TIGSource Forums

(http://s3.postimage.org/kbf41xsfn/Runner_title9.png) (http://www.postimage.org/)

3... 2... 1... GO! Run like hell, because there are bandits and monsters chasing you, and they are out for your items! Umm... no, not with your natural gamepad, I meant with your own natural legs, you lazy gamer!

Runners Grinders is a game about running, aiming towards motivating people to go out and do so! The idea is to use achievements and other addictive game mechanics as an base for motivation. This, packed in a pixel-art style and typical game theme, to reach typical gamers that might really need this motivation.

I'll uncover more of the gameplay as I make progress. I'm writing this topic right now mostly because I need it to clear things up for myself and to kick-start my programming day :D

As of now, I have a working communication with the phone GPS, and a functioning path logging. I'm currently working on the rendering of chunks, so I might soon have some screenshots worthwile of uploading. In the mean time, here's a mockup:

(http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/9773/mockup2d.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/197/mockup2d.png/)

interesting concept, but i still can't imagine how this game played. goodluck to you  :gentleman:

Yes, I can understand that :P

In the game you'll play as the "runner" (don't have any name yet, so what do you think he should be called? You can see what he looks like in the first post :) ). He syncs with your real world position and starts running as soon as you begin to move.

While running, you generate a path. The game will also generate a virtual procedural world with the path as an basis. In some places (like in crossroads) tiny villages will appear. In these villages you will find characters with their own stories and needs. They will give you quests like sending a letter to a dear friend or sending medicine to a needing village. Heh, those quests might have sounded boring, but I'll figure out some more interesting quest stories when the time is right :)

Anyway, when you complete quests by helping villages they will start to develop into larger and larger cities. There's a lot of possibilities :)

Right now I'm working on path generation. It looks like this right now:
(http://s4.postimage.org/rnbgebp7k/runners_grinders_screenshot0.png) (http://www.postimage.org/)

Thank you, there need to be more games like this.
Won't there be an issue though, if a virtual-world path is not traversable in real life? like if there's a building or river in the way of a player, where his character only sees open road?

There wont be a problem like that. The thing is that you generate the paths yourself. The game will never place any goals where you haven't been before. I might add a feature that generates sacred ruins with bonus objects a bit outside of the generated path's, as long as it doesn't ruin the gameplay if you can't reach it.

(The reason the path in the screen looks so angular is because I had to input the gps coordinates manually when using the simulator :P )

Colour me intrigued. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

I don't know what's going on there, but this is a great concept!

-Weekend update-
All is going well!

I have been working on a algorithm for merging two or more paths. It should be able to handle situations where the paths take separate ways too.
This is the result:
(http://s1.postimage.org/ix391o73j/Screenshot_Main_Window.png) (http://www.postimage.org/)

(http://s4.postimage.org/pytu688g3/Screenshot_Main_Window_1.png) (http://www.postimage.org/)

Also, I finished a running animation for our little main character:
(http://s4.postimage.org/15lnrp3vo/running3.gif) (http://www.postimage.org/)

I think this game is going to get me back in shape.

Hi all!

I've been busy with the graphics lately (you might have seen some of it in the "Art" forum) and other projects (such as First Lego League :D ) so the coding have been on hold for a while.

Stuff is happening though. I've found two teammates. The graphics I've been doing is at first hand promotional for our crowd-funding campaign. You should check it out and support us by pre-ordering the game already :)
http://www.indiegogo.com/Runners-Grinders

I will still post here for technical updates and the unique and competent feedback that one can only get from TIGSource. <3

hm this sounds like a very innovative concept for a game

let me know if you need game music, I am a composer/musician

This is a great idea.

So does it work such that if you always run in the same route, you basically don't get to see more of the game story?

Nope. The story will center around the routes you run along most often. Of course, you'll still be able to enlarge the map and discover new areas, but the story will progress by helping the villages develop.
Dungeons, ruins and such places could be removed and added on the fly in the central area to provide with new fresh content to visit :) There could also be lots of temporary locations to visit such as camps, places with mysterious sightings and so on.

Keep the feedback and ideas flowing! :) We are very open to input from outside and haven't really decided for the final features and game mechanics.

Weird. I had a dream that I was playing a test buid of this game.
It was pretty cool.

That's awesome! :o I want to know what it's like too, I can only imagine!

What was it like? ;D

I was playing a test version where the GPS wasn't in yet- you had to control it via touch. Just remember fighting some monsters, mostly. Running around a little. It was pretty faithful to your mockups.
It made me think- what would the game be like if you added monsters that get in the way? I suppose it could make things a little stupid, because you'd have a random chance of dying as you went along and not knowing until you got home. Or you could store them in the 'events' system, so when you got home you entered a battle with them to get some cash, or you can run if they're too powerful.

We have been discussing implementing a fighting system that doesn't affect the rest of the game. I'd probably need to explain the backstory for this to make sense, but the idea is that the main character gets contact with an old god of the area he is exploring and in turn becomes a sort of demigod. This is what explains the possible jumps that will occur if you log out in one place and logs in at another.

So, being a demigod you can jump into another avatar(much like in Illusion of Gaia if you've played that). This could be like an old warrior being hibernated and found in a dungeon. Thus you can play through that dungeon in the body of that warrior. This part plays like a typical oldschool RPG and is played after you've been running! What are your thoughts about that?

It's definitely an interesting idea- if you can mesh it properly with the main game, then I feel it would be quite a handy addition.

what if the olde warrior is an automaton of some sort who is powered by how much you walked before you activated him

also being able to find weapons and parts to give him or something and he could find something like uhhh...

shoes? or "legends" like books and tablets and stuff that let you find various ruins four your robo buddy to explore


doesn't have to be a robit but he still could be empowered by your distance last traveled

Good ideas indeed! Yeah, it would be really neat if the fighting part was very much interconnected with the rest, by like you said various items and "recharging" of the fighter. In turn, the dungeon fighting locks up the story in the rest of the game by providing plot devices, finalizing quests and such.

It'll probably make more sense for the story if the fighter avatar is the spirit of an ancient warrior that you incarnate.

While it's awesome with a fighting part and all, I'm still a bit undecided about it. It'll require a lot of extra time to implement, and I don't think everyone in the target audience would approve of it. Perhaps there is a way to make it optional but still very connected to the game...

Our crowd-funding presentation is heavily updated now! Put a lot of effort into making a video for it. It was really fun and new of an experience to make :)

I was meaning to get back into the code as soon as we uploaded the video, but I've been really concerned that the campaign didn't get very good reception. I'm gonna have to put some more effort in it. Please, consider supporting us and pre-order the game: http://www.indiegogo.com/Runners-Grinders

I'd really appreciate if you could look at it with your critical eye and give us some feedback. I've got a feeling there's more we can do to better the reception of our campaign.

Moving on to something really neat, we decided that we will release early alpha-versions here at TIGsource, so we can test the mechanics on a variety of devices. We're not sure if we want to release it openly, or it it'll be closed, but shout out if you are interested in testing!

What's up TIGSource! :eyebrows:
I'm feeling incredibly hot today! At least my fingers are smoking hot from all the coding I've done today!

I can now confirm this about the game's future:

• The game will have battle in it, with dungeons an all that! The game deserves to have a really good battle mode. However, you'll not fight as Hjalte, but instead as avatars that he incarnates with different abilities
• Archank Mindlecrook, one of the playable avatars
  (http://s15.postimage.org/yyrnals13/archank.png)
• The game will be playable on PC! To more comfortably play the game, you'll be able to sync your mobile to an online account. Using a browser with Java, you can then play on your computer granting you better controls and screen!
• We will release the game here at TIGsource as open Alpha. The first version will be released within the near two weeks!
• The Open Alpha will be free to play, but once we release it you can also start to pre-order the game for $6!

The procedural generation is working smooth now! Prepare for much updates in this particular field! It's so much fun testing it because you can paint procedurally generated landscape with a brush. I'm not letting you do it though, you'll have to move physically to move the brush :-*

(http://s13.postimage.org/xo8qrynlj/runners_grinders3.png) (http://postimage.org/)

(http://s13.postimage.org/ceq6e8dmf/runners_grinders4.png) (http://postimage.org/)

One more thing I think I should mention is our crowd-funding campaign. Well, I can't say it was a success. I want to thank everybody who contributed really much, but I'm sorry to say we can't achieve all of the things we promised if it would've been successful. It does not hurt our motivation though and I'm making progress like a train with a plow... yeah... or whatever :droop: I think i meant like, that all is well and stuff. :coffee:

So, I thought I understood how this game is going to work, but now I'm terribly confused...

Is your avatar's movement actually controlled by your movement in the real world? If so, what does the PC version do?

Heh, I can see why. Our idea of how movement works did change a bit over the course of this thread. ::)

So to answer your question - Not really. Real world movement will only traverse you over the worldmap.
When you do that, you get updates in a message log. This message log consists of places you've visited in your path. As you pop up the message log, you can start playing through the events in your visits. That is, if you visited a dungeon along the way you can play through it.

In other news, we are participating in Swedish Game Awards!
This has boosted our team spirit, and our school offered to make a course out of the project, freeing up lots of time. I've been skipping courses and living on savings for a while now, but this changes everything for the two other teammates! :)

Here's is the worldmap running on my phone. The white+green path was recorded from my apartment to our workplace! There's some cool advanced algorithms involved here, which is exactly why it took so much time to get this working.
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/runners_grinders9.png)

Nothing impressive here yet, but this is the beginning of the in-location view, with Mr. Cubicle Blackworth as main character.
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/runners_grinders8.png)

Also, here's a major dump of the graphics I've been working on:
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/enemies.png)
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/derpapod1.gif)(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/aija_weija.png)(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/lava1.gif)
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fighting-scene.png)

I'm afraid this is it for now. Do ask if you want to squeeze out more from me ;)

Not sure if this was answered before, but: What if you run to a place, it generates a town, and then you can't get back to that place in the meatspace so you can NEVER VISIT THAT TOWN AGAIN?

aren't towns placed that you visit often as a sort of crossroad

Don't worry about that. We will implement a sort of "travel mode" where you move along the paths that you've generated, merely reading your velocity from the GPS. This means that you can visit places without really physically being there. To generate new locations however, you need to physically be on spot :)

We'll probably also offer an option to "reconstruct" your world, meaning that your world is erased, but all the locations in your savefile and all other crucial data is stored and shoved into a new world. Your old locations will pop up as you start generate new areas. This would solve potential problems if you are like moving to another city.

I updated our logo, from this:
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/bitland-heroe3.png)
To this:
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/bitland-heroe4_scaled.png)

Oh, and someone was awesome enough to make a bead sprite out of our main character ;D Love to you man <3
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/327365_10151292818330104_775250103_22925298_1872948654_o.jpg)

Ui and basic gameplay is shaping up!

The radial item menu is designed to be as quick as possible to use. Touch the corner and the menu will pop up to the shown size. Keep your finger at the screen and move around to scroll in the list. Release your finger to use or equip item. It works really smoothly :D

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders101.png)

Mmmm, lovely pixel work as always.

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders13.png)

This is footage from the first dungeon, "Frostburn Temple".
It will appear within a radius of 500 metres from where you created the game.

Don't mind those wooden creatures. They just want to soak in the lava or whatever :P

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders14.png)

Fighting system starting to take shape.

The enemies are designed to be very responsive and blocks your attack if they are prepared. Even though I have "grinders" in the name, I want to move away from a grinding and button-mashing kind of battle system, instead making every enemy into a tiny puzzle.

Of course there will be grinding, but that comes with the running part ;) Exercising is a hell of a grinding :durr:

Good people of TIGsource!

I have good news and very sad news...

----Warning, major rant!-----
First off, the bad news - One of the team members decided to leave the project. It hurts me pretty badly, and it leaves me so frustrated of the overall history of the team. I've been putting a lot of effort getting the team to work and given them warning several times. Each time I've gotten royal promises and just the bit of work to persuade me, but in the end it's more like they have held those team positions in hostage. I'm sure they did not mean to hurt me but I've not had it easy and feel cheap-tricked and held back. :(

So, when it looked like we had a final chance to make things work (taking a university course with the game as project) for the following period, one of the team members just blatantly decided to leave. This together with the fact that the third team member refuses to work in all but his own codespace, which means he have only been working on the level editor :/ Gawd, you have no idea how much I long for working with competent, inspiring and hardworking people.

I want you all to know that I alone have made most of the work. I have made all graphics so far, all publicity and the website (not so much effort put there though), all game design AND most of the code. I was questioning whether or not I could make this on my own, but judging by how much work I've done I'm pretty confident I can make this on my own. But I have to sacrifice a lot of the content that I wanted finished for the milestone and competition. Instead, I'll put all my effort on the code. This is a bit sad, but it's what I have to do.

Trying to keep up the pace I've been sacrificing more and more of my time. It's incredible though, I feel stronger and more motivated than ever and I can work all my wake time without growing tired at all :) The motivation I feel for this game is huge, and I will do everything in my power to keep it floating. I don't know how long I can manage to do that though, so any support is welcome. Especially hugs :)

 :toastL:Oh well, sorry for that rant. Now for the jolly good parts! :toastR:

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders16.png) (http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders16.png)

The in-game mode is now connected with the worldmap. This means that you can now place a location in the worldmap, go to the real-world position it represent and get that visit stored in the event-log shown above. You can scroll through this list and may play through the event lying first in the queue. Doing this takes you to the in-game mode featuring the battles, puzzles and NPC dialogs :)

Next thing to work on is making locations actually appear on the worldmap on their own. Also, they should be relevant to your current progress in the game.

I've also been working on a little tileset for the very first place in the game - the crashsite of your expeditions airship.

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders17.png) (http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runners_grinders17.png)

I SO want to make a gameplay video now. Making a video that could represent a game such as this requires a bit more effort though ;) I'm sure I can work something out though.

Sucks about all the drama you've been having but the game is coming along great and nice to hear that you're feeling more motivated with it.

Aw, sucks to hear that. If only we could create clones of ourselves, so we had reliable people with the same motivation to work with :P

Thanks guys! Your comments really helps me get through the day :)

You know how I've been working on everything in this game? I've actually been doing even more.
The game itself is taking shape but what's really starting to take shape though is the collectors edition I'm planning for Runners Grinders. It will feature a utility belt that will make you look really cool while running out on quests!

I've already done the CAD-design for all parts and send them to a production-company. I'm just waiting for response from the manufacturers of the flashlight, mana-potions etc.

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/utility_belt.png)

Head on to www.runnersgrinders.net/blog/ (http://www.runnersgrinders.net/blog/) to fetch your preorder of the collectors-edition!

Super funny! you had me for a second. Well anyway I am totally the kind of guy that would rock that stuff lol.

So I've been awfully quiet for some time now. It's kinda awkward that the last you heard of me was an April fools joke :giggle:

Very much has happened. I'll probably have to pause and continue the story tomorrow.

Week 1-2:
As I suspected, the second team member dropped out shortly after the first one did. This meant that I had to make the level editor too.
At this point I started working 12 hours each day, and I've kept that routine quite stubbornly. Some of the days I've simply not had the energy to work fully effectively, but that's inevitable.

The code produced by the previous team-member was in a horrible and nightmarish state so there was no way I would continue on that code. I rewrote the editor almost from scratch, and had the same functionality after a week. After two weeks the editor was mostly finished with a system to add entities and change settings on them.

During this time I also got in touch with Judah Roydes who is now making the music. I'm really grateful that he kept working with me even if the game got into this unstable situation :)

Week 3:

• Made a cutscene system and an interface for it in the editor.
• Added three levels of persistence for entities - Room, location and world
• Added an enemy called "Cube Oh Face", an icecube which actually cannot move on it's own

Week 4:

• Hookshot for Archank
• Projectiles
• Manabar
• Door which is opened by sacrificing mana
• Recharging mana by moving IRL!
• Fixed horrible horrible bugs!

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders28.png)
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders26.png)

More screenshots and changelogs coming up tomorrow. Now I must sleep!

God damnit, why do I have to have an older phone without fancy apps?

Looks fun. Hopefully it'll get me doing some cardio...

Ok, the rest of the update:

Week 5:

• Continued on enemy behavior
• Added "Gustface" a stone statue that can propell the icecubes with a gust
• Animated boss
• Added chest
• Elaborated the event log. It now zooms to the location you entered

Week 6:

• Filtering algorithms for GPS-coordinates
• Multiplyers for mana regeneration. 2x for 11 km/h, 3x for 21 km/h and 4x for 28 km/h
• Character selection screen
• Light ray in which you can switch characters
• Special ability for Hjalte: Invulnerability for 5 seconds and boosted movespeed
• Global variables and general trigger entities for scripted events

This "Key-demon" is a reappearing mini-boss. To defeat them you need to fetch the small keys attached to them. With the keys you can open a number of lockers containing the demon's mortality-orbs.
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders27.png)

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders31.png)

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders25.png)

Switching character! Here are all four characters visible  here (http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/portraits.png). They have yet to be implemented in the game though.
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders24.png)(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders23.png)

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders29.png)

Next up, I'll finish the boss and then start to work on some actual level design with the amazing editor I put so much effort to ;)
Also, cutscenes and intro sequence.
Also, stuff.
...
Also, face.

The feeling of finally getting to use a tool that you've developed and put much effort into  :handpencil::tearsofjoy: ( <- Thats me making levels with a tablet )
Level design is so much fun!

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Screenshot-2.png) (http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Screenshot-2.png)

Cutscenes!

Man, this would've been faster to progress on if there weren't so many hidden bugs and small features that needed to be fixed. Most of it is cleared now so I'm making progress on the story and level design very fast now :D

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/runners_grinders34.png)

Once more I have a big update!

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm participating in Swedish Game Awards. I managed to get nominated, in two of the cathegories! The final haven't been yet so I'm still eagerly waiting for the results :) Wish me the best of luck!

There is one thing you guys should know about working really really hard for an extended period. After such a crunch time you should not ease on the lashes because else you will automaticly compensate for the previous time. My god I've been slacking off since the deadline of SGA.

I did however finally get to make a trailer. It's probably not what you expect, but it was fun to make to say the least :gentleman:
(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/video.png) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaa0QshAcLA)

Gameplay is looking really nice. Reminds me of Landstalker, one of my favourite games.

Fantastic project, but for what platform are you developing this?

The way real life movement relates to in-game was a bit unclear at first.
But I think I get the gist of it now..
So basically you move IRL to discover locations, which you can then move to, back and forth, in-game.

Personally I really like the idea of having to move to a specific spot(IRL) for a quest or something, not the main quest, but some kind of bonus-quest.
Special Time limit events, where you have to go quickly between two places, would be a fantastic way to get people to actually run too.

Also, it's quite problematic if you happen to live on a small island, but I guess you can row around in a boat, lmao.
Something that's probably outside of the scope, both coding and time wise, of this project would be checking google maps to see where there is land, water, roads, etc.
But there's still the issue of stuff appearing in off-limit zones, like an industrial area, middle of an airport, someone else's backyard..

Thanks guys!

Currently I'm only developing it for Android phones (and I... guess you could play it by strapping a tablet to your belly).
I'll be looking for new teammates now and a larger team might let us develop it for iPhone at the same time.

There wont be any trouble of locations being located out in water or any other inaccessible place as the game can only place locations where you've previously been.
It would still be awesome to connect it with Google maps so that there can be places that are always tied to a specific location.

What happened to this? Where are you? Are you dead? Please don't be dead, I want this.

Wow, thanks for writing! This inspires me to write a bit :)

So, unfortunately I don't really have any gameplay progress to show now. After the deadline of SGA I went into a slight depression and have been working very slowly. It's like all the negative feelings from my huge huge crunch finally catched up with me.

I did win in Swedish Game Awards though! Runners Grinders was awarded as "Best Serious Game"! The price ceremony was pure happiness for me, I got a lot of compliments for my work and a lot of contacts.

After the competition I had so much updates to write and so many people to contact, but it took the last of me. I was completely unable to do any work, took me one full day to complete an e-mail. :/

Now I've finally managed to gain control, and I'm starting to feel happy again. It's looking a bit dark for the game though. I'm running out of cash and have to find another occupation over the next month. If I can't find financing for my game that is. I'm currently looking for a publisher or financier. If I get financing I could finally compose a team again. I have constantly been looking out for new teammates, but I have been unable to find some guys that could dedicate enough time. The fact that I've gotten this far on my own seems to scare off people too :/ But I have some guys on the hook, and I know that if I had financing they would ditch their current occupation.

That's my story, as honest as it could be.

Sad to hear you're experiencing some troubles right now, man :c
Here's hoping you manage to get through them- financing this would be a great idea for any studio. Maybe look at that Indie Fund thing?

Ah, yes, it would be neat to get in on Indie Fund. They don't have an open submission so they'll have to learn about the game through game news, conferences and such. I haven't managed to gain any viral momentum yett so I'm afraid that's not very likely :/

I've been in touch with a couple companies since SGA, but it haven't gone any further yet.

COMPETITORS!!  >:D

Bwahaha! If it helps you keep up the standard, then by all means, I'll be your arch-enemy >:D

I have to give you this, Journey to Hammerdale has given me a great deal of inspiration! :)

Finally, it's released! A Kickstarter has happened!

(http://runnersgrinders.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/kickstarter_title.png) (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/292719246/runners-grinders)

Taking in Björn, a backend and server developer, made it possible to run a Kickstarter campaign. So, our campaign is now live at:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/292719246/runners-grinders

Help out in any way you can folks! Back the project to the max and spread the word! I'm really eager to continue full production on this game :D

Awesome!
I don't think that logo works though, even though I know the game is named runners grinders I still read it as runner grinder..