Whats next?
Thu, 13 October, 2011 - 12:31:24
Its been a while since I posted on the blog so I though I would do an update!
Thirty! proved to be very popular and generated a lot of traffic for the site. I originally posted it on Newgrounds as that was where I sourced the music. It recieved a respectable score of 3.35 before it dissapeared into the depths of the portal! I then posted it on facebook and then on b3ta where I was lucky enough to make it into the newsletter which is wear most of the traffic came from. It still gets a handful of visitors most days though, some via stumbleupon.
I was really pleased with the reception that the game got and after toying with the idea of creating an app for my next project I have decided to create a full flash game using flixel. So far I have been planning out the game on paper (learning from previous lessons of rushing headlong into development). I will update the blog with my progress and will keep the community updated via twitter.
Also, its worth reading this article and the others in the series to see the sort of incentives that Flash game development now carries.
Time to crack on!
Friendly URLs
Mon, 22 August, 2011 - 10:49:25
As mentioned in previous posts, I have recently finished working on a multilingual website for a colleague. The website was created using ModX revolution. At the start of the project I would have preferred to use ExpressionEngine, but EE is not free for commercial purposes and paying for a CMS was not an option. The process of creating a new website from scratch and using a new (to me) CMS was both challenging and rewarding. One of the biggest challenges was making the site multilingual. This would require a dynamic approach as I didnt want to have to create three templates for every page. Luckily there are some great developers out there supporting ModX and I found Babel, an add on that did exactly what I wanted. Babel makes it easy for non technical users to add content in multiple languages.
The secondary problem was that I wanted sensible "friendly" URLs. With some help from google and some tinkering with babel and the .htaccess file, I was able to achieve what we wanted. A URL structure that made sense and appeared in the relevant language. This has the advantage of readability and helps the user understand where in the site they are. This also has benefits regarding Search Engine Optimisation as the site's default language is Italian and we wanted Italian google to pick it up. English URLs would not have been preferable.
On finishing the website with its pretty URL structure, I returned to my own site and looked at the mess in the URL bar through new eyes. Individual posts were displayed by id number rather than title and all URLs had an unsightly "index.php?" sitting in the middle.
Luckily EE is well documented and with the new confidence I had gained, I was easily able to modify the .htaccess file to hide the "index.php?". I also realised that the tag I had used for all of the links within the site used the "entry_id_path" tag rather than the "url_title_path". With these two changes made... Behold! Pretty URLs!
Derezzed Yan!
Mon, 01 August, 2011 - 9:01:19
Its been a while since I posted so thought I would update what Ive been up to.
A lot of my spare time has been taken up developing a multi language website in Modx Revolution. Its been a great learning experience and actually really fun, giving that buzz I get from making things work!
Theres nothing like previewing your changes and realising youve nailed it!
Other than that I have continued to finish off the flixel game I have been working on and that is really close. Also, just because I didnt feel like two projects was enough I have been working on a little something to mark my impending 30th birthday! Below is a sneak peak at the main sprite (me).
Terry Paton
Fri, 24 June, 2011 - 9:59:28
Check out this link for an interesting video from Adobe. Its an interview with Indie games developer Terry Paton who discusses his work and the Flash community. I would love to get to a point where I could just create Flash games for a living but I have a long way to go.
Its my game I'll do what I want!
Mon, 13 June, 2011 - 9:40:29
Ive been cracking away at the little platform game I have been making in flixel and its been great fun. The coding is all done now and its just a matter of coming up with a game world layout and polishing up the graphics. Its been a really valuable learning process but as wonderful as flixel is, there have been a few frustrations. For example ladders. I had little ladders throughout the game. I wanted my sprite to climb ladders to get up to higher parts of the level. There were so many barriers to getting it to work in a way I was happy. After struggling with it for a couple of hours a day for a week, tweaking things, I finally realised I wasnt happy with how it was working. Then a revelation. Why do I need ladders? Mario didnt have ladders. So the ladders are out and are easily replaced by a stack of boxes or a moving platform.
The old phrase "too close to the coal face" sprang to mind. Its difficult sometimes when you get so involved in a project to remember that its your own rules that are tying you down. It was my decision to have ladders. As soon as I realised this it felt like a weight off my shoulders. The project was starting to stagnate a little. Instead of the fun I had been having earlier on, I found I wasnt looking forward to working on the game. With the ladder problem removed, I'm again looking forward to making progress. If only I could control the real world so easily!
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