Oren Raynes Blog

  I recently heard about Oblivion Remastered being released. This caught me completely off guard and I was not prepared for it. So what did I do? I immediately purchased it, and now I am going to tell you how I feel about it. Morrowind and Oblivion were, for me, peak action RPG games that I sunk hundreds of hours into when they first came out. I was really young then though, and I don’t think I really appreciated what those games meant at the the time. Gaming now is so much different, there is not many games anymore that have the same level of detail, same level of environmental exploration, or same level of character development. Gaming industry seems so focused on immediate and repeatable dopamine hits, and on money. My first thought was why is there no physical edition?! I still try to get all my games on physical copies. I know its unrealistic now a days, but I do try. I would rather have a hard copy that I can keep forever, that has the ...

      I started out this project trying to run, so this week I had to take a step backwards and watch a Godot tutorial. I wasn’t making very good progress while trying to bash my head against Godot. So I watched some tutorials from Brackeys . This video is really well done and really helped me get into the whole Godot process. Since watching this video, I have been able to make much better progress through the process.      The first thing I decided to do after watching that tutorial was to drop the convoluted inheritance that I was trying to achieve. I don’t think that this had to do anything with Brackey. I find that the Godot environment it is difficult to flip between all the scripts to manage and consult the inheritance. Whereas code editors like VS Code or InteliJ allows you to have multiple tabs and multiple code editors open, making it very easy to see the larger picture. So I refactored all the scenes and scripts into one fo...

  You can find the most current iteration of the project code along with all sourced assets and planning materials at: https://git.alderautomation.ca/Matthew/Godot_Zelda Please feel free to join me on Discord. I am there just about all day and every day: https://discord.gg/peDsUHYCBY        This past weekend we went down to the Linux Fest North West (LFNW) which is a free convention that is held annually to celebrate Linux and other open source software. Here is a link the their page and one for their YouTube which is supposed to be getting all of the talks posted to as soon as they can. The Bellingham Technical College allows LFNW to use their grounds for the event, and Jupiter Broadcasting really helps to market and help out at the event. If you have never been and are interested in Linux and it ecosystem, then you really should check it out. Images: Top: raffle draw with all of the people. Middle: a metal mantis wizard thing made f...

   I am currently Re-Building the original Zelda from scratch using Java. My goal is to keep the gameplay, mechanics, and limitations as accurate as possible while programming in Java programming language and with Object Oriented style. Once I have done this, I then want to remake the sequel using my created JavaZelda engine to make the sequel more like the original game. One thing I want to make sure I get right is the boomerang. I also think that this will be one of the hardest things to program. I suspect the Boomerang functionality was accidental and replicating it will be hard. The thing about the boomerang is that it can be thrown in all four cardinal directions, can also be sent out in all four diagonals, and can be sent out in all four cardinals and immediately be turned into another direction. This boomerang throw is what I believe to be the accidental programming but is unique and sometimes useful in game. The NES Screen size limitations were 256*240. The til...

Hi All,       I am trying to start a new hobby, letter writing. I realized recently that writing letters to each other has fallen to the wayside, and I really miss receiving letters from people. So I am going to start sending out letters via post in the hopes that I will receive something back. Perhaps I'll find a pen pal or build a snail mail writing group or something. Who knows.     My very first letter is done and is going to my wife. Sorry everyone else, but she takes priority in my world.  My process is to type up the letter first to get all my thoughts out with all the correct spelling and punctuation, then I handwrite it to paper. I don't write that much, nor do i use cursive very often, so my hand is a little cramped right now. But what a mood I  created for myself! I got some classic music going while I wrote the letter. I think the next time, I will also get some candles going. And if I were a drinking man, I would also get some w...