>./rekcahdam

rComplex Coming to the iOS!

2012-01-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

I've been silent for awhile but now I think its ready to break the news. I've been working on a completely revamped version of rComplex and its coming tot he iOS in February! Check out the trailer below and stay tuned for more updates!

Celestial Mechanica = $1, Soundtrack = pay what you want!

2011-11-24T21:59:00.001-08:00

We're cutting Celestial Mechanica down to $1 for Black Friday! We're also making the soundtrack pay what you want! get it! ......GET IT NOW!

EDIT: Celestial Mechanica has no DRM!

25YEARLEGEND

2011-11-22T11:10:00.001-08:00

A project that I've organizing and working on for quite some time has finally be released today!
25YEARLEGEND is a tribute to the music of Zelda by renown indie game composers. The list of composers include Laura Shigihara (Plants VS Zombies, Melolune ,Celestial Mechanica), Disasterpeace (FEZ), C418 (MineCraft), SoulEye (VVVVVV) , Rekcahdam (Myself) and the list goes on!!

It also includes artwork by Paul Veer and Lisa Coffman! You can download the album at http://zelda25.ocremix.org ! Cheers!

PulseBoy Video Tutorial!

2011-10-14T00:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I got some emails asking me to post this tutorial. I've been extremely busy working on my latest project but I stole some time to get this one in. Hopefully this will answer a lot of your questions.

If you find bugs, have questions or ideas for new features post them on the flashpunk forums at http://flashpunk.net/forums/index.php?topic=2962.0 !

PulseBoy!

2011-09-12T03:34:00.000-07:00

PulseBoy is a web based 8bit music tracker!

I've been sitting on this project for awhile now and today I randomly sided to share it with the world :) !

It's still in beta and I'm sure it has bugs here and there but thats why I have you guys to help me test it out :D! So check it out at www.PulseBoy.com!

Right now there are no tutorials for it but I'll make a video tutorial soon. Until then click on "DEMO TRACK" in the program. It shows off some of the features in PulseBoy!Let me know what you guys think!

PS. You can press "CTRL" to copy a track and press "P" to paste it into another track if you'd like. I wanted to add that button but it wasn't enough space.

Celestial Mechanica REVIEWS

2011-07-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

Some people have asked me to link them to reviews of the game. Well this post is your wish come true! The following are links to reviews whether good or bad. Everyone has their own opinion so I'll try to be unbiased and post them all:

8-bit Girl review at: http://8-bitgirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-celestial-mechanica.html

FirstDropShow's review at : http://www.firstdropshow.com/review-celestial-mechanica

I-Luv-Games review at http://i-luv-games.com/?p=744

GameFront.com's review at http://www.gamefront.com/daily-independent-get-your-8-bit-metroidvania-on-in-celestial-mechanica/

Sonicblastoise's review over at http://mediocritycodex.blogspot.com/

Rogan Louwrens' review over at http://hiddenexit.com/blog/

Lastly PressXOrDie did a review over at http://pressxordie.com

Oh and just for kicks I'll post some interviews I did :

8-bit Girl: http://8-bitgirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/interview-with-roger-hicks.html

The Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/pc-games-in-salt-lake-city/celestial-mechanica-interview-with-roger-hicks

Celestial Mechanica v1.01 to v1.20 UPDATE

2011-07-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
Thanks to all of you who have reported bugs I've been able to create a patch that fixes a good chunk of them. Here are the details about the patch and the instructions to download it:

Change Log:
- The ending Works now!
- Added a new hidden powerup.
- Fixed the boss exploit.
- Fixed a few grammatical errors in the dialogue.
- Fixed the spike sound effect in the Water Tower.
- Fixed enemies not dying when blocks crush them.
- Fixed getting stuck in various places.

Windows Installation Instructions:
1. Download the patch from HERE !

2.Place the patch executable in the install directory of Celestial Mechanica

3.Run the patch executable

4.Play the Celestial Mechanica!

Mac Installation Instructions:
1. Download the patch from HERE !

2.Run the Celestial Mechanica Updater.dmg

3.Enter the password as *password sent to your email*

4.Run the Celestial Mechanica Updater App

5.Point the app to your Celestial Mechanica app in your app folder or where ever you have it installed.

6.Play the Celestial Mechanica!

Those who have just recently purchased the game will not have to update. They will have received the most updated version.

If you find any bugs or have suggestions please email me at rekcahdam@gmail.com !

For gameplay videos click HERE !

Celestial Mechanica Gameplay

2011-06-30T06:35:00.001-07:00

Many people have complained that we haven't released any screenshots or videos of solid gameplay.

Instead of posting gameplay myself I'd rather post gameplay from other users.

These video are from a user named GamersDissent. I don't know him at all but I thank him for doing this video.

Here is another video of the gameplay by someone who obviously knows their way around the dungeons. This user's name is MrECHOfox and I thank him/her as well! :

And, for those who need screenshots here you go:

Celestial Mechanica IS OUT NOW!

2011-06-26T04:21:00.000-07:00

Celestial Mechanica ,PC and Mac versions, are available for download along with the soundtrack @ www.celestialmechanica.com !

GO GET IT!!!

And, with that said, I'll leave you with some art work done by my dear friend Naomi over @ naomiful.blogspot.com . ENJOY:

"Celestial Mechanica" Needs Sponsorship!

2011-05-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Celestial Mechanica - Sponsorship Trailer from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

"As some would call a surprise collaboration; Roger Hicks (rComplex) and Paul Veer (Super Crate Box, Flipper NDS) have teamed up to tell the story of "Celestial Mechanica." This flash-game delivers a mixture of action, puzzle, exploration and adventure while sporting the awesome "pixely-goodness" you've come to expect from Paul Veer and "sexy ear candy" from Roger Hicks.

Email rekcahdam@gmail.com for enquiries about sponsorship."

Also, just in case you're wondering the music featured in this trailer is called "Celestial Beings" and will be released with the rest of the soundtrack when the game is release! So help get the word out! Quick!

rComplex: Kickstarter!

2011-04-12T02:05:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! rComplex is back! Brian and I are working on a new re-imagined version of the game but we need your help! You can help us by backing us at our kickstarter page where you can find more information on the new project and the awesome incentives and merchandise you get for backing us!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rcomplexteam/rcomplex

Thanks!

Disasterpeace and Rekcahdam Collab!

2011-03-15T19:15:00.001-07:00

Hey guys! This past weekend I had the liberty of playing a "chiptune" concert with Disasterpeace at PAX EAST 2011. Disasterpeace has composed music for several notable game projects (one of them being FEZ). We've been talking about doing a collaboration for quite some time and now it's finally here! Disasterpeace (Rich Vreeland) and Rekcahdam (Me) performing music from FEZ and some tracks from Disasterpeace's latest album:

You can check out more videos at Rich's youtube channel. Hopefully there will be more collaborations to come!

Project I/O DEMO is on KONGREGATE!

2011-01-18T23:00:00.001-08:00

A few months ago I released a game called Project I/O and many people complained that they couldn't play it because they weren't on windows. Well now you can play it on www.kongregate.com !

The Very Best - STARKS! & Rekcahdam (Presented by DJ ILL WILL)

2011-01-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

I've been working on this project for quite some time now and its finally here!; The collaboration between artists STARKS! , Rekcahdam (Me) and DJ Ill WIll to bring you "The Very Best" Mixtape! You can download it here! We feature one of the best MCs I've ever heard; Prince Ea on the second track, "The Cypher", and we continue to bring the heat for the rest of the mixtape!

Everything you hear from this mixtape was record in an apartment, produced by either STARKS! or myself and carefully engineered by myself. If you've been fiending for some "real hiphop" its finally here! Check it out!

EDIT: You can download the untagged version here!

LEAKED: The Cypher ft. Rekcahdam, STARKS!, Prince Ea

2011-01-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

One of the songs from a project I've been working on has been leaked! The project is due to be out tomorrow January 6th on www.hotnewhiphop.com but one of the tracks were let loose. You can listen here:

I'll post more about the project tomorrow on the day of its release =)

Who Is RekcahDam

2010-12-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

The other day I heard someone say "who is RekcahDam?" Well I am RekcahDam, Roger Hicks of course, but it's more than that. RekcahDam is a combination of several different things I represent.

--MUSIC--

Me Playing the Drums at Guitar Center earlier this year:

Music is one of the only things that can change the way I feel the second I listen to it. Whether its progressive rock, hip-hop , electronica, dance, film scored or for video games.... it doesn't matter I love music. I don't discriminate at all! All of these styles are reflected in the music that I create. You can listen to my music @ http://rekcahdam.bandcamp.com , http://soundcloud.com/rekcahdam and http://8bitcollective.com/members/rekcahdam/ .

Some of my most memorable moments are of me watching an old cartoons or playing a video games. But the music is what really sticks out in my mind as clear as if it was just yesterday!

--HACKING--

This video was part of a series of hacking videos called "Weekend Warriors" I started back in 2007 (WARNING: THIS VIDEO IS LONG AND DRAWN OUT.... AND ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LEARN HOW TO CRACK SOFTWARE ... IT ALSO SHOWS MY COUNTRY ACCENT...):

In high school I was apart of an "engineering" program where our learning was geared towards computer and mechanical engineering. I was never as smart as the other kids in my class. I always got lost when the teacher would try to explain something from beginning to end. But, some how, I was able to figure out my own solutions by working backwards from the end result. Many of my friends were talented when it came to programming but I started out on a different path. I learned how to reverse engineer software before I even knew how to develop it! Later on ,when I started to understand Computer Science Theory, it felt as if I had a bit of an advantage over the rest.

I've even contributed to "The Scene" and I'm waiting for someone to figure how. But maybe they never will....

--VIDEO GAMES--

My most popular game thus far, rComplex!:

rComplex - The Facts from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

The last few years of college I met up with an artist named Naomi Baker via myspace around the same time I started working on the Weekend Warriors series. We both studied at the same university and became good friends. Naomi and I were both huge video game nerds and one day she randomly said " we should make a game ourselves!". I didn't know much about the indie game scene at that time. I didn't even know where to start, but I decided to go for it anyway! The next thing I knew, I was developing my first game from scratch. I met another artist by the name of Brian Terwilliger on the gametrailers.com forums. The 3 of us went on to blog our whole progress of developing Wings of Apocalypse. Apparently we loved it so much that we've been working on game projects no-stop ever since!

Through this industry I've also met other awesome people; Marco Nelor and Rich Vreeland. Check them out!

-- VISUAL ART--

Me drawing a friend, Martina:

Martina The Guitarist from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

I've always loved to draw. I don't want to say that I was ever extremely good at it though. I'm only average. But, art is the one thing that I never really turned into a "job". Art is more like therapy for me. I draw when I feel like it. At one time I did art for the the Farmers' Market near to where I lived. And, some of my artwork even ended up in the Richmond Times Dispatch. But, I'm sort of glad I didn't continue with that. I was starting to dislike it.

--CONCLUSION--

I'm trying to become a modern day "renaissance" man! I do a little bit of everything. I hate to call myself a jack of all trades since, if you're one of them, you tend to have reputation of not being particularly skilled at any of your trades. I genuinely think that it's possible to be talented and skilled at several things at once. As long as I have the ability to learn more I'll continue to do more become skilled at those things.

You'll see some huge projects from me in the future! Look forward to seeing more from me in 2011!

Project I/O Featured on Gametrailers.com

2010-11-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit late with this one but its still worth posting I think. Project I/O was featured on gametrailers.com this past week. The link follows:

Video Games | Project I/O | Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Some people on gametrailers.com were hatin' on my "Portal Like" voice modification and, some how, assumed that the whole game was a portal rip off because of it. Thankfully, plenty have downloaded the game and will hopefully continue to download/play it and see that it's nothing like portal LOL.

Project I/O - DEMO

2010-11-05T12:49:00.001-07:00

Project I/O from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

Hey guys! Its been awhile since I've made a new post on my blog! Today I've decided to release my IGF 2011 entry "Project I/O". Like rComplex, the development of this game started about a week before the IGF deadline.

You play as a test subject who is held against his will in a training facility. To escape the facility he must use his environment to his advantage. Luckily he isn't alone ....

You can play the demo on kongregate !
....or download the game HERE !

EDIT 2: Another Update! I decided to upload the music from the game on my sound cloud. Check it out!
Funk Intelligence by Rekcahdam

EDIT: It seems that a few people were having some problems on the second block puzzle. Usually when there's a few people having problems... a lot more are having problems lol. So I made some "hint" images to help you guys out.

METHOD 1: Getting it to follow you and jumping towards the block

METHOD 2: Jumping over it

REQUIREMENTS:

OPERATING SYSTEMS: Windows XP, Vista or 7

RAM: 256M

PROCESSOR: 1.3 Ghz Intel Celeron M or any comparable AMD/Intel Processor

GPU: ATI 9000, Nvdia Geforce 4MX 32 MB or equivalent OpenGL compatible GPU

CAPACITY: 90 MB of hard drive space is required !

CREDITS:

Roger Hicks - Code, Music and Sound Effects

Brian Terwiliger - 3D Artwork and Animation.

BGamer September 2010

2010-09-07T20:34:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

My my most recent game release, Stream, was featured in the September 2010 BGamer Magazine (Portuguese game magazine)! I cant even read what it says LOL but I'll get it translated here soon.

EDIT:
Here is the translation thanks to an anonymous commenter!

"It's developed just by four people, Stream is an indie proposal whose main character is a soldier who must fullfill a mission.
It has 2d horizontal scroll play mechanics, the player must find how to cross through each puzzle kind level using time manipulation."

rComplex - THE MOVIE

2010-09-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I have a surprise! One of my most popular games, rComplex, just got a movie makeover by Zenith Films and its being released.... TODAY! Check it out and Enjoy!

rComplex from Zenithfilms on Vimeo.

Stream

2010-07-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

Stream is a experimental game project some friends and I have been working on. It sports a some side scrolling shooter elements but the main theme of Stream is time travel. You play as a guerilla soldier who wont stop until he completes his mission.

You can download the game HERE and enjoy!

*SPOILER ALERT:
IF YOU PLAN TO BEAT THE GAME WITHOUT ANY HELP DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO!*

REQUIREMENTS:

OPERATING SYSTEMS: Windows XP, Vista or 7

RAM: 256M

PROCESSOR: 1.3 Ghz Intel Celeron M or any comparable AMD/Intel Processor

GPU: ATI 9000, Nvdia Geforce 4MX 32 MB or equivalent OpenGL compatible GPU

CAPACITY: 80 MB of hard drive space is required !

CREDITS:

Roger Hicks - Code, Music and Sound Effects

Brian Terwiliger - 3D Artwork and Texturing

Naomi Baker - Backdrop and Character Artwork

Marco Nelor - Character detail Artwork

Wings of Apocalypse X (Beta)

2010-06-03T23:48:00.001-07:00

Wings of Apocalypse X - I'll Fight Alone from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

Wings of Apocalypse X was released at www.wingsofapocalypse.com ! Check it out. You can also download the soundtrack for the game here.

rComplex Featured on GameTrailers.com!

2010-03-22T14:25:00.001-07:00

As the title says, the new rComplex Trailer was debuted on GameTrailers.com. You can check it out here:

Video Games | rComplex | Debut Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I also uploaded it to Vimeo (the quality is a bit better on Vimeo).

rComplex - The Facts from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

Also, watch out for a new gameplay video soon! I promised Cymon from http://cymonsgames.com/ ( the creator of Ascii portal ) that I would post a video of me beating the game because he and a few others were having trouble beating it. So I'll make sure to post as an EDIT to this post soon!

EDIT:

Heres the Gameplay video!

rComplex - Run Through from B. Joel on Vimeo.

The Gamers Hub : Interview

2010-02-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

I was recently interviewed by "Shady Devil" over at The Gamers Hub website. Check it out @ http://thegamershub.co.uk/2010/02/rekcahdam-interview-wings-of-apocalypse-x/

STARKS!: 2 Til Forever EP

2010-02-20T10:35:00.001-08:00

STARKS! is a Hip Hop artist I have been recording and composing music with for some time now. He just released his EP on CD Baby and it should be on iTunes,Zune,Rhapsody,Napster and all other major digital distribution sites!

The EP includes 4 songs from the album. You can purchase a song for $0.99 or you can buy the whole album for 4 dollars even.

This album is awesome...... and I'm not just saying that because I was apart of it. If you don't believe me you can preview the tracks at http://cdbaby.com/starkshiphop or click the "Buy The Album" Link above.

Martina The Guitarist

2010-01-30T22:17:00.001-08:00

Drawing is sort of like therapy for me so I guess that's why I don't post too much of my work. That, and the fact that most of my artwork is unfinished or rough sketches. So, I decided to do what I call a "MASH-UP" video of both my artwork and my music. I hope you guys enjoy it:

Martina The Guitarist from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

rComplex in Total PC Gaming Magazine

2010-01-24T03:59:00.001-08:00

What better way to start off the new year than with some fresh news on rComplex?

Well here it is! Issue 29 of Total PC Gaming Magazine includes a review of rComplex! rComplex is also included on the DVD that comes with the magazine.
rComplex was given a score of 7/10 which isn't bad considering that they gave igneous a 8/10. I was happy to see that the actual written review was really positive. The reviewer really seemed to enjoy the visual style and audio in the game! What really surprised me was that the indie section on the DVD included Machinarium along side rComplex O_O!

Not that I think rComplex isn't deserving but Machinarium is such a beautifully developed adventure game haha. It almost feels as if rComplex is out of place here but I'm honored to have it included regardless! Either way I hope this gets more people playing rComplex and , hopefully, my other games as well.

Speaking of other games, Brian Terwilliger (aka RawNuts) has posted some new renders on the www.wingsofapocalypse.com blog. Check em out!

You'll Never Understand (8bc)

2009-12-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Yesterday I uploaded a new track to 8bitcollective.com called "You'll Never Understand". It seems to be hard to get the 8bc community to listen to your music unless you're already known for making good music lol. O well.

You will listen to this track : http://8bitcollective.com/music/rekcahdam/You%27ll+Never+Understand/ .

And you will LOVE it!

Indiegames.com + ByteJacker + 2Til Forever EP = AWESOME!

2009-12-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

For some reason it feels like I'm moving up in the world.

My latest game, rComplex, was featured on Indiegames.com. And then later it was added as a "Free Indie Rapid Fire" on a show that I've been watching since it started; Bytejacker episode 65 !! And, it was also chosen as free indie of the week on their latest episode ; episode 66.

Heres the youtube version of episode 65. rComplex shows about 9 minutes and 14 seconds in lol.

Also, STARKS!, a hip hop artist I've been recording vocals, composing music for, and collaborating with is about to release his EP pretty soon. Here's a peak at the EP track listing:

STARKS! has got some pretty HOT tracks on this album if I do say so myself. We were lucky to pull in John Secolo from the band, End The Stars, for a track called " Everyones Gone." I cant wait for people to hear it. You can also hear a track that I contributed my vocals to called "Feel This" on my myspace music page: http://myspace.com/rekcahdam .

Anything else?

Well I've been eyeing the Gamma IV one button contest. I'm enjoying Cactus' entry Gamma IV - The Game:

I have some ideas, but I don't know if I will have time to put anything together since I'm working on WoAX right now. We'll see what happens.

rComplex

2009-11-18T00:48:00.001-08:00

rComplex - The Facts from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

rComplex is a game project that a friend (Brian Terwilliger,who also works on WoA with me) and I started working on only 8 days before before the IGF 2010 entry deadline. Some how, even with such a short time window we made the deadline in time. It all started when my brother (Ryan) and I were coming up with simple game concepts that we thought would be good IGF entries that same night that we started the project. 8 days later rComplex was born!

rComplex is a game about a man who's only goal is to make it out alive. As he makes his attempt to escape he recalls previous events and questions his situation in his thoughts.

Enjoy!

WARNING: DO NOT INSTALL rCOMPLEX INTO ANY FOLDER BESIDES IT'S OWN PERSONAL FOLDER (ex: C:\rComplex). EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THE INSTALL FOLDER OF rCOMPLEX WILL BE DELETED UPON UNINSTALLATION!

EDIT:

1.
For those having trouble launching the game from the installer, try launching the game from the shortcut by clicking START -> All Programs -> rComplex

2.
Apparently some people are getting an error messaging saying that they are missing MSVC71.dll . If you're getting this message download the DLL file from http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?msvcr71 (or any other place you may find it) and copy it to the main folder of the game . For me, the main folder is C:\rComplex\ .

REQUIREMENTS:

OPERATING SYSTEMS: Windows XP or Vista

RAM: 256M

PROCESSOR: 1.3 Ghz Intel Celeron M or any comparable AMD/Intel Processor

GPU: ATI 9000, Nvdia Geforce 4MX 32 MB or equivalent OpenGL compatible GPU

CAPACITY: 180 MB of hard drive space is required !

CREDITS:

Roger Hicks - Code, Music and Sound Effects

Brian Terwilliger - 3D Art and Animation

Special Thanks to Ryan Hicks and Jonathan Chevalier!

Mountain Climbing ,Programming, Music

2009-10-19T03:58:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys!

Its been awhile since my last blog post so here's an update on what I've been doing since then.

Recently I went mountain climbing with my friend Tim and Amanda. It was scary as hell yet awesome at the same time! I wont spoil too much for you guys though. You can check out the video of our mountain climbing adventure below:

Of course I'm still working on the new Wings of Apocalypse X ! I've been programming my arse off to get this game done. I'm also composing all the music, sound effects and voice overs for the game as well. Luckily I have some help from, expert guitarist, Tony Kirkland for recording guitar tracks. And, although I wrote the story for Wings of Apocalypse myself I pulled in Jonathan Chevalier (and awesome writer) to flesh out the dialogue for the voice overs. You can check out a video of us recording some of the voice overs at http://wingsofapocalypsex.blogspot.com/2009/10/voice-overs.html .

Things are definitely shaping up with game but there's still tons left to do in a short amount of time. I believe my development team can do it though. Wish us luck!

STARKS! + SHOCKOE CHEF + WILD POCKETS

2009-08-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hey! I haven't blogged in awhile but I figured now is a good time to do it before I get too bogged down with other things. You know I'm always up to something right?

Well recently I've been writing and recording music for a Hip Hop Artist named "STARKS!". Since then we have received pretty good reviews and have been apart of "The Rebel Radio Show" in Detroit Michigan 3 times now. I even wrote some lyrics for as well as "rapped" on a track with STARKS!. You guys can check it out on my myspace music page www.myspace.com/rekcahdam !

I've also been doing a little bit of artwork here and there. I was asked by the 17th Street Farmers Market to do a banner for an event they had called the "Shockoe Chef Showdown" since the normal graphics artist moved on to do other things. Heres what I came up with in a short period of time.
To my surprise the poster was also featured in Richmond magazine as well. It makes me wish I would have put some more work into it LOL. O well, people seemed to like what I did with it.

Lastly, about 2 months ago, I was contacted by the Marketing Manager of a company called Wild Pockets . He was interested in having the WoA Team port Wings of Apocalypse to their platform. After over a month of negotiations we have finally come to an agreement and we will be developing a port/ revamped version of Wings Of Apocalypse for the Wild Pockets Online platform. We'll also be creating a new blog for the new version. STAY TUNED!

Radial Gun is on Xbox 360 !!!

2009-06-05T00:33:00.001-07:00

RADIAL GUN IS NOW ON XBOX 360!!!!

Ok sorry, I'm a little too excited right now but I just wanted to let you guys know about it. Im going to be updating the game as much as I can but you can still play the original version on 360 as it is right now! Hope you guys enjoy it!

If you want to see more information about this title you can check it out here!

Gimme' a break!

2009-05-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! So I'm taking a break from working on video game projects at the moment.... so what am I doing?.....

Well I just finished up 2 side projects and I'm already working on my 3rd.

The first project was to create a tool for Saito ( the founder of Translation Generation ) which would it easier to organize and translate dialogue boxes for hacked RPG games. Here's some screen shots of the tool :

You can download the program here (DOWNLOAD NO LONGER AVAILABLE). Oh, and if you find any bugs email me at rekcahdam@gmail.com !

The second project was to write a title song for a game called "Kharlia - Tale of Magnus the Mad" made by a friend using RPG Maker. He requested that the music have a "snes" sound style. You can listen to the song here.

As for the third project....... I CANT TELL YOU BECAUSE ITS A SECRET! But I promise that it will be good. I'll make a nice blog post about it when I'm well into it.

Easy on Easy, Hard on Hard

2009-05-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

I recently made posts about Wings of Apocalypse on several forums to get the word out (one of them being tigsource It seems that some people are complaining that Wings of Apocalypse is too hard.

I think the problem is that people are neglecting the deflector controls! As I told through email earlier, the deflector is essential unless you are a hardcore "shmuper"! Without using the deflector the game is basically on Very Hard Mode. But if you use the deflector the game becomes easier depending on which character you choose. In other words , Roger is easy, Bryan is medium and Naomi is hard!

In order to prove my point I made a video of me playing the game with Roger using the deflector controls!

Wings Of Apocalypse - Gameplay Video -"Easy Mode" from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

Also , someone on tigsource complained about the bullets not being visible. I cant really see how that is unless you're monitor is messed up LOL. If anyone else has this problem can you explain it to me?

In reply to his post I said "You should check out a game called "Clean Asia!". Im sure you've heard of it by now right? Cactus' well known shmup game, is one of the hardest shmups I've ever played! On the "China" level, all the bullets are white... Which wouldn't be a problem if your character wasn't also white and didn't almost look like a bullet himself! But despite that, the game is still awesome and I never hear people complain about the character almost looking like a bullet LOL.... ITS A CONSPIRACY!!!"

New Music : May 10, 2009

2009-05-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. I just wanted to update you on what I've been working on lately.

Today I uploaded a new track called "You Were In My Dream" to 8bit collective! You can listen to it and download it from http://8bitcollective.com/music/rekcahdam/You+Were+In+My+Dream/

Also, I recently posted a new trailer on the Wings Of Apocalypse website along with the demo of the game! Accompanying the new trailer is a new song! Check it out! :

Wings of Apocalypse - "What If ?" from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

PS. If you want to hear more of my music you can visit my Myspace music page at www.myspace.com/rekcahdam !

RADIAL GUN !

2009-04-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

RADIAL GUN (code named: Grey Scale vs RGB) is an experimental game that I've been working on that will be released..... TODAY!!! RADIAL GUN will also be released on the Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Community game with more levels and features!

You can download the PC version of the game here!

Radial Gun - Gameplay from R.J. H. on Vimeo.

________________________________________
READ THIS!

Minimum hardware requirements.

Operating Systems:Windows XP or Vista

RAM: 256M

Processor:1.3 Ghz Intel Celeron M or any comparable AMD/Intel Processor

GPU: ATI 9000 or Equivalent Direct X 9 compatible video card

40 MB of hard drive space is required !

Controls

Keyboard:

Movement : Arrow Keys (Up, Down, Left, Right)

Fire: Z Key

Bombs: X Key

XBOX 360 Controller

Movement : Left Analog Stick or D-PAD

Fire: A button

Bombs: B button

Note: to exit the game press the ESC button to the top left of your computer keyboard.

Gameplay

To destroy the eye and advance to the next level you must destroy all blocks on screen. Blocks are usually red, green or blue. Destroying a block that is the same color as the eye launches a seeking projectile towards you! So be careful!

Known Issues

-Alt Tabing in and out of the game during gameplay causes the alpha effects to become non-existent. To fix this problem press the ESC key to exit gameplay and re-enter the game.

-In Windows Vista press the ESC key during gameplay seems to exit the game completely instead of taking you back to the main menu. The problem seems to be that Windows Vista detects the ESC key several times more then in Windows XP. The quick fix for this is to quickly tap the ESC key when attempting to exit back the Main Menu in Windows Vista.

Credits

Programming:

Roger Hicks

Art and Textures

Roger Hicks

Menu Screen & Pulse Effect

Brian Terwilliger

Music and Sound Composition:

Roger Hicks

Download Radial Gun Here!

GDC 09 Bootlegged

2009-03-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!................... I WAS @ GDC 09!!!!!.......

Just in case you were uninformed GDC stands for Game Developers Conference. I met a lot of famous..........semi-famous indie game developers like Daniel Benmergui (I wish I were the Moon) and Alec Holowka (co-founder of Bit Blot and Infinite ammo; as well as the lead programmer on Aquaria!). I randomly took a picture with Alec as if it was nothing. He didn't seem too pleased to take a picture with a random black guy..... that, or he was just having a long day LOL!!

Oh yeah... and Cactus (aka: Jonatan Söderström) !!! He was the funniest guy there! If you dont know who this guy is you need to check out his games! Hes best know for his ability to make really awesome games in a week down to a few days! One of the funniest things I saw at GDC was Petri Purho's (developer of Crayon Physics Deluxe) desktop wallpaper. It was a picture of Cactus with a comic style talk bubble over his head that said " While you were slacking off I made 4 games!" Anyway, check out this snippet from Cactus's lecture/tutorial/funny as hell thingamuhbob!

A long with this video I have like 100 other videos of the IGF lectures and tutorials as well as what went on at the Expo, IGF and GDC awards. In other words...... I HAVE A BOOTLEGGED COPY OF GDC09!......randomness....

And just to add to the randomness, I'll end this blog by showing you a picture of me laughing at the fact that I can't button up my dress shirt because my neck is too fat ROFL!!

Going back to my 8-bit roots!

2009-02-18T18:18:00.001-08:00

I'm always making music, even if its only humming to myself or actually recording and layering drum and guitar tracks with my friend Tony! I rarely upload any of my music online though. But, one day I'm going to bust out with a whole life time's worth of music and surprise everyone HAHAHA.........

Despite my "hermitness", I decided to upload my latest song! Most of the music I have online contain live instruments. I decided to break my streak and upload something different for a change. Last week I saw some kid playing the old-school Gameboy ( Yes, The Fat One!!). It got me in the mood to make some 8-bit music!

You guys can download and listen to my new song at http://8bitcollective.com/music/rekcahdam/Chiptunes+4+Life!/ !

ENJOY!

Shutup and Program!

2009-01-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

So.... I've been busy lately..... busier than usual. And, some very interesting things happened since my last blog post. So I'm going to try to layout a time line for you guys.

December 25th 2008 WoA Team released an alpha version of Wings of Apocalypse for download at www.wingsofapocalypse.com .

December 31st 2008 I finished editing and uploaded a video for the www.anijunkie.com 08 Talent Contest and boy is it getting good reviews! Heres the entry! :

January 16th 2009 I got into a terrible car accident. I was hit in the back by someone going almost 50mph, knocked into a concrete median causing me to get hit by another car. I had to stay in the hospital over night..... that sucked!!

January 23rd 2009 I decided to start another game project using XNA instead of OpenGL (which is what Wings of Apocalypse used). By the way... XNA is ridiculously easy to work with. Almost everything that I had to write from scratch for Wings of Apocalypse is already done for me in XNA! Anyway, once I start making some progress with this new game I'll probably make a blog for it... stay tuned!

And for the future:

On January 31st 2009 I'll be playing the drums along with my buddy Tony ( guitarist) for a play called "Road to Redemption" at the Chrysler building in Norfolk Virginia!

So yes! I have been very busy and things are only going to get worse because this is my last semester in college... SO MUCH STUFF TO DO!!!!..... o well, I'll manage.

Rescue The Beagles Intro Cover

2008-12-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, girls, and to whoever actually reads this blog! I haven't really had time to post anything cool because of exams and work but thanks to Christmas break I've finally been able to get some time to myself. Some of you already know that my game, Wings Of Apocalypse, has been entered into the Independent Game Festival Competition along with some 200+ other games. I had a chance to go through the list of entries at www.igf.com and wow!........ Some of these games are very addictive!

One game that I find myself playing at least once a day is called "Rescue: The Beagles." I also love the music in that game; particularly the intro music by the artist Disasterpeace . I loved it so much I decided to do a cover to the song! You can download it here !

You can check out Rescue: The Beagles at http://www.16x16.org/ . And, if you want to hear the original version of the song I covered or more music by Disasterpeace check out http://www.richvreeland.com and http://www.iimusic.net .

PS. Hopefully, in the near future, Wings Of Apocalypse will be available for download :D!

Rhythm

2008-11-03T08:31:00.001-08:00

I've been MIA for awhile because of the Indie Game Fest Deadline which was Nov 1st. Last week was pretty hectic trying to get everything straight for Wings Of Apocalypse, but now that thats over (kind of) I'm chillin' for awhile. I uploaded a drum video to gametrailers.com last week and it got featured on the front page! I thought I might as well post it up on the blog as well.

MadTracker is fun!

2008-10-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hey guys.... Instead of doing my Linear Algebra homework I decided to mess with MadTracker lol. If you don't know what MadTracker is; its a music sequencer. I made a video of me making a simple song. Hope you guys like it!

Martina's Dogs

2008-09-25T01:26:00.001-07:00

A friend asked me to draw a picture of her dogs. I told her I that I would but I kept procrastinating LOL. But, finally I'm done!

I made a time lapse video of me drawing them. Hope you guys enjoy :)!

Drum Samples

2008-09-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

I told you guys that I like to make music. Well every once in awhile I like to make some music samples and play the drums to them to see if I can come up with some new drum fills. Here's a video I made recently of me doing just that.

Peace colored

2008-09-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the colored version of my "Peace" drawing. I know my coloring job isn't that great but I'll get better for sure!

Peace

2008-09-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't drawn in a long time because I've been coding + recording music for WoA, I'm a full time student and I work part time. Sometimes I think its too much. I barely get 4 hours of sleep... Despite all that, I've decided that I want to start drawing again no matter what! So I blew the dust off of my Wacom tablet and did just that!

Heres what I just finished yesterday. I used a friend as a reference in this one. Maybe later I'll post a colored version :)!

Particle Effects

2008-09-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

If you are a gamer and you've played the Xbox 360 you've probably played or at least heard of a game called geometry wars. That game has some insane particle effects!

[Screenshot taken from geometry wars]

More then half of the objects shown in this screenshot are particles. And it looks very cool in motion!

Well as some of you might know already, I'm working on a game called Wings of Apocalypse. A little over a month ago,Brian , one of the co-developers (3D Artist) on the project felt that the game looked too plain and we needed some particle effects. I agreed with him and a few thousand keyboard clicks later particle effects were born into my world!

Right now we're trying not to show much of what we've done just yet but heres a sneak peak at what the particle effects look like :).

And, for all the game coders out there, the following code shows how I define a particle. The code is based on Java's syntax but it shouldn't be too hard to translate it into other languages. If you're using C then you would have to convert this definition class to a 'struct', but if you're using C++ or C# you shoudn't have any trouble converting the code.

class Particle
{
String name;
boolean active; // Active (Yes/No)
float life; // Particle Life
float fade; // Fade Speed

float r; // Red Value
float g; // Green Value
float b; // Blue Value

float rd; // Red End Value
float gd; // Green End Value
float bd; // Blue End Value

float x; // X Position
float y; // Y Position
float z; // Z Position

float xi; // X Direction
float yi; // Y Direction
float zi; // Z Direction

float xg; // X Gravity
float yg; // Y Gravity
float zg; // Z Gravity

float slowdown=1.0f; // Slow Down Particles

float xspeed=0; // Base X Speed
float yspeed=0; // Base Y Speed

public Particle(String n)
{
name=n;

}

}

Once you have your particle defined the only things left to do are to manipulate the variables used by the particle and then draw it. Of course its not THAT easy, but its not hard either. I'm too lazy right now to try to explain my particle system algorithms but most of it is basic physics. And, you can find algorithms all over the web lol...

First Post

2008-09-04T04:48:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do this for awhile but I was never up to it but, finally ,I've done it! I made a blog and I plan on posting things ever so often.

What kind of things will I post? Well I love making music, I love drawing and I love programming (most of the time* lol). So my blog posts will probably be based on any of those three areas, but who knows. I'm always up for trying something new.

Anyway, right now, I don't have anything worthy of posting but hopefully in the near future (near near future) I will be posting things regularly for your viewing pleasure :) !

>./rekcahdam

rComplex Coming to the iOS!

Celestial Mechanica = $1, Soundtrack = pay what you want!

25YEARLEGEND

PulseBoy Video Tutorial!

PulseBoy!

Celestial Mechanica *REVIEWS*

Celestial Mechanica v1.01 to v1.20 *UPDATE*

Celestial Mechanica Gameplay

Celestial Mechanica IS OUT NOW!

"Celestial Mechanica" Needs Sponsorship!

rComplex: Kickstarter!

Disasterpeace and Rekcahdam Collab!

Project I/O *DEMO* is on KONGREGATE!

The Very Best - STARKS! & Rekcahdam (Presented by DJ ILL WILL)

LEAKED: The Cypher ft. Rekcahdam, STARKS!, Prince Ea

Who Is RekcahDam

Project I/O Featured on Gametrailers.com

Project I/O - DEMO

BGamer September 2010

rComplex - THE MOVIE

Stream

Wings of Apocalypse X (Beta)

rComplex Featured on GameTrailers.com!

The Gamers Hub : Interview

STARKS!: 2 Til Forever EP

Martina The Guitarist

rComplex in Total PC Gaming Magazine

You'll Never Understand (8bc)

Indiegames.com + ByteJacker + 2Til Forever EP = AWESOME!

rComplex

Mountain Climbing ,Programming, Music

STARKS! + SHOCKOE CHEF + WILD POCKETS

Radial Gun is on Xbox 360 !!!

Gimme' a break!

Easy on Easy, Hard on Hard

New Music : May 10, 2009

RADIAL GUN !

GDC 09 Bootlegged

Going back to my 8-bit roots!

Shutup and Program!

Rescue The Beagles Intro Cover

Rhythm

MadTracker is fun!

Martina's Dogs

Drum Samples

Peace *colored*

Peace

Particle Effects

First Post

Celestial Mechanica REVIEWS

Celestial Mechanica v1.01 to v1.20 UPDATE

Project I/O DEMO is on KONGREGATE!

Peace colored