Lightforge Games’ Post

🎮 Interactive Fun: My Rock, Paper, Scissors Game! Hey LinkedIn fam! 👋 Excited to share a playful creation – my very own Rock, Paper, Scissors game built from scratch using HTML, CSS, and JS! 🚀💻 🕹️ Game Features: User-Friendly Interface: Enjoy a sleek design that makes gaming a breeze. Dynamic Gameplay: Witness the excitement as the computer and I battle it out in a classic showdown. Responsive Design: Play on any device with ease, whether you're at your desk or on the go. 🎮 Gameplay Demo: https://rsp-game.surge.sh/

I just finished the first version of an introductory guide to the somewhat nebulous concept of game flow, which is all about facilitating a “flow state” and helping players get immersed into your gameplay. (And no, it’s not about the game “Flow.”) Here are some quick takeaways: - Flow is a balance between frustration and boredom, so make sure you carefully space out elements and mechanics to avoid venturing too far in either direction. - To gain a better understanding of how gameplay flows, think about all the times you’ve charted your own course through a complex level/area/mission, only to later watch a friend play through it the exact same way. - Visual and audio cues are critical tools for facilitating flow. - When designing levels, you can always set up an inviting spot to draw players in, then spring a trap on them. - Use flow breaks intentionally to discourage players to continue exploring parts of the game that aren’t meant to be explored at a later stage. - Use flow breaks intentionally to redirect players and set up puzzles to be solved later. But make sure not to use flow breaks that cause the player to quit your game altogether. The full guide is in the comments below:

Dive into the evolution of our game concept! 🚀 This week's blog post deals with refining story plots and mechanics for your Short Game. Explore how we're balancing gameplay – simplifying to amplify the story's potential! 📖 #gamedevelopment #storyplot #shortgame #gamingblog #mechanicsintegration #plotdevelopment #diagramming #visualization https://lnkd.in/dv9NYFsH

Game modding isn’t just about fun and memes - it’s a serious thing to consider as you’re developing your video game. As it turns out, there IS a way to use modding to inspire creativity and enjoyment while protecting the integrity of your game. In our latest article, we explore the ins and outs of modding and get insights from Michał Szklarski, COO of ReadyCode. Check it out here! https://lnkd.in/dtwmeY3b

Dev Log #6: In the continued development of the Online Multiplayer Mod for Videocult's Rain World, one of the users in our Discord notified us that they managed to complete the game with their friend playing entirely online, bugs and all! This was very encouraging to hear since I tend to to see the long list of issues that still need to be resolved and not the progress made along the way. I shifted my focus from the Story mode -- leaving it to another modder to wrap it up --, and have begun working on the competitive Player-vs-Player game mode. There are a large number of obstacles in getting this game mode off the ground: - Divergent game structure -- need to learn how the game mode works - Connecting that structure to the network engine's session layer - Developing host vs client views - Developing 'tournament' style features like map voting or spectating The base game's PVP mode is a significant departure from the Story mode, meaning that how it connects with the engine requires significantly more engine knowledge which translates to just following functions around and debugging with logs until the mental model builds up and documenting my findings so I don't forget. So far, I have successfully made the lobby for the game mode an online session that clients can connect to and made the host's choice of level an online resource. Put simply, the host can actually host a lobby and can see their online player in-game. Clients can join the lobby and that's about it. I am currently trudging through error messages for the client and determining how to fulfill their requested online resources from the host. No fun progress pictures so here's a crudely drawn picture of two Slugcats battling it out with sticks:

🚀 Introducing "Trash Tumble!" - A Chain Reaction themed Physics-Based Puzzle Game! 🎮 Play Here : https://lnkd.in/dPQZe_qc What do you have to do? Create your own level in the game itself, make puzzle for yourself and others to challenge them. All you have to do is make the trash bag fall into the trash can. 🔍 What Makes Trash Tumble Unique: Creative Level Design: Players can build and customize levels using a variety of physics-based objects, including blocks, springs, and ramps. Brain-Teasing Puzzles: The goal is to strategically place objects to guide falling items into the trashcan. It’s a fun and engaging way to test your problem-solving skills! Interactive Gameplay: Watch how different setups impact the game dynamics and discover the perfect solutions to each puzzle.

This month saw the release of the new revamped Edit mode in Nathan’s Cat Craze. Players can now launch new channels, allowing them to fully customize multiple rooms for their cats. You can now change the size of each room, select different themes, have unique object layouts, decide which cats go in each room, and even set a Star Cat for each of your channels. Creating this system meant tackling a lot of tech debt. The game wasn’t originally designed to go backwards! Shrinking your room means detecting our of bounds objects and cats, making sure cats aren’t trying to go to objects that have been removed, and (most difficult of all) modifying old save data to account for the new features. This system brings quality of life improvements directly requested by players, but also sets the game up for my biggest update planned yet- creating Posts starring your cats! Im super excited to get back into creating new gameplay systems after delving through this deep work.

This year, Game Developer's deep dives and postmortems reflected not only the modern games that affect our lives but also delved into game history and beyond. Check out this year's wrap-up of the site's 10 must-read deep dives! https://bit.ly/47byGV4

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉 I'm thrilled to announce that I have published my first fully functional game, Sawlvers, on itch.io! 🕹️ Developed using Unity and with all models meticulously crafted in Blender, this project has been a labor of love and a fantastic learning experience. Check it out and let me know what you think! Game Page: playzhero.itch.io/sawlvers #GameDevelopment #Unity3D #Blender #IndieGame #itchio #GameDesign

As a long time reader of Game Developer Magazine and Gamasutra (now Game Developer), it's an honor to have a piece published in it! Check out my article below on why we love baboons. No, not the ones you're thinking of (but they're cool, too...).