Nejuf - Software Development
Game Projects>Crazy Melding
Crazy Melding is a mobile game where the player combines items experimentally to solve puzzles. It uses a grid and tile system that is abstract so that it could be applied to any perspective or theme. It is designed to be fun to play on a mobile touch screen. The tiles are large sized and can be dragged about freely, melded, and unmelded with ease.
This game was built using Flixel and works with levels built in DAME. The Greensocks Tweening Platform is also used. I worked on this project with another indie developer from Brazil. We used an SVN repository, email, chat, and graphs, to communicate our ideas. I did the design and programming with frequent assistance and feedback from the team member.
We wanted the game to have a humorous wizard/witch theme, where the magic scholar is trying combinations of different items to see their effects and create fantastical things like chimeras or enchanted objects. This act of experimentation alone is enjoyable, but we wanted it to be a little more purpose driven, so we decided to set up puzzles that have multiple solutions, and the player can use or combine the tiles in various ways to solve the puzzle.
To make it easy to add and define new tiles and combinations, we stored the information in an XML. For the puzzles, we defined fifteen physical properties that are used by the puzzles' mechanisms. These properties are mass, density, volume/size, heat, electric charge, moisture, flammability, luminosity, reflectivity, transparency, stickiness, decibels/sound, edibility, magnetism, and magic/enchantment. We decided to use this approach, because by giving each tile a value for each of these properties, we could make tiles that react to any puzzle mechanism in a logical way. And that was the ultimate goal of the game, get the player to use logic to evaluate the situation and feel free to experiment with that logic.
Sticking with the magical theme, I wanted to try a flowing misty effect, and it was realized in the particle effects of the background. It's done using perlin noise to modify pixel movements and tied back into Flixel's structure using the bitmap data of the final result.
The prototype is playable below. When the game loads, select "Start", then click any level number to go to the prototype level. There is a slideshow below the SWF that shows how to win the level. The goal is to ignite the marshmallow by getting a flame near it.
This game was built using Flixel and works with levels built in DAME. The Greensocks Tweening Platform is also used. I worked on this project with another indie developer from Brazil. We used an SVN repository, email, chat, and graphs, to communicate our ideas. I did the design and programming with frequent assistance and feedback from the team member.
We wanted the game to have a humorous wizard/witch theme, where the magic scholar is trying combinations of different items to see their effects and create fantastical things like chimeras or enchanted objects. This act of experimentation alone is enjoyable, but we wanted it to be a little more purpose driven, so we decided to set up puzzles that have multiple solutions, and the player can use or combine the tiles in various ways to solve the puzzle.
To make it easy to add and define new tiles and combinations, we stored the information in an XML. For the puzzles, we defined fifteen physical properties that are used by the puzzles' mechanisms. These properties are mass, density, volume/size, heat, electric charge, moisture, flammability, luminosity, reflectivity, transparency, stickiness, decibels/sound, edibility, magnetism, and magic/enchantment. We decided to use this approach, because by giving each tile a value for each of these properties, we could make tiles that react to any puzzle mechanism in a logical way. And that was the ultimate goal of the game, get the player to use logic to evaluate the situation and feel free to experiment with that logic.
Sticking with the magical theme, I wanted to try a flowing misty effect, and it was realized in the particle effects of the background. It's done using perlin noise to modify pixel movements and tied back into Flixel's structure using the bitmap data of the final result.
The prototype is playable below. When the game loads, select "Start", then click any level number to go to the prototype level. There is a slideshow below the SWF that shows how to win the level. The goal is to ignite the marshmallow by getting a flame near it.
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