Saturday, August 25, 2012
Isometric prototype
Here's a peak (and working prototype) of what I'm working on. Click to give focus, then use arrow keys to move. It's a rogue-like, but will utilize the Talesworth Arena combat system to some extent. Performance is the next thing to tackle, I really need optimize this code.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
TA2 selected for Innovation Showcase at Casual Connect!
I received an amazing email a couple weeks back with news that I immediately smashed into my Facebook page, but has sadly taken oh so long to find it's way here. The email was notifying me that the Casual Connect event selected Talesworth Adventure: The Lost Artifacts for their Innovation Showcase!
Every year, Casual Connect, which is an event that runs alongside the IDGA summit in Seattle, chooses 12 games that they feel shows an innovative theme, mechanic, etc. They choose 6 from the mobile world and 6 from the web world. The entries in the exhibit are chosen by their committee on their own accord, unsolicited, based on all the games they have played since the last summit.
Innovation is always my overarching goal. To be recognized for it feels amazing.
If you're at the IDGA/Casual Connect events in July, I'll be around and about on Tuesday and some of Wednesday.
Every year, Casual Connect, which is an event that runs alongside the IDGA summit in Seattle, chooses 12 games that they feel shows an innovative theme, mechanic, etc. They choose 6 from the mobile world and 6 from the web world. The entries in the exhibit are chosen by their committee on their own accord, unsolicited, based on all the games they have played since the last summit.
Innovation is always my overarching goal. To be recognized for it feels amazing.
If you're at the IDGA/Casual Connect events in July, I'll be around and about on Tuesday and some of Wednesday.
Monday, April 23, 2012
The scoring system
I've seen the suggestion a few times in the Kongregate comments to change the scoring to be based on "total tools used", rather than requiring specific tools to be used. I wanted to share my thought process on that to shed some light on why I ultimately went the way I did. This was absolutely a design consideration when making Episode 2, and a good one at that, but ultimately, not the best approach in my opinion.
In its original form, Episode 2 worked similar to Episode 1. The player was only given enough tools to complete each room. I wanted to make the game more accessible to players of all skill and dedication levels, so I needed a technique to make it possible to complete rooms at an easier level.
Adding in extra tools was done to create many more possible solutions. The key point here is that adding more tools makes the room easier to solve. A gold star is more challenging because there is only 1 solution, maybe 2 if you discover a platinum solution, because you are given very specific tools to use.
The suggestion to be able to use any breakdown of tools would make it much easier to achieve Gold. There were many instances when crafting rooms that I knew that having just one more loot bag would make a room's solution infinitely easier. Again, in its original form, you wouldn't even have those extra tools, so if you play the game with this mindset, you won't even consider going beyond the Gold level's tool placement restrictions.
I hope this helps understand my logic.
In its original form, Episode 2 worked similar to Episode 1. The player was only given enough tools to complete each room. I wanted to make the game more accessible to players of all skill and dedication levels, so I needed a technique to make it possible to complete rooms at an easier level.
Adding in extra tools was done to create many more possible solutions. The key point here is that adding more tools makes the room easier to solve. A gold star is more challenging because there is only 1 solution, maybe 2 if you discover a platinum solution, because you are given very specific tools to use.
The suggestion to be able to use any breakdown of tools would make it much easier to achieve Gold. There were many instances when crafting rooms that I knew that having just one more loot bag would make a room's solution infinitely easier. Again, in its original form, you wouldn't even have those extra tools, so if you play the game with this mindset, you won't even consider going beyond the Gold level's tool placement restrictions.
I hope this helps understand my logic.
Talesworth Facebook page
The official Talesworth Adventure Facebook page is up:
http://www.facebook.com/TalesworthAdventure
It will be easier to share the coverage there in a snazzy fashion. Like and share please :)
http://www.facebook.com/TalesworthAdventure
It will be easier to share the coverage there in a snazzy fashion. Like and share please :)
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Thoughts on Platinum scoring
So far, so good. I think the difficulty is in a good place for Gold stars, and I've seen solutions posted for at least 12 or 13 Platinums so far! Great work everyone, truly impressive.
I just pushed an update, v1.1.2, that removes a loot bag from both Deadly Loot and Last Line of Defense. This probably breaks a couple of those Platinum solutions, but I think it needed to be done.
Deadly Loot - Somewhere along the line, I added an extra gold bag in there. Not sure when it happened, but I can't even solve it worse than Platinum right now. Consequently, I removed the bag. Platinums should be very difficult and hard to find, and this felt too easy.
Last Line of Defense - A couple people pointed out that it was inconsistent that Questy could score a Platinum on a level by saving a loot bag and not even leading him out of the room. I added a path that allows him to exit through the south exit without a loot bag, and removed a loot bag from the bags available. On the flip side, it's technically not possible to get Gold if you somehow figured out a way into the North exit, but I think this setup makes more sense than the way it was previous.
I just pushed an update, v1.1.2, that removes a loot bag from both Deadly Loot and Last Line of Defense. This probably breaks a couple of those Platinum solutions, but I think it needed to be done.
Deadly Loot - Somewhere along the line, I added an extra gold bag in there. Not sure when it happened, but I can't even solve it worse than Platinum right now. Consequently, I removed the bag. Platinums should be very difficult and hard to find, and this felt too easy.
Last Line of Defense - A couple people pointed out that it was inconsistent that Questy could score a Platinum on a level by saving a loot bag and not even leading him out of the room. I added a path that allows him to exit through the south exit without a loot bag, and removed a loot bag from the bags available. On the flip side, it's technically not possible to get Gold if you somehow figured out a way into the North exit, but I think this setup makes more sense than the way it was previous.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
We are live!
The day is here, we are officially live on both the App Store and Kongregate:
App Store (iPad)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talesworth-adventure-ep.-2/id485003184
Kongregate (Flash)
http://www.kongregate.com/games/MrJinx/talesworth-adventure-the-lost-artifacts?referrer=MrJinx
Enjoy, and please do your best to keep Questy safe,
Sean
App Store (iPad)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/talesworth-adventure-ep.-2/id485003184
Kongregate (Flash)
http://www.kongregate.com/games/MrJinx/talesworth-adventure-the-lost-artifacts?referrer=MrJinx
Enjoy, and please do your best to keep Questy safe,
Sean
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