When code just isn't enough...

Published April 20, 2019
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I have this theory. It goes "nobody has any real idea what they're supposed to do until they're done doing it". Case in point, the project to gamify good deeds that I have gotten somewhat financed (working title simply "The Good Game") is still under frantic construction. And yet, I've only ever written maybe a hundred lines of code (HTML, JavaScript and PHP). How is that?

Well, much to my chagrin, the massive bulk of this project is... talking. The design of the game is novel, as in "nobody seems to have made anything even resembling this kind of game before", so every idea, every concept, every feature pilfered from some other game, they all need to be discussed endlessly, regarding their need, the consequences of bringing them in, potentials both short and long term, and so on and so forth. That's a lot of talking!!

Right now, at the very least, we're dealing with actual game design, rather than abstract concepts like gamifying ethics, player psychology, social impact, etc. No graphics to speak of, and the proposed method for testing is... amusing? It's chaos, is what I'm saying. But, hopefully, creative chaos!

Wish me luck. I need it!

1 likes 14 comments

Comments

NubDevice

good luck :) If you ever need a square peg to fit into a round hole, I might be your guy :D Ah, to play with others, the dream is sweet, the reality is something else to me so far. Nice to see a go at breaking of the mold in a sense. 

April 20, 2019 03:34 PM
Embassy of Time
13 minutes ago, GoliathForge said:

good luck :) If you ever need a square peg to fit into a round hole, I might be your guy :D Ah, to play with others, the dream is sweet, the reality is something else to me so far. Nice to see a go at breaking of the mold in a sense. 

I have DOZENS of square pegs and HUNDREDS of round holes! I am very open for help :) What kind of squareholing(???) are you thinking of??

April 20, 2019 03:48 PM
NubDevice

I've been dying to take a 3D artist position or auxiliary programmer (engine side / game play side) on a project that matters. My own ideas excite me, so it's hard to find peace in outside ideas. But as we know, ideas generally have only so much value. Becoming a gear in a larger mechanism is desirable to me. So far though, from my experiences the road is full of holes an no pegs. i think mostly because the groups that I've touched were designers only or those that were managers in training needing direction input or proceeding by braille. But then again, it's difficult to know what I want with the team player experience (I don't have in this exact field). Thanks tough. I'll try to keep watch on this.

April 20, 2019 04:11 PM
Embassy of Time
1 hour ago, GoliathForge said:

I've been dying to take a 3D artist position or auxiliary programmer (engine side / game play side) on a project that matters. My own ideas excite me, so it's hard to find peace in outside ideas. But as we know, ideas generally have only so much value. Becoming a gear in a larger mechanism is desirable to me. So far though, from my experiences the road is full of holes an no pegs. i think mostly because the groups that I've touched were designers only or those that were managers in training needing direction input or proceeding by braille. But then again, it's difficult to know what I want with the team player experience I don't have in this exact field. Thanks tough. I'll try to keep watch on this.

Just a random thought: Once I have a very barebones version of the first test of the game, why don't you look it over and make a better one from its template? Kind of team experience, but still independent!

April 20, 2019 05:48 PM
NubDevice

sure you bet. I started with c/c++ in the dx5 era. Found a fondness for ogl2. What am I doing? I'm porting my older stuff. Back and forth for a good time2 as we raced for raster and compute power. Then c# came around, I resisted at first, but actually Unity reversed that. Never knowingly went .net api stuff. UDK was my favorite. <sob> Yup, different mind set than frameworks. UE doesn't run on my machine, so no joy yet. pffttt. blender2.8 isn't on the table either (i5 HD9300 / the gt260(M) is cooked). So nah, I'm cool with what I do. It's great. I'll beef up the horse power when the time is necessary. Too many good things to be had right here and still a little localized glamour. 

Nice to have had the chat. 

edit: oh whoops...so are you saying look at my source please? I'm not certain. Every structure would be slightly different depending on the goal of the system. so, I'm sorry, I might have missed it.

Being rogue is awesome. just not getting a whole lot done :D

April 20, 2019 06:15 PM
Embassy of Time
21 hours ago, GoliathForge said:

edit: oh whoops...so are you saying look at my source please? I'm not certain. Every structure would be slightly different depending on the goal of the system. so, I'm sorry, I might have missed it.

Oh no, I meant "look at the resulting game and say what you would add" or something like that. My code is never pretty enough for outside viewing!

April 21, 2019 03:23 PM
NubDevice

:D In a way I was thinking something similar outside your blog entry. How can I mass a population and inexorably make my idea better? 

edit: or maybe the other way around (or both)
Quote

...life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming...(you carry with you a code)

Have a great day.

April 21, 2019 03:47 PM
NubDevice
1 hour ago, Embassy of Time said:

My code is never pretty enough for outside viewing!

Too bad. If we were all open with source, this party might really kick into warp speed. (or be flooded by the copy/paste guys and gals) Tough call.

April 21, 2019 05:06 PM
Embassy of Time
16 minutes ago, GoliathForge said:

Too bad. If we were all open with source, this party might really kick into warp speed. (or be flooded by the copy/paste guys and gals) Tough call.

Oh, I don't mind sharing, I just respect that people rarely find my code very... elegant. It's not advanced enough to warrant protection, at this point it's mainly a few PHP file handlers and some GUI generation (text based, for now). If you want to see it when it's done, you're more than welcome!

1 hour ago, GoliathForge said:

:D In a way I was thinking something similar outside your blog entry. How can I mass a population and inexorably make my idea better? 

What exactly do you mean by that? It sounds interesting!

April 21, 2019 05:24 PM
NubDevice
Just now, Embassy of Time said:

What exactly do you mean by that? It sounds interesting!

okay. well, if my idea is going to be a success, I think I need more than a handful of people looking at my creation. So, as I'm building what will be viewed as long lasting / desirable art, I need more. A lot more. Each telling the one next to them about this great thing that got built. A percentage will fade,some may trickle in. All depends on that crowd that pumped the idea to how ever many spikes you could get out of the thing. <'gotta stop here dude. I've reached my poetry limit> See you around the next bend.

April 21, 2019 05:32 PM
chimchooree

I don't understand what kind of game you're going for, but there are lots of very basic examples of gamification of good deeds out there. I thought about mobile apps that track your daily tasks with RPG elements like https://habitica.com/static/home, "chore bingo" like https://www.laramolettiere.com/product/chore-bingo/, and the point systems that clubs commonly have for tracking and rewarding participation. For instance, the children's group at church awarded points for inviting friends, memorizing Bible verses, and completing my homework. Points could be spent as currency at the little store for buying toys or candies. I hope these examples give you more context for where your game fits in this "genre."

Anyways, try not to get paralyzed by the blank sheet of paper. Getting stuck in the planning phase is no good. Group your ideas and find a couple of options for the identity of your game - the platform, the basic mechanics, etc. Once you can rewrite your basic concept into some actionable technical requirements, you can begin a simple prototype. Testing a prototype would help you talk about something concrete.

April 21, 2019 11:49 PM
Awoken
On 4/21/2019 at 9:47 AM, GoliathForge said:

...life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming...(you carry with you a code)

Sorry to chime in, but I like your quote.  Where did you come across it?

April 24, 2019 01:27 AM
NubDevice

@Awoken That is the architect from The Matrix:Revolutions. Straight up fantasy. :) 

@Embassy of Time Please excuse the interruption. (Respect the blog<-- good deed right :D )

April 24, 2019 03:18 AM
Embassy of Time
On 4/22/2019 at 1:49 AM, chimchooree said:

I don't understand what kind of game you're going for

Basically, a game of "good samaritan", but on a strategy level. Gain points for doing good things, helping others, etc., but even more points for coordinating such things in a given area and getting more to get involved / making it easier to get involved and get results. Kind of "Pay it forward" meets "The game", to pick two ancient movies :)

Does that make any sense?

April 24, 2019 09:49 PM
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