Player.io - for reals?

http://playerio.com/
Free basic system.

Game jam 2011

Game jam update #1: Downloaded Flixel (an actionscript game engine) and went through some tutorials. Outlook: No finished game from me this weekend. If I had 48 hours of actual coding (and sleep at regular intervals), I know I could have something. However, I'm too likely to get distracted by the Mochi APIs or Amazon Web Services (for the server side) or a walk along the bluffs to make much progress tomorrow.

Lost

From a story in the NY Times

Even here in this remote spot I could not escape the last six years of my life. I had spent that time working an average of 80 hours a week writing and producing a TV show. After “Lost” ended last May, the first thing I wanted to do was go someplace far away and clear my brain. But I quickly discovered there was a big difference between getting away and leaving the show behind.

I haven't worked 80 hours for the duration. And not for 6 years. I hope I get another project like that in my life.

Sports story?

Quitting something you once loved is a process.

Jason Whitlock wrote that about a pro athlete quitting in his
Foxsports.com column.
That he himself quit and it took four years.

I'm glad to have found the passion for hiking again. Dreaming about a long hike makes a gloomy day nice. And walking along the bluffs makes anyday worthwhile. A good day even.

And I'm looking forward to finding it in life again.

Settlers of Catan

I think game makers need to play and analyze more games.

On this path, I downloaded the iPhone version of Settlers of Catan so I could play lots of iterations without having to spend the 90+ minutes required to play in real-life (and gather 2-3 friends). If you are thinking of an iPhone game or a board game, this game is as fun as the reviews. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan

A good technical summary of the game can be found here: http://www.skotos.net/articles/TTnT_107.shtml

Much of the game is decided in the setup phase. And I think someone that has played before has an unfair advantage over guests playing for the first or 10th time. I'm working on an app to help. But I'm still working on my 10 game plays to fully understand. Lots of strategy guides exist for this game. Go read some. And play!

Pandemic and co-op gameplay

Playing around with these games:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/57139/infection-express

Bracket: Another $25

I posted another bracket (2009) onto Kongregate. 250+ players this time. The changes I made after last season to get the scoring data from the results xml file has made the management side of things much easier. Essentially setup requires that I have to update the teams, copy the database table, and turn it on. Then add games to the results xml with a date/time (add as you go or all at once). And then once the tournament begins, lock out new players with a switch. After each game (block of games) I update the score/winner/loser values and run a script that updates the scores.

Fixes I made this year:

• Don't accept Kongregate guests
  
• NoCache code for the results and score data
  
• show date of the game until current day - then show time. Or score if it exists
  

The next big change will be to automate the results; I imagine I can find a sports page someplace that I can get the scores/winners.

And if I run it again, I need to figure out a way to get 100x the users. That will reveal another set of bugs to fix.

I'll likely want to rewrite the client too. I no realize the value of some fancy tweens to make the app seem cool. People love effects.

And now the bad news: $5. That's the current total I made. spider solitaire is starting to bring in that much per week (with I think mostly spider traffic and not real players). The source for all of this is still out there so if you are interested, search for it.