mintman@realitysend.com (Jaret Cantu) http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification en-us RealitysEnd.com custom scripting, baby~! http://www.realitysend.com Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:52:55 GMT 1440 Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:20:11 GMT      
     I have done (or had done by others) testing on a plethora of platforms: Windows, Debian, Red Hat, Solaris? I never had a problem with anything until, on a job interview, I was told that one of my applets died shortly after starting. He was using Ubuntu, which I had known to work fine for another unwitting test player.
     Over time, I stressed my Debian to the limit, trying to reproduce any sort of error that would only happen on a GNU/Linux OS and not the more common (for desktop use, anyway) Windows. I finally narrowed it down to a null pointer exception being thrown when a sound was supposed to play.
     Lazy exception handling on my part, granted, but what was up with that sound? The audio was unable to open. And why did it only happen on some of my kernel configurations?
     
     ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) is the "new" sound system for the Linux kernel, and that simply means "the one which isn't deprecated currently." ALSA is the more featureful replacement for OSS (Open Sound System), which has fallen out of favor.
     Except for Java's favors, it would seem.
     Sound on Java hasn't been the same since ALSA took over. Sun even rolled out a new version of Java without addressing the current sound issue. It isn't even that difficult an issue, one would think. Instead of grabbing the entire hardware audio device, just take a line on the software mixer. Well, it must be ...

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]]> Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:20:11 GMT      And yet, the internet still has its lazy types. Hell in a hand basket, folks, and I am unfortunately allying with one of the very causes.
     I, of course, am referring to recorded sessions of Kirbj on YouTube.
     
     Reach has very little to do with it. It is proven that social networking only has any noticeable impact if you put effort into it. I've read it takes hours of dedication to get any real business advantage. It also requires acting as though one does not completely and utterly detest those vainglorious mouth-breathers.
     Sorry, but I'd rather not be popular.
     I have ulterior motives for opening (at my most horrid admission) an official YouTube channel for this site.
     # People won't play. Sure, they can, but it's Java. Tubin' is Flash. People like Flash. It is awesome. Except for all of the reasons it is not, like propriety software and the fact that unless it's vector, it's slow. Try explaining that to John Q. Idiot, tho'. If they are willing in one medium, tho', give 'em a sense of what they are (not) getting into.
     # People can't play. A lot of people are convinced that the games won't work. I'm certain these people, by and large, are riddled with viruses, spyware, or are simply too incompetent to realize that a zillion processes at once is not too good for gaming. Whatever the reason, the capture sessions will show ...

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]]> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:22:13 GMT      Granted, the project only has three games to its name, but a year? Really? That is just horrible...
     
     Kirbj has its roots in fan-creation. It itself is a fan work, it features a fan's spin on in-game components, and the first installment featured a fan-made boss. Running off of the same contest that produced Moogong, Tuesday Knight Titans attempted to allow others' creations in a real game, not just a wish or a thought.
      With the level maker in place and even a quick demo game showcasing Sceptre Knight, everything seemed to be in place for the requests to roll in, the creme of the crop to be chosen, and for a good game with some good Knights to be released in a short time.
     So, of course, things totally didn't go that way.
     That green grappler Bogg was already featured in the prior release, yet without his trusty weapon -- the mace (actually a spiked ball-and-chain). To remedy this, a game had to be made which featured both Squeaky Bogg and a mace enemy from which he could take a mace -- all of which are knights.
     Thus, it would have to be Knights versus Wrestlers -- Armor versus Arm Drags!
     Tuesday Knight Titans gets its name from the old WWF (now WWE) talk show Tuesday Night Titans. Yes, wrestling had a talk show. The arm drags subtitle was added later to try and clarify the intent of the game; some seemed to feel that the Knights were the titular Titans being referenced. Of course, one would still need to know what an arm drag was, ...

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]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:23:13 GMT      
     Ripsaw was the last of two fan knights submitted by Capsule J3 for one of KRR's Interactive Fandom contest, this particular one being Round Knight Recruitment. It was originally described as follows:
     Ripsaw knight looks somewhat similar to a Togezo, with a purple "Shell" (Really armor) with two eyes underneath, yellow shoes, a floating pair of hands and two Ripsaws protruding out of his armor. Ripsaw is about the same size as Kirby.
     Ripsaw will use three attacks:
     1. He flips over on his back, and drives like a Wheelie towards the player. If the player is about to be hit, Ripsaw knight will flip over and cut him with his ripsaws.
     2. He jumps up and attempts to land on the player with his ripsaws a-buzzing.
     3. As a last-minute move (if he has not been defeated by 15-30 seconds) he will fire the ripsaws out of his back. After this, he is completely invulnerable. The ripsaws will do damage if inhaled.
     Ripsaw is quite hard to beat, as trying to inhale him while his saws are intact will only damage you instead. You will either have to attack him with a ability, a star, or swallowing him when he does not have any ripsaws on his back. (See attack three)
     Ripsaw will rarely move, as he usually moves with his attacks and small steps. Ripsaw can also hop, which usually leads to attack #2.
     I don't know if Ripsaw would have made the cut (although I do admit that I enjoy fighting it), but it was literally the only submission received. See, for the contest, I threw out my own creation, Sceptre ...

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]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:18:38 GMT      Wielding a weapon as large as himself overhead, Mace charges into battle wildly or just sends in his chain. Er, his link. In the games, he has about two sections of chain. Good ol' graphical laziness!
     
     I only needed to make Mace Knight since he is one of two enemies who uses the Mace Weapon. That guy Squeaky Bogg makes quite a bit of use outta that thing, so either this guy or Masher would have to be added eventually.
     Masher is large and cannot be eaten, so Mace Knight away!
     He is so much more than just ability-fodder, tho'. Mace Knight is a soldier in the Meta-Army, and there aren't many enemies which fit that bill. These battles were specially coded so that they functioned just like the actual Dream Land games: multiple levels and many waves of armored adversaries runnin' out and runnin' the player down.
     
     As a player, I think that Mace Knight is lacking. Anything he can do, Bogg can probably do. The mace is one of the least versatile weapons. It can be wound up, thrown, aimed, and retracted. That's it.
     The only skill that comes to mind is the Pitcher Man, a mini-game friend from Dream Land 3. That's right, folks -- abilities can come from strange places in Kirbj. Mace would most likely learn a Gordo-tossing skill, which would be an arced, projectile version of his normal attack.
     I suppose some sort of Needle or even a wrapping/grabbing Chain (sans spike) could be used as makeshift abilities for the mace wielder.
]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:25:46 GMT      Movement (Arrow Keys & ASDW): Move your character in one of the four directions.
     Action (Space Bar & Z): Attack using your currently selected ability. Different states (such as ducking or flying) may change which action is used.
     Cycle Abilities (Shift & Control): Change the ability your character will use when pressing Space or Z. Some characters start with only one ability and therefore have no choices to cycle through.
     Base Action (X, V, B, N, M, <, & >): Most of the bottom row of keys allow quick access to a character's basic attack without first having to cycle to it. The Base Action is that associated most with the character.
     Copy Action (C key): For most characters, their Base Action is the same as their Copy Action -- an attack which allows them to learn new abilities from enemies. For those others, the C key can be used for quick access to the copying attack without having to cycle to it.
     Pause (P key): The game automatically pauses whenever the applet loses focus; you can use this, too.
     Skip Dialog (Enter/Return): Whenever a story sequence is occurring, pressing Enter will progress the dialog to the next speaker more quickly. Dialog automatically progresses after a short time for reading.
     Every character in Kirbj controls differently, adding to the cast's uniqueness. While the amount of actions are impossible to enumerate here, the Movement controls follow some simple motifs:
     * Left (A) & Right (D)
     ** Walk (when on the ground)
     ** Run (when pressed twice in rapid succession)
   ...

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]]> Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:33:18 GMT      I call them the Fightning Bugs.
     
      The Fightning Bugs appear to be five-spotted ladybird beetles with two shoe-ed feet at the end of spindly, noodle-legs. Their faces are dark and round while their eyes are light and ovular. Their appearance has changed little as they crawled from eight to thirty-two bits, and every time, they merit only two frames of animation: wings flapping, and wings not flapping.
     These are not normal enemies, but rather minions of the miniboss Bugzzy, the 'sectoid suplexer. He will take a moment to pause and produce the pair, which fly out and seek the player. They can be inhaled and regurgitated back at Bugzzy. The beetles are lightweights and cannot block player shots; star bullets pass straight through the Fightning Bugs.
     
     Without any name of its own -- even in Japanese sources -- I opted to go with Fightning Bug, 'cause puns are win. Or maybe it is just a pun to a regional boy like myself since we call fireflies "lightning bugs."
     In reality, if these beetles have an official name, it would be a simple, single word like Redy, Bug, or Beetle.
     
     While Fightning Bug is a playable character in the Tuesday Knight Titans, it will more commonly make a serviceable regular puroresu enemy in future releases instead.
     Turning an obscure, nothing "character" from the official games into ...

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]]> Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:09:21 GMT      
     When Gooey X Moogong was released, it had no intention of being a serious gaming venture. The Kirbj code had existed for years before this joke; it was not developed for it. In fact, boss battles were entirely new. The code had been designed for all of the normal gaming purposes: levels, normal enemies, and the like.
      None of the expected stuff had a chance to shine in Goo X Moo, even tho' it all existed first. So, I decided that I would release another demonstration of the Kirbj code very quickly after the first just to show it wasn't a one-trick pony. Or any kind of pony, really. That is often a point of confusion for some reason.
     Because of Kirbj's intentions never to be serious, the idea was thought up that Gooey, Waddle Doo, and Squeaky Bogg would try and save Thanksgiving, and thus the SaveTday title. Based on this theme, the new enemies would mostly be food oriented.
     All that needed to be done was to draw some pictures; the foundation for everything else was already there. It should have been simple, right? It was also four months ago, so that might be a pretty clear no.
     
     Things started off easily enough: a slew of common enemies were thrown into the mix without incident. With the new enemies came new copy abilities for Gooey. However, all of these things had been developed before -- just not drawn.
     Squeaky Bogg, Bimblesnaff's Dream Land avatar who starred in the game, even introduced a bunch of new controls that actually weren't ...

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]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:57:38 GMT      Despite his inherently evil nature, Squeaky Bogg is a perennial playable character in the Dream Land Java project and is one of a very small number of original characters even considered to be so.
     
      I do think the man himself could explain Bogg's history better than I. Essentially, he is a green glob with two eyes, two shoes, and two horns. Several people mistake him for some sort of liquid or wisp or fire, but these same people consider a differently colored Kirby to be an "original" character. Feh! Blokes wouldn't know originality if it bit 'em in the bum, and Bogg's lookin' fer ya, too, so watch out~!
     Because he is old school, Squeaky's complementary color is a poisonous purple. It is either that or orange, folks. Just ask the Spider-Man rogue's gallery. Thems the rules.
     His abilities include the acidic and acrid as well as adeptness with a spiked chain. Pretty much, all the stuff the more humanly Bimblesnaff does, including the Acrid Blazer -- a FtRPG tech for one, a Crash equivalent for the other.
     Of course, his main offense (other than always bringing that Bimblesnaff guy around) is a puroresu prowess. The Backdrop/Suplex power got some pretty big ups with the Super Star title, and it was something that was undermined with Ultra. Being a huge mark myself, I have made Puroresu an actual element of sorts in Kirbj. And without any other users in the series yet, this goblinoid grappler is the standard bearer for the ability.
     
...

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]]> Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:20:31 GMT      
     Currently, every level in Kirbj is hard-coded into the applet's source. Applets have such high security on them that normal I/O routines are out of the question, and this has other advantages, too. It is much easier to express what you want in the form of the code itself instead of some sort of intermediate language. A lotta the stuff has to be written twice like that -- once to do it in Java, and once again to do it in whatever other method is used. Things get quite redundant, and quite redundant, and moreover, quite redundant~!
      Besides, why make a pseudo-language when its code will be as subject to change as the Java code? The easy solution: a code generator!
     Things are pretty standardized in Kirbj as it is. A normal game can be created from a special default applet subclass that just fills in generic handlers for most things. Unless a game has a specific gimmick, this suits most purposes (or, at least, it has thus far). Besides a few graphics, only the levels differ from game to game. That is the idea of this project's code reuse, after all.
     
     Problems arise in the current methodology whenever changes need to be made. If the location of an object like an enemy or a door were specified and more scenery were to be inserted (or some was deleted), the coordinates for the object would be thrown off. Hel, just changing the scenery itself could be a chore.
     ...

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]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:00:49 GMT      The peeved pudge turns cycloptic (which is apparently the Dream Land universal symbol of evil) and chases around his offender for a bit before booming.
     
     As one of my favorite enemies of all time, it is very well possible that Scarfy only drifted down on my short list since he was not a helper in Super Star. Well, that's going to change in Kirbj since he's going to playable. Normally, characters in Kirbj will either be favorites who are always playable or sucky things I doubt anyone would want to be and thus always enemies. However, Scarfy finds himself in a unique position. For one, there ain't a whole lot he can do:
     * Fly
     * Go into a rage
     * Explode
     * Bite stuff
     Flight is easily the most useful thing on this list. While normally nothing spectacular, species in Kirbj are not given the infinite hops seen in Super Star, so ground enemies are stuck there. Not only that, but Scarfy always flies, which puts him in a very select group.
      The rage, while nice, only comes up when hurt (something you don't want to happen) or when inhaled (something that is rarely done by enemies). Moreover, when in the rage, all Scarfy can do is chomp away on stuff for a limited time. Invincible, sure, but until the time expires, he'll be chompin' away -- and nothing else. Surely annoying if you are trying to solve a puzzle or perform some other intricate task. And that is just how rage should be -- a double-edge.
     ...

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]]> Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:13:37 GMT      The Dream Land Java project...
     * features game applets playable within any Java-enabled web browser -- safely, securely, and for free.
     * requires no executable downloads and no registration.
     * uses all-original code and the native Java libraries only.
     * emphasizes the lesser-used or little-respected characters.
     * parallels the Dream Land game physics as much as possible whenever possible.
     * only introduces new characters or abilities in the spirit of the Dream Land series.
     * downplays the overuse and overpowering of fan-made characters.
     
     As a project with plans for user-designed levels and games, a number of guidelines rule over the content of Kirbj games and are even adhered to by its creator. These guidelines are out of respect to Kirby's owners, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, and to avoid overused and oft horrible devices seen in many fan works:
     # HAL and Nintendo make Kirby games; we make Dream Land games. Kirby is never to be the main protagonist. It is time for the rest of the cast to shine.
     # No humans. This is the one thing Sakurai did right with the cartoon. Speaking of...
     # Nothing from the anime. The one exception: comedy. It is always the exception.
    ...

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]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:25:04 GMT      
     These few have been fortunate enough to see the light of day.
     * Gooey Against Moogong - Gooey fights against Moogong. Didn't see that comin', huh?
     * Save The Day - Gooey and Bogg face a new feature: normal enemies~! Other than that, nothin' much.
     * Tuesday Knight Titans - Bogg returns -- with the help of his puroresu partner the Fightning Bug -- to take on a slew of Knights!
     
     Code for these has actually been started, and you can expect it to hit the shelves soon. I program all of my applets to hate grocery stores. Or maybe I just program them with just enough problems to hover below an actual release.
     * Next Knights - And this time, they are playable!
     
     These are ideas I have my heart dead-set on. Everything else is just filler.
     * Just Doo It - JDI was supposed to be the initial release, and I still often refer to the codebase as JDI because of it. This one doesn't feature new stuff as much as it does a lot of stuff.
     * Waddle Doo and Pennyroyal - This is the big one, requiring not only a huge cast but every gameplay feature, too.
     
     Remember what I said about filler? Well, these are "everything else". When making new characters and additions to the code, these will be ...

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]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:33:33 GMT      
     When this idea was unfortunately dreamt up, there were a few things on my plate, and as such, my current Java project was suffering. At this point, it was entirely possible to create a playable game applet for Kirbj, but not necessarily make an enjoyable one, and unfortunately, that seems to be important to players. Greedy punks. They should be happy with just playability. Not like they're called "enjoyers".
      I was trudging development out as there was little beyond imagery and sounds to implement. Typically, when I move into that area, I stop caring about a project. Media isn't fun. There is little thinking or innovating solutions; it is all libraries and static allocation to save memory. Feh.
     So before Kirbj could take off, it needed a push out of the nest... on the side facing a cliff, given my motivation for doing these sorts of things. And what better way to motivate me, then, than the place that often makes me want to jump off a cliff -- Kirby's Rainbow Resort~!
     Y'see, I'm a secret staff member over there. Been that way since the summer. And before you ask how it is secret if I'm spilling the beans here, then you really don't get why I hate that place so much. Blutty 'el, I could say "Hey, I'm a staff member~!" on their main page, and it'd still be a secret to them. Lotta dull knives in that drawer...
     Pretty much, this entire effort was made to spite them. Ah, spite. That's probably the reason I get outta the bed in the morning. Those blokes really like their fan games, ...

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]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:53:03 GMT      As opposed to a single game, the Dream Land Java Project (often shortened as Kirbj) is represented by a series of adventures related to one another only in the fact that they all use the same code. Each release contains more features and possible characters than the previous, snowballing into the ultimate goal of an online Dream Land game designer for fans of the fan game to use.
     Kirbj also seeks to be a good role model for the online fangame community. It is not only trailblazing the way with its original stock, but it also adheres to a number of moral standards and respectfully uses the Dream Land cast of characters.
     
     For the last several years, I have been working on a Java applet game. What that game was, exactly, has kept changing, but my work has remained constant. The most recent idea that stuck was a Kirby fan game. Even its genre changed a bit -- from classic platformer to a tactical RPG -- but eventually, I re-settled for good ol' platformin', just like the actual Dream Land series.
     Of course, it would be pointless and foolish to recreate these games without some good reason, some gimmick. Kirby's games tend to have one. The first game itself was based on the gimmick of inhaling and launching out foes as a weapon, and the gimmick expanded with the introduction of Copy Abilities. Since then, there have been animal friends, enemy helpers, and ability mixing appearing in the titles. Separate titles.
     Me? I think I'll do 'em all. At the same time.
     Helpers riding pets, expanding the playable rogues gallery, and copy abilities across the board. I shall not be happy until Gabon pokes his head out of Kine's mouth and hurls an fiery femur.
...

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]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:19:23 GMT