Learning flixel (Again!)

It seems like the past few times I've tried to learn flixel I have stumbled across a seemingly simple obstacle and put it down to finally figure out later. The first time I tried to pick it up I was following a simple platformer tutorial as it was going out of date and the discrepancy between the tutorial and the newest release of flixel made it too hard for me to follow along. The second time I tried to pick it up again was when I was in Japan, and I don't actually remember what prevented me from getting the hang of it then...

Anyway, I've started again and I think I've got it this time! There's a quote about persistance beating talent or something like that and I wholeheartedly believe [in] it! This time I started from scratch like usual, but I followed a series of tutorials by a classmate written for the introductory Interactive Media and Game Development course here at WPI. I think my past experience with flixel, although limited, combined with these tutorials has given me the basic understanding of flixel that I've been looking for. Hopefully I'll get to know as much about flixel as I learned about Game Maker back in high school.

To begin familiarizing myself with the flixel library, I'm going to be implementing an idea I came up with while in Japan. The player controls a traveler trying to reach his bullet train in a Japanese train station and the only thing in his way is millions of businessmen. The gameplay is similar to that of a bullet hell game except the player is pushed around rather than killed. Score is based on how quickly the player reaches the train and a time limit determines how long the traveler has to catch his train. The game itself if fairly simple and easy to expand upon. I have ideas for different types of obstacles, such as faster moving businessmen and a foreigner that follows the player around, as well as some desired features, like posting scores to Facebook/Twitter and some others.

I plan to record my progress and update my blog fairly frequently while creating this game. Although I won't post everything, I'll try to write about big milestones and have demos of my progress. Stay tuned!

Junior Year: Complete!

Yup, I just finished my 3rd year at WPI yesterday. It's strange because I'm glad that it's finally the summer but I miss school already. Having spent so much time in the IMGD Lab working and playing games has made the summer seem empty. Also, knowing that I only have one more term at WPI makes me long for it even more.

I have made a preliminary plan for the month and a half of summer that I have before I ship off to Japan. The idea is that each week will have a theme, and I will focus all my attention on that one theme so that I am actually productive and not just wasting time on the internet. Coincidentally, the themes for each week all start with the letter P. So I guess I can call it my Summer "P"lans. :D Anyway, here's what it looks like so far.

>WEEK 1 (May 5th - May 9th): Planning

It's not a full week, but it's a decent amount of time. This week will begin with unpacking all my stuff and settling in at home. I will then continue to iron out the details of the rest of my summer plans and more specific things I'd like to accomplish.

>WEEK 2 (May 10th - May 16th): Pokémon

I will finally set aside time to build a Pokémon team! I figured I'd get it out of my system early in the summer so that I can get it over with and have something ready for Japan and next year at WPI. I will probably begin the week by finishing up HeartGold and then proceed to actually building the team I planned out a while ago.

>WEEK 3 (May 17th - May 23rd): Portfolio

Since I'll have way too much time on my hands, I really should use it to add stuff to my portfolio. This school year has given me a bunch of stuff to show off, and more importantly a lot of knowledge and skill that I can put towards making more portfolio pieces. Although I am not going to be looking for a summer internship this year because of my Japan trip, I should have a portfolio that I can show off at any time, to potential employers and even just family. I'd also like to make a small game during this week, possibly in collaboration with other WPI IMGD majors.

>WEEK 4 (May 24th - May 30th): Play

What good is a summer vacation if you don't play video games? Although I'll probably be doing this throughout the summer, I thought that having a full week devoted to games would help me clear out my backlog of games. If you're interested in what my backlog looks like, here it is:

PC:

> Mirror's Edge

> Trine

> World of Goo

> Psychonauts

Wii:

> The Conduit

> Excitebots

> Sonic Unleashed

> Super Mario Galaxy 2

VC:

> Kirby's Dreamland 3

> Super Mario RPG

> Cave Story

DS:

> Sonic Chronicles

> Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

> Trace Memory

> Hotel Dusk

> Prof. Layton: Diabolical Box

> Pokémon HeartGold

I'm sure I'm missing some, and more will come out during the summer. Not to mention, there are still some on my wishlist that I haven't picked up and therefore haven't started. Also, Super Mario Galaxy 2 comes out on May 23rd (the last day of this week) so I may make this week Week 4 and make something else Week 3. Decided to swap Week 3 and Week 4 since I'm feeling the need to work on my portfolio and thinking that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a great way to start off Week 4.

>WEEK 5 (May 31st - June 6th): Personal

I really couldn't think of another theme, but this one might work. Since it will be my second to last week in the USA I thought having a week to myself (not that the other weeks aren't for myself; they all are :D) to take care of any personal things would be beneficial. This includes hanging out with my girlfriend more, cleaning up my room, spending time with family, etc.

>WEEK 6 (June 7th - June 13th): Packing

On June 15th I leave for Japan and I will be living there for about 4 months (until October 8th). To make sure I don't leave the country without anything, I've devoted a whole week to packing and making sure I'm ready for the trip. I'll be cramming Japanese language, culture, and everything during this week (although I will be studying Japanese over the course of my summer vacation).

So there you have it. A plan for using my free time well for once. And now that it's written down and made public on the internet, I have more incentive to follow it!