Game Creation Log - BOT
Photics
Member Posts: 4,172
When I started developing Commove and Course Correction, I wrote about the experience on this forum.
Examples...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=6603
My first post...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=3359
In those threads, I would post updates about my progress. By organizing my thoughts in this manner, I improved the development process. Considering the complexity and seriousness of my next GameSalad project, it seems like a good idea to do that again.
So, here's the beginning...
BOT
Game Creation Log
1/16/2011
I'm noticing a lot of great work with GameSalad. I realized that my games are not as good. I think that's understandable. I made a decision to work on The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook - and I think that was a good decision. But now that there's a lull, as I wait for the 0.9.1 update, I'm feeling like I should make a really good game. I think it's important to show the world that I know what I'm writing about.
And through writing, I learn a lot. There's something that I noticed while writing reviews for Critique. The top apps have something in common. They're all 99¢ apps. They also have a significant amount of content. Even though iOS games are typically the price of a candy bar, the good games are built well. I realized that's what matters. The game has to be inexpensive, but well-made. It has to be playable in short bursts and easy to understand, but the game also needs depth and challenge. It has to make people think, but also have mass appeal.
Most importantly, it can't be an advertisement based app. This community has long suggested it, but I wanted to test it for myself - iAds don't really work. I published four advertisement based apps, and the result was the same. Paid apps make about the same - or even more - money.
So, after serious thought, I started thinking about the format for my game. I think I got something great. But unfortunately, I hit technical limitations almost immediately.
The first playing area is fairly large... 3072x4092. That's 12 1024x1024 images. I doubt the majority of iOS devices - if any - could handle such large images. That means I have to cut back. Here are the choices...
1) Smaller Character - Keep the same game ratios, but make everything smaller. Instead of having a 128x128 character, I could have a 32x32 character. (I think this is lame, as the main character looks awesome! I worked on the animation for about a day.)
2) Smaller levels - I could make the game smaller, but that goes against one of the primary development rules. If this game is going to work, it has to feel like a huge world.
3) Tiles - Instead of large images, I could use tiles. The problem is with retina display. I can't use the "Resolution Independence" option with tiled images. Also, the use of titles would dramatically change my artwork and add a lot more development work.
4) Mac App Store exclusive - If I make this just for the desktop, I could go large. The Mac OS doesn't seem to care about a few big images. Yet, this market is tiny. I doubt this would lead to large sales. Although, there's less competition. I'm planning to release this game to the Mac App Store regardless, but I wasn't planning on making it exclusive.
5) More loading - Perhaps I can cut up my level into pieces... like Zelda. Each area could be 1024x1024 pixels wide. One scene would be one square of a massive level. That changes up my artwork. I might have to draw my way out of this problem.
So, I'm a bit stuck right now. Heh, the provisioning profile started nagging me again, so I'll have to set up my iPhone 4 again. Maybe after some testing I can decide the best course of action.
One thing is for sure, I have no intention of hitting the 20 MB mark. I'm planning to make this game huge!
Examples...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=6603
My first post...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=3359
In those threads, I would post updates about my progress. By organizing my thoughts in this manner, I improved the development process. Considering the complexity and seriousness of my next GameSalad project, it seems like a good idea to do that again.
So, here's the beginning...
BOT
Game Creation Log
1/16/2011
I'm noticing a lot of great work with GameSalad. I realized that my games are not as good. I think that's understandable. I made a decision to work on The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook - and I think that was a good decision. But now that there's a lull, as I wait for the 0.9.1 update, I'm feeling like I should make a really good game. I think it's important to show the world that I know what I'm writing about.
And through writing, I learn a lot. There's something that I noticed while writing reviews for Critique. The top apps have something in common. They're all 99¢ apps. They also have a significant amount of content. Even though iOS games are typically the price of a candy bar, the good games are built well. I realized that's what matters. The game has to be inexpensive, but well-made. It has to be playable in short bursts and easy to understand, but the game also needs depth and challenge. It has to make people think, but also have mass appeal.
Most importantly, it can't be an advertisement based app. This community has long suggested it, but I wanted to test it for myself - iAds don't really work. I published four advertisement based apps, and the result was the same. Paid apps make about the same - or even more - money.
So, after serious thought, I started thinking about the format for my game. I think I got something great. But unfortunately, I hit technical limitations almost immediately.
The first playing area is fairly large... 3072x4092. That's 12 1024x1024 images. I doubt the majority of iOS devices - if any - could handle such large images. That means I have to cut back. Here are the choices...
1) Smaller Character - Keep the same game ratios, but make everything smaller. Instead of having a 128x128 character, I could have a 32x32 character. (I think this is lame, as the main character looks awesome! I worked on the animation for about a day.)
2) Smaller levels - I could make the game smaller, but that goes against one of the primary development rules. If this game is going to work, it has to feel like a huge world.
3) Tiles - Instead of large images, I could use tiles. The problem is with retina display. I can't use the "Resolution Independence" option with tiled images. Also, the use of titles would dramatically change my artwork and add a lot more development work.
4) Mac App Store exclusive - If I make this just for the desktop, I could go large. The Mac OS doesn't seem to care about a few big images. Yet, this market is tiny. I doubt this would lead to large sales. Although, there's less competition. I'm planning to release this game to the Mac App Store regardless, but I wasn't planning on making it exclusive.
5) More loading - Perhaps I can cut up my level into pieces... like Zelda. Each area could be 1024x1024 pixels wide. One scene would be one square of a massive level. That changes up my artwork. I might have to draw my way out of this problem.
So, I'm a bit stuck right now. Heh, the provisioning profile started nagging me again, so I'll have to set up my iPhone 4 again. Maybe after some testing I can decide the best course of action.
One thing is for sure, I have no intention of hitting the 20 MB mark. I'm planning to make this game huge!
Comments
I have placed only one app with iAds and i am making 50$ a day from it...whilst before i got 1-2$ a day. It really depends on the type of game you make.
Anyway, GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!
thanks
DL
As for the game, I've made some progress today. I recreated the starting area to be 2048x2048. It's still pretty big for the main base, and it gives a sense of exploration. So instead of 12 1024x1024 images, I only have two.
It would have been one if GameSalad supported horizontal / vertical image flipping.
I'm targeting the iPad with this app, which should make it an easy export to the Mac App Store. I'm not sure. I'm just making an educated guess. If GameSalad supported universal binaries, I could probably make this an iPhone app too. But since it's not, I'm planning to use tiles. With the iPad / Mac OS X, I don't have to worry about resolution independence. That means I can avoid the Retina Display / Tile issue.
Maybe that's a bad idea, so I think I might do some iPhone 4 testing.
I don't know how long this project will take. My idea is to create about 20 levels, add lots of content, and make the game lots of fun... with a good sense of exploration.
I'm having trouble with this game. I have big expectations, so I want the game to look great. I was having trouble getting motivated to work on my game. That's because I felt the game was a little ugly. I put some serious thought into the matter. After a while, I realized that the colors were off.
I want the game to have a vivid look, as cartoony games do well on the iTunes App Store. However, this is a sci-fi game. It needs to look futuristic and a little gritty... a little dingy. The colors were too bright. It was distracting. I made the backgrounds darker. It made the hero stand out more - which reinforced my game's theme. I also decided that larger is better. The hero is 128x128.
With the background pretty much set, I decided to start working on the walls. That lead straight into collision detection. It caused some issues for my controls. I didn't want the character to keep walking if it bumped into a wall.
But unfortunately, GameSalad doesn't have an easy way to implement A* movement...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_star
I believe a crude version of A* could be accomplished with GameSalad, but I don't have time to mess with that. Instead, I modified the controls. I think I hit a nice medium between fun and performance. It would have been nice to have controls like Guild Wars... where the character would walk around objects, but that's just too intensive for GameSalad. This game is going to get very involved. I can't waste the processing power. So, I worked around it. I liked the solution that I created. The controls are really good. I was having fun moving around "TANK"... the main character of this game.
One of the odd things about the movement, TANK kept rotating to 0° after the movement stopped. This was odd. In order to prevent this issue, I had to wrap the Rotate to Position behavior in a timer.
My iTunes gift card arrived in the mail today...
http://photics.com/a-strange-transaction-the-best-buy-to-itunes-gift-card
That means I can order Pixelmator today. That should make it easier for me to update the artwork. I've been using "Preview" a lot more than I should, simply because I don't feel like firing up the PC to run Photoshop!
i've never played guild wars so i don't know if thats what you want. good luck with your game though.
It's probably not impossible, but it's not so easy and it's a lot more rules/behaviors/actors. That slows things down. I think Dungeon Siege would have a similar control style. It's been a while since I played that game, so I don't remember.
I'm happy with the controls as they are. This morning I woke up, hating my game... wondering if I should even bother working on it at all. But right now, I like it a lot. That's a productive day!
For weeks, there was no progress on BOT. I started to realize some flaws in my plan.
1) I don't have enough content for an RPG.
2) I don't even like RPGs anymore.
I looked at the top iOS games and they're basically cutesy puzzle games and casual games. I don't want to create a skinner box, with level grinding and other such tedious game elements. Instead, I started to think of an innovative way to adapt my game to a puzzle. As I woke up, I just kept thinking of a solution. I was lying in bed, just focusing on the problem. Thinking... thinking... thinking... I finally thought of a good idea. I'm planning to test it out today, but I think it's a good idea.
As for RPG-like elements, character leveling will be handled by actual levels. Bonus missions, possibly upgrades, will be purchasable with an in-game store. As the levels are completed, new and more complex challenges can be added. I'm thinking this game should have more maps than Angry Birds – A LOT MORE. I'm aiming to be the one that takes it down. I may not succeed, but a lofty goal is good. I'm aiming to be the best so that I build a great game. My other games weren't polished enough. I think the standard was too low. Now, the standard is... "Is this good enough to beat Angry Birds?"
I decided to switch the game back to the iPhone. This is because of two reasons...
1) The iPhone is now on Verizon. That means there should be more iPhones out there.
2) I think the game looks better on a Retina display - so sharp, so sexy!
3) A Universal Binary would be better, but that's not yet possible with GameSalad. So, developing for iPhone is the next best thing. An iPad can play iPhone games, but not the other way around.
It was a hassle to get the GS viewer working again, but I'm happy with the results. The game looks great on an iPhone 4. Considering the size of the testing area, I'm a bit surprised at the memory usage. It's a pretty lean game, even with animation and 1024x1024 images.
It's good to have direction again. This project was bothering me for weeks. Yet, I think all the key ingredients are there. Maybe I can build something awesome.
I'm rethinking the RPG thing. I mentioned that I'm building an RPG in The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook. I think that I should finish that project, to show how a simple box can evolve into an amazing game. So, I'm thinking of a hybrid model. It shouldn't have point-and-click combat like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. I'm thinking it should be more real-time, more like Zelda. Yet, it should also have puzzle elements like Angry Birds / Cut the Rope.
I'm still working out the design. It's pretty serious thinking. I've been dreaming about this app. I've been thinking about this game even while I sleep. The new goal is to combine adrenaline pumping combat with deep-thinking strategy.
The big issue is combining that with my current control scheme. I do not want on-screen controllers. Once again — I DO NOT WANT ON-SCREEN CONTROLLERS. I think this is a horrible way to control mobile games. So, how to mix shooting and movement with just single touches? I've been pondering the possibilities. It's probably going to be a lot of... programming. HA HA
Also, there's a new tough question - languages. If I can create this game without using any words, I won't have any translation issues. It could also give the game a more memorable style and a more drama/mystery. Yet, some of the elements in the story are incredibly complex. I started thinking on how I would illustrate Moore's Law. It's possible, but a bit cumbersome. It's more work, but then it means that my game can be played throughout the world!
February 14, 2011 - Progress Report
I spent the majority of the work day trying to get the main base to look right. It has a gritty sci-fi look, so that's good. The problem was working with an overhead perspective. It's tough to distinguish between the floors and walls without some depth. Yet, that's a core part of the game's design. It has to be top-down... just like the original Legend of Zelda.
The first area has a bluish look to it. I'm going to try and build something like a miniature city. I have the location for the hospital and the armory. I also left places for humans to roam around. Depending on how much power I have left over, I can add lots of artificial intelligence. I'm thinking the game will be more believable — and more entertaining — with wandering people and some quests.
I'm even thinking of adding bonus games, like pinball!
I'm planning to start development on the other characters tomorrow. I should probably move this to my site. HA HA!
OK, I set up a page at my website.
http://photics.com/bot-game-design-and-progress-report
I'm planning to post future progress reports in the comments section of that page.
DL
Ha ha, just kidding. I actually get a decent amount of traffic to my website. Although, I should update it more than I do. That's one of the reasons why I'm moving the conversation over there. Maybe it will start into something cool. Do people still want to read about updates over here? My progress reports might contain some useful information for GameSalad developers. For example, the pause behavior is pretty rough. It shows what the developers have been fighting with over the last few months.
For example, I actually watched memory requirements DROP during a change of a scene. I was impressed. Yet, I've seen some really bad crashes today.
One of the tough design decisions I'm fighting with right now... do I go with scene overlays (pause) or scene changes. I'd probably cut down the loading times with the Pause behavior, but I'm not sure if this feature is ready for prime-time.
DL
And even the simplest thing can be educational. A lot can be learned from this kind of things.
And, most importantly, you have a way of writing, that, makes people want to read it!
Looking forward to see what you'll do.. Good luck! ^^
February 15, 2011 - Progress Report (Supplemental)
Pause or not to pause... that was the question. BOT is a traditional RPG. That means there are shops to enter... like an equipment shop and a hospital. The problem was transitioning from the main base to inside of one of the shops. I started with scene changes, but that was slow.
I remember what happened with Darren, when Gameloft (or some other company) was thinking of buying Bumps. They were annoyed by all the loading times. Darren fixed that problem, resetting scenes without annoying loading times. So, I figured that I should cut down on the loading times in my game. (I'm not planning to sell BOT to Gameloft.)
I realized that it's a lot easier to pause a scene than to restart it. One of my rules misfired, making it incredibly difficult to get the music going again. I basically had to wrap the rule in a timer to make sure the condition was checked.
I wasted the better part of a working day on getting pause to work right. But once I did, I was pleased with the result. The loading icon still appears, but it disappears quickly. It's about 75% faster than scene cuts. With the fade effect I added, it's a pretty smooth transition. No loading times would be ideal, and that's how it is on the desktop, but it's still faster than the loading times in Cut the Rope.
One other thing... I recommend using Attributes like CSS on a website. If you're going to use the same value multiple times, you might want to create a game attribute for it. I did this for the fade duration. I could test different variables and find the ideal fade duration.
Sounds like you have a lot of confidence in BOT, and I'm sure it's great game too.
Keep us updated!
I haven't been posting on the forums as much. That's because I was trying to make progress on my projects. BOT is starting to look amazing. I think this is one of those games where people will really start to take GameSalad seriously... and it should silence the naysayers about the quality of my games. It was a struggle to keep the momentum going. I was considering giving up on the game development thing, but I'm happy that I kept going.
After messing with Corona, I realized that I missed the speed and ease of GameSalad. I could have gone with Corona. I was starting to understand how it works, and some of the extra features are amazing, but I don't think BOT would look as good as it does now.
The effects I'm creating in this game are amazing. It's something of a dystopian future. I've been drawing the map and creating the artwork. Just before I posted this, I was staring at my screen... mesmerized... lost in the visions of what I had created. After setting up the equipment and repair shop, I started working on the explorable areas. It really felt like he was outside, lost in a barren wasteland.
...and I haven't even added the enemies or the weapons yet!
I haven't decided if I'm going to support 4-way auto-rotation. It's not impossible, but it would add a lot of work. I think it's nice to give the player the choice, but supporting both landscape and portrait would dramatically slow down the development.
So far the game is 5120 x 7168. That's almost 37 million pixels of explorable area. In retina display, that's about 147 million pixels of explorable area. I might add some dungeons. I'm not sure. There's certainly room for expansion.
I think I got a great idea for a questing system and I figured out the language/lore issue. I'm not ready to make that idea public. Actually, I think I'll go back into quiet mode after this post.
Basically, this is to let the GameSalad community know that I haven't left the GameSalad community for Corona. Instead, I'm working on something awesome with GameSalad.
DL
Spiders!
Today I got to use The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook. In the "Enemies" chapter, I wrote about artificial intelligence. When I wrote that chapter, a lot of it was mostly theoretical. I tested it out, but I didn't actually use it in a game. I knew that I wanted to use it in my RPG, but I didn't get around to it — until today!
Reading that chapter again was like reading a letter to myself — A message that I sent into the future. The AI is nice... really nice... a bit creepy actually. I've seen lots of computer enemies, but it felt different when the enemy was something I created. It was as if I unleashed something evil into the world. I actually felt bad about it. An emotional response is good. That means I'm on the right track. The better the enemies, the more valiant the hero that slays them.
Basically, it's similar to the stuff I've seen in MMORPGs. The monster wanders around randomly until the hero is in range, then the monster chases the hero. If the hero gets out of range, the monster stops chasing the hero. It sounds simple, but it was a bit freaky to see it in action.
I even added random spider sounds for when the spider turns aggressive. Heh, I laughed when I first experienced it. The spider spotted "TANK", it made the robotic chirping sound, it turned towards "TANK" and then it went in pursuit mode.
A good part of my morning was playing with my new pet spider. HA HA.
As I finished my work last night, I realized that I had screwed something up. My framerates dropped from 60 FPS to about 40 FPS. If that's the performance on my iPhone 4, the game wouldn't run well on older iOS hardware.
I don't remember my dreams from last night, but I think I must have been thinking about GameSalad. When I woke up, I grabbed my iPhone and I loaded up the desert scene. I thought my special effects were slowing things down. I was thinking how I could trim down the special effects and still make the game look cool.
• Do I reduce the graphics?
• Do I add device detection and reduce the graphics accordingly?
No, this wasn't acceptable to me. I'm not eliminating one of the coolest looking effects in the game. So, I just laid there in bed, moving my phone around... hey... what's that?
I'm still debating if I should support 4-way auto-rotation. I had left some of my scene settings unchanged. Portrait and Landscape worked. As I watched the scene turn, I spotted something blue.
Immediately I realized what was happening. The previous scene was still active. It was running beneath the current scene. Even though the scene is paused, it was eating a lot of processing power. A simple correction resolved the problem. Instead of Pause Scene, I used Change Scene.
That's what can happen when you cut-and-paste actors. I changed the scene without changing the behavior. I didn't even realize it was the wrong behavior. It's a simple mistake to make, but it can dramatically mess up your game.
So, I'm in a pretty good mood today. I have two different enemies chasing TANK around the desert. I like how he can push right through them like a football player. It might not seem so fun when I add bullets. Both the hero and the enemies will be shooting.
"Guns, lots of guns!"
I am so happy. If you were sitting in the next room, you might think I've gone mad. I was laughing with the cackle of a mad scientist. I'm making TANK shoot. It's an incredible control system. One finger does everything... move, shoot... and I'm even thinking about making the sword work too. TANK has a big gun in his right hand and a sword in his left. I figure that I should make that sword do something, or I might get a lot of complaints. HA HA! This creates lots of possibilities, as two weapons means more places to put power-ups.
Did I mention how happy I am?!
I'm also happy about my Facebook/Twitter idea. If it works, I can add "achievements" and other ways to feed the player's ego... like when a player levels up.
I think this is it. I think this is the winner. I should stop writing today and get back to work. I imagine that many of you are as eager to play the game as I am to publish it.
I'm going for it!
I'm not cutting corners with this game. It was designed for iOS, so I might as well go all the way. I'm adding four-way auto-rotational support! It's a lot more work for me — especially with testing — but it makes the game a lot more comfortable to play. The player picks the orientation that's most comfortable for them... Portrait, Upside-down Portrait and Landscape - either with the home button on the left or the right. This is especially useful for players with headphones, or those that want proper positioning of the iPhone 4's dual speakers.
That means I'll have to go back and make changes to the equipment and repair shop. But while I was working on the equipment menu, I realized that I should go the extra distance. I should make this game the best I possibly can. It has to be perfect on launch. That's what I'm aiming for.
Yesterday I didn't post an update because I was busy with the guns. I had a really cool idea for a laser beam. But unfortunately it didn't look too realistic when TANK was spinning. It was a lot of crazy math, so I lost time with that. Although, the Machine Gun and the Fire Gun look great.
I'm even adding stealth. I played a Rogue in EverQuest and World of Warcraft, so I had to add this feature. There are four main guns planned and three main defensive items. Each of these items can be upgraded four times. There are also other various upgrades and information in the Equipment menu, so it's a busy spot.
There's a lot of graphics work involved, but I think I got a nice style going. I don't think this part is as hard as the terrain. That's what I'm worried about. The main part of the game is wandering around and exploring. So, the world has to look good. Making more enemies is also a concern. I have two and they look great. I have a good idea for a third, but the game is going to need a lot more than that... and there should be bosses too.
But right now, I'm just focusing on interface stuff. When I dropped in the health bar for TANK, the game felt real. It wasn't just a collection of png files anymore. It was becoming a game. I really like the minimalist approach that I'm taking.
When will I launch? I'm aiming for April. The next GameSalad update is supposed to have leaderboards, so I think I can rank players according to experience points.
Five levels for the gun, that would be madness! Ha ha!
I TOTTALY agree that GameSalad has been looked on as a quick puzzle making thingy that was just for really lame takeoffs. But with BOT, I THINK I MIGHT FAINT!!!!!!!
Dude, if you pull this off, I think that I will make different accounts just so I can buy it again and again!!!!!
well not really, I'll probley just donate to you or something.
And that reminds me. A game of this awesome scale should be worth $50!!!! But then no one whould buy it, so what is going to be the price? Whatever it is I'll buy it!
cheers!
-Jobo
Donations are not accepted. I don't encourage buying the app over and over. Creating multiple accounts is not a good idea. A better idea would be to gift the app to your friends and family. Although, I'm not encouraging that either. Hey, it's your money. If that's if you want to do, I can't stop you. I don't think it makes good business sense to even try, but that's not the point of this project. The idea is to build something so amazing, that role-playing game players naturally want to buy it.
It's great that you think so highly of the project though! And that reminds me. A game of this awesome scale should be worth $50!!!! But then no one whould buy it, so what is going to be the price?
I'm planning to release it as a tier 1 app. I think the 99¢ price mark will encourage lots of downloads. I'm aiming to release an app that beats Angry Birds... and since Tiny Wings already beat Angry Birds, I'm aiming to beat Tiny Wings. I doubt a sci-fi RPG can do that, but I'm pricing this app with the intention of building a #1 app. Most of the top 10 apps are tier 1.
————————————————
March 12, 2011 - Progress Report
I really struggled with the resign of the shop layout. Creating something that works in Portrait and Landscape was tough. The earlier versions just didn't look right. I have some solid experience as a graphic designer. I was really disappointed with my original designs. I just kept fighting with it until I created something professional looking.
This took longer than I thought, but I think it was worth the extra effort. It is incredibly rare to see four-way auto-rotational support in a video game. The idea is that the players will notice this level of polish and that I really worked hard on this game. The idea is that the player is comfortable and happy, they'll enjoy the game. If they enjoy the game, they'll rate it highly. If I get lots of high ratings, I'll get more sales. If I get lots of sales, this project is a success.
I was having trouble with the controls. It's funny with GameSalad. Sometimes when I add something new, something old breaks. TANK started moving funny. After more fighting with the project, I figured out a solution. I had to wrap one of my Move To behaviors in a 0.1 second After/timer. I tried using a Move behavior instead, but that made TANK move more like a car and less like a robot.
It's really nice that GameSalad has so many options for movement.
I'm angry with myself. I'm not as productive as I should be. There are little problems that are slowing down production. Although, I did solve two big problems today. That is important.
A third problem still exists. TANK is not reappearing from the shops properly. It's another one of those things that used to work, but stopped working. I don't think it's a good idea to delete and respawn the actor anyway. So, I'll have to create a more reliable system for entering and exiting shops.
Time Travel
Daylight savings time took an hour from development. I'm still aiming for an April launch and every hour counts!
I'm in a great mood today. I'm making great progress on the artwork. The equipment menu is looking sweet. I'm really impressed at the increasing quality of this game. I'm tempted to post screenshots, but I can show off later... while the game is waiting for Apple's approval.
In addition to 4 different guns and three different defensive items, I'm adding upgrades. (This is different from weapon upgrades.) I'm also adding three main quest lines. I think it's a good way to introduce "loot greed". Many players like to horde and collect virtual loot. So, I'm creating lots of stuff for players to get.
I felt bad about this. Am I creating a virtual skinner box? I quickly realized that I'm one of the good game developers. I'm not trying to build an obsessive world. It's not about level grinding, it's about creating a sense of exploration and adventure. The game needs goals, or it would be boring. I'm not trying to thin out content, so players have to keep paying a monthly subscription fee. Instead, I'm trying to make the game more entertaining.
I recently read that video games are "the single most productive thing we can do with our time."
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33482/PAX_East_2011_McGonigal_On_How_Games_Are_Bringing_Out_The_Best_In_Us.php
At first I thought that was poppycock, balderdash and simply preposterous! But after reading the article, I saw some interesting arguments. Video games train us to be heroes. TANK is a hero. By creating this game, I'm helping to expand the imagination of players around the world.
This game touches on some serious issues in the future. How will artificial intelligence change life as we know it? What if all the dystopian science fiction movies are true? Each generation has a story that highlights the dangers of AI... Fail Safe (1964), Terminator (1984), Matrix (1999). Often, it's a bleak assessment of the future. BOT shows both sides of the story... while there are evil machines attempting to wipe out the remaining humans, TANK is a sentient machine that chooses to defend the humans.
While extreme, I think that paints a better picture of what we will face in the future. The game is a metaphor for what I believe technological advancements can bring. New technology can be helpful and harmful. Within the next few decades, there could be some serious advancements — like the first computers that are smarter than people... or medical advancements that give people indefinite lifespans. By creating a game like BOT, I can help future generations start thinking about these matters. Perhaps BOT will be the AI story/game that defines a generation.
Happy Pi Day!
In The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook, I wrote about "The poor man's debug". It's a crude — but effective — way to see attribute data. I decided to expand on that. I turned it into a feature.
Since the game world is supposed to be huge, I figured it would be good if players could actually figure out their location. I remember the /loc command in Dark Age of Camelot and EverQuest. You could get the coordinates for your character. This made it easier to find important locations in the game... like quest spots or your friends. I envision the same thing happening here. Players can share information about popular questing spots.
I remember the conversations I had when The Legend of Zelda was new. "Where's the Red Ring?" or "Where's the silver arrow?". It was fun figuring out the game's mysteries. That's the level of difficulty that I'm aiming for. Not everything should be apparent. There should be some challenge to the adventure.
I also have some balance issues to contend with. I added stealth. It's amazing. I really enjoy it. The idea is that TANK can stab with his sword while hidden. I was having a lot of fun with stealth. It adds a new style of play to the game. Yet, I don't want it to be overpowered. If the player just stays hidden, the challenge is gone. So, I'll have to create some counter-stealth techniques for the enemies.
Example - Even at level 4 stealth, if an enemy is touched it will become aggressive.
I thought it was silly that TANK could push his way through robotic monsters, while they didn't react. So, collision detection adds a bit of challenge to stealth.
I don't feel that I was productive today. I basically worked on the Equipment menu. It's got a great look. With the main graphic in place, I just kept spinning the simulator screen around. I'm very pleased with the four-way auto-rotational support.
I wasted a lot of time lining things up for both portrait and landscape. It's so tedious. I hate it. To make matters worse, I'm using custom fonts. GameSalad doesn't have retina display graphics for regular type. So, I created png files for the images. That's how dedicated I am about perfection.
I got a little depressed when I started doing some project management. I roughly figured out what work remains. And based on my current speed, I estimated how long it would take to complete the project. There's so much left to do. I'll have to work faster. Yet, I'm not rushing this one.
It just got serious!
Today I unplugged my Internet connection, so that I would have no distractions — no email, no chat, no forums, no news sites. I eliminated these diversions to increase productivity. My plan worked! I made great progress today...
• I added a missile launcher
• Icons: Missile Launcher, Blank
• Cleaned up the GameSalad XML
• Improved the shop portal logic (TANK entering and exiting)
• Continued development on the equipment menu
• Improved combat movement
...heh, but then I started getting tired and hungry. It was about five hours without the Internet. I turned on iTunes and let it play all my favorite songs from my collection. I normally don't listen to music while working on games, but today it was mostly art and programming... not much audio work.
After a break, I'm ready to get back to work. While the game may be called BOT, I'm not a robot. There's a creative process to this. If I try to force it, the game just isn't as good. It's amazing at the amount of work that I'm putting into this game. Not since The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook have I worked so hard on a GameSalad project. I wonder if this project will be more successful.
There was something interesting that I learned today. As mentioned here The iOS simulator is great for testing. It's not just great for testing auto-rotation. Because the simulator runs at a much lower frames per second than my iPhone 4, I can see where my game would break. I had to rework a big part of my game logic because TANK was spawning multiple times.
Heh, while that might be a cool power-up, it's not supposed to happen unintentionally.
"Hm, upgrades!"
Matrix Reloaded was somewhat a disappointment when compared to the original. Although, there were some cool fight scenes. I like the beginning of the movie, when the agents confront Neo. "Hiya fellas"... and then Neo quickly realizes that the agents have been upgraded.
Today I was making icons for upgrades. TANK will have five upgrades. It was a slow start this morning, as I felt that the icons should match the style of Equipment Menu. It's one of the most polished elements of the game, so I don't want to mess it up. I wasted hours on creating the right style. Once I felt comfortable with the results, it wasn't too hard to create the remaining four icons.
That's a bit nuts when I think about it. I worked on the icons for six hours. (Five upgrade icons and the stealth icon) Although, loot is an important part of an RPG. The better looking the loot, the more joy the player will feel when collecting it.
Last night, while struggling with the stealth icon, I created the game icon. I really like it. I know people want to see videos and pictures. I was actually prepared to upload the game icon to this website. But unfortunately, avatars are not working properly.
Yeah, I could put it on http://photics.com - but I'm not ready for that. I don't want to just post a 512x512 icon. Heh, but I suppose I should post something. I haven't updated my website in two weeks.
I was basically playing with Masks in Pixelmator... I was creating incredible effects. This gave me a great idea for the title screen. I'll have to be careful though. That's the only remaining part of the game that's not ready for four-way auto-rotation. Everything else should be great. I'm really happy that I added landscape and portrait support.
OK, so... I think I should go eat something. I'm starting to get a headache from sitting at the computer for so long.