8/31/96Well, the image for Gerwin is now complete. I'm not sure which character we will start in on next. I am considering Venetia, but I am not sure as of yet.
You may have noticed that I am running a day late on my update here. I also don't have much to report. I haven't work on anything myself. I just started school and I'm trying to adjust. I have a holiday this weekend and hopefully I can catch up somehow.
Ryan sent me a few midi files (old stuff he did) that I will put on the page as samples of his work. I am trying to get more info together for him so that he can work on stuff for the game. No need for him to hurry though, it will be a while before I am ready for the music.
I am thinking that a release date will be something along the lines of summer of 97. I will need a good part of the summer to finish it up. I hope that with the various vacations through the school year that I am able to work on the game. I am really getting burnt out on everything because I am trying to work and go to school at the same time. I really wish I had the time to dedicate to game design :(
8/22/96The status screen image for Staulker is complete and Theresa is working on Gerwin. Tonight I plan to spend some time on the plot, perhaps finish it up. I spoke with Klint Bower (proposed artist) and he says he is still interested in the the project, but he still hasn't given me any artwork so I donno.
I also got some mail today from Ryan Anderson (my musician). He is in the middle of switching schools and such, so he has been very busy. Hopefully I will have a few sample midi files he has composed to put on the web site soon. Looks like I might just finish this game..
In sadder news, I hit a deer the other night and cause $1400 in damage to my blazer. I think I can pick parts up in the junk yard and fix it for about 250 bucks. Well, sorta fix it... If anyone wants to send me lots of money, go right ahead!
I've had a scarey thought lately. Now that John Romero has left id, and the Prey team has lost members, my mind has been thinking things that I probably should not worry about. Tom Hall was a member of the Prey team.. If he was one of the ones who left, I don't know. Because of a friend, I had the pleasure to have lunch with Tom Hall a while back. I told him about my idea and hopes for The Legend of Talibah and gave him a demo of it on disk. He mentioned the fact that it was a good idea to produce this style of game as it was lacking on the PC. The members that left 3DRealms and John Romero are suppose to be making games with the Quake engine at first, but I have heard (word of mouth) that Romero has always wanted to make an RPG.. What if Tom Hall and John Romero deside to make a fantastic RPG? Great, then no one will even notice me! The game will be a smash. Of course I'll have to buy it and play it if they do, but gosh, I wanted to do it. If either of you guys is reading this, why don't you drop me a line... what is Romero's or Hall's address anyway?
8/16/96Theresa Dudley (my mother actually) has agreed to do a few pictures for me. This is a sketch of a character known as Staulker. I pasted it on the status screen shot I had taken a while back to see how it would look on the page. The status screen for each character will show a detailed image of that character and hopefully play that characters midi file.
Staulker has a rich background. He is from a race of people (yet un-named) that have almost totally died out, not much unlike the Shads. He is quick and skilled. He has learned to rule out emotion and deal mostly with logic. The weapon he carries is common for the warriors of his kind. A large U shaped weapon with razor sharp blades. Two smaller points on the inside of the U are useful for intercepting and trapping a sword and a simple twist of the weapon will send the enemies blade flying out of harms reach. There isn't anything much more frightening than being laid flat on you back with both blades stuck into the sand beside the tender flesh of you neck as you look up into the eyes of a man who has no emotion. Thankfully Staulker is also a nobel and good character, fighting to right the wrongs that have been done to his people over the years..
You can read what portion of the plot I have onlined if you wish. I have gotten far enough in it to show where you pick up Staulker. He will join your party and be of great service to you. He will more than likely remain with you for the most of the game. At some point however, I have a great scene planned for Staulker that will unfortunately lead to his leaving the party.
8/8/96I've gotten my machine back and I am able to work on TLOT once again! I have begun work on the new overworld editor. I didn't have the knoledge to do it in high rez, high color, and with mouse support, so I had to give up on one of the three.. I coulda done it 640x480x16, 640x480x256 (no mouse), or 320x200x256.. I decided on 320x200x256 cause thats what mode the game is in. My problem was that I couldn't see enough of the overworld at one time, so I tried to make it zoom in and out.. I had orignally written it so that I could zoom out to any ratio and it was very slow... I then hard coded 3 levels of zooming... normal, 2x and 4x.. now the thing rocks.. lot left to do on it though.
I have had some time to work on the plot. I don't have enough added to it to warrent updating the web page and I will probably not do so until I've completed it.
I also created a new title screen graphic. I donno if I like it yet or not, but atleast its a change of pace.. I've decided that I do NOT like the old one. If I can get an artist, then perhaps alot of things will change!
