Progress and Multi-Platform Capability

Huzzah! Finally the game is now working on both iOS and Android platforms! This is a major milestone. There is still a lot of work to do, but with the game now working in both platforms, user testing can soon begin in earnest. The project is moving along now nicely. The college deadline set for 9th of January is beginning to rear its malformed and twisted head over the horizon, extruding terror and confusion as it rises. While the final hand up will not be the completed game, the scope of this project has greatly grown out of the confines of the college deadlines. What is handed up in January should be a solid and reliable representation of the final game, containing all the relevant mechanics and the basic game play elements.

The game itself is steadily moving forward. Marco recently completed the important and necessary task of re-factoring the game code. This is basically some house cleaning and tiding of the code, eliminating duplication and generally streamlining and polishing the games engine. This will make it more efficient, less likely to bug and should reduce the overall size of the game. This has been completed and now Marco is fixing any unintentional bugs that have come about as a result of the re-factoring.

From the testing that was done during the game seminar a few weeks ago, one of the main things that needed to fixed was the control layout. In the earlier versions, the button layout was aligned along the bottom. As mentioned in a previous blog post, this is a big problem for a game like this. This caused the players fingers to obstruct the game screen, crucially the bottom where the player would see the rising lava. So to fix this they have been moved to the side of the screen. There is also room now for the scoring and timer elements to be shown on screen in a non obstructive way. The buttons have also been enlarged and coloured to make them clearer and easier to see. While the layout of the buttons is slightly less intuitive and a little different to that of the normal control scheme that many players would be used to, specifically the left and right buttons, after a short time the player should be able to accept the new layout. This will be one of the primary objectives of early user testing of the game. 

Meanwhile in the background, the final report is also been written. This beast is will describe the whole project in detail and shall be my constant companion over the Christmas break. It will be posted online for all to see and enjoy once its done.

On Business Models

With last weeks seminar still fresh in my mind, I've begun to consider the ways in which to sell and distribute Magma Surge. With the huge amount of apps and games now available, an effective way to easily and quickly distribute the game to as many people as possible is very important. Magma Surge will be distributed through the App Store and Android Market.

While browsing for software in either of these stores, the first thing thats noticeable is the huge number of games and applications available. The user is inundated with tens of thousands of choices. When someone wants to buy something that they have not played or used before, they are taking a risk in buying something they may not like. This can off-putting for users and is can be a significant factor in whether the game will be bought. The bigger the user base for the game is, the higher the chances of people liking and talking about the game.

The business model I think is most applicable to getting Magma Surge out there is the Freemium method. This is where the product is given away initially free of charge, with the full product being bought a later date. The most popular software that uses this model would be Skype. The program is free to download as are calls to other Skype accounts. However if the user wishes to call phones they need to pay.

Another common model, especially for games is to release a 'Lite' version of the software free of charge. This is usually a stripped down version of the final game with the first few levels demonstrating the main game mechanics and features. Later levels, extra content and other aspects of the game are either locked or available for download if the user pays a fee. These versions also often include built in advertisements that are only removed when the full version is bought. Many games use this method of distribution. Rovio's Angry Birds is the best example of a very successful game distributed using this model.

While the idea can seem a bit strange, and there is a large disparity between downloads and actual purchases, this method has the added benefit of getting the software out there onto peoples phones. Even if 1000 people download it and only 100 pay for it, that still means, for better or for worse, that a thousand people have downloaded and played the game. Financial success is not the primary reason for making this game, so this will certainly be a very educational experience and will be something I can apply to future projects.

Magma Article!

Very happy to say a short piece on Magma Surge can be found on game blogger Keith Cashin's website!

Keith asked me a couple of questions about the project and how it began. Please check it out!

http://keithcashin.wordpress.com/

State of Play Seminar Review

I attended first State of Play indie game seminar last Friday in DIT Aungier St. The event saw a range of companies and small developers describe their journeys of success or not into the independent games industry.

Some of the companies who attended included Weeman Studios, BitSmith Games, SuperFunPlay, Open Emotion, Redwind Software and Digital Arrow. For a full list check out the State of Play link. There was also a demo section where some people got to showcase and demonstrate their games. I was very lucky to have had the chance to showcase Mamga Surge and it was a valuable experience. While the demo segment was a little shorter than I would have liked, several people were able to test out Magma Surge for the very first time. I was greatly boosted by the positive feedback and return with renewed vigour for getting the game completed.

The main seminar itself was also a very interesting and entertaining experience. The different presenters all had unique and inspiring stories of success and failure. There was a lot of valuable and important insights into the world of indie game development in Ireland today. Notable speakers included Paddy Murphy from Open Emotion, a truly inspiring story of how an obvious messer can achieve great things. Open Emotion is a great example of how through trial and error, they have managed to build a successful game company recently winning £250,000 contract with someone we shall call their 'Benefactors'.

Owen Harris from Bitsmith Games was another interesting and ongoing tale of a very recently formed company going through the ropes. Bitsmith was formed by 3 members from my masters course who are working on a game called Ku. This is an action RPG for the iPad which is based on traditional Irish mythology.

Liam McGarry from WeeMan Studios provided and educational look into the inner workings of a company responsible for the highly anticipated Galactic Racer. Liam really demonstrated the importance of being a cheeky bastard and not to be afraid of chancing your arm.

One thing that the seminar really illustrated is what can be achieved with a limited budget. There is a huge amount of resources available to Irish game developers. One thing that can be said by our current government is their commitment to the development of this sector of the economy. The seminar finished with a panel discussion made up of an esteemed and notable people from the Irish games industry. This was a fun and informative look at the some of the people currently championing the gaming cause in Ireland today. One of the most memorable moments was the knowledge that Enda Kenny mentioned the fact that he had 'killed zombies in Dublin!'

Afterwards there was a shindig in the Solas Bar around the corner at which numerous pints were consumed over tales of conquering galaxies, starting companies and general banter.

Overall I really enjoyed the experience and look forward to taking part in similar events in the future!

Lava Animation

Iv been busy trying to create some interesting animation for incorporation into the game. Check out my lava bomb animation. This is for the planned lava bomb hazard. Anyone familiar with platform games should instantly recognise the type of hazard this is, the player needs to time their jumps in order to successfully avoid being struck. I'm pretty happy with it, I like the thick gloopy look of the lava. Now I just need to find the appropriate sound effects!

Early Smartphone Test

After a meeting with Marco, and some wrangling of windows and android, the very first smartphone version of Magma Surge is now working! It has a long way to go before any demonstration, there are a few control issues as well as graphical bugs that need to be fixed. However it is really cool to be able to see the game working on my phone. This is a major milestone and, despite the fact that it needs lots of tweaking, really shows how far along the game has come since it began.

The green boxes are the collision layer which is visible for some reason. For now the game is controlled using the directional buttons to move and the up button to jump. Experiments with the control scheme will start when user testing begins.

Obviously for this I had to go and purchase a smartphone. I decided an Android phone was the way to go as we already have an iPhone in the team, so now we could test the game on both platforms. So im now locked into an 18 month contract with Vodafone so I can have a nice new shiny Samsung Galaxy S2. And what a beaut she is too. So below are some screenshots of this very early version taken while being played on my phone.

State of Play Indie Game Seminar!

Magma Surge will get it first bit of decent exposure and promo at the 'State of Play' indie game seminar on Friday 25th of November.

http://www.gamedevelopers.ie/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6532&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=263900866990189

By then we should have some versions working on an a demo iphone and hopefully an android phone so people will have a chance to play the game. This will be a big deal for the promo of the game, so hopefully it gets a positive response. A full break down of the event will be posted afterwards!

On Level Design

So the project is rapidly approaching full production. Right now Marco has been busy coding the games framework. Once he has this done, full level production is next. We have a simple and straightforward pipeline in place, which I will describe below.

The levels have a simple construction. The level foreground is on one layer, with the moving lava layers behind it. Corona uses the programming language Lua. We are using a clever little script created by Rocket 5 Studios, a small American indie developer, which allows photoshop files to be exported into Lua. The use of photoshop for this stage is hugely beneficial as I would be very familiar with this program, which will speed up the creation process considerably.



In order to create the levels, first they are drawn out on paper. The general layout and ideas for hazards and obstacles are explored here. Once I'm happy with the initial idea, I begin to create the level in photoshop. The foreground of the level is built using some tile sets designed over the summer. Tile sets are an excellent way to make 2D levels quickly. Large areas can be copied and pasted to build the basic structure, then more detailed tile sets can be used to create the sections the player interacts with. Suspended platforms and other environmental hazards are added at this stage. It also allows a degree of flexibility that was impossible when using Stencylworks. Once Iv finished making the playable areas, some detailing is added. A single large background image layered at the bottom.

Once I'm happy with the look of the level, the collision layer needs to be added. Here a photoshop layer group is created within which the collision shapes are added. I need to draw these over every part of the level I want the player to collide with, so the ground, walls and roof of the levels need to be marked off. Once the level is built using the tilesets and the collision shapes are done, the script is run. This spits out a lua file which, with the level png and background, is then sent to Marco, who adds them to the game.

Next is a level plan, which highlights areas where triggers and obstacles are located. The levels have a series of trigger regions. These are small areas that trigger an event, such as the lava beginning to rise, when the player enters them. With levels containing numerous sections of moving lava, sometimes several trigger regions are needed. The plans are designed to help simplify and speed up the coding of the levels.

So the next major challenge is to create as many interesting levels as possible. Care must be taken to stop too much repetition of ideas. Challenges need to be fresh and interesting. The level of difficulty is also important. The easiest way to increase the difficulty would be to increase the speed of the lava. While this is certainly something that will be done, environmental and other hazards will be incorporated into the later levels to give them more variety. I will describe the first set of levels in a future post.

Demo Presentation

Music Sample!

I have just received the first of the final edits for Magma Surge's musical score! Jamie has been busy over the last week and produced some lovely stuff. He has managed to capture the sort of music I'd envisioned for the game perfectly. Below is a sample of the games title screen music. Its got a quirky catchy tune that also sounds great when played loudly!

Enjoy!

Control Schemes

One of the most essential parts of any game is its control scheme. Being able to accurately control your game character is the difference between a fun and frustrating experience.

Touch screen smartphones allow for a variety of interesting control setups that can used. Using tilt sensitive game controls can be a fun and different alternatives to using standard directional buttons. Other mechanics like having a constantly jumping or running characters can focus the player's attention on other hazards. Most platformers on touch pad based platforms use a scheme where directional buttons displayed on the screen. When touched they move the character accordingly. This is a simple and reliable method for a number of reasons. It is often the most ideal method when precise or careful gameplay is the order of the day. The majority of gamers today, casual or hardcore, would have held a game joypad at some stage in their lives. This method simulates the positioning of the buttons found on most standard game pads and so most people will intuitively know what to do.

One of the most obvious disadvantages of using a virtual directional buttons is that the persons thumbs will physically block portions of the screen, potentially causing the player to miss important hazards or items. Fortunately, there is a simple way to avoid this problem by simply incorporated the virtual buttons into a solid HUD, with a separate game window that has nothing covering it up. This can also be used to store other important information such as the time, player lives and the score. The game Pizza Boy, seen on the right, uses a similar system. There is lots of scope to create an interesting HUD that can incorporate the necessary virtual buttons and places to display information.


Another problem is positioning the areas of the screen that are to act as buttons in a place where they can suit different players. The laws of genetics ensures that people come in all shapes and sizes, so the UI needs to be able to cater for long thumbs, stubby thumbs, extra thumbs and no thumbs. A simple solution to this would be to allow the player to customise the control scheme by being able to place the buttons that suit them personally. This could also help players who are left handed to swap the controls if they need to. Frogatto there on the right has no discernible HUD, rather the virtual buttons are positioned directly on the game window. This has the disadvantage of the players fingers blocking the screen showing whats coming up on the level. This is not an ideal situation and could lead to frustration. The buttons are also transparent, which could be hard to see if the level gets busy or complicated.

There are other control schemes as previously mentioned. They involve a game where the character is constantly moving or jumping, without input from the player. The character is then guided along using the tilt controls. Other controls such as shooting or using items is achieved by simply tapping the screen with your finger. A well known example of this is Doodle Jump. Here the player controls a character that continuously moves upwards up an infinite column of platforms. Tilting the phone allows the player to move left or right. This control method is interesting, however, the degree of accuracy it gives the player could be an issue if the level consists of sections that will block the player from moving continuously upward. Item collection would also be difficult. Another drawback it would limit the level design to vertical columns. If the level changes, requiring the player to to move laterally or at an angle, this could lead to unnecessary complications.

Another form of control would be to have the game character follow the players finger. Similar movement control mechanics can be found in other touch platforms, namely the Legend of Zelda, The Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS. Here the player uses a stylus or their finger to direct the game character by creating a moving point that the character follows. This game is viewed from an isometric viewpoint, however the principle of this control method could be easily adapted for a side scrolling game. This sort of control scheme could be unnecessarily tricky if the player has to jump often. This scheme would also be limited to the capabilities of the individual smartphone being used, so more senstivie touch screens or higher spec hardware could result with some unreliability.

Magma Surge is also intended to be released for PC users. The control scheme using a keyboard would need to be simple and precise. Using the left and right arrow keys and a jump button positioned on the other side of the keyboard such as 'ctrl' would allow a greater degree of precision rather than using left, right and up. Having the player use two hands to control the game rather than one should allow the player more accurate jumping, however this is an option that could left to the player to decide. The controls should be customisable for the user. It is also important that the different versions of the game feel the same to play on each of its platforms.

Presently, the standard virtual button method is being pursued for Magma Surge. These will be incorporated into a HUD set up in such a way that the game window will not be obscured with the players fingers. Some HUD designs will be posted up soon. User testing will be begun soon, different methods will be explored so watch this space.

On Music

One of the most important ways to translate the desired feel and pace to a game other than its game play is its music. Today games can have epic musical scores that could be compared to that of movies. They can often be dynamic and respond to the players actions to create the appropriate atmosphere. Alternatively they can be simple synthesised musical loops that bleep and blop mindlessly as the game is played. The quality and complexity of a games soundtrack would usually dictated by its intended platform and budget, so the more monies can be invested, the more intricate the musical score. Older games kept to simple 8-bit melodies that were limited by the hardware of the day. As games have progressed, so has the scope of their musical scores.

With simpler games, like those produced by lots of small indie game companies, the musical scores are nonetheless still very important. Music has a fundamental impact on the tone of the experience. Apart from a games setting and graphics, the music is the next most important aspect in building the games atmosphere. Whether the game is supposed to be serious or lighthearted, scary or humorous, having the right kind of music is essential. Puzzle games like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, have cheerful music that goes well with the colourful graphics to create fun puzzlers that are not meant to be taken too seriously.

Alien Traps Capsized is an example of a game where the music can be . While the game is side scrolling platformer that has stylised cartoonish graphics, overall the game has serious tone and feel to it. This is achieved through its use of an immersive electronica soundtrack, produced by Solar Fields. The haunting music certainly adds to the mystery and danger that the games setting invokes, while also keeping games pace fast and furious.

Another very simple game that has excellent music is Armour Games Red. This is a simple but fun game where the player must deflect large objects from hitting the player. The player controls a stationary gun platform that can shoot the incoming objects to change their course so they do not impact. It just has one piece of music throughout. Absolute Space (Jazzanova Remix) by Koop is the track used. It gets quite fast and intense as it goes on, which is very similar to the game itself. It also gives a serious tone to what otherwise would be a simple puzzle game.

When selecting what to use for Magma Surge, the games main premise needs to be considered, ie the player escaping from a deep dangerous volcano. The constantly rising lava plume means that the player needs to keep moving to avoid death. So the game involves people and risk of an explosive demise, but it is also a platform game and will contain stylised cartoony graphics. What was needed was a form of music that would be fast paced but not oppressive. Very lighthearted music suited to puzzle games would not be appropriate, nor would a heavy rock soundtrack akin to a mindless FPS or fighting games.

Taking this into consideration, the music that I settled on was an electronic drum and bass soundtrack. This versatile genre was I felt ideal for creating the atmosphere that was needed. Games with large underground sections, for example Mario or the more recent Terraria, have a moody music when the player is in these sections. Levels where the player is being chased or pushed forward by a large and deadly hazard usually speed up the music to increase the tempo. Drum and bass has a naturally high BPM and the electronic aspects would be well suited to creating the desired atmosphere.

So our resident producer, Jamie Page, is currently working on creating a number of track loops that will be incorporated into the game. The final music delivery is expected this week, with the stuff created so far more than surpassing my initial hopes! Once they have been delivered I shall be posting up some examples for your aural pleasure.

New Site!

Behold the new website for Magma Surge! This will be the location where new screens, videos and demos will be uploaded! The promotion of Magma Surge will begin once there is a playable demo completed. The demo is currently being built in Corona and should be ready to go over the next few weeks!

www.magmasurge.com

Please check it out!

New Website & the Team Grows!

The Magma Surge website is nearly up and running. The site will be a place to track progress, play a demo once its complete and to view the latest videos and screens. Magma Surge now has a Facebook page which will be launched properly once the site is complete.

The development team has also been increased with the inclusion of Marco Castorina. He will be tackling the coding side of things so now the limitations and frustrations associated with Stencylworks will hopefully no longer be an issue. The game made so far will be used for some basic user testing and as a general proof of concept.

So good thing happening at the moment, promotion of the game will begin soon once we have a simpled demo completed.

Watch this space!

Domain Registered!

Magmasurge.com is now registered. As the game takes shape a greater amount of time will be allocated to promotion. Expect to see a site for the game to appear soon, once the first demo is completed.

I hope the site to contain a playable demo, screens and information on the game as well as links and info on the people involved in the game. The focus point of the games online promotion will be the website so I hope to make something simple but effective.

More on this soon.

I officially HATE Stenclyworks

So another few weeks of stress and once again progress has stopped due to the inadequacies and limitations of this software. Right now so many bugs and strange behaviours are appearing that my attempt to have a simple 5 level demo for user testing is now getting further out of reach with each day. Bugs appearing include one level that will simply not open anymore for no apparent reason. The lava not killing the player instantly no matter how I tweak it, allowing Mendel a few seconds where he can run across the surface before randomly disappearing. The game slows to a complete crawl if I add a certain number of behaviours to a level, completely ruining my dreams of having additional hazards and enemies other than the lava as well as meaning that's its looking like it will be impossible to have even the simplest of HUDs. The game crashes if you collide with the lava in a certain way. The list goes on. So much time is being lost trying to get the simplest of behaviours to work properly or correct problems that have no obvious cause that I'm beginning to get a little hopeless, especially as the final deadline inexorably approaches.

Iv made some headway with the menus and screens and overall I'm happy with how they look. The menu screens link up properly and flow properly (Stencylworks seems to be good at making menus at least).

I'm desperately trying to get this demo up and running so i can begin my user testing, but its proving increasingly difficult to get the games most basic functions to work properly. Fingers crossed either an act of god removes DIT from the face of the Earth, or else a stroke of genius overcomes me and I laugh at my previous struggles..

New screens

Well iv been busy building some levels with the newly created tilesets and iv managed to crack some problems I was having with getting some things to work. Still much work to be done but the basic framework is coming into place. Anyway, check out the new screens from the game. These were taken from the game editor but hopefully you will get an idea of how it will look.

Iv also made a new background for the main menu. I thought the original, while good, was too realistic and serious for the overall look and style of the game. So here is the new one.

Producer now on board for Magma Surge soundtrack!

I am now very happy to announce I have a very talented musician agree to help me with making some music for Magma Surge. For the games music, I wanted it to represent the frentic escape from a rising plum of burning magma. I had several different ideas about what the best type of music would be best but after some thought, its gotta be drum and bass.

Hoek35, aka Jamie Page is a Dublin based drum and bass producer and DJ. He has been on the scene for over 16 years and has produced several popular tracks. His experience and insight will be more than up to the task of putting some appropriate music to the game. Hope to get this section worked out quickly andhave some samples up soon.

For more info on Hoek35, check out his facebook and website.

Some tenative progress

So its been a while and the first college meeting regarding the project is rapidly approaching. Having been pretty gloomy over the last while at my lack of progress, the last few days I have been finally been getting somewhere. Iv been busy putting the necessary behaviours into the game and slowly things are moving forward. Iv still got a rather large and annoying problem with the lava not working yet, but I hope to figure it out soon.

I also made some headway getting the character sprite looking a bit better. I will have to return to this again but right now it will do for making the rest of the game. Mendel Strone moves more or less as I want him to and he can also wall slide with should add a new dimension into the levels.

The major change has been me deciding to return to using a tileset rather than actor platforms to build the level with. I had made several tilesets already but found they didn't blend together properly and I couldn't work out how to fix it. So, stumped, I decided to go with the platforms. But I really didn't like how they looked and I had to create an detailed foreground to hide the construction platforms I was using to make the level. This was obviously a cumbersome way to do things. But then  I found a very good online tutorial in how to create tilesets and make them blend properly. Armed with this new knowledge I went and painted a nice rocky tileset. This looked much better and allowed me to make more interesting levels much quicker. It was also relatively easy to create details in the tiles to add some variety to the tiles. There is lots of scope for adding some interesting things to the rocks, so this could be a fun way to liven up the game a bit.

Anyway, while my demo of sorts will be most likely ready for Thursdays meeting, there is still lots of work to be done. Stencylworks still has many limitations and I'm still concerned it will fail me before the project finishes. Right now my working knowledge of it is improving and I'm able to move through it much more efficiently. So while the last few days have been very stressful, important progress has been made and the tentative seed of motivation implanted by my solving of the previous memory problem remains rooted and is gathering strength.

Stencylworks is a frustrating bastard but much more tolerable than its retarded cousin Gamemaker. It is currently the only real option I have if I'm to have an actual game by the end of this project.

So lets pray to the gods of digital code that she'll hold out for me until Magma Surge is finished. Namaste

Possible light at the end of the tunnel

Hmmm, well I think iv finally found out why Stencylworks was struggling so much considering I had only 5 half done levels made. I had accidentally mixed up the dimensions when creating the levels and the result was 2 levels that were probably the size of a real life tennis court when it should have only been an A4 page! Well there are still lots of problems but at least this has stopped Stencylworks crashing every time I open it. I shall spend the day getting some work done and hope to have a basic demo working by the end of the week.

Now that its working again I have a bit of confidence and for the first time in ages I feel some motivation!
Watch this space.

Trials and Tribulations

Well its been a rather frustrating few weeks down at Magma Surge HQ. The inital progress made has now stalled and I'm finding myself increasingly stressed and frustrated. My inital plan of using Stencylworks now no longer looks so solid. Stencylworks has a serious memory issue and several attempts to use build levels etc has resulted in it crashing. This has caused some problems as my knowledge of coding in Actionscript is non existant at worst and basic at best. So while I havent been able to do much coding, my one skill that I can apply is creating some artwork. So iv been making assets and screens and buttons, but the core game is not progressing. Im also finding it very difficult to come up with a resonable plan of action, which I think I will be of great help. I guess having some more assets is better than nothing but I need to get my head in gear soon and get the game working. Perhaps some learned council from some of my peers my be the solution.

Iv also been experimenting in making a menu screen in Flash and progress with that is a little better, but there is still an awfully long scary way to go before anything works.

As the project moves on I cant help feeling things would have been much better had I joined a team and been able to concentrate on getting artwork done. Anyway, I will try to focus on the game next week rather than being distracted with doing art Im not even sure I can use.

Logos, Icons and Title Screen

After lots of frustration trying to make the game work, mainly due to Stencylworks paltry memory and no option to increase it, I decided to change my focus to creating some screens and finally getting round to doing a logo. Iv so far finished the title screen. I do plan to animate it a bit in flash but overall I'm happy with how it came out.

In terms of the logo I wanted it to be simple and legible. There will probably be some later revisions but this is the logo for the game.

I also created a small logo that is intended for use as an icon for a smart phone or desktop. I have resized the logo to the various sizes as a test on the scalability.

Prototype level creation and progress

So work has begun building a basic level for Magma Surge. I have begun creating some of the different assets to be used in the game, such health, experiments and environmental hazards. This week saw me create my first full level (minus lava) in order to test how the game looks and how the different assets created thus far look. Overall I'm happy enough with it, but anticipate lots of revisions over the next few weeks.

I have also refined somewhat the way I plan to build each level. Stencylworks has a decent level editor and it has an interface quite similar to artistic design programs such as Photoshop. This has helped to make the level creation process much easier and also allows me to plan out each level before I begin creating it. One unfortunate side effect of Stencylworks recent release means the help guides are not quite finished and so there are a few things that need to be added. But that shouldn't be too big a problem.

This week I want to create the 3 or 4 levels that I will have in the prototype for September. Next I want to get some screens done for the games menus, so that the prototype will look and feel like a real game. More to come!

Early Design Decisions & Stencylworks

Well after another slow week of on and off progress, I have begun to use a new game making package called StencylWorks and I have managed to make some of my first design decisions. These were made as a result of using the new program. StencylWorks is a great tool, extremely intuitive and easy to use. Unlike its heathen brethren Gamemaker, it is much more logical and stable. The other advantage is it creates the games in Actionscript 3.0 and when you are done it spits out a nice little SWF file that is your game. I have spent most of the time that I devoted to the project this week messing around with it and following some tutorials. Having completed the basics I began to play with creating some simple test levels.

Iv got Mendel built and he moves and reacts smoothly. Overall he was pretty straightforward to build using StencylWorks, adding the required behaviors and controls until I was happy with what he could do. For now Mendel Strone is represented by a featureless black rectangle, however I will get working on creating his animations soon.

The major design decision was made as a result of how StencylWorks creates its levels. Initially I created a series of tile sets so that I could quickly create levels. However I found that adding any detail to the tiles tended to result in a large amount of repetition which looked ugly and unprofessional. I want the game look as varied and interesting as possible. So with this in mind, I have decided to create several different platforms and textures that I can reuse. I want to create about 5 - 10 of each type, be it rock, wood or ice. This should allow me to have enough variety that any repetition of the platforms will not be too noticeable.

So for next week I hope to have the platforms done and some items and obstacles created. My goal for July is to have the guts of a simple working level created. We shall see..

Getting to grips with college projects and Flash

This has been a tough week for the project. Finding time to concentrate on the project has really been difficult. When I finally do sit down and to work there are so many distractions its very hard to stay sitting down for more than 20 minutes. This whole week reminds me very much of the weeks leading up to my leaving certificate. I would lock myself away for hours with the intention of doing some hardcore study, only to emerge some hours later with my notes covered in graffiti and a half read games magazine on my desk. I really need to find a place where I can concentrate on working a little better. My upcoming internship in the Digital Hub should hopefully provide me with an opportunity to find somewhere to work in a more productive environment.

In terms of my Flash learning it has been another slow week. Actionscript is a complicated beast and my lack of usable coding knowledge is proving to be a major obstacle. Oh how I wish now I had taken the Flash module last semester... However it is not all bad news, I have been looking at different game blogs and tutorials, several of which have proven useful. There is also some interesting game making software available that may be worth a look. Despite the setbacks and seemingly insurmountable challenge of Flash coding, I feel I will be able to get through this stage of development. Once Iv got the core gameplay mechanics working, I can put together a functional alpha prototype for submission in September.

Iv also been working on creating the sprites and animations for Mendel Strone. This has proved difficult. Creating smooth sprites is very tricky and time consuming. So far all efforts haven't been up to a good enough standard to be included in the game. More experimentation needs to be done before a viable method and look can be found.

Next week will involve some dedicated tutorials and learning so I can get to grips with the Flash and begin the primary game coding.

It begins!

So after a busy month of chilling out after semester 2, the time has now come to get stuck into this project. Unfortunately it now looks as if I'm going to be working a lot over the next few months so time for Magma Surge development will be at a premium. I'm going to get busy doing up assets for the game for now and then spend as much time as I can getting the games basic coding sorted. Thankfully the overall game concept is relatively simple. Once I'm happy with how the basic gameplay performs, it will be time to hammer out as many levels as possible. I hope to add a post to this blog every week or so to keep track of my progress. Watch this space.

Some Early Concepts

Iv been busy putting the finishing touches to my proposal document over the last few days and have done up some early stuff regarding the games character and setting. These are very rough but shud give you an idea of how they will look when finished.

There will be only one playable character in Magma Surge. The main characters name is Mendel Strone, a powerfully built volcanologist entrusted by MIT to deliver and collect their most expensive and important experiments on Kaua'ahu. Mendel is a skilled mountaineer and survival expert completely at home within the blistering depths of active volcanoes. He is motivated by his passion for science and understanding and will fearlessly take up any challenge where he feels the scientific merit is worthy. 

Some quick concepts for Mendel

Kaua'ahu is a new island that has just broken the surface of the ocean in the last few years. Far to soon for any large plants or animals to have colonised its surface. The island is a black lunar landscape of boiling vents, creeping lava, unstable cliffs and of course, several growing volcanoes explosively and loudly announcing their births to the world. Human presence on Kaua'ahu has been established for a few months now on the most stable part of the island. This small scientific community was established to study the newly forming island. The settlement has been named Tvastar, after the Hindu god of blacksmiths. From here people send out regular scientific expeditions that visit the different volcanoes dotted about of the island. 

Creeping of the Feature

Having spent a few hours mincing through the game doc, iv noticed that the amount of content within my game is beginning to mount. While its still a relatively simple affair, it goes to show just how much work actually goes into a relatively simple game! I will have to learn most of the coding myself so I'm not looking forward to that aspect of the project. Right now however, the game is starting to form nicely within my skull. I think iv worked out the level structure as well as a rudimentary plot involving muscular scientists and a megatonnes of molten rock. If it all goes well it should be a colourful and cool little game for you everyone to have a go!

Me never having owned a smart phone also makes the port to smartphones idea quite hard to imagine for me. I'm one of those people who want to keep their phone a phone as opposed to a €700 media centre. I'm aware that smartphones will eventually become cheap enough that they become the hardy piece of shit I have in my pocket right now, but Magma Surge will be certainly done and dusted by then.

Annyyyyway, right now I will concentrate on visualising the game rather than the code. I'm just hoping that by the end of the game dev document I wont have added so much more stuff that I have to dumb down my project. Everything I've added today is important. I just gona make sure I dont get bogged down creating too much for my one self to manage. Maybe then the daunting task will merely become a scary one.

Magma Surge Outline

Magma surge is an upcoming browser / smartphone game being developed by yours truly for my major project. The game is a simple fast paced platform game where the player must escape from a volcano with a rising plume of burning liquid rock hot on his heels. Pun completely intended. The volcano will nicely enough contain a series of platforms that allow the player to leap out the way of the lava. This simple concept lends itself well to creating lots of interesting levels and iv already got several ideas to work on.

I intend to create a simple casual game that people will play quickly on their phones or laptops while killing time like waiting on a bus or download to complete. When complete it will be akin to the likes of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope insofar as being a game with numerous short levels that are fun and satisfying to complete. I want to look at implementing a simple leader board system and to incorporate some social network websites in some way shape or form.

The game is gonna be built in Flash using Action Script 3. This being a solo project for the most part, the decision to use AS3 was based heavily on the large amount of support available both online and from colleagues. I will be teaching myself most of the coding so it will be a challenge, but one I'm very much looking forward to taking. The biggest part i look forward to is doing all the artwork and level designs. With games like this having large amounts of short levels, it will be fun to come up with different ideas and scenarios for the player to overcome.

Right now I'm getting all of the paperwork done in terms of proposals and documents to keep my masters in DIT happy, but once all of that is done and dusted I can jump into this project with no distractions. Watch this space for further updates and probably lots of moaning about the difficulties of game design :)