Nemox

Sadly I haven't even had time to finish the FF game. I got the absolute bare minimum (character selection) done, and then was stuck with other projects. And I thought the winter break would be some time away from the chaos of responsibilities, but I've still had my hands full dealing with family and a slow-as-Silver financial aid office (which still hasn't processed my loan for the previous semester). I'm only just now getting some time to myself to work on it. In positive news, I've now got a 360 Afterglow controller to test with. I can actually feel what the controls are really like for once! I've also decided to spend a couple days educating myself on overall game structure, as there are a few things here and there impeding my progress. As such, I've downloaded the source code to a private WoW server emulator, and I'm going to read through it. Should be enlightening. UPDATE: Holy shit, it HAS been enlightening. I now fully understand how to implement a good action system. Only massive hurdle I can forsee at this point is networking, but I'll worry about that once the single-player alpha demo is done.

I wanted to make a winter-themed demo level for my game but I learned how bad I am at level design. I've got something in the works, but sadly it won't have anything to do with the season. It was the only thing I could get a really good idea of how to develop. It is a learning experience though, and I think I'll be able to develop the next one much easier. Apart from that, I'm still trying to think of something special to give my girlfriend for Christmas. It'll be our first one together, so I want to think of something nice.

Would rather see BlazexWave.

Open up the Windows tab at the top and select the windows you want to open. You can then drag their tabs onto various parts of Unity's main interface.

I'm lost. If you're interested in my Unity demo, I'll be posting a link to it in these forums in a couple weeks.

Hm? What about?

Ah yeah, Unity has a ton of those. They're good for learning from, but usually not for creating an actual game unless you're willing to invest in the more pricey ones. Okashi RPG Kit is a good bundle for example, from what I understand.

If I remember right, UDK is open-source and Unity has almost no open-source material. I believe Unity will start becoming more open-sourced in its next iteration though. As far as what exists in-engine to create gameplay, UDK has everything you need for a shooter or maybe a platformer. Other genres will require custom scripting, but not nearly as much as in Unity. Unity has no gameplay built in whatsoever. There are some free assets out there to provide gameplay though, including some straight from Unity. However, the free stuff is usually pretty rudimentary and will likely not be enough to make a game with. There are some great gameplay suites on Unity's asset store but they can be expensive. On top of that, if you get all your scripting from separate sources, chances are you're going to have a lot of conflicts. There's really no way to avoid doing a whole lot of custom programming in Unity. That is, until I get off my ass and finish my work. Addendum: If by source code you mean stuff people have written for the engine, there's a lot out there, but as I mentioned there will be issues with it. You can have it cheap, good, or compatible. Usually not any combination of the three unless you do it yourself.

Unity is indeed much simpler to use and has all the capabilities that UDK has. Problem is, it really does not hold your hand with anything. You'd have to create every last bit of interactivity yourself, whereas UDK has a lot of that functionality built in. I'm working on my own Unity Sonic engine for people to use, and while it's nowhere near usable yet, I should have a tech demo available within the month. Your best bet is probably Sonic GDK. It's really nice.

They gave you that Freddy Fazbear mask for a reason. As for theories:

I'll try to get something together soon. I've been swamped with homework, trying to catch up in a couple of classes. Between language barriers, confusing online classrooms, and getting dropped from classes during important information days because the system didn't recognize me, I've had a tough time with classes. Thankfully I've finished my big programming project, and hopefully it'll help me catch up in the class. It's rather pitiful. I should be getting an A+ in the class given my actual knowledge, but now I'm struggling just to pass. What a mess. Apart from that, I've only got one more big project for the semester: A flash game. I'm making a Final Fantasy battle with Tactics sprites. Should be easy enough. I'll share it with you all when it's done. After I'm all caught up though, I'm going to start developing a game I can actually make some money on. Since it'll use all the same programming as this Sonic project, I'll be kicking this project into overdrive. I am curious though. My friend and I were thinking of doing something voxel-based for our original game. What do you folks think about voxel levels and/or gameplay for Sonic? Note, I'm referring to the smoothed type of voxels, not Minecraft cubes. EDIT: Just looked up some information about smoothed voxels. Looks like that idea won't be happening for a really long time. Still though, it's an interesting idea to ponder.

Hm... I really need to get to a point with my classes that I can work more on my fan game. I figure all these opinions I have about gameplay need some backing.

Yeah, I was referring to Knuckles' character attributes rather than any narrative surrounding him. Indeed, there's been very few instances of actual depth in the series, and it isn't necessary to make a good Sonic game. But if they're going to do characterization I'd at least like them to get it within the ballpark.

Well, I meant more depth as in his own philosophical depth and junk. Protecting the powers of order and chaos all alone gives one quite a bit of free time to think about things. Perhaps his comic incarnation had some influence on how I always viewed him, but even in SA1&2 he seemed at least average intelligence. Shadow did start with quite a fair bit of depth in character I think (at least as much as Gamma), which is why I'm so dissatisfied with how they've handled him.

Eh, kind of. The bit about whether or not he was real or fake was interesting, given that fans were so split on his return. His own game did play up the "darker and edgier" thing way too much for certain, and in many paths he does seem like a dick, but in the canon path he's still a nice guy. Even '06 had him as a consistent ally to Sonic, even if his personality was as flat as all the other characters in the game. But this. It's too painful to watch. I feel similarly about Knuckles and Amy, really. In the early days Knuckles was a pretty chill guy most of the time, possibly somewhat deep, if a bit naive and easy to anger in the right situation. Riders was the first instance that he was portrayed as a dumb brute, and it's kind of gone downhill from there. Not... terribly in all cases, but it's there. Amy started as an adventurous kid who looked up to Sonic because she also wanted to go on adventures. Her backstory is all about overcoming her own timidness. Any actual flirting she did with Sonic was really just kind of a game to ease her own tension. It was in Heroes and onward that she was portrayed as annoying and obsessive. I'm not entirely sure but I've heard she's gotten a bit better lately.

I haven't got much to say since I haven't seen a whole episode nor played any of the games. I tend to avoid posts like these, but I feel it bears a need for emphasis: Holy shit, they really fucked up Shadow. Saying Sonic is weak because of his loyalty to his pathetic friends? This is the exact opposite of Shadow's character. Shadow's entire personality has always been based around his loyalty and compassion towards his friends. The only time he was ever a villain was after he had lost his best friend and his life's purpose of saving humanity. He couldn't accept Maria's death, and only saw the dark side in humanity. But eventually he did come to terms with it, and did what Maria would have wanted. In the process he developed a strong respect for Sonic, illustrated in a line so often missed by players. In the Finalhazard battle, Shadow says he believes Sonic may be the true ultimate life form. And from then on, even if he was hesitant to become too attached, he still made good friends with the whole crew. Shadow has always relied on his friends for strength. And in Boom he's just an asshole. For the past few games I've avoided saying this out of courtesy and a genuine respect for how difficult creative work really is, but I can't avoid it any longer. From what I've seen thusfar, the current writing team sucks big time.

EDIT: Whoops, meant this for the game thread.