Re: Anyone on this list?

["Stephen J Baker" <sjbaker@link.com>]

On Tue, 29 Oct 2002, Gianfranco Berardi wrote:

> Also in terms of TuxKart, I haven't bothered to look up
> any bug reports on it, but one time I manage to jump out of the track (I
> believe...it was all so quick) and I was picked up and dropped....off
> the course! I just went into a free fall into this blue abyss and
> eventually the game crashed. My system naturally was fine, but just to
> let you know that it happened if you didn't already know about it.

Yes - I know about this - it seems to happen very rarely on my
systems at home - but occasionally, someone will see the problem
happening a LOT.  I suspect some kind of interaction between the
frame rate and the collision detection code.

> And for a game it is tough, almost a catch-22. While back in the old
> days it was possible for one person to be the entire development team
> and make a quality title, it isn't the case anymore.

Yes - it's *almost* the end of single-author games having a hope in
hell of seeming 'modern'.  I believe I could have written Mario'64
by myself (if I'd had the right tools) - but seeing Mario Sunshine,
I *know* I couldn't write that without a lot of help.

> Once in awhile a
> great game comes from one person, but it is rarer.  People generally try
> to get teams together and they need to design everything before coding.
> On the other hand, no one wants to work with a project that doesn't
> already have something playable, which requires coding.

Yep.

> I have generally been wary to join anyone's project. I once tried to
> make some art for someone on request. Once I was finished (and I thought
> it was pretty good for the time) the developer said that he has
> cancelled the game.

Sad, but true.

> I genuinely hope to get/find/make a decent Pacman clone at the very
> least.

I have a project to build a physical Pacman clone out of Lego Robotics!
The 'ghosts' are little robots that run the maze automatically and
the 'player' will be controlled with an infra-red remote.  The 'pills'
will be Lego bricks that the player's robot picks up and can adjust
it's speed depending on the colour.  I havn't figured out how the
act of eating a power pill will make the ghosts start running instead
of attacking - but I'll think of something!

The ghost robots with their maze-running ability are almost finished.

Now, making them 'teleport' from one side of the screen to the other
will be a *challenge*!!

> And it is not everyday when you get to respond to a post made by someone
> who made a major title for your OS platform B-) I like Tuxkart.

Hmmm - I don't know I'd describe it as 'major' - but I'll just bask
in my little pool of fame here for a while....<ahhhh>....

    :-)

> It has
> the graphics of Mario Kart 64 with similar controls from the original If
> I can get my joystick to work, I think it would be nice to see if
> anything can be done to make the controls more analog.

It's definitely much better with a joystick.  The keyboard interface
was an after-the-fact kludge.

> And I would love to be a beta tester. So long as I get a free copy of
> the game once we're through B-)

  :-)

I'm currently reworking the core of my TuxAQFH game with the intention
of actually making a real game out of it rather than a technology
test (which is pretty much what it originally was) - I have learned
a lot of lessons from it.

I'm also helping my son with some coding for his TuxWave game (a
WaterSkiing game with real 3D water and physics-based animation).

TuxKart currently takes a back seat...but I occasionally turn out
a new level or fix a problem.

So many projects - so little time.

----
Steve Baker                      (817)619-2657 (Vox/Vox-Mail)
L3Com/Link Simulation & Training (817)619-2466 (Fax)
Work: sjbaker@link.com           http://www.link.com
Home: sjbaker1@airmail.net       http://www.sjbaker.org