Disqus - Latest Comments for GirlFlash

Re: Blender as an animation editor - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:34:07 -0000

awesome! I personally use blender as my 3D app of choice, and I think seeing as it's supposedly very simple to extend I think it could suit your purposes well.

ass for interface complaints, just look at blender 2.5, the new interface is a thing of beauty :)

Re: Linear algebra for game developers ~ part 3 - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:04:40 -0000

thanks, this has cleared up some of the untidy bits in my head and even got me learned up on new things a little.I love these posts :D

Re: Art assets update - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:33:42 -0000

so damn beautiful <3

Re: Activision Indie Games Competition - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:19:59 -0000

Iremember back when 2Bee competitions started there were similar concerns (and terms) and the competition runners changed it as they only wanted the indies to be happy it seems. I wouldnt rule out the possibility of Activision rewriting their terms, even though they are extreme they arent far from standard as I understand it.

that said, as things stand its ridiculous, there's no way I would enter this competition, it's just not indipendent, you are literally tied to the 'sponsor'.

seems more like 'we are open to pitches you guys' than a competition.

Re: How to make interesting games by accident - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:26:30 -0000

any programmer who looks down their nose at gamemaker is an asshole, I think most dont even know it has GML ^_^

but yeah, its a pain how it is windows only sure, but if you're on linux have you thought about learning python? I've not used it myself but I've seen a lot of folks make games for ludum dare and the like using python and pygame :)

Re: How to make interesting games by accident - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:33:02 -0000

yeah, making systems for making games often takes longer than making the games themselves lol. I try to minimise the problem by using Unity and having most stuff I need done for me, but I know its not the greatest solution and I certainly dont have a grand solution either.

still though I imagine its much like everything else, the more you do it, the less you need to do it in the future, or at least you will be able to do it faster next time. so yeah, good luck making your tools! :D

Re: How to make interesting games by accident - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:28:32 -0000

lol, what's wrong with gamemaker?

I'm not so sure 'overcooking' your ideas as you put it is quite the problem, I think its the seperation of having ideas and testing them. if you can test something as you think of it instead of making a full GDD first I think your concepts will feel a lot more attainable you know?

but yeah, what's wrong with gamemaker? =p

Re: From temporary to final textures - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:21:32 -0000

building a model from a texture to make a better texture? yes. that's just plain genius. *steals the technique*

Re: Placeholder textures for refining layouts - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:27:34 -0000

hey, this is just what I've been working on lately for my current game!

I'm definitely looking forward to how you go about making the normal maps, I normally bake mine but I get a headache thinking about how I'd do it for something using shared UV space :)

Re: How to make pixel art in Photoshop - Wolfire Games Blog

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:45:06 -0000

"I have heard there are better programs for making pixel art and animation than Photoshop. Does anyone else have any experience with these programs?"

MSPAINT! :D (I'm not even kidding, before I got SAI I was dead set on making all my textures in paint, and there are a lot of 'hidden' tricks it's got: http://www.youtube.com/watc...
I often like to have multiple instances of paint open at once and use them like layers :D
other than that though, I do like fireworks for pixel stuff, it's got really nice gradient tools.

also, not posted in a while, but I've been lurking, keep up the good work, and make more pixel bloggings!
(also, a GBA overgrowth port, do it =p)

Re: Is John a robot?

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:37:00 -0000

This is officially the best post on the internet, ever.

Re: Open development vs. spoiling the story

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:37:27 -0000

I dont think this is a complicated issue.

1. how do you want the story to be experienced.
2. does posting about story ruin that? if so its not worth it (unless the story isn't that important)

Re: Soft normal maps for fur

Sophie Houlden — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:02:03 -0000

I do prefer the new fur, but wouldnt you get the same effect by not painting it on as strong in the first place?

anyway, I agree about SotC, when I saw the fur and grass in that I was in love, and kicked myself for not having thought of layering faces like that before.

Re: More Magical Meebo Memories

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:17:20 -0000

WTH? didnt you hear what Moo cow did to all that grass? it was goddam planticide!

Re: Going to grad school

Sophie Houlden — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:40:45 -0000

good luck, awesome choice of study too.

Re: How saving mechanics affect fun

Sophie Houlden — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:15:50 -0000

I think you are right, by controlling the save points we control the challenge, its fine if you dont want challenge for players but if you do hitting pause then save is not the answer.

I also have a possibly fresh perspective on the quicksave, I have a friend who is particularly OCD about his game playing, for example playing fallout, if he is hit even once he is uncomfortable playing the rest of the game, even if the game doesent record it he must reload. and if he accidentally saves over this 'damaged' file he often decides to restart the game, or if he is sevral hours in he will leave the game altogether.

I've only seen him attempt 'non-perfect' play in games when the quicksave feature isnt available, or save points are 20 minutes or so apart.

its an extreme example, but if shows if you give people complete control over something they will often subvert it if possible. its cool if you want them to be able to do that, but if you want a more 'designed' game you shouldn't give the player complete control, or at least hide their control from them ;)

Re: Ambient occlusion for characters

Sophie Houlden — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:27:27 -0000

I love AO, every time I use it I feel I am cheating, but it looks so good and its so easy to put in.

Re: Character rim lighting

Sophie Houlden — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:44:00 -0000

I think it looks beautiful how it is now. thats not to say I dont want you to go for the fur shader stuff, but if it doesent work out dont lose heart, I'd love to see this come to life :)

Re: Preview of WebKit’s WebGL / Canvas 3D

Sophie Houlden — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:18:07 -0000

hardware accelerated 3D games in a web browser, that sounds like a fantasy =p

it will be nice to have open standards and no plugins required to do it mind :)

oh, and to the person who was shocked by having normal maps in the browser, you should check unity3d.com ;)

Re: Character Stats Vs. Player Skill

Sophie Houlden — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:18:40 -0000

I find when I am improving its better than my avatar improving. stat builders are great for killing time, but I'm really just there to keep things running. like in final fantasies I'm there for the rest of the experiance, and the fighting stuff is often just me telling it to keep going.

that said, I know when it comes to alot of skill based games, I am indeed below average, with only a few exceptions. but it comes down to what skills I'm using as to whether I'm having fun, and how those skills compare to the people around me.

for example, I play Rock Band alot, I'm above average, at least compared to the people who play online. this means that about 4/5 online plays will not be a challenge to me, I can zone out and win just on reactions. but in that one game where I play someone of equal or better skill, I get very excited about the prospect of a challenge, even when I lose to them I am happy because I will have had fun.

what I think produces fun no matter what (at least for me) are games like chess, I know all the rules of chess, and so does anyone I play against. and there is no way to know how good they are until pretty far into the game, as any seeming lack of skill might just be the tactic of a more advanced player. this way every loss is a learning experiance and every win is an achievement. whatever happens I progress.

but then everyone knows we can learn from chess, its like all ludologists grandparent telling how stuff never changes and we should learn from our elders.

Re: The value of game design docs

Sophie Houlden — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:50:58 -0000

even though I'm a one person team, I occasionally find use for DDs, as to me they are the finished game, in written form. its great for motivations to make one and say:

'right, I finished the game, its really cool! now I just have to build it and then other people will see how cool it is'

also they are useful for small teams when the projects are big, and you need to keep track of everything you want to include, as I often release games, forgetting to add stuff I wanted to. usually realising about five minutes after posting the link to everyone! and that just wouldnt do for my bigger projects. my brain alone isnt solid enough to rely on :)

Re: The value of game ideas

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:58:25 -0000

also also (last comment I swear!) awesome pixels Aubrey!

Re: The value of game ideas

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:56:59 -0000

oh, having said that mind, I do keep alot of my ideas on the down low, mostly because if I make them, having talked about it before could spoil a key part of the experience.
for example in phantasmal, I'm keeping some really big story and design ideas from being shown as the player discovering them is a key part of what I think makes them cool. :)

Re: The value of game ideas

Sophie Houlden — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:47:52 -0000

I agree with you for the most part, however I think its a little more difficult than 'other people are busy with their own stuff, so they wont take yours'

I think that you can only be safe thinking that when the implementation is going to be a significant task, otherwise if people think your idea or design will take them places, alot will grab it. the tumbledrop/crayon physics clones that were released before the original creators had a chance to make complete versions of their games are a testament to that.

though I think that may be more to do with designs than ideas, and the cause was probably that the early versions became popular before their time.

if all you have is a pitch mind, aint nobody on earth is going to steal that, theres way more cool ideas than there is time to make them.

Re: Inspector UI redux

Sophie Houlden — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:36:25 -0000

woo, fancy sliders!
also I really like the markup for making a ui, presumably its just as easy to embed an image so folks can 'sign' their scripts?