Calus CoRPS' site

When I first joined BYOND, I was a “game making machine”. I could work on one game for months and easily move onto a new project. But at the same time, I could still work on the preceding project with no loss of enthusiasm. Those days are long gone; I can barely stay with one project for more than a day.

We all suffer from the “loss of motivation disease” while programming. You would imagine after being on BYOND for a few years, and having a pleasant grip on the language, that we could “pop” out great games non stop. But when programming, we usually get far with our project but then move on to something else. Although, you could also blame it on the lack of ideas we have, but I will save that topic for another post.

In my previous post I spoke about several rules which would be great to follow if you want to help prevent the “loss of motivation disease”. Now in this post, I hope to accomplish the task of expanding on the Repetition/Challenge rule.

What I have found, which is widespread knowledge, was that working on a project in which the code is very similar to a previous project will cause motivational loss. Having to construct an extensive proc, which could extend on for a few hundred lines, is just exhausting.

Even creating an essential login snippet bores people. But what exactly is boredom? Wikipedia defines it as an emotional state experienced during periods of lack of activities or when individuals are uninterested in the activities surrounding them. We are not interested with the current section we are programming. This is why I previously said to pick something that will challenge you when you attempt to program it.

It is tedious for us to repeat the same action over and over, so having the television on while programming just lengthens the process of creating your game. Mainly because what ever is on the television is a lot less dull.

A question comes to mind, “How can I complete a game if repetition will eventually ‘kill’ my project?” The best answer to such a question is by making a Modular System. What I mean by that is, once you finish lets say a death check proc, you can easily transfer it into a new project without having to change it much. By doing such a thing, you will no longer have to repetitively generate a 100 line proc from scratch.

OurPad is a handy text editor (notepad) which allows users to share text easily online. Files that are opened and saved with this program are typically the .txt and .dm extensions. Currently, such extensions as .doc and .docx can not be opened by this program.

There are several nifty commands you can use with this program. One is the send button; you can type your information in the text field, press send to allow everyone in the world to view it. Once the information has been sent a new tab will open in the ‘Dream Maker Window’ area. Users can also delete tabs that they are currently viewing; they can also open that current tab into a resizable and movable window.

There are some menu options also, such as New, which clears the text field. Users can use Open to select a file they wish to open. All files opened will be shown in a new tab to the world. Users can also save files; all saved files will be saved where the OurPad files are located.

Features are a nice part in every program, and this has a few which will help developers. OurPad uses Lummox JR’s, Syntax Highlighter program. OurPad also has a built in DM Guide and a DM Reference, which is located under the Help menu. Please note, to reduce accidental deletion, all files that have the same name as an existing file will have its text added to the file’s current text once saved.

After seeing all of this information you may be asking yourself, “How and why would I want to use this program?” Users who are currently working with a team do not always live near each other. This program will allow a better transferring of project files and also allow users to help each other out with current programming problems. Users can also help their friends out with their homework.

The best way to use this program while programming is to either open up your file from File>>Open or copy/type your code in the type field. Once done, press the send button so the world can view your progress.

Special thanks to Tiberath. I asked him to view this program and he suggested the multiple tab system and also helped me with programming some of it.

I will greatly appreciate it if you report any bugs on the forums, also feel free to suggest ideas.

http://www.byond.com/games/CalusCoRPS/OurPad

For the past 2 years I have found myself getting quite bored with creating programs/games. It just does not excite me as it did when I first joined BYOND. I open up Dream Maker and 5 hours later I have yet to do anything. Recently I have been following some of these rules which have so far kept me motivated.

Go a different route when creating something you have done before. Time after time what ends my projects is doing something I have completed in preceding projects. So try going a different route when making it, read up on different programming methods and maybe try it out. Modular programming is a good thing to look up.

Construct a game which will be a challenge when programming. I thought the faster and easier the game was to create the longer motivation I would have to work on it. I was wrong, in my opinion programming is very fun when you are doing something new and challenging. It feels great to finally get something operational that you have been working on for a day.

Take breaks, just working on your game for days straight will drain you and your motivation. Try working on your game for a couple of hours and then go on a nice break away from your developing environment. I tend to thinking of great ideas when there is nothing on my mind, this will motivate me to go home, write these ideas down, and then work on the game later on.

Balance the challenge, in any game there will be parts where it is quite easy to create that piece of code. As said before, challenges should motivate you, but if you do all of the challenges right at the beginning you will run out of them. So you should balance them, first create something basic and easy, once you are finish go ahead and doing something hard.

What to do with graphics? For me, it all depends on what the project is. If it requires interesting graphics such as aliens then I will work on the graphics before I start programming. But if I have to draw basic items such as a human and swords I will leave them till later on. Many times I have seen people discontinue games because they can not find a graphic artist. Your game does not have to be the next realistic game on BYOND. Try using some basic graphics, such as a square for a human and maybe a line for your sword. If you wait weeks just for a graphic artist while doing nothing productive to your game you will loses motivation.

Feel free to add your own rules; it will only help me and possibly other users out more.

Well it looks like Teka/Timmy is on a "buying spree" as so far I have seen him buy three memberships for the community today. I was going to renew my membership once I had something interesting to post about but now it looks like I do not have to worry about it for another year. Now I shall remake my CSS as I have been using the same one since 2005.

Thank you Teka!

Grabbed was suppose to be my 4k entry for Jamesburrow's contest. Sadly, I went above the size boundary even with compression. So I decided just to release a playable version of it. Essentially, it is a death match game in which players can use the mouse to grab an object and throw it at the enemy. You can also double click a player to view his or her information. With the few people I've tested with, we've found no bugs.

http://www.byond.com/games/CalusCoRPS/Grabbed