This blog serves as a place to talk about my experiences playing new-to-me videogames and hanging out in SecondLife. It might encourage others to try playing games and spending time in virtual worlds.
Man I like writing that - building in SL is something I really enjoy. Hoperfully some of the students will catch the building bug too.
Here are a couple of pictures of things they built for their first experiments - they had to use 5 different shapes, apply textures, and link the shapes. We have rockets, a cheeseburger, a boxing rink, sheep, a basketball hoop, cool abstract shapes, a giant face, a treehouse....some cool stuff!
24 Hour Game Jam sponsored by the IC Game Developers Club
The grups had to make a multi-level game using this quote as a constraint - "If you follow all the rules, you miss most the fun". Both groups decided to use GameMaker, software from YoYo Games.
Paradoxical Irony
Team consisted of Ashley Alicea (art), Ryan Giglio (programming), Carson Kjep (programming), and William Sisskind (level design). They all worked on the basic idea and how to implement the constraint http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/102725
Here are a few screen shots. More are available on request.
The two groups both finished their games right at 2pm, 24 hours after their start. Each game had levels, theme music, obstacles, a win condition. One group kind of lost their way and need to do some rethinking, but their game was playable. The other group kept their original goal simple and tuck with it - although they did rethink how to program it about 2AM.
Here are a couple of screen shots:
Paradoxical Irony
Jimmy's Crusade
THe students are fixing a couple of last minute bugs they found when they played them. THen they'll put the games up on the YoYoGames website. WHen that happens I will put the links up so you can play them too. They're also supposed to give me some art and screen shots and post mortems. I'll post them too.
Here are some pictures of the students playing each others games. Everybody was offering advice on strategy and cheering as level after level was completed.
A reporter covered the event so if a story appears I'll link to it.I think everyone had a great time. We're all excited about going to the Global Game Jam in January 2010. THey learned to work together and draw on each other's talents.
A very successful first time event. Here's hoping for many more!
6:30 aM - Sunday morning and the groups are doing good work. They have plans on the chalk boards and tasks are actually crossed out. Whew. One group has a (hand drawn and awesome looking) dinosaur skeleton in their background and it's called Jimmy's Crusade. The other group has a game name now - Pardoxical Irony.
The rooms look lived in - there are pillow and cups and RedBull cans and chip bags laying around. We even have one person asleep! (well - there were 2 but i got up a couple of minutes ago)
And here are people hard at work.
Sunday Noon - people are dragging. Turns out overnight both groups scrapped a lot of their code and came at their ideas in different ways. For one group it seems to be working out (Paradoxical Irony). The other group is having some issues. But nobody's throwing chairs or cussing more than normal. Jimmy's Crusade is pretty sure they lost the fun somewhere. We'll see here in 90 minutes. The art guys are cranking out some interesting assets - dinosaur and lunchboxes, water and animated fire. Here are some pictures from noonish.
From 2pm Saturday to 2pm Sunday, people are cranking out videogames at Ithaca College in a 24 Hour Game Jam sponsored by our IC Game Developers Club. 2 groups, 2 games. It's fun in and of itself. But it's also a warm up for the Global Game Jam in January that we hope to send a big group to.
They have to use this quote somehow in the game - If you follow all the rules, you miss the fun. It might be inspiration, might become a line of dialogue...it's up to the students.
Group 1 - Carson Kjep, Ryan Giglio, William Sisskind, Ashley Alicea
Group 2 - Chris "The Guitar Hero" Hendrickson, Jymmy "Skwee-G" Hayes, Corey "Ronin-Rampant" Jeffers, Jacob "still thinking of a nickname" Gergh, Megan "Red" Crosen
We have the major food groups - salt, sugar, and soda. We'll be adding protein I"m sure (do goldfish crackers count as protein?) And coffee - probably lots of coffee.
I'll add pictures here and updates on their progress. If you're on campus, come check us out in Williams 218 and 219. If you're off campus, leave comments here and give us some encouragement. Saturday's pictures and updates are in this post. Sunday's pics and updates are in the next post - http://profkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/game-jam-is-still-going.html
Supper break about 7 - pizza (the other basic food group). We watched some music videos for a mental break.
10pm - 8 hours in. The teams have levels being planned, characters being sketched and animated, and game mechanics being hashed out. Everybody is looking pretty energetic except our student in Italy who's off fora couple of hours of sleep since it's really really late there already - that's him in the skype box on the computer screen.
MIdnight - well - 1AM - everybody is still pretty much moving and working. We had to take a break for a Bombers party sub from Rogans. They deliver at 12:30. Very weird sammich too - philly cheesesteak and breaded boneless buffalo chicken strips. Now they've opened up the Red Bull. Ewww! That's all I have to say about that.
The art "departments" are cranking out sprites and backgrounds. The level designers are trying to come up with cool levels (these games have to have at least 3 levels). The programmers are trying to make GameMaker do what they want and that involves (as most programming does) a lot of cussing.
It's worth checking out. And if you want to how someone the possibilities in SL, show them this video. The creators used a lot of the Windlight settings for sky and water (no final cut magic) so it looks gorgeous. It shows some creative builds and amazing scenery. And it has music by Maximillian Kleene
Another group created a newscast about facebook games
Here are their show notes
Show Notes for Facebook Games!
Group Members: Sarah Lounsbury Colleen Muldowney Dave Zhao
Introduction (Approximately a minute long – gives the audience a general idea of what topic we will be discussing) (News Anchors: Colleen and Sarah)
“According to Nielsen NewView numbers for September, people spent an average of 5 hours and 46 minutes on Facebook. That is three times the amount spent on Google!”
Recently, gaming on social networks has become a very popular activity for the young and old alike.
Currently, Farmville is the top ranked game (with the most players) on Facebook. The top games in order of ranking are: Farmville, Mafia Wars, Farmtown, Pet Society, YoVille, TexasHoldEmPoker, Restaurant City, Mind Jolt Games, Farkle, and Bejeweled Blitz.
Farmville has 51.5 million users; Mafia Wars has approximate 22 million users; Farmtown has approximately 19 million users.
To attempt and get an idea of what all this hype was about, we created a blog and asked current Farmville players three questions: What they like about this game? How did they get involved in this game? What is their present level?
We will now cut over to Dave Zhao at the news desk to tell you a little background information on the Facebook game, Farmville.
Facebook Games: Background of Farmville (News Anchor: Dave)
Facebook has become one of the most popular social networking sites to date. And with the popularity, comes an innumerable amount of games. Millions of users log on in order to play these highly addictive games. One of the current most popular games happens to be made by a company known as Zynga. Zynga, founded by Mark Pincus, is the known creator of games such as Farmville. Farmville, a role-playing farm simulator, allows players to take to the fields and manage crops, livestock, and other farm related tasks. Gamers receive experience and wealth through successfully harvesting their crops, and over time, increase their overall experience level. As they increase in levels, players unlock a greater range of crops, livestock, and many other farm materials. Such simulators however, employ time-based systems. For instance, Farmers must wait anywhere from hours to days in order for their crops to be harvested correctly. This common “real-time” quality of Facebook games compels players to take a break, leaving players wanting more. Now I’m going to send it back over to Sarah who will discuss some of the first-hand accounts of Farmville users.
Opinions from real Farmville players off the forum we started (New Anchor Voice: Sarah) (Pictures of our neighbors farm’s on Facebook will scroll on the screen while Sarah reads some comments)
Hoosiermama63 – “Very cool project you've decided on! I'm currently level 34 and still enjoying every minute of my time spent playing this game. I got started playing when one of my FB friends sent me an invite, and became addicted quickly! My farm is my Happy Place. I love the quiet time I spend on here just doing my planting/harvesting/plowing. I enjoy getting ideas from other farmers on this forum and incorporating them in my version, on my farm. This is my little space on the web, away from the sometimes loud, oftentimes distracting hustle and bustle of everyday living.”
KeyboardWarrior – “Yea.. considering IPod takes 3 years to have a market share of 50million.. Facebook took 2 years. Farmville? In just about 3 months.”
BigMonster – (Reponding the question: What is your current level?) “35, and is the king in my office of 800 co workers, about 20% play the game and I love to brag about my achievements with co workers.”
Aiona – “it's also remarkably social. i have met tons of really cool people from all over the world through this game. i LOVE that. i also find myself keeping in better contact with my real life friends and family because of the time i spend on facebook playing farmville.”
Miss Molly – “I started playing several months ago. This is the first and only game I play. I am level 38. Reason I love it: No shooting and killing. Meet new friends and neighbors all over the world. I was introduced to the game by my children.”
Conclusion (Back to Sarah and Colleen)
We are about out of time but we thank you for tuning in. If you would like to read more comments from Farmville players please visit the link on your screen! (HYPERLINK "http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=223377"http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=223377) Have a good night.
Material that we researched but got cut out of the actual video footage:
Facebook has become one of the most popular social networking sites to date. And with the popularity, comes an innumerable amount of games. Millions of users log on in order to play these highly addictive games. Two of the current most popular games happen to be made by a company known as Zynga. Zynga, founded by Mark Pincus, is the known creator of games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars games. Farmville, a role-playing farm simulator, allows players to take to the fields and manage crops, livestock, and other farm related tasks. Gamers receive experience and wealth through successfully harvesting their crops, and over time, increase their overall experience level. As they increase in levels, players unlock a greater range of crops, livestock, and many other farm materials. Similarly, Mafia Wars parallels the life of a mobster, as players complete tasks such as robbing a warehouse and mugging. Mobsters gain levels by completing these, and other tasks, while also being able to battle other players. Weapons and getaway vehicles are among a few of the many items players can purchase as they progress through the game. Both of these simulators however, employ time-based systems. For instance, Farmers must wait anywhere from hours to days in order for their crops to be harvested correctly. Likewise, in order to complete jobs, mobsters in Mafia Wars must meet the required energy amount. Players recover energy gradually with time. This common “real-time” quality of Facebook games compels players to take a break, leaving players wanting more.
Some Facebook games come from board game type games (Simon, Uno)
Some games take off of the other games like Super Paper Pong, Crazy Taxi, and Snake
There are Facebook game groups
The games are FREE!
The games are very social and you can challenge your friends/family
Some of them encourage you to add news friends
Some will give you frequent updates and ask you come back and play the game again
The games try to put “advertisements and achievements” on your wall
Some of the games, like Farmville, even involve real money!
References:
HYPERLINK "http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/arts/television/11facebook.html"http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/arts/television/11facebook.html
HYPERLINK "http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25521"http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25521
HYPERLINK "http://www.urlesque.com/2009/10/02/7-addictive-facebook-games/"http://www.urlesque.com/2009/10/02/7-addictive-facebook-games/
HYPERLINK "http://www.zynga.com/about/"http://www.zynga.com/about/
HYPERLINK "http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=223377"http://forums.zynga.com/showthread.php?t=223377 This is a post that we created for this project. If you read the first comment it will explain what information we asked players for.
HYPERLINK "http://www.facebook.com"http://www.facebook.com
The students in my Games & Society class created newscasts about current topics in the videogame world. I will post them here along with their show notes.
The students in my Games & Society class held a Halloween party on the park School island the Thursday and Friday before Halloween. I wanted them to practice a couple of basic skills - shopping (they had to find decorations and costumes), building (they had to put their decorations in the right spot), and socializing (dancing and talking to the guests). They signed up for time slots and I put the event in the SL calendar and an announcement on the SL Educators list. We had some visitors all but one party time so most of the students had practice talking and socializing. Students from two colleges in Ohio came with their professors.
I did the party assignment for a couple of reasons. The first is that I want the students to be a part of the Second Life community. People in SL are always looking for things to do, events to go to. Dancing and listening to music is a very popular thing to do. So the students' party was a way to add value to the community. The second reason is that I have seen many game companies hiring community managers to create events that help retain users in online games. Second Life is a good place to practice the skills needed by community managers.
Here some of their observations.
During my shift (11-12 Thursday) we met a women from Ohio who decided to stop by, as well as one other dude who left fairly quickly.
My enormous dancing squid avatar kept some people mildly entertained, but after the 10-11 team left, there were not many people left for the remainder of my time.
Riding on the spiders seemed to work out well, as I could move around the dance floor and look engaged without actually having to move my avatar manually.
I wasn't sure what to expect with the Halloween Event our class hosted on Second Life. I helped host the dance on Friday Night, but not many people showed up compared to Thursday night. I met an alum from Ithaca who is is an avid Second Life player. She wanted to keep her real identity separate from her second life one. I guess I didn't realize that Second Life is really a "second life" for some people. From talking to her, I found out that Second Life allows you to meet people and also make a living. I shopped for a costume and purchased one using some of my lindens. It was a pretty ridiculous costume, but I liked it. I also found free masks and t-shirts. I put them in a box for the event. I thought it was cool that you can actually make your avatar dance. I also liked that spiders and all of the decorations people brought and created to make the event good.
I was told before I knew about it that Second Life was just a breeding ground for sex and wasting money. This is not so, as I found out during my Halloween weekend. Thursday night, I witnessed a Kool Aid man dance, a bus ride through a dance floor, and a slave trade that never happened. This was the party which I hosted, along with two of my real life friends.
At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My better judgment told me that it would be me, my two friends, and my professor. However, slowly but surely, other people started to show up from all over the world. Second Lifers from our own class, from Ohio and even from other countries showed up to party with us. We gave away a few of our freebies, played some fun music, and ended our shift feeling good about ourselves. Even while my roommate was using my computer, my avatar – dressed as Zero from the Megaman series – was dancing right along to the streaming music.
While it doesn’t have the same effect as an actual dance, a Second Life dance can be a fun way to meet people or simply play along with strangers. At one point, a very frighteningly dressed woman attempted to capture our professor for money. While I will never be sure if the sale was intended to actually happen, it was an interesting and almost nerve-wracking situation which we were all facing. Most people would consider being worried over such a thing only a trivial matter, but at one point I was actually begging. To me, the intensity of the predicament was quite real.
Overall, the dance was interesting not just as a dance but as a social event. People all over the world were only sitting in their chairs on their computers and talking, yet somewhere in cyberspace their digital counterparts were moving to the beat. While I am sure that this will bring about the downfall of person to person communication within the next century, I believe that it is the best alternative that we have right now.
Here are some photos the students took during their shifts. The students will be sending in reports of their perspectives of the parties and I will post them as well.
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