Check this website. Has a nice free game called "Absenteeism". It's a nice little RPG made with RPG Maker XP. Go download that while I procrastinate about my own projects.

In case you're wondering, yes my FPS is still alive. Actually kind of comatose, but still breathing. Looking at the weather at the moment I guess I'll be doing some work on it today.

Interesting. A blank entry. What's the deal? Not sure what happened on this day, but it can't have been terribly exciting can it now?

Hey everybody! Join up for the Atari forums Australia for the chance to win many cool prizes! click here and register. This week there are 10 copies of V8 Supercars 3 to collect for thoughtful intelligent posters. (so I guess I'm out then )

Anyways, sign up, chat with the usually intelligent (ok I lie) people there. The more the merrier as somebody once said.

First entry for 2006. Excited? I hope so. Make sure you tell me all about your exciting New Year's eve parties in the comments section. (because mine was really quiet )

So as a new year's resolution, I aim to have my 3D game up and running by the end of the year. I'll have to see how I go, hey? Let me know if you wish to help. I'd like texture mappers/modellers at first, as I suck at both of them. I'll probably also need sounds as well, but more on that later.

I've added a comments section. wOOt! It's accessible by clicking on "comments" on the left hand side. Do note, however, that it is still beta. What's that mean? It means please don't be nasty to it. It does weird things still (like adding \ marks in odd places, and ignoring the enter key) so you'll have to bear with it.

On the other hand, if you do know a solution to that problem, leave a comment!

(oh yeah, this isn't the exciting project BTW, just a side-dish )

One of the best mods for Doom 3 now has a website! Go check it out!

Dungeondoom is an attempt to bring Rogue-like gameplay to the Doom 3 engine. Explore randomly generated maps, kill monsters and collect loot! Too cool 4 school!

Nothing else really exciting yet. I'm still working on the project, but nothing is worth showing yet.

Heh, don't ya like these free web programs that do weird things? Here's a siggy by Sloganizer…

Heh…whatever. I thought it was funny anyways….Click on it to go to the Sloganizer website. It'll keep you amused for seconds at least.

(note - it's different every 30 seconds. Or so I'm told…)

Okey dokey. Time for an update I suppose. The project I was talking about is going pretty well. It looks as ugly as sin and has more bugs than an entymologist convention, but I'll be doing something website wise shortly. At that time, I'll show some screenies with some textures ripped from somewhere else and beg the gaming community for texture artists/modellers. I can't wait until I get it to a useable state.

If anybody is still wondering what it is: it's a 3D engine coded in FreeBASIC using OpenGL. It's a sector-based engine (similar to Build or Doom) with a simple recursive function to see if I should be drawing each sector or not. Still lots to be decided (what format will objects be in? How will I light the map? How will scripting be handled? How much coffee should I really be drinking during all of this?) but I'm already planning a nice simple little shooter to break it in with. I just don't have media.

Let me tell you, I have an extra level of respect for John Carmack after all of this. Designing a 3D engine is no mean feat. It can be frustrating, figuring out some of the tougher aspects, but it is so rewarding to see the results. I'd almost recommend trying it at least once, it's a real eye-opener.

Damn! The server's been down for 4 days and I never noticed! Why does nobody tell me these things! Nonetheless, back up it is, and off as always.

Been working on a little project. As soon as I get somewhere I'll post some screenshots. Just a bit more and I should be able to put up some raw shots of it. It's not terribly impressive yet, but it's been the most fun I've had programming in ages.

Stay tuned.

Woohoo! A new file server! That's in case you're all wondering where my website went this morning. I had to rip two machines apart and make them ONE! I'm not sure if it is live yet, I guess I'll have to ask someone to test it for me. (if you wish to volunteer, just send an email to my hotmail account, tell me I suck and to give me tips on how to win the lottery. Or something like that. )

Well I'm back from my holiday! Spent the weekend on the Gold Coast, for my Grandfather's 70th surprise birthday party. Apart from a few things it went very smoothly. All in all a good weekend.

I've been contemplating adding a "comments" section. That way people could leave a few words to tell me how much the website sucks. Then I could ignore them. It sounds like a great arrangement to me. Of course, it's all about how to do it. I suppose that's what makes it a learning experience, though. That way I can expand my knowledge base, and everybody's happy! (except the folk I ignore )

Well, it's an update. Not a very interesting update. One day I'll do something interesting. Today is not that day. (and I wonder why my parents get irritated every time they call? "What have you been up to?" "Nothing much…")

Projects are going extremely slow, and could get slower. "Work for the Dole" you see. That, and I'm not really doing anything. (although after playing .Hack//infection for the last while, I'm half tempted to try a similarly styled RPG on the PC - just to see if I can. Expect nothing, though, and you won't be dissapointed )

Heheh…just noticed down there…23th June? Perhaps I should do something about that. Maybe 23rd might make more sense - just not as funny)

Edit:All fixed, so there! Try mocking me now! (ok, that's not a wise thing to say…)

A completed project! This is actually a little project I wrote ages ago, but I fixed it a little and made it partially useable. Programmed in the mighty DarkBASIC programming language, the Borg Screensaver is bound to give you seconds of entertainment, followed by decades of regret, and emails asking me to "give back those 5 seconds of my life!"

The file is in rar format. Extract, then go nuts!

Have a guess what's different. Go on, guess! Hehehe! If you said the buttons on the left, then very clever! They are no longer graphical, they're text! Damn I'm clever!

Not that it makes a massive change, other than it's around 4KB smaller in size, making a slight difference when loading the page for the first time. (well, at least a second's different on a dial-up connection - seriously, who has dial-up any more? ) Makes it easier to add extra stuff to the menu in future however, so it stays. (just whip it into NoteTab, do a bit of cut'n'paste, and off it goes…)

No reason for this entry. Just kinda bored. Should probably start programming or something.

Anybody got any documentation on old versions of PureBASIC? I'd like to try it out but I wouldn't know where to start. Version 3.10 - I bought it as a boxed copy, now I can't download any updates - #$%king PureBASIC team!

The day after the morning before. I've submitted this fine new website for assessment and then decided it was good enough for personal use! I'm sure you'll agree it's more professional looking than the old one. (except now there are smileys - Quiggley didn't like that as much as I did )

Let me know what you think!

Actually, while I'm at it, you'll notice the buttons "current project" and "random map generator" are gone, replaced with a generic button called "Projects". It's nicer this way. At any rate, once I start doing something, it'll be great! (might alter my blogging software so I can update that page automatically rather than manually)

Well, I've now got some rudimentary css stuff in action. Very basic, but it does indeed work. I've also done some work with the tables and stuff, so it works a little better.

You may notice a new link on the left - current project. It is a link to the current website I'm working on. You can look at it if you like, but it isn't very interesting. If you do look at it, please send me comments because I would like to know about any bugs that are occurring. (or if you think it's ugly)

Current website project: Check how the whole page stretches to fit the iFrame. Plus, the random quotes down the bottom of the page. (kind of funny…)

I'm up and running on my new webserver! Woohoo! Completely untested, but I'm sure it should work. (I was going to use Apache but it wasn't liking me, so I'm using Windows 98's personal web server)

It seems a little slower. Send any comments on issues and I'll see what I can do.

So I'm back from my wonderful weekend! What a party! Congrats to my parents on their 30th wedding anniversary. (man, I must be ooooold!) Lots of good food and good company. Best of all, no arguments! (as is prone to happen at special events y'know…)

Anyways, all is quiet at the moment. No developments or new projects. Maybe when I get some decent programming software?

I'll be off on vacation in a day or two, so the server may experience downtime. It depends on whether or not I can get away with the computer being left on while I'm not here. (probably not)

Nonetheless, as the great Arnie once said: "I'll be baaaack!"

Well, the trial of DBPro is almost out. (I guess it's all over! *Cries*)

However, at least I got it to load a bsp and allow someone to walk around in it. The next step is a financial one, however, and I don't have finance. Therefore the project is on hold. (besides, I had no models, and no maps for that matter…) I might fiddle around with mapping, but I can't develop the game at all.

On the upside, I've developed a new website. Honestly, though, I think I rather prefer this one. (in all its blue&black glory) All I have to do is develop it. Hehe…means I have to work in it.

Well, I now have a history page! That means my main page will not become cluttered with gunk from endless updates. (sooo much easier this way!)

My DBPro project has slowed right down. What I'd really like right now is someone with modelling abilities to contact me. (e-mail addresses on contact page) That would make life very easy, because then I wouldn't have to learn how to use Blender. (or 3DS Max, which I don't own anyways…) Please feel free to become involved, it'll give you warm fuzzy feelings!

I've started a new project - it's a little 3D game using DarkBASIC Pro. The idea is to make a first person shooter with a Metroid-y feel, All before the trial period of DarkBASIC Pro runs out. Then I go onto project part 2 - figuring out how to pay for the thing. (money's not so much the issue, it's the transferrance of cash to The Games Creators seeing I have no credit card…if you're a bank manager, please feel free to send me one! )

Anyways, I don't have a project page for it yet, I'll probably do that once I have a decent level of content to show for it. I currently have the camera moving around a Q3A map someone else made, no weapons, and the code's a mess. I'll put some screenies up when it looks at least slightly interesting.

NOTE: I said Metroid-y feel. This will NOT be a Metroid Prime game. Just to clear that up.

Quick blog update, I've changed the page a little. The site looks fairly respectible now, at least if you don't browse away from this page. I'm increasingly thinking that I'll need an archive page though, otherwise I'll be snowed under with updates on the main page and will be unable to fit anything else.

In other news, I'm mucking around with ideas for the Random Map Generator. I plan on doing the lot from scratch, starting with a single room, then add passages, then see how I can combine the two. The important thing with this is that it has to look somewhat designed, otherwise it's a waste of time. It will always look random, however with some clever working of item placement (chairs, railings, doors etc) I could make it look like it was done slightly intelligently.

Of course, still nothing to show for it (yet) but be patient.

edit: Good stuff! By splitting the top part into 3 separate frames, I was able to get this to run on a screen at 800x600, on both Internet Explorer and firefox! It won't show up properly on a web browser without frame support, so if you're one of those browser users, upgrade already!

Well, in case yer all wondering, TAFE is back, and web design is part of the plan. That means the website will look completely different come June. (Oh God I hope so!) Plus, I'll have something worth seeing (maybe?)

So why am I updating now? It's 7:30am, I'm drinking coffee and updating my website. This is not natural. It's like chewing your toenails through socks you've worn for 3 days, directly after licking an ash tray. It shouldn't be done dammit!

Seriously though, I got up a tad too early for TAFE. Ironically I'm going to a project management class. I'll fiddle around with the website when I get home, but until then…

edit: Oh dear, it appears as if I wasn't paying attention while designing this site. It runs very well at anything 1024x768 and above, but under that, stuff starts to overlap in a disturbing manner, especially the title bar. (That Jewellsoft monstrousity being the main offender) This, coupled with the fact that you need the Flash plugin or it won't even work, has me wondering whether I want that thing up there or not. It does look cool, but at what cost? *sigh*

We're live! Woohoo!

The next thing to do is to do some web design. Not sure what this entry is in aid of, but I'm feeling soooo good right now it doesn't matter nobody will see it right now. (I'm testing the blog software again - really! )

Back to Dreamweaver we go!

If you are seeing this, then you are visiting my website. It's not very useful right now, but later down the track, I'm hoping it will continue to not be very useful. Well, that's what I like to think.

Also, if you are visiting this site, you're probably Mark. Let me know it worked, and isn't broken. If you aren't Mark, then somehow you got my website, possibly by typing random phrases or something. I hope you feel fullfilled! Personally I would've tried http://www.nose-picking.com or http://www.naked-belly-dancers.com or something like that. You obviously have no creativity!

Well, in a fit of enthusiasm (should seek medical assistance!) I've added another blog entry, mostly to test the functionality of my new Blogger. Lots of Visual BASIC has gone into seeing this working the way it has. (my Access teacher would be having fits, he had an allergy to all things VB)

Anyways, I may add extra functionality to it in future, such as a "news archive" setup. Not that it should bother you lot, all you see is the wonderful html output in front of you. Great stuff, woohoo!

UPDATE: I've just updated the blog. This will test stuff. There are no formatting buttons in my software, so tags are inserted manually. Maybe I'll consider automatic tags later, but I don't think so…

Oh my Gosh! An Update! The end of the world is nigh… (and so forth)

Yep, it is a complete coincidence that it's the end of the year. The real reason is that I've come fresh home from a holiday on the coast and have become motivated to whip up some home-made blogging software in Access! When finished, I'll be able to blog so easily it will be the bloggiest blog sinse some odd chap decided that "Web Log" sounded silly and decided to use the more obtuse phrase "Blog" instead! We may one day find the cure to cancer, but as to why people make up such silly sounding words, that shall always be a mystery.

So why the sudden burst of motivation? My new router (a BIPAC-5100 if you're wondering) handles both dynamic DNS (through the wonderful folk at www.dyndns.org of course!) and NAT so I can host my own Website! Woohoo! More excitement to come…

My assessment is burnt! Now we play the waiting game! (glances at watch and taps foot)

This is boring, let's go do something!

As you can see, not much has changed. Check out the RMG section for some screenshots. They're not too crash hot, but nonetheless…

Well, the holidays are over! I'm back and ready to hack away at my website! Woohoo!

No work on the random map generator, I'm still waiting for the Doom 3 SDK to turn up. I'll probably turn the mod's webspace upside down to make it work nicer. My old one is ugly!

(besides, this way will give me more flash demos to show my teacher I know what I'm doing...)

Another update! Just to see if I can and how to do it. It appears that I need to just add new cells to the start and then configure them like the previous cells, but I guess if this site ever becomes live I'll find out. One day I'll figure out a proper database system for news, but today ain't that day!

In other news, two weeks of school holidays woohoo! Oh, how exciting can you get? Umm…being a TAFE student that means I'm affected, so we'll just have to see what happens…

No news on the RMG for D3, as this news article is hot on the heels of the previous post. Oh well…

This is my first update to the website. Nothing newsworthy has occurred, however I now have a news bit that I can copy, paste and alter to my liking. Great, hey?

Now I'm here, though, I suppose I could comment about some things I've started. After a whirlwind play through Doom 3 the first time, I've begun a random map generator. The end result will be embedded into the Doom 3 source once the SDK is released, but currently it's written in QBasic. (Of all things, why QBasic? Argh!) Read more about the Random Map Generator by clicking the button on the left.