Ingress - completely unique and frustrating at the same time.

I first heard about Ingress about 6 months ago.  I downloaded it purely based on the fact that it was a game developed by Google.  This alone was motivation enough to make me try it out.  I’ve always been a fan of Google products but never heard much about their game making ability.  Of corse the game takes advantage of one of the core elements of Google.  Big data.

The advantage that Google has that other game developers don’t is access to an amazing amount of data and technology.  By harnessing the power of the modern smart phone Google has created a very interesting MMO.  An MMO that plays out in real life locations.  Players must actually move around to specific locations to actually do anything in the game.  You pick a side (either blue or green) and continue to fight for your side. 

This is where the game loses me completely.  I hate item collection games.  With a passion.  Having to grind to get to the next level is something of a pain to do for me.  It is okay for games where the grind is actually fun. Like Diablo. But the problem I have with ingress is that it is just not fun for me.  I can appreciate some of the cool concepts that the game does that no other game can do.  I think the missions tab has some cool ideas and I have actually made notes to visit some locations that I saw listed there if not just for my own curiosity.

But I honestly cannot bring myself to play this game beyond level 2.  I tried but it just bores me to death.  I think the thing that bugs me the most is the feeling of futility i get.  I don’t actually feel like I am making a difference, but then again maybe that’s because I'm only a level 2.  But this to me is a major game flaw.  I will bring up the example of EVE online.  EVE has a reputation for having an insanely steep learning curve but at least you can do something with a low level character.  You can actually do quite a lot in EVE with very little skill points but the problem is new players usually have no clue what those things are.   EVE has other problem but that is for another blog.  With Ingress I feel that the little progress that I make is not as gratifying as I would wish it to be.

In the end the nerd in me really likes what was put into ingress but the gamer in me wishes the game was a little bit more fun to play.  Perhaps the funnest thing about this game is the bizarre behavior the game forces you to do. 

Final Project proposal

I am very excited to start further development of the game Scavenger.  If you remember, Scavenger was my early prototype and first foray into becoming a game developer.  It was raw and unpolished but I was proud of it.  But there are so many ideas that I have in my head that I want to add the game.  Since the prototype was just an initial showcase of what the game had to offer, it did not have the platformer module.  This game essentially has two parts; a space flight/exploration sim and a side scrolling horror/action platformer.

Early Prototype

The basic premise of the game has the player in a remote part of the galaxy where your wits and caution determine if you live or die.  Your ship has a limited amount of fuel and you need to land and explore various locations to find fuel, parts, food, and anything that might be useful to your survival.  If you somehow make it back to “civilized” space then you have won the game.

Platform prototype with sample particle effects

As you probably have guessed, this is a very ambitious project for a first time game developer like me.  But I am not alone and I have the help of 3 other talented people that are just as new to game development but also just as eager to get my vision off the ground.

First Game Prototype

Over the course of two weeks, another student and I embarked on our first game prototype.  When trying to come up with an idea for my first game prototype I took inspiration from the games that I have been playing lately.  Games that are much higher in detail and scope than anything that I could possibly come close to in two week.  But hey, I like setting the bar high.

The basic premise of the game was to include two major game mechanics, a plat-former and a spaceship shooter.  This meant twice the work trying to get the physics just right.  We wanted a transition from space flight to an interior view for exploration.  All of this sounded fantastic in our heads until we launched into learning the ins and outs of GameMaker.  I spent most of my time learning the code syntax and reading the API.  I find that using code rather than the helper icons gave me an advantage when it came to fine tuning the physics.  Lines of code are so much easier to work with when you understand them.

During this process, I discovered very quickly that what we wanted to make we could not deliver at the level of quality that I wanted.  This led us to make a decision to cut out a major segment of the game, mainly the interior view or platform part. This allowed me to focus my coding skills on just putting the basic space shooter together.  I spent a good amount of time on developing the code for the side scroller so I was very disappointed when we decided to cut it out.   But all is not lost as we have plans to use this code to expand the game to our true vision for the final product.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprise with the amount of positive feedback on our digital prototype despite the fact that it was only have of our original idea.  And this feedback is really what makes me want to continue to build on this game.  What I thought was a failure was actually enjoyed by others.  And that is a great feeling.

Link to game prototype:Scavenger