Summary:

There were numbers today! 256 x 224 640 x 480 320 x 240 .Today we discussed screen resolutions & people’s preferences in terms of aesthetics. We discussed how keeping things simple was pretty important because everything gets really big. We talked about getting pwned  by our own game projects. There were quite a few conversations going on with regards to people’s  ideas for projects. It was decided that we’re  not meeting next week because there are so many things going on with

everyone and then we’ll have some time to catch up. Zachary Lieberman was mentioned.

Daphnee is using AGS for her game. We discussed using Adobe Illlustrator & sizes. Daphnee plans to have a moose character & is in the process of getting other characters for her grant proposal game. Daphne plans on making it more minimal. Some of her challenges within the game might end up being: flip two cards like a memory game We discussed the save for web feature in photoshop for saving as png’s and to get transparency you can also switch to 32 bit during that process. Other suggestions were to have a photoshop file with your screen size and work with that as a template.

Phil is using Inform7 for his game. One problem he mentioned he’s having is that he gets carried away with descriptions when writing so he pared it down to one room. (Again – keeping it simple) The synopsis of his project: you are a kid, your ex con uncle is staying over with you and your parents and you’re enjoying breakfast with him. Some of his implementation problems: there needs to be a weapon of some sort but what kind – implied that he’s a criminal but he wants you to hide the weapon – decision where you turn him in or not – which depends on how much you like him or not. We discussed some possible ambiguous scenarios to allow for the decision to turn him in to the cops to be a more problematic one. Other suggestions were to possibly to reveal the thought process of the character. We  also discussed interjection of news and sounds in the narratives. ex. 24 hour crime station audio, sirens in the distance.Another tip for everyone: test your game after you copy files over to a portable medium. Phil wants to flush out the uncle and dialogue or maybe script out the game for two weeks from now. making everything in the first 30 turns work.for next time we’ll be able to look around, talk to the uncle.

Nadine is currently overwhelmed by Tojam. And she had to wipe her computer. Conversations involved the DS screen resolution – which is 320 x 240. She’s using Gamemaker. Nadine wanted to know how to do scrolling – but not just sidescrolling.but scrolling in numerous directions. She wondered how much larger the screen be. We discussed that you don’t need to make the map in photoshop but you can make a tileset.  Nadine wants to have one of the levels/challenges for two weeks.

Craig – was boned for time this past week. He worked on some tutorials.  The first tutorial said the first thing to do was to write a design document so he made a design document. He also got sidetracked by making graphics. Others in the group concurred this was a common struggle. Craig showed us his groovy usb Nintendo controller. He loves metroid and was inspired by this for his platform game. The working title of his game is: Alpinist. He also showed us the graphics he made. He’s using NES screen 256 x224 resolution. Miguel mentioned that  Nes uses non square pixels.

The premise: A guy going up through the mountain through the snow.Craig likes the idea of making something with slowness of the blizzard:  The blizzard a filmby Akira Kurosawaa. He talked about how he likes the precision jumping in Prince of Persia – and the conscious decision making in the game play. He wants to make a state that affects the room, waiting for the wind and using wind as a central mechanic. He wants some parts to be agonizingly slow. Stats will be body temp, alertness and coherence. We discussed: what’s the characters motivation? Information would be gathered by breathing,and ambient sound. dude exerting himself in a storm. no enemies – mostly about movement. knit stories – game Miguel mentioned. you can’t kill anything but the movement is interesting. Nadine mentioned base camps & equipment that makes it harder to carry and move through the game, cooking meals. Miguel suggested having a guy struggle and seeing a guy you have to rescue. Craig’s goal for 2 weeks from now: first screen, title screen, animated chracter, jump & exert. cabin, low risk jump and high risk jump.task to get two characters to walk around the screen.

Miguel showed us his co-operative game in progress. He gave himself the task to get two characters to walk around the screen. He also offered access to his code in gamemaker. He will be happy to provide. One  of his characters was animated – with shadows. He mentioned that keyboard conflicts were something he had to deal with. If you press sideway and press up it was fine but  if he pressed the other chracter things would get messy.



Myfanwy has been spending her time getting to know the Gamemaker software. She showed her characterludd the spud – the ludological luddite potato moving around (while blinking) in gamemaker.There were some wall sockets that kill you and some water bottles that were animated to spill on collision. She wants to make a sidescroller but then have alternate spaces that you enter. There was some discussion surrounded side scrolling and face on interaction. One suggestion was that as soon as you have anything self contained – get someone to try it out, get feedback, see through their eyes. Advice: Pick your resolution and then make the graphics.

Myfanwy’s goal for two weeks: Character movement, background scrolling, a room, some interaction with “things”.Myfanwy also showed us her scratch gamewhich allowed you to hammer a nail.