30 Games in 30 Days (A Gamelogic Experiment)

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  • That said, I did eventually manage to get a 60+ long snake after 4 or 5 tries.
    Pics, or it didn't happen. :P

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    Thanks for the feedback everyone! Here is today's game.

    Day 15 Game 15
    In Game 15 you are a paratrooper and your mission is to land in the safe zone. You also need to avoid the planes and bombs around you to stop you from being blown away.

    Check out Game 15

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  • Heyyy I really like the good fit between a parachute's downwards slide movement and the hex grid's natural shape :)
    Thanked by 1hermantulleken
  • So today's game touches on something a bit different and shows off another aspect of tiles :)

    Day 16 Game 16
    Tiles are not just for 2D. Game 16 is a simple maze game – you have to find the orb.

    Check out Game 16

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    Thanked by 1iceblademush
  • Hi Everyone,

    Today's game is also 3D, this time using a diamond grid.

    Day 17 Game 17
    In Game 17 you have to collect coins by jumping onto moving platforms. Watch out for the ones that rotate!

    Check out Game 17

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  • Great demonstration of technical prowess... Lagged my computer out a fair bit (seems to be a theme with me and Unity 3D FPS games, maybe it's just my computer XD) but I don't know, did the first game need all that bump-mapping on everything? :P And the second, all that transparency AND lights AND bump-mapping? :P And The mouse sensitivity was nuts, which didn't combine well with my lag :(

    But damn 3D with grids! Very cool demonstration of what it can do! Makes me wanna make a 3D roguelike :)
    Thanked by 1hermantulleken


  • @Tuism, I don't know what's up with the mouse sensitivity these days. I think that it might be some bug with Unity. I've also been having trouble with locking the cursor to the window...
  • @Tuism... lol I guess it's maybe a bit overboard :/ But just a bit. (Maybe, also, ask the Christmas fairy for a new PC?) One thing we wanted to show was an interesting scene could be built witch a single piece. The bump-mapping and lights help :P (Remember, we have no art gurus!) Thanks for giving it a go; we'll go a bit lighter on the lights next time.
  • OMG guess what I saw on IndieGames.com???

    http://indiegames.com/2013/11/31_games_in_31_days.html

    That's right, 31 games in 31 days XD

    Did you guys ever contact any journos about your project? If you haven't yet you totally should, contact a couple and let them know what you're doing - you're more than half way in and more than capable of demonstrating that it's actually being done! gogogo!
  • If you turned off the transparency on those planes, I'd bet you'd get a bit more performance out - although it runs fine on my work pc with a fairly old graphics card - maybe it's a mac thing :P

    Mouse sensitivity is also an issue both here at work and home with different mice - make it about 60% of what it is now.

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    @Nitrogen, I also tested on 2 different PC's with different specs and the sensitivity was fine on both(for me). The only real solution at this stage(I think) is to have the sensitivity slider like some of you guys did for the E comp.
  • So after a couple of days of 3D games we are back to 2D. Although today we again use a triangular grid, which brings its own excitement :)

    Day 18 Game 18
    In Game 18 you have to get all the red dots together by rotating the neighbors of each dot, which are placed on a triangular grid.

    Check out Game 18

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  • @Nitrogen, I also tested on 2 different PC's with different specs and the sensitivity was fine on both(for me). The only real solution at this stage(I think) is to have the sensitivity slider like some of you guys did for the E comp.
    Yeah I think a mouse sensitivity slider is going to be vital for any 3D unity game.

  • This challenge has been a terrible ad for the Unity web plugin on chrome. I haven't been able to play any of the games for the last couple of days-the plugin always locks up.

    I really don't think it's your code in any way, the plugin just seems to be generally unstable (i've had similar issues with other apps).
  • mattbenic said:
    This challenge has been a terrible ad for the Unity web plugin on chrome. I haven't been able to play any of the games for the last couple of days-the plugin always locks up.

    I really don't think it's your code in any way, the plugin just seems to be generally unstable (i've had similar issues with other apps).
    Windows or Mac? I've had two friends on windows who were unable to play my competition E entry because the plugin just crashes...

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    @Tuism - That was also a cool project; we actually exchanged a tweet or two with the guy as well. We did contact some journalists at the beginning, but will definitely do it again.

    @Nitrogen Agree. Controls are actually an extreme bottleneck on some of these games; and we killed many ideas (even 2D) ones, because of it. It's sad, because while controls are an important aspect of a game, it should not dominate the production time of a one-day project. But sometimes, it does. (It's similar to the way the GUI can sometimes spin out of control...)

    @mattbenic Yes the plugin is not very stable. One thing is that if you have a slow web connection, it seems to sometimes bomb out - and not because of the download, but all the phoning-home analytics and stuff... This weekend my internet was down, and I could not run the web games from my own machine... Then looking at the scripts, I see lots of functions for contacting both Google and Unity. (This is a bit speculative).


  • Windows or Mac? I've had two friends on windows who were unable to play my competition E entry because the plugin just crashes...
    Sadly these days I'm primarily in Windows. Next time I'm in OSX I'll try there.

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    Here's today's game everyone. Nothing particularly fancy, but certainly classic and fun :)

    Day 19 Game 19
    Game 19 is a remake of the classic game Xonix. The aim of the game is to fill the playing field by running over it. At the same time you need to avoid the enemies from catching you or letting them crash into your path.

    Check out Game 19

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  • Here is today's game :)

    Day 20 Game 20
    Game 20 is our implementation of the Darts game 301, where the aim of the game is to reach 0, starting from a score of 301. The game is played by clicking on the moving target to hit the score that you want. Note that you have to end on a double score (in the outer ring).

    Check out Game 20

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  • In today's game we are back to 3D :)

    @Tuism we did not go overboard with the lights and transparancy and bumpmaps this time. I had to wrestle Herman to the ground to get him to limit the lights etc to allow people with out super computers to play today's game :)

    Here it is...

    Day 21 Game 21
    Today’s game is another 3D game; this time on a hex grid. The aim of the game is to get to the outer ring; however, paths randomly become walls along the way.

    Check out Game 21

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    In Game 22 we use a classic game mechanic, with pretty colours! Today we are tired, on top of the small task of a game a day, we are fixing some bugs. :-P

    Day 22 Game 22
    Today’s game is a 2D game on a rect grid. The game uses similar mechanics to that of a Rubik's Cube. The aim is to get all four corners to contain nine blue blocks.

    Check out Game 22

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  • The 3D game with the shifting hexes looks super interesting, but damn that mouse sensitivity kills me...

    I'd just like to also say that you guys are doing superb work, despite the forums being a bit quiet. I think quite a few of these day-made prototypes can be turned into actual games, and this is really what prototyping is all about. And that you've demonstrated the value of Grids is huge too!

    I'd love to see what the feedback is like on other channels like the Unity forums, etc. Would be great if you guys could link us and share how it's going elsewhere? :)

    Cheers!
  • Yup the mouse sensitivity is a bit irritating. Herman says that the solution is to buy a decent computer (I got the same response from him) :-P

    Thanks for the kind words @Tuism :) We are definitely keen to take a few of the games further, check out my next post ;) We are really loving the prototyping and want to include it in everything we do in the future.

    Sure thing. We have received some feedback on the Unity forums, although not as much as we’d like. But I think most people realise that our goal is not to come out with 30 polished games, but more to show what the tool is capable of. And maybe people are reserving their specific feedback for that reason. Once we do take some games further, we’ll ask more explicitly for game feedback. Of course we’d still like to know what everyone thinks of our games, and any kind of feedback is definitely welcome :)

    Here's the project thread and our Grids thread.
  • edited
    Hi everyone,

    Today's game demonstrates another use of maps!

    Day 23 Game 23
    Game 23 is a simple shuffle puzzle on a hex grid. The aim of the game is to reconstruct an image by moving cells around.

    Check out Game 23

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  • We are back to 3D in today's game :)

    Day 24 Game 24
    In game 24 you have travel up a spiral stair case and avoid objects in your path.

    Check out Game 24

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  • edited
    It’s the final week of our 30 games in 30 days challenge! It’s been a very exciting month, but we're also happy to see the finish line.

    Here goes the final push :)

    Day 25 Game 25
    In Game 25 you have to shuffle a board of numbers so that each block contains the difference of the two numbers above it.

    Check out Game 25

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  • With Game 23, it's quite interesting to see that adding two extra directions to move makes the game so much easier than the square grid I'm used to.
  • I really like the idea of 25. That's such a rich vein of mathematical spacial relationships to mine...

    All it needs is a better representation of which cells are currently affecting each other and creating the wrong total. Also, it gets crazy hard as the number of cells increases.
  • edited
    Thanks for the feedback guys!

    @AlpaSheep Yes, this surprised me as well. This type of thing happens often for games that work on multiple grids. Here is for instance Go analysed on different grid types. http://xahlee.info/math/go_board_variations.html It's interesting that to some extent you can control tension and typical strategy by varying the grid. It is unfortunate though that it cannot be controlled "continuously", but that you have to be satisfied with whatever grids exist.

    @dislekcia Yes, it is! I have been wondering whether we could use something other than subtraction (or addition) (simply because the raw math operators are so pedestrian). I have seen books of magic squares where the elements are geometrical figures, and the magic number is a figure obtained by overlaying the figures in the rows and columns - perhaps a similar less-literal form of subtraction can be used.

    I agree that the presentation can be enhanced (this is generally true for all our games). Now in retrospect, I wish we had a general framework for 1) juice (even just a set of sounds), 2) ways to connect and highlight better, and 3) ways to do more animation. It's something we will keep in mind when we do another stint :)

    (And we will of course attend to things such as that if we take some ideas forward).
  • edited
    Today we have another go at a simulation type game on an isometric grid. Our 30 games wouldn't be complete without a good old zombie appocolypes game :)


    Day 26 Game 26
    The aim of Game 26 is to save 250 humans before the time runs out. To do this you have to get them to the safe zone without them getting incinerated or infected by zombies.

    Check out Game 26

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  • Hunh, interesting game, this last one. It's super random - I feel like whether I win or lose largely depend on the layout, but figuring out the paths is fun :)
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    @Tuism Yup the layout does play a big part in how easy each game is to finish. I found it impossible a few times. We implemented this to show the unpredictable nature of zombie apocalypses ;)

    A few of my games were real nail bitter’s, lol. Most of the time I had optimised the paths by that stage so it was just a matter of making it in time -which was fun for me. I may have found myself shouting at my pc :)
  • We use some basic AI in today's game, a first in our 30 games in 30 days challenge.

    3 games left and we're starting to get excited about completing what has been a fun but draining month :)


    Day 27 Game 27
    Game 27 is our version of the game Line up 4 played on a diamond grid. In our version you have to line up 3. You can also add pieces from two sides of the grid, instead of one. The aim of the game is to line up 3 pieces before your opponent, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

    Check out Game 27

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  • I *looks like* that the gravity should be pulling down - that means the yellow piece there should have fallen to a space under it - have you tried that, does it change the gameplay a lot? Less fun/more fun?

    Congrats on the last mile! :D
  • Thanks @Tuism

    We basically have two separate forces (we call it gravity which is a bit of a misnomer). When a piece enters from a side it is pulled in that direction until reaching the bottom or hitting another piece, and then stays there. Another rational for this could be that a piece can only move in one direction due to a structural reason rather than a force, for example a particular shaped piece that can only enter and leave a cell in one direction.

    The reason the yellow piece is where it is, is because it entered from the left. But yes, another way of doing it would be for the piece to move in the direction in which it enters until reaching the bottom, and then to move in the other direction if there is an empty cell. Of course with a large board this change of direction could happen several times.

    It's not something we have prototyped but I like the idea of it. It makes the game a little more strategic as you have to work out the path and not just the obvious end position. Something we will definitely think about implementing :)
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    In today's game we spent a bit too much time on the effects, which resulted in the controls not being great. However, we wanted to again show what kind of things are possible when using grids.

    It's not advisable to not be on any mind altering drugs while playing this game, or maybe it is... just be warned of the pretty colours :)

    2 more games!!

    Day 28 Game 28
    Game 28 is another 3D example: this time a grid wrapped onto a sphere! The aim of the game is to move around the inside of the sphere and collect the green cubes, while also avoiding the red cubes. All this while the walls of the sphere rotate.

    Check out Game 28

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  • This must be the FIRST TIME EVER that I've EVER experienced motion sickness while playing a game. EVER. Now I know what those people who talk about not being able to play 3D games mean :P

    But seriously, this is soooo pretty! I really like the visual trick that turns hexes into squares and all sorts of cool shapes. I love it!

    The controls... Well, I can't turn around completely (mouse stuck on screen edge, doesn't move anymore), but the mouse speed is MUCH better than previous 3D games.
  • edited
    Guys - I would just like to comment on how inspirational this ambitious idea of your is to me. I think that anyone who has been following this thread is now convinced of just how powerful your tool is. When you first suggested that you wanted to create 30 games in 30 days, i thought to myself: "This will burn them out by day 4". Never been so glad to be wrong. Simply amazing. Good luck for the last 2 days/games. P.S. how do we go about getting hold of a copy of your Hex tool?
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    @Tuism Hehe Glad you like it :) We actually discovered the visual effect quite by accident. We started off with cubes... then cylinders... and when even my machine started to struggle a bit, went on to planes (I later discovered the performance issue was totally unrelated to the actual objects we used :/ in this case a happy mistake!) The controls issues we keep facing is a testament to our inexperience in this area - something we plan to address. You'd also think Unity would come with a better set of "standard" assets... but I think they have had the same ones since I started with Unity 5 years ago :--(

    [Random smiley rant: I started using long noses to circumvent the automatic smiley code... now I find if I make the nose too long the automatic line code kicks in! Grrrr!]

    @FanieG Wow man; thanks for that compliment; it means a lot to us :) We are of course also glad you were wrong; and at times it was not so sure! And of course burn-out was kept well at bay with @Rigormortis's help, who did the bulk of the implementation (all the games with bad controls were my fault, though!). [We will get a bit more soppy on Saturday; in the meantime back to the grinding stone!)

    Anyone here who wants a copy, just send me an email (herman@gamelogic.co.za). (This is a good time to pick up a free copy, our next update will be packed with all the goodies we built, discovered, fixed and enhanced during the last 30 days; you will be able to get that too).
  • edited
    Thanks for those super kind words @FanieG and thanks @Tuism for the awesome feedback as always.

    We had some discussion with @Chippit recently about the impossibility of using irregular grids with Grids. I am happy to say, we were wrong :)

    Here is our penultimate game everyone!


    Day 29 Game 29
    Grids are not just for attractive geometric shapes. Irregular shapes come in grids too. In today’s game we re-use some familiar mechanics, and give it a new twist: you play the normal Lights Out game, but on an irregular grid!

    Check out Game 29

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  • Day 30 has come, and we are 30 games down! :) From my side, thanks to everyone who has been following us and supporting us along the way. We thought we would end with a bang, and hopefully you will all agree.

    Day 30 Game 30:
    In Game 30 you have to travel through space on a twisting roller coaster and swap lanes to avoid crashing.

    Check out Game 30

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    Thanked by 2Tuism ridhwaan08
  • edited
    Hey everyone!

    Thirty days have gone; and thirty games went through our doors! We did it :)

    Here is a vid of the 30 games we made:


    We will write up some of our experience properly at some stage, but for now I can say we are happy about how it turned out. We got lots of exposure (sales are up!) and feedback from people now actually using our tool. We discovered and fixed a lot of bugs. We added new tech, and discovered where we can do more. We had fun (for sure the best marketing games I have ever worked on :P). We learned tonnes: yes, about production and implementation patterns, but also about game design (even though it took a backseat for us to make the tight deadlines).

    We also learned some things about our library. It seems strange, since we built the thing, but before this we did not know that we could get our grids to work in spirals, on spheres, and with arbitrary distortion so easily. We did not know that we would be able to wrap grids, or have grids in grids, or grids that are not bounded, or not have regular shapes. We are happy that the library is so flexible, and look forward to see how far we can push things in the future.

    I also want to mention @rigormortis again, who has been quietly working behind the scenes; without him none of this would be possible. He did an excellent job, and we look forward to do more stuff in the future!

    Thanks everyone for all the support and feedback. We could not always implement all the feedback, but we have kept note and will definitely incorporate it if we take any of these games further!

    Now, me and Jonathan are off to do a bit of celebrating ;)
  • Okay so game 30 is officially my favorite, but for a very different/selfish reason. You guys used the same skybox that I used in my Comp E entry. Super bias and cool with that :)

    Anyway, I have already complemented you on this achievement, but here it is again: "Congrats guys, I think you have proven your point with regards to your tool."
  • This was a very cool project and I'm super glad that you not only finished, but made both your tools and your business stronger because of it.

    That's brilliant :)
  • This has been a fantastic journey to have witnessed, I'm so extremely happy to see that you guys stuck it through to the end, and made 30 games! 30!!! And a couple of those are pretty strong, strong enough to be taken further! This is what game dev is about - jamming and creating!

    And it is such an amazing showpiece for your business! Wishing you guys all the best with it! :D Now I hope I can do some amazing things with it too :) That last rollercoaster one was incredible visually, it could become a real mobile game with some work:

    1. Place a player character into the thing so people are more sure of where they are.
    2. Camera Lerp
    3. Taming the algorhythm to be intelligent at making routes
    4. Conten, of course :P

    Good one guys! :D
  • edited
    Oh and you should put a number next to each of the games in the video, just to drive the point home. Maybe Day1/2/3/4 or Game1/2/3/4 etc :)

    And this was so inspirational I blogged it :)
    http://www.tuism.com/mention-30-games-in-30-days-by-grids/
  • Congrats guys, what an amazing achievement :)
  • Thanks for all the positive comments everyone; we are very chuffed and excited for the next stretch; we will keep you posted :)

    @Tuism: another great idea; we updated our video. A thanks for the blog post - we look forward to see what you come up with for your own games!
  • 100!

    Thank you for all the support everyone. It's been hard work, but a lot of fun. :D
    Thanked by 1mattbenic
  • Hi Everyone,

    It felt very strange not posting our games this week. No late night phone calls, no morning briefs, no daily deadlines!

    I am not complaining :) although the month was indeed alot of fun. We thought we would be a little under worked this week, relative to the last month, but we underestimated the follow up needed for the campaign. There has been lots to do! :)

    One of the things we have been busy with is a blog post: How we made 30 games in 30 days. We talk about how we managed to complete the challenge, some things that we learnt and how we struggled.

    You can read all about it here.

    And from my side, thanks for all the awesome comments!
    Thanked by 2tbulford mattbenic
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