MechCorp has been released on Steam!

After months and months of work, a few years in fact, it has finally come to this. I'm so proud to announce that the little project that I've been working on is now available to the public.

It feels like finally releasing a child into the wild, after having it under your care after a long time. I can only hope it fair well in the harsh harsh world. As I'm waiting for what happen next, it's exciting and excruciating nerve wrecking at the same time. Knowing that it could fall flat on it's face. All those effort in vain. Finger crossed...

I know the work is not done. There's probably bug fixes and update that I need to work on. But it's huge weight off my shoulder. After so many rework and delay, to say that the thought of not being able to finish has never cross my mind would be a lie. But at least I won't ever have to worry about that again. 

Whatever happen now, I'm going to try get some down time, play some game. Gosh I so want a holiday.

If you are interested in funding my holiday - https://store.steampowered.com/app/838180/MechCorp/

MechCorp has got a steam page. And trailer!

The steam page for MechCorp is finally up - https://store.steampowered.com/app/838180/MechCorp/. And I've got a trailer to show with it.

This means the game is almost ready. I hope this also explains the fact that I haven't been making any major update or posting for a good few month. I've been concentrating my effort on MechCorp. Spent a great deal of time working on the writing and presentation. Things seem to be coming along nicely. I can almost see the end of the tunnel now.

Also, I've made the trailer above myself! I'm not sure how the public will perceive it but I think it's pretty good for someone who haven't got a clue when it comes to recording and editing. I'm damn proud of it if I'm honest. Please watch it and let me know what you think. I would love to know.

I've got a new website!

And boy it's about damn time too. This blogger place-holder site that I've been using as my main website has been long overdue.

So yes I've been busy building a new and more professional looking site to show all my work. It has finally gone live! I'll have you know I've put an awful lot of work into it. Getting the domain setup correctly alone has shorten my life expectancy by a great deal. But ain't the result worth it. I'm loving it and you should definitely give it a look.

www.songgamedev.com

I guess the from now on this site will go back to what it used to be when it first started, a blog. And I certainly hope that I will post more stuff. Oh that's a blog on the new site too so I guess I'll be double posting for now. But I'll gradually phase this one out, probably... we'll see.

Simple Rock Formation

Didn't manage to get much done this weekend to be honest. I've very good reasons for that. First I got to deal with some sh**. That took way too long. Then some of the stuff I've been attempting didn't turn out quite as well as I hope. Guess they will never see the light of day, until I improve them of course. What I've been left with, are a set of very minecraft-ish square rocks. I decided to play with them anyway to see how much I can do with them, with other stuff I've done in the past few week naturally. This is what I've end up with, an autumn version of the pine forest, and a volcano/lava-cavern thing?

Autumn Pine Forest

Volcanic Rock Formation

It's surprising that how much you can do with what is essentially a few slightly textured cubes. I especially like the rock formations in the autumn scene. And the autumn color theme looks really nice. Probably better than the originals. Shame I don't have any more time to layout the scene better. I think the placement of the rock is too random as it's now. But it will have to do for now.

So that's it for this week then. I'll carry carry on where I've stopped next weekend... or probably not? I'm contemplating about taking a few days off. We'll see.

Water!!

It's that time of the week again. Without delay, my creation of this week are:

Island

Shallow Water

The theme of the week is of course, water, as the title of this post suggested. It''s quite obvious why that is the case. Not much to say about the scenes really except that I'm quite happy with the way they turn out. I have my doubt about doing anything that involve water when I started making this kind of scene. Glad all those time spent looking for idea and researching pays off.

Anyway, with this weekly posting schedule, I'm starting to worry at the day when the my production-rate/learning-speed/creativiy-juice can't keep up with my next idea, if I haven't run out of idea. Beside, I could really use the time to really play some game. In fact, I'm desperately in need of that. Well, we'll see how it goes when the next weekend comes.

Bloom!!

Another weekend, and I've been exploring more about what I can do with these low-poly modeling scene creating thingy. I'm really really enjoying doing this. So much so that I'm start to look forward to weekend to work, not for the usual respite.

Anyway the highlight in this week, bloom! Specifically, the 'bloom' image effect. Well, I've never pay too much attention to image effect in the past. Partly because I don't really need them in all my past work, partly because I never put too much emphasis fancy graphics. But I thought I try to play with them a bit, in an attempt to make the my new crystal glow. And this is what I've got:

without glow

with glow (expand the image to really see the difference)

Satisfied with what I've got, I went on and test it on everything I've got. Now I'm convinced that almost everything can be made better with a little bloom effect. For instance:

definitely looks better than before in my opinion.

Anyway, apart from the crystal scene above (yes I made those crystals), I've also made this:

Honestly I'm not entirely sure what I was going for with this one. Something with sharp pointy rocks, in a alien environment? Hasn't turn out as well as I like but I still think it's a good try. Maybe I'll need to do more study about making a decent rock formation.

I'm not sure what I'm going for next. I like to try something that involve water but I don't really have any idea how to do that. Either way, that's it for this week. Looking forward for next.

More Low-Poly Scenes

It has been a blast making the low-poly scene I posted last week. And I've throw myself at it again this weekend. These are what I have for show:

Pine Forest

Desert

Canyon

Jungle

The first scene is very much a remake of what I have last week, using the improved, remake asset. The rest are new obviously new. I've spent a great deal of time working out how to do the rock and cliff. The result speak for themselves! Or so I think. 

Anyway, it's been a tremendous fun working on this. I can barely contain myself with excitement looking at how things turn out. Can't wait for next weekend to see what else I can come up.

Low-Poly Scene

Took the day off to try my hand on something new, just for a change of pace. This is what I manage to come up with:

So yes it's my feeble attempt to create a low poly scene. I create all the asset myself and that took most of my day. Obviously there are still a lot of room for improvement. It's my first attempt after all. But consider the amount of time I've spent, I'm pretty pleased with the end result. Maybe a camp fire would have add a lot more to the scene. The best thing is, I tried adding my modular unit asset to the mixed and they fit in perfectly (imo anyway)!

At any rate, I look forward to spend more time on this and see what else I can come out with. Maybe this will become my weekend project.

Ancient Frontier

So this is a project that I've had the privilege of working on, and hopefully still be working on it until the release, Ancient Frontier. Taken straight from the official description, "Ancient Frontier is a cinematic turn-based strategy PC game with RPG elements set in the far future. You command the fleet with combat inspired by games like XCOM, Master of Orion or Age of Wonders. Players will explore, conquer, pillage, or liberate the frontiers of space. Take control of massive fleets of capital ships and support craft as you play through multiple campaigns."

It's not my project obviously. I'm just working on it on a free-lance basis, coding and giving some input to the design. Anyway that's beside the point, I'm making this post to let you know that the studio has just started a kick-starter campaign for the project. Please check it out and pledge some support if you like what you see. 

Link - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/81834518/ancient-frontier

Thanks for reading!

Element TD free is out!

I didn't notice that it's been 4 months since I last posted something. So if you have been reading these regularly, no I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been working very hard on MechCorp but I will take about it in another post. For this post, as the title suggested, ElementTD free version is out! Apparently we have a video:

The free version is similar to the full version in term of content. But there are features that are locked behind pay wall. But you can still play the full game in it's standard mode anyway. I apologize in advance for the ads but I'm sure you understand the team has to monetize this, somehow.

Anyway following are the links, please download and rate! Your support is much appreciated!

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SongGameDev.EleTDFree&hl=en

iOS - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/element-td-free/id1158693529?mt=8

Now more screenshots to get you intrigued.

Now released: Element TD!!

I never talk about this publicly but I've been working on this for quite some time. In case you don't know, Element Tower-Defense is one of the custom mod originated from Warcraft-III. It was very popular during the warcraft days and it still is, having being ported to Starcraft-II and Dota-II.

I've been contacted by the game creator some time ago to work on the mobile version on a collaboration basis. Obviously the game only existed as 3rd party mod for other game prior to this, so the prior team have very little experience making a full fledged stand alone game with other engine. And this is where I came in. For a long time I was the sole Unity developer/coder on the small team, which consists of two coder (one came in at a later stage of the project), an artists, two designers/testers. Since we can't use anything in previous version we have to build everything from scratch.

A glimpse of the towers

The development process is very challenging to say the least, we are trying to port a game that is originally designed to be played on medium/high-end pc to mobile device. To put things into perspective, the game has 30+ unique tower with unique abilities (some are beyond wacky and have crazy visual). Player could potentially build 50+ towers on the map. Not to mention the packs of fast moving creeps. It's a monumental task alone to make sure the game run smoothly on mobile device, let alone taking consideration of control scheme and UI. Which need to accommodate game usability and all its intricate mechanic. Needless to say, I've personally put a hell lot of effort into this, despite it being a part-time project.

Anyway, it's done. Personally, I think there are still some rough edges and certain lots of room to improve. The team do plan to keep working on this. Adding more polishes, more features and contents, etc. It will be interesting to see where will this takes us.

If you are interested, it's on google play store right now and coming to other platform soon. Feel free to give it a go - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SongGameDev.EleTD       :)

Edit: iOS version is out - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/element-td/id1130157487?mt=8

You might recognize this. It's the map layout from the original warcraft mod

This is a new map layout though

It's the 5th Annivesary!

There has been a negligence on this blog for the past few months I admit. Not for the first time too I think. I was too caught up with other stuff. I've been keeping myself busy since the January to do some major update to all my AssetStore packs. TDTK, TBTK and TDSTK has all becoming a massive framework to maintain in each of their own right. Then I've took a much needed break to binge on some games. Before I know it, April had come and gone. Some game just kill time like not one else business. I'm looking at you, dragon age inquisition.

Anyway, I was just reminded that today is the 5 years old birthday for this little blog of mine. It also means that it has been 5 years I've been trying working as independent game developer. Well I should clarify that there are 2 things that are not true in the previous sentence. First, technically I've been working, not just trying. Second, I'm not really an independent game developer, am I? Well not until I release my own game anyway. Software/toolkit (as comprehensive as they are) doesn't count, even all of them are game related.

Truth is, I'm been trying to concentrate on getting a game done. It's very hard. But not for the usual reason why making game is hard as many other source would have you believe. This is going to make me sound a bit like an a** but bear with me. I want a game that any core gamer look at and go, 'well that is something I would gladly play'. Not some casual mobile or web game. I want to make something that I myself would be enjoy playing. Something someone would happily sit down in front of a pc and spend some quality hours with it. 

For that reason, it's been very hard to actually come out with something that I myself would approve. It's not secret that I've been working on MechCorp. I have come up with countless iteration of build, and scrap the lot of them because they doesn't make it past my own play test. In a nutshell, it's very difficult to come out with a fun, balance design that full fill all the criteria I'm looking for. With that said, I've gone back to the drawing board with the general design of MechCorp and currently rebuild it again, for the N-th time. At least I have a good feeling about this one, more so than all the previous iteration. I like to think this is the culmination of all the previous effort so they are not in vain. I've given myself two months (that end of June) to bring it up to an early alpha state. Then hopefully this time next year, I would have a playable game on my hand. Finger cross...

Now I should say that I've been very lucky to been the position I've been. Not many people have the luxury to do what I'm trying to do, with the way I'm doing it. Not to undermine the work I've put into it but I've been very fortunate to have stumble on UnityAssetStore when I do. Along with some freelance work, they has given me the most of the funding I require to do what I do. If you are wondering, no they not making me millions. Just enough for me to live on moderate life style. On that note, I'm not rich by any mean and I make laughable amount of money compare to many. But I'm just glad to do things I enjoy so I'm quite content with that. After all, I'm my own boss, I'm free to work however I like, and I'll take that freedom over any high paid job.

I suppose this is the time where I reflect on my experience and spur out some advise for being an indie game-dev or some deep philosophical stuff about life and universe. Unfortunately I'm not going to do that, as much as I enjoy lecturing people on life and universe like the old man I'm. I have a game to work on and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Until next time. (Probably months later at the rate I'm updating this blog)

January and TBTK v2.1 update

Time flies. Feels like it was new year yesterday and now January is gone. Well I like to think the month is well spent. I've spent the month working on TBTK, giving it the same face lift I've done to TDTK.

The update (version2.1) has since gone live on AssetStore a few days ago. So basically the new update has got:

• Major restructuring of most of the framework
• New and improved UI
• New Editors (more intuitive, undo/redo support, multi-instance editing, etc.) 
• Added support for square grid diagonal neighbor
• Added new ability: overwatch

It's a lot more work than TDTK. For a start the base game logic is more complicated. Took me quite a while to restructure and optimize it. But the end result has enabled me to add the new feature. I've been wanting to do that but the old code is just a little bit too complicated for more complexity. 

Then there's the UI. Unlike TDTK, I've reskin the it on top of remaking it with new code. I really enjoy making new aesthetic for the UI. And because I've done that, the UI in the demo (campaign mode) has to be redo too for consistency sake. 

All in all, I think it's worth the effort. Hopefully all you user (or potential user) will enjoy the effort I've put in.

Now that both TBTK and TDTK has been updated. The next thing I would like to do is update the art asset for both of them. The vehicles and turrets set I've been using have started to look a bit dated. And if I'm honest, they are not very well done and I recon I can do a better job this time round. So following image is a sneak peak of what's coming next. Keep in mind that it's very much a work in progress, not everything will make it to the final build.

Now while I'm here, I would like to announce that I will be away for two weeks starting on February. I'll be carry on working on this as soon as I'm back. Until then, please don't hold your breath.

Happy 2016! (and new TDTKv3.1 update)

It's a new year and boy I'm glad that I'm here.

Since the release of the new TDS-TK (TopDownShooter-ToolKit), I've been busy working on giving TDTK a overhaul. I know, my packages naming is getting a bit silly but whatever. At least they are adequately named. Back to the point, TDTK is now ready for another update to version3.1. I've made so much changes in the new update that I'm a bit tempted to version it as 3.5. But I will have to say very little of those change applies to gameplay and mechanic.

First, all the editors has been rewritten to improve its usability. Most noticeable would be the layout. I've put a lot of attention into making the editor more intuitive and explaining what each setting does. Then there's the detail like better integration between different editor windows and undo/redo, multi-instance editing for certain prefab and so on. Have to say, the most important of this all is that the code will be much easier to maintain and expand in the future.

The new UI

The next big change would be the new UI. The old UI is a bit clunky if I'm honest. It's done in the earlier days of unity GUI when I just started to getting the hang of it. Some of the code is even obsolete post Unity5.1. So the new UI, it's cleaner in term of code and better organized when it comes to arrangement in hierarchy. Not to mention it's marginally better looking (in my opinion). At any rate, any user who intend to modify it will have an easier time. Or at least it will serve as a better example for anyone who wants to make their own UI

Finally, lots of changes has been applied to the existing code base. Most of these are to simplify and optimize the code, or at least have it make more sense structure wise.

In a nutshell, I would say that all these have pretty much laid the ground work for TDTKv4.0. I cant tell you how much I have fight the urge to simply carry on, give everything a face lift and simply make it 4.0. But that would be a task for some other time.

So now that the update for  TDTK is done (It's now live on AssetStore). Moving on to TBTK.

Demon Rise - A game made using TBTK

I just have to make a post about this. Apparently this beauty, which is built using a modified TBTK, has been released on AppStore and I have missed it until now. I can't comment on the gameplay as I don't have a working iOS device to play this on. The dev says he plans to release it on Android so here's hoping.

Ignore the fact that I've never play it, it looks gorgeous. Look at it.

Being involved in the development (to a certain extent) of something like this does makes me proud. Very proud indeed. If you have an iPhone or iPad, go download it - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/demons-rise/id951205464?ls=1&mt=8

Status Update

Once again it feels like I've fallen off the face of the earth or something. Can't believe that it's been 2 months since I last post something. I started this blog with the intention to post regular update of the things I'm doing and the progress I've done. Just to remind and motivate myself, if not to anyone who is interested. It seems like I've either have so much to do I've forgotten about posting, or I've been doing nothing all this while.

Truth is, my status hasn't change much since the last few months. That is I'm concentrating almost all my effort on MechCorp. It has been taken way way too long than I first expected. But it's all because of my own doing. Indecisive in finalizing the various aspect of the project and inexperience in many of the execution. The consolation is at least progress are slowly being made.

I've now built almost two dozen of mech models, along with another two dozen or so of interchangeable weapons for the mech, and other units. They all have been integrated into the game. I've got most of the game mechanic nailed down, at least half of the UI finalized and done. There are still a lot to do but it feels like I've crossed the half way line. There's no reason why this can't be finished now.

Honestly, it has been a very rocky process with lots of roller-coaster like ups and down. There are days I feel like I'm nailing it and it's going to be the a very good game, then a little design flaw I found later makes me feels like the whole thing is a big waste of time. Project fatigue is certainly closing in. I've lost count of how many time I'm tempted to scrap everything and start again, or just do something else.

On another note, as of this month, it's been 4 years since I started this blog. It also means that it's been 4 years I'm trying to do this professionally on a full time basis. Not saying I'm surprise that I'm still here, I know I have the will to see thing through. I will most certainly still be here this time next year. But it would certainly be very nice if I've a moderately successful game released by the same time next year.

3rd Annivesary of SongGameDev!!

Apparently today is the third anniversary since I started this blog. Whoa and whoa indeed! I wasn't paying any attention to it so I'm quite surprise to got an email saying it's been 3 years. It means that it's 3 years since I started this with the hope of making it as a full-time job. It also means that it has been more than 3 years since I first come across Unity and start using it.

It shouldn't really come as a total surprise since I made it past the first two years I should be able to make it past the third, considering the fact that I'm quite cautious and wouldn't have done this if I don't think it's viable. Still given the unpredictable nature of the industry, the fact that I manage to survive for 3 years has to count for something, right?

Well, I'm pretty pleased that compare to this time last year I've taken the big leap of making a full blown game with my own Asset. I'm speaking about MechCorp of course. What gives me the most satisfaction out of the project so far is that I've learned quite a lot trying to make all the asset myself. Hopefully I would be able to bring it to beta state within the next few months.

Then I'm very grateful that the my packages on AssetStore has been doing reasonably well. If you are one of those who has purchased and used my package and you are reading this, a huge thanks to you. You made it possible for me to concentrate on project like MechCorp. I do hope that I can make  framework like TDTK and TBTK. It's lots of fun trying to prototype different ideas on various genre without having to worry about the assets and making it into a end-user product. And seeing what people can do with them is really satisfying. But I've set myself quite a high standard to match with TDTK and TBTK. Despite my many experiments, anything that I deem not hitting that same standard will not get developed into a full framework to be put on AssetStore.

It's nice looking back at all the thing I've done to think how much I've progressed and all. But I really hope I can get MechCorp complete by this time next year. I mean, finally getting my own full game completed and released is surely a better cause to celebrate than some anniversary, right? So the resolution for the next 12 months, keep working I guess.

With that said, back to Work!

Prototype of a RTS and Unity Navmesh Pathfinding

I've fell quite behind the curve if I'm honest. I'm pretty much still stuck with Unity3.5 for the most part, due to the none backward compatible nature of Unity and the need to support my package (TDTK,TBTK and InputTouches) for 3.5. Until recently I've shifted to 4.2 to take advantage of certain new features for the more recent project. Even then, I'm still clueless when it comes to mecanim, the new sprite system and what have you.

So I took a day break from my usual grind to try on new shinny things that I haven't try before. I start with the navmesh generation. Generating a navmesh is easy enough. Minutes later I've started to script a very simple chase agent. Before I know it, I have a simple prototype that very much resemble what I have in footman, only it runs a lot more better because I've learn how to code properly since the infancy of my game-dev days. And more importantly it has a proper path-finding system and more advance collision detection and avoidance.

Quite satisfied and impressed, I push on to see if I can do a RTS style unit command. It goes without saying, that opens the flood gate and this is what I end up with, so far.

It's not a full game obviously but pretty much all the basic elements are there. Building construction, unit building, melee unit, range unit, builder unit, attackable building, unit command, etc.. Forgot resource gathering maybe. When I decide to take a break from my MechCorp again I guess.

So back to the point, Unity navmesh is pretty awesome. It would be perfect if the navmesh can be dynamically updated/edit in runtime but that seems to be a pro feature in 4.3. But you can still get quite a lot out of it. A RTS even. but you will need to compromise a bit. For RTS, that means buildings can't be placed too close to each other. There needs to be a gap large enough for the agent to move through or they will simply got stuck between building. Then you can only use NavMeshObstacle on the building to block any walkable area. Which restrict the building footprint to a circular area, which occupies much more space than it needs to avoid unit clip into building. Put this two together, it means that the building must be placed quite far apart. much more than what it seems to be visually optimum. Even then the unit navigation may still get a bit wonky when trying to move through an area with concentrated building placement.

All this bring me to another delicate matter, PathFinder. I'm afraid the simple fact is it has became obsolete. Unity navmesh is simply a better solution. I'm considering to take if off AssetStore. Hope that doesn't cause any issue or upset anyone.

Happy 2014!

Another year gone by and I'm still here. 2013 has been a pretty decent year. I've played some inspiring games, leaned some stuff, make some stuff... Most importantly, I find myself better equipped to take on more challenging task.

I know I've been talking about making a real game rather than working on endless development of various framework like TDTK. Honestly this has been going on for ages. Too long in fact. So the new year resolution is to get on with it. The project (the wip mech game that I mentioned in an ealier post) has been put in motion. Now I just need to find time to concentrate on it. I might also have some idea for a new toolkit. This one is more complicated at first thought. So it will only happen if I manage to pull it off.

I'm currently working my ass off on adding NGUI3 support for both TDTK and TBTK. It's a hell load of work and I'm trying to get it done asap. But having said that, instead of just porting the existing code and implementation to NGUI3, I'm taking the opportunity to review and redesigning most of it, at least in term of coding structure. The result is a cleaner and easier to maintain code, which should help to keep me sane when I want to do any update in the future. This is especially true for TDTK. The old UI code is so bloated because the idiot who worked on it has the brilliant idea to squeeze all the UI code into a single script. It makes me lost my will to work just by looking at it.

While I'm at it, the visual has been redesigned to be more coherent. I know this is a matter of personal preference but I find the new coherent color scheme much slicker. I've put up a couple of sneak peak in this post. You might notice that I have recycled a lot of the older layout and interaction to save me some effort.

Ideally I would really like to rebuild TDTK from ground up. With that I can clean up and re-organise all the code. Make it cleaner and more mod-friendly. As it's currently, there are quite a bit of messy hack that I put in much later after the first release to accomodate feature that never planned for in the first place. But I'm afraid given the existing feature on the toolkit, that is a herculean task that could easily take months. So just the UI overhaul will have to do for now.

So that's it for now. I hope that after all this, I can concentrate on "the real game"... game. Hope you all have a good year!

p/s: My asset sales on AssetStore are ending 4th of January. So this is the last day!

Some Thoughts

I've been playing with the idea of making an end user game. In fact I'm in the process of it, testing water here and there. I have a vague idea so what it should be. But whenever I comes down to the details, I got lost. What I realise is, it's quite easy to visioning a game, but it's very hard to actually sort out all the design details. Not when you try to consider every factor there is to consider. 

Probably it's just me. Since I know I'm working on my own here I have to keep the scale down so there shouldn't be too many elements. Ideally there should be two or three very simple core elements that plays together real well. At least the is what I have in mind. But I have trouble even just to nail that down. In the attempt of playing with various possibility, often a lot more thing springs to mind. As a result, a simple thought could snow-balling into a very complex concept and what happen then is I find myself back to square one realising I couldn't possibly pull the whole idea off.

It not just the dealing with the gameplay design, there's also asset integration to think of. When operating with limited resources, obviously I need to set things up so the game don't need huge amount of asset. An open world design would certainly kill me before I can really get to the project. Well, I'm a bit over cautious I think.

Anyway, the plan is to wrap up the contract work I have on my hand. At the same time, finish up the update for TBTK. Then I'll focus on developing the idea and see where it takes me. So much things to try when I think of it, I havent even try Unity4.3. It does make me wonder why am I taking time writing this. Well, a man has to rant I suppose.