week 10 E

My presentation went pretty much as planned. I knew people wouldn't like the direction the project took, but at least it has a direction, a solid direction that has a well defined audience. However, after discussing it with the class, I have decided to take a more middle road with it and let the player decide between two paths to cancer redemption.

week 10 D

I couldn't remove the vomit experience because listeners were running on the particles. I couldn't turn them off with internal script because the script can't talk to each other. I'm seeing the benefits of externalizing the script, now. After wrestling with it, I just threw in a delay timer that allowed the particles to self terminate.

week 10 C

The keyboard listeners in the pill-taking experience wouldn't add to the stage because it couldn't find the stage. I figured the RAM was slowing down, since this one was farther back in the queue. The guess must have been good because adding the listeners after a short delay worked splendidly.

week 10 B

I was getting a strange error from the lumpectomy. It kept on reloading after it was finished, which would freeze the code. The reason was that the code for any following frames was duplicated off of this one, for some reason. All I had to do was erase the extra line of code on each frame.

week 10 A

Even after the files were loading, I had a problem with their unloading. At least, I thought I had a problem with their unloading. The files would unload upon self removal. The real problem was that they couldn't pass control back to the parent. The parent couldn't ask the child if it was finished, and the child couldn't tell the parent if that it was finished. No information could be passed to the other. They probably could have, if the script was external. It's internal, however. The only solutions I could come up with were: A] externalize all the scripts, which would have required rewriting the entire project; B] call the parent from the child and jumping to the appropriate frame, which would kill the RAM; or C] check to see if the child is on the stage. 'C' sounds good. I was able get the parent to ask the child what it's index is. Unfortunately, it doesn't pass -1 if not present. Instead, it throws an error. Fortunately, I can still use the error to check this.

week 09C (Friday)

Even though I thought I had taken the script under a microscope, Mr. C. found the problem, quickly. I had a typo under the file name(s). That is why the script couldn't find it. Now, I can iron out all the little kinks. Joy!

week 09B (Thursday)

I was able to get a good 6 hours, on and off, into the project, today.
I'm still getting stuck on the loader. I know it's something stupid. I have asked Mr. Castaldi to look at it with a different set of eyes, tomorrow.
I'm thinking of tossing all or most of the sounds I worked so hard on.
They sound pretty awful, now.

week 09A

There are problems getting the 'Loader' to load. I don't understand the problem. It looks like it is coded the same as my website, which works fine.
I was able to get the countdown to register for the surgery preparation. The counter just needed decremented. The new problem is that the textbox text won't refocus to itself after typing the correct countdown number. Also, I cannot shrink the font size, like I wanted. I created a 'FontFormat' variable to handle the size, but it doesn't seem to update.
I still can't apply the red or brown tint to the vomit particles, even though the code works fine in our Cut'nPaste game.
Finally: 'though I have been waffling around on my target audience, I think I finally decided where I am going to take it. The idea came to me while looking around at cancer scholarships. I think I can hold this position more solidly and stand by it.

week 08 B

On Thursday, I believe I discovered the solution to the loading problem. I need to use a 'Loader' to load the .swf s instead of trying to load them directly into the generic MovieClip. I already have an example of this in my website code from last year. So, hopefully, it won't be a problem.

week 08 A

I finished the last major piece of artwork, the chemotherapy scene.
I popped out a happy theme for when the treatment is finished.
I can't get my 'experiences' to load from the 'overgame'.
I can't get the vomit to change colors.

week 07 -B

Even though I was incredibly sick this week, I still managed to slink over to the school and download my files. I didn't actually end up touching that much, but what I did do was take a look at Anvil Recording Studio. I'm glad I did because, now, I have the background music element I so desperately wanted. The pieces I composed are not professional works of excellence, but I think they will still get across what I was going for. Thumbs up on the comeback.

week 07 A

Still no luck with the BGMs. On the bright side, the 'overgame' has been going nicely. I notice that it has a storybook feel to it, now. Also, I was able to quickly whip up the surgery knockout, as requested by my contact. The problem is, that when I went to save (after working on the overgame for about 2 hours) nothing had changed, so I lost all of my work. Then, I worked for half an hour, trying to make that time up, and tried multiple save methods. Still, I had nothing. I'm going to try cleaning out my disk space, next, to see if that could be the problem.

BTW: If I forgot to mention before, I did a good job better matching up the art, now.

week 6B (Saturday)

I did not get good feedback during my presentation, Thursday. I feel that I've mostly been reaching my goals, so I don't understand what the problem is. I guess it's true that I didn't get the BGMs finished, like I thought I would. Maybe it's because I haven't assembled it all into one piece? That's okay because I wasn't expecting to have that part done, yet. One thing is for sure. I am very confused about my target market and need to make sure to define that, at least for myself.
I don't know if I'm going to be able to get the BGMs in, now. I have general themes in mind for each section. However, I don't have a design more concrete than that. Also, I am not as familiar with the tools as I thought.
My milestones were definitely way off. I don't think I was realizing how fast 10 weeks can go by with a handful of big projects going at once. The programming didn't seem to eat up too much extra time. The art is what seems to take forever. I think what I'm going to have to do when I get into the field is, if I decide to go out on my own (which would be very risky at this point), is at least partner with one other person who is an artist, just to keep the flow of assets going. <-(Oh yeah, that's a run-on).
I hate to scale back on this feature (BGMs) because it really helps to interject what the patient may be feeling at each stage of the journey. I'm not going to officially cut it, just yet-- just in case there is some miracle of energy that can well up inside of me, better learn the software, pump it all out, and import it into the program.

week 6A (Wednesday)

Yesterday and Monday, I worked more on the art. I created a title screen featuring a starburst and a yellow ribbon. Also, a female doctor and a male doctor. I got a lot of comments saying that the male doctor looks creepy. Which means, they can tell that he is a human and a male and a doctor. I'm so proud. Since this figure is apparently so scary, I'll use him to deliver the bad news (i.e., the cancer). People in these situations in real life tend to feel malicious toward their medical professionals. This will help to convey that.
Today, I recorded and added most of the voice effects. Although the project is still in pieces, I feel that I have enough to present my progress.

Week 05 B

It looks like the functionality for these 4 "minigame" experiences is almost complete.
I'll be working on sound effects and, possibly, background musics all next week. I still have to work on the blowing for the respiration test and add the puss to the tumor removing mistake. Other than that, everything looks pretty good. Everyone likes the little "Parkay" effect on the pill bottle when it opens.

week 05A (Tuesday)

I'm feeling a lot better after yesterday, seeing that I caught back up on the issues I was having. Sometimes, the work I do doesn't save, for some strange reason. But, that's not too bad because I already know how to redo it. I'm still having issues with updating the scan game. I have no idea what could be causing this. It must have something to do with AS3. The scan game just moves back and forth a few times. All I want to do is tweak the 3D rotation a bit and add text. The lumpectomy is about as done as it's going to get. There isn't much to it.
The respiration game works, but not in the way that I'd like. The exhale is supposed to be represented by a rapid pressing of keys, but I keep getting only 2 or 3 or 4 keys, and not more than 6. Also, the keys don't stop detecting after their initial hits, which means they still work even if held down.
I redid the art for the vomit aimer. It just requires the particles to be emitted and collision checked against their intended target. Some people wonder why I chose a vomit experience, because it is negative. It is both a common frequent experience to be dealt with and something that is easy to program.
If I can polish off these interactive experiences this week, I can start working on the inclusive "over experience" and all of its information, art, and links to each individual experience. This should be completable by week 09.

week 04-B (Thursday)

I did not get a chance to work on anything, yesterday. So, the vomit-aiming game is not complete. It did not help that I also missed class, due to complications. Somehow, I did man.age to both redo the toilet art and squash the bug in the pill-taking game. So, it doesn't feel like a total wash.
I find that art can take a very long time. Maybe I've been grossly underrating the importance of and the work that goes into it. I'm going to have to start cutting some games to make my deadline. The 'physical therapy' will be first to go. All of the animations involved make it very art heavy. The 'food choices' will be next, seeing that it will be art and data heavy. Plus, I have not started on it, yet.
Right now, it looks like 'the game' will include "the overgame," 'CT scan', 'lumpectomy', 'take pills', and 'vomit control'. The 'CT scan' is almost done. I've been having trouble every time I try to re-include text in through version 11. The 'lumpectomy' is complete. 'Take pills' and 'vomit control' are close behind.
I think a lot of time will need to be spent on what I call "the overgame." This is the main routine that calls the mini-games, when necessary. It is very art and UI intensive. Because this is supposed to be an educational experience, I don't think the project can be complete without it. I know 4 mini-games doesn't seem like a lot, but the core of the project needs to be completed, first. The other games can filter in after that core has been established.

week 04-A Tuesday

Even though I got called in for my internship on Saturday, I feel like I got a lot of programming done for the project. I did not focus on art, at all, because I found that part was easier to do that in a busy class room than the code, which is easier to do alone. Therefore, I went to town on *ALL* of the remaining games, but did not do any art. I aspire to have the vomit aiming event working by Thursday.
In class, today, I worked on just art. Instructor Castaldi suggested my art be simplified. I tried drawing a grey rectangle and skewed ellipse for a toilet, but nobody could tell what it was supposed to be. I was pissed. I looked up references for that straight-on, slightly overhead view via the patient's perspective that I was looking for. I grabbed two that were as close as they could get. I was not able to start on it, yet. However, I finished a generic wall and gunked together together a brown and green vomit particle. Unfortunately, I don't see how the animation for the vomit is going to be very smooth when they are emitted.

week 03 D

I was able to patch over the scan, for now, using a previous iteration. (Versioning: it saves lives). It's not as done as before, but at least it's working.

Before that, I had to put it aside in frustration and try working on another mini-game to keep up with my 2/week pace. For some strange reason, I went out of order and tried starting on the physical therapy. When one is pressed and stressed, doing something out of order is better than doing nothing at all.

I went back and started on the respiration test mini-game. All I want to do is have the patient hold the space bar to build up breath, then rapidly press keys to release. I set up an array to capture the keys being held down, and erase them as they are released. The problem is that one can simply hold down all the keys instead of rapidly typing them to have them register. This doesn't give the feel I was looking for. I tried only allowing counting the keys when they are first pressed, but it really gummed up my program. Now, I can't get the space bar to register, either.

week 03 C

Things went well in my talk with Mark. (Unfortunately), he made me realize that there is a lot more to work on to do this project right. Although this is an "interactive adventure," there will have to be a lot of non-interactive sequences, as well, to inform the user and to set the user up to play the interactive sequences. One thing we discussed was having a pre-surgery knockout sequence where the user begins counting backward from 100 while blacking out, but only getting to about 95.
The bad news is that when I went to show him my progress, at least one of the files was corrupted. (how)?? It was the scan, which was the best one.

week 03-B

I bumped into a man named Mark who went through a cancer experience with his wife and had been wanting to make a game about this exact thing. So, we should be meeting tomorrow to talk about it.

week 03-A

I did not get as far as I would have liked since last class. I tweaked the two mini games on Thursday. Saturday, I started on the pill-taking mini-game. I worked on it some more Monday and today (Tuesday) but didn't finish it. I should still be able to get it done, along with the respiration mini game before 8pm Friday. (I should be meeting my internship guys this weekend).
The game does not seem like much of a challenge, but I am making it interesting.
Cancer patients have all sorts of different pills they have to take at different times. Of course, remembering when they have to take the pills can be difficult to remember in their ruined mental state. What I have planned to do is have time pass by at a highly accelerated rate. When it is the correct "time," the player should take a pill by pressing the appropriate key. The player only has a 1 second window during the game "hour" to hit the correct keys. Missing a pill or taking a pill at the wrong time will reduce the player's accuracy meter. An accuracy that is too low will be bad.

week 02-B

Well, I'm pretty satisfied with having met my classmates challenge. Maybe the mini games still suck, but they have potential to grow. I'm a little worried about the mini games manager. It's probably going to take a back seat until the games are getting done at the end and completely destroy my health in the process.

week02-A

I thought I had a decent presentation put together, but everyone "tore me a new one" for my idea. They said it was no fun and completely depressing. I'll have to work on that.

My classmates were all: "Your scope is too huge!" But, I believe that a series of 10-15 mini games is completely feasible within 9 weeks (now 8).

The challenge has been thrown down! My instructor and classmates bid me to create two of the mini games by next class. This is fine because I was planning on doing *exactly* that, anyway. They don't think I can do it, but they will be pleasantly surprised. Never underestimate the power of the "thorough" (Theroux).

week01-B

After viewing over 50 images, online, I started on my presentation for "A Journey through Cancer" for Tuesday. The only one I couldn't find that I really wanted was that little icon on the CT scan that tells you when to "hold your breath." So, I drew it, instead. The main thing I'm stuck on, for now, is the level design, but I'm getting more ideas both from myself and other people all the time. I plan on going to town on that on Sunday, while my computer usage time is down.

The start of "The Journey"

Hello. This is Matthew Theroux. I'm starting on an exciting project for my game class. The idea I have is more along the lines of "interactive adventure" than "game," but my instructor says that is close enough. This idea is titled "A Journey through Cancer," and will help to educate about all of the details involved in the treatment of a particular diagnosis (or diagnoses) of cancer. I hope to continue working on the project after the class is over. The long-term goal is have a cancer treatment center accept the finished, polished project to show patients, potential patients, and their loved ones what is in store for them and, perhaps, help them to cope.