Discussion Week 7: Cart Life

http://www.richardhofmeier.com/cartlife/

Here is this week's game for discussion: Cart Life. The full game is totally free, but they seem to have some DLC and physical content for pay. I wanted to feature a game with focus on narrative content so I looked through all of the IGF Finalists for Excellence in Narrative. Honestly I question a number of their choices. 7 Grand Steps has a demo, dys4ia can be played in its entirety in about 15 minutes, and I really didn't like the execution of Analogue: A Hate Story which has a demo available on steam. Of all of these Cart Life alone was a game that I enjoyed. It is a refreshing narrative take on a genre (simulation/economy) that is typically lacking in story. Tell me what you all think and I'll post my thoughts on it later.

Weekly Indie Game Plays Rotation (Updated)

Hey everyone,

With the great influx of new members to this blog, welcome.

I am just updating the rotation of our weekly indie game plays.

For week of 1/21 - 1/27 Sam (Taking over for Brandon this week, since I don't know the situation with Brandon)

1/28 - 2/3 Jensen

2/4 - 2/10 Keith

2/11 - 2/17 Kenneth

2/18 - 2/24 Daniel

2/25 - 3/3 Johnny

3/4 - 3/10 Quan

3/11 - 3/17 Sam

Then the cycle repeats back to Jensen.

If you have any problems with the scheduling or if I missed anyone else who wants to join in, please let me know.

Edit: Sorry for the highlighting, I don't know how to unhighlight the text in blogspot goddamnit.

Project Deadlines IMPORTANT

So regarding the Orphan project, we need to get the ball rolling.
Skype meetings will not be held unless there are specific issues we need to figure out as a whole.

I am pretty busy myself, so I can't be keeping track of you guys all the time so email me at sonjool@gmail.com or send me a message however you want.

These are your personal tasks.

Johnny, how much do you think you can do programming wise? Let me know by Monday Night PST

Quan, let me know what you have found out about GML and if you started doing anything outlined in the design doc. Let me know by Monday Night

Jensen and Daniel, give me and Ann something to work with, give us something to read so that we can bounce ideas back and forth. Give us something to work with by Sunday Night

Kenny I need these by Tuesday Night
- Walking mechanic
- Running mechanic (run while holding down a button)
- Stamina mechanic (drains while running, slowly recharges over time when not running)
- Hitpoint mechanic (3 hearts)
- Collision detection when touching NPCs (so that you cannot move through them)
- Ability to interact with objects (just the ability to, it doesn't necessarily have to do anything yet)
- A start screen where story exposition will be given

Me and Ann, after receiving stuff from Daniel and Jensen, will work on assets.

By Wednesday Night we'll have a prototype that we'll be able to play.

Pixel Art Archive

This is just a post archiving various pixel art I do on my own. I am making these for fun and to practice.

Mori

Availability

Hey guys, I was thinking it would be easier to set up meetings and such if we can access each others' weekly schedules. Here is mine, post yours

School Schedule
Monday: 7:00pm~9:50pm
Tuesday: 7:00pm~9:50pm
Thursday:10:00am~6:30pm
Friday: 9:00am~12:00pm, 7:00pm~9:50pm
Saturday: 9:00am~12:00pm, 3:00pm~6:30pm

Free Schedule
Monday mornings, afternoons
Tuesday mornings, afternoons
Wednesday all day
Friday 12:00pm~7:00pm
Saturday evenings
Sunday all day

Discussion Week 7: Westerado

Since Brandon isn't really a part of this, I'll take over for him.

This week we'll play Westerado. A lot to like about this one

http://games.adultswim.com/westerado-action-online-game.html

Game Project: Orphan

Here's the more concrete design document which is a mix of what we discussed and what seemed appropriate.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rs1JhB-KMcfwnmcaCua1e4FVck1lO9fcsgJXn6b8dEg/edit

Let me know what you guys think but I think this is taking shape quite nicely.

Oh and Johnny, Quan, and Keith, we had another meeting in order to flesh out the gameplay more.

Notes from 1/18/2013 Session

Here is a list of the things I took notice from our skype session:
Items in blue are ideas that we scrapped.
(Note: these are all subjected to change, nothing has been finalized)

So far we have decided to go with a stealth-like game, where you play as a pick pocketer, trying to steal from as many people as possible.

Setting: Medieval (during a festival)
Perspective: 2D Top-down
Game Engine: gamemaker studios
Influences: Hotline Miami

-powerups
-zelda like
-super mario clone
-only move left to right
-hacker game, top down perspective
-time sensitive
-no water levels
-no bodyguard type
-2d platformer
-samurai
-demake of metal gear rising
-some enemies have to be killed with the environment
-precise cuts(vertical,diagonal,horizontal)
-touch screen?
-destructable environment
-gestures
-2d platformer
-nimble thief
-steal money for upgrades
-paintings, statues, are secondary
-fov (blur outside, blur behind)
-powerups can alter the vision
-robot gentlemen thief
-need to consider AI
-little boy
-pick pocket combo streak
-crowded street, moving through a crowd non obstructive way
-patterned AI, position oneself to
-colored jacket = specific button pressed needed to steal
-cannot be pick pocketing others
-top down perspective
-collision, crowd blocks path when caught
-20-100 people
-seeing the entire screen
-no vertical view
-narrative story items
-stealing specific items
-guard NPC, if spotted goes toward you, the crowd moves away from guard, clearing path
-poor person, medium wealth, rich, and guards
-range of view for the guards (light indicator?)
-gamemaker studio engine
-music: electronic/hip hop

Good Taste

Hey I know everyone has seen this but I wanted to make a post so people didn't think I was dead. I've been busy moving into a new apartment & working. Yes I'm still in the process of moving into my new apartment. I have internet as of today. Anyways, Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling is pretty universal and I think nearly everything it says applies to games.

http://io9.com/5916970/the-22-rules-of-storytelling-according-to-pixar

Here's something else I really liked. If anyone listens to NPR & This American Life it's a quote from Ira Glass. Here's a typography video that's a 2-minute long clip of something he's said that I really liked. It exemplifies a lot of this that we're doing.

http://vimeo.com/24715531

The sentiment that you guys have of making something, anything, just so we are actually getting stuff done is reflected here but I liked the reasoning Ira Glass gives. All of us who get into Creative Work get into it because we have good taste. And because we have good taste we know the things we make are...disappointing. Our talent doesn't yet match our taste. I found this inspirational somehow, because I'd like to think I have good taste. I know a lot if not all the people on this blog have good taste. I hope we can get to a point where our talents can stand up to our good taste.

Interactive Storytelling techniques of Kotaro Uchikoshi

I feel like I've been neglecting other parts of game creation; the narrative. Here's an interview with Kotaro Uchikoshi who wrote Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and the recent 3DS game, Virtue's Last Reward. I haven't played the game myself yet but I would love to when I get a 3DS eventually.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/184632/the_storytelling_secrets_of_.php


This post is geared more towards Daniel and Jensen, as well as anyone who also engages in storytelling through writing.

Defining Challenge

A very useful article that lets us articulate what kind of challenge a certain game provides and how we can mindfully try to create a game based on these categories.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/184425/understanding_challenge.php

Molecule Level Design

http://gamasutra.com/view/feature/184783/the_metrics_of_space_molecule_.php

 Here's another great article about designing spaces that makes it easier to create and manage interesting spatial relationships in games.

Skype Meeting: PST 9:30pm, 1/18/13 REVISED TIME

This is the skype meeting where we brainstorm and get started on a prototype of a game. It could be stuff we talked about before or it can be a new idea. By the end of the meeting we are going to have an engine to base the game on, tasks for people involved in the project, and general goals/deadlines of the protoype.

Another thing I would highly recommend is posting updates to whatever you're working on, whether it's videos, stories, images, code. This will help the productivity and keep motivations up.

The time above is temporary so we can change it to fit everyone's schedules.

EDIT: The time has changed to 9:30pm PST, 1/18/13

EDIT 2: Also for anyone who wants to hang out prior to and just get to know each other, be on skype around 9:00pm, it might make it easier to talk when we know each others' names at least.

Quick rule update regarding Weekly Indie Gaming Plays

Hey everyone, Johnny here.
I just wanted to state some rules regarding the weekly indie game plays.
For those who turn is up for picking the indie game, please pick a game that we can actually play.
In other words, there is a demo or it is free online.
We are trying to avoid paying for the games as it will be quite costly in the long run.
I also want to try and avoid pirating games, so please do not link to illegally downloaded games.
So far, all the weekly entries have been fine. I just wanted to make it clear for future game plays.

Discussion Week 6: Grimind

http://www.grimind.com/

Here's this weeks game for discussion: Grimind. It's a 2D physics-based platformer that uses light. It looks pretty dope; kind of reminds me of Limbo except you get to be an awesome mole-looking dude on steroids. You can get the demo on their website, and make sure to vote them up on Steam Greenlight.

Skype meeting?

Hey y'all I wanted to know if you guys are available for a skype meeting regarding starting one of the games.


I've been thinking about this pretty simple 2D-Platformer where you play a robot.

The main puzzle mechanic is that there are times during the level where you have no control over your robot. So you must give instructions in advance. At first puzzles will be fairly straight-forward; it would involve mostly with traversal of terrain. Then we start to add timing-sensitive jumps/moving platforms and "virus-infected areas" that flip commands in fixed ways (left becomes right, vice versa)

Narrative-wise I was thinking it is a robot that start to develop free will as the game goes on and it refuses to listen to your tests. I'm thinking the last boss fight is you fighting to maintain control over your robot.

"How do I get started programming games?"

Interesting article from the programmer, Tommy Refenes (Super Meat Boy).
From reading his article I have learned that rather than focusing on just programming I should focus more on learning a game engine (Unity, SDK, Source, Gamemaker), so that I can immediately start making games.
The article provides much good advice for beginning game programmers/designers.
For those of you who already know a language, work with whatever you are comfortable with.


http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TommyRefenes/20130107/184432/How_do_I_get_started_programming_games.php

IGF 2013 finalists

So the Independent Game Festival has announced their list of indie games nominated for awards in 2013.
What do you guys think about it?
For me, I have not really heard much about most of the games nominated besides FTL, Super Hexagon, and Hotline Miami.
I found it pretty funny that Goblet Grotto got an honorable mention for Excellence in Narrative, when I had no idea what was going on in that game. Apparently, I must have missed something.

http://igf.com/2013/01/2013_independent_games_festiva_2.html

Space Exploration Game Idea

Sup guys, here's an idea for a game that I have been thinking about.

I want to make a space exploration rogue-like game.

Story
You are a hired space-bounty hunter. Your goal is to defeat different species of alien races throughout the galaxy. The thing is that you are poor, literally poor. You are only equiped with a lazer gun and shovel. Your spaceship is flying metal junk that moves slow.

Objective
The goal of the game is to travel across space to reach the alien colony to destroy the leader. As you travel through space, you can make stops at different small planets to dig for resources, power-ups, ship-upgrades, money, and etc to make you stronger for the fight at the end. The problem with this is that the longer you take to reach the alien colony, the more advance and stronger the alien race becomes.

Game Design
Essentially I picture this game being done in the style of  Spelunky. The game will consist of three parts, space-traveling, resource gathering, and fighting.

The space-traveling sequence will be done in the style of 2D airplane shooting except running from left to right instead of up to down. In the space traveling events you can go through boost gates to make your ship travel fast. You also have the option to skip planets in order to get to the alien colony as fast as you can.

The resource gathering is done on the pit-stop planets where you dig into the ground to mine for power-ups/resources. You are limited by how far you can dig by a pipe attached to the player which provides oxygen. However, you can choose to break the line and dig further, but you will have to use up your oxygen tank that you need to reserve when you reach the alien colony. The further you dig down, the better the resources and power-ups will be.

The last part is the fighting at the alien colony. I imagine it as being one big giant Spelunky level, where you start at the surface of the colony and have to travel deep down to reach the alien leader.

Game Elements 
The space bounty hunter will have a health bar and oxygen bar. Your spaceship with also have a separate health meter. If your either health bars reaches zero at anytime, your character will die. If you oxygen bar becomes zero, your character's health will slowly drain. Keep in mind that your oxygen can only go down if you detach yourself from the ship's oxygen pipe, while digging for resources and when you reach the alien colony. There will also be a map to show how far you are in space from the alien planet and also a different map when you are at the alien colony.

The alien colony is rather very big, so if you have the oxygen and supplies, you can explore the colony to discover new weapons, health, oxygen, and etc.

Keep in mind that all the elements in this game are randomly generated, from the levels to the power-ups/resources you find. Perma-death is also present in this game as well.

This is all I have so far for my game. Let me know what you guys think about it.

Prototype 1

This is the post regarding the creation of a simple platformer.

Let's get some ideas going about what it will be, where we'll draw inspirations from, and also what program we'll use to make this.

Most important thing I feel is to have a nice feeling movement. One of my favorite sidescrolling games is Ghosts n' Goblins because its movements force you to commit to jumps and be decisive because there is no leeway in your jump arcs.

The thematic idea I had for this game is that it takes place in victorian england. You play as jack-the-ripper. Feel free to contribute gameplay ideas, narrative ideas, and more thematic propositions as this was just my proposition. We'll come to a decision on what we'll make together.

Discussion Week 5: SkullFace

The game for this week is the platformer: SkullFace.

As usual post your comments, thoughts, likes, dislikes, and etc

http://greg-anims.com/?page_id=811

The Start of a New Year

Greetings everyone, Johnny here.
I hope everyone has had a chance to get rested up over the holidays.
With the start of the New Year, I want to restart our weekly indie game play/reviews.
Since many of us have forgotten the schedule and new members have just joined,  I have decided to remake the rotation schedule to see who picks what game for us to play.

For week of 1/7 - 1/13: Will be me (Johnny)

1/14 - 1/20: Quan

1/21 - 1/27 Brandon

1/28 - 2/3 Jensen

2/4 - 2/10 Sam

Then repeats back to me

Also much thanks to Sam for his posts on blog over the holidays, thanks for keeping the board active.
If you guys get the chance, take a look at Sam's post as he has posted much great reads and ideas regarding game development.

Sam has also proposed that we should start making a simple game, if you guys want in on the project, let him know right here.
http://roadtogamedev.blogspot.jp/2012/12/regarding-level-design.html

If you have any problems or questions regarding anything, let me know.
-Johnny

Narrative Techniques in Games

http://www.teddydiefenbach.com/RadDragon/Narrative_Listening_-_Teddy_Diefenbach.pdf

Here's an interesting approach to video-game narratives. Something to know about and could incorporate into our games.

Hello

Hello everyone. Sam just invited me to the group. My name is Jensen Kamiya and I think I've met most of you. Anyways, I'm not sure how much I can contribute to this little group yet but I will start by reading through the old archives of posts and commenting where I see fit. Hope to see this club/group become more active after New Years though I'm not 100% sure how often I'll be able to participate in the whole play-a-game/review-a-game system. Anyways, just an introduction. Hello everyone and nice to meet you all.