Entries from November 2008 ↓

Just a quick post to announce that I’ve started another little blog specifically about game programming (with some business stuff in there too). It’s called “Game Geek Speak.” If you’re into Flash and/or Java programming, you might like it.

I’ll have more Lila Dreams news later.

Ta-ta!

So there I was. This huge, volcanic Mount Doom of work lay before me. It was dark, grim, and the trees looked taller and meaner than usual. Programming knapsack in hand, I pursed my lips and intrepidly lifted my foot for the first steps up that steep climb…

…then I realized that I was going to need more money. Hmm. Ok, so now I’m working on that problem first. And I haven’t gone up the mountain very far in the mean time.

I guess, to keep with the metaphor, I actually left the mountain and went into town for supplies. One of my goals is to make some small games. I’m building a Flash (Flex) game engine for that, and I’m finding that a lot of the things being built are directly applicable to my beloved MMO (pardon the tech-dork spew I’m about to force upon you):

• Asset manager with asynchronous hot loading? Yes.
• Steady 65 FPS multi-layered, parallax scrolling tile engine? Yessir!
• Game state system with stackable rendering layers? Check.
• Component architecture for fabulous flexibility in game object creation? Got that.
• Plans for more shiny game engine geek stuff? Hell yeah.

I don’t expect any of that to mean much to anybody. But it felt good, because I am making progress here! Maybe not directly, but this is all stuff that Lila Dreams has to have, so I will eventually pick it up and toss it into the existing MMO chassis–and have one hot ride!! Wooooh, yeah!

But it’s also exciting to me because this is groundwork for a bunch of small games that keep kicking around in my head. I think maybe the Universe has routed me down this path for my own good. I’m learning, I’m doing, I’ve almost got a nice little base of operations to work from so I can build up, up, up. And–eventually–that big, scary mountain won’t be quite so big anymore.

While I’m here in this self-aggrandizing reverie, I will mention (against my better judgment) that I might even start a Flash game portal site. No, not like any you have ever seen. It’ll be… er, I’d better not say anything more. Mmmyeahok.

In summary: Bad news, no progress on Lila Dreams lately. Good news, some progress on Lila Dreams lately (albeit indirectly).

Stay with me here, I’m coming back to the foot of the mountain as soon as I get a chance. Only this time, I’ll be more ready than ever.