Portal Marmosets

41. Still Alive

2008-10-06T10:09:00.003+10:00

Okay, that was a long enough gap. The results:

We didn't win.

No surprise there though, to be honest, we were hopeful, which did surprise me. I told my team from the outset that, hey, adventure game. It's fun, but they'll only have a little time to play it, so they won't get too far in, and they won't get the full experience, but let's do it anyway, for _our_ experience.

So we did. And we had fun. In fact, I had an awesome time. I'm really impressed we got along so well, especially in such close quarters and under such a tight deadline, and I'm looking forward to the holidays for more than just the obvious reason.

We did get one award, though: the Most Ambitious Game Design award. Yahtzee himself presented it, and said that the game had beautiful art and music*, so with such praise as that, how can we be upset? And from Yahtzee... We're practically Portal. :P

Just kidding. But it was a wonderful time, and I'm hoping, probably prematurely, that we can go in next year's competition. But we'll see what happens - for now, we all need sleep (I think the average per team member was about 4 hours) and time to rest on our baby-step laurels. And then the hard work begins again.

*A note about the music, and by no means hidden, though we didn't really get a chance to talk to the judges too much (a mistake, in retrospect, but we were all pretty stressed toward the end) - the music, while edited by Katie, actually belongs to a wonderful man called Justin R. Durban. He has most of his songs up, free and available for download, and he's one of my favourite instrumental musicians. You can find more of his songs here.

We'll get some original music done up for the January release, but for now, please know that the music in there is copyright protected, and all praise to Mr. Durban for his composition (and to Katie for editing it so beautifully).

Thus ends the saga of the 48-hour challenge. Are you sad? Well, me too. But check back over the next couple of days - I have a surprise in store for all our dedicated readers (and those who are new, as well).

Until then, thanks for reading, and take care!
LCT

40. And When You're Dead I Will Be Still Alive

2008-10-06T09:46:00.000+10:00

Behold! Landscapes! These are smaller versions of what we used in the game, all painted by the extraordinary Murry.

This is the room where you first meet Summertime. The lamps are tiny suns, and the walls are made of gold. The star on the floor is what he used to teleport you to his hideaway. He awaits you on the dais, the vaulted ceiling above him rising into darkness. There are mountains visible through the door, underneath a heavy purple sky.

The crossroads directly above the starting area. The obscure signpost is multi-lingual, but not very useful. In the distance, you can see the Triangle Temple, which is so special it doesn't even need a sign.

The Square Temple. Vines have pulled part of it down, and some of the fighting from when the man-eating watermelons came has split the ground along a poorly-constructed fault line, but for the most part it's still standing. The statue on the right is Summertime's symbol - a leafless tree aflame. This is where the first puzzle takes place.

The Diamond Temple. My personal favourite. Home to the muses of this lost civilisation, and beautifully lit and reflective. Of course, it's my favourite for reasons that aren't shown in this image, but I also think the room itself is beautiful. This is the most well-preserved of the three temples, except for the hidden antechamber.

The Triangle Temple. The one that was off in the distance from the crossroads, and home to a very interesting puzzle, the first one I designed. Apart from the Alpha channels somehow deciding they hated us, also the second puzzle Katie and Ian got working. You may have noticed there was no puzzle mentioned in the Diamond Temple - that one wouldn't do compare strings, or something, and so we'll have to try and sort that out another way, once this semester is over.

So those are the backgrounds Murry painted for us. What's that? You want to see the hidden antechamber? Well, I'll tell you one thing...

It's hidden. :)

Play the game, and all (well, most!) should be revealed!
LCT

39. While You're Dying I'll Be Still Alive

2008-10-06T09:16:00.001+10:00

So, as I said, I'm going to post the character and background art for Helwet and the Starspinner here, right here, exclusively here.

First up are the in-game character portraits drawn and coloured by the very talented Rimon.

This is Hewlet, our protagonist. He was teleported to the unnamed planet by Summertime from where he was floating, somewhere in space. He doesn't talk much, and he rarely gets excited, but he is very curious, and gives names to all the objects he acquires. Why? No one knows... yet.

This is Summertime, the somewhat-lord of the aforementioned unnamed planet. He was once a Starspinner, a creator of galaxies, who came to this planet to witness the life that his stars made possible. Unfortunately, although the indigenous race worshipped him as a god, once they accidentally found his true name they thought it would be a good idea to start carving it on everything. Each time they carved it, it took a little piece of Summertime's soul.

The race has since been wiped out by the arrival of another race, of giant man-eating watermelons, and so Summertime is trapped, unable to leave, his powers dwindling day by day. This is where you come in.

This is Bobby, everyone's favourite character. He's a street-wise bodyguard for the watermelon president (he's from an alternate past where the watermelons had to choose between paisley or chiffon for their princess' wedding gown. I probably don't need to tell you which way Bobby's version went). Anyway, as the story goes, the president was giving his annual policies speech when Bobby noticed a shaft of light headed right for the podium! Selflessly, he pushed the president out of the way, and ended up on Summertime's planet. In a game sense, he acts as the in-inventory exposition tool, but he's mostly just a smart-ass. He may also be from Brooklyn.

And who is this? The Memory of Stone, who will have to remain enigmatic until January.

With all of the above, there are certain things that haven't been revealed. What are Summertime's true motives? What was Hewlet doing, floating in space? Why is Bobby such a policeman stereotype? Believe me, I have the answers, but, for dramatic tension, you must not.

So bear with me, dear reader, and prepare to take a journey to landscapes fresh and new...
LCT

38. I Feel Fantastic And I'm Still Alive

2008-10-06T08:40:00.005+10:00

Okay, so that's a lie. I write you now from the far other side of the 48-hour challenge, awake and somehow alive, luckily facing a work-free day. I think Murry and Rimon had a lecture to attend at 9am this morning. I also think they're probably still asleep. :)

So, shall I tell you the judges' decision? No, let's wait for a moment... Build the anticipation...

Last night, after everything was over and it was all packed up, Murry, James from Laserback Turtles, Seth from Team Duct Tape and I all went on a jolly jaunt to Yug's place in the valley. We were surprisingly awake, and even managed to drink a little without falling flat on our faces. Yug's place is awesome, a two-story apartment with a massive open-air balcony that overlooks Brunswick Street. I asked if I could set up camp and live there, but he thought I was kidding, so I didn't press the issue. It did mean I had to carry the tent back to the car, though.

So how do we feel, now that it's all over? Tired, of course. Happy, I hope. I think we're all really proud of what we managed to create, not only the concept, but the actual content itself - Murry and Rimon created all of the assets for an entire level, and Katie and Ian almost got the whole thing coded. So congratulations, guys, I think you did an amazing job and I'm looking forward to working with you again.

And that, of course, is the next big piece of news - we're planning on finishing the level over the summer holidays and releasing an updated, new-and-improved version. Truna will be releasing our final build on the website sometime soon, so I'll link it when it's live, but keep an eye out for the next version probably sometime in January.

So - a warning for anyone who does play the game. Some functionality is missing, in the form of one of the puzzles, and a lot of the dialogue is either test dialogue or just completely missing. If you make it to the end, there should also be a screen saying "To be continued..." But everything that's in there works, and mostly what we'll be adding are tweaks. Well, if the engine will co-operate.

And how did we go?

Well, that's...

To be continued...
LCT

37. I'm Doing Science And I'm Still Alive

2008-10-05T16:01:00.003+10:00

The 48-Hour Game Making Challenge is officially over. Now all that we're waiting for is the judges' decision and their comments. Hewlet and the Starspinner works, as far as we could tell, and Murry's just putting it onto the judges' computer.

The rush is incredible - before I was so tired I could barely stand, but for the past hour and a half I haven't been able to sit down. I don't remember when or what I last ate, but seeing the game running, working, everything in place - it was a pretty proud moment, and the rest of the team felt it to.

I'm going to go 'enjoy' the sunshine or something.

Now... the wait.
LCT

36. Believe Me, I Am Still Alive

2008-10-05T14:02:00.002+10:00

So, with less than 2 hours to go, we're on our way to getting the important dialogue and scene changes into place. I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I was in charge, dialogue wouldn't be left until the last minute, but, no, I have betrayed my profession in the hopes of getting puzzle mechanics working.

Rimon and Murry are now undertaking the last fun little things, while Katie and Ian are staring very intently at their screens, which is what I should be doing, too.

Speaking of... no time to blog! I'll write more later!
LCT

35. On The People Who Are Still Alive

2008-10-05T12:10:00.002+10:00

Yug just gave me an apple! A real apple!

Tiny apple is tiny!

Wheeee!
LCT

34. There Is Research To Be Done

2008-10-05T11:48:00.002+10:00

So we're onto the home stretch now, it's really just time to get all the assets in play and make the final adjustments (much to Ian and Katie's dismay, I imagine, but I'm quite picky about timing). Above you can see the splash page and the title page, both created by Rimon. I love the title page - it looks so old-school travelling circus.

It's getting alternately both easy and hard to get excited - easy because the end is nigh and we get to show off our game; hard, because there still seems to be so much to do. Ever tried sourcing a monophonic (good!) version of Ode To Joy? I'm still trying to figure out how to use CoolEdit Pro and Reason. Oh, and I've still got dialogue to write.

Bu, hey. We're getting there. Everything will be more rosy in the glow of our combined accomplishment, I'm sure. I'm eagerly looking forward to showing off our game, both at the comp and online, so I hope you'll bear with us as we take these last steps toward freedom, glory and enough sleep to kill a camel.

See you on the other side.
LCT

33. I've Experiments To Run

2008-10-05T10:04:00.002+10:00

So we're up and running again! Murry has returned from the semi-dead, Katie is awake if not looking particularly alive and well, Ian has been with us these past couple of hours, and Rimon and I are still here. We have a full team again, but unfortunately it's come down to the code-heavy section of development, which means lots of work for Ian and Katie, arguably the two tiredest people here.

Still, we have just under 6 hours to go, and I'm feeling optimistic again after being able to figure out a completely alien program in order to make midis. Now I just need to find random sound effects out of a library of over 2500 files. Hmmm. Something in me still feels upbeat, though - maybe it's the bread talking.

The world seems much brighter on a semi-full stomach.
LCT

32. When I Look Up There It Makes Me Glad I'm Not You

2008-10-05T08:22:00.002+10:00

We've kind of hit a wall in terms of development, and with seven-and-a-half hours to go, I guess it could be worse. Ian and Katie stayed up pretty much all of last night, coding, while Rimon, Murry and I caught 3 hours' sleep. We had our midnight dance party, and it's been up and down since then, but I think everyone's really getting toward the end of their energy.

Ian had a bit of a nap, and we've just sent Katie off, but Murry ate something that didn't agree with him, so he's off, as well. We've got mostly coding left to do, which makes some of us superfluous, but we still need to get to the stage where all the art and story assets are as done as they can be, and, on my end, that means something like 150 more lines of dialogue. It may not sound like much, and in reality, it probably isn't, but we've all got cloudy minds, so everything seems difficult.

One good thing is that Rimon's almost finished the title page, and we've decided on a name for the game itself - it's now called Hewlet and the Starspinner. Not all of the story will be revealed (this is only the first chapter, after all), but hopefully we'll get enough across to keep the audience intrigued. As I said, we may post character biographies closer to the end of today, but we'll see who's still alive at that point, I guess.

Time to do the game's actual opening sequence. Wish us luck.
LCT

31. Look At Me Still Talking When There's Science To Do

2008-10-05T04:53:00.002+10:00

There's no hot water for the shower.

*justified emo tear*

This is kind of a crunch period, everyone's busy and morale, while still high, is kind of flat. We're all trying to get as much done as possible, and even though the game is slowly coming together, there are problems, and flaws, and things we haven't thought of. All in the process, and I knew it was coming, but this is my least favourite part - most of the creation is done, it's down to the bark dialogue (of which there are about 50 lines per screen... egads!) and the shower betrayed me, yet again.

I feel so Livejournal.
Current mood: Sad. :(
Current music: When The Swallows Come Back to Capistrano - The Ink Spots
LCT

30. It's So Delicious And Moist

2008-10-05T03:38:00.006+10:00

Here, at the Portal Marmoset blog, we can now reveal to you exclusive in-game content, including one of the amazing puzzle mechanics! Watch below for the full clip of this unprecedented stroke of brilliance:

Make sure you've got your speakers up loud!

Also, I just made Murry facepalm. He said, "Compose yourself!" because I was laughing so hard, so I hummed Beethoven's 9th. Zing!

Tiredness takes its toll. The police should totally look into this instead of those Easter long weekend highway crashes.
LCT

29. Anyway, This Cake Is Great

2008-10-05T02:03:00.003+10:00

So we're back into it, enjoying the more amusing side of sleep deprivation, where everything is funny, and things from other teams become, "Who wants some coke and a mashed up dolphin?" Team Black Wolf, we hardly know ye.

I'm writing all of the descriptions for the things you can look at or interact with in the game. There's a lot more to it than I' originally thought, but I have to say, it's pretty fun. Not that some of the statements make much sense, but hopefully they'll make people laugh. If not, there are always threats of violence.

Getting all the nitty-gritty sorted out is, admittedly, tedious, but hopefully we can get it all in and sorted and just add the little finishing touches toward the end of the day. So far we have a complete playable level, and Katie and Ian are working on the puzzle mechanics now while Rimon finishes animations and Murry comes up with some awesome teleport effects.

There needs to be more red cordial.
LCT

28. That Was a Joke, Ha Ha, Fat Chance

2008-10-05T00:47:00.003+10:00

I'm pleased to announce that the inaugural Portal Marmoset Spinning Dance and Scooter Party was a great success. Thanks to our friends from Team Duct Tape, we had an awesome total of 8 people! Wow!

We spun, we talked, Seth scooted - it was great. You should have been there. If you'd been there, it would have been amazing. But you weren't. So now you'll never know the joy that is the Portal Marmoset Spinning Dance and Scooter Party. Unless, y'know, you attend next year.

Time to work!
LCT

27. Maybe Black Mesa

2008-10-05T00:22:00.003+10:00

Okay, so I was really sleepy before. REALLY sleepy. After 3 hours' sleep, I'm only just beginning to realise how sleepy:

What's that, Mr. Priority B? Your best friend is DIALOGUE?

It's true, but it's sad that I didn't even notice that until now, and I wrote this priority list at around 8pm yesterday.

When did I sell out to The Man??
LCT

26. Maybe You'll Find Someone Else To Help You

2008-10-04T20:05:00.002+10:00

So we missed our hair straightening time, but it's rapidly approaching again - the windows for the GUI are now done and Rimon has just finished the numpad section, so we're up and running for several of the puzzles now. Katie's working on Puzzle Number 3, while we just need to search out some tones for use with NPC number 3.

Isn't that obscure? Well, we'll post some character bios and snippets closer to the time, but at the moment we're all pretty tired and winding down for now. The question is whether we slog on through the night, tired to our bones, or sleep a little and hope it doesn't make us even more tired.

I think sleep is the way to go - most of us have had less than 3 hours. We have to be awake for the midnight spinning-and-dancing techno party, though, so bed soon sounds like a good idea, at least for a little bit.

Then again, we haven't had dinner... but that can wait. Amusing instincts... failing! And I need those for the dialogue! Oh no!

Will this be the end of our tireless crusade? Stay tuned to find out!
LCT

25. I Think I Prefer To Stay Inside

2008-10-04T18:03:00.005+10:00

Actually, no. The Portal Marmosets just had a very productive tea, cookies and chocolate break, in which we stood around and discussed the merits of dipping cookies in either tea or milk. Ian was staunchly a milk-favoured party, though I wasn't convinced. I managed to un-convince him further by dropping half of my cookie in my tea (which splashed my Mac - so much for karma).

We are currently on teh webcamz0rz - in fact, the only team on the live feed.

http://www.48hrgamecomp.com/?page_id=6

Hooray for us! We thought we were safe, but, alas. Even cookies couldn't save us this time.

After our break, hopefully we're rejuvenated - but, then again, there's also the Hair Straightening of 7 o'clock to look forward to.

Hooray for things other than work!
LCT

24. Go Ahead and Leave Me

2008-10-04T16:01:00.005+10:00

In another note, we just passed the the half-way point in the challenge (accompanied by frenzied and honestly kind of disturbing screaming by the guys of Sif90).

So we're kind of late, but this is the giant clock of doom that watches over us with its benevolent and yet malicious presence.

All fear the clock of doom! And bring it candy.
LCT

23. For the People Who Are Still Alive

2008-10-04T15:51:00.002+10:00

We have a New and Improved intro sequence now - with a little bit of extra editing, courtesy of a better editing program! It's really great to see people working together on something - Katie programmed the video, then Murry was editing it to add those little touches AGS and WMM couldn't handle.

We also have a priority list - A to C - of stuff that needs to be done in-game. So far, it looks pretty long, but someone of them won't take all that much time, or so I've been assured, so I'm still confident we'll have a mostly playable demo by the end of the day, and will have most of tonight and all of tomorrow to sort out custom animations and dialogue, etc.

Yes, I'm leaving the dialogue until last. Not because I don't know what's in the game, but because I've been drafted into GUI design. That's fine by me, it's a nice change to writing rhyming riddles (what, you didn't guess there'd be some after my earlier poetic efforts?) and hopefully there won't be too much t say, anyway. Unless it's funny. And even then, I'm trying not to be self-indulgent, but it's oh-so difficult when my favourite game from the early adventure genre is King's Quest 6, champion of the overly-long-and-complicated plot- and storytelling devices!

But I'm trying. No, really. I'm trying to keep it interesting, I'm trying to keep it funny, and most of all, I'm trying to keep it on target. No feature creep for us, or, at least, not anymore.

Let the conglomeration of ideas begin!
LCT

Oh, also, apparently we're hosting a spinning-in-circles, techno dance party in the middle of the courtyard tonight.

22. Think of All the Things We Learned

2008-10-04T14:34:00.004+10:00

I made noodle salad for my team mates... Are any of them still alive? I'm not entirely sure how to use cabbage, to be honest, and I've never made this salad before, only eaten it, but Chang's sauce covers many faults.

Hooray!Oh, and in other news, our completed walkcycle is now in the game, so you can moonwalk around as Hewlet. The feeling: beyond awesome.
LCT

21. So I'm Glad I Got Burned

2008-10-04T13:40:00.003+10:00

Squiggles are taking over my brain...

Squiggles...
Squiggles...

SQUIGGLES!!!!!

Can you see them? Can you see the squiggles? I see them even when I close my eyes...

Fear me, for I am doing things with the GUI, and I am using a WACOM TABLET!

All hail the mighty wacom tablet!
LCT

20. And We're Out of Beta, We're Releasing On Time

2008-10-04T13:20:00.002+10:00

Sad news...

Nick Frizzo has decided to depart from the team. He originally signed up to do design, but due to work constraints he couldn't actually arrive until around 8pm on Friday, by which time we'd already sorted out our designs and environments.

We thank him for his contributions and company, and wish him well with his assignments.

LCT

19. Now These Points of Data Make a Beautiful Line

2008-10-04T12:53:00.004+10:00

Update! Update!

Katie has given me the latest version of the intro movie! Watch, and enjoy!

18. As They Burned, It Hurt Because I Was So Happy For You

2008-10-04T11:54:00.002+10:00

Ode to the Shower
Pt. II

While delving deep in word and art,
And swimming through the fray,
A friendly voice bestirred my heart,
And, in truth, caused quite a start,
As such surprises may.

"Your turn," he said, a card in hand,
And pressed it to my palm.
A moment passed - I couldn't stand.
I leapt and grabbed my stuff, unmanned
By sudden inner calm.

What joy! What bliss! My heart and mind
Resounded with such power,
The Universe had been so kind!
The cleanliness for which I pined
Was granted in the hour.

And then to work, and swiftly, too,
For I was clean once more.
I write you now, with much to do,
But spring in step, and rosy view
Of all that's yet in store!

17. And Threw Every Piece Into A Fire

2008-10-04T11:22:00.002+10:00

*more emo tears*

Okay, so that took me far too long. I admit it.

16. And Tore Me To Pieces

2008-10-04T11:08:00.000+10:00

*emo tear*

15. Even Though You Broke My Heart And Killed Me

2008-10-04T10:42:00.002+10:00

Ode to the Shower
Pt. I

A morning woken, all a-flutter,
My pulse a quickened beat.
A finger pressed to lift the shutter,
My heart's beat falls into a stutter,
Imagining the heat.

Two quick steps; a glance, no more,
Anticipation strong,
I saunter through the other door,
My head held high, my footsteps sure,
And join the waiting throng.

What's this? A line? It cannot be!
But still, I wait my turn.
They must be waiting, unlike me,
For something I have yet to see,
But still my insides churn.

And finally, my darkest fear -
The line is but a queue!
For those who want to shower here
Must join a list, and wait a year
Before their time is due!

With dark despair, I fall aside,
My movements wracked with pain.
Were I alone, I could have cried!
Instead I wondered, as I sighed,
If waiting keeps you sane.

I write you now from that abyss,
While others have their fill.
I never thought that I would miss
The cleanliness of water's kiss:
The shower mocks me still.

14. I'm Being So Sincere Right Now

2008-10-04T09:07:00.002+10:00

Well, awake, at least. Myriad dramas with people being noisy and stomping around, and then some kind of semi-dead cockroach infestation so RB woke up with one right next to her face, and a lack of airbeds that I found quite disturbing...

I didn't really. If you didn't get that quote, it's okay, it's pretty obscure.

So, some amount of hours later, we're sitting here, eating Froot Loops and creating in-game assets (myself included... for now... until they see my pixel art) and waiting in line for the shower. Apparently I'm person no. 4! In the line thus far! Which has probably been going since about 6am!

Be not daunted by my tone, gentle reader, but heartened. I am awake, alive, well, and soon to be full of sugar. Though time may cut some of us down or force us to shower, we will carry on.

We're looking at cutting the scope of our prototype, though, which is only fair, since we don't know how long they're going to play it for and we need more backgrounds and stuff before we can really put it all together. KP's been doing the pathing, though, so we can expect to see Hewlet wandering around sometime soon!

Who's Hewlet, you may ask? Indeed, you may ask. Just wait and see, dear reader, wait and see...
LCT

13. I'm Not Even Angry

2008-10-04T04:19:00.002+10:00

But I am really tired. Up to this point, I've completed a rough outline of both the gameplay (puzzles included) and the storyline up to the end of the prototype. It's still pretty sketchy in a lot of places, but it's a start, at least, and I've got something to go with tomorrow (today?) as the birds of morning (Murry) sing me awake in the wee hours. Or perhaps it's already the wee hours. How can one tell? Do they feel small?

Coincidentally, if 1 o'clock am is small, what does that make 1 o'clock pm? They're the same size, unless you're running on military time. I just think society is size-ist.

But that's really neither here nor there. What is here, is brain-dead tiredness, and what is there, is blessed sleep.

No updates for a bit. You may want to catch some shut-eye, too.
See you soon,
LCT

12. For the People Who Are Still Alive

2008-10-04T03:46:00.003+10:00

Update on the opening cinematic -

Katie is the most awesome person alive.

It looks amazing, the timing is great, and I'm so impressed with what she's done from my script. Now all we need to do is add audio and some sound effects, then we'll release it for your viewing pleasure.

It might be a bit large, since we don't want to compress it too much or we get some funny after-effect artefacts, but I'm sure Katie will figure something out to optimise it.

A warning though - it doesn't explain much, but it will make you want to play our game! Hopefully...

LCT

11. And You Make a Neat Gun

2008-10-04T03:10:00.003+10:00

So we have more updates! The walk cycle for Hewlet is almost done, and Rimon has just finished her version of Summertime:

I absolutely love it, I think he looks very graceful. Yes, it's a guy, but he's supposed to be kind of androgynous, so points in both areas! The colouring is gorgeous, as always.

Ian's been working on a critter for our bestiary. He'll probably be hopping around a couple of the scenes (the little green guy above, not Ian), but there's another version of him coming later, so keep an eye out for that (no, it's not just a colour change...)

And because I feel mean constantly leaving her out of the piccies, here's some of Katie's code. :)

Some of you may be wondering why it is that I keep posting photos of people's screens - it's not because we don't have a way to share files, it's because I don't particularly want the full-res copies floating around on the 'net before we're done with them.

Rimon has drifted off to bed - that leaves 4. I'm considering bed myself, at the early hour of 4am, but we'll see what happens. Perhaps scripts are best written when tired, anyway.

We'll see!
LCT

10. And the Science Gets Done

2008-10-04T02:14:00.002+10:00

We were just interviewed by a very friendly gal from Triple J, who asked us to put into layman's terms exactly what it means to make a game in 48 hours, and how it compares to your usual run-of-the-mill game process. How does one describe the intricacies of animation and coding to an audience who may not understand the concept of e-mail? It's an intriguing question, and one I'd like to give more thought.

As for the progress of things, it was stifled somewhat on my end when Rimon and I ran outside to spin around in circles. Perhaps the tiredness is taking its toll, but, really, I just think it's fun to do things you normally wouldn't do. We tried to get passersby to join in, but to no avail (well, except for James from team Laserback Turtles Beta). People need more dizziness in their lives on a daily basis. It helps you feel more stable normally, or possibly just more sane.

On the drinks front, we're now drinking red cordial and soda water, including RB and IU, who don't seem to have had it before. Hmmm. Perhaps it is a purely Australian pasttime. Then again, this entire expedition is about education and the thrills and spills of a not-entirely-academic lifestyle. Hopefully we're all learning a lot (especially about how long we can survive on chocolate and peanut butter toast), but we're still going really well and having a lot of fun to boot.

March on, brave marmoset supporters! March proud!
LCT

9. You Just Keep On Trying 'til You Run Out of Cake

2008-10-04T01:18:00.003+10:00

Now we have intro images! Wheeeeee!

Courtesy of Ian, these are two of the intro images that will be in our opening cinematic:

I'm constantly amazed at what my team-mates can come up with. Their ability to both recognise the scope of what I want and work even beyond it continues to surprise and delight me.

Personally, I'm on to writing the script, while Katie is animating the intro cutscene already. Murry is having fun with walk cycles and Nick... well, Nick is asleep. :) He had a long day at internship filled with emotional turmoil and dinosaur fights, so we'll wake him up in a couple more hours and reintroduce him to the terrifying world of design!

Oh, and Murry just figured out he can make the astronaut moonwalk if he reverses the walk cycle. :)

Happy days!
LCT

8. But There's No Sense Crying Over Every Mistake

2008-10-04T00:32:00.003+10:00

That title is misleading, but I'm trying to follow the song. In any case, behold the best character design ever, courtesy of our very own Rimon!

No mistakes to speak of thus far (touch wood as I attempt to eat noodles).

I also hear good things about being linked to Australian Gamer!

Bring on the win!
LCT

7. (Except the ones who are dead)

2008-10-03T23:58:00.004+10:00

I just had a ride on a scooter! A SCOOTER! So I'm terrible at it, but it was pretty fun, for the moments when I wasn't afraid of falling. It was given to me by one of the other team members, (Seth from team Duct Tape, in fact) who was possibly trying to distract me from my rightful role of Games Writer Extraordinaire, but I had fun and didn't injure anything or anyone (at least permanently). It also seemed to be of interest to some of the other teams around the place, so I now know that a scooter is a good talking point and I should definitely pick up one for future parties.

I've found an interesting object near our seating place:

I think we may be in the Cube. If so, this is all some kind of weird social experiment! Wait...

Work is progressing more slowly since we hit our second day (it sounds so ominous - it only ticked midnight 14 minutes ago), but I'm probably only noticing because I've been spending my time contemplating slowly over-cooking noodles and wondering why on earth there's a webcam in the kitchen. Or is there?

Stay tuned!
LCT

6. For The Good of All of Us

2008-10-03T22:24:00.003+10:00

So we've been planning puzzles and objects and things to do... I never appreciated Roberta Williams and crew until now. Trying to decide where to put a rock? Not as easy as it sounds. Well, not as easy as it would be in real life, because then it just goes on the nearest competitor's laptop. Needless to say, things are very friendly.

Not true, not true, they are, in fact, quite congenial and very friendly when opening doors for people with more than one mug full of tea. Apparently one of the other teams is playing games at the moment, which makes me ask the question: why are we here designing when we could be playing?

"Oh, yeah, hey, so I made this game just now, I think I'll call it Oblivion."

It would totally work.

You may have noticed things are getting a bit more incoherent around here, but that's partially due to the time and partially due to the smell of coffee. We were interviewed by Yug of Australian Gamer fame a short time ago, and he's much more entertaining in person even than he is in his e-mails, so that was pleasant. He said our story sounds awesome and he can't wait to play it, and that we seem quite professional, so that's also good, and we have feedback, hooray!

Much of the backstory of the characters probably won't be revealed, of course, so whether or not that comes out in interviews, or I post extra materials after we release our prototype is still up for debate. So far I think the characters are pretty interesting, but, hey, I created them, so I guess that goes with the (bat) territory.

I'm not doing so great with the update-an-hour thing, mainly because I keep getting distracted by silly things like game design and questions and rocks, but, rest assured, I'll be doing my utmost to make 48 posts before this is all over!

So gloriously, gloriously over.

I'm only kidding. It's fun so far, quite a bit of fun, actually, but when we get into the actual level building and testing tomorrow... yeah, I can see that getting less interesting. But, then again, we'll get to see everything put together, so that will be our reward before our tedious animation-loop-testing.

Actually, ML's about ready to hook a couple of backgrounds together, so our reward comes earlier than anticipated! Hooray for speedpainting!

5. We Do What We Must, Because We Can

2008-10-03T20:46:00.007+10:00

So we've had pizza, and now we're debating the size of certain in-game objects. How large is a watermelon? That is the question we, as game makers, must ask. Does it daunt us? Yes. Yes it does. Do we have a solution? Not at the moment, but we're optimistic. Why are we optimistic? Well, we're Portal Marmosets. The cutest thing with technology this side of the exploding sheep planet. If cute can't save us, nothing will!

NF has arrived, so the team is all officially here. There're still some variable to define and pizza boxes to dispose of, but otherwise things are going well, and hopefully we'll finish the concept stage well before midnight. If that's the case, that means... SLEEP! :D But if not, we'll sleep anyway, and pay for our foolishness on the morrow.

In the meantime, have some pictures:

This is the contents of one of the bags I put together. Each person got a bag, and each bag was a different colour! Surprise!

In case you can't see it, each set of cutlery has a coloured star sticker on it corresponding to the coloured bag it came from. Little did I know that plates, cutlery, noodles, coke and even bread would be provided! T.T Ah well, at least I came prepared.

Best of all, I decorated mugs! That's right, I took ordinary, multi-purpose, everyday mugs and defaced them! :D And then I was proud of myself.

Here's the team from the outside, before NF arrived. This is around 4pm, right before the words were announced. Ah, those were the days...

And this is the team now, sitting around our cramped desks, gleefully hiding pizza boxes from the camera. Are we ashamed? No. But we're worried someone else will see our pizza and try to claim it as their own.

This is more of ML's concept art. It's even more advanced now, and looking quite fantastic.

Alas, it's time to think of more puzzles to torture the player with. Hooray!
LCT

4. Aperture Science!

2008-10-03T19:49:00.005+10:00

So an internet outage on my poor little laptop has left me blogless, but nevertheless, we persevere! It will take more than an internet outage and shortage of pizza to keep us from our gaming destiny!

Along those lines, we now have the majority of the background worked out, character concepts drawn up, most of the storyline figured out and ML has done some colour concepts that I'm attaching. I do believe they are quite The Bomb.

All in all, things progress smoothly, though I'm using ML's computer to type this, so I'd better dash... with pizazz!

LCT

3. It's Hard to Overstate my Satisfaction

2008-10-03T17:47:00.002+10:00

Another update from the team who brought you Toaster Bagel Marionettes(tm)!

We've decided on a story idea... should I say? The overwhelming response is, "Not on your life, McGee!" Why they call me McGee is anyone's guess, but I think it may have something to do with Gibbs hitting me upside the head anytime I make a smart-alec remark.

Now, if only we had coffee... RB is drawing character designs (she just drew a winning one - I must nab it after this is over!) while IU is doing characters too, and KP is thinking of ways to implement my incredibly awkward puzzle designs. ML is coming up with colour palettes and NF is still on his way...

So far, I think we're doing great. The combination of ideas is slightly tangy with just the right amount of salt, and the ETA of nirvana is rapidly approaching.

It may be time to lay off the chocolate.
LCT

2. I'm Making a Note Here: Huge Success

2008-10-03T16:41:00.002+10:00

So we have our words. They are:

Watermelon
Astronaut
Summertime

So far, we have some pretty crazy ideas running around, but we haven't gotten down to the coloured-pens-and-butcher's-paper stage yet, so the pudding, as they may say, is still to be proofed.

Did I do that wrong?

Ideas generation, wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
LCT

1. This Was a Triumph

2008-10-03T10:18:00.001+10:00

Welcome to the first post of the newly-minted Portal Marmosets blog! Here you can keep up-to-date with all your favourite Portal Marmoset tomfoolery - because Nothing's More Fun Than Tiny Monkeys With Portal Guns(tm). Well, at least until the 48-hour game making competition is over.

This wonderful, egregious (in the archaic sense) team consists of:
* Your distinguished colleague and pro proto-matter activist, Leanne C. Taylor
* The esteemed and whimsical Rimon Bar, Who Is Fond of Small Kittens And Character Design
* Winner of the inaugural Most Awesome Boots award and the too-adorable-to-be-called-a-monkey-code-monkey Katherine Power
* Background artist and all-round all-rounder (in the pixel art world), Murry Lancashire/MacGyver (keep all paperclips to yourself... no, seriously)
* A being created by the Design-a-Tron 6000, now known only as... Nick Frizzo
* A mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in beef jerky who happens to both code and animate, the elusive Ian Underwood

Together we will endeavour to bring you the amusing hourly highlights of Portal Marmoset and their adventure into the 48-hour game making world.

Stay tuned!
LCT