The Life and Times of a Gamer

STEM Thinking (7)

2010-05-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

This post is about why I think America should regain its position as a world leader in science, technology, engineering and math. I think we should because we are a country that is filled with people who are highly intelligent. We should also do this because we as a country should not be thought of as inferior to another country. Our country can do many things that can be beneficial for the entire world.

Here is an image of our flag:

That's all for now now. Later.

STEM Thinking (6)

2010-05-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

This post is about STEM related inventions I would like to create or support in my lifetime. For starters there is a cure for cancer. I've known of a few people who lost their lives to cancer, so I would like to see an end to that. Another thing I would like to see is solar power becoming more useful and readily available. I think it could be a good alternative fuel source.

Here is an image of some solar panels:

That's all for now. Later.

STEM Thinking (5)

2010-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Has Globaloria inspired me to consider STEM related careers? I would say no, but that is because I have always been interested in science and engineering related carrers. That is actually what made me get into this program to start with. However, I am not exactly sure what career path I want to go on right now.

Here is an image of a computer, since STEM involves technology.

On a side note, we finally finished our game.*insert cheering and clapping*

That's all for now. Later

STEM Thinking (4)

2010-04-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

To be honest, Globaloria has not gotten me more involved in my academic classes more. However, this is not because the program is bad at that. It is because I already try to do my best in my other classes. I usually get straight A's in my classes as it is. I do think the program could make others get more involved in their classes, just not me.

Here is the Globaloria logo:

That's all for now. Later.

STEM Thinking 3 - Careers

2010-04-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

This is about careers that I would be interested in that require a strong background in things taught in this program.First of all is video game designer. We are making video games in this class, so that would help in this career. I would like to make a Mega Man game myself, so I would need to work for Capcom. This career has nothing to do with our game at all, because our game is about gambling. I have several ideas for games, that if done right, could be great.

Here is an image of Proto Man - a character from Mega Man (a series by Capcom):

That's all for now. Later.

STEM Thinking 2

2010-04-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this post is about what three inventions or scientific discoveries that I think have impacted our society the most. I think the Internet, cell phones, and indoor plumbing are the three that have had the biggest effect. The only one of those that may have anything to do with our game is the Internet, only because it has much information about gambling, and just about everything for that matter.

The Internet has changed the way we can find information. It allows you access a world of information 24-7. The next thing is cell phones. They allow you to communicate with others far away on the go. The last thing is indoor plumbing. I think we all know how much that has impacted people.

This is the image Internet Explorer uses:

That's all for now. Later.

STEM: Hardest Concept to Teach with our Game

2010-04-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Our game is about the problems gambling can cause. The hardest thing to teach in this game is how to quit gambling.

It is just plain old hard to show how to do something like that in this game. It is mostly the choices someone makes and if they can stick to those decisions. We can show some facts about what problems can be caused by gambling and give some tips on helping quit, but that's about it.

Really, the best thing to do is to never start gambling, and I hope people who play this or hear about it never do.

Here are some playing cards, which are associated with gambling:

That's all for now. Later.

Character Effects

2010-03-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Today we finished the character effects topic. Everything went smoothly, so we finished the topic today and ahead of schedule. I must say, Jesse is doing a lot for this team. He can figure out things easily, and he has worked hard in these topics.

As for our game, character effects have quite the role. The main character moves around when starting the games within the game. Also some of the other characters have effects, such as the guard. Each of the games have effects that are considered character effects.

Here is the file:

That's all for now. Later.

The Timer

2010-03-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

We have finished the Timer development topic. It was not very hard at all to go through. There were no problems in this topic. Not a lot to say about this topic. This was basically just copying and pasting tings.

The timer can be used in our game when playing slots. My idea was to use the timer to automatically stop the slots rolling unless you stop them manually. I think that is what we wil end up using on the slots.

That's all for now. Later.

Score!

2010-03-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today we finished the score keeping topic. It wasn't very hard at all to go through for us. There was only one problem we had, and that was when we were trying to upload it to the wiki.

Score keeping will be a major part of our game. When your score gets to a certain point you will leave the casino and win the game. With this being how you win the score system is a crucial thing for us to get right.

Here is the file:

You know... I should probably make these posts a bit more exciting.

That's all for now. Later.

Sound Effects

2010-03-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finished the Sound Effects topic. We used what we found in this topic and some other stuff we found on the Internet to make a sound volume bar for our game.

We originally had a button to stop and start the music, but there were some problems with that. Eventually we decided that the bar worked better for our game. We got our music from Sonic Heroes in the Bullet Station, so SEGA owns all the rights to that. We really liked it, so that's why we put it in the game.

Here is the file:

That's all for now. Later.

Preloader

2010-03-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

Today we finished the preloader topic. There were some problems, so this topic took a bit longer than we had originally expected. That aside, we got it uploaded and are putting preloaders in our game.

The main problem in this topic is that the actionscript they had on the wiki didn't work right. We had to go get code from anthor source to get it to work right. After we got that, though, everything worked out just fine.

Here is the file for the Texas Holdem loading screen.

That's all for now. Later

Learning From Others

2010-02-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

Today we finished the Learning from Others topic. It was a lot of basic stuff, mainly copying and pasting. It is good to know this stuff though, especially if you are taking things from multiple files.

Also today we may have found a line of code that will help with the gameplay of our game. If we find a way to make it work it will make finishing the game that much faster.

That's all for now. Later

Programming Practices

2010-02-22T08:52:00.000-08:00

Today we finished the programming practices topic. There was some useful information on some things you should do when working in flash, specifically with actionscript.While not much was new, the info is still good as a refresher for some things you may not be doing and will make it easier. For example, creating a layer specifically for actions is a good idea. We did this in our game and it does make adding in codes a lot easier.

That's all for now. Later.

Actionscripting & Problems

2010-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

As of now we have done the Intro to Actionscript topic. Well we tried to at least. There is a problem with the first video's audio that it does not match up with what is being done onscreen.

There was also this thing where you mess with the actionscript of a game about a diver and another game about a frog. Both of the games were fun too. At least it works right.

Then there was this one site where we were supposed to do a tutorial, but the link didn't work so we couldn't do that part of it either. We really need to get those fixed because actionscript is a crucial part of game creation.

That's all for now. Later

Presentation Review

2010-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

As of now we have made a presentation and presented it to the class.

I think our strengths were that we were prepared and we had good cooperation. Our weaknesses were that we did not have much on the development of the game and we were not very loud.

In the final presentation we should try to be louder and to add more of the game and it's development into the powerpoint.

I think Klangfarbenmelodie had the best presentation because they were the most prepared and and organized.

Here is a video of our presentation:

My Dream Job

2010-01-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

My dream job is to be a video game designer Capcom. I want to design games for Capcom because they make my all time favorite series - Mega Man. To do this I will need to study 4 - 6 years at a technical college and hope Capcom hires me. I might should learn Japanese too. I feel as though this class has helped prepare me by teaching me how to add animation, interaction, and how to plan a game. That is my dream job.

Game Topic

2009-12-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

Today I am going to talk more about the topic of the game we are making. Our game is about the problems caused by gambling and is called The Gamble of a Lifetime. Gambling is a real problem in many places around the world.

If I had money, influence, and power I would try to advertise this game as much as I could on tv and the internet. This game will be a great way to learn through good gameplay and great humor. I think people can reaqlly learn a lot through this game.

That's all for now. Later

Class Review V2

2009-12-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

Once again I am going to review the class. The class is still fun and getting even better. Everyone works well together, too.I really like working in flash because you can create your own stuff and have it do all kinds of things.

I would also like to remind everyone that The Elite Shuffle's game is about gambling and will be called The Gamble of a Lifetime. The game is coming along nicely. Making our game is definitely going to get harder because we will need a lot of different codes for all the things in our game. We'll find a way to make everything work though.

That's all for now. Later.

Adding Animation

2009-12-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

Now the class has finished adding animation.

The coolest thing about learning to animate is being able to bring a still drawing to life and have it do all kinds of things. The only limit you have is your own
imagination.

One animation in games that I admire are transformation sequences. I really like these because they show one character change into something else entirely.

Here is a video of some great animation:

The Sound in a Game

2009-12-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

Now the class is starting to experiment with sounds. We made two projects with sound.

Sound is very important to a game. Could you play a game with music that really annoyed you? You can always turn the sound off or replace it with your own on some game systems.
Some games have really great music. One example of great music from a game is Live and Learn from Sonic Adventure 2. It is a really great song and fits perfectly in the final boss fight.

That's all for now. Later.

Class Review

2009-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Today I will review the class. I think the class has been very fun and challenging. The thing I liked the most was the drawing in flash. In contrast the thing I liked least was adding navigation and that was only the last part of it. I think the grading system works fine. I would only change the class by giving us more time.

I would recommend this class to a friend if they liked games, because this is a fun class and they can really learn a lot about computers and games. It would be a great class for someone who wants a career working with computers or technology.

That's all for now. Later.

Adding Navigation

2009-11-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today I finished the adding navigation topic. The last part of the topic was kind of hard, but overall it was fun.

Here is an image that deals with the topic of our game:

I chose this image because when you think of gambling usually the first thing you think of are cards. I chose the ace of spades because it is my favorite (and luckiest) card.

That's all for now. Later.

Drawing in Flash

2009-11-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

As of now, the team has finished drawing in flash. If you have been reading my blog, you should know by now that are game is about gambling. We didn't really learn anything new about gambling, but we learned about how long and hard it is to make scenes in flash.

That's all for now,and sorry, this post was kind of late. Later

Problems with Technology

2009-10-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

These days technology is a major part of our lives. However our reliance on technology can sometimes hinder us.

If our printer goes out when we need to print off an important document, what can you do? Or if you need to finish a project on your computer, and it gets a virus what can you do?

These are just a few of the many problems due to relying on technology. Technology is great but society really needs to move away from being heavily dependent on technology.

Planning The Game

2009-10-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today we finished planning our game. I ended up with several jobs:Project manager, Interaction designer, Visual designer, Content developer/web writer, and Programmer.

I am looking forward to creating this game, and I hope people will play it and have fun. I also hope anyone who reads this is going to play our game.

Here is a picture of the team:

That's all for now. Later.

Paper Prototype Video

2009-10-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

Today The EliteShuffle finished the paper prototype for the game we are going to create. I recorded the video, Jamie talked about each screen, Aaron moved the pages for each screen, and David moved the characters around. Jesse was absent so he's not in the video.

Here is the video:

That's all for now. Later.

Imagine A Game

2009-09-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

In the last two days, Jamie, Aaron, and myself have formed a team called The Elite Shuffle. We have decided to create a game about gambling and the problems caused by it.

The game will be called The Gamble of a Lifetime and will feature four different games: Blackjack, Texas Hold 'Em, Slots, and Roulette. The basis of the game is that the casino you were in has been taken over and you need a certain amount of money before they let you leave.

As of today David and Jesse have joined The Elite Shuffle as well.

That's all for now. Later.

Mini Game Project

2009-09-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

I finished making my mini game. The mini game is simple to play: move the rabbit up or down so that it collides with the carrot to score a point. There were some problems I ran into while working on it, and everyone else in class had these problems. Seems that the coding was bad.

That's all for now. Later.

The Movie Clip

2009-09-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Today we made a small movie clip. The clip simply moves a character over. I made my character look like Meta Knight. I figured outwhat to do to get the clip to work, so I helped a few people get theirs to work.

Oh and speaking of movies, I added a video of Open Your Heart (a song from Sonic Adventure) in clips from the Mega Man Star Froce anime. It's near the bottom of the page above the playlist.

Three New Blogs

2009-09-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

As of today I have added three blogs I hope will help with the creation of my game.

One of the blogs talks about a engine used to create platformers. Another speaks of creating 3D shooters using flash. The other one is the developer's notes from their creation of a flash game.

With the help of these blogs and others like them, as well as our own experiences in class we should be able to make a awesome game.

That's all for now, but one more thing: I found Guitar Hero III with guitar controller for 360 for $20 and bought it! (-_-)-b

Playing to learn

2009-09-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today we played games made by other Globaloria users. We payed these games to get an idea of what we will be doing as well as get ideas for the creation of our own games. The day before this we played games of different genres.

The game I liked best was a shooter called September 12th. It shows how violence creates more violence. It can be played here http://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm.

The second game I played was called Go Rabbit, Go. It was a game where you guide a rabbit in a wheelchair to get carrots while avoiding a turtle. It can be found here http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/resources/en/play/Social/rabbitgame.

That's all for now. Later.

And Thus It Begins - The Globaloria Class

2009-09-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is George, and I am a big video game fan. This is the start of a blog I am making in the Globaloria class.

"What is Globaloria?" you may ask yourself. It is a program that allows people to make video games based on world issues. It is also to get us ready for jobs that will use current technology.

In this blog I will talk about my experiences, ideas, and what I have learned thus far. Right now I don't really have an idea for a game about a specific social issue, but i do want to create a platformer similar to great ones like Mario, Sonic, and Kirby.

So far in class we have learned how to create and edit a Wiki page, as well as created a blog and selected a template for said blog.

That's all for now. Later