New Blog on its way

So I've decided to get my own hosting and make my own WordPress blog, rather than using the Blogspot site. This way I can customise it a bit more and host files easier. Right now I'm in the middle of my finals exams (final one on Thursday), but once they're done I'll be working on getting the new blog online ASAP. The address will still be www.burkazoid.com, but I'll be sure to write on here again once its online.

EDIT: Its online now!

Sky Surfer XNA v0.91b Source Code

So here it is, the project I've been working on (on and off) for the last 4 months or so. At the moment I've only uploaded the source for XNA, as I'm having some issues getting it to deploy to a fully compiled setup file and I don't have time to deal with those issues for a short while. So in the mean time, if you have XNA Game Studio Express, here's Sky Surfer. The music has been omitted for copyright reasons, but the sound and every other resource is included:

Sky Surfer XNA 0.91b Source Download

A readme file is included with the necessary credits for now. These will eventually be integrated into the main menu. I also need to get round to changing movements so they are frame-time reliant (ie if it lags it won't affect the game so detrementally, nor will an uber fast computer affect it in the opposite way). This version only supports 1280x720 resolution and requires an Xbox 360 Controller. Keyboard and multi-resolution will come in a future release. Anyway, if anyone has any feedback please let me know.

PS. This solution was saved in the latest XNA GSE (1.0 refresh). The game is fully compatible with the original 1.0 GSE, but I'm not sure if GSE will allow the file to load if its from a newer version.

Sky Surfer on its way..

So, Sky Surfer and its associated thesis was completed in the early hours on Friday morning. All that remains is for me to thoroughly comment the code, and when I do I'll be putting up some videos, as well as releasing the source code and binaries here.

I can't say I worked hard over the weekend on doing the commenting, as I was due a welcome break. So I mostly spent the weekend having a few social drinks and playing plenty of games with a sweet LAN setup of Xbox 360s at a mate's house.


Game of the weekend was most definitely Halo 2. Oh and I also got a great trade in deal at GameStop and got Kororinpa [Wii], Deus Ex [PS2] and Crackdown [360]. More games to add to that Summer Games list. Just 2 exams between me and shedloads of gaming.

Sky Surfer Screenshots

So as I touch off my final write-up for my XNA Project Sky Surfer, here's a wealth of screenshots from the game:

Sky Surfer (XNA) Alpha Coming Next Week

Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates. I've been extremely busy lately and the blog has unfortunately been pushed to the back of the priority list. Just have a few things to say quickly. SkyWay has now been renamed to its final name of Sky Surfer (thanks to Gary for the title!). The game is pretty much complete, apart from sound and a few cosmetic changes, all of which will be done by the release at the end of next week. The release I put on my blog will more than likely not feature music for [a] copyright reasons (unless I can find some good royalty free tracks) and [b] size restrictions, as XNA's current audio compression is not highly compressive, compared to the likes of MP3 and WMA. The game has the following features:

• 3D environment platform based game.
• A hover car which the player controls, with the ability to accelerate, brake, turn left and right, and jump.
• 6 Zones, each with differing levels of gravity, lighting, different textures and a different skybox.
• 3 levels per zone, making a total of 18 levels.
• Levels can be played in any order, and can be selected from the game's menu.
  
• Speed and jump boosts.
• Moving barrier obstacles.
• Snow particles (in Zone 3).
• Particles showing on picking up a boost.
• Saved track times, so you can try and beat your previous times.
  
• Each track has a par time associated with it for the player to attempt to beat. A silver trophy is awarded for track completed over par time, a gold awarded for tracks completed under par time.
  
• Achievements (obviously not official Microsoft achievements, but I have coded my own achievements worth 200 points into the game).
• Basic light shading.
• Xbox 360 controller support with vibration.
  

At the moment only Xbox 360 controller is supported. I will add keyboard support extremely soon, possibly before I release the alpha version. Also, the alpha build currently only supports a 1280x720 resolution (720p). I will hopefully be working on 1024x768 and 800x600 support during the summer.

Right now I'm in the process of writing up the whole thing for my final submission. Watch this space!

Great Skybox Resource

Wow, I've just stumbled across this pretty amazing resource of skyboxes. Thought I would mention it here for anyone else who may be on the prowl for good high resolution skybox textures:

Hazel Whorley's Skybox Textures

SkyWay XNA: Snow World (WIP) Video

Here's a short video from 2 of the 3 levels of the snow world, featuring speed and jump boosts. Remember, this is purely work in progress. Particle system (stars on the boosts) thanks to help of this tutorial.

SkyWay Level Design

So the last few days has taught me that I am completely terrible at level design. Thankfully my project's marking won't exactly rely heavily on good level design. In saying that, I've been doing my best to get some good looking skyboxes and textures for each zone. So far there are three zones (each with varying gravity, textures and skybox), and I've made three levels for each zone. My aim is for at least six zones of three levels each. Here's a few screenshots of the zones so far, each showing a different in game camera angle as well:






I have also now added moving barriers to some of the later levels, which, obviously, the player must avoid.