Thursday, September 27, 2012

Practice Pitch




Today was our practice pitch, and it went well.  You can see the trailer for our game below.  We received lots of good feedback, and got a little bit of a wake-up call on the quality of the competition.  Everyone has done an extremely good job at creating a prototype and presenting it.  We are going to need to step up our game if we want our game to be picked.  And do I want this game to be picked SO BAD!!1!


Attraction Trailer


Tuesday is the actual pitch to a panel of game industry peoples and faculty.  I'm excitedly nervous for the outcome.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Magnets and Muzak!

Our prototype has changed so much!  That's probably a good sign, because it was pretty rubbish a week ago.




We now have different types of magnets; positive, negative and a mix type.  You can only pull yourself towards a positively charged magnet, and repel from a negatively charged magnet.  Also we have a revised targeting system.  To unlock from a magnet, one must only aim at a new magnet in the area with the targeting thumbstick.  This makes the controls more fluid and less intrusive.  Also the way that the targeting arrow changes position has been smoothed.  Overall the game is still fun to play, and adding more puzzles and challenges only make it more so!

I have also been busy on prototype music.  A sample of my first work can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/sideshowdave/whatwhat

Thanks for tuning in!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

First Prototype





Our first week of prototyping is complete, and we've made fair progress.  Below is a screenshot of what we have so far.  We've decided to use the Farseer Physics engine, based on Box2d.  This allows a lot of flexibility, and eases our rapid prototyping.  Below you can see a magnet that the robot is "locked" onto.  There is a graphic overlayed to show which magnet the robot is focused on.  The 360's controller has two triggers which control the amount of push or pull towards the magnet.  This is already turning into a lot of fun!





More updates to come soon!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

MagnetBot!

The picks are in....and my idea wasn't selected!  I'm a bit bummed, but I happy with the game I've been put on.  We are working on a game called MagnetBot, about two robots having relationship issues.  The main game mechanic is control magnetism to solve puzzles in a 2D platformer type world.  Here are some similar games that I've researched to learn how we can make our game better:

Magnetic Rush

This is a simple flash game with 2 magnets that must be positioned correctly to pass each puzzle. It's a fun game, but the puzzles are mostly thought-based, and not skilled based.  Our game will try to require thought and precision/skill.







 Give Up, Robot

This simple to learn, yet challenging to complete puzzle game has one mechanic that makes it addictive.  The player uses a hook to navigate many types of puzzles and is very skill-based.  You can control the length of your hook and your left to right swing.




 MagnetiZR

This is a more static game revolving around placing magnets in the right place.  Once you think you have the right setup, hit the shoot button and hopefully the metal projectile makes it to the goal.  Different  types of magnets, and different obstacles aren't enough to make this game exciting.




The Light Temple

This fire and ice boyfriend and girlfriend duo are in a Light temple and must solve puzzles to get through each level.  If you position yourself wrong just once, you will lose the level.  This makes the game very thought-based, and you must think before doing anything.  



Robot Platformer

All I can say about this game is it doesn't make sense to me.  Why Clouds? Why is everything that's gray catch me on fire? What are these robots that want to kill me?  I honestly don't know.

Image from Robot Platformer