djmoya

professional nerd

OSX Games

BlockNinjas

Goal:$1500 Total:$0.00

Block Ninjas is a 2d action plat-former for your IOS, ANDROID AND HTML5 . I want to bring old school side-scrolling shoot-em / beatem up action to the iPhone, iPad, android and computer. The entire game is being developed solely by myself. But of course with family and friends support and hopefully yours.

The game style is a mix of enhanced 8bit block ninjas / characters in a hand drawn and pixelated world. With the different abilities and powers such as magical ninja stars, bombs, jumping off walls doing flips and kicking some butt. There will be a ton of unlock-able playable characters. From other types of ninjas to babies,zombies,robots and so on. Each character with their own ninja throwing weapons and skills.

The art of the game is either hand drawn scanned into the computer and edited from there or is designed pixel by pixel or stock art photos then edited a little to give it a smoother integrated look. All the music and sound effects are composed by my self with some help and ideas from family and friends.

 

The level design is made with a simple idea or sketch then based off that I would design play and test the level to make sure its fun.The stages will have some randomness to them. So when you play the game its not the exact same every time. Enemies will be in different positions flying through the air and running at you from all different directions.

The stages will also have physics to make the game play more fun and sometimes challenging. Such as bigger enemies are heavier and harder to move so watch out for them when they come flying towards you.

The ipad and osx versions will also have a 2 player battle and co-op mode. I will also be working on a way to have online play and maybe even a level editor.

Also providing neat rewords for those who donate is a great way to show my appreciation for your help

I have spent quite a bit of money and time on the project so far. Buying an iMac, iPhone and iPad. But still need help in funding to pay off the credit cards used to buy them. I’d also need some help getting newer gen iPad 3 and older IOS devices to test the game on. As well as getting a few different android devices with different versions of android. Maybe even a macbook to work on the game while on the road or on lunch / breaks at work. Instead of being stuck in front of my desk with any of my free time. Funding for more art supplies, licenses, and other legal fees is also needed and very appreciated. I work a full time job right now. But with some of this funding.It would allow me to take extra days off work to work solely on this project which would help out immensely.

If I reach my goal you can rest assured knowing all the funds will be used in getting the game tested and finished in an earlier time frame with quality and game play in mind. These funds would make my dream of becoming a game developer come true. Hopefully becoming a full time job not just a hobby and you can be part of this dream.

Help fund an awesome 2d ninja action plat-former for IOS, android and html5 browser plus get great stuff for doing so :)

 

Some goals with the funds are…

  • Take more time off work to work on game.
  • Buy Macbook to work on the game while away from my desk.
  • Buy more art supplies to help design the game.
  • Get a good high quality Mic to record voice overs and sound effects.
  • Pay off credit debt that was from starting this game.
  • Buy iPad 3 and android devices to test this game on and other future releases.
  • Pay licenses and other legal fees.
  • To involve donators such as your self in making this game awesome.

Some goals for the game are

  • To make around 20-30 levels for the first release
  • To make unlockable mini games
  • To work more on the art style and design
  • To make a battle and co-op mode for the osx and ios / android :)
  • Check into making a level editor and online play
  • Create more playable characters and enemies and power ups

 

Stanton SCS4 DJ Mixer Review

This is my new baby the Stanton SCS4 DJ

 http://www.stantondj.com/stanton-controllers-systems/scs4dj.html

INPUTS

  • 4 x USB A ports supporting memory sticks, hard drives, smart phones or keyboard input for search.
  • Balanced Microphone input with volume control

OUTPUTS

  • Balanced 1/4″ TRS Main outputs (+4dB)
  • Unbalanced RCA outputs (-10dB)
  • 1/4″ stereo headphone output
  • 1/8″ stereo headphone output (clone of 1/4″ output)
  • USB “B” port (for MIDI controller mode only)

Good video review of the unit

Nice little scratch demonstration 

 Another good overview of the features of the unit

Pros
All in one unit – no need for laptop
Scratch – keylock – looping & 4 effects – filter, flanger, slice, delay are fast and responsive and great quality 
QuickGrid windows / mac software to scan tracks before putting them on the unit
4 usb ports – plug in 4 hard drives or even a usb light or charge your phone
USB Keyboard support with hotkeys for core functions and easier time searching for tracks
Prioritizes analyzing on tracks that are playing
Sync and loop functions are great
Beat grid has never failed me – you can adjust it if its ever off
You can use it as a MIDI controller for your dj software on your computer.

Cons
Takes about 30-60 seconds to analyze each song on the unit it self
20,000 song limit for each harddrive
QuickGrid software is buggy still version 1.0 – full disk error when disk is barely 60% full – fixed by formatted drive from fat32 to ntfs and used QuickGrid on OSX 
When rebuilding playlists from folders off a drive on the unit you must unplug the drive and plug it back in. – check out the tips for a better playlist solution
Sound card not available when using as midi device – hopefully fixed in update

 Over all
For the price point $500 and features this is one of the best solutions for a mobile dj on a budget like my self. The Stanton SCS4 has not crashed on me once. The build quality is pretty solid. Using a USB keyboard comes in handy when looking for a request. The 4 USB ports allow for a lot of options. You can even plug in a usb light or charge your phone while DJ’ing. I just hope they keep updating the software for this device for at least a couple of years.

Tips 
Its best to scan your music library with your computer using quickgrid.
For large music collections use playlist button never browse it will slow down the SCS4.
To make playlists for each folder use this tool
http://code.google.com/p/playlist-creation-tools/
It works on both PC and OSX.
Use a usb keyboard to aid in searching for music. You can even search for BPM in songs..
Format your drives to ntfs for more stability and (speed?).
If you have a mac you can use paragon ntfs driver its $20 but worth it http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/   

Satellaview BS Zelda History

Here is something I stumbled upon and never knew about…

The Satellaview (サテラビュー Saterabyū?) was a Japan-Only add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1995. The name “Satellaview” is assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “satellite” and “view”. Satellaview was broadcast from April 23, 1995 to June 30, 2000. It continued receiving new games up until March 1999. It is unknown why the Satellaview never went international. The Satellaview was obviously planned in North America as the evidence is the unused expansion port at the bottom of the NTSC version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Great video about the Satellaview and one the best games for the unit BS-Zelda the long lost Zelda game hardly anyone has played…

Check out the great work in progress of BS Zelda roms

http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/bszelda.shtml

Here’s a website for finding unknown video game gems like this and more…

http://tcrf.net/Category:Games

 

 

Hercules rmx headphone cue / pfl not working in virtualdj

This tutorial is made to fix the problem of not having the headphone out and headphone volume / mix work with VirtualDJ.

First open the advance settings in the control panel for RMX and match these settings bellow.

Now in VirtualDJ go to settings and match the settings below. Make sure to un-check Apply EQ on external inputs.

Click Apply and OK and your headphone output will work.

The problem is due to how the rmx handles ASIO mode. Headphone out put only works in WDM mode.