The artists lecture was ok. I enjoyed the social messages and underpinning of his games, but to me the execution was poor. Maybe its the mass consumer or the internet addict talking here, but the visual style and design just did not appeal to me. Perhaps I can attribute this to the rift that seems to exist between consumer entertainment and the art world, and how video games straddle this rift. Flash games in particular, because nobody really makes money off of Newgrounds posts directly, they just profit in getting good ratings and more attention. Ideally I want to create a work that appeals to both my gaming and artist sensibilities, and really make something fun and also artistically significant (whatever that means.) Maybe by parodying the extreme violence of many of today's games I can make something that makes fun of both art and video games, because I try not to take anything TOO seriously when it comes to my work.

Also, looks like someone has found a way to run Flash on a PSP. Heres the link:
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/02/psp_homebrew_flash_player_with.html

http://web.syr.edu/~jgwolfe/breakdancer.fla

So I think I did pretty well on my first game, Breakin. The code to get replays to work didn't function exactly right, because sometimes it would register one move more than once, and u also had to wait until the move's animation was over to do another one or else it wouldn't register (probably because the system is too slow for the keypresses.) Also I wanted to have the animation for the 1990 move to work only during a few frames of the L Kick, but I couldn't figure it out. However, I did figure out how to get audio working pretty well, and the visuals are pretty good for like a training area. If given the opportunity, I would enjoy developing this game with more moves, customizable options and a working replay mode; although that is clearly secondary to the rest of the gameplay. Once we get a change to go over collision detection I can always develop it further into a fighting game or like to dodge objects.

I really like the nature of non-competitive games such as this one. Most of the time, gamers just want to play around and see what they can do rather than completing linear goals and tasks. As an example, my friend recently got a Dreamcast and I was reminded of one of my favorite games, Rez. You travel along a set path and move your cursor to highlight enemies that explode in a burst of bright colors that change and build the sound of an ongoing trance soundtrack. This synergy of sound, light and control is quite visually interesting and very playable despite its simplicity. In the future I may try to explore a similar path in creating a free-form game that combines sound and visuals in a synergistic manner which is also fun to play.

Class notes - pardon my almost illegible writing, it makes sense to me.

When I first heard about the assignment in creating both a non-motorized and motorized vehicle, what sprang to mind was the Fred Flintstone foot-powered car (and upon investigation, so did several classmates.) I tried to use several of the different sample programs you gave us, as evidenced by the mouse and keyboard controlled helicopter. Overall this was a pretty fun assignment, and I enjoyed creating my vehicles. I would consider creating a game with my helicopter in the future, although I would want to put in specialized touches to make it stand out from all the other games out there. I think the fact that you can shoot upside down does that to a certain extent, though. It took me a little while to gain my bearing on actionscript, but after becoming proficient at C coding it was reallly pretty easy (plus I have a small amount of previous experience with it.)
For the next assignment I am considering expanding my breakdancing game in lieu of creating an entirely new game. Making it customizable (music, clothing, unlockable items and tricks) and possibly the ability to save replays of breakdancing routines (per my friends request), as well as adding more moves would enhance the game significantly, I think. Also I should remake the graphics so they aren't so primitive - stick figures can only go so far. Really developing the b-boy aesthetic should be fun - graffiti, boom boxes, street life, etc.

Current state of my .fla files, I will try to revise them before Friday:

http://web.syr.edu/~jgwolfe/helicopter.fla

http://web.syr.edu/~jgwolfe/flintstones.fla

http://www.derekyu.com/extras/pixel01.html - heres a good tutorial on drawing pixel-art characters in Photoshop.

The article was a pretty light read, and a good background on what's needed to develop a good character. I focused much more on animation for my game than character development, and then upon showing it to my friends they suggested that I make my character customizable, and also to include the ability to save replays of the moves that are performed. There are several different directions that I can take my game in, from a Final Fight style side-scroller to just a freestyle dance game where u gain money from competitions and can buy new clothes and gear. The main idea came from some of my older Flash experimentation, as a result of a dozen attempts to get stick figures to look cool after seeing the Xiao Xiao movies on Newgrounds. I think the look could still work, but perhaps I will draw a character over it. Stick figure animation is a slippery slope, and it seems like it can either work really well or fail miserably. I would obviously prefer the former. One thing I am excited about is working with the whole B-Boy 80's breakdancing aesthetic, which has always interested me (and how can I turn up a chance to include Grandmaster Flash or Afrika Bambaataa in a Flash game?)

http://web.syr.edu/~jgwolfe/breakdancer.fla

Citizen Panda.

"Female reporter: If you could've found out what Rosebud meant, I bet that would've explained everything.
Thompson: No, I don't think so; no. Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn't have explained anything... I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a... piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece."

Sprite sheet for my breakdancing game "Breakin'."