpha state) next year. That is all for today and can’t wait to see the public’s opinion. Remember, if you have any comments or queries, type them in the comment section below or make a suggestion about this game. Thanks for reading, this is StevenSYM, see you next time.

                                                                                 -StevenYQM

P.S. I am planning to post some of my drawings in another post soon.

P.S.S. Fil1p has found a place we can publish this and win money :D.

The Lost Kingdom Chapter 1 (End)

                Struck by marvelousness, the king was anxious to hear more.

                “Tell me Greanous, why haven’t I heard about this group before?” Algon said with anguish, “If the Eagle Mercenaries where originated from here then why haven’t I heard about them before?”

                “My king, you haven’t gone to the barracks or talked to the military head too often, it’s about time to start talking to them more frequently. Anyways, they are your army, your troops, you should know more about them than any citizens in this kingdom.” Greanous replied.

                “Please, go on with the story, what about the Lost Kingdom? Who lives there? And why are there missions to scout it if we know about it already?”

                A maid of King Algon approached them with a dish, carrying two goblets of water for the King and his mentor, just in case to quench their throat. They kindly accepted the water and drank to relieve their throat from dehydration. After the refreshment, King Algon asked one of his servants to bring some food to accompany and wine to accompany it, in case the talkers felt the need to eat. Greanous clears his throat, getting ready to speak up again, takes some more gulps of water and sat up right.

                “It doesn’t seem as if you are active to the social world wise King Algon. I must admit no one really knows why this Kingdom is such a big deal. You see, now a days, people are starting to disagree the fact that such thing exist but, at the same time, are scared to go to the woods to see if they are right or not.” Greanous gasps for air before he continues to respond King Algon’s questions, “As I said before, my king, no one has come back from the woods, they’re most likely dead, so no one knows who lives and what is in the kingdom. I am curious myself but am too old to scavenge myself. Of course, if it weren’t that heavily guarded by demon-like creatures, I would gladly explore the woods by myself but the rumors and stories have held me back.”

                As soon as Greanous ceased talking, the servant who King Algon told to bring food, came back with a tray with plates of unrevealed food. Another maid came and helped, dragging a table in front of them and putting the plates on it. When all the plates were put, they revealed what was inside by taking off the cover trimmed with gold. As the cover was extracted, the odor of the steak leaked into the air as well as the freshly cut tomatoes salad and an appetizing dish of chicken wings. As the man smell the warming scent of the food, their hearts fill with joy, their stomach gets ready to digest and the mouth starts to make more saliva.

                “Greanous, let’s talk about this topic another day but now let’s enjoy what is in front of us now and look after our starving stomachs.” King Algon finished their talk and them both started to eat to their comfort. 

The Lost Kingdom Chapter 1 (Part 2)

“They were the Eagle Mercenaries, soldiers who were once promoted into a scout, and later on to a mercenary scout. This class is for the brave and risk takers, which like to explore but risks their life for it. These types of mercenaries are trained to travel and scavenge the land surrounding us, defending us from intruders. Their job is to fight any stranger they meet, that are armored and seem suspicious but that is not what they only do, they are also sent to places unexplored to discover new things.” Greanous told King Algon, “The Eagle Mercenaries were one of the famous, most experienced mercenary scout team around this continent, Eureap. They are in the Top 10 category of mercenaries that roam in Eureap and they are given quests that are only given to Rank S teams. The quest that they just got is out of the ordinary, one that has been given to many Rank S teams, yet none has come back home from their journey.”

Startled, King Algon stood up in front of the buzzing crowd. He dismissed the Anthroxians back to where they came from, either from work, home or their studies. He then directed to the living room with Greanous following right behind him.

“Please continue the story that has shocked me to the top,” King Algon admitted.

“Indeed, your majesty. As mentioned earlier, the Eagle Mercenaries is one of the most well-known mercenary scout team. The reason why the news spread so fast to Anthrox is because they are from your kingdom. These men have served this kingdom the past 10 years, taking good care of our surroundings, defending the farms and the livestock we have. It was just last year have they set out to their journey to the quest that has lost so many men. The quest was for the mercenaries to scout and find the lost kingdom that was inside a haunted wood, which was heavily infested with creatures that none have recorded. Myths have been told that in these woods, you must be quiet and invisible, shouldn’t make anyone spot you or else the wood will wake up and all the creatures will target you. Some will say, as soon as you enter, there’s no way back to the real world.”

The Lost Kingdom Chapter 1 (Part 1)

   Dark, not a single creek of light; silent, like a vacuum with rustling bushes; speechless,

no one dared to talk. The wind blows but not a sound is heard except for the clash of the bushes’ branches. No one dared to move. The mercenaries sneaked through the lost woods; cautious, not a sound made. Camouflaged so that no nocturne creatures can see them; invisible, undiscovered. In the time of a millisecond, a flock of birds hovered out, screaming, awakening the silent wood, turning it into a disastrously loud maze, making the adventurers aware of the danger that approaches. Not a word was said about these mercenaries after that day.

             News scattered around the land of Anthrox, spread as fast as angry bees, leaving their bee hive in search of whoever woke them up. Not one person missed the news, not even the homeless and poor. The main plaza was filled with rumors and gossips but all of them the same topic, all of them about this news. Never has this occurred in the Kingdom of Anthrox, never has news summoned a crowd of gossiping citizens, filling the entire plaza. The turbulent roar of this massive crowd invoked the fury of the King. With a big stomp and a shout, similar to a lion’s growl, he stopped all the noise. Quenching his throat with a goblet of water, he gets ready to speak up to the once loud scattering citizens.

                “Listen, my people, Sons of Anthrox! Just lately have we received thrilling news that eventually awoken this kingdom, causing an uproar. Cease the madness, once and for all, and bring back the peace that once ruled this kingdom. Someone tell me what this is all about? How can such announcement turn the so peaceful plaza into a place full of rumor telling?” King Algon exclaimed to the mass of anxious citizens. Greanous, a trusted mentor of the King, stood up from his golden trimmed chair, much similar as the king’s throne.

                “If so much you desire to know the truth of why uproar is made by this news, then it will be a pleasure for me to tell you the story behind this so known crew.” 

P.S. I have decided to start something new so I have started a series called The Lost Kingdom. Sounds awesome huh? Leave your comments and opinion on it on the comment section below. Don’t forget to follow this blog; I am StevenYQM and I will see you next time.

                                                                                                     -StevenYQM

                

Team fortress 2, Another Favorite Game (cont.)

Sentry in the left, Engineer in the middle and dispenser to the right.

               Welcome back to the topic of Team Fortress 2. Next of we have the engineer. This class is such a useful class, probably the most useful. Just by his name we know that he builds stuff but what? Engineers build things that help his team mates survive. These buildings are the dispenser which provides teammates ammo plus it heals them. Another building is the teleporters which takes the team mates from place to place so they don’t have to walk as much. Not only that but they can build defense buildings like sentries! Everyone wants to build sentries. These sentries can kill absolutely anyone they see within their range of fire. When made into level 3, sentries can turn into a massive killing weapon that can rack up to 100 kills! Meanwhile shooting the enemies down, sentries shoots rockets which can be a one hit kill, so lethal. Unfortunately, everything has its weakness and sentries’ weaknesses are the spies, and demo mans. Demo mans can spam sticky bombs into the place where the sentry is built and once they detonate it, the sentry is gone for good. The spies have an ability which they can sap the buildings of engineers, making the buildings not useful unless repaired. If the engineers take too long, the building might break apart. Another weakness is that if the engineer leaves the sentry alone, snipers can shoot it down. Other than that, good engineers are always aware of spies and use their shotgun to shoot sticky bombs. They are so important that one paragraph was all about them.

Sniper with his scope

Medic with his medic gun

                Medics are the heart for the team. Dispensers take too long to heal players and are not portable so team fortress has a medic class. Medics carries a medic gun which heals players meanwhile walking and if they charge for a while, they can get an ubercharge which keeps them and the one being healed invincible for some minutes. Snipers are the far ranged class which uses a scoped gun (sniper). They are fun to use but very frustrating when others use it. One shot in the head kills the enemy automatically giving a hard time for anyone who passes by a good sniper. Lasts but not least, Spies is the class which can be useful for checking out what the other team is doing. Spies have the ability to cloak themselves and hide from the enemies. Also as mentioned before, spies can sap buildings from engineers, making engineers frustrated to have to repair their building over and over again. Spies are also real backstabbers, one backstab with their knife and the enemies die.

Spy with his knife

                That’s it for this topic; it might have been long but worth it. Overall, Team fortress 2 is a great game to play and have fun with friends. This blog’s question of the day is: How did the chicken cross the road? Leave your comment our questions on the comment section below. Don’t forget to follow this blog, I am StevenYQM and I will see you later.

-StevenYQM