Over the last week I have been working on a StarCraft 2 custom multi-player map using the new Galaxy Editor. There has been a lot of hype generated about GE and some of the videos currently on the web seem to back up that hype. To test out the editor for myself I've started working on a 1v1 multi-player map in hopes of picking up the basics. Read on for what I've been able to discover so far.

It's been a while since I posted to the blog but I haven't been as dormant as that might lead you to believe. I've begun working on a few different projects as well as some needed self education. My reading list began with a series of game programming books published by Course Technology, starting with a C++ refresher Beginning C++ Through Game Programming, as well as a book that I'm currently reading through Beginning Game Programming. Also, as I mentioned in my previous blog post, I had been playing around with TorchED but in the last month Blizzard has released StarCraft 2, which comes with a fully functional map creation tool called Galaxy Editor. I've been experimenting and working with it over the last two to three weeks, starting work a 1v1 multi-player map along with a fellow I've met on the SC2 custom map forums. Additionally, I've also started designing a new World of Warcraft AddOn that I've given the working title of WoWTargetCaster.

Version 1.0 of WoWPUGBuilder has been uploaded to Curse.com. I'm also working on a WoWPUGBuilder Archive page that should mirror what's available through CurseForge, ya know, just in case they drop off the face of the earth. ;) Version 1.0 is essentially the same as version 0.9b except i cleaned up my documentation (read on for some details) as well as tweaked a the code a bit to improve readability and logic flow. Overall, working on WPB has been a great experience and I am looking forward to continuing it's development.

I've discovered a new action RPG called Torchlight.. The studio, Runic Games was put together from the same folks who had worked on, among other things, Diablo for Blizzard. Needless to say, the game is quite fun. Runic Games have also released the editor for Torchlight, called TorchED. I've put some time into getting to know TorchED and have been inspired to work on some Torchlight Mods. Stay Tuned! :D

This week I updated WoWPUGBuilder to version 0.9b on Curse.com. In 0.9b I've added a feature that allows the player to indicate what interval, in seconds, they would like the auto-advertise feature to advertise their message to the selected chat channels. I also fixed a bug that was preventing the player from selecting the "Looking for Group" chat channel in the "Choose Channel" drop down menu.

Version 0.8b of WoWPUGBuilder has been uploaded to Curse.com. This new version of the beta adds a LFG/LFM toggle checkbox at the top of the AddOn's window. This allows the player to switch between auto generated messages Looking for Group or Looking for More. By checking the box the AddOn will generate a message with LFM and by leaving it unchecked it will generate a LFG message. If the player has quantities entered in the role edit boxes, these will be omitted from the auto generated message until the toggle box has been checked. I also fixed a bug where if the player customized the generated message and then hit enter, the custom text would be replaced by the auto generated message.

I've finished v0.7b of WoWPUGBuilder last night. The new version fixes some of the issues I was having with choosing the desired roles as well as adds a new feature. The latest version of WoWPUGBuilder can be found at curse.com.

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I've been back from San Francisco and the Game Developer's Conference 2010 and I've been procrastinating creating this post. Mostly because I dread sifting through photos using Apeture, which, for some reason, craws slower the a doped up slug (I think it has something to do with accessing my portable drive), and all the prep work in Photoshop to get them all prettied up for display. I love photography but I definitely don't like the post process work that comes after snapping the shot. ;) Unfortunately, it seems most of my good photos have been lost in the digital void through some mishap with Apeture. :( What I have left are not great quality, in fact most of them are downright horrible, but it's all I have so they will have to do.

So, here's the breakdown of events...

A quick note about v0.6b, which I uploaded to curse a few weeks ago. Version 0.6b implemented the ability of the player to select multiple chat channels to which to send their desired message. This was done by reverting to an earlier format for drop down menus. To select multiple chat channels the player simply pulls down the Channel menu and select the desired chat channel. The player will do this for each channel they wish the message to be displayed. For a look at the function, read on...

Well I'm almost there. The 0.5 version of the WoWPUGBuilder Beta has been uploaded to Curse. Version 0.5 Beta is a fully functional version of WPB and those that download it should be able to use it as intended. There are still some features that I am intending to implement before the final release, most of which should be implemented in the near future releases.