Just a quick update:

We’ve named the game Simoebic Dysentery (at least temporarily) to see how it feels… So far I like it, but King Thor is not so hot on the idea.

Also, King Thor has finished the script for the game and we are going to start mapping it out to determine level dynamics and logic better. This adds a new dimension to the level editor that I wasn’t anticipating quite yet (a “story” editing mode, to add script items into the levels) and delays the final build of my level editor by at least a day or two…

Just a few updates:

1) The editor is pretty much done, although I’m sure there will be a few minor tweaks as we get farther into the level building process. I improved the graphics functions greatly (there were a few places that it was needlessly re-drawing the entire screen, and an overly-processor-heavy line drawing function) and the speed is now much faster. I’ve added all the bits and pieces from my last post- blood cell generators, flow direction, goal scripting, etc. The game board is also now 20×15, so a full game screen will fit nicely on a Macbook screen without having to be re-sized or scrolled (which was a goal of mine; the plan is to make a fairly high-paced puzzle game, but I would like to make a game where the player is encouraged to plan multiple steps ahead instead of fumbling around the puzzles and problems as they arise and possibly being forced to restart the level because of the game and not their own misstep.)

2) I have begun the process of adding layers of interesting visual flair to the game so it doesn’t look so bland… As soon as I’m a little happier with the results, I’ll post a newer screenshot. This is mostly going to involve dark blotches and creases overlaid across certain cells, cross hatching, and shadows in corners. I like the way the graphics are going, but they are a little amateurish right now and need some desperate love.

3) I am in the process of adding a “test” function to my editor, making it easier to visualize pulse, blood cell generation rates, and blood flow directions. This function is planned to eventually morph into a full-fledged controllable test game, which will then turn, butterfly-like, into the actual game by simply taking out the level-building code and implementing a different startup sequence to load the levels and begin gameplay. This is my preferred method of building a level-editor, as it forces me to use the exact same code to build both, resulting in levels built for the engine and reducing the possibility of major issues in encoding or logic within the final built game.

I’ve sent the team the first build of the level editor, which is far from feature complete, but will allow us to start making levels and banging out designs. The graphics aren’t much changed from the last screenshot, just a few minor tweaks:

Changes from the pre-build phase:
Addition of two more cell types (the in-game properties of which have yet to be determined, although I assume the fat-looking thing will be impassable)
Addition of veins
Rendering of arteries/veins changed slightly- the more wobbly, longer lines of the earlier build were proving to be a pain to deal with and generally looked pretty terrible
Level editor currently saves all info about level and start & goal points… Saved levels are raw files and average around 500k, so the entire “basic” game that we are planning for the contest (5 “worlds” of 3 levels each) will only be about 7 1/2 MB worth of levels, hopefully helping in our goal to get the entire finished game (with soundtrack and dialog) in below 100MB
The full rendering of the entire board is sloooow right now- and I will probably be looking at ways to improve the code, speed up the graphics, or kludge around full board renderings whenever possible.

Goals for the next week:
Add scripting to level editor
Add blood flow control and display to level editor
Add “goodies” item to level editor
Add more visual flair… right now our stated goal of getting the game to look like Gray’s Anatomy is falling a little short…
Start work on actual game engine

The first bits of the soundtrack are up, thanks to King Thor and the Republic of Thoronia Band…

“Welcome to My Body”

“Unrest in Dis-Century”

“Proteus Maximus”

“White Blood Cell Hot Body”

“The Truth is Inside”

“Amoeba I’ll Do It Tomorrow”

“Mitosis Are Sore”

“Phagocytosis Soda Charm”

I’ve just sent off my entry fee, so Team Mojiferous is official now…

Nothing stupendous has happened with the project since the last update, just a few notes:

I am working on the level editor now that I have a somewhat clearer view of how the graphics will look and feel. My current plan is to use a very basic three dimensional integer array for the level information, the first two dimensions being the x and y coordinates of cells, etc. and the third dimension a layer signifier. Level 0 will be a value for the graphics engine: 0 will signify a blood vessel, 1 a regular cell, 2 muscle tissue, etc. Level 2 is going to be directional information for blood flow (in 8 directions… so a 1 on this level will signify a blood flow towards the top of the screen from the bottom) Level 3 is for in-game data, such as special items, white blood cell production points (or entry points from off the screen) and other such necessary things. The actual game will read this data to determine the logic of the game itself (e.g. if the “head” of your amoeba is at a screen position of 62,40 and each square in the grid is 40 pixels by 40 pixels then obviously you are in square 2,1 and the game needs to determine the blood flow direction, type of cell, etc. etc. of said square.

Thorin has finished the initial music concepts for the game and is finishing production on them this weekend, I haven’t heard them yet so I can’t add much to that… I have also spoken to a few other friends of mine to possibly get a few more instrumental songs and oddities from them- more on that if I hear anything.

The voice talent has been firmed up a bit, with contributions promised from a multitude of friends including a local jazz radio DJ, and British chap, and an array of crazy individuals… should be a rollicking good time!

Here’s the first shot of the graphics engine, in a controlled environment:

The banded thing towards the middle-left is my attempt at muscle, the red blob to the right and bottom is a blood vessel (artery, obviously)

Currently everything is defined by static coordinates to determine how each part is going to appear… nothing is dynamically set quite yet.
Right now all of the drawing is done with simple lines and shapes; to draw the cells I set up an array based on a 10×10 grid with coordinates for each corner of each cell, with a small random factor in x and y to make them appear less square and more random. To make them look slightly etched or hand-drawn, I draw their outlines in a 2 pixel width line and then draw the interior space with a 1 pixel border, which will overlap the outline in certain places, but not all. Cell interiors are dynamically set and all of the “extra contents” of the cell avoid the nucleus, however this is currently a poorly coded process and slows down the drawing of the cells immensely- for the working version of the game I will have to determine how I am going to proceed with this graphical nuance: should I set the location of the nucleus and organelles of each cell initially (which would be a little bit more work, but the appearance of the interior cells would not change as much as redrawing is done), or should they remain dynamic? I know that I am only going to redraw the “background” cells, blood vessels, etc. when a cell is lysed or explodes, so the redraw would not be that often, but I’d prefer not to have anything slowing the graphics down. Right now my plan is to rewrite the algorithm that determines the organelle location to place them according to a random place based on the location of the nucleus instead of a random location and then checking against the x,y of the nucleus and then determine redraw from there.
The muscle looks okay and in tests generally comes out pretty good. It is also dynamic, being composed of 1 or 2 width black quadratic lines with a striation of 1 width white lines and a random hump point. The key to making fully dynamic “muscle” is going to be building an algorithm that determines if a muscle group is taller than long, etc. and changing the direction… I haven’t quite got around to figuring this out completely, so we’ll see where that goes.
I want to add more detail to the blood vessel, but for now it looks pretty good. For the level editor and beyond, I need to have the graphics engine determine the length/direction of the blood vessel, and the location of any corners for my current graphics scheme to work. I will also have to determine how often the blood vessels are going to be redrawn, as the variance in the wall width is randomly set, and much like the organelles, I will need to determine if it changes with every redraw or is set once and stored as a variable.

I may be a little late in entering the contest, but who doesn’t like a challenge? Here goes:

Title: Currently, something involving the word Ameba, Amoeba, Hot Sick, etc. etc. (suggestions, anyone?)
Genre: A real-time puzzler… Sort of an ugly man-beast-child of Frogger, Dig Dug, Super Mario Brothers, Portal, and dysentery.
Game Description: You are a parasite (at this stage in development an amoeba), happily going about your business of parasitism inside some unfortunate fellow’s body. You float through the blood stream, looking for nutrients, avoiding phages and antibiotics, and trying to (literally) divide and conquer. The game will be divided into “levels” and “worlds”- each level is a portion of a system or organ within the person’s body you are living within- so for example, the first “world” will likely be the lungs or stomach, with minor “levels” as you advance through the stomach wall and towards whatever organ you’re after next. Each level ends with a “target cell”, much like the flag at the end of a Super Mario level, full of nutrients to allow you to continue your journey, with end-of-world levels home to a much more nutrient rich cell that will give your amoeba enough energy to divide, increasing the number of “lives” you have and opening the door for possible mutation. Mutation is currently planned to be non-directional (meaning neither definitively positive nor negative) and allows for added abilities, special skills, or [possibly] unforeseen consequences.
How it will work: Like Dig Dug married to Super Mario at Frogger’s house… The player will start at one end of the level, with the “target cell” at the opposite end- in between there will be a maze of blood vessels, cells, bone, muscle, etc. etc. The player can move freely through the blood vessels, but they will be the main conduits for immune-response cells (of various kinds), antibiotics, and other such amoeba-eating nasties (everything will move through the blood vessels according to a “pulse”, and in early levels the player may not have strong enough propulsion to overcome this pulse and may be stuck riding the current. Also, as the “patient” gets sicker, the pulse will increase, making the game’s “immune response” faster as levels increase… this is the Frogger part of the game, timing your escape from the white blood cells.) Surrounding the blood vessels will be cells that the player is able to lyse, or burst- much like Dig Dug, tunneling through the body’s organs to get at the “target cell”. Occasionally these normal cells will also hold immune-system nasties or bonus proteins, making them impassible or attractive. Scattered about will also be areas that are impassible (such as bones or muscle tissue), that the player will have to plan around. Big gameplay concept: The amoeba may only destroy a limited number of cells in its quest for the “target cell”, so the player will have to plan their route to the target- will it be through the dangers of the blood stream, or can you make it through the maze of cells and tissue? if only you had enough cell-bursting power…
Graphics: The graphics will be modeled after Gray’s Anatomy (the book, not the TV show), with a woodcut/etched look. Mostly black and white, but with color overlays for blood vessels, target cells, etc. Some important items or places will be labeled in a similar fashion to the book.
Controls: WASD and spacebar

Development Tools:
REALBasic
Illustrator
Inkscape
Gimp
Audacity

Team:
Joe Flores (Mojiferous) – code, design
Thorin Klosowski (King Thor) – design, script, music, sound
Liaht Rosenstein – technical consultation, editor

Additional notes: We’re hoping to have some sort of soundtrack for the game, and recorded dialog (that will sound muddied, as if you were listening to it inside the body) whether that happens, we’ll see…

Development Plan (as of 01/09/09):
1) build a graphics engine for the game with accompanying level editor, post them here, distribute to team (1 week?)
2) design levels, while sound, music, and other assets come together (early Feb?)
3) assemble levels and start building physics and logic for the game (late Feb?)
4) something close to a working game (hopefully by the end of the contest!)