Video Gaming

LEARNING PYTHON AND DEVELOPING A GAME

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As I mentioned in my Surviving Lockdown post, I started upskilling on Python, and when upskilling on a new programming language, I usually do a project to build on and enforce the things I am learning.

For my Python-based project, I decided to use PyGame to develop a small game. One piece of advice I can offer when developing a game is that it is better to develop a small and basic game that you finish than a large and ambitious game you never complete. I believe everyone who has tried some form of game development has at least one over-ambitious project they never completed, so it is better to start small.

The game I developed is called “Space Octopus Invasion” and here is a video of the game in action:

The tools and resources I used in the development process are as follows:

  • Trello
    I used Trello for task tracking and planning.
    trello
  • PyCharm
    PyCharm is my favorite Python IDE developed by JetBrains, and it offers a free community edition.
    pycharm
  • PyInstaller 
    A great utility to package a python application into an executable file.
  • InstallForge 
    A free installer maker that allows you to create a professional-looking setup wizard to install your game.
  • GameDevMarket.net
    I am not an artistically inclined person, and typically I use art, sound, and music assets when developing a game, I recommend GameDevMarket.net as they have a great selection of assets available.

The Installer for the game can be downloaded here: Installer.

And the source code can be downloaded here: Source Code.

LEARNING PYTHON AND DEVELOPING A GAME

MOVIE REVIEW – NOT FOR RESALE: A VIDEO GAME STORE DOCUMENTARY

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Not For Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary is an interesting and informative film directed by Kevin J. James. It is a documentary film that examines the place of brick and mortar video game stores in a world that is increasingly becoming exclusively digitally focused.

The film focuses on a variety of Retro Game Stores, including two I have had the pleasure of visiting 8bit and Up in New York City and Pink Gorilla Games in Seattle. Numerous owners and employees of these stores are interviewed about the future of these local “Mom and Pop” shops in a world where physical media is becoming increasingly unfashionable and demand for physical retro video games is decreasing year on year (partly due to these retro games being made available on new platforms).

The documentary also examines the rise of the digital distribution of video games and how that affects the customer from a product ownership perspective. From a positive perspective, the digital distribution of video games has removed a massive barrier to entry for smaller and indie developers, who can now release their games alongside the big corporations. There are, however, also negative points. These mainly focus on the possibility that a customer can lose access to a digital product they have purchased if it is removed from the digital distribution platform. Digital products can be removed from digital distribution platforms for a variety of reasons, including the lapse of licensing agreements.

The film also examines the preservation of video games and video game history, an important task undertaken by various organizations, including the Video Game History Foundation and the National Video Game Museum in Frisco, Texas. These organizations strive to preserve all things related to the history of video games, not just merely the game itself but all source code, design documents, and marketing material. The documentary also discusses the Library of Congress of the United States’ video game section, where video games are stored for historical purposes in a similar way to which the Library archives films and books.

Not For Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary is an enjoyable film that, at its core, looks at the impact video games have on our lives and the way this important part of many of our lives will be affected in the future.  Not For Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary is an excellent documentary that comes highly recommended.

MOVIE REVIEW – NOT FOR RESALE: A VIDEO GAME STORE DOCUMENTARY

SURVIVING LOCKDOWN

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I had to travel for work to New York City for a week at the end of February (returning early March), and upon returning, I became ill with the flu (I was tested for COVID-19, and luckily tests came back negative). Nevertheless, I was placed on doctor mandated self-isolation. On the 26th March at 23:59, the government of South Africa put the country on lockdown, meaning that you can only leave your house to buy food, get medication, or seek urgent medical assistance. The Army was deployed to assist the police in enforcing the lockdown, and leaving your home for any other reason than the ones mentioned above can result in you being arrested.

This does mean that I have been at home, except a handful of exceptions, for over a month now, and have kept myself busy with a variety of things, such as playing video games, watching some movies, doing a few Python courses and 3d printing a few things.
From a gaming perspective, I have been playing the following games:

Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I thoroughly enjoyed Link’s Awakening, and it is an amazing remake of the Gameboy classic. The game has buckets of charm and is very enjoyable. It is not a challenging game, except for the last boss that can be a bit tricky. I highly recommend Link’s Awakening, and I enjoyed every second from beginning to end, and it took me about 15 hours to complete.

Animal Crossing New Horizons (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I have been absolutely obsessed with Animal Crossing New Horizons, and I must have logged over 40 hours of gameplay to date, and I am still far from done with this game. It is the perfect game while stuck at home, and it is a fantastically fun and feel-good game.

Afterparty (on the Nintendo Switch)

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A delightful adventure by Night School Studio, the creators of Oxenfree. I enjoyed this game, and I love the art style. The game is about 6 hours long, and I am now busy with my second play through doing alternative paths from my first playthrough. Afterparty is a must for anyone who loves adventure games.

Doom 64 (on the Nintendo Switch)

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Doom64 is a tremendous classic fps, and it plays fantastically in Switch Handheld mode. Initially released in 1997 on the Nintendo 64, it has now been re-released on modern platforms. All the enemies and weapons received a redesign from the original Doom games, and I love how enemies look in Doom 64. Doom 64 is a must-play for any Doom fan.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (on the Nintendo Switch)

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I am busy playing through Mario Kart 8 again, I have finished the game on the WiiU previously, but I am casually playing through it again between Animal Crossing sessions. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch is the definitive version of Mario Kart 8, with all the DLC included and with enhanced graphics (and a fixed battle mode), it is the best Mario Kart game to date.

Doom Eternal (on PC)

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Doom Eternal is a beautiful game, and it definitely amps up the difficulty from Doom 2016. All the enemies received a redesign from Doom 2016, with the new designs being more closely inspired by the original Doom games (Doom and Doom II). I love the redesigns of the enemies, and thus far, I am enjoying the game. The game has more strategy compared to Doom 2016, with some enemies having specific weak points that can be exploited, and certain kills (glory kill, chainsaw and flamethrower) providing specific pickups (either health, ammo or armor). The game truly looks amazing and performs great, and I am having no issues running the game at 144fps on Ultra Nightmare settings at 1440p on my 9900k and RTX2080. A definite must-play for FPS fans.

I have also watched a fair number of movies, including:

Not for Resale: A Video Game Store Documentary

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I enjoyed this documentary about Video Game stores and physical media, and I will be posting a full review soon.

Indie Game the Movie

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An entertaining and informative look at the indie game industry, a must-watch for anyone interested in the process of creating video games. I will also be posting a full review of Indie Game the Movie soon.

I have also kept myself busy 3D printing a few things, mostly using the CCTree PLA Wood filament. I have had a few requests from colleagues and friends for Baby Groot and Pikachu models, so I printed out a few of each to give away.

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SURVIVING LOCKDOWN

REVIEW – CORSAIR HS70 WIRELESS GAMING HEADSET

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The Corsair HS70 is a wireless headset which features virtual 7.1 surround sound using 50mm drivers in a closed back design. The headset connects to your PC using an included USB dongle and utilises a 2.4GHz low latency wireless connection.

Additional features of the headset include on ear controls, a detachable microphone and an advertised battery life of 16 hours (although my experience was closer to 12 hours), all of which makes the HS70 a very alluring offer at a retail, price of approximately $100.

The headset is extremely comfortable and the build quality is good. Sound quality is also exceptionally good for a wireless headset, and this is from someone who normally avoids wireless headsets and uses professional grade wired studio headphones that cost about 6 times more than the HS70. The microphone quality is also good and delivers crisp and clear quality sound.

In closing, the Corsair HS70 is a great wireless headset at a great price.

REVIEW – CORSAIR HS70 WIRELESS GAMING HEADSET

BOOK REVIEW – LITTLE NIGHTMARES VOLUME 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL

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Needless to say, this graphic novel is based on the game Little Nightmares and contains the first 2 comic books in the series. The series was initially announced to consist of 4 comic books, however at the time of this post book 3 and 4 unfortunately appear to have been cancelled.

Anyone who has played Little Nightmares will know that the world of the game is a dark and mysterious place, with a lot of unanswered questions. This graphic novel builds on this world and provides some additional bits of information about the greater world that was not directly shown in the game.

I really like the ascetics and feel of Little Nightmares and part of its appeal is this sense of unknown, and the graphic novel does not spoil this, providing just enough information to get the reader more curious. For example, the comic books explain how the kids end up on The Maw, the fictional ship on which the game and its DLC takes place, but gives no additional details about the mysteries surrounding the Maw itself.

The graphic novel is beautifully illustrated with amazing artwork, in line with the graphic style of the game.

It is however important to mention that this graphic novel will not make sense to someone who has not played the game. It is very much a companion piece to the game and builds on the world that was established therein. But if you played Little Nightmares and loved the world it built then this will be a great read.

BOOK REVIEW – LITTLE NIGHTMARES VOLUME 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL

WINDOWS MIXED REALITY

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Today we will have a look at a Windows Mixed Reality headset, more specifically the Lenovo Explorer. First let us have a look at what Windows Mixed Reality headsets are. Despite their naming, Windows Mixed Reality headsets are not a mixed reality technology like the Microsoft HoloLens, but are Virtual Reality Headsets and Motion Controllers based on technologies developed by Microsoft and manufactured by OEMs like Lenovo, HP and Dell to name a few.

Each of the manufacturers made minor changes to their headsets, for example the HP Headset introduced detachable cables, which is a great feature, however also reduced the field of view to 95° (Compared to a 110° field of view for most of the other Windows Mixed Reality Headsets) which results in a rather terrible binocular effect. So, part of the challenge is selecting a headset that meets your requirements based on the differences between the headsets in a variety of areas, such as field of view, fit, comfort and weight.

Below are the high-level results of my research for each headset I considered:

  • Samsung Odyssey: Great headset, however at time of making my purchase it was over double the price of the other headsets.
  • HP WMR Headset: Detachable cables are a great feature, however the field of view (95°) is a deal breaker.
  • Dell Visor: Has a terrible fit and has the worst light bleed of any of the headsets from the headset not properly sitting on the users’ face.
  • Acer WMR Headset: Good all-rounder, however I really did not like the visual design of it.
  • Lenovo Explorer: Good all-rounder and more muted design compared to Acer.
  • Asus WMR Headset: Out of Stock at time of my Purchase, also its price is comparable to Samsung Odyssey.

All the Windows Mixed Reality Headsets have a per eye resolution of 1440×1440@90Hz, except the Samsung Odyssey which has a resolution of 1440×1600@90Hz, compared to 1080×1200@90Hz for the Oculus Rift, 1080×1200@90Hz for the HTC Vive and 960×1080@120Hz for the PlayStation VR.

The three above mentioned headsets do however utilise OLED Displays whereas the Windows Mixed Reality Headsets (except the Samsung, which uses AMOLED) use LCD displays, resulting in the Windows Mixed Reality Headsets experience slightly less colour saturation and contrast, however most people would have a hard time noticing the difference if they did not compare the headsets side by side.

Another area in which the Windows Mixed Reality headsets differ from the other major VR headsets is in the way it handles position tracking. In the case of the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, these headsets utilize some form of external components, such as the Oculus Cameras, Vive Lighthouses and PlayStation Camera, to track the users position in the virtual world. This is great for tracking accuracy, but it is not ideal from the perspective that additional devices are required, that often must be purchased separately, as well as the additional configuration and cables that need to me managed and kept out-of-the-way.

For many people space is also a problem and setting up a designated VR space is simply not an option and packing up everything between uses is very cumbersome. Thus, with these headsets, although the results are amazing, the setup is tedious, and they are far from easily movable once setup.

This is where Windows Mixed Reality takes a different approach, using what is called inside-out tracking. This technology is based on the learnings and technologies Microsoft refined in the development of the Xbox Kinect. Instead of using external components to track the users’ position, all user tracking happens using sensors, such as cameras and Infra-red, contained within the headset. The results are surprisingly good, with the only real trade-off being that the motion controllers are tracked only if they are in view of the headset. Thus far I have not found a VR game where this resulted in any problems.

As far as configuration is concerned, things are very straight forward and easy with the headset requiring one USB 3.0 port and one HDMI 1.4 (2.0 is however recommended) port.

Microsoft lists the minimum GPU required as an Intel HD620, however what can be run on this GPU will be seriously limited. A more realistic GPU requirement can be ascertained by looking at the SteamVR and Oculus minimum requirements, which lists a GeForce GTX 970, however certain games do require a more powerful GPU. All my testing was done on a GeForce GTX 1080.

Now that we have covered all the hardware related information, let us have a look at some of the content and games available for the headset.

There are three main platforms on which you can get content and games for Windows Mixed Reality Headsets, they are Mixed Reality Portal, SteamVR and Oculus Store.

The Mixed Reality Portal is the Microsoft platform and is designed for Windows Mixed Reality headsets. The games and content available on the Portal is however by far the most limited of the three platforms.

With SteamVR the user will need to install “Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR” from the Steam Store. Once this is completed SteamVR titles will be playable on the Windows Mixed Reality headset. Titles officially supporting Windows Mixed Reality will have the following icon: wmr_icon

Steam

However, all SteamVR titles I tested, the majority of which did not have official support worked perfectly. So, do not feel restricted to only titles that list official support for Windows Mixed Reality.

To play Oculus games on your Windows Mixed Reality headset you will require an application called Revive. The complete setup instructions can be found here. All titles I tested from the Oculus store worked perfectly.

Now that you know your options regarding where to get games and content, the next question is what to get? I can recommend the following VR games which are my favorites:

  • Batman: Arkham VR
  • Audioshield
  • The Blu
  • Space Pirate Trainer
  • Job Simulator
  • Doom VFR
  • The Brookhaven Experiment
  • Superhot VR

Windows Mixed Reality headsets have a list price of between $400-500 (USD) dependent on model, however most Windows Mixed Reality headsets have been on sale consistently over the past few months on Amazon and the Microsoft store for around $250 and even less if you would consider a refurbished headset.

Given the price of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift (including the Oculus Cameras) is nearly double that, the Windows Mixed Reality headsets become a very alluring offer for anyone wanting to experience Virtual Reality without breaking the bank.

I am very pleased with my purchase and I have really enjoyed the experience with my Lenovo Explorer headset. I would recommend the Windows Mixed Reality Headsets to anyone interested in getting a VR headset who might be scared off by the $500 price tag or the complicated setup. Windows Mixed Reality gives the user a more affordable, more compact and easy to use alternative, with only minor trade-offs, and I would recommend that anyone in the market for a VR headset give Windows Mixed Reality a serious consideration.

Just as a side note, I use the Skywin Universal VR Holder and Cable Organiser to store my Windows Mixed Reality headset and it works great. It is an inexpensive way to keep your headset safe and looking cool when it is not in use.

WINDOWS MIXED REALITY

BOOK REVIEW – MASTERS OF DOOM BY DAVID KUSHNER

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Masters of Doom tells the story of the formation of ID Software, one of the most influential companies in gaming. It focuses on the stories of the four founders, John Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Carmack and Tom Hall.

Covering everything from how and where they crew up, to how they got involved in game development, to how they met and started ID Software and eventually as most of them left ID Software, what came next for them.

The book covers everything from the early days when they worked at SoftDisk and started Ideas from the Deep (Later renamed to ID Software). Where they worked on Commander Keen and how they constantly evolved, creating revolutionary game after game, from Wolfenstein 3D to Doom to Quake, transforming the industry and what people thought possible along the way.

This book is by far my favourite video game related book, and I cautious writing any more regarding its contents out of fear of spoiling something. But if you are in any way interested in video games give this book a try. It is an amazing book and comes highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW – MASTERS OF DOOM BY DAVID KUSHNER

BOOK REVIEW – BLOOD, SWEAT AND PIXELS BY JASON SCHREIER

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Blood, Sweat and Pixel is a very enjoyable book, containing the stories behind the creation of various video games. It gives the reader insight into how this process is never straight forward nor easy and is rather a perilous journey undertaken by developers out of sheer love for the medium.

The creation process of various video games are covered, from the successful, such as The Witcher 3 and Uncharted 4, to the ill-fated Star Wars 1313.

The book also conveys the sad stories of how many video games outlive the studios that created them, and the reality that very few video game development studios remains afloat in the challenging video game industry.

The reader is also given great insight into the challenges video game developers face, from tight budgets and technological difficulties to dealing with tyrannical publishers. It gives the reader a much greater sense of appreciation for what the developers endure to make their creative visions a reality.

As someone who loves video games and is interested in the development process behind them, I found this book highly entertaining and informative. I struggled to put this book down and would highly recommend it.   

BOOK REVIEW – BLOOD, SWEAT AND PIXELS BY JASON SCHREIER

A Story About A Game

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15 Years ago I wrote a small game called Hellspawn and I rediscovered it again when I was going through some old backup discs. It is a top down shooter and was developed in Borland C++ Builder (I think version 6). It was a very basic game (especially looking back now) from when I was still a very inexperienced developer, still studying to get a degree.

So if anyone is interested here it is: HellSpawn

To get it working on windows 10:

Use Hellspawn.exe to start the game, but first in file properties:

  • Set executable to run in compatibility mode  – Windows 98 / Windows ME
  • Reduced Color mode – 16-bit
  • Override DPI Scaling Behavior, Scaling performed by – Application
  • Can also set to run in 640 x 480, however is best to change screen resolution in windows to 1024 x 768 for best experience.

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The controls are as follows:

  • Arrow keys to move
  • Left ctrl keys to fire weapon

Simply kill all the enemies to proceed to the next level.

On another note I have some Steam game keys to give away!

For a chance to win one simply email killerrobotics.me@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Killer Robotics Steam Giveaway’ and for the message content just be creative.

Winners will be randomly selected and announced via twitter.

A Story About A Game