grade invaderz...

harrio

what's cookin,

it's finally here...you know, the game that absolutely no one has been waiting for...lol

it's no revolution in gameplay, but it's mine and it's done.

http://gamesalad.com/game/play/22053

i've posted it as available to 'everyone' so that beginners can learn from the "code". i'm also going to be posting a 'post mortem' of sorts on the wiki. it will describe my entire process from beginning to end with all the potholes i ran into along the way.

i'm hoping it will be a help to the newcomers for how to go about building a game from scratch.

oh yeah, since it's a clone, i plan on publishing this to the iphone as a free game. so can you guys and gals hammer it and let me know of any bugs or suggestions. i don't have an iphone or touch at the moment so i can't really test that part.

it feels good to get the first one done.

i've got ideas for others. but i want to get this one published first.

good luck to all the rest of you, pushing through and birthing your games into the world.

noodles...

quantumsheep

*standing ovation*

Well done mate, great job!

Finally! A finished game on GameSalad!

Art style is great - nice one!

It may be worth asking on here for tester before you publish it to the app store. Just a thought, as you have a lot going on in the later levels that might (MIGHT!!) cause problems!

Also, remember to change the 'press r to proceed' to 'tap screen to proceed' or whatever - there's no R on an iphone!
(Edit - just noticed you press 'p' to pause. It may be worth making a pause button you can press to do the same thing on an iphone/ipod).

Finally, why do you play as a girl? While this sheep certainly looks good in a dress, I'm wondering why you have to be gender specific? Could you not replace one of the avatars with a male one? Do you have to say you are a *girl*?

I'm certainly looking forward to your post-mortem - sure to be a fascinating read!

Once again, great job, and congrats!

Cheers,

QS

scitunes

Awesome, I love it.

qs, it may need to be a girl to have the sperm bad guy make sense (or am I just old fashioned!)

quantumsheep

Back in my day it was Space Invaders.

Now it's Womb Raiders...

MY GOD!!! CALL THE COPS!!!

etc

maniraptor

I am at a loss as to why a female character would be considered a negative. I found it charming and an asset to harrio's game.

(Also, essential to its rhetorical structure, to be a ludic nerd about it.)

quantumsheep

I'm at a loss as to why it has to be *just* a female character. As far as I could tell, if you took out one line - 'You are a girl' - then the game plays the same.

Can you explain what I've missed?

Cheers,

QS

Edit - ok, having played the game again, I can see specific enemies that would make sense, in the 'traditional' sense, to a girl. But they are few and far between.

The sperm enemy could signify many things (e.g. infertility as well as the 'threat', as suggested by the game, of becoming pregnant).

The dummy (I think you call them 'pacifiers' in the US) is gender agnostic. It could be something to avoid for both male AND female protagonists, as a baby for either while studying may cause complications to graduating (or so the game infers).

Maybe it's because I haven't slept in a while, but it just struck me, *personally* as odd that the player's gender was emphasised when it seemed to have little bearing to me on how the game played or what its subject matter was.

Of course, there are many examples of female protagonists in games, usually stereotypes of one sort or another. But in a game essentially encouraging kids to learn, why is there a gender choice? Do boys not graduate in America too?

I didn't say it was a bad thing, if you read my post again. I didn't say it was a negative. I merely asked why the decision had been made.

I feel the question still stands. It's not a demand, I'm not being (intentionally) rude or abusive, it's just not my way. I'm just curious as to what the thought process was behind that decision.

Hope that's clear,

Cheers,

QS =D

quantumsheep

I said:
"But in a game essentially encouraging kids to learn, why is there a gender choice?"

When what I meant was:

"But in a game essentially encouraging kids to learn, why is a particular gender excluded?"

Oops 'n' all that...

Cheers,

QS

harrio

what's cookin,

thanks for the question quantum.

part of why i made this game was to create social dialog about the subject matter. scitunes and maniraptor pretty much understand exactly what my intent was for this game. but i'll explain for those who don't.

this game is intentionally shaped from, or for, a female perspective. because ultimately, in general of course, a teenage boys destiny is not altered by these obstacles. mainly because boys cannot become pregnant. so not only is it not a concern for them personally. it is also not usually a concern for them in regards to the life effecting choices of the girls they pursue.

so it is purposely shaped thematically for a female. although i hope playing the game can open up awareness and dialog with boys also, who may not have considered these things before. i hope it helps them to see girls the same way they see other boys, as separate, individual 'people' with hopes, dreams, aspirations and feelings. not just objects of desire to be pursued and cast away when 'the thrill is gone.'

as for the controls, don't worry quantum. i have two builds. one for the web site and another for the iphone where i just swap out the controls and pause functions for tap and accelerometer code.

left/right = accelerometer
fire = one tap
pause/resume = two tap

from my point of view, that one sentence..' you're a girl '..is what defines the intent of the experience. boys need to understand that girls face an entirely different situation in high school than they do. wrought with many life changing obstacles. many of which are caused by the boys themselves.

well, that's enough heavy handed rhetoric for one day.

thanks for the comments and compliments. it means a lot.

noodles...

quantumsheep

Oh, I enjoyed the discussion, so mission accomplished on your end - nice one

I'm actually quite interested in my own reaction to 'that one sentence'. Where you hoped it would encourage boys to see the world 'through a girl's eyes' as it were, I placed my own interpretations upon the evil influences and, as I mentioned, essentially made them gender agnostic in my own mind.

How curious.

What HAVE you got planned next? A version of Peggle, perhaps, that employs the struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoise as an underlying metaphor?

Looking forward to it, whatever it is!

Cheers,

QS =D

harrio

what's cookin,

i found your reaction interesting as well.

as for my next game. i want to put my full energy into my post mortem first. because i think it will really help beginners. i was so locked into finishing my game that i was not as helpful on the forums, like yourself, as i wanted to be. so hopefully, this will be my 'giving back' to the new chefs and to gamesalad.

noodles...

harrio

what's cookin,

i neglected to tell you that i placed a minor easter egg in the game. i spent so much time making the graphics, that i didn't want the detail to go to waste. so if you find the little nerdy guy on the bottom right of the splash page, you'll see what i hope you consider some nice art work.

noodles...

harrio

what's cookin,

i updated the rules code so that it runs on the web and on iphone/touch. for people who want to see how to combine the two in their game code.

i'll be publishing the first part of my post mortem to the wiki soon for all the newbs.

noodles...

harrio

what's cookin,

hey cobra, the bug you found with the invisible avatar after blowing up. i think i fixed that bug after you played it. but i'm not sure. it works fine for me, getting blown up on any level. can you duplicate it, to let me know?

noodles...