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Hello AGSers!
I wanted to test the waters a bit on this one to see if it's worth doing...

I want to put together a spiritual successor to the 1992 Microprose title Bloodnet: A Cyberpunk Gothic.  I say "spiritual successor", because it will be such a massive overhaul of the game that it won't even be recognizable as a remake.  Some areas I plan to improve:

1. The interface!  This is the aspect of the game that has sabotaged it the most.  A simpler, more intuitive interface is a must.  I can't even scratch the surface as to how clumsy and ham-handed the interface is; you just have to experience it for yourself.
2. Shorter, less clumsy dialogue.
3. A deeper exploration element.  This includes actually searching for items onscreen rather than simply rolling the dice on one of the characters finding it.  There also needs to be a greater variety of locations to explore.
4. Item distribution between characters needs to be much, much more efficient and self-explanatory.  The developers thought that having it so that you drag all items to one character would simplify it, but it comes off as a real pain.
5. The character portraits will actually look like their on-screen personas!  In the original game, this is not the case.  Many attribute it to the fact that the artists were outsourced and did not coordinate with one another.
6. A greater amount of each item.  I have to admit that the variety of items in the game is impressive, the number of depleting items is quite scarce.
7. Clearer objectives and hints to progress the story.  The game is especially cryptic in this area.
8. Improved graphics.  This is a must with any title that, while innovative in its methods of graphic production at the time, has become vastly outdated.  This is definitely the case.
9. Remove the possibility of breaking the game and halting progress by biting and killing key characters.

There is quite a bit more to cover, however, I am certain that you didn't come here to read a novel.  I chose this one because, while it is immensely flawed and broken in numerous ways, it also has a unique atmosphere and great combination of elements.  Just because the cake tasted bad, it doesn't mean that the ingredients are of poor quality; sometimes it means that a more considerate baker is required.

Feedback welcome!

[Screenshot of the result is below...]

Story and setting...
It is the eve of the 22nd century, and things are quite strange and frightening.  The only way that makes sense is to ignore the madness and make the best of what is given.  Things shouldn't be this bad.  People shouldn't be so apathetic.  The sky shouldn't be so red and foreboding.  When everything is this distorted and sideways, the need to eat, breathe, and expand as a human being is a difficult path indeed.

Enter the unnamed protagonist (naming him would be a spoiler), an absolute fool by the very definition of the times.  Despite the consistent threat of disease and starvation, he seeks to expand himself via the martial way.  With the help of his long-dead instructor, he does so in his internal struggle to make sense in a senseless world.  Otherwise, all he would do is float hopelessly through a blighted world that promises nothing but dystopic abyss.

When a disturbing stranger enters the outskirts of the metropolis to kidnap a child, our hero(?) makes the reluctant choice to do what it takes to enter the heart of the city he dreaded his whole life, and brave its cold, oppressive stare to determine the poor lad's fate.  What he leaves behind are the only things that ever made sense.  What he brings with him is a powerful undercurrent that will challenge old powers and awaken new ones.

I hope that set the mood nicely.  Now here's a brief synopsis of the gameplay:

1. ADVENTURE!  It wouldn't be AGS without adventure!  Then it would just be... GS... how boring.  However, the pace of the controls and elements will move much more quickly than most adventure games.  That is mostly because the interface is lighter than most.  However, taking away from something means adding somewhere else.  Where is that?  Giving your character the ability to talk about anything that he finds out in the game.  Conversations are not restricted to dialogue trees.  Maybe the old wizard doesn't know anything about rocket ships.  Well, ask him anyway!  You may be surprised at the answer.  Interaction is context-based, and the character will let you know what he intends to do before he actually does it.  The heart of immersion is how involved the player feels, and if they constantly say "that's not what I meant to do", that connection is impaired.

2. ACTION! The future isn't safe!!  There are times when you must defend yourself.  Combat is mouse-driven, and every effort has been made to ensure that control is free-flowing and that inputs are not dropped.  For the vast majority of the game, you can avoid fighting if you wish.  It would probably be very tough to complete it this way, though, because the more you engage in combat, the better you become.  Leveling is automatic, and specific to each skill (similar to the most recent Elder Scrolls games).  The only real way to get good at it is to do it over and over.  If you do decide to fight, don't expect a mindless beat 'em up.  You must carefully consider each opponent, and if you are able to take care of the lasting damage they might do after the fight.  If your leg gets broken, you can't run.  If your arm gets broken, your punches will become quite weak.  If you get cut, you will bleed out and need to get the wound sewn shut (although the violence in this game isn't very graphic.  I have no desire to turn this into a gore-fest).  After all, martial way is not only a practice, but a way of being.  You could consider it the element of survival, though not in the strictest sense.  There are a multitude of other playable characters as well, each lending their unique talents toward resolving conflicts.

Vital stats:

320 * 240 Resolution**, 16-bit color depth
- **utilizes runtime graphics filtering that implements high-resolution coordinates

Engine: ~96%
Assets (graphics, music, etc.): ~93%
Remaining Hair I Haven't Pulled Out Yet: ~ I don't even have a scalp anymore %
Epicness of the Beard ~ 86%

As the saying goes, "pics or it didn't happen".  Oh, it happened all right, and continues to happen.  Here's some F12 magic...
***Note: These screenshots are so out of date that I removed most of them to shorten this post***



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Mar 30th 2017 (30-3-2017 for my luv-luvs on the other side of the Atlantic )

The progress of Chaos Link has been steady and fruitful.  This is definitely going to happen, and I have screenshots signifying so.  The changes from January are as follows...

1. I have altered the display functionality to work at ANY size you throw at it.  The size and positions of nearly all of the graphical elements have been dynamic from the beginning (except for certain text and GUI elements, they still stretch, unfortunately), which makes this entirely possible to implement.  However, I am sure there is a solution to be found and, barring extreme width/height resolution mismatches, it is all still legible and functional.

2. The character "memory" system has been expanded to handle multiple events in a single call, allowing for more complicated scripted interactions while removing the volume of code required.

3. While technically ancillary to the project, I have also put together a music program.  This will allow for fuller, more varied tracks at far less time.  Considering the multitude of locations, there is a need for a wide variety of it.

There are also a host of far less interesting improvements made that I don't care to list here so I'd rather let the graphics do the talking from here on in...





Jan 2nd 2017

Hope everyone enjoyed watching 2016 fold into another page of history aaaaand let's get to it.

At the moment I am updating the scripts to reflect the changes made to the sdk (many of which are so very welcome, and I want to thank the likes of CrimsonWizard et al for their dedication, love all around).  It's also going to be a monstrous pain lol but one I'm happy to work through.  This is gonna be a good year.

Chief among them is the custom resolution, THANK YOU!  I know a lot of people were annoyed by the screen stretching, but I was one of the weirdos who welcomed it.  The graphics are almost entirely dynamic and were meant to adjust to any resolution while maintaining the base resolution of 320 x 240.  Do not make the mistake of thinking that the resulting extra vertical resolution is wasted, either.  It goes a long way toward producting a cleaner image.  In fact, I am considering a jump in horizontal resolution as well.  It's nice to have a bit of a buffer against noticeable stretching, after all.

AAAAaaaach... have to be honest, the events of this year nearly killed the project!  The fact that it didn't means it was meant to happen.  Perhaps it was even for the ultimate better as it guaranteed that the game never fell into "Dev Hell" (Duke Nukem Forever... Nevar Forget). 

October 13th 2016

My loveliest of lovelies, how I've missed you so!  Please forgive the lack of updates.  Life has a terrible tendency to interfere with what really counts, doesn't it?

I hate drama, and hate having to weather its unpleasant effects, and especially, hate how it has slowed down progress with this project.  Health drama, relationship drama, Google drama, BORING NONSENSE.  Yuck!!!  I am happiest behind the wheel of this project and have made vastly considerable progress since the last (technically an) update from June.

Where to start??... enemy AI has enjoyed a considerable upgrade, including the implementation of grapple mechanics, improved collision handling and detection, story elements advanced, a new module to make labyrinthine sections more detailed, smoother room-to-room custom transition, pre-calculated voxel-type effect for improved performance, and, of course, a litany of bug-fixes.  There's certainly more but I have no intention of people using this update as a substitute for Ambien.

I would have liked this to be ready in time for the Awards, but it couldn't be helped.  It makes no sense to rush this out and leave my lovelies with a sub-standard product.  The "patch-it-later" mentality is supremely unhealthy for the games industry.

In summary, I'm not dead and the project is in full swing.  More to come.

June 9th 2016

Quick update:
After a very taxing two weeks, the infection seems to be gone.  Work will continue and relevant updates to the project will follow.

May 25th 2016

(Please notice I did not update the date in the Subject line, as the following is NOT technically a project update, although it certainly pertains to the project...)

It is with great displeasure that I announce that the future of this project is in palpable jeopardy.  I have contracted Lyme disease, and there is evidence of mycoplasmic co-infection.  It cannot be stressed how dire the implications can be, so I implore you to educate yourself about the topic.  I will take every available measure to salvage my health (and consequently the completion of this project).

I cannot imagine stopping work on this game completely, only that progress will be forced to slow significantly.  The only circumstance that would halt the work completely is my death (or complete incapacitation), which I am sorry to say, is a tangible possibility that cannot be discarded.

April.18th.2016

Good Afternoon from the States, my AGS lovelies!

Oh...oh... where to begin, where to begin... well, despite the lack of updates on this post, I have been working through a rather difficult and involved portion of the story arc.  It is stretching the limits of my creativity and technical knowledge with more procedurally-generated animations and creative puzzle solving than any other segment of the plot.

I have also put together an application that generates select music notes and generates them in different configurations with varying tempo and frequency.  This should make adding the music much more streamlined.  However, I didn't want significant human input removed from the process.  After all, a machine does not know when to use a high-pass filter, or indeed what good music even is.

Oh, and a custom font was created just yesterday (big THANK YOU to Radiant for his FontEdit, who's definitely making the credits).

I have noticed that the colors sometimes unintentionally posterize when using Direct3D, so I added a light dithering function to help mitigate that.

Since the project is at a phase where new features, for the most part, are not being added, the litany of existing features has been improved.  Most notably the camera view, with multi-axial shifting relative to the mouse cursor.  The cursor now changes shape dynamically.  Procedural character animation has been improved.  Tighter controls, including buffering for input recognition (so that the player doesn't have to wait for animations to finish before it recognizes inputs again).  Finally, fixes, fixes, and more fixes.

That's all for now, and enjoy a wonderful Spring, everyone.

(screenshots soon, sorry about that...)

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Jan.13th.2016

Back in full swing for the New Year!  I'm sure the fatigue will set in again, but until then, I'm riding that white dragon of motivation all the way to Valhalla.

We live in an awesome age of instant input along with accompanying instant feedback.  You don't even have to seek it out.  All you need to do is a little research.  By research, I mean watch Youtube and get to know the game review community.  While it is, by no means, a good way to gauge your own project subjectively, its value as an objective measuring tool is boundless.  One sticking point that burrowed into my psyche was a need to have a more comprehensive options menu.  I originally intended to make the auto-quality feature mandatory... BIG mistake!  Cap at 30 FPS?  Also a mistake.  Listen to the people... listen to the people.

Changes from last update include (but far from limited to) dynamic sound with oscillation, separate controls for sound, music, and master volumes, difficulty setting, in-game anti-aliasing control, toggled auto-quality, two 60-fps modes, two 30-fps modes, proper gamma/brightness control (gamma is not available sometimes), adjustable visual effects, and a "left-handed" toggle that switches the left/right mouse buttons (thought it would be nice).

Screenshot of the result is below... 



Look forward the next update including a new promotional video which is slated to be 4K resolution.  With that, I bring this current update to a conclusion.


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Dec.21st.2015

(Mah loovely lay-day links...)

Latest promotional piece featuring large updates to the engine (although this one is about 5 months out of date)
http://youtu.be/U-mZ8FJpFD0

See the promotional trailer here featuring original animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjC-BjA3piw

Download the DEMO here (Windows/MAC only for now):
<<< NOTICE: This demo is from a build that's over two years old.  The current iteration is much more advanced and optimized than this >>>
http://wayofzero.typepad.com/files/chaos-link.7z
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Three months since my last update?!  INEXCUSABLE.  What do people call it... "IRL problems"?  Bah, it's LAZINESS.  Not to worry, my AGS Lovelies, I have come way too far to give up on this project.  Far from it, in fact!

One of the biggest developments is a major core change.  I've heard the argument that 30 FPS has an element of cinematic superiority, and quite frankly, that is the logic that I adhered to when working on this production.  Then I argued with myself that I was too deep into the project to make an adjustment for a higher framerate, and even if I did it would choke the game considerably when there are many characters on the screen, which does happen at certain points.  Excuse, excuse, excuse, and THEN... revelation.  So yes, it now runs at 60 FPS!  No worries for my PAL pals overseas, it will adjust for 50 Hz.  144 Hz?  Yeah, um, NO.  Hey, even the big publishers cap it at 60, give me a break!... um, why am I yelling?  It must be holiday stress.

Another core upgrade was to the quality auto-adjustment.  The calculations are much better and adjusts at a smoother, more accurate rate.  Not only does it scale down anti-aliasing and animation effects on the fly when needed, it also adjusts the speed of the animations and movements to compensate for the drop in framerate.  If a character moves 2 pixels at a time at 60 fps, then the framerate drops to half at a heavier scene, the movement will increase to 4 pixels at a time.  Sure, it doesn't look as smooth, but the non-cosmetic mechanics work at the same rate no matter what the drop is.  Just because the game slows down doesn't mean that YOU have to!

Wait... no screenshots this time???  Eh, I really tried, but it's not able to be done.  I cannot grab a screenshot of my project at this phase without revealing even one massive spoiler.  The reality of a story-based game is that a large part of its success is the ability to catch the player off-guard with its narrative.  Later into Chaos Link, you will find a twist at every turn, and each one increases the ante exponentially.  While this game contains no gore, no nudity, and no harsh language, its narrative might be cause for controversy.  Having said that, my intention is not to shock people with cheap tactics; it is a story that tends to ask uncomfortable questions about the nature of perceived reality and meta-cognition.

I had explored the idea of introducing an iOS version of the game, but ultimately decided against it.  This is not for a personal reason, though.  It came down to a question of the type of demographic to market this to.  Most iPhone/iPad gamers are children, with a considerable percentage consisting of mature women.  While there is nothing in this game that would offend those types of people in any obvious way, the truth is that they would not likely appreciate what this title has to offer.  An Android port (still utilizing the AGS engine) is still planned, though, with a parallel version of the source file that has a more touchscreen-friendly interface.  While the prospect of having to "dumb-down" the user interface to accommodate mobiles is a bit intimidating, it is still a creative challenge that I look forward to!

Finally, I acquired a shiny new capture card recently and will use it to record high-quality media to promote the game with.  1080p?  Heck yes!  But 4K???  Possibly.  I've experimented with upscaling using video from software capture.  Managed to take a 600x400 raw capture, then double-processed it using minimal/maximal filters and upscaling to 1080p, and it turned out surprisingly clean!  So if I can increase the size 2.7 times with very little loss, I should be able to upscale it 2x it with little trouble.  Whatever happens, the result will certainly appear in the next update, so look forward to it!

Have a great holiday season, my AGS Lovelies!  Here's to a new year, and to the hope that version 3.3.4 didn't get rid of the special surprise that appears when you start AGS on December 25th.  If you don't see it, then start version 3.3.2 instead.  It has become a yearly tradition for me

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September.3rd.2015


Negotiations have been unsuccessful!

It's been far too long, my lovelies.  Adhering to the wisdom is avoiding adding content needlessly and focusing on improving what is already there, I have advanced the story very far and the ending is well within sight.  This mantra has served me well over the past 3 months, and I assure you, I have been diligent in continuing development.

One thing that almost made this project fly off the rails is the scope of the story.  The story for this game becomes so crazy and multi-faceted that it takes a great effort to ground its elements, making sure that they connect in a way that makes logical sense, all the while ensuring that the pacing doesn't feel forced or contrived.

Another thing is... well... life.  There is the fatigue of working on something for so long.  You get tired of it.  Others in your life get tired of it.  There are people in my life who see this project as a detriment rather than an asset.   It's difficult to not let it deter you.

You've got to want it enough to play through the agony.  It takes conviction to keep going when you know that 7 billion don't care, and maybe 5 do (if you're lucky).  Work hard for those 5 people.  I know there are only a very few here who care how this game turns out.  I don't care about the number; you mean the world to me.

To the ends of the Earth, dear AGSers... and beyond.

May.15th.2015

Spring has sprung my AGS-lovin' lovelies! 

I've been building the later story elements while fine-tuning many of the core aspects of the game engine.  I've also added a limited number of 3D objects, and the method of doing so could be compared to raycasting, but assumes a fundamentally different approach.

I've also done a fairly good bit of research into areas of real-world science and technology in order to add a layer of plausibility and complexity to the puzzles.  It's quite a stimulating endeavor to take existing technological foundations and take an educated guess as to their various progressions.  Besides, it's lazy to take a current technology and simply add a few flashing lights to make it seem futuristic (I've always held Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy as one of the greatest offenders in this respect).  At the same time, I do not seek to overload the player with extensive technological canon to follow, and in turn using said technology as a convenient device to advance the story (I love you, Star Trek, but you are very guilty of this at times). 

I've also made fairly significant improvements to the fighting system, which includes a greater variety, and balance, of moves, more capable enemy AI, more sophisticated projectile behavior, and vastly improved hit detection.

There was a point where the project was suffering from "featuritis", which is a common trap for driven, enthusiastic people to fall into.  Happily, that hill has been surmounted and it is in a comfortable place where assets and features are only added out of necessity, rather than ambition.  Yes, it can always be made better... until you realize how much you miss being outside and having an actual date with your girlfriend. Also, doing game development, health-wise, is probably even worse than smoking crack while standing inside of a Fukushima reactor.  The point is that a prurient degree of disciplined pragmatism is absolutely warranted if you ever want to see the end of a project.

Anyway, that's enough of that.  I've added a screenshot of the scene I am currently building.  There was something I enjoyed about the composition, so I picked this one.  It is becoming difficult to pick screenshots without spoiling anything significant, though.


02.3.15

The game looks very different, and is processed much differently.  So much so that I added a new screenshot at a higher resolution.  I also added improvements to camera animation, character animation, so on and so forth.  I am even considering a re-release of the playable demo because of how dramatic the difference is.  The current demo does a disservice to the current level of quality so it might be warranted.



13.1.15

First update of the New Year, and a brand new video about the project to boot!  It showcases a relatively small portion of the new content, but presented in a way that I hope you find engaging.  You be the judge, of course.

Love to the AGSers!!!
(PHEW! Bought another 6 month buffer to avoid going necro.)

25.11.14

Backgrounds are finished, and the total room count for the game is in (I don't want to spoil too much, but the count is over 100!).  A certain room-building function technically pushes it over the built-in room limit.  All enemy frames are drawn.  Most of the NPCs and PCs are drawn, but not fully animated.

I fully intend to make a mobile port as well.  I want the project to be in a position where all of the assets are implemented before compiling it.  I am confident that it can run well even on mobiles with lower RAM.  However, I'll never stand behind it until it is tested on real devices; emulation is questionable at times.

I was worried about compatibility with version 3.32, but it translated smoothly.  (PHEW!)

As always, an exuberant degree of both love and pride from my New York hovel to AGSers all over the world!  All of you dare mighty things every day.

24.9.14

Hello AGSers! I wanted to give a quick update on the project.

I am happy to say that work on it has not stopped at all, although I admit that it has slowed down at some times.  The bulk of the time has been spent on creating assets for the title.  I finished the architecture on every room, although detailing has yet to be finished.  I used an entirely new way of rigging characters for animation, so it is one of those things that swallow a good amount of time at first, but will save time in the end.  The storyline is mostly established, but must be refined and branched off to accommodate multiple (and parallel) scenarios.  There are more playable characters in place as well!  I will provide screenshots of some of this very soon.

This is a BIG game.  I have full intention of spoiling you.

23.12.13
Hello, and welcome to all of the AGSers and AGS connosieurs alike!

I admit to being supremely lazy with the game production, but I've been working on it, and picking up the pace lately.  It's just soooooooooooooo arduous at this stage of production.  Every time I stare at the debugger wondering "OK, where did I forget to put the semi-colon THIS TIME?!", I feel my blood pressure slam into the ceiling.

However, I am happy to report that I've eliminated ALL game-crashing bugs at this point.  There is also a new auto-quality feature that reduces the graphic enhancements whenever performance drags, and re-adds them when the resources are available in order to ensure a smooth experience throughout.  This is in addition to a wide array of other tweaks that are too boring to discuss.

An early Merry Xmas to you all!!

17.8.13 - (OBSELETED) Demo video is uploaded!!!  There will be more to come as this project develops.  Forgive the lack of audio... there isn't any yet (adding sound significantly increases the compile time).  Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFbHO1tLRJM
(Note: this video was a pilot run for learning proper recording and uploading.  I've gotten much better at this, and the game itself is vastly improved from this date.)