I'm baackkkkk.

I RETURNNN! Yup, I've been on break from gamedev-ing for a while. Mostly due to my laptop needing to be sent back for repairs and school.

I'll be getting back to work on Lone: Outskirts Expansion pretty soon! I also want to see what I can do with Revelations. I also have a new ideas for the future of taeHD (tae3D just isn't viable for being done in Multimedia Fusion 2, the app I use for my game development) including a way to manage seamless "Frame" transitions, future Open World games will switch between areas much better than ever before, this hasn't been necessary for  any of the current set of games, though. Revelations or Lone. Nations will probably use this, as well another game concept I'm still thinking about. I'll say this much, I want to try making an RPG. I'll post about it later on.

Yet Another Info Drop

Yeaaaaah I'm still working on everything. Yet still not Nations really, that's pretty much still just in planning.

BUT HEY HERE'S SOME OF MY MORE RECENT IDEAS ON IT.

• a looooooot of 'taeconnect' integration. I.E. showing the most popular items to buy in the store at the moment. And a lot of statistics about the in-game economy and maps.
• A big chunk of the game will be the currency system, earning it, trading it, spending it, all of that. More info on that later but for now I'm still gathering ideas. There'll be something of a win/lose stock market thing in the game, I'll say that much.
• Instanced missions will hopefully not be very repetitive... as in having side missions, alternate routes, etc. Rather then just doing the same thing over and over for some credits, you'll be able to do it differently every time.
• Something of a multiplayer WILLLLL be implemented. It might be multiple profiles, split screen, LAN, online... something. I just don't have that down yet. FFFF IT HAS TO BE AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN LONE DAMN IT.

And yeah, progress on the Outskirts update of lone.

... I still haven't gotten to finishing it. YUP.

and the live update to Revelations.

... I AM WORKING ON IT. Hopefully it'll be out sometime before I go on vacation next week. 

~fin.

A lot of information on Nations.

I'll be pulling out all the stops with this one. Taking everything I leanred from Revelations and Lone, with a ton of new stuff. Here's some of the stuff I want to do.

- A game-wide 'credits' system, you earn credits from doing pretty much anything in the game. Earning badges, travelling distances, blowing stuff up, or killing baddies and surviving high wanted levels.

-You'll use these credits to unlock new stuff, from character customization to weapon upgrades, and new missions.

-Something like lone Outskirts 'ePhone' except with more prominent usage. At any point while exploring the game world you can bring up this device, and it will host the menu system, gamepage implementation, your credit count, and more; hopefully a map.

-Missions. The original version of Nations wasnt going to have these because it'd just be too hard to implement mid-way through development, this one will have them. They will be repeatable 'siege style' instances seperated from the open world. They'll be repeatable, and award credits.

-The Open World: The story for this game admittably doesn't exist, as Revelations is now what really happened in the CSI 2 story arc. It'll take place in an Italian-style countryside with some city areas, water and one or more islands.

-Vehicles: Cars, dune buggies, helicopters, boats, and more. This'll be about going over the top.

-Weapons: Will be upgradeable with credits, you'll start out in the Open World with just a Combat Knife, kill some bad guys or commit a few crimes to get some credits then purchase (or find in the game world) your next weapon. My goal is for a Pistol, SMG, RPG, and Triggered Explosives, at least.

-Graphics: I'm guessing they'll be a little bit worse than lone. I know, not moving ahead in this department, but I'm only one guy, who's not good with drawing!

Here's some more information on the Credits Store idea.
There will be a high yeild of credits. Low-end new items will cost around 1000, while ammo packs will cost around 600.
Item ideas by cost (not counting upgrades, customizations and etc): Ammunition, Pistol, Triggered Explosives, SMG/Assault Rifle, RPG/Missile Launcher, and finally Missions.

Overhauling Revelations: Part 1

So While lone is undergoing a massive update with some 3D graphics, and a ton of new content, CSI: 2 Revelations is undergoinG a huge under the hood upgrade before any more new levels are added. Here's what's happening so far:

- Hugely improved interface.
- Title has been changed to emphasize "REVELATIONS" more than "CSI 2"
- Story cinematics have been removed, to be replaced with a simple "Here's what's going down" on starting Story Mode.
- AWESOME new Main Menu interface based around being connected. Game page content will be integrated directly into the menu, also with a new thing I'm calling the "LiveTab", a neat scrolling ticker at the bottom of the menu showing update news, high scores, and 'hot' Badges.
- First tae game with Badge integration.
- A good amount of connectivity with the "taeConnect" app. This update will release bundled with a taeConnect installation for maximum awesome. For instance, you'll be able to go to taeConnect from Revelations without leaving, post something on Facebook, check Badges for the game, then get back into Revelations.
- A lot of performance improvements and bug fixes.

And yes, Live Tab and Badges should be coming to Lone eventually, but thatll be after The Outskirts if anything.

EDIT: Scratch this. Revelations is dead, long live Prologue.

Don't ask!

Yeah, I forgot to upload that screenshot. MY BAAAAD.

Here's some news for CSI REV, I added a score saving system into Horde Mode, you'll now be able to see your last game's score. But no way am I done with that, I want to display high scores, and if I can't: I'll make it so it'll save and display your last 5 game scores in Horde Mode, in the far future I want:
Gamepage implementation.
An actual High Score grid.

This also means I'll probably start working on a Profile system for games, as Gamepage / TaeConnect doesn't use a real user system. Profiles will allow you to save scores and badges for your own player in that game, and will support other people playing on your computer.

On: Open Source taeHD?

I got a few questions over email about any plans to release tae (well, the HD version in CSI 2 Revelations and lone) as a Multimedia Fusion 2 (what I use to make this stuff) example file. Yup, I will! By the end of this 'Trevtech Generation' though, sometime in the summer, that way it will have all the improvements I'd of put in an early version of the taeHD running CSI 2: NATIONS that won't be in REVELATIONS. Not sure about updating it from there on though, it's up to whoever downloads it at that point.

tae3D is an entirely different thing. THERE'S NO WAY I'd release this in open source by then, it's done as an idea, sure. But so far in the example I have, it has NO FUNCTIONALITY. There's nothing you can do with it like taeHD has so far, it might as well not be a 'tae' at all, there's almost no similarities. None if you don't count lone. as a taeHD release.

One final thing that you don't see in this list, I want true GamePage integration into games. I'll start with lone. AFTER the Outskirts Expansion. Imagine being able to open up the GamePage wherever you are (and even from lone. itself) check out some achievement goals you can earn, then start playing Lone and being able to collect them. So far it's 100% in the idea stage with no sort of physical form, integration might not even come with it, as in saved achievements. I think I can work on it, though.

Trevor Houlroyd's Precious Little Projects (It's a Scott Pilgrim reference!)

So here's a screenshot of a fully-3D rendered taeHD game. (Much more of a tech demo.)
This is what I'm working on right now to take a breather from lone for a bit. This has a good chance of being featured in CSI 2: NATIONS, but development on that hasn't even been touched yet.

It'll use actual depth and parallax. So in a way, this is a 3D game. However, it's using the same 2D Character sprite as Lone right now, and definitely looks wonky in 3D, but that'll be updated later on. If you go further back, you shrink in your display, come closer to the camera, and you grow. 3D! So far it appears to still be rather limited, so I do need to investigate options for games with this still.

Outskirts Expansion: Let's go over this...

Hey all, it's time for a recap of what I've got done with the update so far, expect it to release publicly by sometime next week.

Yeah. It blows 'Nightlife' out of the water.

New
Two Super-massive new map expansions (districts), East Bay and Bay Street
One new subway station. (East Bay)
Improvements to previous subway stations.
New 'CineCorp' office building, with 1 office so far.
New Apartment building in midtown (For player 2)
Cooperative Mode (Private release, won't be uploaded yet. IS AWESOME.)
"24/7" Gas Convience shop in East Bay.
Non-Realtime Mode (With a critical bug, but not gamebreaking. I'll describe it at release if it isn't fixed.)
New Launcher screen.
Press Space to skip the splash screen.
East Bay Beach.
Parking lots.
East Bay Forest. (RV Lot and Campgrounds not done yet)
Bay Street Seaport (No ferry service yet.)
East Bay Bridge.
"3D Display" on the launcher menu, it just shows the 3D effects for the heck of a tech demo.
Street signs in some places.
It now has a chance to stop raining, and then continue again.
ePhone has been added, with 'eEvents' and 'Speedometer!' apps.
Framework for improved GamePage support.

Fixed / Changed
The new lighting system brought in from Nightlife has been built upon even further, for spectacular effects.
Players walk slower, but sprint has the same effect.
Sound related fixes!
Upped maxobj in the City to 2000+. Slow downs might pop up now and then on low power computers.
Midtown Station was moved a bit.

I am doing work!

SEEE?! I'm just going to put this right here...

Welcome to the Outskirts: New ways to play.

As it is the weekend, I'm not going to get that much done, but I CAN fill you in on this!
The Outskirts Expansion will also have two new ways to play. :P
You choose from the Launcher for one, and run a special different client for the other.


1. NON-REALTIME PLAY
  It's the same lone, but now the time system does not go to real life time. Instead, a minute is half a second! This way you can play during the night even when it's sunny outside.

2. .... CO-OP PLAY!
 You have to run this in a special different client, and it's bound to have TONS of bugs. But the first, bare-bones Samescreen Co-op revision will be available.

Welcome to the Outskirts: It's beautiful!

Welcome to both a Nite Note and WttO article, in one! Plus some todo-ness.


LOOK AT THAT PICTURE. Yup, the Launcher now has the first serious amount of 3D graphics featured in any of my games, in-game Lone does have some 3D on the East Bay Bridge, but still! The sky scrolls, as does the sea below. It looks amazing in motion.

SO WHAT THE EFF IS DONE?
A lot! The land layout for East Bay is complete. A good amount of the forest is done, the bridge is done, new lighting systems are done, Midtown subway overhaul at 50%, the Bay Street Pier is done, but unfurnished. No RV park yet, no campsites yet, no East Bay subway yet, and no Central City Ferry yet.

So, about those activities...
yeahtheywon'tbecominginthisupdate.
In fact they're pretty low on my list. Expect them in the distant future.

FFFFF, well, What was that CSI 2: Nations thing about?
Before CSI 2 Revelations I was working on CSI: Nations, the expansion pack to CSI: The Game. It was meant to be open world mayhem, a-la Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row, where you can run around, drive vehicles at your whim, shoot things up, and blow up whatever you want. Sadly the development of it was impossible past a certain point without the new taeHD 2 engine I'm using today. CSI 2: Nations is basically my second crack at it, and it WILL come out. However, a long time from now. Expect it in Autumn/Winter this year, or at least for the project to start then (hopefully the summer) It'll run Lone's taeHD 2 and is a prequel to CSI 2: Revelations.

SO HOW ABOUT THEM LONE GRAPHICS
I really should work on an update to lone graphics wise at some point, it seems like a weird halfbreed at this point, some parts look absolutely FANTASTIC (The Launcher, Bay Bridge) while others look pretty dang bad (Downtown) so I'll have to get to work on evening it all out at some point, not in this update though.

Some notes for the upcoming lone expansion!
I moved the Park's station to be more between the Park and Bay Street, as opposed to adding another station a few feet away. (Like I did with Midtown Station)

A ton of new lighting effects are hanging around spots, including streetlights!

I started working on the new Midtown Station's interiooor!

Street signs in a few places telling you locations, look forward to more.

The night is darker.

Weather can now be clear or rainy, real randomization is expected to be added at some point today.

The sky, when the weather is clear will be blue during the day and dark at night. :O

Really neat ambient effects have been added to East Bay Beach, including seagulls.

A lot of sound-related bug fixes, like driving your car and walking/running.

The player's walking speed has been lowered, but sprint has stayed the same.

There are some minor lag issues by the water on East Bay Bridg, but it goes away as soon as the water is out of scene, this is on my computer only so far so I need to do more testing.

The phone is pretty much complete besides the flashlight at this point.

Welcome to the Outskirts: DEAR GOD WEATHER

Yup, today I put WEATHER into Lone, it'll now not rain past the 30th minute of every hour, but will before it.
Chances are I'll add more randomization later on, but this was the easiest way to do it. Yay!

Welcome to the Outskirts: A new district.

The Bay Street Seaport District will be added in this update!
It's a whole new district in the city. Modeled after the South Street Seaport of Manhattan, you'll be able to get something to eat at a restaurant, hang out by the water, or catch a boat ride.

The boat may or may not be in this update, or a mini patch after release. We'll see.

There are no screenshots yet, but what will come with this district is more interiors, another subway station, and docks for a boat to be used out of. As well as many new NPC's to add to the atmosphere.

Welcome to the Outskirts: Dev news.

Busy weekend, the 3DS came out! So yeah, not much progress on the update. But here's some news:

Activities will be delayed for another update, it'd take weeks more to release if I tried to put them in now!
A yacht ride around the city will be added either in this update or a mini-patch after the big Outskirts expansion releases, you'll get on from the park (or something) in Central City and arrive when you want at the East Bay docks.

Welcome to the Outskirts: Far from home.

Welcome to part two of the Outskirts Expansion coverage, today we step across the bridge and take our first steps in East Bay Forest.


Some big notes today:
Car headlights have been removed due to REALLY annoying graphical errors. (something will be added to replace it... read on riiiiight now)
Major new app added to the ePhone: A flashlight app, with it on there'll be a small light ahead of you.

Alright, so on to the article.
You can enter the forest from anywhere, like parking your car on the road, or just driving into it, but there are plenty of dirt road entrances and exits from areas around the forest. These dirt roads will be a big network around the area, with plenty of turns and straights so you can drive all over like a rally track and have some fun.

even though it's a long ways out...

Welcome to the Outskirts: A whole new world.

Welcome to the "Welcome to the Outskirts." blog section, every day until this expansion is released, there'll be at least one WttO post, showing you the experience you'll encounter as you take your first steps out of Central City in Lone!


In this post: How you get to the massive new zone
After the break!

Outskirts Expansion: Progress report.

Good news, so far, the bridge is just about done, and bug fixes to the city as well as some improvements have already been made! The bridge even supports my first instance of Parallax 3D in use, so the ocean looks like it's moving and goes on far ahead. It looks great.

Now, other improvements you'll see... This update will include the 'ePhone'! At anytime in the game you'll be able to pull up a phone at the bottom right side of the screen, controlling it with the number keys. It supports 'Apps' and  that's the main feature of it. Right now, it's primarily just used for immersion, but I have some good ideas to extend it later on. It comes VERY EASILY expandable as a UI. It'll release with two apps,

'eEvents' that just highlights places you should visit depending on the time of day.
'Speedometer!' shows your character - or car's current speed whenever, mainly for development purposes, but it's still neat!

ALSO: The in-game clock showing the time of day has been moved TO YOUR PHONE. It'll always be displayed on the top right of your ePhone when you have it out.

NEED MOAR UPDATES.

Now that the Nightlife update has been out for a while, it's time to discuss the NEXT revision.

The Outskirts Update
 New:
Massive map extension, with the all new CENTRAL FOREST area! (You MIGHT have to cross a bridge to get there)
Campgrounds! (RV parking area, maybe with a few interiors)
Campsites! (Tents, campfires, etc)
Activities! Actually DO things, might include mini-games, quests, not sure yet!
A huge forest to explore! (and hopefully activities to do there)
Parking lots!
Graphics changes!
Bug fixes!
EVEN MORE NPC's added to the world!
Some sort of way to handle the city load time!

This'll probably take more than one night to make, so enjoy that Nightlife update!

In depth:
this update's goal is to add functionality on top of the tech demo that is lone. Things to do. Real exploration outside of a few spots in the city. While making it look a better experience to play. Expect texture updates to various objects and elements in the game, and the new textures. My idea is to have the player cross a bridge to get out of the city, or take the metro to the furthest station. The bridge will hopefully be the shining gem of lone.'s graphical experience, featuring some perspective angling (I hope) many layers of the bridge (for some depth) and the water below moving about. It'll be a big undertaking just for me (who, remember, sucks at graphics) to draw and animate all that, so thats why this update will most likely be released sometime after tonight, as opposed to the nightly updating we've had before. This won't be as much as a overhaul as the Nightlife update was (with the addition of tutorials, sprinting, a launcher screen, and many graphical improvements) but will be an attempt to build on that. I'm comfortable with the lone. Formula we've been experiencing so far, so expect more of the casualness. But first, activities. This'll be hard, too. Though not as difficult as the graphics, I'm sure. Lone. is a decent overworld and all but there's nothing to do as far as an actual game goes, besides your imagination. I'll find a way eventually.

What will the Outskirts area be like?:
Much different from the city, there'll probably be only one building, a lodge next to the subway station, and the rest of it is focused on the outdoors. You can drive out to the Center City Campgrounds, find a spot to park your car, then set out and explore the forest at sunset and stop at your campsite by the campfire and relax for the night, imagination! As for stuff going on in there, the answer is there won't be much going on. I might add caves and things later on, but right off the bat it's nothing other than a forest for the sake of exploring and letting the player camp out. Once you cross the bridge, you'll hopefully have access to a beach-like area where you can hang out, and NPC's will be around (including older-version NPC's at certain times of the day.) You alsos can expect some sort of swimming ability for certain bodies of water! (like the pond and the beach, later on hopefully a pool.)

The Outskirts are nice... but what's after that?:
The world will already be MASSIVE by then, and I don't want this to become another CSI Nations flop due to size. After this I'm focusing on three things: NPC's. Buildings. and A.I. as in more civilians, car traffic, and much more NPC schedules.

ALSO...
Your player should have a Phone by the time this is released. The CenterWireless "ePhone".
It'll support 'apps' extensions later on, but at first it will only have an Events page showing places to go at day or night, depending on when you use it.

The all-new lone.

okay, not ALL new, but mostly! IT'S A MASSIVE UPDATE.
The download will be posted as soon as the upload finishes, here's ya' log.

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Note: There are some bugs in this version that you'll probably encounter, there'll be a a bugfix version either later tonight or early tomorrow afternoon. But nothing breaks the game, so just restart!
NEW:

• Tutorial for beginners! Includes movement, driving, and sprint controls. (Everything)
• Launcher after the cinematic intro, with gamepage link!
• Many more NPC's!
• NPC 'schedules'. At certain times of the day they'll be one place, then later they'll be somewhere else. Moving throughout the day and night.
• A nightclub building, third one down, first row! (It's small)
• Sprint ability! Hold down shift when running to run faster.
• Headlights in front of your car at night.
• Ambient light emitted from populated areas at night!
• TREES IN THE PARK.
• MINOR GRAPHICS UPDATE: Vignette filter around the screen.

FIXES / CHANGES:

• Sound related fixes, rain in car SFX now playing.
• Volume changes depending on area more accurately than before.
• Driving a car under the lake is no longer allowed!
• Midtown Station has been moved slightly more into the MIDDLE of town.
• Texture and skin changes to various objects/npc's to promote uniqueness.

Time exclusivity in lone.

So in tonight's 'Nightlife' update. I'll also be adding... A nightclub! As a plus, it'll only be open after nightfall, unless I decide to go back on my decision later on.
What does this mean? Well, I'm kind of overruling my position earlier saying day and night will have no effect on gameplay. But... Night just feels sort of blah right now. It's exactly the same as daytime save for some lighting stuff. But this means lone will also need some Daytime-only things. Let's look at some ideas!

1. I might make the cafe closed at night.
2. Future businesses could be day-exclusive.
... Yes, I'm low on ideas here, give feedback!

ponderings of a mad man

Okeh SO. We have the Nightlife Update being released tonight at some point, hopefully before 6 PM's nightfall.
Let us recap what will be in it!

1. Buildings have been given more detailed textures.2. A new, more dynamic lighting engine. Populated areas will be light up in the night. Your car will also give off headlights now. Spice up the night!3. Second of the row buildings will hopefully be done.4. Vignette around the display, adding to the look of the game5. Sprinting! Returns from CSI 2. Hold down shift!6. TREES?!7. Adjusted Midtown Station location to be... more in the middle.8. A new room in the first building.9. Tweaked sounds and sound related bug fixes (rain in car sfx now playing, different volumes)10. Many more NPC's, let's make the world feel alive!
11. And probably more stuff.

 Yeah, it's pretty big. Bigger than the Monday Night update, I'd say. Now, what should be done after all this? Well here are my goals in order.

1. Some sort of phone, PDA, navigator, or whatever-like device the player can open up on top of the game, hopefully it'll have resources for various things in the game. Not sure of what yet...
2. Improve the graphics overall. My original goal with lone was for it to be my first 3D game, but that obviously hasn't worked out with the program I'm using to develop with. Might as well make the textures look nicer.
3. Of course, make the world feel more alive. This means NPC's, traffic, more furniture in houses, the whole nine yards. Look forward to a movie theatre showing something that I have no clue of eventually, or some sort of television.
4. Make subway stations cooler, like real life. Have vendors, gates, ticket booths, etc.
5. MAYBE a weather system, again, I love the rain and I'm still on the fence about this.
6. More things in the park to add to the exploration aspect, not sure yet.
7. Some sort of customization method in the players apartment.
8. A LOT MORE INTERIOR FURNITURE.
9. Some more floor textures, even though the game is already leaps and bounds ahead of CSI 2 in that department.
10. Performance optimizations. This game runs in one massive frame, where everything is loaded at once. This can be a bit problematic...

Now, some fun facts!
 - lone.'s city has over 500 objects loaded at all times.
 - The rain actually only has 4 frames.
 - Trees in the Nightlife update have some serious layer problems.

derp, Trevor signing out.

Nite Note: March 21st

Welcome to the second Nite Note! We still got a lot of lone coverage to deal with tonight.

First of all, updates for now on will have titles, and lone will not have any set version number, hopefully it'll constantly grow, constantly expand. So what REALLY is in the next update?

THE NIGHTLIFE UPDATE
1. Buildings have been given more detailed textures.
2. A new, more dynamic lighting engine. Populated areas will be light up in the night. Your car will also give off headlights now. Spice up the night!
3. Second of the row buildings will hopefully be done.
4. Vignette around the display, adding to the look of the game
5. Sprinting! Returns from CSI 2. Hold down shift!
6. TREES?!
7. Adjusted Midtown Station location to be... more in the middle.
8. A new room in the first building.
9. Tweaked sounds and sound related bug fixes (rain in car sfx now playing, different volumes)
10. Many more NPC's, let's make the world feel alive!
11. More stuff, check back as this develops.

And next up...

Here's the to-do list (or at least, things I want to do) with upcoming lone versions!

1. Subway is only usable every 10minutes (or 5) on the 0. (6:10, 9:40, etc) so it's like a subway schedule.
2. OF COURSE, traffic, and a lot more NPC's.
3. Bug fix involving driving your car into the water at the park.
4. Enhanced lighting for outside in the city at night. Maybe even headlights.
5. Sprint ability, copy-pasted from CSI 2 Revelations to make walking more viable, but the sprint will be slow enough to keep it as the least optimal transportation method.
6. More furniture.
7. More time in the game, as opposed to exclusively day and night. (Sunrise, sunset.)
8. Rain being randomized, sometimes it's on sometimes it's off (Even though I really love the rain. D:)
9. Some sort of 'phone'-like feature...?
10. Better textures on buildings.
That's about it for my ideas right now, tell me if you have any suggestions!
After the break: "What's the 'point' of lone?"

Monday Night Build of lone. in this post!

Click me to Download!
Here's the changesssss!

1. First building is in game, a cafe and your room.
2. Subway system with 3 stations! (Click on the map after entering the train to go there!)
3. Map extended, now with a park area.
4. Park Eatery building added (second building)
5. A LOT OF new sound effects and ambiance.
6. Fixed indoor lighting effects at night time.

It's epic, dawg.

Control review!

WSAD = MOVE! | On foot & In Car
WALK INTO YOUR CAR = GET INTO CAR!
F = EXIT CAR | In Car only.

WALK INTO THE TRAIN = Open subway map.

WALK INTO DOORS WITH DARK LINES UNDER THEM = Enter that building.

WALK INTO DOORS = Open the door.

Use stairs by walking into them, check this post again in a bit.

Sounds... lots of them!

It's finally starting to hit me just how large the ambiance .wav files can be!

In order to adjust to this... There will be a version of lone. Released without any sounds or bgm's. It'll really cut down on the size.

i love lone

MAY I JUST SAY, LONE LOOKS STUNNING IN FULL SCREEN.

Ahem, now that I've gotten that over with. It's time for the first nite note! A semi-nightly blog post on the game development for that day. In this one, I'mma cover the all-new lone.

I gotta say the game looks fantastic. Even though player shadows had to be removed, the game looks the best ANY of my games have ever looked, at least on my screen. I still need to do testing on other computers (and, uh... desktops)

The game runs in a wide window, but nothing looks stretched, even when in full screen from what I've seen. Everything looks crisp, bright, fun. I'm addicted! It's gotten me in that idea flow thing where you have no writers block whatsoever.

Read more after the breaaaaaak!

The first lone. Build everrrr!

Woot! Here it is, and what's in it...

Download here!
1. West fraction of the city overworld map.
2. The early rendition of the Lone. custom-made theme song! (Yes, I made it myself!)
3. TONS of sound effects!
4. Rain!
5. Main Menu!
6. Your car!

Alright! Now how to play...

WSAD = MOVE! | On foot & In Car

WALK INTO YOUR CAR = GET INTO CAR!

F = EXIT CAR | In Car only.

If you get stuck in a wall after leaving your car, press R to teleport back into your car.

Here's your lone. Update.

HOORAAAAY lone. is pogressing. Here's an extremely early screenshot of the game running taeHD v2!

The GamePage for Lone will be updated later today.
As you can see it's a much wider display, it isn't massive 1028 x 1780 or anything, it's just a bit taller and a lot longer of a window, so textures won't look nearly as upsacled.
The rain even has sound effects! As you can see, this is VERY early. There's not even any buildings in the background.

An update on the changes.

GamePages, while implemented already will have their pages complete later on, this week, most likely.
"lone." is going rather slow in production, so give it a while yet! Meanwhile, play some CSI 2 Rev? :D

Welcome to the new trevdev.blogspot.

Now accessible from "trevdev.tk"

Annnd we're back! Welcome to the new trevdev blog, featuring an awesome template now much easier on the eyes. Let's take a tour of the changes!

Everything is after the jump. Click the title of this post.

In other news... New trevdev Preview.

In addition to the epic "lone." data drop today...

trevdev is about to undergo a redesign!
Introducing some of the new features... (full list will be released after the redesign)

1. New theme: hopefully making text easier to read while keeeping everything minimalistic!

2. Labels on posts: quickly and easily find specific blog posts about things that you're interested in, say just CSI 2 information, just random jibberjabber, etc.

3. GamePages: Pages of information dedicated to certain games, these pages will also be integrated to Generation 4 games through a taeHD update, and Generation 5 games later on.

4. Twitter-ific: Twitter intergration on the Sidebar to every page or post, live information!

5. Cleaner site design thanks to a revamp.

Whats this? ANOTHER PROJECT?!

yup.
CSI 2 is on a slight break due to me just being burned out! Give it a week or two.
ARENA will take all of my focus, so work on that will start after CSI 2's 1.0 release.
So, meanwhile I will work on a thiiiiird project to keep me sharp on developing while also giving me a testing ground, or sandbox to experiment with new ideas in the taeHD engine.

But what is it...?
A reboot of my first game project, Mega Awesome Land Turbo! -- and my first relatively higher quality series, LoneLife.
"lone." is the game. It's 60% Minigames and 40% Exploration, and hopefully it'll be fun.

Unlike Mega Awesome Land (which I admit this game takes more from) it doesn't take place in some random village area without roads that happens to have go-karts, paintball, and a space station. It takes place in a city that will actually go from day to night in real time (thanks to your computer, play at night it's night. Play during the day it's the day) and will have weather effects, mainly rain. You'll be able to hop in and hop out of your car, have a house and be able to somewhat customize it, go out on the town and play minigames ranging from laser tag to over the top experiences (the cool little space station will probably return!)

The world will be (somewhat, I'm not that good at this!) as alive as I can make it. This means people walking down the sidewalk, cars driving past you, traffic, stuff like that. It also will support Co-op (I REALLY want it to be game-wide, as in able to explore the city together unlike the past game) but might be limited to minigames only.

This post is developing... check again later today!

NEW THINGS!

Currently I'm sidetracking a bit from CSI 2 and ARENA!

Since I love Minecraft, I wanted to try something a bit like it, here's a screeny.

See? Very simple and unpolished, but it isn't really meant to be polished. It's a tech demo of a terraforming style game inside taeHD. Although all it is right now is just digging, but I'll see where it goes. If anythng it might be put into a future game for the heck of it, but I can't see a game centered around it so far. I do have some goals  for this demo though!

1. Building things.
2. Digging horizontally (THAT WOULD HELP)
3. Running water.

I'd also be (besides that terraforming thing) a decent foundation for a future platforming game, I think.

THE COMPUTER RETURRRNNS!

Progress has resumed on projects. :D

What's up with the delay?

My laptop has been sent back to HP for repairs, and thats what I work on to make these games. Expect progress to continue again by the next few weeks, no more HP laptops for me, thanks.

What's next?

Now that CSI 2: Revelations release development is starting to wind down, what's next, besides updates?

ARENA: Turning Tides is an Action RPG, and the first of my games with 'dynamic combat', or quick-time event controls. You'll see soon enough!
You will be able to choose between Caster or Melee classes and go through waves of Arena opponents and level up to empower your abilities. It'll start out as a rather light RPG, but over time it will probably evolve. Screenshots will come when it's in a good and ready state.

It will run taeHD 2.0 with High-Res Display enhancements!

this has a disc now

WHAT'S THAT SMEXY THING?

This baby is the CSI 2: Revelations pre-release disc version. Carrying the full install of (non-Mini) "Thursday Night Build" CSI 2. Packing all current cinematics, Complete East Gates and Restricted Area zones in Story, and a Survival Mode up to Level 10.

Of course running taeHD 1.0. It was going to run an early version of taeHD 2.0 CLEAR but I ran into some technical problems with it. Everything looked wonky! So that'll be delayed for a while longer, anyways, no no build here. So enjoy your weekend!

Thursday Night Build

I can safely say this is shaping up to be the best game I've made in my 16 years, it's shaping up pretty good so far.

Download here.

Welcome to Build 97 of CSI 2: Revelations Mini.

Now featuring weapon select, Press Q to use the SMG, E to use the Pistol.

Survival mode has been tweaked to minimize stress and maximize fun and re-playability.

Initial framework has been put in for the future update to taeHD 2.0, featuring High-Res Display and a more minimal AmmoUI.

Again, uninstall your old version and enjoy the new!

woah, bro!

Finally!

In the latest version of CSI 2: Revelations, you can now choose your weapon. Take a fast-firing SMG or take it the precise way with a Pistol.
No need to pick the weapon up. Just press Q to equip a submachine gun. Or press E to use a Pistol.
At anytime, too.

What else to expect in tonight's build?

• If it goes well, a grenade, or grenade-like item.
• Layering fixes in Survival.
• Health+Ammo packs in Survival.
• Easier, more balanced survival mode (With more cover placed.)
• Many bug fixes.
• Initial framework put in to support taeHD 2.0 HighRes display.

What to expect...

Among bug fixes, some major features should be coming in an update tonight to the game.
SO LETS LIST 'EM SHALL WE?
Also, I like referring to Survival mode as Horde mode, SO WHAT.

Tonight's Goals

• Easier Horde mode. Less spawn camping terrorists!
• More prominent Horde mode level indicator.
• Collision fixes.
• MINOR framework pieces put in for the taeHD 2.0 update (high-res grahpics, probably won't be in release.)
• ... MULTIPLE GUNS! THAT'S RIGHT!
• The SMG. Will be added, at least to Horde mode. It will use 2 times the ammo of your regular pistol, but will be spray-riffic, you'll be able to switch seamlessly from Pistol to SMG and back with a button press, a minor HUD indicator will be added to show which weapon you're using.

Future ideas?

• Turret (Onslaught) mode. Directly control a turret and bring down waves of enemies a la Survival mode.
• Stealth Mode. No weapons, turrets, grenades, or anything. Just trusty ol' 'C' key and Stealth kills. Based around sprinting from cover to cover and going for the kill. Won't be a Horde mode style, but an alternate level series that I'll add to on my own. Has a chance of coming out tonight, in one level!
• A Shrapnel Grenade item that will send projectiles in all directions, one time use per level.
• Some other weapons?
• Of course finishing the Story maps...

AND THERE YOU GO. Scroll down to "Bug Fixes" to download the latest (last night's) version of the game!

Current Bugs

Please report any bugs you see (which I'm sure there are)

Here are the ones I think are majjjjooooor.

• The one persistent health pack in Survival mode is not... persistent. Fixed in tonight's update.
• Restricted Area B does not have an intro picture. Next major release.
• Layering bugs in the Survival map. Partially fixed in tonights update. 
• Point overflow at 100,000 points. Not a major thing but this doesn't bode well for Survival mode.
• In case you're wondering about how wonky the Turret's targeting is, it will be staying this way unless I decide to make it player-controlled aiming with the Arrow keys.
• Introduction from the full version is included in the installer, making it slightly large. Don't fret.
• Why's it called Mini? Because this is the more public version with no story needed. The full game has a story and is continuing this series of movies me and some of my cousins like to make.

Remember, download nao and help me! DOWNLOAD ETTTT.

IT'S MAGICAL.

Latest version added to the bottom of this post!
 Uninstall previous version PLEASE.
One MAJOR addition has been added to the game today... After this picture.

Meet, Survival Mode!
A la Gears of War 2 and Halo Firefight, you must survive Hordes of enemies and score points along the way!

1. One map only (at least by release)
2. Levels must be individually programmed, but it's very easy to do. (Tonight's release will be a 10-level limit)
3. Health (combined with Ammo) packs are spread out in the map, go over them to heal and instantly reload.

This will hopefully add a lot of replay value to the game over time, which I of course hope to do.

HERE IT ISSSSS: Download the installer!

Latest Version (shiny)

-- New build released. Glitches, fixed. Levels, added, Points, inflated.--


K, here it is.
Latest build of CSI 2: Mini what's new?
  YOU CAN RESTART THE APP WITH THE F2 BUTTON, REMEMBER THAT!!


PLEASE UNINSTALL YOUR OLDER VERSION IF YOU HAVE IT.
CSI 2 Mini Uninstall is in your C:\Program Files\CSI something folder.


- Turrets! X to put down. Z to pick up.

- Ammo system! With active reloading, right now only shooting and the turret consumes ammo. Stealth Kills will in a later build.

- Active Reloading: When your ammo is below 12, Tap R 10 times to fully reload.

-Level 1 of the Restricted Area.
-Level 2 of the Restricted Area. (50% complete)
Ammo and Active Reload trackers.
Ammo is above the score (big white one)
Active Reload is above the Ammo.
Points have been inflated by a large amount, but more tweaking is still required, expect 100,000+ points per level by full 2.0 release.

Enjoy, and give feedback!
Click me

CSI 2 REVELATIONS MINI INDEV

Here is the CSI 2: Revelations Mini
1.2 Indev version, for testing. Report bugs, glitches, etc. East gate is the only wing that works.
HERE IT IS

upgraded

Game engine has been upgraded from using the (ollld) Gnomeg 1.7 from CSI: The Game and is now running on a heavily updated T.A.E (Trevtech advanced engine) called taeHD. What does this mean?


Universal global event strings: Which in english means the game is much more consistent, with faster load times, faster gameplay, and much less lag.

Graphics update: The graphics in CSI 2 are much much better than CSI: Nations, the last game to run TAE.

UPDATE: Scores have been added to the game, and they're massive.
average of 10,000+ points per level so far.

Updates

CSI 2: Revelations has reached INDEV 1.2 (build 20)!

Current status of everything?
Arrivals (First world select hub) COMPLETE
East Gates Wing (A, B, and C) COMPLETE
Departures (Second hub) WORK STARTED
Sound: COMPLETE
Cinematics: COMPLETE


 Now all that has to be done is the West wing, central, and final 3 stages! UI and everything is all there.

screenshots!

What you'll see when you start the game (after into cinematic.)

Current state of the lobby level choice area.

Heeeere we go...

You'll notice two things first:

1. It has no built in browser! A first for a trevtech game? XD

2. Faux-Vignette in gameplay.

Keeep in mind that these two screens, especially the gameplay one, are not final graphics. Everything will look better in final

Welcome to trevdev

Tracking progress on some of my (trevor houlroyd) project in Multimedia Fusion 2 game development and more.