Why be content to just see the big picture when you can paint it?

// November 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Game Design, iDevBlogADay

Many of us know this, but I’m surprised at how little everyone else sees this happening.  We’re in our little bubble here, and we get labeled fanboys, or geeks and the like.  Call us what you will, one thing is for sure, iOS is poised to be part of every form of digital entertainment and info access that we all partake in daily.  The iPod, iPhone, and iPad have each become the de facto device in their category, and in many respects they created their categories.  The advancement and integration of these devices through iOS is revolutionary.  Having interconnected data between different devices available at all times cannot be overstated.  As a side point, I was really overjoyed and so deeply satisfied when I bought Starbase Orion.  I started up a game on my phone, and then when I picked up my iPad, there was the games savepoint!  Back to what I’m talking about though.  Apple TV is part of iOS as well, and mirroring is just the first building block of where that technology will go, and all tied in under the iCloud too.  When the actual Apple TV that is a TV comes out, Apple will have pulled off what Microsoft and Sony have been wishing they could do for years… become the home entertainment hub.  Apps, Games, Movies, Music, Television, calendars, appointments, phone calls, video calls, information access, siri interfaces.  It’s all happening, and we get to have a front row seat as devs.  The programs we design get to leverage all of that.  From mobile casual, to living room immersion… they will be seamlessly joined.  Now think of what that means.  Really consider the ramifications, and the possibilities.  I know we at Area 161 are busy mixing colors and prepping our future canvas already.

Groove’n

// May 18th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Game Design, iDevBlogADay

As the other half of Area-161, it was inevitable that I would be contributing to this blog at some point.  Like my partner Tom, I’ve yet to publish a game though.  That being said, we’re making this happen.  Of course we talk, and we share ideas.  Collaborating with a friend is exponentially beneficial.  Though my part of what we do is being the game guy.  I’m charged with thinking up games, game mechanics, and trying to strike that fun chord that used to make me drop another quarter.

What I’ve recently learned about creative thought is that you aren’t necessarily hit with a stroke of brilliance.  Though you won’t get hit with anything unless you want to be.  Tom used to tell me that I should just think of games, and someday it would hit me.  What I didn’t get about that though, is that the trick is you need to actually do it.  I would think “oh yeah, I need to come up with something”, but do nothing.  Then I started thinking about games, and what we’re looking to do with device interface as I was falling asleep.

That happened over a few months of casual sleepy thought.  Recently though, I started having an idea that was cool, but I was falling asleep, and it seemed cool until I woke up the next day.  I was telling Tom that I almost had a cool idea, but I think it was just the lucid state I was in.  I started to tell him what it was, and that I didn’t know what to do with it, and that it wasn’t exciting.  Though I also started talking about how the game interaction could happen.  It was then that, as I spoke, the rough idea fleshed itself out and a mechanic of gameplay was born.  It’s as if my subconscious was working on it, and didn’t tell me until I described it to someone verbally.  I went to bed thinking upon that, and the whole game came to life in my head.  I can see it, I can play it, and it’s because I wanted it to happen.

The ideas were strung together over time, and my brain was tying stuff together that I didn’t even see.  My starting point, the lucid dream one, which got me excited, is nothing like the final game.  It was thought process, and willful intent that got me to the end point of a game.  Opening my mind and being receptive to where it wanted to play, and going back to that playground if you will, over and over.  It’s interesting how the process works, because it’s more about wanting it to work, and working it from that angle.

We are all capable of so much more, we just need to find a way to tap into that super consciousness.  My particular lucid dream path may not be yours.  Though this much is certain, you have to want it, you have to seek it out willfully, and you have to persevere.  The great power in that, is that it can be applied to many types of goals.  When the time is right… you’ll really feel that creative/productive groove.

Our First Game: Code Named “Darts”

// October 4th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // First Game, Game Design, Game Dev, iDevBlogADay

It’s time we unveil our first game! This is the first concept actually created by both me and Smiley. (Technically, there was Tiny the Blog but that was just me at the 360|iDev game jam sans Smiley) Our code name for the game is (drumroll please):

DARTS

Yeah, I understand codenames are supposed to be…well, codes. However, we’re still new to game dev and so we’re saving all of our creativity for the game itself and perhaps the real game name. Remember, I’m also the one that said it was safe to discuss your ideas publicly, so that’s what we’re doing. Now, I know what your thinking, “Darts? Really? All this talk about story, originality, ground breaking interaction, etc and they come up with darts?”

Some key factors to the game design:

1. Multiple devices – Our darts are going to use iPods and iPhones as the dart device with the iPad being the dartboard. It’s something that seems to make sense for us and still unique. We actually had the idea around WWDC, but have been waiting for GameCenter to make it to the iPad which finally is happening with iOS 4.2. It’s not a new idea or even all that novel, but it’s still unique enough to be different.

2. Dart types – This is where we will differentiate ourselves. There’s a ton of serious dart games out there for both the iPad and iPod. Ours is NOT going to be joining their ranks. Ours is going to be completely different. While we are taking the basic game of darts as the basis for our mechanic, that’s about where it stops. See, it’s not that we think that darts as a game isn’t fun. However, let’s face the truth. Darts is not America’s most favorite past time. Therefore, we have an idea of how to introduce some more fun into the game. To give you an idea, here’s some concept art for the darts:

A couple of dart types

This is what you’ll see on the dart device whereas this is an idea of what you might see once the dart lands on the dart board:

Concept Landed Dart

We have some other creative ideas as well, but we haven’t fleshed them out yet. Therefore, you’ll have to tune in to our next week’s post to get a deeper view into the game.

The main artist for the game art is my dad. Smiley and I are way rusty on our art skills, so we needed someone who actually knew what they were doing. My dad has been an artist all his life, most of it professionally as a graphic artist. He’s retired now, so he needs something to keep him busy. According to him, the sketches above show how “rusty” he is. LOL It’s also neat to have him contribute to the design of the game in addition to being “just” the artist. How can you not look at that concept art and get inspired?

PoV’s Challenge Update:

The past week was getting a rough game engine in place to put up screens, load/play sounds and figure out simple sprites. We coulda used Cocos-2D, but I figured that we’re going to eventually be pushing the boundaries of iOS as far as interaction, etc in future games. Therefore, rolling our own will likley be an eventual thing, so we better get our learn on now. This week is going to be nailing down the throw mechanic. I have some ideas of how to do it technically in my head, but we’ll see if I can actually translate that into compilable Objective-C code!

All in all, it’s a pretty exciting time for us as a company. We’re in the throes of building our first game and we have a crazy deadline to hit. We’re starting to feel like real game developers for the very first time and we’ll be honest, the feeling is pretty intoxicating.