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[Richard Kain]

I've begun working on my first independent title. Unfortunately, I have no screenshots yet, (VERY early in development) but I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm just reserving a spot for my DevLog here, and intend to have something to actually show before the weekend.

Just by way of introduction, I'm going to be making a card game, I'm using Unity, and my targeted platforms are Steam and Facebook. (and possibly the iPhone and iPad)

[Richard Kain]

Okay, still no images to show. But I have actually gotten some progress done on this. Fired up Unity this week and got my hands dirty learning how to develop with it. I created a custom shader for Unity that allows me to load up multiple images and use them to construct the card in texture layers. I'm using one layer for the background texture of the card face, another layer for the character to be displayed on the card, another layer for the card's border elements, and a fourth layer for the numbers to be displayed on the card. I'd like to get that last texture layer a bit more dynamic, but I haven't figured out how to render 2D text to a Texture2D element yet.

One of the things I wanted was to be able to change out the background of each card. One player is going to need to be "Red Team" and the other will be "Blue Team." As cards are captured, their background texture will change shade. I figured out how to do this in Unity using scripting. It took a little research, but ultimately wasn't as difficult as I had feared. I've also figured how to script some basic rotation animation for flipping the card, but I would like to explore Unity's object animation capabilities instead of using pure code. I just need some basic flips and movements, after all.

I haven't started in on the game logic yet, but I am encouraged by my experience so far scripting in Unity. I found some nice tutorials that have helped explain how Unity is structured. I have a much better grasp on Unity's prefabs, and have successfully created a pre-fab for my card objects. I'd like to refine the card structure a bit more, and then I will be ready to start in on the game logic and interaction.

[Richard Kain]

Whooof. A lot has happened since I posted this dev log originally. In fact, it's been almost a solid year. In that time, I started work on a port of the Flixel engine, abandoned that, and have since begun working on my own game engine. Unity learning kind of fell by the wayside.

Honestly, I can't say I regret not knuckling down on learning Unity. My port project gave me a much greater understanding and appreciation for back-end game engine design principles. And I like not being reliant on someone else's engine.

But now I am wanting to pick Bull-Work back up as a viable project. After all I've learned, I've changed my mind on the targeted platforms. I have decided that Bull-Work should be created using the standard Flash API, and should be targeted at Facebook. I decided against using Flixel or FlashPunk, despite the strengths that they bring. The game I'm intending to make won't require drastic graphic optimization, or numerous sprites. Using the standard Flash library will also make it easier to stream content rather than embedding it, and it should also make it easier to integrate the upcoming Flash 11 updates. (like 3D support)

[dspencer]

I'm just reading this thread for the first time, but yeah - Unity sounds like overkill for a card game. Can you tell us anything about the cards?

[Richard Kain]

The general concept for this card game is not ambitious...not in the least. It isn't original either. The rule-set is taken directly from a different game that has been around for a while. The game in question is Final Fantasy VIII, and more specifically, the mini-game called "Triple Triad." I chose this game to emulate because...

1. It is a very simple rule-set, and I feel my technical experience is up to the task
2. I feel that this particular game would fit very well in a social network like Facebook

Basically, each card will feature a character that I come up with and draw. The face of the card will also feature four numbers. The original game had all four numbers in the upper-left-hand corner of the card. I was thinking it would make more sense to the player to have the numbers arranged on the corresponding edges of the card. The illustrated characters are window dressing, and just there for aesthetic appeal and collecting. The numbers are the aspect that are important to gameplay.

The actual play is executed on a nine-square grid. (much like tic-tac-toe) Each player places a card in turn. If one side of your card has a higher number than the corresponding side of an adjacent card, you flip that card over and it adopts your color. If one player has more cards their color than their opponent when all cards have been placed, they win. It is possible to have a draw.

In the original Final Fantasy VIII, this mini-game was incredibly fun and addictive. I've never understood why Square-Enix didn't attempt to revisit the concept in an on-line capacity. I know there have been fan projects to attempt to re-create it, but most of them have been much more free-form, which detracts from the collectible nature of the original. I think this gameplay would be a perfect fit for an on-line, server-managed Facebook title.

[DanFornace]

Wow, this is crazy that you are developing this game currently. I am actually doing an html5 clone of Triple Triad for one of my classes, and while I am adding my own little tricks, I am keeping the gameplay very similar.

Looks like we will be having a battle of the clones in the coming months.

-Dan

[Richard Kain]

Looks like we will be having a battle of the clones in the coming months.

Competition is a healthy thing. And since general game rules can't be copyrighted, it's all fair game. Feel free to post any of your own progress here, or comment/critique my progress going forward. Having a second set of eyes on my progress would be a big help.

Hopefully I'll be able to have a working single-player prototype up by next week.