Game, game and game: Alchemy Mini-games

Summary
I'm focusing on designing my game that centers on item creation (synthesis) by trying to solve problems with the world and gameplay design. This is a mixture of notes, thoughts, processes and images that are and aren't coming together to form my prototype. There are some half-formed ideas that could be something if I give them some tender loving care. Things have been haphazard in the workshop so step carefully. Once again the content of this post is a little old so some things may have changed since.

Design Aim
To produce a player experience that allows players to experiment and explore through a fantasy world via item creation.

Premise
After being duped by a fraudulent alchemist, the player is left to deal with requests from a nearby village while learning how to be an alchemist.

World Design
The game environment has to be varied so that the player doesn't get bored and provides them with goals to accomplish. The design of this environment must have something of interest that provides an activity to do or "puzzle" to solve. Puzzles are defined as areas of the environment that the player will require particular tools, items or skills to gain access to. Solving the puzzle grants the player access to additional sources of ingredients, tools, quests and recipes.

I'll be taking inspiration from Last Day of Work's Virtual Villagers series which have small game environments but also interactive sections of map that take time to solve. The following screenshots feature some of the puzzles that can be solved in the more recent games. Solving these puzzles is a eventual process as the player's villagers lack the tools and knowledge to solve the puzzle. The player also has to work out what items and other puzzles that will need to be gathered, made or solved before continuing with another puzzle.

Gameplay

Activities include:
- Ingredient gathering
- Farming
- Synthesis
- Exploration
- Experimentation

Players will need to level up certain skills or tools to explore the entirety of the world and "complete" the game. Tools aid ingredient collection, item production and exploration while improving skills increases the success rate of item creation and item quality during synthesis.

Seasons and the weather will affect the varieties of plants that can be raised, ingredients that can be found, areas that can accessed and some of the activities that can be fulfilled by the player. During rainy days, the player won't need to water plants but may need to repair bridges or other items in the area.

Tools
These are created by the player to assist with item gathering, production and exploration. Better tools can be made which increase the quantity of items gathered or allows the player to harvest higher grade items. Eg. a basic pickaxe gets you 3 pieces of copper but a magical pickaxe gets you 3 pieces of gold. I still need to work on what the upgrade curve will be like.

Farming
The player will be given a portion of land that they can use to grow plants for synthesis or to earn money. The majority of plants grow in particular seasons and have different growth and harvest cycles. Some plants may grow differently depending on their neighbours and environment. Players will need to manage their crops to ensure a successful harvest by watering their plants and learning

Greenhouse
The greenhouse allows players to grow plants under controlled conditions but players will have to devote more care towards the plants The greenhouse is accessed once the player has gained access to it by solving the puzzle of its restoration. All plants require water to grow but some may require additional items to grow and produce crops.

Synthesis
Synthesis are the processes the player undertakes to create items by mixing various items together. The items created can aid the player gather ingredients, explore the environment, supplement income and fulfil quests.

Players will have the option of synthesising using a recipe or by experimenting with various quantities and ingredients.
Recipes can be found, bought or created by the player via any experimenting with the synthesis system. Recipes are used to produce specific items but can also be used as guidelines for experimental synthesis.

Some synthesis processes are interactive which produce items of differing quality based on player's performance. Item quality will determine how much an item can be sold for but also the success of subsequent creations using that item.

The following are interactive processes:
Basic Synthesis
- Involves stirring mixture
Distillation
- Time pressure and heat to create right mixture
Pestle and Motor
- Crush things into powder or pellets, pellets require a liquid to form

I’ve been having some trouble coming up with ways to iterate on Poffin creation and “alchemy” mini-games. I’m starting to worry that any processes I come up with is going to make the game feel like Cooking Mama, which is not what I want. Making a lot of mini-games could be really time consuming and I can’t guarantee that people will think it’s fun unless I do a lot of testing.

I came up 3 basic procedures that I could begin designing and I’m worried that my initial plans are too basic and repetitive while later renditions feel too complex and aren’t cohesive in regards to the overall design.

The 3 initial procedures were:

Stirring (essentially Poffin mixing)

• I hadn’t decided if spillage would be a factor in this

• I was also considering including shaking of the pot

Distillation

• The player adjusts how much pressure is applied by following indications/clues from the heating element
• I hadn’t decided if this would be a flame colour change or build up of steam

Mortar and Pestle

• Crush objects into powder or pellets
• Pellets require the inclusion of liquid to form

As you can see these are pretty rough and aren’t very interesting. I dabbled with the idea of trying to get the player to use the same movements but in varying degrees. For example, a left to right motion would shake the alchemy pot but grind objects using the mortar and pestle. All this is doable but then I realised, this works in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl because there is a stylus to draw with. The average PC user doesn’t have this kind of peripheral.

I hadn’t even considered the Apple or PC users in my early designs and that made me do a double take, how could I implement something similar or would I need to come up with something different? I thought about condensing the above processes into 1 that required the player to do different things based on what “procedure” it was doing.

I started with the idea of an oscillating machine and thought about getting the player to “spin” it so it’d combine objects. In my head it looked like a steampunk washing machine crossed with a wooden ship wheel. It work by the player loading it with objects and then spinning it in different directions and angles to make liquids or solids.

I did consider getting the player to pack the machine in particular manner to achieve the best result but I did a bit of Googling and saw video and guides about a Minecraft mod (Equivalent Exchange) that lets you craft items. I ditched the idea as it required players to think like the designer and doesn’t really make experimenting fun.

I then considered making particular movements relate to particular processes:

Rotate

• General synthesis (think “Will it blend?”)

Push Downwards

• Trying to simulating added pressure
• Maybe the machine tries to resist the added weight/build up

Left to Right

• Controls heat

Up and Down

• Releases steam from the machine

I don’t think I got very far from my initial idea and it’s frustrating me because these systems are integral to the concept. I did toy with the idea of a transmutation circle that the player had to create and various symbols and positions would indicate what would happen to the items placed. The player would have to either slot pieces together to form the circle or rotate them until they “fit”. I might scrap it as it doesn’t seem very interesting and it doesn’t fit with the game’s tone.

I remembered using an item creation system that was interesting and involved a level of strategy. It’s from a game called Rogue Galaxy and is best explained via video. The player would collect/buy/find blueprints (recipes) which would set up an equipment template (just lay stuff out to get the player started) in the factory and provide clues (if the recipe was difficult) to what ingredients the recipe needs.

The trick to this process was that the player had to figure out what processes and items to put together into a complex assembly line. All materials/ingredients have to be processed by particular machines and occasionally more than once. Ingredients have to arrive at the same time into machines called assemblers to be fused into the item. Each piece in the assembly line adds time so players may need to install extra pipes to delay items so they reach the assembler on time. A more complex item is created here.

I also like the fact that players had to install power cords to run the machines and that you could watch the whole thing go when ready to see what happens. Since this was an extra, players got a set number of items to discover. If I remember correctly, you could also make upgraded or additional equipment to make processing easier. This system does remind me of The Codex of Alchemical Engineering and similar games.

The ideas I have been working on go back to my one I wrote about earlier the oscillating machine.

Initially I hadn't thought about the player having to wind the machine up and do additional actions like pulling the valve to release the pressure built up as I had originally designed this as an interation to the Poffin creation system. I believe it was one of those moments where one has to step back to see what you've created. That said, there can be something appealing about having to keep a machine running while waiting for the item to be processed. This could get quite complicated if recipes require exact temperatures, general pressure levels and momentum to create their item.

This design does follow the earlier derivative of getting the player to engage with a method that encourages them to practise synthesising items but I have my misgivings about this one has it involves numerous "hot spots" and could be too complicated for casual users, as this machine requires immense co-ordination. I don't think the "chore" like aspects will appeal to casual players as it's not overly engaging and could become very repetitive. I'll be interested in seeing if this machine works at a prototype level, provided I can devise a way from making this mini-game too frantic but also keep it challenging for players.

I also considered having a basic version of the machine that would then add additional parts to its basic layout when required or when the player chose to perform a particular process. It seems less efficient to compartmentalise the synthesis as it would give players too much control over their synthesis and may be problematic if they miss out on particular items because it can only be made using a particular method.

The version was made up based on my original brainstorm and encompasses The main problem with this version is ensuring the "machine" recognises all the different movements within a set area and how to prevent the player cheat their way by just waggling the mouse willy-nilly. This will be difficult to execute and I think the movements won't work too well without getting the player to "draw" using the mouse. This one would work far better with a touch screen to get the machine to register the variations of movement.

I think the transmutation circles work best in a casual game environment as it can become as easy or difficult as I dictate. This design does lack a level of complexity as it doesn't take much tactical thinking from the player and could become a matter of routine motion (read: chore) rather than something fun. I did have some thoughts about the player having to align it under a time limit, complete two or three different circles to transmute stuff, players being given a riddle that explains that certain symbols have to be in certain quadrants to complete the circle and a sliding puzzle variant to make this mini-game a little more interesting.

I'll be working on the first alchemy machine and transmutation circle mini-games while I work on the game's overall design. Hopefully something interesting will come out of the whole thing. I'll be updating this space when new developments arise. So game, game, game and game.

Wreckless Conduct: Prototype Week 1

Hot Potato hasn't gone to the prototyping stage but its brother Terra has. However I have been working on another project during the holiday and that glorious and violent experience known as Wreckless Conduct is on the production short list.

This means that based on how the prototype ends up in 2 weeks, Wreckless Conduct will become a viable project for this semester or something to shelve for another time.

Wreckless Conduct is "a demolition derby with super awesome weapons" set in a cyberpunk future from the 90's. The project's headed by Inicus and features Anderson as programmer, Brie as character artist and myself on environments.

We've been working on the design and a prototype since late November/early December so our current goals for the next 2 weeks look like this:

Main Goal
Have a prototype that is a small game level
It will contain: moving pedestrians, competitors (AI controlled cars), environment props, buildings and a rudimentary HUD.

Work Breakdown
Plan for the next 2 weeks:

Brie: Model, unwrap, rig and animate (basic walk cycle) for generic pedestrian.

Yena: Environment textures and modeling environment props

Anderson: Credits system, Run time, HUD

Dominicus: Competitor AI, Pedestrian AI (coding for animations), build and implement level

Day 2 Thoughts
Yes, the current prototype has buildings with textures but they are broken. So I'll be spending the weekend fixing up those textures and then modeling environment props.

Here's some old building designs from the very start of the project, these were my starting points for building textures. More on this later.

Prop List
In rough order of priority these are some of things that would make the level look like a city. Consider it my checklist for the 2 weeks.

- Street Lamp / traffic light / electricity or phone pole
- Billboard (probably TV screen, but simple picture boards are also ok)
- Bin
- Street Sign
- Bench
- Dumpster
- Transformer / fuse box / something like that from which we extend wires between things
- Double-sided flat plane object on which to put wire/s texture (multiple different kinds of wire textures would be nice)
- Air-conditioning unit
- Vending machine
- Phone booth
- Metal barrel
- Neon sign
- Chainlink fence
- Plant box
- Construction scaffolding
- Cardboard box
- Wooden crate
- Gas Canister
- Handrails (for the edges of platforms, etc)

Here are some old design sheets for props.

Bubble bubble..

We'd looked at our last concept for a while but it was starting to become very difficult to work with. Utopia is a very wide concept, some of our ideas dealt with situations where utopia was impossible.

Some hunting through Jay is Games proved that our delivery might also drag the project down. Take Interaction Artist For 219 days in a row, Chris DeLeon designed a game. A lot of them are not great but it is a demonstration of giving an audience a (huge) variety of scenarios to play with. Since we're afraid of producing crap, we decided to keep looking for some inspiration.

Doodle God offers a sandboxy experience, by combining elements together to make newer ones.Vectorpark offers a variety of interactive toys and games, we got inspired to work on an interactive environment like tiny grow.

Interactive environments can be fun, especially if you don't know what's coming up. I like it when you've created something and it produces/spawns extra objects that are also interactive.

A quick look at a random word generator nets us:
- Toad
- Dinosaur
- Shipwreck
- Library
- Kangaroo
- Owl
- Volcano
- Spacecraft

Toad lead to Cauldron which leads to us working on a game about item creation. Trust me, it can be a lot of fun. For example:
- alcohol + air freshener = Captain Planet
- hourglass + cat = cat clock
- ?? + ?? + acid = refreshing drink
The possibilites are endless.

Idea Seeding #2

Yesterday's brainstorm session didn't end with much, we did have a few tentative ideas but felt that they wouldn't go very far. We did agree that letting the player devolve and disassemble a world or structure would be a hook. Something in the human condition makes destruction very attractive and rewarding.

Today we decided to go with a slightly different approach; come up with a game concept and adapt it to suit the sandbox theme.

Brainstorming
Using a random word generator we picked out:
- Garden of Eden
- Overpopulation
- Happiness
- Puddle Poet

It was very tempting to conceptualise a Garden of Eden game. The risk with these games are how bored with the player get with nurturing or destroying the environment. Not to mention the political and religious connotations that come with it.

The trouble with sandbox games are the limits, every world has limits and play is bound by them. Endless possibilities are not truly endless but given the scope of the game, the player can achieve a lot. Our budget (non existent) doesn't allow us to produce a "true" sandbox game.

Planting the Idea
Following the train of thought that a sandbox has limits, I asked if we'd be happier making an interactive toy or a game. An interactive toy is the easier option and you can argue that it could be a game. It's a broad subject and has plenty of room for debate. (There's space to rant down below or at your screen if you please.)

If you can play with an object, it will not be a game unless you make it so. Developing rules, scores and goals lead to this, additional players and explosions are optional extras.

It's yet to be discussed if our current concept will just be an interactive toy, but it could become a game. Maybe.

The Concept
The initial concept was to give the player some famous artworks and let them deface or deform them. It's moved into presenting a series(no definite number) of interactive "blocks". (They need a better name but this will suffice until production)






"Blocks" are interactive images (not sure if this will include games). Each "block" has its own rules, what the player does is dependant on the block's design. The mighty mouse will be how you interact with objects, environments and what other junk is put into the "block".

Thematic Brainstorming
We also discussed the content of the "blocks", it was linking theme vs character. A character is a quick way of getting the player to emotionally project themselves onto and into the game. It doesn't fit the concept where the player (not their avatar) is interacting with the world.

Themes provide an abstract base to build lots of variations and interpretations. The difficulty lies in which one to pick.

Themes that we brewed were:
- Love (That one's for Truna)
- Grief/Loss
- Revenge
- Utopia (Dystopia's included too)
- Terror/Fear
- Trust

The winner was: Utopia

Important Details

Audience: The Jay is Games crowd
Scope: Scaleable
Platform: Flash
Team Size: 2 (for now)
Time: 7 weeks
Risks:
- proportion (too much?)
- time
- repetative action can be boring

We'll see were this leads to next time.

Idea Seeding #1

Trying to come up with a good idea can be difficult, getting this idea to work as a game is harder. Brainstorming can be rewarding but it can also turn into some strange beasts.

Taking a cue from the 8th CGDC, Jasmine and I are going to be tackling the theme of "Sandbox".

Definition
Sandbox can mean:
- a pit full of sand
- a virtual container in which untrusted programs can be safely run
- an online environment in which code or content changes can be tested without affecting the original system
- a game with non linear and open ended play

Examples
Sandbox is an undefined "genre" of games where anything is possible. Here's some games that fit loosely in this kind.
- Sandbox of God (Has to be downloaded)
- Grow
- Good Things Should Never End
- Sleep is Death
- Any life simulation eg. The Sims, virtual pets, trainer etc
- Little Big Planet, GTA etc.
- Balloon in a Wasteland, Shopping Cart Hero, Level Up

Word Association
This can be a helpful tool in finding a concept to work on or at least finding out what your team is like. Use with caution, hilarity and disaster can occur.

- Interactive (Very obvious but remember it. You want this instead of immersion)
- Rube Goldberg Machine (See one in action here with OK Go - Thanks Arash!)
- God
- World Creation
- (Pure) Play
- Sand (It's out of my system now)
- Simulation
- Hypotheticals
- Experimentation
- Different Outcomes
- Children
- Exploration
- Creation
- No (small?) Consequences
- Lego (Mechano if you're cool)
- Customisation
- Play-Doh/Clay
- Frankenstein's Monster
- Level Editors
- Duality
- Time Sinks
Where will this lead us? Stay tuned for more later.

Spacecase

When you get that new rush of enthusism that makes you want to go at super speeds, ride rainbows and take on the world? I get plenty of moments like that, sadly I run out of steam when I need it the most.

Here's some images from while I was learning the ins and outs of Actionscript. I'm still a long way from coding anything decent but I'm still naiive enough to believe that I'll be able to make a complete game.

During some irratic brainstorm of confusing cortex functions, I came up with the idea of a literal space opera game. Going with impulse ideas is sometimes a bad thing, you'll thank me when you've avoided crashing the space time continuim while trying to find a cure for the common cold by constructing a cat powered time machine.

Why Space + Opera sounded like a good idea is lost to me. I've been rolling the concept in my head for so long, I've forgotten all the good bits. It's really too early to have this grandoise ideas but it's hard to stop coming up with them.

Early concept art:








The original main character was going to be a conductor whose opera gets overrun by aliens. It didn't make much sense since an opera in space would naturally involve aliens. I remember thinking of a mechanic that involved using the conductor's baton to make platforms move up based on which way you moved it.

When people (or your teacher) says they like to shoot stuff, well you might just go with the flow. Don't do it all the time, suicide conga lines aren't fun. Even if they offer pina coladas.

The next interation of the hero was based on the typical "Buck Rogers" acetype. Big chin, big hair and a dislike against opera loving aliens.





Along the way this all got converted into a basic platformer. Designing levels is interesting but can also be frustrating. Like making puzzles.

Concept for the level design:
(I can't remember why he has a jetpack)


Attempt at designing a level.


Teaming up with people can lead to some interesting results, good and bad. The final prototype ended up having our hero blasting away cooties who'd come to eat this ship. One day I might make the original version, until then I'll just keep trying to get something done.

The character line up, cooties are on the far right: