I NEED TO CODE!

A few weeks ago I posted an early version of Space Bounce.
After some refinements I uploaded it to the playstore, and here it is!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=joozey.games.spacebounce

Not working on every device. The newer your android, the better chances it'll work.
Leave a rating if you can, I'd appreciate it!

Last weekend an international world-wide hackaton was organised by NASA: the Spaceappschallenge. In the Netherlands (where I live), the event was hosted locally at the ESA Business Incubation Centre. I participated with a small team of three programmers, two creative designers and a subject matter expert. We solved the Asteroid Prospector challenge, one of the many challenges set out by NASA to create world-wide awareness of (potential) technological advancement and investment opportunities. Asteroid Prospector involves creating a game about visiting the many asteroids in our solar system.

Since asteroids are well known for their rich rare metals (much rarer than on Earth due to the lack of a molten core), we took the road of asteroid mining. The online accessible NASA/JPL Small body database provides information of tens of thousands of asteroids, featuring data of position, orbit, names, date of discovery, etc. We also made use of the Asterank api, build by an employee of a commercial asteroid mining company called Planetary Resources, containing estimate profits for each asteroid. We analysed the datasets and kept filtering out asteroids until we ended up with 38 valuable rocks in orbit between Jupiter and Mars.

After two days of hard work; brainstorming, programming, designing, programming, scrapping features and more programming, we finally finished a playable single-player demo of our game: Profit One Trillion (the name was meant to be a working title, but it stuck). Multiplayer and AI were also planned, but we did not have enough time to finish it.

Here is the playable demo: http://joozey.nl/projects/spaceappschallenge%202014/
Our project page: https://2014.spaceappschallenge.org/project/profit-one-trillion/
Source code: https://github.com/Josvanegmond/NasaAppChallenge_Profit_One_Trillion
And here is a demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXZnbrciAQ4

Screenshot!

Out now in its most rudimentary form: SPACE BOUNCE!

A Multiball Pong Arkanoid Dual Player/AI Powerup Laser Base Defense game with loads of explosions, photon effects and real visual vibrations!

Download for desktop (right-click save-as):  http://joozey.nl/projects/spacebounce/spacebounce-desktop.zip
Or for android:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=joozey.games.spacebounce

Your feedback is most appreciated!

Screenshot!

There's this site that asks 10 questions about that game you're creating. It helps you in sorting your thoughts that are likely in disarray due to massive enthousiasm, longing and an intense desire to create the perfect game in honor of your imagination.

http://www.game-brief.com/

And so here is mine about Spaceport EXO:

Game Brief

1. What is your project?

A strategic top-down spaceport simulator, where the player is the Commander of a planetary spaceport on some distant unknown exoplanet.

2. What does your game aim to do?

The spaceport, practically nothing more than a small, dusty old terminal with one runway, is only known in the direct region and used to reach the local pub inside the crater next to the spaceport. Your task is to make it a massive, thriving epicenter of intergalactic transportation. The player will experience a feeling of accomplishment and importance as financial and political issues are avidly dealt with, or fail miserably and see the spaceport hijacked, overrun, claimed, bombed or otherwise being taken over.

3. What format are you shooting for (use specifics: PC, iOS, Android, screen sizes, required graphics detail, etc.)

Android, 480x800. Future screen sizes: optimisation for tablets Future platforms: Anything that runs Java

4. What are you designing with? Who? (Try to be specific)

Alone for the time being. Graphics are dummy placeholders from lostgarden's free to use and abuse scifi graphic packs. Custom graphics I make by hand using GIMP. A lot of animation and colour manipulation is done by code.

5. What is your Target Audience?

Average 16+, interested in science fiction and playing a manager. Things that help: A problem solving mindset where hidden variables need to be deduced from the information streams in order to optimise the flow of the game. A sense of collaboration with the fictional characters that you need to keep as a friend. Their provoking actions should challenge the player to give manipulative responses in order to get what you want.

6. What does your game appeal to / how will it affect people?

The game is supposed to make the player feel skilful and important with a wave of satisfaction through accomplishment by letting them solve financial problems, requiring them to spent their money responsibly and take educated guesses when it comes to investments. Political issues, confrontations, stalemates and even wars are at hand as well, giving you increasingly more awesome feelings of importance as you manage to juggle your way through, and come out better in the end.

7. What are some inspirations? (Try to be specific.)

Airport Inc. (later Airport Tycoon 3): the sense of importance through attracting contracts. EVE Online: the look-and-feel of typical scifi information interfaces, that stuff Mass Effect: but really any good scifi movie/game with stereotypical characters, they inspire the political setting Papers, Please: wait, what has that to do with any of the above? Well, the feeling of importance, having control, yet heavily constrained by matters from those controlling you. Sharkworld, manage your team, figure time schedules, and keep the highly respected chinese Chairman happy. Boy that game demands some heavy decisions from you, and if you screw up...

8. What are some competitors to your game? (Other games that do the same or similar things)

Airport Tycoon? But that game is ancient and buggy as hell. There's the facebook variant: Airport Ville (of course). Heavily based on clicking the screen, bothering all your friends and their friends, and giving your real money to buy fake money to buy stuff.

9. What will your game do different from them?

I suppose there are more likewise games as listed above (both inspirational and competitive), but the one that combines serious spaceport management skills with the science fiction genre and a rich intergalactic political problematique I have yet to find.

10. What is your budget?

The big milestone is a working prototype game in the google play store with a challenging but FUN start. FUN being both graphically appealing, lively animated (in great detail) and interesting little stories keeping you playing to see more. I would be willing to pay someone who shows a similar vision for the game and contributes intellectual knowledge to help achieving the feeling of importance, gaining management skills and accomplishment for the player. How much I'd pay? For a prototype... I'd pay 50 bucks for recreating the assets that the player starts with, once I'm happy with the look and feel. I'd keep asking for more and pay increasingly more linearly with my growing confidence of the game's potential. I guess that's not a very convincing contract for any designer, but for me the most important thing is that it fully remains my child as I envision it. 3 years ago I started it, and I would drag it with me another 10 years if needed, until I find the artist that can evoke the emotions I want this game to offer.

So here's something new (again!). Spaceport EXO, a spaceport management game.

Well, not completely new. I have started on this concept on and off for the last years. But each fresh starting building upon the knowledge and code I had gathered thus far. No less is true this time. I integrated several methods, effects and graphics in this game I have harnessed in the past.

Without further ado, a screenshot:

In order for your spaceport to be operational, you need to have the basic infrastructure layed out:
 - Have at least 1 runway connected to 1 or more hangars through an apron road
 - Have 1 control tower
 - Have a power source connected to the control tower (apron transmits power too)

 Once your spaceport is operational, you will receive contracts and ships will arrive and depart, which will give you money. But beware, if your spaceport is not able to cope with the amount of traffic, and flights get delayed, you'll be getting some angry contractors, and lose reputation.

You will also face some decisions that may put you in a dilemma. Alien characters may need or request your spaceport for special occasions, which always have a benefit and a down side, whether or not you accept or decline.

All of the graphics are placeholders for now.
Most graphics I drew myself, the ships are from Lost Garden.
http://lunar.lostgarden.com/labels/free%20game%20graphics.html

Still a lot to do, show your support by leaving a comment :).
 - Joozey