next »

[Mr. Yes]

Hello TIGSource!

There's this game, you see. Creating a development thread sounded to me like the fun thing to do, and so here we are.

You may or may not have played Nifty, and in fact I'd rather you not to have played it. It was... mediocre, at best. A little over a year ago I posted a topic in Feedback for it, you can find it if you're curious.

Gifty is a sequel to that game.

Here's your basic description of the concept. Each stage consists of a hint box, a "work area" (I don't really like that name, but it'll be sufficient just to explain the concept), and a finish button.

The hint box contains brief, vague instructions. You interpret and complete these requirements in the work area. When you're done, you press the finish button.

Very simple, very general. Anything could happen.



Who's this? His name is Gift. If you happen to press that finish button without having completed the instructions, well... pain ensues in the form of an increasingly powerful electric shock.



Like Nifty, a lot of Gifty's gameplay will revolve around files, generally text files. The "open" folder you see down there is a way for you and Gifty to communicate. That is, it's sort of a "messaging" system with text files, where you may place a file/edit a file to send a message, and messages are sent back in the form of files as well (i.e. the game may prompt you to change a recently sent file or something). It'll be important for some of Gifty's puzzles.

The happs folder holds Helper Apps. Helper apps do things. What kinds of things? Nobody knows - FOR NOW.

As far as gameplay concepts go, that's all I will explain for now.

I intend to have a bit of fun with the graphics. 16 colors available total, but only 4 may be used at any given time. It feels like a rather fun limitation.

And for music, well, I've been inspired in a way after Mistress Increpare's Music Challenge. The music will be consistent in that it will all be incredibly low quality.

Music sample 1
Music sample 2


I'm going for a creepy, eerie experience here. Expect some surprises, perhaps.

Nothing done in terms of coding yet, but I'm going to be starting that very soon. For now, expect updates in regards to graphics, music, and of course gameplay. And mockups, too. Mockups are pretty cool.

Thank you, sirs! That is all... for now.

- Me

[The-Imp]

That... Sample... Was... AMAZING.

I'm looking forward to more.

[UncleJoe]

I have never been more excited for this!

Really looking forward to seeing some progress.

[Hinchy]

sorry guys but I FUCKING LOVED NIFTY. 

I really really loved Nifty. I have been telling it to all my friends for a while now, most of which kinda give me a funny look when I turn it on, but we end up playing through the game (while I give them a lot of hints). But still, I loved it all the same. Ever since my first beta test I was hooked on development. I even made my own officially unofficial sequel that sucked, More Nifty, and am working on a spinoff of sorts called Nifty Adventure, and yet another spinoffy thingy that's under wraps. So it's no secret that I love it to death.

So obviously, i guess the point of this post was to say that Gifty is a Best Good Thing!!™

[Inanimate]

Wow, interesting! This looks like a game to watch out for.

 

[Mr. Yes]

Thanks, guys! I appreciate it very much.



A mockup, demonstrating the vagueness of a typical stage's instructions. (I didn't put much thought into this particular puzzle in the mockup, but I won't be using it anyway).

More to come!

[jute]

I like the low-bitrate music a lot!  You know you could get it down to 8kbps if you wanted, right?

[Gainsworthy]

You may or may not have played Nifty, and in fact I'd rather you not to have played it. It was... mediocre, at best. A little over a year ago I posted a topic in Feedback for it, you can find it if you're curious.

 

HOW YOU SAY THIS THING? I really liked Nifty! It was, dare I say... unique. I've never played anything like it, before or after, and the fact one had to derive logic from the utter confusion presented ensured every puzzle was satisfying. The presentation was slick, you continually changed the rules, it was a little disturbing and, to be frank, it made me wonder why more people don't venture outside what is normal for a "puzzle" game.

What I'm trying to say is that whether or not you acknowledge it, Mr. Yes, you understand game design. In a strange, backwards manner. The best kind of understanding.


So, this looks pretty exciting. I dig the limitations you're imposing, and the fact I just know it's gonna be weird. The low, low quality music is appreciated.

[GregWS]

This thread:

yes YES YES

[increpare]

i like the 'finish' idea

[Mr. Yes]

Wow, once again, thanks guys!

I like the low-bitrate music a lot!  You know you could get it down to 8kbps if you wanted, right?

I have indeed done that with a few of the songs! Usually I choose between 16 and 8 to see what's better for that particular song.

You may or may not have played Nifty, and in fact I'd rather you not to have played it. It was... mediocre, at best. A little over a year ago I posted a topic in Feedback for it, you can find it if you're curious.

 

HOW YOU SAY THIS THING? I really liked Nifty! It was, dare I say... unique. I've never played anything like it, before or after, and the fact one had to derive logic from the utter confusion presented ensured every puzzle was satisfying. The presentation was slick, you continually changed the rules, it was a little disturbing and, to be frank, it made me wonder why more people don't venture outside what is normal for a "puzzle" game.

What I'm trying to say is that whether or not you acknowledge it, Mr. Yes, you understand game design. In a strange, backwards manner. The best kind of understanding.


So, this looks pretty exciting. I dig the limitations you're imposing, and the fact I just know it's gonna be weird. The low, low quality music is appreciated.

Thanks! Though my reason for believing it was mediocre was more the execution of the idea. I liked the idea, which is why I'm creating this new game.

One example of a flaw in its execution is the first ten or so levels. It didn't really give a good introduction to the game, and they're all based on clicking blocks to change them (which is what the whole game was originally going to be about until I thought of the idea of making the levels vary a lot more).

Anyway, I'm very happy with these good responses, and I feel even more motivated now!

[Mr. Yes]

Well, 'tis the first step, folks.

I drew a tile... on the screen.



Anyway, AWESOME TIME:



Like Nifty, a lot of Gifty's gameplay will revolve around files, generally text files. The "open" folder you see up there is a way for you and Gifty to communicate. That is, it's sort of a "messaging" system with text files, where you may place a file/edit a file to send a message, and messages are sent back in the form of files as well (i.e. the game may prompt you to change a recently sent file or something). It'll be important for some of Gifty's puzzles.

The happs folder holds Helper Apps. Helper apps do things. What kinds of things? Nobody knows - FOR NOW.

[alphasmart]

I'm totally overjoyed to hear that there will be more nifty type stuff, as I too loved Nifty.  In fact, I still have it on my desktop!  My only suggestion is, the Helper Maker didn't work at all for me, no matter what I tried.  Either make better hints about its use or make it (or a similar application if you're intending to include one) more accessible, as I hit a brick wall there.

[Mr. Yes]

I'm totally overjoyed to hear that there will be more nifty type stuff, as I too loved Nifty.  In fact, I still have it on my desktop!  My only suggestion is, the Helper Maker didn't work at all for me, no matter what I tried.  Either make better hints about its use or make it (or a similar application if you're intending to include one) more accessible, as I hit a brick wall there.

Really? Interesting, I hadn't heard anything like that from anyone (the helper maker being confusing, that is).

There will be similar programs in Gifty, and I'll keep what you've said in mind.

[Mr. Yes]

HELLO AGAIN



Nothing special right now, just testing things out. Here's what I've gotten done:

• level editor finished
• buttons! and thank goodness, 'cause that pretty much covers 50% of the game :D
• delicious pixelly text

And, so I at least have something to show in this post, here's another song:

SONG SAMPLE #2

[Μarkham]

And, so I at least have something to show in this post, here's another song:

SONG SAMPLE #2

That actually sounds pretty cool, kinda like music you'd hear in a futuristic third-world country.

[null & void]

The second song sample reminds me greatly of Throbbing Gristle's song Discipline.

[Gr.Viper]

Heh. There is some similarity with TG.
But not many people are going to notice, I think.

[Mr. Yes]

Haven't heard that song before (until just now) so I can't say I was influenced by it. Pretty neat though.

[Mr. Yes]

I guess I'll take this time to show my progress:



* Saving/loading stages
* Backgrounds (that scroll to the left)
* Exit buttons, reset buttons, and finish buttons all work
* Gift-shocking (yay)

Without yet worrying about the other stuff I'm needing to do, I can begin creating stages now.