...I update this blog. I haven't written in it for about half a year. Oh, well that isn't absolutely true, I do have written maybe 20 posts for it, all in my head. Things I thought of while walking with my dog or riding the bus or working. But I haven't really had the time nor the spirits to actually write all those thougths down. So now they are gone... well most of them at least...
Anyway, aiming to get back and blog some more from now onwards again... but it's a bit weird keeping up two blogs at the same time, one in swedish and this one. I'll ponder on how to solve that.
Anyway, this is just a heads up to show I still live and breathe.
Oh, and I got my Wii this week. Only got Wii Sports for it yet, and Mikaelas been occupying it most of the time, but it's fun. And a damn good exercise too.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Catching breath
Haven't blogged in what feels like two months time. Probably is two months also. Haven't had the time to read other blogs neither, which feels like a huge loss really. But there's been to much stuff going on, on a personal level, for me to really give time to blogging. Contradictory, because at times I really could have needed to vent a little. God knows I have had a lot of ideas for blogposts, stuff now more or less forgotten or irrelevant.
And in the midst of this I get order from my chief editor on Gameplayer: You must start using our internal blogsystem. Whop-de-do. Yet another blog to keep updated regularily. But I have a plan. I'll post more personal and interesting stuff here (although I have a tendency to never get to personal.. I shun from exhibitionistic behavior. The virtual Johan is quite different from reality Johan.) and leave the fun rants and easier stuff for Gameplayer. After all they have different audiences. You can find my GP-blog here.
I can already hear some wise-ass mongrel starting to object and say, "So you guys are gonna promote your writers via blogs just like Loading.se". You couldn't possibly be more out there grasping at straws than that. Our blog system has been integrated since day one of GP 2.0, and we've discussed our plans for it internally for a long time and when it is all finished it will be a lot more useful feature of our site than the halffinished solution we gave Loading.
Actually the reason to why you are seeing Gameplayer getting a lot of new functions right now is because we had to take a break working with the site just to prioritise finishing the new Loading for Reset Media. They are really the copy of us, since the backbone for all their features are the GP-core.
Anyway, was gonna keep this short, but went on ranting. So I'll stop.
And in the midst of this I get order from my chief editor on Gameplayer: You must start using our internal blogsystem. Whop-de-do. Yet another blog to keep updated regularily. But I have a plan. I'll post more personal and interesting stuff here (although I have a tendency to never get to personal.. I shun from exhibitionistic behavior. The virtual Johan is quite different from reality Johan.) and leave the fun rants and easier stuff for Gameplayer. After all they have different audiences. You can find my GP-blog here.
I can already hear some wise-ass mongrel starting to object and say, "So you guys are gonna promote your writers via blogs just like Loading.se". You couldn't possibly be more out there grasping at straws than that. Our blog system has been integrated since day one of GP 2.0, and we've discussed our plans for it internally for a long time and when it is all finished it will be a lot more useful feature of our site than the halffinished solution we gave Loading.
Actually the reason to why you are seeing Gameplayer getting a lot of new functions right now is because we had to take a break working with the site just to prioritise finishing the new Loading for Reset Media. They are really the copy of us, since the backbone for all their features are the GP-core.
Anyway, was gonna keep this short, but went on ranting. So I'll stop.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Why buy a PS3?
Haven't updated this blog in a while... but I've just been busy with other stuff. Will get back tot hat in another post though.
Today I wanted to bring the topic of PS3 up. Why should anyone buy one? When it was announced together with Wii (revolution back then) and 360 I ruled Microsoft out as a competitor. I knew Nintendo would succeed because of their smart audience targeting strategies. But comparing the Xbox to the Playstation the Playstation looked like a winner. On the paper.
Today we know better.
I am actually not gonna debate this myself, because others have don it so well before me. One of my most favourite arguments are those of Gaming Steve. Here's a post he did the 2nd of October:
As the PS3 launch fast approaches I keep asking myself a very simple question ... why would I want to buy a PS3? And if I'm asking this question, a person who has owned every single game console released since the Telstar, the so-called "hardcore" segment that Sony is banking on to buy their $600 monstrosity, I have to wonder who is going to buy the PS3 and why? I keep thinking to myself, why do I need to buy a $600 console which doesn't offer me anything I don't already have?
Blu-Ray? I already have hundreds of DVDs thank you very much.
Online access? I already have the Internet and Xbox Live.
New games? I already have more games than I can play for my Xbox 360/PC/PS2/DS. The last thing I need is more games.
Unique PS3 titles? I will say that Resistance: Fall of Man looks and plays great ... but so does Gears of War. And Gears of War doesn't require me to buy a new console to play.
So why do I need to buy a PS3 exactly? Why should I kill myself looking for a PS3 this holiday season and spend $600 for this system? Why?
I can not think of a single reason that I would want to buy the PS3 right now. Not a single one.
Perhaps in a few months if/when the PS3 gets its legs and finds its place in the console landscape. But right now all I see when I look at the PS3 is a bloated, overpriced console which offers me nothing new. I truly hope that Sony manages to get their act together and releases some awesome unique content in 2007, but right now I just don't see the need.
Now the Wii ... that's a different story.
Today I wanted to bring the topic of PS3 up. Why should anyone buy one? When it was announced together with Wii (revolution back then) and 360 I ruled Microsoft out as a competitor. I knew Nintendo would succeed because of their smart audience targeting strategies. But comparing the Xbox to the Playstation the Playstation looked like a winner. On the paper.
Today we know better.
I am actually not gonna debate this myself, because others have don it so well before me. One of my most favourite arguments are those of Gaming Steve. Here's a post he did the 2nd of October:
As the PS3 launch fast approaches I keep asking myself a very simple question ... why would I want to buy a PS3? And if I'm asking this question, a person who has owned every single game console released since the Telstar, the so-called "hardcore" segment that Sony is banking on to buy their $600 monstrosity, I have to wonder who is going to buy the PS3 and why? I keep thinking to myself, why do I need to buy a $600 console which doesn't offer me anything I don't already have?
Blu-Ray? I already have hundreds of DVDs thank you very much.
Online access? I already have the Internet and Xbox Live.
New games? I already have more games than I can play for my Xbox 360/PC/PS2/DS. The last thing I need is more games.
Unique PS3 titles? I will say that Resistance: Fall of Man looks and plays great ... but so does Gears of War. And Gears of War doesn't require me to buy a new console to play.
So why do I need to buy a PS3 exactly? Why should I kill myself looking for a PS3 this holiday season and spend $600 for this system? Why?
I can not think of a single reason that I would want to buy the PS3 right now. Not a single one.
Perhaps in a few months if/when the PS3 gets its legs and finds its place in the console landscape. But right now all I see when I look at the PS3 is a bloated, overpriced console which offers me nothing new. I truly hope that Sony manages to get their act together and releases some awesome unique content in 2007, but right now I just don't see the need.
Now the Wii ... that's a different story.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Tilt the universe with Tiltor
We got a post from one of our users over at the Gameplayer forums where he linked to a small but fun game he and some others had put together. It's a simple but challenging puzzle game in cosy pixel-graphic retrostyle. I have taken a liking to it and I urge you all to download it.
It's hosted here.
It's well worth the download. Tilt on. Oh, and if you solve level 32, give me a hint. I'm stuck.
It's hosted here.
It's well worth the download. Tilt on. Oh, and if you solve level 32, give me a hint. I'm stuck.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Those crazy germans
Ok, this is from Starmania, the german equivalent of Idol. During the early takeouts this guy enters the stage and starts to sing "The Brimstone Gate", a song made by the Umeå-based black metal band Naglfar.
Not only is it such a sorry call for attention, he really sucks at it too. Has he ever heard of lungs? The jury seems kinda unaffected tho.
Not only is it such a sorry call for attention, he really sucks at it too. Has he ever heard of lungs? The jury seems kinda unaffected tho.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Doom 4 life!
Well, as promised here is the link to download my Doom 2-levels: ZIPPED ARCHIVE
I'd recommend using the Doom Legacy engine to play it since that's what I optimised it for some time ago (Using DoomEd and ZenNode. It was however originally built with a fairly early version of DCK for DOS).
The levels are not 100% finished. Some are more final than others, but in a few you'll find some texture misalignments and other oddities. They are all 100% playable though. All seven of them. There is an eight map that I began designing but never finished. All in all the .wad was supposed to have like 15 levels all in all, and I had a storyline, proper levelnames and everything written for it, but all I have left is the raw levels in this wad. I wish I had finished it because I'm quite sure I will never get to it now. I have forgotten half of the concepts I had in mind and besides, I doubt anyone will actually play it anyway, even though I post it here.
The levels are all designed to be a challenge (or at least a challenge to me and my own skills back then), and to keep the player on toes. I implemented many ideas where I wanted to challenge the traditional gameplay encouraged by the Doom-games. The players usually had to think a bit extra about what they actually were doing, so it is wise to be careful and pay extra notice. Although I think some of my ideas were fresh back then, by todays standards they are fairly simple.
All levels can be completed even though you only start with a single gun. It was one of my most important designchoices and personal challenges. Make every level being completeable by starting from scratch, while not giving too large an advantage to people that play through them all subsequently. There's also a lot of thought put into making it enjoyable in coop-mode. A lot of secrets and stuff are much more easilly revealed in coop. Oh, talking about secrets, I love secrets. There's lots of secrets, all over the place. If ever stuck, just try pushing or shooting walls or panels that look suspicious. You never know what will happen, a trap or a reward? You'll find out.
Level 1: Castle 1 entrance
This was actually the third level I ever designed. It was after I started to flesh out the concept and story I had in mind when I made my first two levels. Anyway, this level is a parantesis. It's there to introduce the type of gameplay style I expected to base my levels on. Everything is not what it seems. It doesn't hold in itself any concepts or ideas that make it unique, but rather a simplified version of everything else I made. Not too fond of this level and was always thinking about giving it a proper update, but never gotten around to. In my book it is a raw incomplete version of what it could have been.
There is both a double barreled shotgun and a chainsaw on this level. Can you find them? Not that you need them anyway, if you save your ammo that is. The exit is that diamondshaped hole.
Level 2: Castle 1 basement
This is the first Doom-level I ever made. This means that almost everything in it is ideas that appeared when I wanted to exercise the Doom-engines possibilities and limitations. It is therefor a weird mix of typical Doom-design and some really unorthodox thinking. The level has a small bug regarding an early secret area if you play coop, but you really need to mess up to do it anyway. I really like this level, it is hard and fun to play. First half is pretty straightforward (if you find the lightbutton to the left) with a few surprises while the second half is really starting to mess around by morphing parts of the level. I love my corridor of slaughter, where the chaingun or plasmagun comes in very handy (if you can find the latter that is). I just love to kill those marine zombies in dozens.
Since it's my first level ever the gameplay at a few instances tend to be a little trial an error, much because it's an uneven mix of many ideas and concepts. I was learning as I went on. Anyway, a small tip: exit is just by the entrance.
Level 3: Mountain outpost
This is a level I like a lot but that some of my friends found confusing because of it's labyrinth nature. The story behind it is that you must activate the generator that powers the outposts electric system to get in, so you can get the key you need to progress. It's fun and it has some nice traps I really like as well as some bonus secrets that are just flavors, like a small blood waterfall in the end that you can access if you click the right pillar. Anyway, it introduces the Wolfenstein nazi troops, which made sense with the storyline I had for it, but might be confusing otherwise. I needed more human-type models. They fit the purpose. Here are some areas that are ONLY accessible in coop if you know how (Another of those concepts I was playing around with a lot).
Level 4: Castle 2 entrance
Begins like most of my levels exactly at the point where the previous ended. Some of my favourite traps are implemented in this level. It also probably has the most sadistic exit of all my levels. You'll understand when you get there. Gameplay in this one differs a lot in coop since you can work around the traps in completely different ways. Although I love some of my concepts in this level to pieces I was never truly satisfied with it. It lacks something to spice it up a little, and the end might just be over the top annoying to most.
Level 5: Castle 2 interior
This is my personal favourite of all the levels I made. It tries to simulate a feeling of true 3D-space in a medieval castle environment. The objective is to raise the 2 bridges to the tower at the far side of the lavafield. Not as easy as you think, since it requires exploring both attics, cellars and towers of the castle. If you ever play these levels I'd really want to get feedback on this one. It has a weird bug though, just by the exit all sound is muted. It's just for that sector which is weird. Never figured out why.
Level 6: Mining Facilities
Here I tried mixing up my own designstyle with the traditional Romero-style of Doom. It has a small bug with lightvalues in a few sectors. I tried fixing it with DoomEd recently, but didn't get it to work properly. If you find it too dark, just up the lights. Anyway, the yellow key can be found in two places. One obvious, and one not so obvious. Oh. Traps. Beware. Can you get into that lonely tower by the way? Oh, and the puzzle to raise and lower the ramp seems harder than it is. Trust me.
Level 7: Old Mines
Last level I ever finished designing. Also one of my absolute favourites. It ended up exactly as I had anticipated, and encourages exploring in the same way the castle level does. It's probably my most straightforward level though, but that is what I wanted to achieve with it also. If all levels follow the same patterns it becomes too obvious.
Level 8: Scattered Outposts (unfinished)
In this level I aimed to work with contrast. Big landscapes and small narrow corridors mixed together. Shame the Doom-engine isn't really made for landscaping, but at least I tried (and yes, failed utterly). Big antclimax though, for the level ends quite abruptly, just as things get interesting. Never got time to finish it.
I'd recommend using the Doom Legacy engine to play it since that's what I optimised it for some time ago (Using DoomEd and ZenNode. It was however originally built with a fairly early version of DCK for DOS).
The levels are not 100% finished. Some are more final than others, but in a few you'll find some texture misalignments and other oddities. They are all 100% playable though. All seven of them. There is an eight map that I began designing but never finished. All in all the .wad was supposed to have like 15 levels all in all, and I had a storyline, proper levelnames and everything written for it, but all I have left is the raw levels in this wad. I wish I had finished it because I'm quite sure I will never get to it now. I have forgotten half of the concepts I had in mind and besides, I doubt anyone will actually play it anyway, even though I post it here.
The levels are all designed to be a challenge (or at least a challenge to me and my own skills back then), and to keep the player on toes. I implemented many ideas where I wanted to challenge the traditional gameplay encouraged by the Doom-games. The players usually had to think a bit extra about what they actually were doing, so it is wise to be careful and pay extra notice. Although I think some of my ideas were fresh back then, by todays standards they are fairly simple.
All levels can be completed even though you only start with a single gun. It was one of my most important designchoices and personal challenges. Make every level being completeable by starting from scratch, while not giving too large an advantage to people that play through them all subsequently. There's also a lot of thought put into making it enjoyable in coop-mode. A lot of secrets and stuff are much more easilly revealed in coop. Oh, talking about secrets, I love secrets. There's lots of secrets, all over the place. If ever stuck, just try pushing or shooting walls or panels that look suspicious. You never know what will happen, a trap or a reward? You'll find out.
Level 1: Castle 1 entrance
This was actually the third level I ever designed. It was after I started to flesh out the concept and story I had in mind when I made my first two levels. Anyway, this level is a parantesis. It's there to introduce the type of gameplay style I expected to base my levels on. Everything is not what it seems. It doesn't hold in itself any concepts or ideas that make it unique, but rather a simplified version of everything else I made. Not too fond of this level and was always thinking about giving it a proper update, but never gotten around to. In my book it is a raw incomplete version of what it could have been.
There is both a double barreled shotgun and a chainsaw on this level. Can you find them? Not that you need them anyway, if you save your ammo that is. The exit is that diamondshaped hole.
Level 2: Castle 1 basement
This is the first Doom-level I ever made. This means that almost everything in it is ideas that appeared when I wanted to exercise the Doom-engines possibilities and limitations. It is therefor a weird mix of typical Doom-design and some really unorthodox thinking. The level has a small bug regarding an early secret area if you play coop, but you really need to mess up to do it anyway. I really like this level, it is hard and fun to play. First half is pretty straightforward (if you find the lightbutton to the left) with a few surprises while the second half is really starting to mess around by morphing parts of the level. I love my corridor of slaughter, where the chaingun or plasmagun comes in very handy (if you can find the latter that is). I just love to kill those marine zombies in dozens.
Since it's my first level ever the gameplay at a few instances tend to be a little trial an error, much because it's an uneven mix of many ideas and concepts. I was learning as I went on. Anyway, a small tip: exit is just by the entrance.
Level 3: Mountain outpost
This is a level I like a lot but that some of my friends found confusing because of it's labyrinth nature. The story behind it is that you must activate the generator that powers the outposts electric system to get in, so you can get the key you need to progress. It's fun and it has some nice traps I really like as well as some bonus secrets that are just flavors, like a small blood waterfall in the end that you can access if you click the right pillar. Anyway, it introduces the Wolfenstein nazi troops, which made sense with the storyline I had for it, but might be confusing otherwise. I needed more human-type models. They fit the purpose. Here are some areas that are ONLY accessible in coop if you know how (Another of those concepts I was playing around with a lot).
Level 4: Castle 2 entrance
Begins like most of my levels exactly at the point where the previous ended. Some of my favourite traps are implemented in this level. It also probably has the most sadistic exit of all my levels. You'll understand when you get there. Gameplay in this one differs a lot in coop since you can work around the traps in completely different ways. Although I love some of my concepts in this level to pieces I was never truly satisfied with it. It lacks something to spice it up a little, and the end might just be over the top annoying to most.
Level 5: Castle 2 interior
This is my personal favourite of all the levels I made. It tries to simulate a feeling of true 3D-space in a medieval castle environment. The objective is to raise the 2 bridges to the tower at the far side of the lavafield. Not as easy as you think, since it requires exploring both attics, cellars and towers of the castle. If you ever play these levels I'd really want to get feedback on this one. It has a weird bug though, just by the exit all sound is muted. It's just for that sector which is weird. Never figured out why.
Level 6: Mining Facilities
Here I tried mixing up my own designstyle with the traditional Romero-style of Doom. It has a small bug with lightvalues in a few sectors. I tried fixing it with DoomEd recently, but didn't get it to work properly. If you find it too dark, just up the lights. Anyway, the yellow key can be found in two places. One obvious, and one not so obvious. Oh. Traps. Beware. Can you get into that lonely tower by the way? Oh, and the puzzle to raise and lower the ramp seems harder than it is. Trust me.
Level 7: Old Mines
Last level I ever finished designing. Also one of my absolute favourites. It ended up exactly as I had anticipated, and encourages exploring in the same way the castle level does. It's probably my most straightforward level though, but that is what I wanted to achieve with it also. If all levels follow the same patterns it becomes too obvious.
Level 8: Scattered Outposts (unfinished)
In this level I aimed to work with contrast. Big landscapes and small narrow corridors mixed together. Shame the Doom-engine isn't really made for landscaping, but at least I tried (and yes, failed utterly). Big antclimax though, for the level ends quite abruptly, just as things get interesting. Never got time to finish it.
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