Kommunity Game KBE

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

Let's build a game together!

I've put together the basic framework for a memory-style tile match game (with a few twists) but it's up to the Kommunity to create new levels. But before I try to describe the game or how to create a level, try it for yourself.

To add the game to your RhettAndLinKommunity profile:
1) Go to https://rhettandlink.ning.com/opensocial/application/addByUrl
2) In the App URL input box type (or cut and paste) the following URL: http://games.majorfracas.com/mmc4os/mmcapp.xml
3) Click the Add App button

To play the game, click on the My Apps link found in the left hand column of your profile page (My Page tab). The game should be pretty self-explanatory.

Now that you've tried it, let me tell you about some of the variations available in the game.

First, the game will support either simple match play (match identical images) or what I like to call "puzzle match" play. Puzzle match play is where the tiles that match have different images (words or other clues) that are somehow related and it is up to the player to recognize the "match". Both of the sample levels provided (Alter Egos, Know Your Cheese) are examples of puzzle match play.

The game will support different quantities of matching tiles, for example match-two, match-three, etc. The game will also support games of 20 larger tiles (76px) or 30 smaller tiles (57px).

In addition, there are a couple of variations to make the game play more interesting.

"Bomb" mode reserves 1 tile (or set of tiles) to be the "bomb". If you uncover a bomb tile without a match, all of the previously matched tiles are turned over, effectively resetting the game to the beginning. The sample level "Know Your Cheese" is an example of bomb-mode. Uncovering a mouse tile, without matching it to the other mouse tile, will reset the game.

"Swap" mode exchanges the location of mismatched tiles. In other words, if you uncover 2 tiles that don't match, then when they are flipped back over, their locations are "swapped". This means that as you play the game, the position of the tiles will change making it more difficult to keep track of where things are. Currently swap-mode is only available for match-two play.

What do you need to create a game level? Your creative ideas and images!

You can create a simple match game to showcase your artwork. Or create a puzzle match level based on one (or more) of Rhett and Link's videos. Or you can collaborate and create a level based on one of the KBEs (Randler, Mythical Beasts, etc.) The possibilities are endless and limited only by our collective imagination!

So, who's game?!

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

It certainly does! On Mac and Windows.

You can't go straight to http://games.majorfracas.com/mmc4os/mmcapp.xml, so don't click on that link.

Instead you have to add the App (game in this case) to your profile by going to http://rhettandlink.ning.com/opensocial/application/addByUrl . Once there you should see an input box labeled "App URL". You need to cut and paste this url http://games.majorfracas.com/mmc4os/mmcapp.xml into that text box.

Confusing, I know. Please try again and let me know if these instructions work for you.

Loch Ness Lance said:

Does this not work in firefox? Or have I done something wrong?

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

Probably the easiest way to explain what you'll need to do to create a level is to demonstrate. The attached image (level_easy.png) is for a simple match-two level. The dimensions of the standard tile is 76 pixels square. So the image is divided into 76 x 76 pixel squares representing the images to display on the tiles.

Note that the square (tile) in the upper left corner is always the "back side" of the tile and is used for all the tiles when they are in the "face down" (or hidden) state. The remaining squares in the image represent the different tiles or images to match in the game. Since the standard game displays 20 tiles and the game is match-two style play, we thus have 10 unique images. (20 / 2 = 10)

Including the "back side" means a total of 11 images. So the dimensions of the image are 76 pixels high by 836 pixels wide (where 836 = 76 x 11).

If you want a level with more tiles, you can choose the smaller size of 57 pixels square. In this case, the level would consist of 30 tiles. A simple match-two level at this size would require 15 unique tile images plus the back side image. However, if the level were to be match-three , you would only need 10 unique images (30 / 3) plus the backside image.

[Rachel (Zagalope)]

I LOVE it!!!!!!!!!! I'll see if I can come up with anything for another level. Thanks for putting in the time on this!

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

A puzzle match level will require multiple images for a matching set. In this case we add additional rows of tile images. Images within the same column represent a matching set of tiles. The attached image file (level_alteregos.png) provides an example. The "Alter Egos" level is a match-two level so we need 2 images per tile set so that is why we have two rows.

If a level were a puzzle match-three level, then there would be 3 rows of tile images.

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

Rachel - Zagabeenie (Jackalope) said:

I LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad to hear it! I'm excited too!

I'm putting up instructions/examples now so let me know if something doesn't make sense.

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

The attached image (level_threeofakind.png) is for a puzzle match-three level.

Note that there are 3 rows of tile images. Also note that there are only 7 columns. This is because 20 tiles / 3 tiles per match = 6.66 tile sets (or 7 if you round up).

Because 3 does not divide evenly into 20, we have 2 left over tiles. But these 2 tiles will never be a set of 3. So this situation would lend itself perfectly to "bomb" mode. In bomb mode, the tiles in the last column will cause the game to be reset if turned over without matching. And since there are only 2, they'll never create a matching set of 3.

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

Finally, here is an example of a level designed for the smaller tiles. (level_ladybugs.png)

This is a puzzle match-three level. Therefore there are 3 rows and 10 columns (10 sets of 3). The tile size is 57 pixels square.

As you might guess by the spiders in the rightmost column, this level was intended to be run in "bomb" mode where the spiders are the "bombs" and will reset the game if uncovered.

Another thing to note is that a challenging level can be created with variations of the same image. Between matching sets, the ladybugs vary by color and number of spots. Within a set (column), the image is the same but the orientation varies. This makes it very challenging to identify matches.

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

After you've created your image similar to the examples above (PNG format is preferred but JPG may also work), you'll need to provide some additional information before the level can be included in the game:

1) A Title for your level. Something that captures the essence of your level. Be creative.

2) Your name. It's your level, you should get credit. And you will!

3) A description of your level. If it's a puzzle match level, you should give an indication of how to identify matching tiles. What's the thread that ties those images together and makes them a match? If the level is to be "bomb" mode, you should warn the player about what to avoid.

4) The game play style. This should be self-evident by looking at the image file, but just to be sure we'll need to know if it's match-two, match-3, etc.

5) Whether the level should be played with the "bomb" mode feature. Remember, the tiles in the rightmost column are the "bombs" and should be visually distinct from the other tiles.

6) Whether the level should be played with the "swap" mode feature. You should include some mention of this in the level description or the player might get very confused when tiles aren't where they were before!

[Corey Kramer (Ghost Chicken)]

Iff'n ya have any particular images in mind, I'd do my best to whip some up for ya (or use somethin' I've already posted... if they'll help). Apart from my Beastly duties here I am a rabid collector of Vintage boardgames, so if ya want some other ideas for games, I'm your guy!

[Major Fracas (Al-mi'raj)]

Corey Kramer (Ghost Chicken) said:

Iff'n ya have any particular images in mind, I'd do my best to whip some up for ya (or use somethin' I've already posted... if they'll help).

Corey, I didn't have any particular images of yours in mind (although I did have you and a few other kommunity artists in mind when I posted this ;-) , so whatever images you have available that would look good at small sizes would be great! Thanks.

I also have some ideas for a new level "mode" where the tiles would be smaller samples from a larger image which would be revealed upon completion of the level... But that would require some changes to the code, so maybe in a future release.

Apart from my Beastly duties here I am a rabid collector of Vintage boardgames, so if ya want some other ideas for games, I'm your guy!

Thanks for the offer. Let's see how this develops and then we can brainstorm!

--David

[Link]

Awesome! I hope some of you Beasts take screenshots and make a game....or draw some pics!

[Link]

It's fun!