Hi Everyone,
As you may know, Jonathan ( @jsgbailey ) and I have been selling our Unity Grids plugin for the last few months. Turns out it's quite a challenge :) We have been experimenting with different strategies, and are making a lot of discoveries on our way out of the dark in the mysterious worlds of marketing and advertising. One thing we have been struggling with is getting across what we believe are the strong points of our tool (allows for fast development, in particular).
We were actually talking about how to handle development of our next product: doing it in a prototyping-in-the-open fashion, getting earlier feedback, and so on. Making lots of smaller tools, some of which may potentially be thrown away, redone etc. Then it occurred to us we could do the same the existing tool when doing new features. And then it occurred to us that we could in fact make lots of games this way too… and maybe show off the tool in a better way. (Of course, the talking about novel month and progvember was also fresh in our heads).
Our experiment is to make 30 games in 30 days using our Grids plugin. We got Eduard Beukes ( @rigormortis ) in to help us with this, and we will be putting up our first game tomorrow. We'll publish the games on our web site, and talk a bit about what's under the hood of them.
We hope to get some exposure, but it's also a good way to put the library under more severe testing and get ideas for other features. We'll use this thread to let you guys know how it goes. If you have some feedback, we are all ears!
(And of course, our offer of free copies still stands - just let me know if you want one :)
Official 30 Games in 30 Days page:
http://gamelogic.co.za/30-games-in-30-days/
You can also follow us on Twitter of Facebook to stay up to date with our progress.
As you may know, Jonathan ( @jsgbailey ) and I have been selling our Unity Grids plugin for the last few months. Turns out it's quite a challenge :) We have been experimenting with different strategies, and are making a lot of discoveries on our way out of the dark in the mysterious worlds of marketing and advertising. One thing we have been struggling with is getting across what we believe are the strong points of our tool (allows for fast development, in particular).
We were actually talking about how to handle development of our next product: doing it in a prototyping-in-the-open fashion, getting earlier feedback, and so on. Making lots of smaller tools, some of which may potentially be thrown away, redone etc. Then it occurred to us we could do the same the existing tool when doing new features. And then it occurred to us that we could in fact make lots of games this way too… and maybe show off the tool in a better way. (Of course, the talking about novel month and progvember was also fresh in our heads).
Our experiment is to make 30 games in 30 days using our Grids plugin. We got Eduard Beukes ( @rigormortis ) in to help us with this, and we will be putting up our first game tomorrow. We'll publish the games on our web site, and talk a bit about what's under the hood of them.
We hope to get some exposure, but it's also a good way to put the library under more severe testing and get ideas for other features. We'll use this thread to let you guys know how it goes. If you have some feedback, we are all ears!
(And of course, our offer of free copies still stands - just let me know if you want one :)
Official 30 Games in 30 Days page:
http://gamelogic.co.za/30-games-in-30-days/
You can also follow us on Twitter of Facebook to stay up to date with our progress.
Comments
Give me a neat page with progress and all of the games built so far to pimp out on twitter pls :D
The official page is here:
http://gamelogic.co.za/30-games-in-30-days/
(I also updated the original post.)
I am thrilled to say that Game 1 is up and running. We are officially off the mark! And so begins one heck of an interesting month :)
Day 1 Game 1:
Game 1 is a riff on Light’s Out and is played on a hex grid. Instead of trying to switch off all the lights, the aim is to try and trap the monsters.
Check out Game 1
Quick feedbacks:
Sweet concept, trapping monsters is neat!
I got a win the first time I played, but then I couldn't progress anywhere (no continue button popped up) so I hit restart and then couldn't win again. Do you have to surround enemies and eliminate extra "on" tiles too?
Also, Lights Out shouldn't need an apostrophe, the out doesn't belong to the lights ;P
For future reference, mouseovers on the grid elements would be nifty :)
What's the next game? :D
Awesome first game! Your wunderbarr's been set! :D
1. Try to keep the link to play the game higher up, maybe right under the title, and maybe style it like a really prominent button . Having to scroll down and then look for the text is just going to lose you plays.
2. Have social sharing buttons right next to that play button, and on the page that hosts the plugin itself. I know you have FB and Twitter links in the text, as well as faded ones at the bottom of your page, but if you want to get the most out of this campaign you really should make sharing as easy as possible.
2b. Those FB and Twitter links at the bottom of your overall site should ideally be way more prominent too ;)
@dislekcia English always have a way to byte you when you are not thinking!
Using rollovers is definitely a good idea. And yes, you have to get rid of all the extra tiles. That makes the game slightly more difficult, but I personally think we may ditch it and rather make the initial patterns a bit more difficult. (Luckily, we can actually control that with a parameter). If we stick to that mechanic, maybe some flashing of the tiles that are extra can be used...
Also, the "Restart" button should really be "Continue". If you hit it several times you will see the number of monsters go up every few (up to six, then the cycle restarts).
@mattbenic, @Tuism Great ideas - we will move the links and make them buttons. I like the message Tuism...
Day 2 Game 2:
Game 2 is a maze traversal puzzle game. There are cells where you can decide which direction to take, and arrow cells that take you in a pre-chosen direction after you land on them.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback :)
Check out Game 2
Game 3 is done and dusted. It probably wont be our most exciting game :) but it's a game none the less!
Day 3 Game 3:
Game 3 is a version of the famous game Ludo. This version is played with 6 players on a hex grid.
Check out Game 3
Day 4 Game 4:
The aim of Game 4 is to move your player to the centre of the grid without the monsters landing on the cell that your piece is in. The grid becomes bigger as you play which increases the level of difficulty (and the number of monsters to dodge!).
Check out Game 4
I think my fave so far is day 2, both visually and gameplay wise. I could see it turning into an awesome turn based multiplayer game on mobile (of which there can never, ever be enough.. @Chippit will back me up there :))
Day 4's is interesting but I feel the players speed should be limited in some way, and its difficult to tell where the monsters will end up next, but I suppose thats the point.
As turbo clicking seems a bit prone to mistakes. OK touch would be much better. And in-between animations.
Though of course this was a one-day game :P
Day 2's game I felt needed a biiiiit more in terms of variance - Working it back from the end point made it pretty straight-forward.
I think I like the monster-trapping concept the most and think it has the most potential :)
Keep on rolling guys you're doing awesome with the project! :)
We are already observing some things from our prototyping: one day is enough to get core mechanics in, but not enough for tweaking and playing with alternatives. For Game 2 (also my favourite :) ), for example, I know it's too easy, and also I would like the automatic travelling paths to be longer (and take you all over the board). We would also like to explore bigger spaces, and so on. And power cells. And dynamic cells (rotating, shifting). And teleports.. and wrapped spaces o.0 :) We will definitely want to play with some of these ideas some more.
@Tuism... I have been thinking a lot about the keys. I think we must just try out a few schemes (for me, any scheme feels unnatural... but maybe once I feel it I'd realise I'm wrong)... Or maybe we should bring out a hex keyboard controller :P)
We will be starting with more interesting grids soon as well!
@Nitrogen - yes, the speed can be played with a lot (also how many monsters in the outer rings. In-betweens will also help a lot, and maybe shading the grid in concentric circles (to emphasize their paths) rather than the pattern it's now?
Day 5 Game 5:
Game 5 is a version of the game Lines played on a Cairo pentagon grid. In this version you have to match four cells in a hexagon instead of lines.
Check out Game 5
This one's my favourite one of the lot, I like the collection of game design decisions taken:
1. I like the pathfinding and that the circles can block each other
2. I like that the circles can move anywhere EXCEPT when blocked (I thought they could only move 1 space for a while)
3. I like that when you make a match there are no circles generated
4. I like the overalpping match structure, that's really cool
I don't like the random generation without a clue of what might come in next turn - I would like if there were some kind of hint as to what's coming in where.
I think this one's a winner!
After a hurdle or two, today's game is out.
Day 6 Game 6
In this game, you rotate around pieces of a maze until there is a path from the start to goal.
Check out Game 6
(This game is an example of a "Super Grid" - a grid in a grid...)
Today's game is a bit of a cheat. Although our grids experiment wouldnt be complete without it. It may not be considered a game, but I have already spent a chunk of my morning playing around with it :)
Day 7 Game 7
Game 7 is a version of Conway’s Game of Life using a rhombille grid.
Check out Game 7
As it is, does it still run according to the same rules? It kinda works out cos each shape has 4 neighbours just like the original square pixels?
But the shapes tend to become a solid mass? Guess it's just that way mathematically inclined?
I really want to see some really quick changes:
1. Faster iteration cycle (or maybe the ability to make it faster slower with keys or buttons)
2. The ability to paint blocks by click and drag across instead of click and release on each toggle
That is all :)
Really cool idea :)
We'll try to squeeze in the changes you suggest; they should really have been there from the start... :P
Day 8 Game 8
Amoeba wars! You are the red amoeba, and you have to overpower your mortal enemy, Amoeba Flavus.
(Yes, it's hard to win… we need to tweak the movement mechanics a bit…)
Edit
And the link!
Check out Game 08
Today's game uses another new type of grid!
Day 8 Game 8
African Savannah
Game 9 is a simulation played on an isometric grid, crudely based on Sim Life. The goal is to build a stable ecosystem; finding the right balance between zebras and lions.
Check out Game 9
Today's game uses both the faces and the edges of a rect grid. You may notice that we have spiced things up a bit visually ;)
Day 10 Game 10
In Game 10 the aim is to block all the ants paths by placing dominos in their way.
Check out Game 10
Today's game uses a new technique - a rect grid wrapped horizontally and mapped on a circle.
Day 11 Game 11
In Game 11, you have to reach the center of the maze. When you land in a cell with arrows, you move in the direction of the arrows. You can also rotate the bands of the maze.
Check out Game 11
In today's game you play as a ghost with your goal being to reach the magic red portal. Although you are able to move through walls, monsters cannot and therefore you can trap them. However, being monsters, they of course have special powers and are able to eat you if they catch you!
Day 12 Game 12
The aim of Game 12 is to reach the the goal without being caught by a monster. You do this by placing and removing walls to trap the monsters and to create a safe path to the finish.
Check out Game 12
Day 13 Game 13
In Game 13 you have to slide the rows in order to match the big grid to the small grid.
Check out Game 13
today's game uses the control scheme suggested by @Tuism. Use WEADZX to move your snake. It takes a bit of getting used to, but is pretty effective! Thanks @Tuism :)
Day 14 Game 14
Game 14 is a version of the game Snake played on a Hexagonal Grid. Like Snake vannila, the aim of the game is to grow your snake by collecting food; however, in Hex Snake you can move in six directions instead of four.
Check out Game 14
I think rotating the grid 90° (allowing vertical and diagonal movement instead of horizontal and diagonal movement) would open up for a control system that only takes two rows, such as QWEASD, which isn't really intuitive the way you have the grid laid out now...
That said, I did eventually manage to get a 60+ long snake after 4 or 5 tries.
I get that it's supposed to be action controls for the hex grid, but what would work much better is a strict left/right steering control like many other Snake games... So every left and right rotates your direction by (whatever 1/6 of 360 is). So the controls are basically two buttons :P
On game 12, I think the differentiation between the a wall being open and closed needs to be clearer - it's hard to visually identify the path from the wall. Otherwise it's a very cool idea :)
Thanks for the feedback :)
I still want to try the two columns too... so many choices!