Yes, it's been a while, but a lot has been going on that is... well boring. Rather than droll on about the "blah is in progress" I figured I'd wait until I had enough worth talking about. It's not like anyone actually reads this thing anyway, right?
Anyhow, Pharmaceum's up-loader is basically done, but although I built in some simple help systems it is not proving to be sufficiently user friendly. The person who I first worked with when making sure it was functional was able to use it, but for whatever the reason, the person using it at the moment can't get the question's to upload. It may have something to do with the fact that they are using a Mac, though I would not expect that to be an issue. Perhaps a hidden firewall is to blame. Regardless, it looks like I'll be sinking more time into the up-loader and adding additional error feedback. Eventually I'd like to make the up-loader super easy to use with external saves, a tutorial video, etc., but I'm trying to fit as much content into my free work time as possible before I have to start charging and these are sort of bonus features... though I might throw that in for free later if I get paid for some work in the mean time on the actual game.
Before I found out about the up-loader trouble I switched to working on the actual game again. It now is fully converted over to the new database system and works great. I was even able to add some nice new features like dynamic category addition and the option for players to build a quiz from up to 3 different categories at once. Why 3? It seemed like a reasonable number that wouldn't bog the system down too much. I want to add a maximum question choice box, and a matching set of high score tables, then it's all candy coating and polish. I did take a little while to get a feel for how fast I can draw/animate for it (while making some new assets) and pretty much concluded I'm still kind of slow at this. I'd like to get an artist on board again(the original artist only staid for the duration of the Jr. Project Class), but then there is the money thing again, I have to have something to offer them. I really do need to get over this feeling weird about charging people for my work.
Overall though, the hard/boring parts of the Pharmaceum game are basically done. I'm about to start charging for additional progress and that means I can crank up the production schedule and actually get this thing finished up... I really want to see it with 3 fully rigged characters.
In other news, Maximum Chaos is starting to get exciting. The horror of cleaning the art assets is basically done (minus small things we fix as we find while level building). I built a new control system that uses the keyboard and mouse, which was much needed. Another team member is building a new Medieval level that is a bit less linear than the original, and I am working on the rebuild of the Old West (with some slight spacing changes to allow for more diverse battles). Once these first 2 levels are set, I'll likely switch my time back into coding some of the new play mechanics. I also have a set of new art assets and animations to integrate.
All in all, not a bad chunk of progress.
