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View Full Version : Prototyping in action: Ninja Typist



Nandrew
10-05-2009, 11:55 PM
In interest of shaking things up a bit on a quiet Sunday afternoon (and because dislekcia basically forced us to do it) three humble developers spent a few hours prototyping some game ideas and rapidly creating new content for the gaming world to (potentially) enjoy.

Dis and Aeq both had their own projects (which we'll hopefully hear about at some point) but in the meantime I'm going to post the one that I hacked out in those few hours: Ninja Typist (http://www.box.net/shared/tadsol6519).

Something that I've always secretly hoped to do (and one day succeed at) is create a typing tutor which actually plays out as a meaningful action/adventure challenge instead of the one-dimensional gaming experience that it often turns into (type lots of stuff, see your character move along a preset path, blah-de-effing-blah).

This prototype was my first attempt at this plan, and it's something that I'd like to refine when I have the time, because I'm sure that the key formula for a deep and engaging typing tutor game *DOES* exist. I've started by giving the player more freedom, independent of typing actions: you can run, jump, dodge and plan your attacks as one would with a standard platformer, but when you actually want to fire a weapon you'll need to type out a random phrase. The faster you can quickly type your message, the more effective your attack will be.

This is by no means a glorious game. In fact, its primary purpose is to demonstrate the use of easy development tools and rapid prototyping to quickly explore and test out game concepts. I've written up a dev diary of the few hours that I spent on this bugger, and it should be appearing on Dev.Mag at some point in the near future.

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The main goal: to prove that if you just GET TO IT and try a freakin' simple idea once in a while, you'll already have more to show than if you'd spent a glorious amount of time talking about a glorious system which never saw the light of day. Do something silly, something stupid and just get that idea onto your computer screen. Not every project has to be "the big one".

Lecture over. Feel free to play the game if you want, or just consider what I'm trying to say. And if I can post something as rotten as Ninja Typist on the forums without fear of divine reprisal, then I'm quite sure that everybody else can practice their own prototyping too.

Cloud_Ratha
11-05-2009, 01:52 PM
I had a quick squiz. It seems to be a good start! I really enjoy the concept. Not only do you have to strategise, but u got to be quick on the keyboard. Id love to see what direction you take the pixel art :)

Fengol
11-05-2009, 02:41 PM
I can't help giggling when D's eyes glow when you do a full warcry! I'm also doubly pleased to see all of Nandrews games now include sound, I can't wait until he discovers background music!

I like the idea that typing is used for more than just shooting. What about swapping the shield to a curved attack like a grenade (for throwing over walls) and then hitting Space for "utility" options with shield, grappling hook for climbing and some other ninja abilities? Then you can have warcries and slogans and give the platformer a bit of a puzzle aspect too!

riezo
11-05-2009, 02:55 PM
Job well done Nandrew, uhm about the head of the protagonist......

Nandrew
11-05-2009, 05:45 PM
I like the idea that typing is used for more than just shooting. What about swapping the shield to a curved attack like a grenade (for throwing over walls) and then hitting Space for "utility" options with shield, grappling hook for climbing and some other ninja abilities? Then you can have warcries and slogans and give the platformer a bit of a puzzle aspect too!

I really like these sort of ideas, and that will definitely be the direction that I move in if I continue with this project!

For now, Ninja Typist is being relegated to the backburner, but I hope to see it resurface once my current dev work is out of the way. Until then it'll stand as a rapid prototyping example. And yet another showcase of D's head on something weird and wonderful.