Friday 31 October 2008

mars racer

http://jackuchu.net/racer/marsracer.swf

only random levels

Idea 3

Musical platform game.

Art based

http://www.jackuchu.net/platformer

Tile based

http://www.emanueleferonato.com/2008/10/24/new-tile-based-platform-engine-part-11-slopes-part-b/

Raytrace/vector/phisics

Idea 2

Create a game for multi touch table.
twin stick shooter could translate well.

Ideas


Finish Sparrow interactive storybook,
add more game elements.

Thursday 23 October 2008

Thursday 16 October 2008

Is Jimi Hendrix a good level designer?




A few years ago at Game Developers Conference The guys behind guitar hero, Harmonix did a talk about how they made guitar hero they talked about how choosing the right song was importand and how some songs our great but just wouldn't be fun to play because because of too much repetition and lack of veriety in the song. This has made me think about what music I want to use in my game and how have to listen to the songs a difrent way and think about how they could be transformed into interesting game levels.

You can hear the talk at GDC radio http://www.gdcradio.net/2007/04/is_jimi_hendrix_a_good_level_d.html

VG maps

www.vgmaps.com is a great resource for finding maps of videogame levels when you see a whole level all at once you realize how complex some of these game stages are.

Here's one of my faverate platform gaming levels Flying battery zone from Sonic&Knucles


It's a lot more complex than world 1-1 form Super Mario Bros, possibly the most famous game stage ever.

Earthworm Jim 2

This level in earthworm jim 2 has music that is suited to the music very well you can see the sections of the level relate to bit of the music track although they cant match completely as each player plays the level differently but i can defenetly see a concection between level design and music.

Earthworm Jim 2 final level, See Jim Run, Run Jim Run.
Music, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata mvt. 3

MusicVR


Mike Oldfield famous for creating tubula bells the music used in the exorcist, created some virtual reality music "games" in the earley 90s the graphics are a little crude by todays standards but they still offer a rather unique expericnce, you can download a demo of the games at http://www.mikeoldfield.com
I found these threds on Rllmuk forum about the idea of games based on music albums.

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=47771

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=164513

An interesting Post by Talk Show Host

Radiohead's Kid A.

It would be a platformer in a world that is being destroyed as you play. Pastel colours, 2D scrolling with puzzles and action elements.

There would be a level where you have to construct a jigsaw ("Everything in its Right Place"), an escort a la Lemmings level ("Kid A"), an escape the destruction level ("The National Anthem"), an invisible level where your actions make it reappear slowly ("How to disappear completely), a level where you must plant trees to restore nature balance ("Treefingers"), a level where you have to escape Dinosaurs ("Optimistic"), a chill out level ("In Limbo"), a chaotic level where you shoot political figures that are destroying our world ("Idioteque"), a level where you must take care of small children and help them to live a productive life ("Morning Bell") and finally another chill out level with a maze where you are trying to find your way amongst the stars ("Motion Picture Soundtrack").

It would be an astonishing game. wub.gif

Monday 13 October 2008

The Fancy Pants Adventure


Just looking around the internet for platforming insperation and i found this

http://fizzlebot.com/TheFancyPantsAdventure.swf

Featured Blog: Hand Circus


http://www.handcircus.com/

"Handcircus is a micro-studio creating games and exhibits. Please bear with me as this site is very much in a state of flux!

At the moment it contains information about upcoming Handcircus games, such as the iPhone and iPod touch game Rolando, but also a lot of my previous work and projects over the years. (I’m Simon Oliver by the way, hello.).

If you’d like to get in touch, feel free to email me at simon [at] handcircus dot com"

Music in motion

I found this musical flash platform game called Music in Motion on youtube.

the first level isn't really that fun, no challenging jumps or item collection, but it does go to show that platform games and music can go together.

Wednesday 8 October 2008


I looked at fan music videos and remixes to see how different people interpreted Nine Inch Nails' music.

Looking for music


On nine inch nails' website (www.nin.com) they have garage band files that include all the stems (different instrements, vocals etc)from each of there songs, released for remixing perposes, Im now looking trhough them and listening to the songs working out which ones would fit best in a game level.

a Platform game with musical elements

I want to make a platform game with musical elements simolar to rez, everyday shooter, audio surf etc.