Ree Programming
September 19, 2000, 06:02 AM by
http://ankh.diaryland.com/reeprgrm.html
Well, it happened. I knew it would. I just didn't expect it this soon.
You may very well ask, What? Huh? What's the quacked-up Ankh person talking about?
I'm sooooo glad you asked!
Alrighty. Ever the college student, I wandered into a short list (all of 2 sites listed) that offered shareware games. The first site had one game, Dink Smallwood -- and it's now FREEWARE. No feeling guilty that I really should pay the programmer! It's completely FREE! Lalala. Spiffers. I did check out the other site, but shareware isn't half as fun as freeware.
Now then. On with my deranged raving. Dink is a pretty neat game (a duck says "Bite me," the hero hits on every woman in sight, and the evil end boss... well, you have to know a little about the programmer to "get" the end boss). However, I only started this weekend and already I've made it to the last bad guy. What's a gal with a fetish for "free" to do?
Download D-MODs, that's what! A D-MOD is Dink MODule, which adds on to the main game. Most are pretty short, but there's literally 100+ out there. The urge becomes irresitable! And here we return to my initial statement of this entry.
I want to write a D-MOD.
That's a big task. It require learning a modicum of C++, since the DinkC D-MOD programming language is strongly based in C++. Any new characters with specific appearances (which includes women with shorter hair or pants instead of skirts, and men not wearing tights *smirk* though I think I might keep those!) will require new graphics. One nameless throwaway character takes over a dozen seperate image files to make the movement fluid. Let's not even get into using DinkEdit to set up the environment. I'm trying to make an itty bitty room, just one room, and the program moves so slowly I want to spit on the screen in disgust. (But then I'd have to wipe it off. That's the only reason I don't vent my anger and spittle.)
The nutty part is that I still want to write a D-MOD anyway. I know that lots of my friends from online won't be able to download it (shared computers) and that Lu will only see it on my laptop (Dink only runs in Windows, and won't operate in NT, yuck).
But I want to create it anyway. I want to manage this miniscule realm and make it fully mine. My mind quickly offers suggestions to keep the D-MOD dream alive. (There's lots of DinkC and DinkEdit tutorials online. You know where to find boards to post any questions you have. You've already started making the first screen and it should only take one more. The characters don't need to move much anyway, so maybe just a handful of pics, 2 or 3 per, would simulate idle motion well enough.) And so it goes. Ahh, the joys of creative urges. *blissful sigh*
*suddenly grumbles* In other news, I have an early morning meeting with the head of the counseling dept. Uck. And I had the school newspaper reassign my story. I felt too icky to work on it. I spent all Sunday in my room, sleeping far more than a healthy person should and idly tapping computer keys. I've logged over 11 hours on the Dink game, not counting deaths and restarts, D-MOD playing, or scanning tutorials.
Rrrwr and grr. Now I feel rotten, where moments before I felt alive. It's the Dink. I like creating.
If I do make a D-MOD, it's perfectly legal to charge for it. Unfortunately there's a number of difficulties associated with that. D-MODs require the main game, which is shareware. I doubt many people are willing to pay for an add-on to a free game. Dink isn't a widely known game, so even if every Dink addict bought my D-MOD, that's not much money. Any method of accepting payment isn't vey viable. No one wants to mail in a check to receive a computer diskette weeks later, and what if the disk gets damaged in transit? It's a common fate for mailed disks. Anything but mailed checks requires an outlay of money, cash that D-MOD sales would probably not cover. I'd be in the red in the end.
Bonus: Learning D-MOD skills sets me up nicely for a C++ programming class in the future, and C++ is pretty marketable. Moreso than my feeble BASIC skills at least.
Narg. My shoulders are funny from sitting at the keyboard for so long. Maybe I'll write a Dink game for a graphic calculator...
Oh gods. I just gave myself an idea. They're dangerous, you know. *trots out the TI-86 programming manual and some samples of code she's had for literally years*
Well, it happened. I knew it would. I just didn't expect it this soon.
You may very well ask, What? Huh? What's the quacked-up Ankh person talking about?
I'm sooooo glad you asked!
Alrighty. Ever the college student, I wandered into a short list (all of 2 sites listed) that offered shareware games. The first site had one game, Dink Smallwood -- and it's now FREEWARE. No feeling guilty that I really should pay the programmer! It's completely FREE! Lalala. Spiffers. I did check out the other site, but shareware isn't half as fun as freeware.
Now then. On with my deranged raving. Dink is a pretty neat game (a duck says "Bite me," the hero hits on every woman in sight, and the evil end boss... well, you have to know a little about the programmer to "get" the end boss). However, I only started this weekend and already I've made it to the last bad guy. What's a gal with a fetish for "free" to do?
Download D-MODs, that's what! A D-MOD is Dink MODule, which adds on to the main game. Most are pretty short, but there's literally 100+ out there. The urge becomes irresitable! And here we return to my initial statement of this entry.
I want to write a D-MOD.
That's a big task. It require learning a modicum of C++, since the DinkC D-MOD programming language is strongly based in C++. Any new characters with specific appearances (which includes women with shorter hair or pants instead of skirts, and men not wearing tights *smirk* though I think I might keep those!) will require new graphics. One nameless throwaway character takes over a dozen seperate image files to make the movement fluid. Let's not even get into using DinkEdit to set up the environment. I'm trying to make an itty bitty room, just one room, and the program moves so slowly I want to spit on the screen in disgust. (But then I'd have to wipe it off. That's the only reason I don't vent my anger and spittle.)
The nutty part is that I still want to write a D-MOD anyway. I know that lots of my friends from online won't be able to download it (shared computers) and that Lu will only see it on my laptop (Dink only runs in Windows, and won't operate in NT, yuck).
But I want to create it anyway. I want to manage this miniscule realm and make it fully mine. My mind quickly offers suggestions to keep the D-MOD dream alive. (There's lots of DinkC and DinkEdit tutorials online. You know where to find boards to post any questions you have. You've already started making the first screen and it should only take one more. The characters don't need to move much anyway, so maybe just a handful of pics, 2 or 3 per, would simulate idle motion well enough.) And so it goes. Ahh, the joys of creative urges. *blissful sigh*
*suddenly grumbles* In other news, I have an early morning meeting with the head of the counseling dept. Uck. And I had the school newspaper reassign my story. I felt too icky to work on it. I spent all Sunday in my room, sleeping far more than a healthy person should and idly tapping computer keys. I've logged over 11 hours on the Dink game, not counting deaths and restarts, D-MOD playing, or scanning tutorials.
Rrrwr and grr. Now I feel rotten, where moments before I felt alive. It's the Dink. I like creating.
If I do make a D-MOD, it's perfectly legal to charge for it. Unfortunately there's a number of difficulties associated with that. D-MODs require the main game, which is shareware. I doubt many people are willing to pay for an add-on to a free game. Dink isn't a widely known game, so even if every Dink addict bought my D-MOD, that's not much money. Any method of accepting payment isn't vey viable. No one wants to mail in a check to receive a computer diskette weeks later, and what if the disk gets damaged in transit? It's a common fate for mailed disks. Anything but mailed checks requires an outlay of money, cash that D-MOD sales would probably not cover. I'd be in the red in the end.
Bonus: Learning D-MOD skills sets me up nicely for a C++ programming class in the future, and C++ is pretty marketable. Moreso than my feeble BASIC skills at least.
Narg. My shoulders are funny from sitting at the keyboard for so long. Maybe I'll write a Dink game for a graphic calculator...
Oh gods. I just gave myself an idea. They're dangerous, you know. *trots out the TI-86 programming manual and some samples of code she's had for literally years*
) to help me answer.
