Last week I participated in 7dfps I had a few idea from the start, but settled on one that I though would be cool. A first person puzzle game set in the Ythmeven universe. This is an idea I have had for a while now, and 7dfps gave me an excuse to make the game. You can play it here, and my submission page is here.
First I want to talk about the tools that I used.
– Construct 2: I used the newest beta R94 that had the loading screen (that is used) I was also able to reuse the loading screen as an updating screen. I didn’t have any problems getting Construct 2 to do what I wanted.
– PHP: There is actually a fair bit of PHP behind the Aurora puzzle game, but for the most part php was only used to fetch information from a MySQL database.
-MySQL: I used MySQL to store information. The map (the entire two rooms) are loaded dynamically from the MySQL database. I also stored the messages form the msg board in the mysql database and they are fetched from there.
What went wrong:
– Too large of scope. This type of game is gimped by the fact that there are only two puzzles, and neither are particularly challenging or unique.
– Puzzles I need more of them, but the last day I had around four hours to add puzzles.
– Other activities, they took away from my time, but they were more important than making a game.
– Php, MySQL, and using the Ajax Construct 2 object. It took too long for me to get everythign loading correctly from the database.
What went right:
-PHP, Mysql, and the Ajax Construct 2 object. It a really cool way to store information that can be used to a multiplayer-ish game, of an almost MMO scale. It would be hard to actualy show players, but you could have indirect interactions such as the message board, or moving a puzzle piece.
-Construct 2: Went right, it was easy to use and probably the only reason there was any game features.
What is next:
-I plan to update the game with more content, but I’m not sure when I will start that. I plan to develop several games set in the Ythmeven universe to set the scene for the game.
