This quote by David Jaffe speaks volumes about the publisher-developer relationship:
While he would consider crowdfunding, “I think I would be really nervous because suddenly now it’s not just a publisher’s money,” he said. “Suddenly you have all these peoples’ money, and you don’t want to let them down.”
I threw together a quick 2-player huddle game in honor of GGJ ’11. Play it online!
Tlaloc’s Book is an educational game to teach fraction math to struggling students. I was one of four game designers on the game development team at the EA Game Innovation Lab at USC’s Interactive Media Division. We created the game in collaboration with the UCLA’s Psychology Department. The overall project was led by the UCLA’s Center for Advanced Technology in Schools.
Tlaloc’s Book is a puzzle platforming game in which players collect whole numbers, fractions, and mathematical operators, which they use to perform operations on platforms to change the platforms’ heights. Because the player can jump or fall up to one unit, it is sometimes possible for the player to pass the level with an inexact solution. However, exact solutions unlock treasure from the signposts in the levels.
During the design process for Tlaloc’s Book, we continually tested prototypes with grade schoolers, to make sure that the game was challenging and fun for our target audience. We also worked with education theorists and designers to ensure that the game accurately implemented recent theories of learning.
Tlaloc’s Book
2010
Flash Game
My Title: Game Designer, Programmer
Team:
• Game Design: Bill Graner, Erin Reynolds, Samantha Vick, Dai Yun
• Art: Dai Yun
• Animation: Diana Ling
Leafcutters is a game where you shape the actions of a leafcutting ant colony by suggesting to individual ants what they ought to do. From these invididual ants’ behaviors, the complexity of the whole colony emerges.
It’s getting there!
Wow, this semester has zoomed by. We’ve been working really hard on the ant game, and I haven’t been taking enough time to update folks on exactly what I’ve been doing.
I won’t say too much right now, since the Winter (work-in-progress) Show is coming up on December 3, but here’s a quick update:
• We’ve changed the name of the project to Leafcutters.
• As the player, you give suggestions to ants which influence how they act in various situations. You can teach a whole colony how to operate with relative ease.
• The game is as true as possible to current myrmecological knowledge.
Alright, that’s all for now. I hope to see you all on the 3rd!
Bill
I made this sketch in two nights, as part of a general quest to find a form of game design which is comfortable enough to be a form of play in itself. As it turns out, Unity makes 3d exploration game creation into just such an activity.
