Dynamite Dan

Whoa.... Sorry for the long delay inbetween posts. I have no excuse - I simply have not had anything interesting to write about.

Well, while it's half-term, I've got a week off work so I've been busy doing a little more work on the trainset, and I have also got back into programming and game creating and started making a game which I am currently calling "Dynamite Dan and the Demon-Possessed Factory From Hell".

The game is based on the classic cheap £1.99 games that you could buy during the 1980's and features wonderful quasi 3D graphics, 16x16 pixel tiled graphics and wonderfully authentic 8-bit sound effects. Although the graphics, sound and game design is by me, the game is based on three classic 8-bit platform games - Dynamite Dan (by Rob Bowkett for Mirrorsoft), Big Mac - The Mad Maintenance Man (Tony Kelly for Mastertronic) and Manic Miner (By Matthew Smith for Software Projects).

The game 'engine' is complete and I am now in the process of designing the levels. I actually find this part the hardest thing to do when developing a game, but fortunatly I have Michelle as a game tester so she can tell me if the level is too easy or too hard.

I am hoping to post a demo online soon for you all to try out.

Hopefully you will not have to wait too long for my next post.

All aboard (Part 3)

Well, it has been awhile since I last updated you on on the progress of Kierans trainset that Michelle and myself are building. I have included some more pictures with this post to show you how it is developing. The first tunnel has now been covered with grass and is just waiting for some foliage (thanks to a massive box of lichen that I purchased from eBay quite some time ago!).

Michelle has done a wonderful job at building the railway station for me, and I have started work on building the frame for the second tunnel (the largest of the two tunnels).

Things have slowed down a little bit thanks partly to Grand Theft Auto 4 (which I am spending most of my spare time playing), but I am gradually getting back into the building mood, much to Kierans happiness! - the sooner he can have his trainset, the better!

I love you Amazon!

OHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.


I've just found out that my copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 for the Playstation 3 has been dispatched today from Amazon (meaning I should receive it tomorrow - the day of release).


Reports are indicating that many shops and online stores have already sold their allocated stock as pre-orders and that unless you have pre-ordered, you will have to wait until the next delivery.


Thankyou Amazon. I'd best say goodbye to my social life (and my family!) - GTA 4 is going to be BIG!!

Pushy Phones4u

Its that time of year again when I get to change my mobile phone with a new one. As usual, Phones4u gave me a ring the other day and tried to convince me to go with a brand new Samsung G600 mobile phone (the same model as Michelle). Now, Ive been quite happy with my Nokia N80 for the past year and felt that an upgrade to the new Nokia N95 8Gb would be my best bet.

Well, the sales person whom I spoke to on the phone just kept telling me that the N95 is a crap phone and that if I would go with the Samsung model, I could also get £150 cash back - yes, a cheque for £150.

I gave in, and said OK, with the understanding that if I wasn't happy with it, I could return it within 7 days.

One day later, my new Samsung arrived. I opened the box, had a proper look and came to the conclusion that the phone just was not for me - it had none of the features that I've come to expect from a phone, so I rang up and explained to them that I wished to return the phone.

As you can imagine, the sales person attempted to try and change my mind by adding an extra £100 to the cashback offer - yes, £250 cash back. I tried to explain that the phone was not for me.

I was then passed to another 'senior' sales person, and once again they tried to convince me to go with the G600.

Phones4u, get it into your thick heads that I DO NOT WANT THE BLOODY G600. I know that you all have sales targets and that you have to sell a large number of a certain model to reach your targets, but instead of thinking of yourselves, how about thinking about what the person who is actually paying for the phone wants. I know what I'm talking about - just because you sit behind a desk in some office selling mobile phones all day, don't think that you know everything about phones - you don't. I wanted an N95 - I need a phone with the functionality of a smart phone running the Symbian operating system. If you can't get me one, then I will go elsewhere.

Anyway, after threatening to leave them, they finally gave in, and have offered me a good deal on a N95 8gb with cashback (even though when I first spoke to them they said they couldn't offer me any cashback on the phone). Hopefully I should receive the phone in the post in the next couple of days.

All aboard (Part 2)

Not much to report. Michelle and I have been continuing our work on Kierans trainset. The track and ballast are now completely pinned down to the board, and I purchased 3 buffer stops for the end of the lines. I have also added a single line level crossing too. Michelle has built for me the latest building that will stand on the set - a signal box (see picture below)

I've now been constucting one of the tunnels. Using small wooden supports, I have placed some wire mesh to simulate the contours of a hill. Paper-mache will be added later. Once that has dried, we can then add the grass scatter-mats to cover the hill with realistic grass.

All Aboard.......

For Kierans first Christmas, we got him a Hornby Thomas the Tank Engine trainset - we knew he was too young for it at the time, but it was a bargain, and for the past couple of years I have been promising to build him a trainset - At last I bought the materials needed and have indeed started work on it.

First of all though, I had to plan the layout and size of the trainset - I settled for a nice 6ft by 3ft - not too big, but at the same time still a reasonable size for Kieran to play with (and yes, it will fit in his bedroom!!!). I used a fantastic little program called XTrkCad to design the track.

I popped down to our local Homebase store here in Evesham last Friday and bought the bits and pieces needed to put it all together - the wood, screws, joints, etc.

I couldnt get one large sheet of wood, so I had to settle on three 3ft x 2ft boards.

The next thing I started to do was lay the track (with the help of Michelle). Fortunatly I was able to purchase tons of extra track and track-ballast from Ebay several months ago.

Now, in the two days since I started work on the trainset, here is what it looks like now :-

Ignore the bottles of wine - I've been using them to prop things up (like the tunnel portals), and to show me where certains things are going to go.

Kieran absolutely loves it even in its unfinished state - I can't wait to see his face when it is finally finished.

As I progress with the project, I will post here new pictures.