CHAPTER 16 – Guardian in the Deep

The hive turned out to be easier to find than quills on a porcupine. As a matter of fact, it looked like one too.

A series of black smoke stacks jutted out from a rocky landscape, belching thick smoke skyward from somewhere deep within their bellies. As the team neared the unusual monoliths, Ziro couldn’t help but wonder how something this big had gone undiscovered by the Burrow for so long. It would seem hard to miss, yet here it was surrounded by an open patch of jagged rocks and spattering of spindly trees that looked dead. (more…)

After thousands of requests asking “How did you create Penguin Chat?”. I have decided to publish a series of posts on how to create a simple little virtual world.

Here is a list of skills and tools that you will need to create a virtual world:

• Adobe Flash
• A Programmer (Actionscript)
• An Artist/Animator
• A Server (We will discuss this later)
• Time

Step 1 – Characters

I start every world with the character. The character is what the player will become, and interact with every day. Your character must delight the player. Here are some ideas for selecting a character:

• Keep your characters simple.
• Select a character that can be both a boy or girl.
• Leave room for the player’s imagination.

For this series, I plan to create a virtual world based on Rubber Ducks.

Let’s get to work!

1. Open Flash and create a new file.
2. Create an empty Movie Clip with 8 frames.
3. Start drawing!
4. Each frame is the direction your character is facing. Frame1: South, Frame2: Southwest, Frame3: West, Frame4: Northwest, Frame5: North, Frame6: Northeast, Frame7: East, Frame8: Southeast
5. It is very important that your character stands on the (0,0) position. This is where their feet should touch the ground.
6. Now position the Movie Clip on your stage (0,0)
7. Give your Movie Clip the instance name: “character”

Feel free to post your questions, next week we will create the World!

• Download the FLA source

After months of work, the first book in the Mech Mice series is finished. The Miller Brothers have done a fantastic job crafting a story based on the Mech Mice universe.

The first book contains 21 chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue, around 300 pages, and over 55,000 words. The first book will be available on Amazon for purchase in the next couple of weeks.

But why did you write a book before developing the game?
The book project forced us to explore the Mech Mice universe. We now have a clear vision for the Mech Mice history, locations, characters, technology, and cultures.

What’s next for the Millers?
The Millers are working with Kaio Interactive to develop a game based on their Codebearers series. They need your help to create the game! Check out the project on Kickstarter.

• Codebearers Continuum

What’s next for the RocketSnail?
Now that the book is complete, the RocketSnail team is busy working on the Mech Mice game.

CHAPTER 15: Black is Back

Ziro felt like throwing up…again. Only this time, it had nothing to do with the ride. Unlike the WURM, the Dragoon was as exceptionally smooth as it was speedy. No, this sudden urge to empty his stomach had everything to do with where they were heading…and why. He knew what would be waiting for him at the Academy, and it wasn’t going to be fun.

The journey was over in an impossibly short time. Ziro had been so wrapped up in his thoughts it hardly seemed time had passed at all. As the engines whirred down the squad began to speculate.

“We couldn’t possibly be at the Academy already, could we?” Streak wondered. “No transport is that fast.”

“No. We’re not at the Academy,” Nightshade stated. “We travelled North.” (more…)