Menu Music

I'm not sure if you want it, but I got bored and we have this fancy new keyboard, so I made some simple looping music for the menu.

Linky

A Little Update

Wow. It's been a long time since I posted here. Anyway, I've been slowly chipping away at creating Portal for the zHD, working on menus and such. I'm using White Lies by Paul van Dyk for the main menu music- sounds very Portal-ish, and I'm figuring that it's ok to use as I'm not making money off it.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to scroll the level maps so that the character is always in the center of the screen. I think I'll be lucky if I get this out by next summer.

New Release

Here's the link to the new version: http://www.mediafire.com/?m3577gohzptn57x

List of things changed:

1. Bet chips now "stack"

2. The cards now slide to their positions.

3. Controls are now buttons.

4. There is a quit option at the end of every round.

Buttons!
Button
Pressed

Almost finished and more

I have figured out all the transitions, and they all work. The buttons are all set, and all I have to do is add in the textures. So the updated version will definitely be out tomorrow. Then, work on my new project commences.

As requested on zB, I have volunteered to create a 2D Portal game for Zune HD. So, of course, I will be needing graphics (OfficerHalf?), and will be contacting the zB resource team for more help (Audio, level design). Because this is the first game that I've ever tried with physics, and a lot of intense graphics manipulation, I can't guarantee anything. However, I really hope this works out, because it would be epic.

Heres some new pressable chips, and a blank table for you to put them on. Let me know if you don't like em, or want me to change the 'Next' button. If you want anything else, just holler.

Linky

Back Up to Speed

I had to make a new project and copy everything over, but now it's working again. Fixed a few more bugs as reported at Zuneboards, and I'm still expecting the updates to be out tomorrow or Saturday.

A Little Setback

I was really close to getting the cards move as they should, asked Dirk for a little help, and...

Found that Dropbox had overwritten everything I had done to the PlayScreen class since I last synced, so I lost everything I had done in the last few days.

So, unless there's a way to magically recover the overwritten file, it is probably going to be a little longer until the updates are out.

UPDATE: Turns out the sync only changed a few things, so there shouldn't be any delay.

UPDATE: I lied. There might be a delay. I now remember that I had gone offline with Dropbox in mid-sync. And now the entire Zune Blackjack project is f****ed. All the code is still there, but the Content project is "Unavailable" and I can't delete it to make a new one. I'll probably have to make a new solution and copy everything over.

Updates on Blackjack

So, I've been doing some updates on the Blackjack game.

1. The dealer's cards now go to the right, not down, so they don't cover up the win/lose text. That update is already in the code, and in the link in the post below.

2. When you bet, the chips now "stack" above the money text. That's finished, but not yet uploaded.

3. When dealing cards, the cards now slide from the deck in the top-left corner to their respective places. That's still under construction, but should be out by the end of the week.

Blackjack... for the Zune HD!!!!!

I finished it- YAY! Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?t9ou03ksj47sgc5

And you have to get $2000 to win. I thought of allowing the user to change it, but thought that a text box would be more complicated than what this is.

Tell me what you think.

Found Another Bug!

So I was just playing around with the game last night, and I found that when I fixed the betting bug (you could bet more than you had), I neglected to fix it for the 1 chip. So now it's fixed and here's the new link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?esbv6iqo3j425z6

Porting in Progress

I figured I should post something here...

Anyway, I had a few problems getting the Zune copy to work, but now I just have to make the game in landscape mode (RenderTarget!!) and scaling down all the images (using FastStone Photo Resizer).

Probably have something out by next week. I hope. Might want to try to port it to WP7 afterward, if it's possible.

UPDATE: Resizing is done!! FastStone Photo Resizer kicks a$$!

BETA! BETA! BETA! BETA! BETA! BETA!

Fixed the blackjack money problem.

EDIT: And the no continue button problem.

Here's the link to the actual (updated as of 7/30) beta: http://www.mediafire.com/?es5hxg7wp9h70gs

Alright, re-uploaded it, clicked the link and it worked fine.

Design Change!!

As you can see, I've messed around with the design. I kinda like it. Tell me if you do.

EDIT: Changing it back. I'm no design expert, and I was just testing it.

One more bug and getting rid of GRUB to go...

So... almost done. The only remaining bug is that when you get blackjack, your money just keeps going up until you click "continue". And I might have had that fixed last night, if it weren't for GRUB. Long story short, I installed Ubuntu on a ext. HD, which installed GRUB on my internal HD, and now I can't boot into Windows, which means I can't access my code.

EDIT: Got rid of GRUB. Here is link to beta-ish .ccgame file: http://www.mediafire.com/?ix1e1oit8ru1hfy

EDIT: With any luck, a zHD version should be coming out the end of August. Not really good with the touch controls, but the hard part is almost done.

...Two to go!!

I've recently gotten over some huge walls, and more thanks go out to Dirk for helping me again. Only two more problems.The first is that there are still some situations where the whole ace thing doesn't work out. The other is that cards that are "hit" go into weird positions. But everything else works great. I should have a completed player vs. dealer beta out by Wednesday.

New Video!!

Here's a new video of my progress:

Yes, I know there are more than a few bugs in it. I'm working on it.

WP7 Dev Tools

Right now, I'm trying to install the Windows Phone 7 developer tools, but they're being stupid and my computer is being extremely slow. I'm running out of disk space and I can't change the destination to install the tools. I need to do a fresh OS install.

EDIT: Restarted my computer, installing just fine now. :D

I thought I was there.

So... I've been working my a** off trying to get this thing done. There were just a few problems with the mouse clicks (see my zB thread) and card dealing/initialization (see my other zB thread). But now DiNoGames recommended that I do something (create a card class) to make things a lot easier, but I have to go back and change, well, pretty much everything. And my mouse problem still stands.

I've Made More Progress in the Last 3 Days...

This is EPIC!!!!! I've got my betting down, I can pick cards, and dealing is damn close to being finished. The release date keeps getting earlier- if I can figure out how to deal with the ace cards, and if I'm really really lucky, I might actually have a release by the end of next week.

I just realized something... I'm getting high off of game programming. Talk about being a geek- this is weird.


NOTE TO READERS WHO DON'T KNOW: The geek thing goes a while back. My family is one that lives off of physical labor and farms, so my relatives call me a geek to my face, due to my tech-savvy-ness. I've become proud to call myself one. So that's where the 'geek' references come from.

Testing

Just set up email posting, seeing if it works.

UPDATE ON BLACKJACK!!!

Things have been relatively easier now. The graphics are great, and thanks a ton for separating each card- it made my life a whole ton easier. I've successfully created each card, making them Texture2D's, and am working on the betting process. Heh, this would be a whole ton easier if my mouse was reading in the right positions. I've said it many times, and I'll say it again, thanks to Dirk Nordhusen(did I get that right?) for helping me out on that.

If all goes well, I actually might have a player vs. dealer beta out by mid to late July. Earlier than I originally thought- Yay!

Weird.

For some reason I can't comment on your post? Dunno.

Cards are separated, chips are also in there separately.

Moving Very Slowly

So... haven't really updated how the code dev is going lately. Right now, I'm working with Dirk (DiNoGames) to get my mouse listener working properly. Also trying to work out a method/function to initialize the cards. This stuff is really hard, especially without real Internet support.

Two questions OfficerHalf- I don't have your pics yet, but are the cards all separate images, or one big one? Also, can I get the chips separately if they're not in the package?

Tada!

See how this works for you. I'm sure changes will need to be made. A few things about the package:

1. I've included all the psd files. I'm not sure if they'll be any use to you or not.

2. Cards - Big contains all the original sized cards.

3. back1.jpg is the correct image for the backs of cards - back.jpg I used for the stack of cards but it's not really for anything else. Just included for inclusion's sake.

4. I don't think you'll need the jokers, but they're there anyway.

5. If the front of the cards look weird around the edges when you actually use them, let me know and I'll see if I can fix them. I hope they don't, but they very well could.

Download

(For some reason dropbox wont upload the file, so there it is at filefront.)

Card Size

Picture Here
So, it's basically done, except for a stack of cards somewhere. But to do that I need to know how big you want the cards (pixel dimensions). The one on there is 121x177, which I think is a little big.

Got over my GraphicsDevice bug!!

Thanks to zB, I got over the GraphicsDevice missing thing. Continuing forward!! :)

Demo video!!!

Here's a little video of the splash screens and the main menu.

I know there's a pointless five seconds at the end. I didn't feel like taking the time to edit it out.

Getting There... kind of.

As far as programming goes, I'm still stuck on the whole GraphicsDevice component not found thing. However, I have added some little splash screens, giving credit where credit is due. Will upload a video once I get some decent screen capture software.

Bum-buh-da-dum!

I went for a new twist on an old classic. What do you think?

Not Today

I wasn't able to get everything done today - some other things came up. I've got stuff going on tomorrow and friday, so I'm not sure when it'll be done. Within a Sat-Tues range hopefully.

Bugs Galore!!

I really hate bugs. Fix one, find another. This time it says that a GraphicsDevice component is missing. What the heck does that mean?

Couple things.

Dollar signs or not? The 500 is still kinda squished even without the dollar sign, and it's getting me worried, especially after getting my zune in the mail yesterday and seeing the screen firsthand, that it's gonna be too small on the zune's screen.

I'm gonna start posting updates here

I'm gonna start posting updates here, instead of the thread on zB - don't wanna clog up the forum with our conversation.

I'll be finishing up everything today (hopefully). I'm sure there'll be some things to change around and such but I plan on getting the final-ish version out sometime today.

That is, if I don't get too caught up learning c#. This is messing with my c/c++ knowledge.

Hey OfficerHalf- assuming my invite worked

This might be getting a little ahead of myself, but I like to think ahead, and make ideas. I figured being in a group might motivate myself to do more coding, as well as (hopefully) making some awesome games. Think what you will.

Have Changed Screen Size

Thanks to this site: http://forums.xna.com/forums/p/1031/107718.aspx I have been able to change my screen size to be proportional with the zHD. Moving along now...

Yay! Fixed the bug

So... I fixed my spriteBatch bug. I had modified the LoadContent method, so that it wasn't being called. But now that it's actually running, I need to change the window size. Working on it...

Bug!!

Have hit a small glitch in my project. For those of you who know programming talk- a SpriteBatch is null, but is initialized in the LoadContent method. Have looked at it for hours, and got nothing.

-c0deGe3k

New Project- Blackjack for PC... and hopefully Zune HD

Starting new project- Blackjack. I'm writing the code, and OfficerHalf from zB is doing the graphics. Will hopefully have this done by summer's end, as I'm inexperienced and have and will continue to run into problems.

-c0deGe3k

The Founding of a New Game Studio

Escape Velocity Studios is a game studio. Brand new. Its projects are created in C# and XNA. Sadly, it only has one member- me. Reese Chappuis, aka c0deGe3k. I am in desperate need for a permanent graphics person/people. Another code-dev could also be of assistance. So, if you know XNA, or are good with Photoshop, please send me an email. Also, I own a Zune HD, and will be writing apps for it, so it would be a plus to own a Zune.

If you are from zB, and want to join, it is almost guaranteed you will get in.

-c0deGe3k