It’s time for a Nordenfelt status update. On Saturday my dev machine went belly-up so I have time to write a blog post while waiting for the new machine. 🙂

Procedural Level Generation

Designing fun levels isn’t easy. Teaching a machine to generate interesting levels is even more difficult. It’s like telling an instinctless child how to behave. Each time it does something wrong you have to intervene and adapt its behavior for the better. E.g. don’t send in the most difficult boss at the end of the first level.

Developing a level generator relies heavily on iterative improvement. I’m no longer that naive to try to estimate when it’s finished. It’s an ongoing process, aside all the asset and AI programming work. I’ll simply abandon the generator when everything else is done.

Assets, Assets, Assets

I’ve switched from pre-rendered 3D models to “hand-drawn” 2D sprites. It turned out that drawing enemies in GIMP is faster than the first-3d-then-render approach. This blue hovering plane was completely done in GIMP – no 3D involved:

The level generator needs quite a lot of different background tiles and enemies to spread throughout the levels. So I’m busy cranking out new enemies, floor textures, building sprites, vegetation, etc. at the moment.

The good thing about the generator is that it integrates new backgrounds and enemies immediately. There is no need to add new assets in levels by hand. This is a nice side effect which enables continuous extension in a rapid manner.

Plans For Desura

In 2011 I’ve asked Desura if Nordenfelt would be a candidate for their alpha funding program. The reaction was positive. The only flaw they wanted fixed upfront was the soundtrack. The tracks were preview versions from audio stock sites and had voice overlays saying “preview” again and again.

At this time I ran out of money so I had to get a job. Desura wanted their alpha funded games to be in constant development with regular updates. I did not want to be forced to deliver this aside a full-time day job. Therefore I’ve abandoned Desura.

Now I’m ready for the alpha program. I just have to get in contact with Desura again. This will happen within the next few weeks. I’ve already set up Nordenfelt at IndieDB, as an entry point to Desura. I’m not active there yet but that will change when Desura greenlights Nordenfelt.

Cheers,
Thomas

P.S.: Get real-time updates via Twitter feed @nordenfeltgame.

After several weeks of tweaking the explosion sound effects got finished. Ticking off this big task from the todo list was great. 🙂

More illustrative work is the improvement of the gauge graphics. Here you can see a pre-post comparison:

I’m quite happy with the result. An essential part of designing the new version was to get inspiration from other gauge designs on the internet. Just a few examples:

The longer I’m into game development the more I see how important copying given design is. There is no applause for wheel reinventers.

Cheers,
Thomas

PS: Just to remind you about the @nordenfeltgame Twitter feed. Feel free to follow and get dedicated info about what’s going on at the the Nordenfelt development front.

During the last few weeks I’ve spent most time on improving the first boss, fixing minor bugs and finalizing music/sfx. The last point is quite bothersome. Each time I think the sounds are OK and revisit them they are no longer acceptable. Is it the mood changing each day which keeps me off from completing these tasks?

Finally the boss’ cannons became separately destructible:

There’s a new twitter feed dedicated to Nordenfelt. Just info about the game will pop up there. Feel free to follow @nordenfeltgame if you’re interested in fat-free, just-the-game news:

Cheers,
Thomas

Here is the new entry in Nordenfelt‘s development log. When I’m looking back to dev log 29 I should call this log entry Dev Log 29 Cont’d. They share the same topics: music and the game’s intro.

You can help getting Nordenfelt done, test the game’s latest versions and discuss it in the secret development forum with other preorderers by preordering Nordenfelt. If you like to stay in touch, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, email newsletter or listen to my tweets at @black_golem. For the very nosy among you I’m running an issue tracker as well.

Let’s have a look what happened (speak continued) since last time.

Nordenfelt’s Soundtrack – Cont’d

I was pondering if Nordenfelt should get canned tracks or a dedicated soundtrack. Right now the game has a very cool intro theme from a stock site. I caught myself firing up Nordenfelt over and over again just to hear this track. That should be a good sign, ain’t it?

Nonetheless, original tunes would be awesome. So I decided to go part canned, part newly composed stuff. The upcoming version 0.5.3 – which is advancing at the rate of a snail – will have just canned tracks. Following versions should receive specially composed works.

Game Intro – Cont’d

Instinct is a funny thing. In our world full of information and education shoved down our throats we forgot to listen to our gut feeling. This is why I’ve tweaked the game intro for several hours just to realize that the first idea was the best. Often initial intentions are right. This happens to me again and again. So I’m tempted to leave out my mind more often and just listen to my guts.

Due to this I’ve updated the start screen to challenge my instincts with art. I’ve added lightning bolts from the Tesla weapon and improved the grunge look:

That’s it for this time. See you in 2012.

Happy New Year!

Cheers,
Thomas

Here is the new entry in Nordenfelt‘s development log. I’ve spent the last two weeks at the audio battle front. Finding the right sound effects and background music is not as easy as it … sounds …

You can help getting Nordenfelt done, test the game’s latest versions and discuss it in the secret development forum with other preorderers by preordering Nordenfelt. If you like to stay in touch, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, email newsletter or listen to my tweets at @black_golem. For the very nosy among you I’m running an issue tracker as well.

Explosion Sounds

As a followup to the new explosion graphics I’ve added some spicy blast effects. Some people complained about the old explosion sounds. No surprise, they were placeholders. The problem with placeholders is that when they are not ugly enough people will see (or hear) them as final. Therefore – as I wrote here – there won’t be any new stuff which is not meant to be final. Make a real job of it and come to an end.

Nordenfelt’s Soundtrack

Nordenfelt will get an epic, orchestral soundtrack. At the moment I have a couple of dozen tracks which may find their way into the game. They come from audio stock sites like www.premiumbeat.com or www.shockwave-sound.com. It’s easy to get preview tracks from these sites and test them right in the game. You may undervalue the interaction between background music and the game itself when you judge them separately. Music heavily influences the game’s atmosphere. So always test the music tracks while playing the game. If they don’t boost the feeling they are worthless.

Game Intro

While I was listening to some intro music candidates my mind already painted (or does a game dev brain render?) a sketch of the game intro itself. It was all about comic-like, steam-powered Star Wars scenes with much ado and whatnot. The usual flight of fancy when your brain skips all limits.

After all this simple screen is what reality dictated:

Reality is cruel, isn’t it?

What the heck, KISS!

Turrets

Last but not least: turrets now leave their pedestals when their heads explode.

In the near future I’ll contact some composers for an offer regarding the soundtrack. I’m wondering how much the whole audio stuff will cost. It’s good to have canned music as fail-safety. A dedicated soundtrack would be better though. It depends on the $$$, as usual.

Cheers,
Thomas

Here is the new entry in Nordenfelt‘s development log. Since the last post the game hit the home stretch regarding explosions.

You can help getting this project done, test Nordenfelt’s latest versions and discuss the game in the secret development forum with other preorderers by preordering Nordenfelt. If you like to stay in touch, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, email newsletter or listen to my tweets at @black_golem.

Nordenfelt got  its small and medium unit explosions done. Furthermore the GUI shakes now when multiple strong explosions happen at once. Simple gimmickry but easy to code.

Currently I’m working on the end boss its implosion-explosion-fireball ending. Hope it comes off as it promises to be.

When all this eye candy work is done I’m looking forward to improve the gameplay mechanics. More equipment is overdue, mouse cursor aiming may be interesting to try and procedural grinding (money-making) levels sound interesting. Just to name a few.

Cheers,
Thomas

Here is the new entry in Nordenfelt‘s development log. This week I’ve finished the explosion effect for small units.

You can help getting this project done, test Nordenfelt’s latest versions and discuss the game in the secret development forum with other preorderers by preordering Nordenfelt. If you like to stay in touch, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, email newsletter or listen to my tweets at @black_golem.

Let’s make it short. A picture paints a thousand words:

Sorry for the low-quality GIF animation. My new flat’s internet connection will be set up next week. Until then I have to work with my old, wireless, prepaid-and-soon-depleted modem thingy.

Researching and making these explosions took quite some time. I started it somewhen around dev log 22. Hell, that was 5 weeks ago! Reducing Nordenfelt to part-time development was naturally a step on the brakes. Therefore I’ve decided to continue this dev log in a bi-weekly manner instead of once per week. This way posts will get more substance.

Enjoy the explosion GIF and feel free to support me making more such detonations by preordering Nordenfelt.

See you next week in two weeks.

Cheers,
Thomas