How to split up the project

[markbahnman]

Who's doing what and how the project is organized will probably change over time, but for the purposes of our project proposal we need a general idea how how we are going to split up some work. Some things that were mentioned in the tutorial:

Enemy AI Sound Level Design/Story Boarding Menus/User Input

[waylaidwanderer]

I think creating a story-board is most important right now - with that, we'll have a good idea of what direction we want to take this in. I think focusing on this in the next tutorial would be best.

[aashkaran]

..Just saying..,,what if instead of enemies and stuff...we make a running game in which we have a monster chasing us...and we have to dodge things...jump..slide...collect coins...and as level progresses...it gets faster... just like Temple Run... :/

[waylaidwanderer]

I definitely see the potential in making a side-scrolling version of Temple Run. We could add things like ziplines and stuff just like temple run 2. Sounds fun, actually. I would play it

Aashkaran Dhillon notifications@github.com wrote:

..Just saying..,,what if instead of enemies and stuff...we make a running game in which we have a monster chasing us...and we have to dodge things...jump..slide...collect coins...and as level progresses...it gets faster... just like Temple Run... :/

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[aashkaran]

Yeah..!!.....Side Scrolling version of Temple Run 2.....sounds good....! ..Its good if we take inspiration from a present game..coz coming up with a new thing..story/plot...characters..levels...etcc....will involve a lot of....brainstorming...and time killing...

[waylaidwanderer]

Well I'm definitely down for that idea - let's see what other people think. Just gotta wait for them to start discussing here lol

Aashkaran Dhillon notifications@github.com wrote:

Yeah..!!.....Side Scrolling version of Temple Run 2.....sounds good....! ..Its good if we take inspiration from a present game..coz coming up with a new thing..story/plot...characters..levels...etcc....will involve a lot of....brainstorming...and time killing...

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[ljusman]

Sure! That Temple Run idea sounds great. I'm actually perfectly happy with any type of platformer, and this type sounds promising. Any ideas regarding this, anyone?

[aashkaran]

lukas...what happened in ensc 182...did u get the robot checked..

[ljusman]

Hey man. Here's the big news:

I managed to borrow someone else's robot, and run it on my code. But that time, the robot kept moving backwards. I had no idea why. It was working perfectly just before my presentation. I explained this to Amr and one of the T.A.s, and luckily for us, Amr said that he would not mark us for the malfunctioning robot, but rather, shift the weight of the mark onto the next Sumo competition. So for the next competition, we can expect to be marked more heavily. Let's make that one count! ;)

[aashkaran]

woah...Greater pressure.......it all relies on u man....programming is the heart of robot.....just follow what others did....30-40 lines of code....just play with timers......I will try and build up a design.....

[ljusman]

The sumo robot designing and competition will not take place until after reading break, but I will code only the basics of the robot brain first, and once you build the robot, then we will do the testing and debugging of more complex code. I think I will need to see the robot first. Do you have any ideas on what you want to build? If you already know, and you are certain that you are able to build that robot for the next competition, could you give me the details of the robot? Also, when you are thinking of the design, you should consider where to put the sensors and motors, and how to attach them together - just in general terms (not in detail). And as for my part, when the robot is built, I will start with small lines of code, and if we have the time, I will implement more features after debugging if you think it would be necessary (we can discuss this later). But I can't wait to start programming the heart of the robot...

[aashkaran]

Yes....I think u should program after I build it up....I will try building the robot using that LEGO Software....and send to u...This way we can finish building part in the very first class....Also , I think...u should program in class....rather than at home...coz trial and error is a better option...(write few lines of code then test it and so on).......it will save a lot of DEBUGGING time...plus I will get to learn a lot abt programming.....

[ljusman]

Ok. Sounds good! And do you think you can get that LEGO software working in the class? Because remember last time - we couldn't open up the file for the LEGO design for the software on the ENSC 182 computer...do you think you can take care of that (we need it to work on the computer so that you can build the robot, I think)?

[waylaidwanderer]

Let's keep this to the project discussion guys.

ljusman notifications@github.com wrote:

Ok. Sounds good! And do you think you can get that LEGO software working in the class? Because remember last time - we couldn't open up the file for the LEGO design for the software on the ENSC 182 computer...do you think you can take care of that?

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[ljusman]

Oh. Right. Sorry. Regarding the "Temple Run idea" - I think we should make other innovative features instead of just implementing what we could label as a "a slightly altered copy of Temple Run." That's all I have right now.

[waylaidwanderer]

Well of course we'll have to change things up a bit if it's going to be a side scroller - we probably will have to add a few things / remove others from the temple run 2 concept to make it work.

ljusman notifications@github.com wrote:

Oh. Right. Sorry. Regarding the "Temple Run idea" - I think we should make other innovative features instead of just implementing what we could label as a "a slightly altered copy of Temple Run." That's all I have right now.

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[aashkaran]

Side Scrolling temple run...cnt be called an "altered copy"...thats a major change........Since we cant turn left/right in side scrolling...we can lay our emphasis on jumping, sliding and collecting coins(if necessary).....plus...we dont have to care much abt AI.. We can do something like...the guy is a conman and he steals a new item in every level..and he has to run specific distance to evade monster/police whatever.....and with each level...the evasion gets tougher.....due to more obstacles...and more speed........

[waylaidwanderer]

We don't need separate levels, I think. For example Temple Run is basically a continuous game where you have to keep going without stopping. I think we can try creating a procedurally generated level and then gradually increase the player's speed every X amount of points they gain.

[aashkaran]

Yeah... maybe I got too driven away..... :smile: ... btw I think I can try my hand at creating the background score for the game.....I am no pro. but maybe I can do someeeething.....

[waylaidwanderer]

You mean like music?

Aashkaran Dhillon notifications@github.com wrote:

Yeah... maybe I got too driven away..... :smile: ... btw I think I can try my hand at creating the background score for the game.....I am no pro. but maybe I can do someeeething.....

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[aashkaran]

yeah..u knw the background music that plays.......while playing a game.....

[waylaidwanderer]

Ah yes, sounds good to me. You got music experience?

Aashkaran Dhillon notifications@github.com wrote:

yeah..u knw the background music that plays.......while playing a game.....

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[aashkaran]

no....but I try playing randomly....in GarageBand and Logic Pro software.....plus ...I have a Sound Effects collection.....If no one is taking this task...then I can do it ..and come up with something passable....

[waylaidwanderer]

Lol I knew you were going to say Garageband... Anyway, we'll ask if anyone has music experience

Aashkaran Dhillon notifications@github.com wrote:

no....but I try playing randomly....in GarageBand and Logic Pro software.....plus ...I have a Sound Effects collection.....If no one is taking this task...then I can do it ..and come up with something passable....

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[ljusman]

Hey guys, I'm back! Anyway, I just want to let you know that I compose music on the Yamaha keyboard and then record my music using Audacity. It's a fun thing for me to do, but I'm open to doing other tasks as well if it is required. This is just FYI.

[aashkaran]

Great...I use software instruments to compose in Logic Pro.....I think..for background score.....we'd be needing drums....synths......bass...and SFX......these are all available in the software I have.....

[ljusman]

Ok, in that case, you could take care of the BGM, and of course, you could do some programming as well when needed right? Also, we need other people to join this discussion so that we could come to an agreement of what to do. It's just like Mark said - we need at least a general idea of how we are going to split things up.

[aashkaran]

we can collaborate if u want....yes I will try programming part....first I am going to get through the book and see where I stand :gun: :confounded:

[ljusman]

Ok. I think I'll more or less do the same...

And don't fret about the programming - you'll do fine, man :P

[tina888]

A side scrolling version of temple run sounds good but I agree, we should probably figure out the storyboard first and then go from there.

[francesL]

A side scrolling Temple Run is like "Island Runner" right?

[ljusman]

Yup.

[williamOng]

What do you do with story boarding and level design?

[williamOng]

Seeing the proposal is due in 2 days, I think we should just assign people their parts now, and change it if necessary(probably necessary) later.

As for the game description, the side scrolling temple runner idea is nice. If you guys want to give me the basic idea and features we'd want to implement, I can write it on the proposal while adding details; in other words, I can bs a bit to make it look nice while achievable.

[tina888]

I'm interested in doing level design/story boarding. How many levels are we doing?

[aashkaran]

I think there is only one level....its just the game that speeds up and gets harder....as more coins are collected

[tina888]

That's what I was thinking but it sounds like we're just recreating temple run then. I'm not sure. How will our game be different from temple run?

[williamOng]

I was thinking like around 6 levels and you can pick whichever level to play. And record high scores/time

[waylaidwanderer]

Yeah, I think that'd be more in the spirit of Temple Run. Have the level be continuously generated as the character moves, and then have the character move at a faster pace.

We just need to figure out what obstacles, traps, powerups, etc to add into the game. Maybe something like ziplines, minecarts and stuff would be cool to add in as well, like in Temple Run 2. If we come up with other ideas that'd be cool too.

Nothing wrong with recreating Temple Run :P I think having it as a sidescroller is already pretty impressive/different.

[waylaidwanderer]

We could also add moving enemies like the Goombas in Mario - you can either try to jump on or over them or risk dying.

[aashkaran]

yes....there is nothing wrong with recreating Temple Run.......I guess they're just seeing how we cope up with the project and stuff....They're not expecting first year students to come up with the world's most fantastic game... :D

[aashkaran]

multiple levels idea is good...but.....u r the programming guys...u should knw....how much time will it take to do each level....I have no idea

[tina888]

That's true. Yeah, a side scrolling temple run game sounds nice. I'd play it. :P

[waylaidwanderer]

I think it'd be already pretty impressive to say "Hey, we learned Python in two months AND created a game using Python", haha.

I think, regarding multiple levels, we could have different "themes" for each level, but the same general concept with a procedurally generated, continually faster/harder level. For example, one level could be outdoors, in a forest or something, and the sprites/enemies/obstacles could be themed around that. Then another level would be in a cave, again with sprites/enemies/obstacles corresponding to that as well. We could also have different obstacles depending on which level you pick - for example we can have pitfalls in the cave level, and maybe ponds with crocodiles you have to jump on/across in the forest level.

[ljusman]

I can do AI/obstacles/character foils in the game. Also, I'm with Joel's idea of different themes.

[williamOng]

That's what I was thinking. After making one level, wouldn't the others actually be easier now that the logic of how to create a level is done? The artwork and music would be different, but the general gameplay wouldn't. All that would change is the placement of obstacles

[waylaidwanderer]

I agree. Seems like a good course of action then. The main thing is we need to complete one level first and see if we have time for others. Debugging/playtesting will probably take up a big chunk of time even after we're done coding.

[ljusman]

Same here. Also, I think now would be a good time to decide/debate on roles, as the project proposal is due soon. Maybe it'd be good if people could just state what aspect of the game they would want to implement, and even if the ideas are too broad or too narrow, we could discuss as necessary.

[waylaidwanderer]

Btw here's a good sidescrolling game that implements procedurally generated levels, a lot like a 2D Temple Run. Robot Unicorn Attack: http://games.adultswim.com/robot-unicorn-attack-twitchy-online-game.html I recommend you guys play it. It's super fun :D

I call getting the character to jump/slide!

[williamOng]

HAHA can't believe you actually linked that game.

I kinda wanna do level design, but am unsure of exactly what is to be expected and needed.

[williamOng]

I think we should all meet and exchange numbers tomorrow before 106 starts, unless some of you have a class in between 105 and 106.