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Catholic Video Game Productions
Welcome to Catholic Video Game Productions
Mission Statement:
Educate people in the Catholic faith
Link to the
blog
Recent News:
July 20, 2009
Catholic Video Game Productions releases its Weblog! Have something you want to say or ask? See whats going on at the
blog!
July 19, 2009
We rebuilt the mapmaker today from the ground up, regenerating all the code and changing some values to Enums. Because of this mass code change, the new version of the mapmaker will not work with previous maps created by the old mapmaker. We know this causes great stress, and we are doing are best to make sure it doesn't happen again. Our guess is that few enough people are using the mapmaker to really matter too much. Thanks!
MapMaker.zip
July 18, 2009
Ok, wow, so I just talked with my girlfriend Rahel because I was all excited at the CharacterBuilder.zip, and she told me she couldn't download it or run it, and didn't know what to do with it. Looking deeper into the problem, I realized it was because Windows was trying to be helpful and turned my jar file into a zip file (which I didn't want it to do!) Sooo, if you download it now, it'll come down as a zip file, unzip it, and you'll be able to see the jar file which you can double click on and run. Hooray!
July 16 2009
Yes! The coolness factor of the
CharacterBuilder.jar has increased by leaps and bounds! Whereas all the rest of the improvements have increased maybe the geekiness factor (oh wow! java.lang.Object!!), this new interface affects the CodeGenerator.jar, the gui.jar and the CharacterBuilder.jar. Check out the new cool interface!
July 13 2009
We modified the CodeGenerator.jar - it now has support for the generic type java.lang.Object. It needs a new version of the
gui.jar, also uploaded to the site. This support was needed for the new version of the
CharacterBuilder.jar
July 5 2009
We added the Character Builder to the site - this will help us build all the characters, friendly and enemy, to the game. The builder was coded almost exclusively with the CodeGenerator. We created in the Code Generator a new support for the java type Object, so that when creating one, instead of getting a plain old java.lang.Object, you can specify the type of object you want to create. This came in very useful for our LeEffects, which we need parameters for the effects, some of which will be of different types - hence the java.lang.Object woked perfect. If that sounds confusing, just download the
CharacterBuilder.jar and when you get to the LeEffects, you will be able to see the way you can create Objects of your own choice dynamically.
We took about a month to check out how our Mapmaker compares to other mapmakers currently on the market. We chose Warcraft III (not because we in any way endorse the product, but because of its reputation of having a good mapmaker)
We created a map called
Christ Reigns, available for download here. The mapmaker was robust, complex, yet intuitive once you get the hang of it. Plus there was plenty of documentation on the net to search if you had an issue.
The beta test went well. Though there are still many things to fix on the map (the archer hero is too strong, the seige tank hero is too weak, some items cannot be picked up, the seige tank has no way of attacking flying units, recipes aren't working, and there are some tuning and balancing issues, the names and descriptions of some items need to be fixed) - yes though there are many things to fix, it was good to see it in action.
We are not planning to do any more work on this map. If you would like, feel free to download it and modify it to your heart's content. The information we gleaned from this was:
The Warcraft III mapmaker is very good and robust at making Warcraft III style games. All the defaults are there for you. Our mapmaker has no attachment to any game.
Warcraft III includes the event logic within it. Our mapmaker relies on somebody programming the game logic in Java. This makes the Warcraft III mapmaker easier, but our mapmaker more powerful.
Our mapmaker targets Java programmers. Warcraft III's mapmaker targets Warcraft III gamers.
Our mapmaker needs a talented programmer to make the map work. In truth, so does Warcraft III.
Warcraft III can make a map that is fun quickly (relatively speaking). So can ours.
Alrighty! That is all for that. Next up - the film festival!
November 15, 2010.
Ok! Super long time since I logged here last - it has been a busy year! My wife and I got married, bought a house, had a honeymoon, and hired some interns to help us make our first game! So if you have an iPhone or an iPad, go look for "Falling" - actually, only "Falling Lite" is out right now, the full game will be out soon!
The Falling Age
The Falling Age
For the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
Are you prepared for a challenge?
The Falling Age is a simple game to learn. You can move left, you can move right, and you can start over. But oh, how difficult the levels get.
The object is simply to fall to the bottom of the screen.
Try the Lite version first - you will see wether your device meets the system requirements and you can test the first 20 levels for free. The full version of 90 levels of course has no ads and will be available in December of 2010.
Your score:
D: If you got stuck in the grass levels, then you probably either quit the game because the challenge did not come to you quick enough.
C: If you got stuck on level 11, that is average. Yes, you can beat the level, just keep trying!
C+ If you got to level 20 and quit there, hey, that is above average!
B If you got stuck in the wook levels, you did good.
B+_ If you got stuck in the crystal levels, you did better than good.
A If you got stuck in the lava levels, you did excellent.
A+ If you got stuck in the iron levels, A+ to you dude. But if you made it to the iron levels, you probably wouldn't stop there...
100% If you beat the game.
Notes and hints:
If you make it to the level with the blue button block, tap the block with your finger as your ball is on top of it.
If you select "New Game" and suddenly you lost your place on like level 40, don't worry, you can continue at your furthest point by dragging your finger from the center of the falling star on the opening screen over to the continue button
And a special hint just for visiting this page - when you get to the Yellow Button Blocks, the way they work is this: the button controlls the yellow trigger block. The sequence is Die, Fall, Tube. So if you land on an yellow trigger block before ever hitting a button block, it will be "die". If you land on a Yellow Button block once, it will be "Fall". If you land on two Yellow Button blocks, it will be "Tube". If you land on three, the Yellow Trigger block goes back to "die". Four - fall. Then tube. Then die then fall then tube, die, fall, tube die fall tube over and over! It will make sense once you are there... :)
Don't give up - yes all the levels can be beat.
is a small company based out of Fair Oaks, near Sacramento, CA. Led by Matthew Whittle in his efforts to teach the youth about the bible through the medium of video games, his goal is to repeat for the nation to hear the words of the saints and the words of the bible.
Personal note from Matthew:
I want to be a saint. Bishop Fulton J Sheehan once said that "A saint is one who makes Jesus lovable." I have no message of my own that I want to tell. I want to make Jesus lovable. In line with the Humanae Generis in the documents of Vatican II, asking the layity by their work to sanctify all areas of society, this company is designed to sanctify the area of video games. May the Lord Jesus bless the work of the hands of his servants and all those who will be nurtured by these games. Sincerely, Matthew Whittle.
How you can help:
Time, talent and treasure. If you have any of these three, we can put it to good use. We need programmers, beta testers, graphics designers, artists, musicians, actors, camera operators, stop-motion photographers, sound techs, administration and management positions, and fundraisers. We have no ability to pay anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another.
Contact information:
For questions, comments, suggestions or information, please contact
mattheww@catholicvideogames.com
Or call us at 916.534,7701
Or mail us at
PO Box 1493
Rancho Cordova, CA,
95741
First Game:
Ok, for all y'all who saw me say that my first game would be Genesis, don't worry! That will be my second game! :)
Our first game is finally for sale. Actually, the Lite version of the Falling game is for sale on Apple's App store. It is a limited version and is free. The full version will be coming in December.
I came up with the idea of the Falling Game in the first grade as I was taking a scantron test. I finished early, and I began wondering if I were able to fall from the top of the scantron to the bottom, assuming all the filled in bubbles were blocks... and thus the birth of the falling game!
Take a peek and let me know how it is!
The first game will aptly be called “Genesis 1-22.” It focuses on the first sixteen chapters of Genesis. The target age group is Jr. High to Highschool students. The theology in the game is deep enough to need that kind of brainpower to comprehend. The gameplay will mimic an array of the most successful video games out there, but with its own unique flavor, so as to not lose the interest of the player. It combines recreation with education in the faith.
The LeGomage Game:
Le Gomage is a video game that targets a secular audience and brings them a very Christian message. Many more details about the game can be found at
www.catholicvideogames.com/legomage
Our first video game spike is complete and uploaded. Enjoy!
EDI Game.zip
Coming Soon:
Cain and Abel, Genesis Chapter 4 - one playable level. Played against the computer or in a networked environment, Cain's job is to catch Abel and Abel's job is to escape. Though the game is not even in beta yet, if you are a programmer and want to test the jar file, it is
Strateegery.jar. The runnable class name for the server is strateegery,StratNetServer and the client is net.NetClient. In order to run the client program, you will need to link some additional jars and dynamic link libraries:
gluegen-rt.jar
CodeGenerator.jar
MapMaker.jar
jogl.jar
Another tool we just built is the
CharacterBuilder.jar. It will help us create all the characters needed and their stats in a database like format. Feel free to download and enjoy.
Target dates 2009:
Jan 1st: AMuG melody generator complete
Sept 1st: Battle system complete
Video Game Awareness Workshops:
Part of the video game ministry is to let Christians know the dangers that video games present to help parents make healthy choices with regards to video games. Here is the text of the workshop that I give.
Hi, my name is Matthew Whittle. Welcome to the Video Game Awareness Workshop.
We should start with a prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, send us your Spirit, renew the face of the Earth. Lord, you taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit. In that Spirit, give us right judgment and the joy of his comfort and guidance. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Alright. Let's get started. Things to do to protect your children from harmful video games. The very first step to take in protecting your kids from dangerous video games is to know which video games your children are playing. If you do not know which video games your children own, you will be powerless to do anything. If you haven't yet done so, go home, make a list of all the video games that are in the house. Now, also, it's a common thing for kids to say to their friends, "Hey, I've finished this game. Can I trade with you this one for that?" So it's a good thing to check every once and awhile to monitor which games are coming in and going out of the house.
Also, try to find out what video games your kids are playing at their friends' houses. This technique only works a couple of times, "So, do you like Mortal Combat 3?" If they respond "Yes" chances are they've played it.
Okay, once you've found out what video games your kids are playing, find out what they are rated. Now, the video game rating system is different from the movie rating system. They have E for "Everyone", which splits into three, EC, E and E10. EC is for like Early Childhood. E is for like Everyone, and E10 is Everyone 10 and up. These are like your G and PG movies. Games rated T are for Teen, which is basically PG13. Games rated M are for Mature. Parents, this is an R rated game. If your kids are playing M rated games, now is the proper time to talk to them about Christian faith and morals. If your kids are under thirteen they should know they'd be taken away. If your kids are already teens and showing a little independence, it is almost better to get them to throw their own video game away. Because if you do it for them, they are going to play it at their friend's house.
Okay, once you've checked out the secular video game rating system, it is also a good idea to get a Christian perspective. The best website out there that I've found is
http://www.almenconi.com/. They rate the video games on an A to F scale. Most M rated video games they don't even bother rating because they all get F's, but they will rate the M video games which are popular so that parents know which names should be causing red flags. They also tell you all sorts of good information about why they rate the video game the way they rate it, such as for violence, pornography, language, and demons.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do, to protect your kids from harmful video games, and if you don't leave this workshop with anything else, please leave with this... The most important thing you can do to protect your child from harmful video games is to PLAY VIDEO GAMES WITH THEM. You don't have to pick up a controller and play, because I know a lot of you aren't any good at all, but at least spend time with them watching. It's a common thing for a bunch of kids to get together and one is playing and the others are just watching and they're all having a fun time! Anyhow, please spend time with them while they play video games. Then you will see first hand what they are absorbing, and you will be in a far better position to know what it is they need to hear.
Speaking about what they need to hear. Now, this is what NOT to do. My mom came in, I was playing Final Fantasy Three, and she watches me for a minute, and then she blurts out, exasperated, "That demon is possessing the picture!!!" And I was like, "Well, duh! I'm fighting the demon so it gets out of the picture!" And she screamed, "But that demon is possessing the PICTURE!!!" And so I quickly fought the demon off and went to some other part of the game which she wouldn't have a problem with. And then she left.
And this happened to my brother. He was playing Armored Core Two, blasting all sorts of things away, and Papa walks in. After watching for a minute, he asks, "Can't you play a game where you aren't killing things?" And Jesse's like, "I'm not killing him, I'm just... decreasing his armor..." And papa's all, "Can't you play a game where you aren't KILLING THINGS!!!???" And Jesse turns the game off. And papa walks out. And ... the game goes back on!
It's natural the first time you see what your kids are playing to want to scream. Don't do it. A far better and far more effective way to get what you want to tell your kids into their heads, is to ask them questions. Questions like, "What do you think about this part of the video game?" Or "Do you think this is something you'd want your little brother or sister to see?" Kids know. They know what they are and aren't supposed to be watching.
Sooner or later, they will say, "I know, but it's just a video game! I know the difference between this and real life! It won't affect me!" The worst thing to do in this situation is to say, "Yes it will affect you! And you will grow up to be a murderer!" The proper response to the argument "It won't affect me" is "What would Jesus do?" What would Jesus do. Get your kids to say it with their own mouths. Jesus would not be playing this part of this video game. If they think that Jesus indeed would be playing, that is the right time to stop asking questions and start telling them why you feel Jesus would not be playing that video game. Bring out the bible, talk about what you think and why you think it.... it's a far easier thing to explain why Jesus wouldn't play this video game than it is to explain why YOU don't want them to play it. You don't have to draw the connections for them. You don't have to say, Jesus wouldn't play it, so why are you? It takes time to break a bad habit. I'm a former theology student, and it took me three months from the time I realized I shouldn't be playing certain games to the point where I actually stopped playing them. They will on their own accord eventually realize they shouldn't play vice filled video games. All you have to do is get it to bug their conscience.
That is the goal. Instill in them good values so that they will avoid harmful video games even when you are not around. Parents, you are the principle and first educators of your children. If you don't do it, there is no guarantee it will get done. If your kids are playing video games which you think they shouldn't play, it should be a signal that perhaps you should spend more time teaching your kids how to love the right road and the beauty of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
And that's another good question to ask, "What virtues and what vices does this part of the video game endorse?"
Okay, other ways you can help. I can't tell you how much it surprises me when I'm talking with a kid, and I ask him about what video games he likes, and he mentions certain ones, and I say, "Oh, well don't they cuss in that one?" And the kid is like, "Well, only a little..." And I ask, "Where'd you get it?" And the kid says, "My parents bought it for me for my birthday." And the parents are right there, and I think to myself, "Didn't you check to see if it was an M rated video game before you bought it?" You wouldn't buy your kids a movie without first making sure that the content was acceptable! Please, don't support the evil empire! Don't buy your kids video games they shouldn't be playing!
Also, limit video game playing time. There is no reason your kids should be playing video games for five hours a day. Video games do not make very good babysitters. You can encourage some other type of activity.
Lastly, do support Christian Video Game companies. Our kids need some kind of alternative to the choices that are out there. Wouldn't it be great if they actually LEARNED good morals from video games! Video games is a powerful medium and it can be used for the good if there is enough interest in the Christian community to support them.
Thank you very much all of you for coming. God Bless, I will be available afterwards to answer any questions.
Copyright 2007 Matthew Whittle
Programmers Page:
The first project to tackle is the Whittalian Code Generator.
The code generator is written in Java using the Java 5.0 JRE. It is open source and will soon be available at this website to execute or download
If these links don't work, try on
www.legomage.com
Code Generatoion: Why?
To be able to generate code saves the time needed to write it as well as the time needed to test it, and improves the consistency of the code, which makes learning new code generated in a similar fashion easier.
Code Generation: Hurdles
Generated code is usually associated with lack of readability. This project goes the extra mile to ensure that not only is the generated code readable, but also the generating code needs to be readable as well. The generated code needs to follow both the standard Java POJO standards and the Whittalian coding conventions.
Code Generation: Requirements
This code generator's requirement specification is for Models. In MVC (Model, View Controller) architecture, the Model is basically whatever gets saved to disk. The View is the window(s) that show the data the Model contains, and the controller is usually the Menus/Buttons/Controls that let you modify the Model. Having said this, given a coded Model, this code generator creates the View and Controller for you.
Code Generation: Version
Version 1: MVC architecture
Version 2: Added Enum support
Code Generation: See it live
(NOTE!!! This takes a LONG time to load!):
Java Wrapper Applet
(NOTE!!! This takes a LONG time to load!):
Code Generator
In order to use the generated code, you will need this jar file:
gui.jar
The Mapmaker is now complete. Features will be added as needed. Please feel free to download and use.
MapMaker.zip
Automatic Music Generation
Another innovative project is the AMuG, or the Automatic Music Generator. The coding for this project has now begun! Since the initial requirements and design are underway, when complete, based upon different input criteria (genre, length, mood, style, instruments, etc), the code will automatically generate a MIDI song, full with crescendos and peak moments, dramatic pauses and passionate movements. The AMuG piece of Video Game Design will undoubtedly be a huge money saver.
We are very excited with the AMuG's first generated chord progression! Enjoy listening to it!
FirstGeneratedSong.mp3
But we are even more excited with the second deliverable:
SecondGeneratedSong.mid
These deliverables, of course, aren't full songs yet, they are only chord progressions (a song without a melody). There are a number of features that are still in the works. But we've come far enough along to show another impressive step.
If you would like to see the randomly generated song schemas that the AMuG creates,
click here!