Lumines Clone!

Some weeks ago i made a small prototype of Lumines!

Lumines is one of my all-time favorite puzzle games. First appeared on the original PSP as a launch title, it is prolly the game that i played most of all on my PSP.

The clone turned out to be pretty easy to make - granted it has some bugs, and is not as cool as the original, but it was a nice exercise and i learned a lot!

Try it out here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6176296/BreakDemBlocks/BreakDemBlocksWeb.html

More on Flash

During my time spent learning Action Script in depth, i have gained some insight in programming in general, and got some solid basics, that really helped me in using other languages such as C#, JavaScript among others, and i think a good advice for people out there wanting to learn to make games/small projects is to choose a language that has a very low entry level barrier for making things happen right away, but also has depth enough to learn more advanced topics as you get better.

For those reasons i think Flash and Action Script is still a really solid starting point. First of all, you can get started for free (if using FlashDevelop for example), and second of all, it has been used to make web games for many, many years now, meaning that there are tons of resources online to learn from - and these can take you from absolute noob to decent in a short amount of time.

At the time of writing however i would say a strong contender for best starting language for aspiring game developers is the combination of C# and Unity. While the resources online are slightly less and the amount of research needed is a little more, the befits are worth it in the long run. Not only is C# a more universal language with other uses, but Unity itself is a very powerful game engine for those just starting out. My only gripe with Unity is their focus on a very Behavioral system - that while is awesome for games (Composition over Inheritance for the win), limits the amount of use-cases and problems presented to new programmers.

In Unity, programming mostly consists of attaching scripts to game objects, that then make that game object behave in a certain way, or to make the game object control a number of other game objects or scripts. This is a very smart way to solve game programming, and lowers the entry level barrier needed to make stuff happen right away. However it also makes it slightly obfuscated in the sense that creating more complex systems can be hard to visualize/manage with out some good understanding of how the behaviors are meant to work in Unity.

That being said, there is not anything that cannot be done in Unity, but i would say that it is easier to learn Unity if you already know the "bigger idea" of behavior / composition systems/patterns, and how they are different from inheritance.

Next time i will talk more about Unity and show of some small projects done in Unity and how they where made. To finish of the post i will show a old prototype for a game still made in flash and Flixel.


The game idea was to create a GPS based mobile "pokemon" type game, where based on your physical location, you could find different spirits, and then you could battle with your friends and what not, a cool idea to make people go out and explore their local area! The game was obviously never finished, and the version showed here is "offline", but full php/server code was written for a basic implementation, but making the whole gps/spirit database was too much work (even though i tried at the game again later using Starling - will upload that soon as well, just gotta remove all the network code so it runs without a server.

To "play", simply click login, dont fill in any info and click login (make sure not to hit the register or login button while the login overlay is active as it will relaunch the overlay is active hehe), once "logged in", just click play, then proceed to look for spirits, do this a few times, (fighting spirits doesnt work, you just "win" when u click fight") - when you have done this you can go view the spirits you have captured by clicking, profile, and then click view all spirits to see the ones that you have captured.


I still think the idea would be cool to pursue further one day, but it is obviously not a one-man project! :)
If anyone is interested i would not mind uploading all the code/networking/php source for people to see how it can be done quite simple.

that's it for tonight!
Cheers,
Rune

Moving along!

So, still in the past, today we will look at my second "prototype" made in the beginning (see previous post).

Amazed at my own ability and splendor at making something run and play (yay) i immediately decided to make a full 2D side-scroller, complete with lots of levels, cool wacky mechanics, cool art and everything else!

So, why don't you know my name as the guy who created that awesome game you ask? Well, i didn't get very far of course, and reality soon kicked in - making a full game is A LOT of work, but still i learned a whole bunch! And like Jake says (go see Adventure Time you!) :

And, so, even though my goal was a full playable game with tons of stuff, i realized 1/10000 in that maybe i should call it a day and move on to more lucrative projects - which since has been my motto when i get bored with otherwise cool projects. But just like your first paintings, you start out with awesome intentions, but soon find out that your new skills would be of better use in a new picture all together.

The project itself was again build with Flixel, and this time, it had a level, some actual graphics, some animation, a little character dude, and something which could be called mechanics (on a good day maybe).

The game: (requires flash player):

(Controls: arrow keys to move, space to jump, and x to fire dildo's - yeh yeh i know haha)

Edit: I just realized that this blog completely overwrites key inputs given to flash, making it very hard to "play", i will find a fix soon! In the meantime, check out the game on this standalone page: 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6176296/RAINworld.swf

You will notice that the menu is based on my awesome first prototype, only this time it's more awesome! The game itself is not much, you can't hurt the other dude (who walks aimlessly into the wall), and except looking like a boss firing  dildo's doesn't do anything, and you cant complete the game or the level or anything.. but yeah, its a foundation i guess! Personally i quiet like the "art style", if anything, that was a success! 

I learned a lot about using Flixel specifically on this prototype, complete with character controls, customizing source code (the hat is a hacked in spring thing!) and using tile-maps and so on. Another cool thing however is that Flixel is build in such a way that it forces you to learn about OOP and a without knowing it at the time, it uses some elements of composition over inheritance which is a solid foundation in games especially.

So obviously go check Flixel out if you want to get started with making small games, the forums are a great resource for learning. Another source of information that helped me a lot is http://gotoandlearn.com/ - especially when it comes to Starling (more about that in a later post).

In the end, i think my time playing with Flixel is what got me really interested in making games work, and not just doing the "art" for it.

Next up is another "prototype", and then maybe actually talk about some coding, however i am a little unsure what to actually write about, and if it should be generalized or specific stuff, once i know i will post something for sure!

Cheers,

Rune

All beginnings are small!

So, beginning on my new blog, I thought it would be fun to go back in time to catch up!

About a year and a half ago I started working my first (and current) industry job, and I had to relocate to Germany, which left me without Internet for way too long, but it did have the really awesome side-effect of giving me tons of spare-time in my free time (sad isn't it?) and so I had a lot of time to learn new skills!

As part of my job, I have to work with Flash and ActionScript from time to time, and while I sold myself as having a fairly good grasp on both, the truth is that I didn't know much of either when I started, and so I had to learn it, and learn it fast. At work I working hard to prove that I could easily help maintain their UI production, you know, since I "knew how to code pretty well" - however having done only a tad bit of Python scripts and AS2, this is not a sentence you would want to throw around seasoned C++ programmers, I learned that pretty quickly though! However, at home I was working hard, trying to learn what all the cool slang from work meant, such as OOP, classes, inheritance and other things that sounded cool at the time. So i brought home a piece of software called FlashDevelop and a library (engine) called Flixel on a USB stick, and then I start trying to do things

(these awesome pieces of software can be found here : http://www.flashdevelop.org/ /  http://flixel.org/ )

I GOT THE POWER!

However I had a lot of issues in the beginning, I didn't know how to setup a project, or where or how to get started, and most importantly, I didn't know how to make stuff appear on the screen - having worked in the Flash IDE normally, the luxury days of drawing stuff and pressing ctrl-enter here gone, I had to code stuff from the ground up now! gulp!

From being at work, and coming home with a new page from the docs (plus bugging the hell out of the aforementioned C++ guys), i quickly got the very basic hang of it, and after a week or so of doing top-shitty code I had the following:

It's like... animated and stuff!!

This might not look like much, and while you are totally right in thinking that, for me at the time it was a huge achievement, it has buttons, rain and thunder! And it has a cool graphic background! - It almost looks like a game menu! While doing this "prototype" I started to understand the very basic concept of Object Oriented Programming and what it really meant to code something and see it work - and that felt awesome!

In the next coming posts I will share more of the small projects I did during that time and talk about how I went about learning more about programming!

- Cheers,
Rune Rask

A new start!

Getting down to business!

It's been a while since I did anything on this blog, and in it's old form, it served mostly as a portfolio and CV, I have been wanting to change that for a while, and make the blog a more personal space, where i can talk about games, game development, art, code and basically everything gamedev related.

Most people visiting my blog probably know me in real life through work, school or otherwise, but my hope is that I can reach out to more people, and tell them about life as a industry professional, but also to share and talk about that thing inside of us, that makes us spend long nights doing "what we love". I am by no means a "guru" or a "master", but I have always had a bit of a "jack of all trades" kinda attitude to the industry (film and games alike), since i like doing a lot of different things (all the things) - and in our world of entertainment industry that is the odd ball. People in the industry and at schools will always tell you it's a risky road, and that you have to focus your talent and time, so that you can stay competitive in the scene, by offering a very specific and highly specialized skill set. I will however, also try and talk about why that is not always true, and why having many different skills can help you in other ways, personal and professionally.

Over the course of the next few days, i will be spending time reworking and re-designing the blog to better fit it's new purpose, as well as fill it with tons of content, small-talk, art and games, as well as maybe a tutorial or two!

Hope you are intrigured and want to stay aboard!

Cheers,
Rune Rask

!! Notice - OLD BLOG STARTS HERE!

Welcome to my online Portfolio blog.

Rune Rask is a 3D artist and illustrator from Denmark. Graduated from the Animation Workshop in 2013 and is now working as a Junior 3D artist at Crytek (Germany).

here on my Blog can find information about my recent work, show-reel and related work.

CONTACT:
Email:        runerask86@gmail.com

Phone:       +45 - 51 29 51 45

Link to my Bachelor Film:
http://vimeo.com/58179312
(Or view it at the ShowReel Section)

- Rune Rask

New images

Here is a few new images made during spring break.

First we have a concept for a demon character i want to sculpt some time in the future perhaps. He is supposed to be a demon prince of hunger and plague. With a belly-monster that devours anything in his path. 

And here i have to quick studies/sketches made from imagination.

- Remember to click the images to view them larger.

- Rune Rask

Community Art

Team EG fan Art

- Rune Rask

Under The Fold - Look Dev progression

A little look at the current development for our project in 3D.
We are trying to develop a really fast and efficient workflow to quickly be able to prototype scenes and sequences.

First image is the first render straight out of maya. Then we started to develop it more and finally a comped image.

The Look so far

- Rune Rask

Another Light / Color sketch

I am really enjoying working a lot more directly with light and color, and even tho i find that it is really hard, studying life and other great artist help tremendously.

- Rune Rask

Color Sketches - and a finished piece

These are kind of self explanatory, but the two sketches are heavely influenced / inspired by Daizuke Tsutsumi whom you can find at www.simplestroke.com  - truly amazing artist.

The other image is just a practice to try and understand color / value and rendering better.

- Rune Rask

Environments Under The Fold

A little update for Under the Fold. These are some semi concept / semi look test for the project.
Click for bigger!

- Rune Rask

Giant Update - Under The Fold

So we started our bachelor film! The last couple of weeks have been going  on with story and design! My group is under the fold ( underthefoldfilm.blogspot.com ) And so far i have primarily been working on design.

Not all the stuff that i show here is relevant for the project anymore as we are honing in on the style but i still feel like showing it, as it has become quite the mass so far! :)

"Andrew"

CLICK FOR BIG

Creature Ideas

Graphical Style Ideas

Story Ideas / Beats Pictures 

I look forward to work more on this film, as the concept and story is getting along really nicely! :)

- Rune Rask

My god this is so fast!

Ok, so just came home from having a group meeting, and decided to make some more sketches, so i made 6 in two hours!!! Showing of the two i like! :)

- Rune Rask

Oh Zbrush, i Missed you!

Playing around with the new features in Zbrush is so much fun! The new way of working, with the Dynamesh is truly revolutionary, and has really made things fun, easy and fast!

Here are a few sketches, all of them around 30mins, except the fat guy with a cape thing, which prolly took an hour or so.

YAY for Zbrush! :)

- Rune Rask

DEADMAU5 COMPETETION Fixed

- Rune Rask

DEADMAU5 COMPETETION

- Rune Rask

Digital Painting - With Anne-Laure

Digital Painting with Anne Laure week.

Painted over 3 days of intense labor

CLICK FOR BIG


- Rune Rask