Update on projects - Fat Ninja

Okay, so I am a little behind in my posts!  After remedying some technical problems (external HDD crashing, bugged version of my composing program), I am back on track and ready to make your ears bleed (WITH AWESOMENESS).

The music for World 2 - Madagascar is tentatively complete, pending approval from Tate, the lead programmer, and the sound effects will continue to trickle out as well.  They are a bit more tricky, as the sound manipulation can be rough at times.  World 3 - Egypt music will be worked on throughout the remainder of this week and next week as well.

QA testing is next week, and I am excited for feedback on how Fat Ninja is progressing, I think we have a very strong game thus far, and I can't wait for more people to get their hands on it!

Today is the career fair, and I have been steadily applying for jobs as well.  Here's hoping I have something lined up by graduation!

5 weeks left!

As always, Happy Gaming!

-DM

Opinion: MMOs

Vox, Nagafen, Cazic-Thule, Ragnaros, Nefarian.  When I first started playing Massively Multiplayer games, raiding was a mission only the most hardcore of players could undertake.  In the outset of EverQuest, 72 players could join together to surmount otherwise insurmountable odds, and were rewarded as such.  Pick-up groups were extremely rare and those that existed, were almost doomed to fail.  For a brief gaming history of mine, here it goes.  I grew up in the twilight days of the NES, games like Captain Skyhawk, Contra, and Track and Field taking turns rotating in and out of the console.  Since then, I have owned (at least for some time) every major console manufactured by the big three, as well as a couple of others.  I tried the XBand internet gaming system, I was in line for the original Mortal Kombat (although, being 6 at the time, only came out with Aladdin).  My love for RPGs and epic boss battles began with Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, from there it evolved to Final Fantasy 7, Legend of Legaia, Grandia, and so on and so forth.  EverQuest was my first introduction to the MMORPG genre, and after 3 months of declining offers to try it, I finally sat down, and was immediately hooked.  2004 rolls around, and the new heavyweight, World of Warcraft was released, and for a time, I was playing both of them.

I long for a time before Dungeon Finders and Companions, where the only way to find a group was to shout in a populated zone.  The first raid I ever went on was against Trakanon in Old Sebilis, and to date, I cannot think of an encounter that raised my heart rate as much as that one.  There are many memorable ones however, namely the bosses that I listed in the introductory paragraph.  Those days are long gone, replaced by Dungeon and Raid Finders, and in-game or modified "standards" of gear.  Star Wars: The Old Republic, was my latest hope for a new, interesting, and immersive game, and while it delivered on the first and third aspects, it only maintained its interest for a short period of time; the voice acting became old and tedious, much like quest text in World of Warcraft.  After clearing all of the raids on Hard Mode within 2 months of release, I quickly became burned out and started to play other titles that I had available.

One of my classmates wrote previously, that Massively Multiplayer Games were on their way out.  I am disinclined to agree with this, but the signs are definitely there.  The World of Warcraft juggernaut is still there, but for how long?  How many more games will switch to a free-to-play model in order to stay afloat and ultimately, sacrifice features and support for those who have been there since the beginning?  I would love to believe that there is still life in the genre, and I am crossing my fingers for PlanetSide 2, Guild Wars 2, and Tera, but for now, I see nothing extremely game changing on the horizon.  It appears to be the end of an era.

-DM

(Image from hyperhighway.com/bilgehunter)

Wow, been a long time!

Well, it has been more than a month since my last post, due to the fact that I was extremely busy with classwork and whatnot.  Alpha Conflict is completed (as mentioned previously), and available on the Android Market!  GSP420 is over and I finished with a 95%, now all I have left is Senior Project and Emerging Technologies (and possibly Motivation and Leadership).  All in all, 16 weeks until I am a college graduate!

I started playing Dota 2 a lot since the last post and have met some really awesome people, one of which actually lives roughly 25 minutes from me, and OFFERED ME A JOB!!!  Holy crap, I am seriously considering it, although with the resumes I have sent out thus far, it may be a back up, albeit an extremely amazing back up.  That is all for now, 6 months with the lady is next week!

Happy Gaming!!

-D

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

First post of the new year!  Actually, first post in almost a month.  Sorry about that.  Updates, hmmm, what is new...  OH! Alpha Conflict is done!  I only did a very minimal amount of programming, but the music nearly killed me.  I can only take so much techno in any given period of time.  The game has been submitted to our professor, who in turn, is going to submit it to Tim Harrison.  Now we play the waiting game to see if our game gets chosen to be displayed at GDC (which I am fairly certain it will be).

Over the next couple of weeks, I may post links to samples of the music that I created for Alpha Conflict, and will post immediately after it goes live on the Android Market.

Happy Gaming!
-D

New Update!!

Finals week started, and the deadline for the GDC contest looms ever closer.

I have completed 2 out of 25 pieces of music for Alpha Conflict, and while that may seem like a daunting task, in actuality I only have about 12 pieces left to write.  Composing more and implementing them throughout the week, then working on the multiplayer architecture.  Resumes will start flying this week or next week.

The Old Republic early access begins this week!!! Extremely excited!

Happy Gaming!

-DM

Update #2!

Well, about two weeks since my last post, but that is to be expected given the holiday and my awesome trip downstate with my lovely lady.

Crunch time starting for Alpha Conflict.  Entry into the DeVry GDC competition is approaching, art assets and most of the gameplay is finished thanks to Jon, the project lead and main programmer.  I've been having a little bit of trouble finding my muse for the audio, but I am just going to sit down and hammer some pieces out.  Testing my programming mettle too, I will be utilizing effects and streaming features that I have never attempted before, as well as just general audio integration within the Android SDK.

After this project is finished, I am going to start working on my Flash skills and continue to hone my C++ ability.  Beyond that, 201 days until I am a college graduate!

Happy Gaming!

-DM

Post Numero Uno!

Well, this will be the first of many posts on my path to game programming greatness!  At present I have one project completed, one near completion and one due to start in February 2012.

Let us get the biographical information out of the way.  My name is Andrew Morrison, I am currently a Senior at DeVry University in the Game and Simulation Programming department.  At this very moment, I have roughly 29 weeks of class remaining, encompassing 4 classes, including the one I am currently enrolled in.  That being said, my areas of expertise at present are Audio Programming and Composition and to a much lesser extent, Artificial Intelligence and Mechanics programming.  Over the course of the next several months, and even years, I plan on expanding my capabilities in both areas as well as putting out a couple of smaller games on the XBox Live Marketplace.

Signing off for now, hopefully I'll be updating this at LEAST weekly.

-DM