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Phodex Games

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  1. Phodex Games
    Hi Guys,
    It has been very silent around Phodex Framework and my projects, but thats because I really focused on game development and nothing else. Posting stuff and creating content costs time and I was also very busy with studying. However as promised in my last entry I was working on an actual game. I tried to create a small, but quality experience including decent design, nice graphics and, at least for a one man indie game, complex game mechanics such as first person melee and range combat. If it is the yet best free Leadwerks game is up to you.
    You can try it out for FREE!
     
    About Bladequest
    Bladequest is my welcome gift for you and I really would like to share my knowledge and skill to create great games from your feedback and input! To do so, I need your help! That I can achieve a game you like to play, let me know what your likings are. To do so just participate in this survey!
    Bladequest is meant to show you, what I am able to do and what could be possible.  It is currently lacking some features and content, but we can build upon it, whatever we like! Join my email list to stay in touch, share ideas and craft an epic game together. Let’s do it!
    Before working on Bladequest I worked on a project called Dreamdale, which I decided to cancel for the moment, as I want to go towards smaller games and Dreamdale turned out to be a pretty huge project. I most likely will use some of the ideas in one way or another. If you are interested in the project check it out here!
    What next?
    So after I recieved enough feedback about Bladequest and about your preferences, I can sit down and concept some ideas for cool games. I then will present them to you and we will step by step create an awesome game together. Learning from my former mistakes, I would also like to start small and slowly grow bigger, so better expect a smaller and simpler, but well-thought out game. I even though about mobile games, although I prefer developing for PC, but I will do anything I can to deliever just the best experience.
     
    Get Bladequest - TFC NOW!
    As always stay cool!
    Markus from Phodex
  2. Phodex Games

    A value for everyone?

    By Phodex Games,

    Hi Leadwerkers ⚙️,
    today I have a cool announcement to make. In the past two years I was working on the Phodex Framework, which is a set of helpful tools, utilities and systems, created to unleash Leadwerk's true power and potential, to be able to create the games I had in mind. Now, that I have released my first Leadwerks game Bladequest: The First Chapter and the Phodex Framework has proven its worth in practice, I thought it is time to share some parts of the framework, especially those I think everyone could make use of.
    I step by step will release different components of the framework, some of them are free, some of them paid. The best is, the first component, the very powerful and flexible Event System is already available for free. If used correctly, it can massively improve the structure of your code and also offers you the opportunity, to build your own powerful systems upon it. For the future I also plan to produce some video tutorials to explain everything more detailed. For now you can read the documentation, that comes with each component.
    The following components are planned to be released in the future:
        ? Advanced Animation Manager
        ? Advanced Debugging Functions
        ? Easy Raycaster System
        ? Helper Functions
        ? Input Manager
        ? Object Orientation for LUA
        ? Save & Load System
    Together, those systems will massively improve your Leadwerks experience. I can't imagine working without them anymore and am sure you will feel them same once you use them.
    As always stay cool and have a nice day
    Markus from Phodex Games
  3. Phodex Games
    Hi guys!
    Bladequest – The First Chapter now finally is on Steam! I am very excited to see how it is going! Check it out if you want! I think it’s pretty cool to have my game on Steam :).
    Recently I did some redesign and restructuring, affecting my logo, the newsletter and the website. I actually shut the website down and now use another service, which is easier for me to setup and maintain, so I have more capacity to develop Chapter Two!
    Preproduction and conception for “Chapter Two” (I guess it will have a different name) is nearly finished. With the next installment I am going to make a huge step towards the idea of the final game. I soon will tell you more about it in one of my future videos. Don’t want to miss it? Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel!
    And as little bonus, here are two shots from some experimenting I did for Chapter Two. What could that be?

    Markus from Phodex Games!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Join the Bladequest Gazette!
  4. Phodex Games
    Hi guys,
    First of all check out the newest episode of DevTalk, showing some progress of the development of Bladequest: Chapter Two!
    Bladequest – The First Chapter is available since about one and a half month now and so far and has totally exceeded my expectations with about 2000 downloads in total. It was a very interesting project for me, and I got a lot of positive feedback and you definitely want to see more from Bladequest. I think the foundation is there, to create a really cool game. The First Chapter can be considered as finished now. As far as no major error/bug appears it will not recieve any updates and I will focus on Chapter Two, to be able to deliver much better quality and more content, as seen in The First Chapter.
    I recognized that the idea behind Bladequest does not get 100% clear when reading the description, or playing the game. It can easily be misunderstood as an episodic game, were in fact it is not. I definitely plan to work on this in the future and also have a cool idea how to very easily show what I have in mind with Bladequest. I am also very exciting to tell you more about the final game concept, as The First Chapter really just is a sneak peek (like a pre-alpha) of what is to come.
    So to be able to leave Bladequest – The First Chapter with a clear conscience, I gave the website some final touches and released Patch 1.5.0, so I can now focus on Chapter Two. The last exciting thing happening with The First Chapter is the upcoming Steam release. I am really looking forward to this and can’t wait to see how it is going.
    Thanks for all your support and feedback so far. I am so excited to create Chapter Two you won’t believe it :D, just have to overcome my currently bad health situation :(, to be able to work 24/7 again haha :D.
    Markus from Phodex Games!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Your Games Wishlist so I can craft a game to your needs!
  5. Phodex Games
    Check out my latest DevTalk video. I am showing some awesome new features coming to Bladquest – Chapter Two! I really took your feedback serious to develop some cool stuff. So check it out!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Your Games Wishlist so I can craft a game to your needs!
  6. Phodex Games
    Hi guys!
    Just wanted to share the first video of the DevTalk series with you, where I keep you up to date about the development, upcoming features etc. It also is a very cool way to communicate with you, so make sure to subscribe and comment to tell me your ideas. I am working very, very hard and there is a lot of awesome stuff coming soon, so stay tuned!
    Markus from Phodex Games!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Your Games Wishlist so I can craft a game to your needs!
  7. Phodex Games
    I decided to do a small party, eating some delicious food, celebrating the success of Bladequest - The First Chapter. It had over 450 downloads over within only 7 days and counting, I had the first few sales and Josh is supporting me bringing the game on steam.
    This is really awesome, thank you soo much, you make it possible for me to live my dream and make me feel the fire deep in my hearth, which gives me the power and motivation to bring my upcoming games on a new exciting quality level!
    I will soon start a Devlog kind of series on YouTube, where I introduce cool new features and content waiting for you in my next project, so you can give direct feedback and together we can make it awesome :D!
    Stay cool!
    Markus from Phodex Games!
    Grab the Game here!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Your Games Wishlist so I can craft a game to your needs!
  8. Phodex Games
    Doesn’t the new design of Bladequest look awesome? To celebrate it I just released Bladequest - TFC 1.4.0, including the new design and a voice over for the intro and outro screen, spoken by myself, introducing the project. I think this adds a more personal touch to the game. What do you think about it?
    The game is now also available on gamejolt, running very good there! Bladequest was downloaded over 100 times within 3 days, thats awesome! To celebrate that I started a sale for the GOLD Edition. Get it 67% OFF!
    Thanks to Josh Bladequest is also coming to Steam soon! I am very excited to continue development and deliever more content and better quality.
    Enjoy the update and have a great time!
    Markus from Phodex Games!
    Give Feeback for Bladequest!
    My Youtube Channel!
    Your Games Wishlist so I can craft a game to your needs!
  9. Phodex Games
    Welcome dear reader to my first Blog entry. In the following you will get a first impression of what I am working on. So lets not lose any more time and get started!
    What is the Phodex Framework?
    The Phodex Framework is created with the intention to provide common systems and mechanics to be able to create cool first person and especially role playing games within the Leadwerks Game Engine.
    "Leadwerks Game Engine is the easiest way to make 3D games." and "It's everything you need to make games, all in one place."
    With the Phodex Framework it try to also follow the general idea of Leadwerks, accessibility, simplicity and power.
    What does the Phodex Framework provide?
    Ok now lets get more specific. Here just a few things the Framework consist of:
    Highly intelligent AI System based on Goal Oriented Action Planning (GOAP) Userfriendly design and focus on accessibility and simplicity High costumization for all systems Questcreation System Different behaviors and designs for nearly every system of the Framework First person player controller with all you need Full-Blown combat system for melee and rangeweapons "Character Set" which lets you costumize every NPC (Combat Style, Behavior, Attributes, Animations, ...) External tools like the Questcreator and Charactercreator to improve accessibility Many common systems, like dialogs, inventories, questlog, levelsystem and more There is much more planned and this list does, of course, not go into detail, but now you can at least imagine what my plan is.
    How far is the development?
    I am worked on this since about one year and five months now and I can finally say that the Phodex Framework is finished. I cut off some features and as you may have noticed the direction the framework has changed from beeing a jack of all trades towards a framework for a very specific task, creating FPS and RPG games.
    Finished in this manner, does not really mean the work is done, I still will improve many systems and will implement some new ones, but the Framework now generally consists of all it needs to get started.
    Ok enough talk, lets show some stuff. Thank you for reading so far  this is your reward:



    Of course this is not the final product I imagine, its just some stuff I put together in some lazy afternoons , but I tought it would be unfair to remain you without any visual impressions . The models are from an assetpack I recently bought and as well are not final and are just a placeholder. Anyway I think the scene looks pretty atmospheric .
    About me:
    My name is Markus and I am the head of Phodex Games. I am very glad to be able to study "Digital Media", which includes many topics relevant for game development. Besides design and art I am also very interested in technical stuff and therefore studied "Electrical Engeneering" for a while, which I am very glad for as it helped me understanding many of the technical aspects of computers, coding and ultimately in games. This is my second gamedev related project and I really love what I am doing and are passionated to create something good.
    My aim is to provide the best possible product, I can achieve and to help people by providing games which make them feel good :).
    Conclusion:
    If you have any ideas, suggestions, or wishes of what you would like to see in the Framework, feel free to tell me in the comments.
    If you find any errors, feel free to tell me, as english is not my native language. I wish you a wonderful day and stay cool  .
    Markus from Phodex
  10. Phodex Games
    Hi guys,
    this time I have something special for you. A video containing some real "ingame" footage, so you can finally see how the things, I am writing and talking about, actually look like. This is also the last blog entry for this devblog (I may just rename it/reuse it for the next project, because it will build upon the PHFW). Find out more by watching the video. Enjoy it and of course tell me your thoughts!
    For those of you, now wondering, if the Framework will ever be available for public, or what will happen with it, I first recommend you reading my last blog entry. There you can see, whats happening, actually is not to far away from, what the actual plan was. I am just cutting off some features, focusing on the strengths of the framework (which are first person, rpg like games) and just start creating a game with it, to test it in practice, as explained in the said blog post.
    So to nail it down, this means, if the Framework success in delivering an cool tool for creating my game and I can see value for others in it, I will come back thinking about publishing it and I actually see no reason, the Framework should fail :).
     
    Game Dev Tip #4:
    Regarding what I said in the video, I give you the advice to take a close look on what you are doing at the moment. Keep in mind how important it is to focus on the essential things. Focus on what you are best in, not on fixing what you are bad in.
    Do your projects go in the direction you want them to go? Really sit down, take your time and seriously think about it. It can be amazing what results you can get afterwards. The Game Dev Tip series will most likely continue as the new blog starts.
     
    Stay cool and be excited!
    Markus from Phodex
  11. Phodex Games
    Hi its me again ,
    as promised last time, I will talk about publishing and what my plans are with the Phodex Framework. Next time I continue posting the progress of the Framework.
    So I made myself some toughts about that topic. I am working very hard on this project and I think it has some very good attempts and intuitive systems, but still is pretty far away from meeting my expectations. When I started making the Framework, my intention was to create all the systems, as userfriendly, clean, efficient and intuitive as possible to later beeing able to have a good workflow and also a lot of fun when designing my next game. 
    So what I came up with, after I made my toughts, is, that before thinking about publishing (and pricing) I would like to prove the quality of the product in practice, by creating a more or less small game with the Phodex Framework. If it feels good working with the framework and the result of the outcoming game meets expectations then its time to seriously think about (commercially?) publishing the project. If not, I can use this experience to fix the errors or improve the systems and then offer you, the costumer, the product I would like to provide, an intuitive, easy and yet powerful tool for creating (especially First Person) games that unleashes the true power of Leadwerks.
    To sum up, lets put it all in a nutshell. The Framework will be published, if the quality is as I expect it to be and after I created a representative game with it.
    Thats it so far. Below, as always you find your gamedev tip. Have a nice day and stay cool !
     
    Game Dev Tip #3:
    If you don't do it already, you should definetly make use of structured To-Do lists, if you want to get really efficient. You can get one step further and categorize the tasks by importance. A - Has an huge impact on your goal, B - Should be done, C - Can be done. I also can recommend to use One Note to keep track of your goals and your larger and smaller To-Do Lists.
    If you want to know more about One Note and its powers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7PYPl5WSVA&t=255s
     
    Markus from Phodex
  12. Phodex Games
    Hey  its me again,
    as you can see I was working hard . As I want to spend as much time as possible on the project, lets quickly go through whats new.
    This is the first version of the PHFW (Phodex Framework) Toolkit now including the "Item Creator", besides the recently presented Animation Manager. I guess the picture is pretty self explaining .

    The Item Creator generates a file out of the settings you made which then can be loaded into the "Item Script" inside Leadwerks. The creator makes it very easy and fun creating new interesting items and definetly improves your workflow, which is one of the aims of the Phodex Framework.

    In the following you can see how the test city I build of my test level scene enhances:

    As last time here is your Gamedev Tip :
     
    Game Dev Tip #2:
    If you are searching for a simple and quick solution for creating textures this tool may be interesting for you. It is ideal for beginners, you can quickly get cool results and its really cheap. With some training you can create pretty noticable textures with this tool called Zeuxis: Procedural Texture Generator.
    Link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/366550/Zeuxis__procedural_texture_generator/#
     
    Thats it for this time, I hope you enjoyed reading . As promised last time, I tried to focus even more on visual content. Do you like that? Does it make reading my Blog more interesting. Feel free to tell me your toughts! Next time I will get more general, about how and if the Phodex Framework gets published, so be excited and as always stay cool !
    Markus from Phodex
  13. Phodex Games
    Hello dear reader,
    First of all, as I recently though on how to make the blog more interesting and valuable for you to read, I thought it would be a cool idea if I provide a gamedev specifc tip (can be everything from productivity, to technical stuff, to marketing) at the end of every blog entry. I would be really happy, if you tell me what you think of this idea. 
    Back to topic. I want to present what I am working at the moment. Last time it were some animations and rigs. I had some more trouble with them then expected and needed to do all that stuff again (rigging and animations). As they are just meant for a visual impact for me to be able to build and optimise the systems (e.g combat, movement) they don't look very professional, but my intention was not to create high quality game ready animations .
    Enough about the past, I will showcase the animations any time soon, as we take a look on the combat system maybe.
    So what I am doing now? Well I made some good progress and have some quite cool stuff to show. I was heavily working on my npc/character system (called "Character Set"). The NPC is now able to wear diffrent cloths. Already provided are: Helmet, Body, Gloves, Legs, Boots. At the moment I am working on the weapon system. So you can easily equip, range and melee weapons to the character.
    As I slowly would like to get a little bit more into detail here the settings for the character set:

    As you see I try to keep everything as clean and userfriendly as possible. A very cool thing are the "NPC Settings" which gives the systems a lot of power as it keeps the script settings clean, and gives you a lot of options to costumize the way your NPC behaves. It even gives you access to some technical stuff you can change, so there are no boundaries for you when using diffrent rigs/animation systems etc.
    Maybe I will talk more detailed about the whole AI/Character Set stuff another time.
    Another cool progress I made is the "PHFW Animation Manager". As my system works not with the Animation name (e.g "Walking", "Running"), but with the animation index, this tool is very helpful.
    Why I use the animation index you may ask. Well I use my own animation playing system (not the Leadwerks "PlayAnimation" function) and unfortunately the "SetAnimationFrame" function of Leadwerks does not provide to use animation names. To work around this I created this tool.
    This is the first external tool for the phodex framework and there are some more to come, I will then, most likley, put them into a huge toolset. There you can also set various keyframes needed for the combat system, so the tool can still be helpful, if the "SetAnimationFrame" function gets enhanced.

    This is how it currently looks (its like a pre alpha :D, just set up the rough system)
    So as promised here is the tip:
     
    Game Dev Tip #1:
    If you have a problem, you struggle with for a long time and you just can't find a solution. Stop working and do something completely diffrent (for example go outside and take a walk), then come back with a fresh mind and you will be suprised what great effect this can have, how you find new ideas, or simply get new motivation.
     
    I hope that helps some of you. I try to provide some more visual content to show in the future as I know its much more fun to watch pictures & videos instead of reading long and boring texts .  Just the best and stay cool .
    Markus from Phodex
  14. Phodex Games

    Framework Overview

    By Phodex Games,

    Hi,
    this time I provide a closer look into the Framework. The graphic below shows what the Framework contains of and how far the diffrent elements are developed. The green bubbles inside the red ones indicate how much progress has been made for the specific feature. More green means more progress. Empty (complete red) bubbles mean this feature hasn't been worked on yet. For the best result (as its a pretty huge image) click the image to load it in full size and use the zoom tool to take a closer look.

    This graphic may not be complete and I may add or remove some features, it also does not take asset creation into account. It should just give you an overview on what exactly I am planning to do with the Framework on the technical side. As you can see the whole framework (PHFW = Phodex Framwork) is at about 65% progress. The most work needs to be done on the Gameplay and System side. Many features are there already, but are still very primitive and provisional.
    Let me know what you think of the graphic. Did it help you understanding the Framwork, or did you find it pretty confusing at all?
    Stay cool  and have a nice day!
    Markus from Phodex
  15. Phodex Games
    Hi Leadwerkers ,
    this time just a short entry showing some of the stuff I recently made. I think it looks pretty cool and wanted to share it with you.
    Some cool bow & crossbow rigs:

    Some examples of the new combat animations (WIP):

    Soon to be seen ingame and in action. Stay tuned and have a nice day  .
    Markus from Phodex.
  16. Phodex Games

    Future Plans

    By Phodex Games,

    Introduction
    Hi,
    last time I gave you a rough idea of what the Phodex Framework is and what plans I have. This time I will talk about what I am working on at the moment and what my plans for future are. So this is kind of the first real blog entry :).
    What I am working on?
    Recently, beside some bugfixing and improving stuff, I tweaked all imported models (collapsing, normal calculation), set up the materials so that they fit the look I want etc. I also reorganzied my folderstructure within the project, and came up with a pretty cool tag system (by renaming my objects) for beeing able to quickly find what I need inside Leadwerks. Maybe I will introduce it any time soon :).
    More recently I rebuild the whole city, shown in the Introduction of the framework. This was needed, as I collapsed most of the models, so it was kind of a mess after my cleanup :D. But I did not only rebuild it exactly as before, I tried to make the city more interesting and did some tweaks here and there:
     


    What is next?
    The next big thing on my to do list is recreating/tweaking all first person animations, as those I have at the moment are just kind of placeholders and look pretty aweful. In total that are about 40 animations, so I guess I will be pretty busy :D. After that, I will create some armor for the player an also create new NPC animations to fit my combat system.
    What is the plan?
    As many features I want inside the framework are already there, my plan is to create a test scene, with a more or less livley city, where you can get some quests, buy from a trader, figth some monsters, hire a mercenary and talk to some townfolks. This will easily show me where I need to improve, or where stuff is missing. Another nice thing is that I can then make this level available for you to play, so you can take a look on what is possible with the framework, of what quality it is and of course can give better feedback.
    Conclusion
    First thank you for commenting, last time, feel free to do this at any time :). I am always glad to hear ideas and suggestions as well as what you would wish the framework would provide. Thank you for reading and stay cool
    Markus from Phodex
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