Full Games

Many programs and resources were used to create this website as well as the content in it. The creators behind them deserve to be acknowledged for what they have enabled me to do. Without the work and research that others have put into their own projects, mine would not be possible.

Below is a complete list of every program, website, or other resource that was used to create the elements of this website. There is also a short summary of how each element was created and how each program or resource was used in the creation process. Although certain programs may only have one basic function, it can usually be applied or manipulated to fit the needs of many projects. If you would like to see a full sized picture, you can right click and open it in a new tab. A hyperlink is also provided under each program or website that is mentioned to make using them for yourself easier.

Roller Ball Arcade

During the Covid-19 shutdown, I decided to spend my time creating a brand new app from start to finish. This game became Rollerball Arcade. After completing Storm the Base, I had a much better knowledge of how 3D models and textures work inside of Blender. This allowed me to vastly upgrade the graphics of my previous titles and make more realistic environments for the player to look at.

I had remembered playing the game Run and thought that the concept of a rotating level would be a really cool addition. I then began adding different object models to act as obstacles and used paint.net to create a textured glass appearance for them. However, when I started spawning them into my game world during gameplay, the frames would start to lag.

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This was how I learned about object pooling. This is a programming concept in which you spawn all of the items you need at the start of the level. You then move the items from place to place instead of spawning and destroying them. This allows for the processer to quickly calculate the location changes, rather than spawning new objects every time.

This app was completed in about 3 months and became my most downloaded game. At the time of writing this, it has over 5,000 downloads on Google Play! Scroll down to view more information about how this app was made or click below to…

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Unity

Unity is a game engine that allows its users free access. It can be used in 2D or 3D and is constantly being updated. There are many assets that can be downloaded and used or you can create something brand new. Unity also has many tutorials so it’s easy to find the information you’re looking for.

Unity was, again, the most important part of making this game. This app was created from the ground up in such a short time because of the simplicity of Unity. I have no doubt that I will continue to use this program to create any future game projects.

The creation of this app helped me understand many more of the concepts of 3D game design inside of Unity. The best part about Unity is the vast amount of information available online to help you achieve your desired result. Click below to download this program and try out game design for yourself.

Link to Site

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Blender

Blender is an incredibly versatile 3D editing software. It has a very straight forward interface and can do anything from modeling, to texture, to animation. It’s completely free to download and the models you make can be easily exported for use in a game engine. Best of all, because it’s free, there’s a very large amount of tutorials online to help get started.

Blender was not used as much with Rollerball Arcade, since the models used were very simple shapes. However, it was still used to model and export these shapes to be used in the game. These models were also UV unwrapped inside of for Blender so that the textures would show up correctly for each object.

The level blocks were also made inside of Blender, textured, and then exported to make up the walls. Each of these are the same object, simply textured with a different image to make them appear with variety. Blender is a great start for anyone interested in 3D modeling.

Link to Site

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LMMS

LMMS is a digital audio workstation application program. When LMMS is executed on a computer with appropriate hardware, it allows music to be produced by arranging samples, synthesizing sounds, playing on a MIDI keyboard and combining the features of trackers and sequencers.

This program, like Unity, has become vital to my game creation toolbelt. It has allowed me to produce original music for every game I’ve created in a very short time. These songs can be created, looped, and exported within a single day to be used in any project.

I definitely recommend this program to anyone interested in music. Even if you don’t have an interest in computer programming, LMMS can be used to create some really amazing music. Click below to try it for yourself.

Link to Site

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Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

Paint.net because very useful for this game. It allowed me to quickly manipulate the various textures found in the game. I could edit and modify anything I needed and save them in specific file types at specific resolutions. I was also able to edit the various logos and images found throughout the game. Photoshop be warned, Paint.net has everything you need

Link to Site

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Storm The Base

While working on updates for Galactic Fighter, I began hearing about the planned raid on Area 51. This gave me an idea for a new app. I decided to make an endless runner app that was similar to Subway Surfer in which the player would run through the desert on the way to Area 51 and find aliens inside to rescue. Working on Galactic Fighter allowed me to further understand how C# coding works inside of Unity. It also allowed me to advance my knowledge in 3D modeling using Blender and I felt confident moving forward with a new project.

As I began working on the game level I began to quickly realize that I would need a much deeper understanding of Blender. I had to add in 3D animations to my models in order to make them livelier in the game scene. I also had to learn more about how to properly texture 3d models. This opened up the door for much more custom objects. Previously to learning how to texture, I could only “dye” certain panels certain colors.

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Once I had made 3D models for my game, it was time to add them to the scene as well as begin writing the game logic. I programmed obstacles to randomly place themselves on the track in front of the player and then to delete these objects once they were off screen behind the player to keep the game running smoothly.

The inside of the base is completely modular. It uses about 5 custom wall pieces that are then randomly spawned at specific intervals to make up the base. This was necessary so that the game level could continue forever until the player dies. The power ups were a last-minute addition to keep the gameplay fun and interesting.

Good luck getting into the base! Keep scrolling down for more information about the programs that were used in this game’s creation, or you can …

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Unity

Unity is a game engine that allows its users free access. It can be used in 2D or 3D and is constantly being updated. There are many assets that can be downloaded and used or you can create something brand new. Unity also has many tutorials so it’s easy to find the information you’re looking for.

Unity has become the most important tool in my box for any game creation. It is the base for this game and without it, Storm the Base would not have been possible. This game exists in more of a 3D space, than Galactic Fighter and presented new challenges to face.

With this now being the third game that I have made using the Unity Game engine, I have become much more accustomed to the tools that are available for me to use. Creating scripts and communicating with the Engine has become much simpler and I still recommend Unity to anyone interested in game design.

Link to Site

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Blender

Blender is an incredibly versatile 3D editing software. It has a very straight forward interface and can do anything from modeling, to texture, to animation. It’s completely free to download and the models you make can be easily exported for use in a game engine. Best of all, because it’s free, there’s a very large amount of tutorials online to help get started.

Storm the Base also required a deeper knowledge of 3D modeling. It was important for this game to have animated characters and these were all made using keyframed, rigged models in Blender. The models were then exported to Unity to be used in the final game.

Blender offers so many features that it can feel overwhelming, but luckily there is a great community of people who are happy to help. Not to mention YouTube tutorials for anything you could want to learn. Learning Blender has become one of the most useful things I could have done.

Link to Site

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LMMS

LMMS is a digital audio workstation application program. When LMMS is executed on a computer with appropriate hardware, it allows music to be produced by arranging samples, synthesizing sounds, playing on a MIDI keyboard and combining the features of trackers and sequencers.

Returning to LMMS to create the music for Storm the Base was an easy choice to make. This program allowed me to create music and sound effects for the game very quickly. LMMS can be used to make much more in-depth music as well with the various plug-ins that are available to use.

After learning more about this program, I don’t think I’ll be returning to MadTracker2 any time soon. This program has a much simpler interface to use and is much easier to manipulate. It also has allowed for much quicker times on music production.

Link to Site

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Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

This program has continued to be an absolute favorite of mine. Almost all of the images for my projects are opened into Paint.net at one point or another. This program has become invaluable to my workflow and I cannot recommend it enough. It is completely free and there is an amazing community of people that create plugins. Anything that you can do in other image editors, you can do in paint.net for free.

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Galactic Fighter

This is a type of game that I wanted to make for a long time. I have always enjoyed shooter games like Galaga, Space Invaders, and Asteroids and wanted to make a game that was similar. When I first began trying to make a mobile app years ago in android studio, I started to make a space shooter, but ultimately scrapped the idea because it was beyond my scope at the time. After spending more time with the Unity Game Engine, it seemed like the perfect chance to come back to the idea.

After finishing The Running Man, I knew that the next project I wanted to do would be in 3D, however it still had to be simplistic as I got my bearings with an extra dimension. Galactic Fighter seemed to be the best way to test out new ideas in a 3D world space, but still end up with a fun game to play.

As of now, this app is in its infancy and will receive many updates in the future as new features are tested and implemented. Currently, the only available play mode is a high score arcade, but in the future I would like to add a full campaign and story line complete with enemy fighters and boss battles. I will also be adding customization to the player’s fighter as well some new ship models to play as.

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I would also like to add a multiplayer mode where players can either fight each other or play cooperatively through the story line. Once multiplayer is successfully working, I will be able to move on to a more complex project and utilize what I have learned.

If you’d like to learn more about the programs that were used to create Galactic Fighter, scroll down for a complete list. Or you can click the link below to download the game!

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Unity

Unity is a game engine that allows its users free access. It can be used in 2D or 3D and is constantly being updated. There are many assets that can be downloaded and used or you can create something brand new. Unity also has many tutorials so it’s easy to find the information you’re looking for.

After using Unity to create my previous app, it was a simple choice to use it again. After building in the 2D space, it was much easier to understand what I was doing in 3D space. Code that had worked in a 2 dimensional environment translated easily and could be slightly modified to fit a new circumstance.

I believe that most, if not all, of my future projects will be created using the Unity Game Engine. It has only become simpler to use as I begin to understand more of the features it has to offer. I would highly recommend Unity to anyone who is interested in game design.

Link to Site

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Blender

Blender is an incredibly versatile 3D editing software. It has a very straight forward interface and can do anything from modeling, to texture, to animation. It’s completely free to download and the models you make can be easily exported for use in a game engine. Best of all, because it’s free, there’s a very large amount of tutorials online to help get started.

Blender is by far my favorite 3D modeling software. It’s free to use and with some practice, it can be used to create some incredible models. For Galactic Fighter, Blender was used for creating fighters, asteroids, bullets, and a few other things that will be added in later on. These models were then imported into Unity and textures were applied.

Blender is an incredible tool and you should try it out for yourself if you haven’t already. There are hundreds of tutorials on YouTube that can quickly turn you into a master. Follow the link below to download.

Link to Site

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LMMS

LMMS is a digital audio workstation application program. When LMMS is executed on a computer with appropriate hardware, it allows music to be produced by arranging samples, synthesizing sounds, playing on a MIDI keyboard and combining the features of trackers and sequencers.

LMMS was used to create the music for Galactic Fighter. Using the default plugins that come with the program, I was able to combine the different sounds to a specific tempo and loop them in the order that I chose. These loops could then be toggled on and off to play at certain times. If needed, the pitch and other various controls can be changed in order to achieve the desired sound.

I found this program to be much simpler to user than MadTracker and will most likely be using it for future music projects. Click the link below to try it out for yourself!

Link to Site

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Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

Because this app uses 3d models instead of 2d sprites, Paint.net wasn’t used as often as in previous projects. However, it was still vital in creating icons and logos for the game. This program was also used to create various textures for the 3d models that are present throughout the game. The textures were created from a blank paint document and then saved as a .png image type. These images could then be uploaded into Unity and applied to the faces of the 3d models. Try Pint.net for yourself!

Link to Site

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The Running Man

After the completion of Pokémon: Nuance I wanted to create a game that was more accessible to everyone. The easiest way to do that seemed to be by creating a mobile app. I had some experience with Android studio and decided to start there. After spending a lot of time watching tutorials and installing the correct software I realized that I was in way over my head. It was around this time that I found this initial tutorial by Android Authority and realized that unity would be a better engine to use.

I had much more experience working with Unity and felt more comfortable using it as the base for my app. I began by following the tutorial and creating the simple app that was shown. From there I looked at the game objects and the scripts that I had created so that I could better understand how everything was functioning. This allowed me to decide how I could better manipulate them into something more useful to what I wanted to create.

The idea was simple, make an animated stick figure and jump over boxes to get a high score. The first goal was to make a run cycle for a stick figure that flowed well. The easiest way to do this was to use a program called Pivot Animator. With this program, I was able to draw a stick figure and then decide which points should pivot. After creating the animation I was able to take it apart and use it in Unity. With the player character finished it was time to move on to creating obstacles.

Every graphic that was used in this game was created using Paint.net and time. I simply drew a few obstacles and then trimmed them up so that I could use them in the app. I decided that there needed to be more of an objective rather than just getting a high score, so a customization and credit system was implemented to give this endless runner some kind of goal. After the base of all this was finished, it was time for finishing touches.

I asked a friend, Tim Karpp, to create some music for me. I showed him a sample of the app and he created all four tracks that are featured in the game. After he provided the music, I created a few buttons and wrote some code to implement them into the app. I then went to a few sound effects websites to find sounds to play for other various actions. With all of this it was time to call it completed and release the title to the play store.

If you’d like to learn more about how each program was used in the creation of this app, then continue reading below. Or if you’re ready to play then follow the link below!

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Unity

Unity is a game engine that allows its users free access. It can be used in 2D or 3D and is constantly being updated. There are many assets that can be downloaded and used or you can create something brand new. Unity also has many tutorials so it’s easy to find the information you’re looking for.

Unity was the game engine that was used to create this app. I had some prior experience with this program when I first started looking into game creation, so it was a familiar setting. I understood the basics of creating game objects and scripts, but I didn’t quite grasp how everything worked together.

One piece of advice that I found helpful when I started creating this app was to take it slow. It’s important not to get overwhelmed in everything Unity has to offer and focus on what you need to learn in order to make the game you want to.

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There are many helpful places on the internet to look for tutorials on how to implement code into your game. One particularly helpful place is the Unity Forums I found this resource to be a great asset when troubleshooting code or looking for an easier way to do something.

Link to Site

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Pivot Animator

Pivot Animator can be used to create simple animations of stick figures. You can add frames until youre satisfied and then you can export your video in multiple formats. Pivot Animator is also free to download.

This program was used in order to achieve smooth animations for the player character. Pivot Animator allows you to create a figure and specify where that figure’s joints are. You can move the figure into any position that you’d like and then save that image as an individual frame. After repeating this process to create a completed video, you can then export your work as a variety of file types.

For this app, the best file type to export my movie as was a GIF. I was then able to upload the GIF to ezgif.com and split the file into individual frames. This allowed to further edit the individual frames further in paint.net so that I could remove the backgrounds by making them transparent. After I finished editing the frames I was able to import them into Unity so that they could be implemented into the app.

Link to Site

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Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

Every graphic in this app went through Paint.net at some point. Whether it’s used to change a file type or to crop an image, this program is always used in my projects. In this case, it was used to create the backgrounds, obstacles, coins and menu items. Each frame of the player’s animation was also edited in this program in order to remove the background for the sprite.

The sprites that were used in the particle effects were also created using Paint.net. They were then sized and put together into one image so that they could be split up evenly in Unity and used as a sprite sheet. Paint.net can be used to do just about anything when it comes to editing images and if you haven’t tried it you should.

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Garage Band

GarageBand is a program that is available for Apple devices and allows users to create music that can be used for various projects. It easy to learn, free to use, and can make complex music very simply and quickly. These music files can then be exported and saved to the user’s device.

As a Windows user, I have absolutely no experience with GarageBand. However, I did know someone, Tim Karpp, who had shown me a few songs he made using the program. I asked him if he would be interested in writing a song for my app and after showing him some gameplay, he agreed.

A few days later Tim came to me with four different songs that I could use. Originally, I was only going to include one song on a loop so that it could be played continuously while the app was running, but after listening to what Tim had made, I decided to include all four of them. With music completed it was time to move on to sound effects.

Link to Site

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Audacity

Audacity can be used to import sound files in order to mix them, or to record new clips. These recordings can then be edited to start or stop in a specific place, as well as edited for sound quality. This program allows you to record audio from any mic that is compatible with your computer. You can even record sound that’s playing on your pc. This program is offered free of charge.

Audacity was used to edit all of the music and sound files used in the game. Although this program is not used to create sounds, its simple interface makes editing quick and easy. The sound effects used in this app were found by searching for “free to use sounds”. There are a few sites listed below in the tutorials section that allow users to download sound files for free in order to use in games and other projects.

Once I found sound files that I liked, I opened them with audacity and began to crop them. It was important for this project that the sound begins as soon as the clip starts, so I trimmed each sound accordingly. Once that was finished I could save the audio file and import it into Unity to use in the app.

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Tutorials

There are many tutorials for all of the programs listed above, but what helped the most with this project was the Unity Help Forum. There wasn’t a single question that couldn’t be answered by searching there. YouTube, of course, is always a huge help and was used anytime an example was needed. Listed below are some of the many different pages that helped with the creation of The Running Man.

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Pokémon: Nuance

Firstly, I’d like to say that the biggest thanks of all goes to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, and The Pokémon Company, who created and own Pokémon. FrodoUndead is in no way affiliated with any of these companies. This ROM is a hack of Pokémon: Emerald Version that was created for people who love the series to enjoy. The sole intention of this project was to create my own version of a game that I have spent so many hours of my own life enjoying.

The idea for this game began from the feeling I got out of seeing Goldenrod city for the first time. It was such an enormous city that had so many things to do. When I first learned about ROM hacking I thought it would be a cool idea to start the player off in the largest city in the game. The idea however, became much more difficult to execute once I started looking deeper into ROM hacking.

I began with a program called AdvanceMap, which allows you to open any Game Boy Advance Pokémon ROM and edit the various elements of the game. I started experimenting with the program by changing different buildings and map sizes until I felt comfortable enough to start a ROM hack of my own. I created a new map and began work on what I called Monument City. (right) I quickly began to realize that I was going to need a bigger workspace if I wanted the city to be as large as I envisioned.

The over world map for the city was then split into 4 different districts, 4 paths, and Victory Tower in the middle. There were many hiccups along the way such as maps being overwritten, map tiles not appearing correctly, and pieces of data just disappearing. After much trial and error I was finally able to get the over world map working correctly, but I realized I had created a problem. In an attempt to make the city as life-like as possible, a door was included on every building in the game. This meant that there were now over 100 interiors that had to be coded into the city.

I recruited the help of two friends, Thomas Bridges and Noah Bridges, to help me finish the interiors for the buildings. We held weekly meetings where we discussed in-depth story lines and character arcs, but in the end, decided that we needed to finish Reservoir City first. Thomas and Noah helped immensely with bringing this project to life allowing me to implement the interiors into the game within weeks of bringing them onboard.

With the map for Reservoir City completed, the next step became creating the people who would live there. This was done using AdvanceMap to place the characters on the map and Xtreme Script Editor to program each NPC to behave as necessary. After placing all of the NPCs on the various maps throughout reservoir city, there were over 400 of them. In order to keep track of them all I created a Google spreadsheet (left) which was color coded when each NPC was completed.

This was a very lengthy and, at times, very frustrating process that required a lot of learning and patience to be able to do well. But for as frustrating as it can be, it can also be very rewarding when you see your character walk and talk exactly how you imagined in the map that you created.

This ROM is the result of roughly 4 years of learning, testing, and restarting from the ground up. If you’re interested in making your own Pokémon ROM hack, then look below for more information about how this game was made. Or if you haven’t visited Reservoir City for yourself yet, then click below to…

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World of Wedgecraft

AdvanceMap

AdvanceMap is a ROM hacking tool created by LU-HO. It can be used to edit and manipulate different aspects of GBA Pokémon ROMs. This program can also be used to create new NPCs and to implement game scripts into your ROM.

Once it was decided that Pokémon: Nuance would be based from Pokémon: Emerald version, I opened it in AdvanceMap and began editing the maps to the correct size to make up Reservoir City. The city itself is actually made up of 9 different maps all put together so that different tilesets can be used for each district.

The process was a very long and tedious one and many mistakes were made along the way. While using AdvanceMap to edit the ROM, it’s easy to accidentally overwrite important scripts that keep the ROM functioning. This can cause the current ROM to become corrupted, which means starting over from the beginning. This can be a frustrating process, but it is also easily avoidable once you have a better understanding of the program.

Don't look! My Wedge is showing!

AdvanceMap was absolutely vital in making this ROM hack a reality. It was the base program that was used to create maps, add NPCs, and implement battles and scripts. There are currently 2 versions of the program available 1.92 and 1.95. Follow the link to download them.

Link to Site

Wedges of the world unite!

Xtreme Script Editor

Xtreme Script Editor (XSE) is an editing program created by HackMew that can be used to open, edit, and create scripts for Pokémon ROMs. XSE can then find a free offset and assign it to you script so that it can be used in-game.

XSE was used in order to script every single NPC in Pokémon: Nuance. It has a wide range of features, allowing the user to specify an NPC to do anything. It can also be paired with program called AdvanceTrainer and Free Space Finder so that the scripts that are created can be placed into the ROM correctly.

This program also has an error checking system built-in so that any scripts can be checked before they’re placed into the ROM. XSE was a great help when writing the scripts for Pokémon: Nuance and there are many great tutorials online. Check out the link below to try it for yourself.

Link to Site

Wedge Wars: Invasion of the Triangle

AdvanceTrainer

AdvanceTrainer is a program created by HackMew to work alongside XtremeScriptEditor. It can be used to edit the trainer data of GBA Pokémon ROMs. It can edit the Pokémon, payout amount, trainer picture, items, and much more.

AdvanceTrainer was used for editing all of the trainers in Pokémon: Nuance. It allows for the customization of the trainers Pokémon as well as their name and picture. The interface of this program makes it very easy to work with without any real tutorials.

This program can also be called directly with XtremeScriptEditor. If both programs are placed in the same folder, then you can select an option in XSE to open your ROM in AdvanceTrainer. This makes referencing offsets much easier to do. If your ROM will have battles in in then download AdvanceTrainer for yourself.

Link to Site

Wedge and Morty

Visual Boy Advance

Visual Boy Advance (VBA) is a Game Boy Advance emulator for PCs. It is a very small program that works quickly and has tons of features including save states, GameShark codes, and fast forward.

VBA was used for the testing of Pokémon: Nuance. The use of save states and fast forward was helpful so that when testing scripts, the intro and other lengthy sequences could be avoided.

VBA also features the ability to take screenshots of gameplay as well as record videos. This was used when gathering footage for the creation of the trailer. It allowed for the raw clips to be saved as .avi files so they could be edited.

Visual Boy Advance can be used to play any Game Boy Advance ROM, including Pokémon: Nuance. Click below to download it and start playing.

Link to Site

Wedgie for the win!

Youtube

YouTube is always a great resource to use when learning a new skill. Pokémon ROM hacking is no exception. There are tons of tutorials on YouTube that helped with this project. From understanding AdvanceMap to implementing XSE scripts, hours of learning can be found here.

Listed below are a few channels that were especially helpful in the creation of Pokémon: Nuance. If you’re having trouble with your own ROM hack, then be sure to check them out for yourself.

- foullump - PokemonXSE101 - Aspiring PokeTrainer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Wedges

Tutorials

There are lots of other references that were used in the creation of Pokémon: Nuance. Many forums were scoured in search of the right pieces of information to make everything fit together properly. One source, by DiegoIsAwesome, was used as a constant reference when making this ROM hack. Below is a list of the bookmarks that were saved over the years and referenced to while making Pokémon: Nuance.

Wedge Wars II: The Prism of Death

Halo: Combat Pixelated

This game started as a side project when I was first learning about the Scratch Game Engine around 2014. The simplicity of the program made creating sprites and animating them very easy, so after messing around a bit, I began searching Google for some simple sprite sheets. I had played games like Halo: Genocide before so when I came across InnerRayG’s sprite sheet (to the right) I knew instantly what kind of sprites I wanted to make. Unfortunately, there weren’t any guns on this sprite sheet, but after searching dozens of other Google results, I decided that InnerRayG’s sheet was the one that should be used.

I began by selecting which sprites I wanted to add to the game and “cutting” them out onto a separate .png image using Paint.net. I then pasted the selected head onto the body in the picture. I then finished by filling the background with a color that was not used in the color of the sprite. This background color was then selected and erased using Scratch to make the background transparent. This process was then repeated for every frame of every character included in the game. This process was also used for making certain animations that weren’t in the sprite sheet, such as the Hunter’s shot and the Power Crouch move.

The backgrounds used in the game were made by downloading the full resolution image and using Paint.net to shrink it down to the percent that would make it pixelated, but not enough to make it unrecognizable. These images were then cropped so that they would fit the resolution of the game and inserted to be used as the backgrounds and logos. The focus effect used on some of the menu items is actually done by making the item a sprite and having it change costumes quickly. This was done by taking the original image and using the Pixelate Effect in Paint.net. The image was pixelated by about 10-20 and them saved as a new image and inserted as a new costume for the sprite. This was repeated until each sprite had about 10 different costumes that could be used to generate this effect. It was only after I went through all of this effort that I realized Scratch has an effect for this already built in.

These sprites were then added to the Scratch project and the coding process began. After many months of building and testing, a final game project received a few finishing touches. This is the final release of the game and it has not been updated since 5/26/2015.

Below is a complete list of all programs and websites that were used during the creation of Halo: Combat Pixelated. Or you can skip that and...

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I'm the Master Wedge!

Scratch

Scratch is a game engine that is very simplistic in design and manipulation. Rather than typing code, an array of colored blocks is available to build and execute commands. The code blocks can work together and trigger each other when signaled to do so. This can also be used to add or create values for variables.

Scratch is very straight-forward and presents certain bits of code that can be combined and a small cat that you can add code to. Once I figured out how to move the cat around, I realized that Scratch could be used to make a much more complex game.

I used Scratch to create animated sprites that reacted to player keystrokes and to form code for enemies that would close in on the player’s location. When close enough, the enemy sprite would perform an attack and if it touched the player then the damage was applied to the player’s hp. All of these different events were set to happen only when they were triggered. The first trigger is when the player clicks on the play button, this is when the main menu pops up and the game is ready to begin.

This is a shortened down version of the way that this game functions, but it shows a bit of insight as to how the game engine works. For a deeper look into the exact code that went into this game please visit my Scratch Profile and see for yourself. There you can view all of the code attached to every item in the game. Scratch is completely free and I would encourage everyone to give it a try. Link to Site

I'm just a Wedge.

Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

Paint.net was used extensively throughout the course of this project. From logos to background, this program helped immensely in the creation of this game. Paint.net also allows for layers and supports transparency. This was very useful in the creation of the sprites and for breaking apart the sprite sheet provided by InnerRayg.

Link to Site

Me too, but I'm Paul.

MadTracker2

MadTracker2 is a sound creation kit. It is able to read VST plugins to create a sound and then allows the user to play that sound in different pitches. These can be timed to beats per minute, which is also user defined. The example songs that are included in the download show that this program is capable of creating some amazing music. And it can still be downloaded for free from their site.

Two songs were made for Halo: Combat Pixelated, and they both play on loop. They are of course inspired by two songs from Halo, by which I mean listened to repeatedly and got as close as possible. However they had to stop eventually and then loop, for this reason, they are both pretty short. The battle theme music is about 1 minute and the main theme is 25 seconds

I started with a blank document and using the various VST plugins, created different instruments that would emulate the sounds included in the songs. After placing all of the instruments where I wanted them I was able to record my song using audacity. All other sounds that are heard throughout the game were also created this way.

Link to Site

And we're everywhere.

Audacity

Audacity can be used to import sound files in order to mix them, or to record new clips. These recordings can then be edited to start or stop in a specific place, as well as edited for sound quality. This program allows you to record audio from any mic that is compatible with your computer. You can even record sound that’s playing on your pc. This program is offered free of charge.

Audacity was used to record the song that was created on MadTracker2 and to export it as an .mp3 file. By plugging an auxiliary cord into both the microphone and speaker ports, Audacity is able to record any sound that is played on your computer. Using this technique I was able to begin recording in Audacity and then simply play the song in MadTracker2. I could then clip my recording until it sounded correct when played on a loop, and export it as an .mp3 using Audacity.

Link to Site

Yet nowhere at all.

Other

There are still a few more resources that were used in various ways to assist in the creation of Halo: Combat Pixelated. Each title is a link that will take you to their website.

Google

Google is always helpful for anyone who has a connection to the internet. For this project, I used the search engine to find sprite sheets, as well as background and logo pictures. I also used it to search for help on a few difficult blocks of code.

Microsoft: Word

Grammar and spelling is very important for anything that others will be reading. I always make sure to use Microsoft: Word and then paste the text where it is needed. Microsoft: Office has many other useful tools that are available.

DeviantArt

DeviantArt is a great website filled with awesome pieces of art made by a community of amazing online artists. This is also the website that had the sprite sheet made by InnerRayG, which was used for Halo: Combat Pixelated.

Wedge Warrior

3D Models

There are many different programs that allow you to create 3D objects and use them in the creation of your own game. Below are three programs that are very simple to use but give astounding results when properly utilized. All 3D models on this website were made using one or more of these programs.

Blender

Blender is an incredibly versatile 3D editing software. It has a very straight forward interface and can do anything from modeling, to texture, to animation. It’s completely free to download and the models you make can be easily exported for use in a game engine. Best of all, because it’s free, there’s a very large amount of tutorials online to help get started.

Link to Site

Wedgetastic!

Sculptris

Sculptris gives a different take on 3D modeling. Rather than starting with a cube, you begin with a sphere that you are able to mold like a ball of clay. It allows for a much more organic look to your model, and is also very simple to pick up and begin modeling. Sculptris also allows for your models to be exported and used in other various programs as well and it's also completely free.

Link to Site

SpiderWedge! SpiderWedge!

MakeHuman

This program allows you to create a fully rigged model of a human to your exact specifications. The interface is similar to a character creation menu at the start of a video game. You are able to choose hairstyle, height, weight, even eye color. You can then export your model, fully textured, to be used in whatever way you wish.

Link to Site

My Wedge is in Ohio.

FrodoUndead.com

FrodoUndead.com began as the final for my HTML class in college. The assignment was to create a 5 page website that had an example of all of the things we had learned throughout the semester. I made a website that was about zombies and how to protect yourself. After the semester was over, I revisited the zombie website and began to change elements to make them about game design.

After creating individual sections for what I wanted to include in my website, I began to make a toolbar as well as different sub-sections to fill it in. The result was a large project that wasn’t very nice to look at. In order to make a website that wasn’t ugly and difficult to navigate, the entire page was scrapped and again started from the beginning.

I began with concept art for what I wanted the homepage to look like. I wanted to go in a different direction that allowed for a very minimalistic appearance and easy navigation. The result is what you see before you. I also wanted to stay true to my original concept which was more of a tutorial site than anything else. This is the reason why the Resources link is on the homepage. It’s very important to me to include how each project was made for both credits and curious beginner programmers.

As stated at the top of this page, nothing here could have been accomplished if it weren’t for multiple other people pouring time and effort into their own personal projects. Although this site was made completely by me, it would be foolish to claim that I also created all of the resources that I used in its creation. For this reason, the resources section is the largest page on this site and one of the most important.

This website was created from a blank text document that was saved and edited using Notepad++. I also used the W3Schools website as a reference for things that I wasn’t quite sure about as well as Google’s developer tools for working with the.css portion of the site. Both of these resources were extremely useful and this project would have taken a lot longer to complete had it not been for them. I used Paint.net for the image editing as well as Microsoft Word for all grammar and spell checking.

I have many projects that I work on in my spare time and I wanted to create a place where I could showcase them. The best way that I knew how to do that was to create a website of my own. It is my hope that people will enjoy playing my games as much as I have enjoyed creating them.

Below is a complete list of all resources and websites that were used in the creation of this site.

View the Site!

It's Wedgie Time!

Google DevTools

Google Chrome has the ability to break down webpages to their .html contents. Most browsers have this feature, but I personally like Google’s the best. This feature can be accessed by pressing the F12 key on any active webpage. This allows you to manipulate the .css document in real-time and add different properties to webpage items. You can then copy the text and paste it onto a text editor.

Google’s Developer tools were a very useful asset in the creation of this site for that very reason. The stylesheet could be edited to my liking and then transferred and saved in a text editor like Notepad++. Google Chrome also has phone emulation for many different platforms so that you can be sure everything will appear correctly on a mobile device. Google’s DevTools has an inspector included as well so that you can find exactly which element you’re dealing with. All of these different features made editing the look of my website much more enjoyable and simplistic.

Link to Site

One Wedge to rule them all.

Notepad++

Notepad++ can read just about any file that is thrown at it. It allows users to start from a blank document and choose the programming language that the file should be saved as. After the file type is saved, Notepad++ uses its knowledge of that language to provide the user with color changing text to use as references. It also uses predictive text to try and help you along your way.

This program was used to create all of the pages for this website from blank text documents. The pages were then saved as various .html and .css files and run through google chrome. This process was repeated many times over until all of the website’s content was finished. The files were then saved to a folder along with all pictures that were used so that they could be uploaded and serve as the website itself.

Link to Site

That's no Wedge...

W3Schools

W3Schools is a great website that helps people learn many different kinds of coding. It has tutorials for HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQL, PHP, and jQuery. It also has an HTML color-picker so that you can find the exact code for any color you want to use. The tutorials it provides can be performed in the browser so that you can make sure that you understand how the code works before you try to apply it. W3schools is offered without any membership fees at all so you can start learning today.

This website helped tremendously in the creation of FrodoUndead.com. It allowed me to look up concepts that I didn’t understand and, in combination with Google’s Developer tools, test them to make sure that I would get the right effect. This site was used extensively for the syntax of things like gradients, hexadecimal colors, .css attributes, and much more. It was a constant reference to make sure that I was building my site correctly and in the most simplistic way.

Link to Site

Wedge's World.

Paint.net

Paint.net allows for layers, effects, gradients, transparency, and a slew of other features. It provides fast speeds as well as live image tabs for handling multiple documents at once. As stated by the website itself, ‘Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance.’ And best of all its completely free!

Paint.net was used for all photo manipulation in this site. Its transparency settings were very helpful in making the background as well as logos. It also allowed me to create multi-layered backgrounds for a more complex look. This program was also used in order to crop and resize pictures that were used. Just about every photo in this site has gone through paint.net in some way.

Link to Site

Wedge of a kind.

The Last of the Wedgehicans.

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