Post by Nexust on Mar 28, 2016 13:04:06 GMT
MallowVenture is back!
I loved working on this game! It was a good three years ago that I last worked on this game.
Why did I stop working on the game?
Plain and simple: The original game was bad. For all the love it was getting, the game was bad. I wasn't a very good programmer at the time and I was trying new things. The biggest issue with the old game was one of it's most stand-out features- the custom levels.
While the level editor was janky as all hell, the problem was actually with the level save files which had a huge security flaw. Anyone with any decent knowledge of computers can edit a text file and, while with most game's custom level files, that isn't a big deal- with MallowVenture, it proved a huge risk.
The old MallowVenture engine saved custom levels by having each object save itself into the level file as a line of code that would, when loaded, be executed by the engine thus creating the level. Some of you are probably already noticing the issue here. That meant that anyone could edit the custom levels to do some pretty messed up stuff, just by adding code that could corrupt your copy of the game or, worse, mess with your computer.
At the time, I just wasn't a good programmer... I didn't know how to save the levels in any decent way.
I've come a long way since then. Now I can program a level editor with secure save files with relative ease. So I have decided to begin development on MallowVenture again! I'll be transparent with my development, as I was before- starting here with a dev log!
Here is a thumbmail of my earliest version!!
While very tiny, I hope the image helps demonstrate some features of the new version.
First thing's first! There is no animation of the character sprite. In the original version, I achieved Mallow's signature hop using an animated sprite. In this version, every aspect of Mallow's animation uses code. The hop is no longer an animation but an actual hop! Squashing and stretching is now also handled by code making it far more dynamic. There is also a new feature in terms of animation- Mallow leans when moving... which is something I was determined to implement but it meant, effectively, not drawing Mallow as a sprite- but by using textured primitives.
There is no level builder yet, only a very early test of the gameplay and, so far, the response has been very positive!
I can't wait to get something out there for you to play but I'm sure we aren't far from that stage.
I loved working on this game! It was a good three years ago that I last worked on this game.
Why did I stop working on the game?
Plain and simple: The original game was bad. For all the love it was getting, the game was bad. I wasn't a very good programmer at the time and I was trying new things. The biggest issue with the old game was one of it's most stand-out features- the custom levels.
While the level editor was janky as all hell, the problem was actually with the level save files which had a huge security flaw. Anyone with any decent knowledge of computers can edit a text file and, while with most game's custom level files, that isn't a big deal- with MallowVenture, it proved a huge risk.
The old MallowVenture engine saved custom levels by having each object save itself into the level file as a line of code that would, when loaded, be executed by the engine thus creating the level. Some of you are probably already noticing the issue here. That meant that anyone could edit the custom levels to do some pretty messed up stuff, just by adding code that could corrupt your copy of the game or, worse, mess with your computer.
At the time, I just wasn't a good programmer... I didn't know how to save the levels in any decent way.
I've come a long way since then. Now I can program a level editor with secure save files with relative ease. So I have decided to begin development on MallowVenture again! I'll be transparent with my development, as I was before- starting here with a dev log!
Here is a thumbmail of my earliest version!!
While very tiny, I hope the image helps demonstrate some features of the new version.
First thing's first! There is no animation of the character sprite. In the original version, I achieved Mallow's signature hop using an animated sprite. In this version, every aspect of Mallow's animation uses code. The hop is no longer an animation but an actual hop! Squashing and stretching is now also handled by code making it far more dynamic. There is also a new feature in terms of animation- Mallow leans when moving... which is something I was determined to implement but it meant, effectively, not drawing Mallow as a sprite- but by using textured primitives.
There is no level builder yet, only a very early test of the gameplay and, so far, the response has been very positive!
I can't wait to get something out there for you to play but I'm sure we aren't far from that stage.
