Building levels for games is always a challenging proposal. Core Games is making a strong effort towards having users create their own levels and I figured some insight from a level designer might be useful.
For me, when I think of a game level it’s like a part of a story. The overall game has its theme, but each level should have a purpose or directive as well. When I design new levels I always try to pick a theme or a single event that I want to be the focus of the level. Now this usually will evolve as you’re making the level and sometimes you’ll have several ideas that work well together and create a fun level.
Where games run into problems is when levels have so much going on that there’s no cohesiveness. My first suggestion would be keep it simple and pick a small number (1-3) of ideas/events/themes you want your level to have. Once you have your list of ideas you can begin trying to map out a floor plan that best executes your list. I usually attempt to design a level from the ideas/themes I’ve chosen and a floor plan that works best. I try to figure out if there’s a particular floor shape or size I want, and then I adjust my list accordingly. If I had a list of 8 themes I’d need a HUGE floor plan, which takes a really long time to create. By starting small and thinking from the ground up it’ll make the initial part of level design much easier.
The next part of level design is one of my biggest stumbling blocks. You’ve got your ideas; you’ve got a basic floor plan: now where the heck do you start putting things? I usually put walls in last because it allows me freedom to expand and contract the level as I see fit. If I want a spider to chase me, but he eats Rich too quickly I can add more floor tiles, or add a nook in a wall to allow Rich to stay alive for a few more paces.
Once I get my first idea down on the screen integrating it with the next idea is also difficult for me. I try really hard not to have large open spaces in levels. Some space is needed (for spider avoiding, etc) but you don’t want your whole level to be a prairie. Again, staying simple in design allows one puzzle element to flow with another. In the original level set for RD there are plenty of levels that have different regions that teach you different things about the game. Some have only rocks, and some only arrows, then both are put together at the end to show how they interact. Feel free to use this strategy in your levels, if it applies. I recently made a level involving a robot that chases me. I used walls and spacing to keep the robot at bay, and at the end I used the same idea of spacing with rocks to round out my level. Using similar tricks with different obstacles allows the gamer to get the “feel” for a level and how to beat it.
These are just some of my intro ideas for level design. I just recently began making new levels for Core Games so my building skills will hopefully improve with time. Be sure to post your own levels in the Forums under “Rich Diamond Levels.” Also, feel free to share tid bits or ask questions about how to finish or start a level. The online community is there to test your levels, but feel free to bounce ideas off of each other. Jonathan and I are always happy answer any questions you might have. I hope this has been helpful and feel free to post tips or questions here. Thanks for reading, and happy level building!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
What We're Working On
I wanted this blog to sort of be an update of "what's new" type stuff at Core Concepts, and I feel that a few mentions of what we're currently working on fits into that category.
Right now we are very busy with working on CoLa. We are not only editing the games, but we are fixing them and making them a lot better. When CoLa comes out again, we're going to have several new CoLa games (including at least one new Rich Diamond CoLa game) and a few new additions to the gameplay that will make them better overall. For example, there is now a level select menu for each CoLa game which will not only allow you to select any level at any time, it will also show you what score you got on each level.
Aside from work on CoLa, we are also busy putting Rich Diamond into updated code. This is going to allow us to do several very exciting things. Earlier, I had mentioned that it will allow for much faster replays of game saves. This will definitely still be happening. On top of that, this will allow us to fix the few bugs in the Leaderboard and make it much more solid for the future rush of new customers! Once the Leaderboard is working again, we're going to have another, better contest. Be on the lookout for that!
A few other things we'll be able to do which I haven't mentioned yet are the following: It won't be too long before we get the game running on the Mac. More and more people have been using Macs these days, and people have been asking us why our games don't run on them. Well, fairly soon this will be a reality. This will allow more people to play the games, post on the Leaderboard and Messageboards, and join the Core Games community!
The next project we'll be able to work on is getting RDDP onto the iPhone and other cellphones. We have looked into this, and it actually would be much easier than we originally thought. Hopefully that will be coming out before too long as well.
Aside from Rich Diamond things, we are also still working on the upcoming Puzzle Magazine and Core Access. Both of these are going to be wonderful new ways to play our games, and more details will be given the closer we get to release of these products. I am very much looking forward to their release as I believe our customers will enjoy them greatly.
Thank you all for your continued support of Core Games. Don't forget to tell your friends about us and happy treasure hunting!
Right now we are very busy with working on CoLa. We are not only editing the games, but we are fixing them and making them a lot better. When CoLa comes out again, we're going to have several new CoLa games (including at least one new Rich Diamond CoLa game) and a few new additions to the gameplay that will make them better overall. For example, there is now a level select menu for each CoLa game which will not only allow you to select any level at any time, it will also show you what score you got on each level.
Aside from work on CoLa, we are also busy putting Rich Diamond into updated code. This is going to allow us to do several very exciting things. Earlier, I had mentioned that it will allow for much faster replays of game saves. This will definitely still be happening. On top of that, this will allow us to fix the few bugs in the Leaderboard and make it much more solid for the future rush of new customers! Once the Leaderboard is working again, we're going to have another, better contest. Be on the lookout for that!
A few other things we'll be able to do which I haven't mentioned yet are the following: It won't be too long before we get the game running on the Mac. More and more people have been using Macs these days, and people have been asking us why our games don't run on them. Well, fairly soon this will be a reality. This will allow more people to play the games, post on the Leaderboard and Messageboards, and join the Core Games community!
The next project we'll be able to work on is getting RDDP onto the iPhone and other cellphones. We have looked into this, and it actually would be much easier than we originally thought. Hopefully that will be coming out before too long as well.
Aside from Rich Diamond things, we are also still working on the upcoming Puzzle Magazine and Core Access. Both of these are going to be wonderful new ways to play our games, and more details will be given the closer we get to release of these products. I am very much looking forward to their release as I believe our customers will enjoy them greatly.
Thank you all for your continued support of Core Games. Don't forget to tell your friends about us and happy treasure hunting!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
What Happend to CoLa?
Some people have been asking about the 'CoLa' games, such as Quatryn, DigitHunt. When we switched over to the new store, we got Rich Diamond and Mad Scientist running, but we haven't yet got the CoLa games going.
We've been working like mad to get the CoLa stuff up, and it is very close. We were just finishing up our new store and new website, including user accounts, when our old webhost flamed out on us, so we had to switch everything over to a new webhost. The good news is that the new webhost is a lot more professional, and actually costs about 1/6 of what the old host cost, so that's great. But we had to change all of our online code because they didn't support the same types of databases we were using on the old host. The opportunity this gave us, however, was that we could add the new accounts to our site, and a new look and feel. So now you can get your own unlock codes on our website. If you need a code on the weekend or late at night, no problem, you don't have to wait for someone to reply to you.
Another snag we hit is that our DSL provider decided to put more protection on sending emails, without telling us (that would have been too helpful), so for a while this broke our store. People couldn't get their codes after buying a game. And we couldn't email them to tell them the codes! The good news is that this will help cut down on spam, but the bad news is that it cost us a lot of time to fix our system to their new standards.
So last week I was doing a final test of CoLa and the new games...and we ran into another wall. Microsoft changed some things with their new Vista operating system, which broke several things in CoLa. For example, they don't want anyone downloading programs across the web (except for themselves!), which is in general a good thing as this cuts down on viruses. But unfortunately it also cut down on CoLa! Arrgh!
I am finishing up the workaround now. I'm testing about 7 of the CoLa games. So we are getting close (and not just in geological terms, either!). The good news with this is that we have many new CoLa games, and our older games have all been improved. We have a new style of Rich Diamond game called Eldkim, we've got a Chess Game, several word games, some math games and more!
For our customers who have CoLa games now, we appreciate your patience. Next week we hope to be sending you information on how to get the new version of the CoLa games. Let's just hope nobody else decides to thwart our efforts! We've got some new stuff I'm sure you will enjoy...
-dave
We've been working like mad to get the CoLa stuff up, and it is very close. We were just finishing up our new store and new website, including user accounts, when our old webhost flamed out on us, so we had to switch everything over to a new webhost. The good news is that the new webhost is a lot more professional, and actually costs about 1/6 of what the old host cost, so that's great. But we had to change all of our online code because they didn't support the same types of databases we were using on the old host. The opportunity this gave us, however, was that we could add the new accounts to our site, and a new look and feel. So now you can get your own unlock codes on our website. If you need a code on the weekend or late at night, no problem, you don't have to wait for someone to reply to you.
Another snag we hit is that our DSL provider decided to put more protection on sending emails, without telling us (that would have been too helpful), so for a while this broke our store. People couldn't get their codes after buying a game. And we couldn't email them to tell them the codes! The good news is that this will help cut down on spam, but the bad news is that it cost us a lot of time to fix our system to their new standards.
So last week I was doing a final test of CoLa and the new games...and we ran into another wall. Microsoft changed some things with their new Vista operating system, which broke several things in CoLa. For example, they don't want anyone downloading programs across the web (except for themselves!), which is in general a good thing as this cuts down on viruses. But unfortunately it also cut down on CoLa! Arrgh!
I am finishing up the workaround now. I'm testing about 7 of the CoLa games. So we are getting close (and not just in geological terms, either!). The good news with this is that we have many new CoLa games, and our older games have all been improved. We have a new style of Rich Diamond game called Eldkim, we've got a Chess Game, several word games, some math games and more!
For our customers who have CoLa games now, we appreciate your patience. Next week we hope to be sending you information on how to get the new version of the CoLa games. Let's just hope nobody else decides to thwart our efforts! We've got some new stuff I'm sure you will enjoy...
-dave
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Modern Gaming Renaissance
In the 21st century it’s becoming common place to revive “ancient” traditions in order to spice up our modern lives. 80’s clothing, “That 70’s show”, Hollywood remakes, and the list goes on. When it comes to gaming there has been a substantial push lately from major developers to re-release “classic” games on newer systems.
This sudden rush on retro games has lead me to notice a few trends. The first is, game play is king. There is simply no substitute for a game that has engaging strategy, story, and execution. Sure, graphics and sound (moreso sound) are important, but how a gamer feels while spending their free time with a game is critical. For example, simple games such as Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, 1942 are all games that have simple, addictive game play that worked in the 1980’s and holds up well even today. In the age of the sequel I think it fits modern society very well that we’re digging up the great ideas of the past and using them for “new” products. I personally love a lot of Nintendo’s classic NES games because of the simplicity, but overall rewarding experience.
Modern gaming giants (such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) are re-releasing classic titles as downloads from the parent company’s various online networks that support console play. As an owner of console games I love that I can get my hands on my favorite classic games and use modern hardware to play them. If you haven’t been able to deduce the theme behind this posting, here it is: Rich Diamond (RD)/Mad Scientist(MS) fit remarkably well into this new genre of “classic” look games that are available for download. Now obviously RD and MS are not on major consoles, but the principle is still there: Simple, addictive game play that keeps you coming back for more, whether it’s 1999 or 2009.
I’ve always been a proponent of simple controls, and entertainment that requires mental stimulation, rather than simply sitting and staring. As the slogan says, Core Games are classic feel games for thinking gamers. One of my favorite things about modern gaming, and the ability to download content, is the idea of the expandable game. Beat on the first try? Here’s 10 more levels to download. Master a game on the hardest setting? Here’s a higher difficulty setting, or new characters to play as. As before, Core Games has done a masterful job of keeping a classic idea, Rich Diamond, current by releasing new level sets, levels of the week, and even level design content so that gamers can create their own levels and share them online with the community.
Online communities are where modern gaming has really advanced. Online leader boards, the ability to create levels and share ideas/hints/information has changed the face of gaming. Because RD has online high scores, and a growing community of intelligent users, this game offers a great deal of replay value. Don’t just sit and play this game at home alone. Go online and share hints, or ask for help. View and set high scores, and participate in the growing number of interactive features. In the age of the modern gaming renaissance be sure to partake in all the new treats technology has added to this classic” thinking gamer” experience.
This sudden rush on retro games has lead me to notice a few trends. The first is, game play is king. There is simply no substitute for a game that has engaging strategy, story, and execution. Sure, graphics and sound (moreso sound) are important, but how a gamer feels while spending their free time with a game is critical. For example, simple games such as Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, 1942 are all games that have simple, addictive game play that worked in the 1980’s and holds up well even today. In the age of the sequel I think it fits modern society very well that we’re digging up the great ideas of the past and using them for “new” products. I personally love a lot of Nintendo’s classic NES games because of the simplicity, but overall rewarding experience.
Modern gaming giants (such as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) are re-releasing classic titles as downloads from the parent company’s various online networks that support console play. As an owner of console games I love that I can get my hands on my favorite classic games and use modern hardware to play them. If you haven’t been able to deduce the theme behind this posting, here it is: Rich Diamond (RD)/Mad Scientist(MS) fit remarkably well into this new genre of “classic” look games that are available for download. Now obviously RD and MS are not on major consoles, but the principle is still there: Simple, addictive game play that keeps you coming back for more, whether it’s 1999 or 2009.
I’ve always been a proponent of simple controls, and entertainment that requires mental stimulation, rather than simply sitting and staring. As the slogan says, Core Games are classic feel games for thinking gamers. One of my favorite things about modern gaming, and the ability to download content, is the idea of the expandable game. Beat on the first try? Here’s 10 more levels to download. Master a game on the hardest setting? Here’s a higher difficulty setting, or new characters to play as. As before, Core Games has done a masterful job of keeping a classic idea, Rich Diamond, current by releasing new level sets, levels of the week, and even level design content so that gamers can create their own levels and share them online with the community.
Online communities are where modern gaming has really advanced. Online leader boards, the ability to create levels and share ideas/hints/information has changed the face of gaming. Because RD has online high scores, and a growing community of intelligent users, this game offers a great deal of replay value. Don’t just sit and play this game at home alone. Go online and share hints, or ask for help. View and set high scores, and participate in the growing number of interactive features. In the age of the modern gaming renaissance be sure to partake in all the new treats technology has added to this classic” thinking gamer” experience.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Future Contests
As the 'Trickier Trails' contest comes to a close, I thought this would be a good time to bring up the fact that we are planning on having more contests in the very near future. Some of them might even have cash prizes! One idea for a contest that we have will involve the leaderboard, so before I give out any future details, I will say that it is in everybody's benefit to be posting their scores, no matter how many or few they have.
However, we are open to other ideas of contests or other events that will help grow the Rich Diamond and Core Games community and help make playing our games an even more fun experience. If anybody has any ideas for new contests or anything else that would help grow community and user experience, let us know by posting a comment to this message. While we won't use every idea, your thoughts are always welcome and we just might select yours! Thank you all for your support of Core Games!
However, we are open to other ideas of contests or other events that will help grow the Rich Diamond and Core Games community and help make playing our games an even more fun experience. If anybody has any ideas for new contests or anything else that would help grow community and user experience, let us know by posting a comment to this message. While we won't use every idea, your thoughts are always welcome and we just might select yours! Thank you all for your support of Core Games!
A "Diamond" in the Rough
Hello there fellow puzzle gamers,
My name is Brian and I’m a co-author on this blog. I figured a good way to start out postings would be to talk about one of Core Concept’s games and compare it to the current gaming industry. My game of choice is Rich Diamond. Now I worked on this game back in the late 1990’s, so I’ve been playing it for a while. With the modern gaming industry becoming a billion dollar affair it’s really hard for simple games to compete with HD graphics and loads of hype.
The major point of interest, at least in my mind, about Rich Diamond (RD) is the game play. It’s one of those rare games that you can pick up and play for 5-10 minutes and be entertained and move on with your day, or you can play for hours on end trying to solve that next puzzle. As a young professional, I don’t always have the time to dedicate to long story-driven games, like when I was in college. RD allows me a quick break from work, a chance to flex my brain power a bit, and then get back to the task at hand. But as I mentioned above, RD is one of those games that sneaks into your mind and you’ll catch yourself sitting around wondering how to use that boulder to your advantage, or how to avoid that pesky robot.
The biggest draw for me is the mental stimulation and engaging, yet simple nature of the game. See gem, collect gem. Doesn’t sound hard, does it? So many games today have long, engrossing stories that really act more as interactive movies than simple games. And while I love a good story, sometimes the world simply doesn’t allow you to spend an hour and a half to reach that next check point, or two hours to beat those really long, difficult levels. RD is a fantastic mix of pick up and play, and play all night.
Now I know that I’m biased in my opinion of the game, being a former level designer, but I also own all 3 major “next gen” video game consoles. I do enjoy HD graphics, and interactive stories, but RD has always had a special place in my mind where the game challenges me to think several steps ahead (literally) rather than simply read and react. When ranking where RD stands versus newer technology I honestly have to say that the only games that engage me more than RD are ones that involve motion sensing technology and a small white console. If you’re looking for a game to challenge your mind, and really force you to think as you play, RD is a great choice. When it comes to games, newer may be flashier and cost $60 a pop, but I’ll take my dust-covered, gem collecting, spider smashing Rich Diamond any day of the week.
My name is Brian and I’m a co-author on this blog. I figured a good way to start out postings would be to talk about one of Core Concept’s games and compare it to the current gaming industry. My game of choice is Rich Diamond. Now I worked on this game back in the late 1990’s, so I’ve been playing it for a while. With the modern gaming industry becoming a billion dollar affair it’s really hard for simple games to compete with HD graphics and loads of hype.
The major point of interest, at least in my mind, about Rich Diamond (RD) is the game play. It’s one of those rare games that you can pick up and play for 5-10 minutes and be entertained and move on with your day, or you can play for hours on end trying to solve that next puzzle. As a young professional, I don’t always have the time to dedicate to long story-driven games, like when I was in college. RD allows me a quick break from work, a chance to flex my brain power a bit, and then get back to the task at hand. But as I mentioned above, RD is one of those games that sneaks into your mind and you’ll catch yourself sitting around wondering how to use that boulder to your advantage, or how to avoid that pesky robot.
The biggest draw for me is the mental stimulation and engaging, yet simple nature of the game. See gem, collect gem. Doesn’t sound hard, does it? So many games today have long, engrossing stories that really act more as interactive movies than simple games. And while I love a good story, sometimes the world simply doesn’t allow you to spend an hour and a half to reach that next check point, or two hours to beat those really long, difficult levels. RD is a fantastic mix of pick up and play, and play all night.
Now I know that I’m biased in my opinion of the game, being a former level designer, but I also own all 3 major “next gen” video game consoles. I do enjoy HD graphics, and interactive stories, but RD has always had a special place in my mind where the game challenges me to think several steps ahead (literally) rather than simply read and react. When ranking where RD stands versus newer technology I honestly have to say that the only games that engage me more than RD are ones that involve motion sensing technology and a small white console. If you’re looking for a game to challenge your mind, and really force you to think as you play, RD is a great choice. When it comes to games, newer may be flashier and cost $60 a pop, but I’ll take my dust-covered, gem collecting, spider smashing Rich Diamond any day of the week.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Welcome to the new Core Games Blog!
Hello and welcome to our very new blog. This page will be for the discussion of any of our computer puzzle games, from Rich Diamond, Igor's Adventures with the Mad Scientist, our Daily Puzzle Series, or the upcoming online Puzzle Magazine. We hope that this blog will help grow and improve the Core Games community and that readers will be able to come here often and find out interesting information and news relating to our games and our company. Thanks for reading and make sure to come back often!
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