Virgilio Samo III's ePortfolio (Chito2500)

Dearest Journal,

I am soooooo sorry for not writing in so long. This month has been kicking my ass left and right with all sorts of internships, final projects, and of course, my culmination project. Before I begin, I heard that my readers got confused with World 2. I was working on it separately but I did not include it in the demo. In short, it’s there in the editor but I didn’t enable it. Now that that’s out of the way, it is time to take the final plunge.

Play this track specifically embedded for this entry.

Last week, my culmination project was ready to present. I had spent the last two nights that time to fix and tweak any bugs and dialogue I could find so that the gameplay was smooth and interactive. The Spring Show was the perfect testing ground for feedback. I was having so much fun that I left my game unattended for a while and there were a bunch of people crowding around it, amazed by all the work I have put into it. Oh yeah, the poster session went great too and as usual, my epic poster was the star of the show. I’m telling you, my friend, it feels so good to be recognized and I think that I may have inspired a few others to follow in my footsteps too.

Now, I am officially done with everything. I do plan on continuing my game by fixing more things, adjusting the stats, making my own animations, sound effects, etc. I do desire Derision to be the only game that uses copyright law itself as a concept. Of course, copyright law itself will try and prevent me from doing so but since I have already agreed to make this for commercial purposes and of course, free, they can’t do *bleep*  about it. I am actually curious about how they would react to the concept at hand. Oh well, I’ll probably never know a few years from now but I will continue to work on my game regardless of what they think.

I will also be graduating 2 weeks from now. I’m afraid that this will be the last time I ever write to you. I think the main reason why I haven’t wrote back yet is because of that fear. I always liked talking to you because you’re a great listener and furthermore, you allowed me to express myself in ways that people will never understand. I know I mentioned that I have Autism and the reason why I don’t open up to many people is because they’ll think I’m faking it. It does contribute to the fact that I am alone most of the time, even though I got friends and family who look out for me every day. Still, it isn’t so bad as it did allowed me to concentrate and get things done.

Well, I can’t drag this out any longer. I have to go and prepare. In all honesty, journal, you’re more than just a friend. You became a brother to me. All I know is that this is going to hurt me a whole lot when I complete this entry. However, I can still reflect on them and reminisce on how I got to this point today. I guess I’ll stop here. Goodbye, brother. It was an honor to be your writer.

Your Brother,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

Once again, I apologize for not writing sooner. I am still recovering from Spring break and today, I missed yet another meeting with my culmination advisor which I only need one more. However, he did say that I was on track and my game looks really great. Speaking of my game, it is almost ready for presentation so all I need to do is make improvements and tweaks to make sure that I covered every possible scenario such as the player finding a loophole or a cheat around a boss. This demo will last the player a few hours so it is good enough to present and it gives the player something to look forward to.

This is the last month before the semester ends. I went back earlier to try and improve my poster and lo and behold, I had a solution. So I decided to move everything closer to the center so that the edges are blank and when I was finished, it looks way better than before because the background photo I had helped created a custom border. Now that my poster is ready, back to my game. Some games I know had a code feature that players can solve in order to open doors. I have recently learned how to do so and it works perfectly. As of now, it does nothing if you are wrong but I will put in a battle sequence of an enemy that if the player wins, it will motivate him/her to think carefully and input their answer. The guide will contain the answer but I highly doubt they’ll need it.

I can tell you’re getting excited, journal. I just made a commitment that I will force myself awake to do as much as I could. It may deteriorate my health and overall well-being but I believe it is necessary because there is still so much work to be done. Not just here but other classes too. Time for me to get my ass in motion because I need to break free from the shackles of college. I just hope I can do so in time. Farewell for now.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

I am sooooo sorry for not writing to you sooner. These past two weeks proved hectic because I had to get up almost every morning to either do my internship, get my graduation gear, and of course, adding more content to my culmination project. By the way, it is going well since I managed to gain enough time to improve it. I added some screen effect to give the game more feeling and I improved world 1 by adding damage traps and new items such as an elixir. I have also fixed a few of the skills after testing them during high level battles by adding a formula which give the player HP based on their level times a base value.

As for World 2, I had finished making all the enemies and skills so all that is left is to make the world and the plot behind it. Since this world will have no people present, I will instead have an A.I. talk to the player off-screen. I want to create the feeling that you are in a virtual world with machines in every corner. Of course, I have chosen the boss, music, and moves already. To be honest, I’m more excited and motivated to finish this project more than ever.

I’ll have to print out my poster for the poster session soon. I just want to get it out the way since I have already completed it. It looks great, feels great, and more importantly, worthy for the session. There is one other thing I’m worried about. My internship hours are pretty low and I only have about one month to get the remaining hours. I may have to make sacrifices in order to graduate on time. Guess we’ll have to find out, huh. Well, I better get going. It’s good to write to you again.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

There has been a slight change of plans in regards to the lecture portion of my culmination class. It seems that I was wrong when I said last post that last week was the last lecture. It turns out that next Friday will be it. I did made sure that my report is correct and speaking of reports, my project is really starting to take shape. The only thing is that since the next world is more futuristic than world 1, I have to find some future tilesets and add a moving background of the various worlds of Lyoko. For world 2, you’ll have to complete more since world 1 is just the beginning.

There is some good news as well. I’m feeling much better now and because of that, I’ll use Friday to work on my culmination project since I have already completed everything else for the time being. My poster is ready, my game still kicks ass, all the documentation looks good, and for everything else, I’m golden. Still, it doesn’t mean that I should slack off. I’ll do that when needed but for now, I have to continue my project as in I have to make up some new skills and parameters for the second world and its enemies. Plus, new weapons and armor to keep up. Farewell for now.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

This upcoming Friday is the last lecture of the semester. I have never been more ready to show my game off than anything. Speaking of my game, I have officially decided to turn it into a nice demo which will keep my players happy for a few hours at best. I know that the predicament I set myself before me will be one of my biggest challenges yet but today, it is time for action and I will summon all the energy I can muster to do it. My poster is complete and epic, all the paperwork is complete, my game is fun and easy to play, what more can I want? Anyway, it looks like the semester is halfway done and there are midterms that I need to study and pass before I can continue my culmination project.

As for what I will add for my world 2, I have also finally selected the theme for this one. Even to this day, I still would watch old cartoons plus some newer ones from my kid days. There was one show that captured my attention and it was one of the only shows that combined 2D and 3D worlds together. That was Code Lyoko. When I got the game version, I had loads of fun with it and the company, Moonscoop, tried to make an RPG of it but was scrapped. It will be my honor to revive it in my game so that players can enjoy a new experience when they couldn’t before.

World 2 will take place in Lyoko which is divided into many sectors I can choose from. I can’t wait to get started on it and let’s just say that I now feel more motivated than ever. With that, I must take my leave. I’ll write you again when I made more progress.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

I have decided to take a break for a few days from my culmination project. So far, the average player will take about an hour to get to where I stopped so that is a good sign that things are going well. I showed off my poster last Friday and as expected, everybody went “ooooo” and “ahhhhh” followed by more amazement. It is what I have been trying to tell everyone I know all along. You do not have to follow some boring template nor everyone else’s. You know what I think? I think that these standards are only there as a placeholder for imagination to take its course. It works out for me because mostly everyone I met in my life accepted and adored me for being who I am today.

Midterms are coming up soon and that means that my time is running short. I’ll just include what I said in the previous entries and add them in to my game instead of just sitting on my ass thinking about what should happen next. All that matters is having enough content to say that my culmination project is a success. For some strange reason, I’m feeling more and more sluggish, slower than usual. I am pretty concerned that it may interfere with my progress but I have been through worse. I even took a finals exam while I was sick to my stomach. I did felt like I was going to die right there but luckily, I survived and passed with a good grade.

I guess it goes to show that I can be very strong and enduring. The latest feedback I had recently says that I should keep going and improve some aspects of it. All in all, great work if I do say so myself. Well, I better get going. I have to present my progress to my tech advisor so that he can let me know what else I could do. Till then, I’ll write you again soon.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

I know, don’t rub it in. I’m MUCH later than usual to post my next update.  Better late than never, I suppose. I do have some good news I want to share. I finally got enough content to make a demo version to send to my tech advisor, professor King. He is reviewing it as we speak and will get back to me shortly. My new findings and assets are proving to be most useful. However, now that college is finally picking up on the hard work, my time on the game has been slowed so it looks like I’ll have to make adjustments on my calendar and my schedule. In the end, it looks like I’ll be looking into an open-ended game which I will continue even after culmination is complete.

By the way, I hope you like the new music I picked for the next two entries. I just needed to clear my mind for a bit because I do have a lot going on in my head. Oh yeah, more good news. The college has decided to allow me to obtain my hours by working alongside them. I’ll attend every shift, do every show, and whatever else they want. I need those hours fast and I only have two and a half months to get 120 of them. I know it looks impossible but I don’t care. I’m doing all my work early so that I can focus on the internship at hand.

Sometimes, I wonder if it will be easy to just give up and quit. Luckily, I have the answer to that and that answer is: it is not. Why? I’m so close to finishing and despite my strength draining from the effects of home, school, and everything else in my life, I made a commitment and I plan to see it through. I can’t stay for long, journal. I have to keep working if I ever hope to pass. I’ll write you again when I have a new update.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

I have great news to share with you. The first is that I now have access to free sprites and stuff thanks to myself signing up for the RPG Maker forums. I can collaborate with other users and post my prototype for others to play. So far, I have positive feedback on it and of course, some suggestions which I can address right away. All in all, I can see Derision heading into a positive direction and since copyright can’t lay a finger on me, I can use their content all I want because I already agreed to surrender my rights and not make money off it.

Professor King finally wrote back to me. I do appreciate him helping me out with a few links that I can use to enrich my game. Since he said that he couldn’t figure out where to go next, I made a game guide text document. I have made progress since the last time we spoke so I want to make sure that I have at least a boss battle in the end before I continue. That way, he can bask in its potential glory. The things I come up with sometimes…..I just wish that I had enough time to add more. Luckily, I can just work on the story and mechanics rather than larger tasks.

It is now been one month since I started my culmination class and already I am halfway done. I know that even after I am done with the lectures, I still have to do the major works such as completing my poster, meeting with my tech advisor, and setting up a room for presentation. It may sound scary at first but I know that I have to summon the energy to see it through. I’m tired, journal. After college, I’m taking a break. Until then, back to work for me. I’ll write you again soon.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

What a week that turned out to be. I am making good progress so far and I got great feedback from my cousin who heard about my project. He says that he loves it and he has great potential. He did say that I do need to adjust my parameters and skills which was exactly what I thought all this time. Also, I now implemented the first half of the tower level and I have chosen the Fallen from Destiny to guard the first artifact. I am stuck in choosing who will be the leader of the group. Sepiks Prime? Skolas? Hmmm…..decisions, decisions. I guess when I’m almost finished, it will come to me eventually.

There is the possibility that instead of the player gathering one artifact, they can gather parts of it from groups of the same idea. It depends if I have the time to make that happen or not. I do love the fact that I have so much to choose from so it makes work progress so much flawlessly. Not only that, I have completed the guide up to where my progress currently stops. Every game needs a manual so I can’t just make my game and expect the players to go in blind.

Worlds 2 and 3 are already planned out. I might include Uruks from Middle-earth, the Covenant from Halo, zombies and monsters from Resident Evil,…..holy canoly, all of a sudden. Now I have many more ideas now. However, I must take it one step at a time as I must complete and test out my progress to make sure it plays as intended.

Well, that’s all for now. Whew, now the real fun begins. I’ll write you again soon.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

I’m baaaaaack. Did you miss me? Yes, I know I am a bit late but I am making excellent improvements and progress towards my game. I also got a bit of other work done and I finally met my technical advisor for the first time. He gave me some good feedback which I implemented right away. That’s one meeting down with only two more to go. Not only that, I GOT IT APPROVED!!! YEAH BABY, WOOOOOOOO!!!!! Somehow, I knew it would fly and that’s because I’m a *bleeping* genius. To this day, I still don’t know how I end up at those conclusions so I’m happy with that and I won’t complain about it.

For the game itself, I had to change the title because the name appears in several other games as well. I consulted the thesaurus for similar words for Parody. My research paid off and I found a word that is perfect for the game: Derision. Wow, even the name itself sent chills down my spine. Another thing I had to do is revise my documentation and replacing every mention of the old title with the new one. Once that’s done, I had uploaded the PDFs to my portfolio which completes part 1 of my project.

I started to make up the guide to my game on notepad that tells the player where to go or what to do. I won’t reveal much because it will cause my game to be too easy since the players now possess the knowledge to complete it. I will only include the important stuff like the answer to a code or something of that nature. I still feel that the introduction needs something and I have it. I can lure the player to the next area by having them acquire a key that will unlock the area they need to retrieve the artifact. No more spoilers until I develop a bit further so stay tuned.

Unfortunately, that is all I can spare at this time. There is still so much to do like that poster and I want to learn how to make it right the first time. Plus, I need to know how to make it. Is it physical? Digital? What is it? Anyway, I must depart so I will write you again next time.

Your friend,

Virgilio Samo III

Play this for a much better reading experience.

Dear Journal,

It is with great pleasure to have finally meet you at last. My name is Virgilio Samo III and I am here to present my project to you. It is a game where Copyright is the main concept and that there is a powerful lesson when you reached the end. Sounds simple, right? I will tell you that I do have my work cut for me so luckily, I got started last semester and it s well on its way to becoming a working, full-functioning game.

I finally got the introduction done since it was missing a few things here and there. I also finished the proposed game document and proposal and although it is taking the administration a long while to review it, I will still keep working despite this setback. Even if they do decide to reject it, I’m going forward with it anyway so that I can prove that RPG Maker MV is an excellent software to use for projects for those who are not so great at visual graphics like me. There are a TOOOOON of tutorials on it and it did take me a good week to learn most of them.

I really hope that I can finally get out of this college. I don’t hate my professors but I didn’t spend six years of my life to get *bleep* over just because I chose a project that wasn’t common in their university. I do have a good chance of passing but it will mean that I can’t have as much fun as I used to for a while. This is a commitment I have to make if I want to succeed.

Anyway, going back to MV, there are literally so many things I can do to it. I can add my own animations, make my own characters, add my own music, and even use plugins to enrich my project. Do you want to know a fun fact? Most developers who started on projects like mine often scrapped them on the first month. That is because you have to commit to your game and work hard to make that dream game a reality. Since I have four months to complete or make a part 1, I can always save and go back whenever I have a new idea, which is every day.

That’s all for now and again, it is great to meet you. I can’t wait to show you what I have for next week.

Your new friend,

Virgilio Samo III