Announcement

Wanderlust to be released in the next 24 hours!

We will be releasing to our forum, Reflectgames.com, and the Game Maker Community!

This marks the largest fanbase we will be releasing to, and a major milestone for our game's development. We're excited to be returning to the GMC after such a long break (Wanderlust: The Online Adventure was cancelled in 2005)!

See you all very soon!

Stay tuned...

We will be making an announcement tomorrow... =)

Almost there...

Today, I added in another spell. Just one more to go! Woooo!

We also got a chance to play some PvP with 3 players and it was a blast. We then went into Story Mode and were demolishing the enemies until we ran into an error that dropped everyone from the game, haha! =P

Took care of some bugs (along with that error).

I also spent some time further optimizing the game by limiting alpha processing, especially during combat. Alpha seems to slow Game Maker down quite a bit. Single player runs beautifully, but 3+ players still slows down quite a bit.

PVP!!!

Tonight I started coding a practice PVP mode called Champion Training!

CHAMPION TRAINING
Players may choose any saved character or create a new character. Upon entering the training room, these characters will be awarded with all their possible skills, but the skill levels are balanced for multiplayer fairness. When you leave Champion Training, your characters return to their original skill values, so you may begin playing the story once again.

This mode is essentially for people to get aquainted with the classes and all the skills right from the beginning. In training, you may die, but you will be revived to full health once a single player is left standing.

So far, the fighter is the only class which is fully functional in Champion Training, but I will adapt the other classes over the coming weeks (while waiting for Jason to get me the graphics I need to complete the final 2 spells for the Elementalist).

Also, once Champion Training is coded, it may very well be the precursor to a fully-featured PVP mode, one which Jason and I have been discussing for quite some time.



NEXT RELEASE
We will be re-releasing Chapters 1 & 2, all 4 character classes, and the new Champion Training mode to our site, Reflectgames, and the GMC Works-In-Progress forums.

There will be a character-wipe before the next release. See you all very soon!

Magic Progression...

I will update this blog as I make progress on the Elementalist Character Class. No, the Elementalist will not be as powerful as he appears in this video. =P

Spells and more spells...

Last night I balanced out the spells (in terms of which runes are required to cast them), and completed the spellbook menu.

Today I am going to a wedding so I am not sure if I'll be working on the game.

Laterz,
-Matt

Still more to be done...

But, the mage gameplay is finito!

I need to code all of his spells, however... which will likely take some time.

Cheers!

So....Sleepy....ZzZzZzzz

So yeah, I have stayed up for 2 days in a row working on some additions to the website. The first thing, which is still a heavy WIP, however the basic layout is in for testing, which is an interactive flash guide so we can get rid of the .PDF in the .zip file.

Heres the guide, please note that only one character class is selectable right now; the fighter. Also, there will be a loading screen once I finish this:

http://www.grungemedia.com/dkseries/Wanderlust/WanderlustGuide/


The second addition I created was an MP3 player that we can place on our main website, coded in flash. I didn't really want to use a default one, so I decided I would make my own(I have never made an MP3 player in flash before, mostly just websites and games). I knew what I wanted from the get-go so that helped out a lot: I wanted to create a dynamic MP3 player that I could easily drop new music in and it would easily make it available for others to listen to, but damn, it literally took me from 6pm till 6:30am NONSTOP getting it to work.

Anyhow here is the simple MP3 player. All the music on there is the MP3 quality versions of the Midis that you can hear in Wanderlust, created by our kick ass musician Skyler Stone:

http://www.grungemedia.com/dkseries/Wanderlust/WanderlustMP3/

So hope you guys enjoy those, I will have more updates with them in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Now if you will excuse me, I need sleep....

Alchemist and Elementalist Preview!

So today Matt added in a counter attack for fighters. To initiate this, simply block right when the monster attacks, causing an automatic critical. To go along with this, we added in a new badge, the Counter Badge.

Matt also implemented a new camera system that shows the game a bit more dynamic, however this can be turned on/off in the options.

The game is a lot easier, especially for beginner characters. Now with the counter attack, the fighter will seem a lot better.

I have been at work on skill icons and spell graphics as well as bug testing =D

And to tease you guys a bit more, here is a video of Matt and I playing low level Alchemist and Elementalist, enjoy!

Master of the Universe!

I continued to work on the mage last night and this morning. I've been able to make a lot of progess, surprisingly. I thought he would be difficult to program because of how different he is from other character classes, but he's been a relative breeze thus far.

I will likely get a chance to continue working on him tonight.

Magic Goal!

Well, now that I have gotten through the spring 08 semester, I'm back in action on coding the remaining features of Wanderlust: Rebirth. Tonight, I got started on the final Character Class - The Elementalist (formerly known as the Mage). I also fixed quite a few bugs with the Alchemist through playtesting, and added an additional option to the option menu (allowing players to choose which color their character will be, of the 4 colors red, blue, yellow, and purple).

I also revamped the Skill Menus for all character classes. Since we're going to need images for the Mage's Skill Menu, we figured we would do the same for the other 3 classes as well...

Time for some Philosophy...

Well, I gotta focus on my finals from here on out (until Thursday at noon)...

But good news is I finished the Alchemist tonight. He still needs to be balanced/tweaked but he's all coded up. Next is the Mage!

YAY!

Brewing up something special...

Well, I've been working on the Alchemist for the past couple days, and so far I have 3 out of 8 potions completed. They've been a little more complicated than expected, because I have refined the status-system so that creatures respond to elements properly... if an enemy is on fire, ice does extra damage, etc...

Back to work...

Well, now that the long-awaited Chapter 2 release is mostly bug-free, I've gone back to work on the game. I started working on the Alchemist character last night, and I have him about 50% coded in right now. Just need to finish up the rest of his potions (1 down, 7 to go) and he's all done. Should be easy since they are all basically coded the same.

Wanderlust: Rebirth Chapter 2 Released!

So last night we released it a bit early, and we had a game up in minutes. It was great, having 4 players and running from the Prologue to the end of Chapter 2. We rocked! :)

Wanderlust: Rebirth Chapter 2 Release Date!

Hey guys, this is Jason, just letting everyone know that Chapter 2 for Wanderlust: Rebirth will be released Friday at 12:00AM PST. Hope to see all of you guys in game to help us test and have a good ol' time!

Until then,
-Team Wanderlust

"Ice walls are cool."

Great news! Chapter 2 is about 99% done! I have two small cinemas left to do, and then it is time for playing/debugging.

Woooooooooooooo!!!! =D

EDIT:

Chapter 2 is basically done, now. =)

All that remains to be done is some debugging, and some NPC placement in town. Jason wants me to code NPCs to walk around town, so I'll probably get that done tomorrow. After that we'll just be playing the heck out of Chapter 2 to iron out any and all bugs that we find.

Chp4 on the way!

So today I managed to finish several chp4 maps (around 4). They take awhile to make because of the level of detail I am putting in them, but it will be worth it. Map creation for Chp4 is roughly 40% complete. I wish I could show you guys some pictures from Chp2 - Chp4, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone, so you guys will just have to wait. The good news is, we are just about ready to start debugging Chp2, which after debugging we will release to all of you guys. We will send out an email and a post a day before we are going to release Chp2 to inform you guys.

:)

Re-made maps...

We decided to go back and remake the 800x800 maps to 600x600. The reason we decided to do this was because for some reason 800x800 lags 10x more than 600x600, though I am not sure why. The good news is though, that when breaking the maps down, it allowed us to make the dungeons bigger and more fun. It didn't take long for me to remake them, and some of them even look a lot nicer. So now I can continue back on maps for Chp4.

Matt also managed to redo the ranking system that you get once you beat chapters (the bronze, silver, and gold stars). Now it is as follows:

Bronze: completed chapter but party all died.
Silver: Completed chapter without your party dying (allows you to change to next chapter).
Gold: Completed chapter with 100% without your party dying.

This should make it a bit harder to get gold, but make the ranking system have a bit more meaning.

Until next time! :)

Gettin' closer...

We worked on Wanderlust again yesterday, for quite a few hours. Jason finished re-fitting all but one map (I think he redid about 5 so far) and I have integrated 4 of them back into the chapter. I also finished implementing the necessary cinemas and encounters for Chapter 2, which means...

We played Chapter 2! It was great!

I've still got to put in some flavor cinemas and another badge, as well as recode the rating system. After that, it's all debugging and then release! YAY!

Chapter 2 Approx...

90% COMPLETE

I forgot to blog yesterday, but I had spent close to 8 hours on the game, fixing bugs and adding in more cinematics for Chapter 2. I am getting really close to finishing. Jason is re-fitting a lot of the maps to a smaller size but he'll likely finish this task before I finish the remaining cinemas and encounters.

After that, I need to re-design the endchapter ratings to allow players to unlock new chapters as they go, and fix whatever bugs I encounter along the way.

Unfortunately, I have a meta-ethics paper due monday, so my ability to finish up Chapter 2 will be greatly hindered this weekend.

Artist Furry!

So as Matt has been working hard at finishing Chp2 (which he is getting very close to doing), I have finished a new monster and several maps for Chp4. As well as those, I went back and redid the waiting room, making it small, more organized, and faster. As soon as I finish some Art homework, I will get going on more Chp4 maps, which I would say I am about 35% done with (Pretty much all the tiles needed are there, I just have to put them together).

Matt has been doing a kickass job, so props to him :)

More Progress...

I got in 3 more hours of work on the game tonight. I was able to complete all of the main cinematics for Chapter 2. However, two of them need to be tweaked/improved a little.

I should be able to finish tweaking those two cinemas tomorrow, which leaves me with one final addition to the chapter before we begin debugging. This final additon, though, will take some time, I imagine. =)

Stayin' alive!

I got about 5-6 more hours of work in on Wanderlust tonight! Feels great!

I actually didn't really add that much new content as my work mostly consisted of bug-fixes and revisions to the AI. I did create a new visual effect, though...

FLAME ON!

Wow...

Well, Jason and I got to work on the game collectively for about 12 hours today.

Jason basically completed the artwork needed for Chapter 3 while I worked on more cinematics for Chapter 2. Everyone is in for a treat when they finally get to play this new chapter; it is far superior to Chapter 1.

Can't wait to play with you guys!

Gas in the...traps?

So Matt and I managed to get some work done together today on coding some more cinemas and small bug fixes. We have been pretty bogged down by finals, essays, and tests galore. :( But we shall manage!

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Wow, it's been so long since I have worked on the game! I practically have to relearn my own scripts. Right now, my main priorities are my daughter and my schoolwork (which I have maintained straight A's since starting Rebirth) so I've been fairly busy. When I get free time, I've been reluctant to work on Rebirth since I rarely get time to just relax. But...

Today I'm working on more Chapter 2 cinematics. I've finished one but I'm having some troubles getting it to work flawlessly online. Typical. Gotta take a break to run some errands but hopefully I can get back on it this evening.

Plains Plains Plains

So I continued my work on Chp4, working my way all the way to the outskirts of a small village, and I must say, it is probly one of the best looking maps in Rebirth right now, I think you guys will be surprised/impressed.

Also, today is Matt's birthday. Cheers, to another year old gramps!

Also, Friday I will be out of town, so I should be able to work on it sunday-monday hopefully.

The World Expands

So for the past few days I have been working on small portions of Chapter 4, and I would say I am about 20% done with the new art needed for it, which is just enough to get started on some maps. Hopefully tonight Matt and I will be able to pull a development day (which is when we both work on the game at the same time), which usually results in the most progress.

Anyhow, heres a sneak peak:

Crawling Along

As most of you know Matt and I have been pretty busy and haven't had much time to work on Wanderlust. But NO, the game is not canceled, we will get it done eventually haha. Anyhow today I finished planning out Chapter 4 and start working on some maps and new tiles. Chapter 4 will likely take much longer to do than Chapter 3 because I will have to create a lot more new tiles >.<

Anyhow cya guys next time.

I've got Wanderlust!!!!

So, worked on Chapter 2 this weekend.

I've finished about half of the encounters for the level so far. However, even after I finish the remaining encounters, I've ran into some rather annoying bugs with a couple other things in the game.

We'll have to iron those out before release.

Just wanted to keep you guys in the loop.

TOODLES! =P

18 - 1! HAHA!

Wow. Sucks to be a Patriot fan right now!

Despite the busy weekend (with Reina turning 6 and the Patriots choking away their perfect season), I was actually able to get a little bit more done with the game!

I added two new awards to the game! These new awards are meant to balance out the score-gaining capabilities of all the character classes. We felt that one particular character class had less opportunities for earning awards than the others. Now, we believe we've found the perfect balance... all character classes can pump out the awards!

AND...

I made it so players are awarded a Reflect Credit when they get 100% rating on a chapter (but only if there are 2 or more players in the game). As always, our primary focus is to make a fantastic co-op game. So, with Marty's advice, we have integrated a bonus for those who play well with others! =)

Chapter 2 will be here soon, guys! Thanks for the support, as always!
-Matt

Always where you least expect it...

Everything was going great until I decided to code some (what I thought would be) minor features into the game. They turned out to be one of the more difficult things to code, but I've managed to get them working... in single player.

After these things are coded, I think I can finally get going on setting up the chapter. Oh wait, no. I have to code a chat system for non-interactive npcs... that should not be too difficult, though.

We're moving along but I'm already feeling pressure from school. Plus, my daughter's birthday is this weekend (along with the Super Bowl). This weekend looks like it will be pretty tied up, but I am confident we will release a new demo soon.

Oh, and we also have had to deal with a GM scare... something about people decompiling game exes. We've figured out a way to prevent Wanderlust from being recognized in that program, for now.

20th Blog!

Which means Jason and I have put at least 30 work days into Wanderlust this month (between the two of us)!

As for Chapter 2:
* Monsters are coded
* Overworld Map is coded
* A new award is coded (finished this overnight)
* A few more surprises are coded (can't say what)

I still need to code a couple more items, but then I can actually get going on populating the chapter rooms with objects and coding the necessary cinematics. We're very close now, with a possible release this upcoming weekend (if school doesn't throw a few curveballs at me)!

Hang in there, guys!

Some nice touches...

We're getting started on Chapter 2 now. First step, add life to Wanderlust.

I added (with Jason's help) some new clouds into the game's outside rooms, to help give some much needed depth to the presentation. Along with these clouds, I added birds.

The birds will sometimes land on spots in the map, and fly off if you get too close!

Here's a preview of what's to come...

Heres a video showing the birds and cloud system in action. Please note, the jumps in the video is due to me cutting the blank parts of the video, enjoy:

Monsters!

Last night I finished coding the monsters needed for Chapter 2, though they will need a bit more testing to iron out the bugs.

Now I can get started coding the chapter spawns and cinemas. Should be done sometime later this week (since I start school tomorrow). Woot! Hang in there!

Chapter 3 Ahoy!

So today I finished all the art needed for Chapter 3, which took a lot less time than I expected. I tried my best to make the game unique, adding unique touches to certain areas in the chapter. I think I can speak for the team, when I say that you guys will be surprised what we have coming in the near future!

It sure is a blast fighting the new baddies that Matt has been working his butt off to get in the game, and only 1 more remains before we can finalize Chapter 2.

Also, there are around 30 maps so far in the game, and that number will greatly increase with further Chapters.

Until next time!

Rushing to beat School!

I start school next monday, so Jason and I are both hard at work trying to get Chapter 2 done.

I finished coding all (but one) of the monsters, and fixed a variety of bugs in the process. I should be able to start setting up the cinematics and debugging the chapter this weekend (for a release next week).

Jason continues to work on Chapter 3, while providing me with some art bits for Chapter 2 whenever I need something extra. He has nearly completed all the maps for Chapter 3, and then he'll have to draw up a monster (or two) for it.

We've got quite a few surprises in store for everyone. If you think you saw everything there was to the game in Chapter 1, you are sorely mistaken. In fact, Chapter 1 will be quite different than you remember... =P

Well...

I finished coding the boss tonight. Jason and I had a blast testing him out; he's a lot of fun (and a fun challenge)!

Now I need to start coding the new monsters for chapter 2, and then it's just setting up the cinematics and spawns, and we're done!

I Smell A Wabbit!

So the majority of the day was spent finishing the new town in Chapter 3; it is a small village on the side of a lake. Chapter 3 will be a pretty interesting and intense chapter, and the good news is, I am over half way done with it!

Also, beside the work on Chapter 3, I have created some wildlife animals to fill the woods and plains, to help give the world some 'life'! As well as give the world some life, Matt and I have discussed some new ideas for some visual effects in the game to give it a unique/stylized feel, that we will hopefully be implementing soon.

Enjoy!

Weee Ohhh Weee Ohhh Weee

Well, Jason is hard at work finishing Chapter 3 and showing me up in the process.

Today I fixed up a couple minor bugs with the Overworld Map system and began coding the boss for Chapter 2. We played against him, tonight, but he was pretty buggy (yet playable, as I wrote). Good times.

Time for sleep.

A World To Explore

So today we got the last main feature of the engine. the World Map, completed. Ah, it feels good to have this engine in the bag and on the roll! So with this complete, we are moving on to finishing the chapters up!

As Matt was working with all of that, I was helping him test and working on more maps for Chapter 3.

So without further a due, here goes a video of it (note, some graphic elements are being added as we speak but this is how it will be played):

Heres an updated shot of the added graphical features on the map:

Still workin' it!

I got a majority of the functionality of the World Map done tonight, working offline. Players enter the map through a teleporter, then selects his or her destination and hits enter (player walks to the destination and then warps into that map). It's pretty nifty.

Here's a sneak peek at the opening tutorial cinema in Chapter 2.

Maps, Maps, and more Maps!

So today I spent several hours creating maps for Chapter 3, as well as redoing the mountain texture like I previously stated I would. What a pain that was, but I think it looks better and more detailed now, by far, so it was time well spent!

So in the end, while Matt is coding in Chapter 2, I will be creating/finishing up Chapter 3. All in all, I'd say Chapter 3 is 30% completed ART wise.

Here goes a quick picture of the new rock texture, before and after:

BEFORE:



AFTER:

Cheers!~

Several New Faces

So today I spent most of the productive time testing Chapter 1 and the beginning part of Chapter 2 with Matt, debugging, fixing art bugs, fixing game bugs, etc etc. We have the map changing now, and introduce the first town into the game, Westhaven. When I wasn't bug fixing or testing, I was planning out the maps for Chapter 3 and creating several new faces for random people around the world.

At the moment, Matt is having a cow trying to get the world map feature working correctly, but we shall prevail!

Stay tuned!

An Explosive Victory!

So Matt just got done working on the new explosion effects for the upcoming chapter/characters, and I must say, he deserves mad props. I was a bit rough on him and picky with it, but he came out victorious, kicking my ass in the process.

Kick ass job Matt:
(Note: Sorry for the lag of the video, the video recording program slowed down my computer quite a bit!)

Two Chapters down, Three to go!

So... I finished Chapter 1 today, and since I had finished the Prologue late last year, that makes 2 chapters done (out of 5 for our official demo)! Exciting!

I had some difficulties with the chapter-end cinema for Chapter 1, after Jason requested that I add an additional cinematic event to it... but I was able to figure it out and finalize the chapter.

I also created a nifty explosion effect, for use with our next character class.

Chapter 2, you're next! =)

Making progress...

Well, I stayed up pretty late trying to finish up Chapter 1. I've just got to put some minor touches on the two new cinematics, but other than that (and some internal testing, of course) Chapter 1 is finally complete!

Chapter 2 should be fun! I'm not looking forward to coding the boss character, but he probably won't be too tough. Lots of surprises in store, for everyone!

Goodnight, all.

I <3 Fajitas

So I spent most of my morning/evening finishing up the boss for Chapter 3, and boy is he epic. But the good news is, I finished him faster than I had originally expected. What does that mean exactly? Well, he was the biggest obstacle in the demo to create, art wise, which means I should be able to fly through the map making process a lot faster.

I am wanting to go back and edit some mountain/rock tiles because I am unhappy with the way they turned out. If any of you are curious, I posted a picture awhile back showing a small section of them:

Unfortunately for me, rocks are one of the more pain in the ass tiles to create, but I will manage, even if it costs me some hair!

As an added note, I start school tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to, but this shouldn't delay production because Matt still has enough content to work with.

So until next time!

Back in the saddle, again!

Well, finally we're getting back into the swing of developing the game! Truthfully, we were both really busy with school for the better part of the last semester, but afterwards I was concentrating on family matters and another game project. Now that the bulk of my work is finished on my second project, I'm able to get back on Wanderlust.

Today, I worked on one of two cinematics that will be added into Chapter 1 (to prepare players for the additional Chapter 2 once it's completed). We're not planning on releasing Chapter 1 after I finish it, however... we're going to finish Chapter 2 first.

Jason has already got a head start on Chapter 3, so I have some serious catching-up to do!

Before School Begins!

So school starts for me in two days, so I am trying to get some stuff done. Seeing as how Chapter 2 is finished (map wise and sprite wise), I have decided to work on some other miscellaneous sprites that will be needed in the near future. I manage to get some number sprites for the map change that will display the needed players to warp to another map. Also, I have been concepting a creation for "fun" *wink wink*, so don't expect anything from it hehe! Also please note, Matt will be posting/editing these with his added works to update you on the coding side of things.

Here goes a little something I was "just" messing with, but of course I have to leave it secret:

EDIT: Matt is a party pooper and made me remove it so it wouldn't ruin the surprise, sorry guys haha!

What deadly things could this creature hold, or am I just merely teasing you guys with my boredom!? Only time will tell muahahahaha!

The Blogging Begins!

Hello fellow Wanderlusties and curious folk alike, I have decided to create a development blog to help keep you guys better informed on the development progress Wanderlust is making. It will be slow at times, but Matt and I can only manage to work on Wanderlust in our spare time; small bits and pieces, here and there. Wanderlust is our idea of how an Action Adventure Online 'RPG' should be made, and if any developers for Nintendo DS or Xbox Live happen to stumble onto this, please feel free to hit Matt or I up. So please visit www.wanderlustgame.com to help development of the game by bug testing and just having a good ol' time!

To get this started, yesterday I finished making all of the maps for Chapter 2, as well as some minor NPCs, finished a squishy jello-like creature, and add explosive touches to the game. Matt is working at coding/finishing needed cutscenes to help bring the story and world of Wanderlust to life. As always, we discuss ways we can create certain aspects of the game, while keeping it fresh and new. The engine is nearing the final stages, and by the release of Chapter 4 it should be done (engine wise), then it is all up to us coding cutscenes and making maps/creatures to fill the engine to the brim! I will/should have more updates in the coming hours/days/weeks/months/years to float your boats, that is if I can remember to update this damned thing!

On a final note, I would like to make note that I will try to update this every time we make new development, as well as include some sort of picture, so with that I will throw in a picture that has already been posted on our forums of the reintroduction of the slime:

Deadly and fierce, slimes will come in all sorts of colors, each with their own mysterious goo. Be wary though, for these seemingly weak creatures will leave a sour aftertaste!

Until next time fellow viewers!