I'm in touch with Katrice of Sonic HQ about an interview. It's still in the planning stages at the moment. I'll post details on the interview when it happens. I'm not sure what kinds of questions will be asked, but I'm sure it'll be fun regardless.
As far as ProSonic, I've added springs. The springs aren't perfect yet, but they're getting there. I also fixed the screen so it scrolls the exact same way it does in the original Sonic games. It really adds more of the original Sonic feel to the engine I think. One thing I haven't changed yet but plan to is the way the main counters work. Right now they're controlled by the Sonic object, but that's not the way they function in the original engine. So I will be making them automatic, even if player objects are non-existant. This would also fix a couple small bugs in my engine.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
ProSonic Tweaks
Plans to help Glu Mobile in porting Sonic the Hedgehog have stalled for the moment due to some technical issues. So for now, I'm shifting my focus back to adding features to the ProSonic engine. What I've done recently is bug fixing. I fixed a couple problems that would cause the program to crash, and I made it so the screen can't move outside the level area. In addition, I made the engine multi-level, meaning you can now move from one level to another. Before, I had the level files hard-coded into the engine, and it was configured to open whatever file I programmed it to open. I also made it so it will read a list to see what levels come in what order.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Temporary Change in Focus
Some of the things I have mentioned about ProSonic may be put on hold. Right now, I'll be focusing on doing a couple favors for a mobile gaming company. They're working on a port of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game to a mobile platform, so they'd like to borrow some of my knowledge on the subject. They're also interested in viewing the ProSonic source code and the ProSonic level editor. One task I have is to finish the Sonic 1 support in my level editor tools since I only finished it in the engine itself. So I'm going to focus my time on what they need from me before I continue doing some of the things I was talking about doing with ProSonic.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Reworking PZF Files
I've been working towards changing the PZF format used by ProSonic. There are a couple things about it that makes keeping it up to date really hard. I'm considering a slight format change that will make it much more similar to a file system on a computer. This will allow file sizes to be flexible, and it will make writing software to read files from the PZF archive easier.
This change came when I decided to design a file format to cycle through colors. After studying the original Sonic games, I came to the conclusion I would need to allow variable file sizes in order to make my engine fully compatible with the color cycling data from the original games.
I'm not sure if all the colors will be allowed to have cycle animations or if there will be a limit. I was thinking of limiting it to 32 colors, but maybe I can find a way to be more flexible there. Either way, 32 is far more than what was ever used in any level in the original Sonic games. The most colors being animated that I found in a single zone was 12. Since there are also under water animations (which would make it 24 colors being animated), ProSonic should therefore support at least 24, but more is better obviously.
This change came when I decided to design a file format to cycle through colors. After studying the original Sonic games, I came to the conclusion I would need to allow variable file sizes in order to make my engine fully compatible with the color cycling data from the original games.
I'm not sure if all the colors will be allowed to have cycle animations or if there will be a limit. I was thinking of limiting it to 32 colors, but maybe I can find a way to be more flexible there. Either way, 32 is far more than what was ever used in any level in the original Sonic games. The most colors being animated that I found in a single zone was 12. Since there are also under water animations (which would make it 24 colors being animated), ProSonic should therefore support at least 24, but more is better obviously.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Someone Special
You know, I could go on and on talking about all the stupid things about meeting online people. I always felt it was dumb to meet up with someone and expect to have something special with them. Those relationships rarely work, and it's a heck of a lot easier to simply find someone locally. I know a great many girls who clearly like me that I could start something with. Some are good friends.
But a year ago I started talking to Audrey. We connected quite easily. I thought meeting her would be really hard since we're a couple states apart. Friday I went to see her for the first time. Of course I had photos and have talked nearly every night to her over the phone, but that's not the same as animation. I have to tell you as stupid as meeting online people is, it was the absolute best experience I've ever had with a person. We're already talking about doing it again, and things have only seemed to get better for us. Of course I'm not going to trick myself into thinking she's "the one" or anything. I will say she's the best I've had so far.
I don't recommend trying to take online relationships seriously, but I do suppose there are a few rare exceptions where a couple can actually make it work. I've never been so close to any girl in my entire life. I'm still taking things slow with her, but even with a few troubles here and there she's still special to me. Of all the girls I could have, none of them at this point in time can replace Audrey. As long as things continue to stay good between us, none of them ever will. So I'm hoping for the best things to come.
On a side note, I want to mention the Sonic the Hedgehog live action thriller! This will blow your mind! It's worth taking a look at for anyone who's a Sonic fan. Sonic heads out to save Tails, and Knuckles assists Sonic WITH HIS FISTS!
But a year ago I started talking to Audrey. We connected quite easily. I thought meeting her would be really hard since we're a couple states apart. Friday I went to see her for the first time. Of course I had photos and have talked nearly every night to her over the phone, but that's not the same as animation. I have to tell you as stupid as meeting online people is, it was the absolute best experience I've ever had with a person. We're already talking about doing it again, and things have only seemed to get better for us. Of course I'm not going to trick myself into thinking she's "the one" or anything. I will say she's the best I've had so far.
I don't recommend trying to take online relationships seriously, but I do suppose there are a few rare exceptions where a couple can actually make it work. I've never been so close to any girl in my entire life. I'm still taking things slow with her, but even with a few troubles here and there she's still special to me. Of all the girls I could have, none of them at this point in time can replace Audrey. As long as things continue to stay good between us, none of them ever will. So I'm hoping for the best things to come.
On a side note, I want to mention the Sonic the Hedgehog live action thriller! This will blow your mind! It's worth taking a look at for anyone who's a Sonic fan. Sonic heads out to save Tails, and Knuckles assists Sonic WITH HIS FISTS!
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