Why and How is an Overview.
Can I create my game from scratch using only APIs of my target platform without using engines or game development libraries?
As my chosen medium for this challenge, I decided on creating a tribute game to one of my all-time favourite series - MMBN & MMSF. This idea initially emerged due to seeing concept art for what could possibly become game four in this sequel series; my already existing desire for chip/card collecting and virus busting only deepened further after hearing of such news.
A portion of my inspiration stems from popular and living series of monster catching games such as Generation V; although my hands-on experience ended there, I continue to follow it with great interest to see what new designs and mechanics developers introduce into each successive version. Therefore, as well as including mon-catching mechanics into Black/2/White/2's overall looks based on those generations IV and V on NDS I want also incorporate mon catching mechanics as part of that overall aesthetic design; for me personally this meant actually seeing system employed optimally when animating battle sprites instead of seeing an animated mess from Black/2/White/2's in-battle animation system used properly when animating in-battle battle sprites in Black/2/White/2's animated in-battle animation system implemented completely when animating battle sprites for Black/2/White/2 battleground; instead it made for enjoyable gaming experience as opposed to just watching others' experience playing Black/White/2 and White/2!
My goal is to combine the two concepts described above (there are mechanics which work naturally) while adding my own twist - for instance replacing internet and programs/monsters with spirit world and ghosts is my aim!The engine itself will be written in C++ using standard C++ libraries such as standard Boost libraries for basic operations while taking advantage of DirectX multimedia features (currently only Direct3D graphics but XAudio/XInput will eventually be utilized), according to Windows requirements (for now? ); I may end up replacing DirectXMath for vector/matrices operations but that will soon be replaced by my own implementation in-house later.
This engine is still at an early stage and far from finished; assets are works-in-progress or placeholders at this point, while I work on this project during my free free time (time spent after work or playing games in free free time.).
Speaking about free, once completed the game will remain 100% cost free.
