Category Archives: Finished Projects

Extra Credits Game Jam 5

I entered the Extra Credits Game Jam 5, and completed a simple platformer game. It’s similar to the two Ludum Dare platformers I made and currently have on my Portfolio page, but also different in a couple of important ways. The first, clearly, is that I used some art and music I didn’t make myself. The second is that it’s made in Godot instead of Unity.

I’ve been working with Godot for the last few months and the switch has been mostly positive. Expect more games made with Godot from me in the future!

For now I’m going to link the itch.io page of my Game Jam entry, but it’ll go up on my Portfolio some time after the Jam is over.

Enjoy Puppy Passages:
https://releesquirrel.itch.io/puppy-passages

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Ludum Dare 40

I had neglected to add my Ludum Dare entry from late last year to my Porfolio so I did that just now. It’s a game called Warehouse Blues that I made in two days in Unity from scratch. It’s not perfect but I think I did a better job than my last 2D platformer.

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Ludum Dare 37

I competed in Ludum Dare 37 and managed to complete a game!

Here’s a link to the judging site: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-37/?action=preview&uid=7912

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Ludum Dare 27 – Episode 2

After leaving the college I spent some time relaxing, to shake off what anxiety had built. Then I procrastinated for an hour, and finally went out to do some more work. I’m only just reinstalling Eclipse again, and it’s already four, and less than an hour before the cafe I’m working at closes.

Hmph, no different here.
“Once Eclipse restarts, you must specify the location of your Android SDK directory:

In the “Welcome to Android Development” window that appears, select Use existing SDKs.”

And yet no such window appears. Maybe I should just download the version of Eclipse already set up to use Android and hope that works with the other things I need?

Blah, now I can’t even delete the eclipse folder. I’ve gotta restart my system…

Okay, restarted and starting on my fourth? Eclipse install of the day. It’s strange though, the file I’m downloading is half the size of what the ADT thing installed before. Did I install two copies without it overwriting maybe? Oh well…

Also, hey Google, you should make it so that when you close a window it gets moved to the top of your history. When the tabs I had open are things I have to dig through my history to find? I don’t like that.

Alright out of time at this place, gotta find another place.

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Ludum Dare 27 – Episode 1

I’ve begun my Ludum Dare attempt. The theme is 10 Seconds and I’m going to try to make a 2D platformer where the background, and some of the platforms, change every ten seconds.

I decided to abandon Slick2D, which it turns out is dead and most of the guides and tutorials are gone. Instead I’m going to try using LibGDX. They have a lot of documentation and tutorials, and even an example platformer based on one of Notch’s Ludum Dare entries. I’ll probably base my work on that, which I’m pretty sure is legal in the Ludum Dare rules because it’s publicly available.

I’ve already hit a problem, though. I installed Eclipse and I’m trying to install the Android Toolkit. Why would I do that, you wonder? Well, it’s neccesary for LibGDX, which can deploy to Android, and some other platforms. It seems sort of like HAXE, except with Java instead of ActionScript, so that’s neat.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as the instructions instructed. I think it might be because I wasn’t running Eclipse in Administrator mode, and it wanted to create some files in a protected directory. I’m trying to get it to make the files again but it’s not as easy as it sounds…

Easy solution; I’ve barely started, I’ll just reinstall Eclipse and do it again in administrator mode.

Well, that didn’t work. Shoot. Not sure what to do now…

Trying to use the SDK Manager. Geez, this thing is trying to create directories without permission too. Why do these programs expect carte-blanche when they don’t even try to boot in administrator mode, or ask permission or anything?

Geez, I’ve been trying to get this set up for a couple hours now and I still haven’t gotten it to show the “Welcome to Android Development” dialog it said to expect in the previous step.

Oh for goodness sake, now I can’t install the GWT Project plugin. This is why you’re supposed to get your tools ready before Ludum Dare. Geez. Well, I can’t say I didn’t TRY to get ready…

Geez Gravy, I don’t even know what to do at this stage… It says it can’t install the plugin and I don’t see any other options on the GWT Project page. I’m also uncomfortably warm.

It’s a wonder I’ve been having anxiety issues the last few days as I tried to prepare myself for Ludum Dare, and now that I’m actually doing it and encountering tremendous difficulty, I’m just plugging away.

Alright, nothing is working here. I think I’m going to take it from the top again. As soon as the more basic version of Eclipse finishes downloading, I’ll head out to another place towork, and to get lunch, because I’m too warm here and I need a change of scenery.

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Getting Ready for Ludum Dare 27

I’m going to compete in the August Ludum Dare competition this weekend, and before it starts I need to get my tools in order. I’m planning on developing my 48-hour game in Java, and I’m trying out the Slick 2D library on top of LWJGL.

I’m just setting them up with NetBeans now.

*work work work*

And now it’s running. Hooray!

That’s all I’m going to do for today, and tomorrow I’ll probably be busy with family business. Hopefully on Thursday I’ll do something more than Hello World, so I’ll be prepared to make something interesting on the weekend.

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Tile Matching Game

For the last two years I’ve been working on a simple Tile Matching Game in Flash and ActionScript 3. At present the game is functionally complete, and I am only waiting for the comissioned art and sound resources to be completed so that I can integrate them into the finished product.

I started this project with one primary goal, to create a finished and polished game, and not work on any other projects untill it’s finished. Starting out, the projet seemed simple. Looking back, it still seems simple. I don’t understand how it’s taken me two years to create. I have learned quite a lot though. Perhaps if I were to do it all again, it would go much faster.

As soon as I get the new resources, I’ll integrate them into the game and start the final phases of testing, to make sure everything is still working. I look forward to sharing my finished work with you all.

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Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre Website

In October and November of 2011 I created a website for the Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. It’s my first attempt at making a professional quality website. Interstingly, I wasn’t brought on as a web developer but as a gardener. I had the skills and they had the need, so they put me to work building them a website.

The finished site is hosted at http://www.lkccsarnia.com/

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