Fixed physics model inconsistencies, started writing a "Pre-Mortum" review.
6/3/01
Added variation to transparency map for bathroom floor. Corrected two invisible geometry problems. Removed a stray pixel from 3rd scrolling cut screen. Fixed three badly lit floor polys. Reduced volume of music accompanying 3rd cut screen. Added terminal to locked door at the end of block A. Removed characters that were prone to disappearing due to tight poly arrangements, created a standard Physics Model from which to derive others, Made guards shoot less deadly bullets. Removed ugly dithering from 9 jail guard sprits. Gave the toughest jail guards gray uniforms instead of the usual green. Metroid did this to differentiate characters, and so did Marathon, so it's gotta be good.
6/2/01
Finished refurbishing the bathroom. Now the floor is shiny and reflective.
6/1/01
Began redecorating the main bathroom; toilets and urinals now use poly inserts, and a hand drier graces the wall. A barred window has been added to the hallway joining blocks A through C. The closets at the end of blocks D and B have been extended; bars line the windows that peer into said closets.
5/29/01
Continued adding polygon inserts to the cargo elevator level; it's almost done. There are now 3 floors visible at once from the elevator room, air ducts passing through ceiling supports, two refrigerators, and a very round, very nice looking toilet.
5/22/01
Created the storage rooms surrounding the cargo elevator.
5/18/01
Finished making the cargo elevator. Need to wait for some bug fixes before it can be made to move.
5/17/01
Visited an abandoned theme park in a top secret location, and took photos of surfaces to be used as textures in levels 0 and 2. Completed most of the non-inserted geometry that will be required to construct a heavy-duty cargo elevator for moving supplies from the third-floor maintenance facilities to the kitchen, which is on the first floor.
5/13/01
Added ceiling-hugging smoke to Cell Block D, created a multi-tier set of staircases near the laundry room, increased the resolution of jail cell textures, began raising cots off the ground using 3D polygon inserts, removed green fader effect when player picks up an item, aligned textures, fixed grammatical errors, fixed physics bug preventing staple gun from running out of ammo, refined sound effects near washing machines.
5/07/01
Completed the process that allows the player to backtrack through previously explored areas. Began adding 3D geometry. For now it is limited to desks, stair steps, and raised platforms.
5/06/01
Levels now branch properly; returning to a previously explored level starts you off in the appropriate location within that level. All images showing Carlos talking with Chavez are complete. Changed the name of the game; the new title is a secret.
5/05/01
Made it impossible to avoid picking up the sleeping guard's rifle at the beginning of the game. Intro sequence altered to avoid use of the bug-ridden Pfhortran scripting language. 3rd-person perspective disabled due to poor camera movement in narrow corridors. Reduced size of pickup items. Removed music from select levels to improve QuickTime playback on subsequent cut screens. More geometry is revealed on the other side of breakable windows. Enabled the shell, then disabled it once it became apparent that it wouldn't compile for Carbon. Began creating images for the conversation between Carlos and Chavez, the vender.
4/29/01
Switching to full-screen mode no longer cuts off the player's peripheral vision. The HUD now works properly. 3D polygons are being constructed, and unnecessary Pfhortran commands have been removed.
4/27/01
The Guard's gun is now useable by the player. It was modeled and rendered in Lightwave 6.5, and it is lots of fun to use. It is very accurate and fast, but needs to be reloaded frequently.
3/5/01
Finished the conversation sequences between Carlos and the inmate in cell B4, both before and after Carlos has traded in his staple gun for the master key. The gas can sprites are now stored externally, and are less saturated. The prisoner in cell A4 no longer has a deification bucket.
3/4/01
Created new light switch and circuit breaker box textures and fixed several map bugs and completed a conversation sequence between Carlos and the inmate in cell A4. Started work on a few more wall textures.
2/11/01
Tonight I tied up a ton of loose ends... The explosion in the beginning of the game is complete. The tank room near the washing machines is properly textured. Sprites have been refined. The list goes on.
2/8/01
For the first time since I began adapting Muerte Machine for the open-source Aleph One engine, character animations run properly. I had to make each sprite the same size (250x250 pixels) and recreate many of the animated sequences. I am so happy that everything works! Now if only the Pfhortran camera memory leak could get fixed...
1/14/01
Added a slight side-to-side movement to the staple gun. Began the process of reediting the first animated cut screen in Final Cut Pro.
1/9/01
Got prisoners to appear in cells in OpenGL mode. It was really hard, but the work paid off.
1/4/01
Nearly finished an expanded kitchen. The game runs well in software mode. Hardware acceleration allows for much better graphics, but many sprites are distorted and certain 16-frame animations run out of sequence.
1/1/01
Added dead jail guards in the appropriate locations.
12/29/00
Split the level formerly known as "Kitchen" into two smaller levels; "Kitchen" and "Laundry Room." Also touched up more textures and restored freedom of movement in levels with arrows showing where to go.
12/29/00
Added flashing arrows telling the player where to go in particularly confusing situations. Touched up a few textures. Earlier I removed lens flares in favor of standard light bulbs and indexed the terminal picts so as to avoid end-of-file errors with ResEdit.
12/13/00
Scenery now works in OpenGL mode. The use of Pfhortran camera controls creates a GoldenEye-style intro sequence to first level. Pfhortran is buggy though, so I will have to wait for it to improve.
11/25/00
Replaced some textures, implemented terminal picts as indexed images to save disk space.
11/24/00
Now that Aleph One has progressed to the point where most of the content in Muerte Machine is playable in OpenGL, the question of whether to make the game hardware-only has been raised. This would result in a better game in every respect but one: the in-engine frame-by frame animated sequences would have to go. And I REALLY like those animations, because it took a long time to design them. Today I made it so you can talk to the guy in cell B-3. I also designed a cut screen to replace an in-engine sequence that I wasn't terribly happy with.
10/9/00
Added office and basketball court outside Kitchen. Reduced polygon count of basketball court and increased quality of lines on court. Prepared to add cellar area underneath kitchen.
10/8/00
Added explosion-induced debris to floor outside jail cell. Created the mechanism by which players pass from the Maintenance rooms to the Kitchen and vice versa.
10/7/00
Touched up cut screen 1 and removed blood from guard’s uniform in the early frames of the cut screen so that he isn’t bloody until AFTER he gets shot. Also added flying sparks to the explosion sequence that precedes the unlocking of the jail cell.
10/6/00
Created a reloading sound for the Staple Gun. Made prisoners in cells B1 and B3 appear larger; before Carlos looked too big standing in front of them in the B2 terminal screen.
10/5/00
Created a small equipment room adjacent to sloped hallway.
10/4/00
Changed a sign above washing machines into a proper terminal. Lightened cement texture and reduced its contrast.
10/1/00
Added Earnest Chapman's name to the credits. Replaced the "Gather" and "Join" network game graphics with superior ones. Eliminated the Microphone option from the Setup Network Game dialog. Reorganized resource files to allow for easier building of future versions of the Muerte Machine shell.
9/23/00
Created the kitchen and various hallways leading to it. Added a new music track and retextured several surfaces. Made the metal texture darker and bluish in hue.
9/5/00
Made signs pointing to laundry room and maintenance rooms. Connected a l-shaped hallway to the laundry room.
8/31/00
Made a room with a staircase leading out of the laundry room toward the kitchen.
8/29/00
Created a small room with holding tanks adjacent to the laundry room.
8/28/00
Completed most of the geometry, lighting, and texturing for the laundry room. Added shadow effects to walls, floors, and ceilings. Connected laundry room to what will eventually be developed into the kitchen.
8/26/00
Mr. Clean now makes hideous grunting sounds when shot by Carlos.
8/25/00
Amazingly, every level that I have created so far links properly without showing any signs of the dreaded "warp in" effect. I am incredibly happy that the effect has been successfully obscured without sacrificing the stability of the volatile maps.
8/23/00
Carlos now swears in frustration when he comes upon the locked door leading to Cell Block B. He also talks to another prisoner. The game now plays through the entire first section. However it is currently somewhat rough around the edges.
8/22/00
Carlos now swears in frustration when he comes upon the locked door to the Injection Room.
8/21/00
Added exit signs near the injection room door, the exit of cell block B, and the storage rooms. Added a rest room sign at the beginning of the corridor leading to the bathroom.
8/20/00
Created two screens showing Carlos finding out that the doors to the kitchen and to the storage rooms are locked.
8/2/00
Added a visibility block in front of bathroom so you can’t peek in from the outside.
8/1/00
The toilets now flush when you walk by them.
7/31/00
The prisoner in block C2 now converses with Carlos; He tells carlos that taking to Chavez might help him escape from the cell blocks.
Made reading inmate stop flickering
7/30/00
The prisoner in block C4 now converses with Carlos. He wonders what Mr. Clean thinks of the fact that Carlos is escaping.
7/29/00
Of the eighteen prisoners in blocks A thru D, five can now be spoken to. The conversations carlos has with them advances the plot and develops the characters, especially Carlos.
7/7/00
Resumed work on cut screen; guards now run by before Carlos sticks his head out.
7/5/00
Continued work on cut screen showing jail guard trying to wake up his friend; created sequence showing the camera zooming in to reveal carlos, poking his head out from behind a pillar.
7/4/00
Made inmates less saturated. Created sprites showing Carlos shooting Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean standing in cell, and Mr. Clean Being hit.
6/29/00
Completed new cut screens; added word bubbles and dialog, and changed the size of several images to fit inside the standard 614 x 266 terminal window.
6/27/00
Worked on ten different terminal images showing Mr. Clean talking to Carlos; each is over half done. Finished aligning several sequences showing Jail guard shooting and dying
Realigned jail cell textures
6/26/00
Recorded and implemented snoring sound effects for sleeping jail guards
Began rendering images of “Mr. Clean” for a new set of cut screens
6/25/00
Lengthened Cut screen showing jail door sliding open
Added sleeping jail guard leaning up against the wall.
Enabled preference files; now the graphical and difficulty options you select within the shell affect the actual game.
Eliminate cheesy voices that play when you click on a character when entering a password.
Began work on in-engine cut screen showing Carlos shooting Mr. Clean with his staple gun.
6/23/00
Modified four wall textures; integrated bricks with standard wall, blending textures nicely
6/22/00
Added a few rooms to the East Woodland Slammer, including the bathroom; now the kitchen has the proper non-warping intro and ending sequence.
5/12/00
The East Woodland slammer is finally getting a little bigger; it’s divided up into several seamless small levels
5/6/00
Now the introduction sequence only plays if it is the first time you begin a scenario. So you don’t have to sit through it again and again.
5/1/00
Completed “jail door opening” in-engine cut screen
4/23/00
Created Multiplayer game options within shell
4/??/00
Gave cut screen music tracks the proper length
4/23/00
Made it possible to select graphics settings while setting up a new game
4/??/00
Filled the jail cells with prisoners
3/??/00
Give Jail Guard a “fast running” sequence
2/28/00
Give Jail Guard a “being hit” sequence
2/??/00
Get all known bugs out of the shell
2/??/00
Made the color of the Guard’s uniform less saturated, so that he would fit in better with the jail level. The uniform is now 50% between its original color and the average color of jail wall textures.
12/4/99
Made the Explosion animation that appears when you escape from your jail cell. I got the kinks out of the system. When the explosion goes off the wall surfaces now light up.
12/3/99
Got the shell's saved game file format to be stable and reliable
11/30/99
Make the explosion sequence start smaller, and make the objects that fly out of the blast stay within the frame for longer. Add more small fragments of slightly dark matter, and burning chunks, if possible. Now electrical wires get whipped out of the blast.
11/29/99
Made an explosion animation in RAY DREAM to be used when wires are blown apart by the staple gun. This one should work really well, as it is modeled after the explosions from the Christmas Edition.
11/21/99
Eliminated glass smash and yelling sounds accompanying the beginning of the “Break the Wires” level
11/20/99
Made several textures:
Letters indicating the various cell blocks; A thru D, X, and Y
Universal Telephone symbol
No Smoking sign
Small wall vent
Glass with streaks across it
Posted sign on wall with a warning message of some sort
11/16/99
Created a charred wires texture which is used after wires explode
11/5/99
Set up physics for the inclusion of an explosion sequence upon activation of wires when you’re breaking out of your cell
10/??/99
Removed toilet from the opening cut screen, because there isn’t a toilet in Carlos’ cell anymore.
8/12/99
Worked on the shell application
7/10/99
Re-created the mechanics of the breaking-wires scene in the very beginning of the game. Incorporated terminals to hide the warping-in and -out effects, and also started using terms. to establish plot
7/??/99
Created textures based on signs and redid the hallway leading to the 4 main cell blocks
7/2/99
Downloaded tons of great source material for signs to be used throughout the jail level
6/??/99
Made all the yellow textures lighter and paler, and made all the blue textures darker, to add contrast
5/??/99
record and implement sound effects for the hedge rippers
5/??/99
recorded and implement sound effects for the gatling gun
5/??/99
Add graphics of Juan holding rippers and gatling gun for net play
3/2/99
Weeded out dumb blue textures -- use the yellow ones that I have chosen as an example of which ones should remain.
3/4/99
Made the soft-shadowed fades from blue to yellow. It looks ’ awesome!
2/20/99
Make the “chain” semitransparent wall textures. Fit both chains on the same texture, side by side. That way it will flip properly!
4/??/99
Modelled and rendered a graphic for the hedge rippers as an item
2/??/99
make the jail guard character using Ray Dream Studio
1/??/99
Added or a sound effect for breaking glass
1/??/99
Make a sound effect for when you pick up an item
1/??/99
Made a couple sprites for the bathroom:
Sink Faucet; Urinal handle
1/15/99
Make a jail bar
1/14/99
Make a blacktop texture that is darker than the current one
1/??/99
Record sound effect of heater blowing air
1/12/99
Created a few textures: Wire fence for jail exit area; Arrows saying: Cell block D, rest rooms, storage; Kitchen stove and fridge and cabinets
12/20/98
Added more dark dank corridors to the gorgeous jail level
11/21/98
Took all the Juan Dolla frames that have been rendered- shooting and running- and run them through Photoshop so they could be pasted into anvil
10/??/98
Make the being hit sequence for Juan Dolla
11/21/98
Modeled a Juan Dolla shooting sequence at 47% ambiance that takes into account the fact that while running, the guy has his arms outstretched.
11/21/98
Modelled a standing sequence showing the Juan Dolla’s arms partially outstretched, in accordance with the shooting animation sequence.
11/21/98
Rendered Juan Dolla standing and shooting