Version 0.2.0b released. (improvement for Network mode)

http://herofighter.com/download/index.html

Network mode is improved and is less laggy.
刚发放了修正版 v0.2.0b (改善了连线模式太 lag 的问题)

Network mode released!

New character - Gordon released!

Character - Gordon

新角色將於 5日內推出.
New character will be out in 5 days.

角色 - 戈登 (Gordon)
戰斧悍將
近距離力量型角色.

Character - Gordon
Battle Axe
Another powerful melee fighter.

New character - Jenny released!

Character - Jenny

由於一些私人事情, 進度受阻.
現在正全力開動, 趕緊在 9 月 18 日推出新角色 - Jenny.
以下是一些她的資料

Progress slow down because of some personal matter.
Working hard now and new character - Jenny will be out around 18 Sep 2009.
Here is her info.

角色 - 解玲 (Jenny)
鋼槍女戰士
中距離防守型角色.

Character - Jenny
Spearwoman
A mid-range defensive fighter.

Little update - fixed a few bugs.

剛修了幾個 bug 及更新了遊戲.
另外, 我也在 facebook 建立了 HF 的群組.
歡迎加入及傳給你的朋友們. 謝謝


Just fixed a few bug and update the game.
By the way, I've created a facebook group for HF.
Please join and help spread it to your friends. Thanks you.

Hero Fighter v0.1 released

Alpha version released!



開發了接近一年後, 英雄大作戰 HeroFighter 測試版終於面世. 7 月 31 日對我來說是個十分值得記念的日子. 回想過去一年, 每天都工作十幾個小時, 實在有點累, 但能夠完全按自己的想法, 製作一個自己喜歡的遊戲, 令我感到無比的興奮. 在此感激家人對我的支持和諒解!

HeroFighter 是完全免費的, 遊戲要持續發展, 必須要得到大家的支持. 希望你們能把這遊戲介紹給同學、朋友、親戚們. 只要有足夠數量的玩家, 遊戲才有機會生存, 我的夢想才有機會繼續下去. 另外, 如果你們想對遊戲發表意見, 或跟世界各地的玩家交流, 可到以下的網站.

Hero Fighter Yahoo 國際討論區 (請用英文發言)
Hero Fighter 百度貼吧 (中文)

由於時間緊迫, 電腦的 AI 還未能及時完成, 望大家見諒. 現時電腦玩家不懂使用物件及馬匹, 預計在一星期內會作出另一個更新, 把它完成. 在八月及九月, 我希望能完成連線功能, 生存模式及加入新角色. 希望能令你們喜歡. 謝謝!



After 1 year development, HeroFighter's test version is released. 31 July becomes a memorable date for me. It is an incredible experience to work on what I love most! I would like to thank my family who give me so much support.

HeroFighter is 100% free. Its development relies on your support. Please introduce this game to your classmates, friends, cousins... The game can survive only if it has enough player population. If you want to give comments, or communicate with other players worldwide, you can check out the following links:

Hero Fighter Yahoo Group (English only)
Hero Fighter Baidu Bar (Chinese only)

Because the time is tight, computer AI is not finished - computer players still don't know how to use giant weapons and riding... Don't worry, I will finish them in a week. In the coming 2 months, I hope to make the 'network game', 'survival mode' and new character(s). Wish you love it. Thanks!

Demo Video

Mirror Blog in China

由於 Blogspot 被中國國家防火牆所封鎖, 我剛從中國和訊申請了以下的 Blog, 以後兩個 blog 將同步更新.
http://martiwong.blog.hexun.com/

Because Blogspot is blocked by China's great firewall. I have made a mirror blog for Chinese users:
http://martiwong.blog.hexun.com/

Something about Animation...

有關動畫
以上三個奔跑的動作都有 8 幀, 遠比 LF2 中的(只有3幀) 流暢.
在制作 HF 時, 我時刻都以超越 LF2 為目標. 所以對 HF 內動作細緻的要求, 亦遠較 LF2 為高.
在過去幾個月中, 研究動畫技巧成為我休息時的活動.
預計每個 HF 的主要角色, 需要300幀以上的動畫圖. 以個人來說是一個頗為巨大的工程. 這樣亦解釋了為何花這麼多時間才推出一個新角色.

每幀的解像度
在之前發放三個角色的站立動畫, 大小約為 160闊 x 240高. 這是原定的大小.
可是, 如果每幀都這樣大的話, 每個角色動畫就佔用 44 MB 的記憶體空間.
如果有 20 個角色同時出現, 就佔去約 880 MB 的記憶體.
這樣對 Flash 遊戲來說實在太大負荷. 所以最後唯有把幀圖縮小一倍(為防止不勻鋸齒, 縮小一倍是最佳選擇). 以上三幅動圖就是解像度降低後的版本.

開發進度
現時三個角色的基本動作都已經做好. 未來十天, 希望能把他們的招式完成, 趕緊在七月底前發放測試版. :)

About Animation
The 3 animated gifs above are the running actions of characters. They are consisted of 8 frames and much smoother than LF2's (3 frames only).
I always want to make HF more successful than LF2. So I spend much more effort on the animation details.
And in the last few months, learning animation techniques was what I often did when taking a break.
In HF, it is expected that each characters will have up to 300 frames of animation. That is a huge amount of work and that's why it takes so long for making 1 character.

Frame Resolution
The resolution for the 3 stance animation released last week were about 160 width x 240 height. That is the original size. However, if every frames are like that. Each character will consume up to 44 MB of memory space.
If 20 characters appears at the same time, it may take 880 MB memory space.
That is too much for a flash game. So I have to resize the resolution into half (to prevent uneven sampled distortion, half sized is the best choice). The 3 animated gifs above are the half-sized version.

Working Progress
All the basic actions/moves of the 3 characters are done. In the coming 10 days, I plan to finish their special moves in order to meet the v0.1 release deadline. :)

Character - Shawn

角色 - 承影 (Shawn)
箭手
箭術精湛, 身手敏捷.
屬於遠距離速度型的角色.
開發中

Character - Shawn
Archer
A long-range agile fighter.
Under development

Character - Drew

角色 - 褚英 (Drew)
拳手
擅長近身攻擊、摔角招式.
能舉起重物, 作橫掃式攻擊.
屬於近距離力量型的角色.
開發中

Character - Drew
Boxer
Skilled in close range attacks and wrestling.
Capable of using giant sized object (as weapon).
A powerful melee fighter
Under development

Character - Lucas

角色 - 龙介 (Lucas)
劍士
在近身戰中, 擁有流暢的連技.
鋒利的寶劍付予「同時擊中多人」的能力.
能放出劍氣作中距離攻擊.
屬於力量平衡型的角色.
開發中

Character - Lucas
Swordsman
Good at melee combos.
Sharp blade allows him to attack multiple enemies at one blow.
Has the ability in striking mid-ranged energy blasts.
A well-balanced all rounder.
Under development

Something about the Game Engine

關於 Game Engine

去年八月, 我開始設計 HF 的 Game Engine (我不喜歡「遊戲引擎」這個亂來的翻譯, 故沿用英文). 經過十個月的努力後, Game Engine 大致上完成. 由於 HF 是 Web-based, 加上它是以 Flash 編寫而成, 所以設計 Game Engine 時, 必須要注意到 Server 空間的節省以及 Flash 的運行速度, 跟我以往所作的有頗大的分別.

坐騎系統

我希望能夠在 HF 中, 製作戰爭的場面, 所以加入「坐騎系統」, 以加強將領們的氣勢. 在以往的一些遊戲中, 例如: Capcom 的戰斧、蠶食天地, 以及 Koei 的三國無雙, 都有「坐騎系統」. 不過以我的觀察, 坐騎除了有型和速度外, 一般都沒有什麼用處. 英雄在「坐騎」上時, 彷彿被封印了大部份的招式. 如要認真戰鬥, 都必須「下馬」, 這樣實在太遜了. 我希望在 HF 中, 能夠改善這種弊處.

大型物件

在以一敵百的混戰場面中, 如果只使用小型物件作武器, 實在不夠看頭. 我加入「大型物件」, 希望讓「大塊頭」型角色有更多的發揮.


多重捲軸 Parallax scrolling (又稱為多重平面 Multiplane)

在我以往所製作的多重捲軸的背境, 全部都只能橫向移動. 在 HF, 遊戲畫面會放大、縮小, 以及上下移動, 所以背境的圖層, 會作出縱向及遠近的捲軸效果, 務求表現出境深的立體感.

Something about the Game Engine

Last August, I started to design the Game Engine of HF and after 10 months' effort, it's near the finishing stages. Since HF is web-based and written in Flash, I have to take into account the server space and flash performance during the process which is quite different from my past experience.

Riding System
Riding on a horse makes a hero look cooler. That's why I decided to implement the Riding System. The games like Battle Axe, Warriors of Fate, Dynasty Warriors also have a Riding System. However, the horse (or other animal) in those games only exist for the purpose of being cool or increased agility rather than being helpful in combat. It's really sucks that most of the moves are disabled when riding, so I hope I can overcome this problem in HF.

Giant Object

Special weapon for "Muscle" character in a "1 on 100 battle"


Parallax scrolling (also called Multiplane)

In the past, all the backgrounds I made can only be scrolled horizontally. This time, the backgrounds in HF can be zoomed in/out and vertically scrolled, so I have to do the "parallax scrolling" for those movement accordingly. And this creates a better illusion of 3d.

Start working on Hero Fighter

開始製作 Hero Fighter

自從 LF2 完成以後, 我一直很想再創作另一個屬於自己的遊戲, 可惜一直為了工作, 没有餘暇去實行這個奢侈的夢想. 直到去年, 幾經掙扎後, 我終於把日間的工作辭去, 專心在家製作我的新遊戲 - Hero Fighter (英雄大作戰, 簡稱 HF). 希望在首年把遊戲「初步完成」, 然後再選一條適合自己的職業道路.

跟 LF 一樣, HF 也是一個「混戰型」的格鬥遊戲, 不過, HF 是 web-based 的, 它無需安裝, 只需以瀏覽器開啓網址, 就可以玩到. 在往後的日子裡, 我會在 HeroFighter.com 的網頁內, 不時更新遊戲. 我預計大概在本年七月底, 先發放 HF v0.1 - 它只是一個簡單的「單機」遊戲, 只有兩三個角色. 在及後的更新中, 我將會慢慢加入新的角色及遊戲模式 (在首半年, 計劃每月加入一至兩個角色), 希望終有一天, 能夠把 HF 發展成一個多人在線的遊戲.

這個 blog, 將會是用作發放 HF 消息及與 Fans 交流的地方. 因為有很大部份的 Fans 都看不懂中文, 所以儘管我的英文一般, 我還是會盡量的把自己的文章譯成英文, 如果有什麼文法出錯或者筆誤, 希望你們多多見諒.


Start working on Hero Fighter

After the completion of LF2, I was always thinking of making another new game. However, because of my daily job, I can hardly find the time to pursue my goal. Last year, after struggling for months, I finally made a difficult decision to quit my job. And concentrate on working on my new game - Hero Fighter (HF). I hope the game can be finished "preliminarily" in the first year. Afterwards I will look for a career path which would suit me most.

Like LF2, HF is also a fighting game. But HF is web-based which does not require installation and can be played in your browser right away. In the coming days, I will keep updating and releasing new versions of HF in HeroFighter.com. By the end of July, I plan to release the first version (v0.1) - that is just a simple "stand alone" game with 2~3 characters only. I will keep adding new characters and game modes to the game (in the first half year, I plan to add 1~2 characters per month). I wish I can eventually make HF into a multi-player online game.

This blog is for releasing HF news and talking to fans. Because a large part of fans cannot read Chinese, I will try my best to translate my articles to English. As my English is not that good, please forgive me for any grammatical mistakes.

Look back on "Little Fighter"

回顧 Little Fighter

我在 1998 年, 還在諗大學二年級時. 開始創作 Little Fighter 2 (LF2). 由於我對有關 network 的編程一竅不通, 所以找到我的同學 Starsky 的協助. 記得當時為了爭取時間, 希望趕緊在畢業前把遊戲完成, 七成以上的課堂都缺席了. 有些學科, 甚至到考試時才第一次見到導師的樣子.

LF2 的更新不斷在網頁發表 (詳見 LF2 progress time table), 它從只有 1 個角色及 vs 模式, 慢慢變成擁在 24 個角色及 4 種遊戲模式. 網頁的瀏覽數目從零升到幾千萬, 遊戲的受歡迎程度大大超出我的想像. 如果遊戲不是這樣受歡迎, 遊戲很有可能會在完成 11 個原始角色後便不再更新. Fans 的支持給予很大動力, 迫使我把遊戲的計劃一再擴大, 所以在大學畢業時 (2000年夏), 遊戲仍離完成甚遠.

畢業後, 我找到第一份工作 - 編寫手機遊戲. 當時白天上班, 並不輕鬆. 到晚上, 編寫 LF2 至深夜, 每天只睡四、五個小時, 感到非常辛苦. 一年後, 終於抵受不了, 把工作辭去, 然後花大半年時間, 全職把 LF2 完成. 由於當時沒有收入, 又要償還大學學費的貸款, 財政一度十份拮据. 不過現在看來, 當天一切的付出都是值得的.

Look back on "Little Fighter"

In 1998, when I was a 2nd year undergrad student, I started to create Little Fighter 2 (LF2). As I knew nothing about network programming, I asked my classmate Starsky to help me out with that. Coz I wanted to finish the game before my graduation, I was absent from most of the lessons.

As LF2 updates were released (see LF2 progress time table), it got more and more popular. The hit counter even reached 40 million. Its popularity was totally out of my expectation. Fans encourage me a lot, and this makes me expand the spec of LF2 for several times.

When I graduated, the game was still far from finished. At the day time, I have to work for my living in a cell phone game company. After the dinner, I worked for LF2 til midnight. It was really tired getting only 4, 5 hours sleep everyday. So after a year, I quitted my job and worked on LF2 in full-time. Without income for more than a half year, I had a rough time financially. But as I look back on this, I can say LF2 was worth every effort.