View Full Version : Creativity injection required! (and some testing for QCF)
dislekcia
13-08-2009, 01:39 PM
As unintentionally dirty as the thread title sounds, it's true: QCF needs your help! We're building a mobile game for Colgate at the moment and there are two things we need some support with.
The first is testing on phones. We don't have a huge number of handsets to our name yet and we're working in Flash Lite. So, if your phone can handle FL 2.0 (or even if you're not sure it can and are wondering) download the framework for the game and let us know if anything odd happens... The major thing we're testing is the ability to save information to various different kinds of phones and gracefully not asploding when this isn't available. Be warned though, there's no game in the framework - it's all just menus. (I'll post the game later once Aeq is done futzing with it) This is also all "in development" graphics, meaning we haven't gotten the pretty from our graphic designer yet so it still looks crap.
Game framework for phones (http://www.gamedotdev.co.za/files/Framework_01.zip) (Just splack this file onto your phone - if you can - and let us know if anything breaks or a menu doesn't take you anywhere - apart from the "lose game" button, that doesn't do anything on purpose)
The second issue is that the client's just turned down our leading candidate for a name, which is a bit argh because we sort of needed that 3 days ago. Apparently "Cavity" and "Plaque" are negative words, so "Cavity Clear" which totally explains the gameplay and the reason for the game's existence, is out :(
Previous attempts by the ad agency include "AntiCavity Zone", "Zone Cavity" and, bizzarely, "MouthQuest". Right now we're thinking about names like "Smile Protector" (which is terrible), "Colgate Smile Challenge" and the ever sarcastic "Toothpocalypse!" (which would require popups in the game to go "Smile-tastic!" and "Grin-derful!" for obvious reasons ;))
Gameplay is related to the puzzle drop style of games, but I'll post a flash file with that in a sec.
Fengol
13-08-2009, 02:10 PM
seems to work fine on my Nokia 3110 Classic.
One point though, if I enter a barcode and unlock endless mode, my game resets to level 1 again (I was previously on level 4) and it doesn't show the tutorial any more
Gazza_N
13-08-2009, 02:12 PM
No references to plaque or cavities? Blegh. :\
Well, if you're not adverse to yet MORE alliteration, I could suggest the somewhat dry "Dental Defender/Defence".
Either that or "Super Toothnuke XXXTREME". I'll see what else I can come up with when I'm not feeling facetious. :P
Fengol
13-08-2009, 02:14 PM
Actually, any time I win an Endless game, my normal game resets
DukeOFprunes
13-08-2009, 02:21 PM
Colgate Crash (with or without "Deluxe" at the end)
Flouride Fun or Flouride Flourish
Squeeze
Toothpaste Haste
Toothbrush Rush
Tooth Drop Rock!
Face-meltingly awful enough for ya?
Gazza_N
13-08-2009, 02:25 PM
Toothpaste Haste
That... is not bad. Well, it is bad, but it's *good* bad, if you know what I mean. :P
Also:
"De-scent"
dislekcia
13-08-2009, 02:50 PM
Damn, you guys are awesome :)
Actually, any time I win an Endless game, my normal game resets
This is a side effect of me trying to compress storage a little, I'll make the normal game and endless mode get stored separately so that this doesn't happen anymore. Thanks for the feedback.
Colgate Crash (with or without "Deluxe" at the end)
Flouride Fun or Flouride Flourish
Squeeze
Toothpaste Haste
Toothbrush Rush
Tooth Drop Rock!
Face-meltingly awful enough for ya?
These are kickass!
Nandrew
13-08-2009, 03:11 PM
I lieked GN's suggestion. :3
My phone is a bit arrgh. I thought it could do Flash stuff, but I've just looked through the files and realised that every single last one of them was just a Java app. Fail.
Suffice it to say, my Samsung J750 does not support your file type. So that's another stat to add. :<
Cyberninja
13-08-2009, 03:43 PM
I really like DukeOFprune's suggestions. You can also try:
Captain Colgate
Fluoride Defender
Dental Quest
The Mouthwash Mechanic
Dr. Tooth: Project Zero Cavity
Like Nandrew, my phone doesn't support flash files, either. Grrrrr. :<
Fengol
13-08-2009, 04:02 PM
I thought it could do Flash stuff, but I've just looked through the files and realised that every single last one of them was just a Java app. Fail.
Mine also only shows Java apps loaded, but I just copied the file anyway to the phone and it worked; so maybe just give it a try.
I like Colgate Crash Deluxe
Aval4nche
13-08-2009, 06:11 PM
Here's my two cents:
-Molar Magic
-Tooth Twister
-Colgate Commandos
-Colgate Commander
-Gums Galore
-The Tooth is out There :/
-Chew on This :/
-Mr Mouthwash
-Pearly White Sparkle Attack
-Calcium Defender
-Colgate Calcium Challenge Super Retro Deluxe Cleaner: Part Uno: Protection of the Pretty Pearly Whites Partially Plastered With Plaque: Super Awesome Edition lll
I'm quite partial to the last one myself.
Nandrew
13-08-2009, 06:18 PM
Naw, that's the thing, I *did*.
The phone doesn't like it. Just doesn't. SWF wasn't accepted.
01DT!m3r
13-08-2009, 08:08 PM
The samsung j750 doesnt support flash :p , but most nokias running s60 should , my nokia 6300 runs it fine , 320x240 if anyone wants to know .ps , why is there a little [wii] in the bottom right of my post?
Evil_Toaster
13-08-2009, 08:08 PM
Works fine on my phone (Nokia E66, running Flash Lite 3). I request the addition of an "Exit" button though. ;p
dislekcia
13-08-2009, 08:29 PM
Works fine on my phone (Nokia E66, running Flash Lite 3). I request the addition of an "Exit" button though. ;p
Exit buttons are tricky, the function called only works on certain phones. Most Nokias seem to handle it, but Siemens and Motorola phones seem to ignore it. I really don't want to have a button on the interface that doesn't do anything :(
Will see if I can isolate to makes and mebbe put in some extra logic.
kolle_hond
13-08-2009, 08:53 PM
It works on my sony ericsson w910i but oddly enough it opens as if it is a image file. Thus resulting in no fullscreen, but as far as I can tell the rest is fine.
dammit
13-08-2009, 09:57 PM
While you seem to have been given an awesome-load of names, I'll try think up some of my own.
Have downloaded it, will check to see if it works on my phone tomorrow :)
dislekcia
13-08-2009, 10:49 PM
It works on my sony ericsson w910i but oddly enough it opens as if it is a image file. Thus resulting in no fullscreen, but as far as I can tell the rest is fine.
Thanks! I was worried about if this would work on Sony Ericssons. They ignore the fullscreen command so that they can keep control over the phone's soft buttons. That means you get a menu nobody else does (and is also the reason we couldn't use the soft buttons on other makes of phone, grumble).
If you restart the game, does it save your achievement progress?
Azimuth
13-08-2009, 11:25 PM
TEETH ON CHAINS!
onona
13-08-2009, 11:28 PM
Oral Fixation.
>_>
dislekcia
14-08-2009, 12:25 AM
TEETH ON CHAINS!
Oral Fixation.
>_>
Bwahahahaha! Now I have to make a game worthy of the ON CHAINS awesomeness.
Fengol
14-08-2009, 09:09 AM
Oral Fixation.
>_>
This game would be a Japanese Girlfriend rub game
Aval4nche
14-08-2009, 04:40 PM
Oral Fixation.
>_>
Lulz.
It reminds me of that Shii video. This could be the sequel to Suckend Life.
dammit
14-08-2009, 04:46 PM
Okay, here's what I've got, though its nothing as good as the names already been posted:
Tooth-Baddies Buster (or Busting)
Colgate Power Zone
Tooth Defence
erm, yeah, that's it for now :P
Tooth Defence
Epic :)
will try download this onto my phone soon but I have a feeling it wont work too well (LG KS360)
dammit
14-08-2009, 06:30 PM
Erm, I dunno if my phone is supposed to be able to support Flash, but the program used to transfer files from pc to cell phone just refuses to do that with this programme. Samsung D900i.
Insomniac
14-08-2009, 07:08 PM
I managed to get the file onto my Samsung D900, try copying it into the other files folder, dammit.
Unfortunately when I try to run it I got the message, "Unsupported file format" :(
SkinkLizzard
14-08-2009, 10:15 PM
it runs on my sony ericsson w715, though it runs in the web browser/as an image like previously stated
but it means I can set it as my wallpaper lol (doesn't help much seeing as the keys are then used for other stuff) :) also it seems to save stuff between subsequent runs
dammit
14-08-2009, 11:33 PM
I managed to get the file onto my Samsung D900, try copying it into the other files folder, dammit.
Unfortunately when I try to run it I got the message, "Unsupported file format" :(
It refused to transfer the file at all. I'll try again tomorrow or sunday depending on when I get a chance again.
dammit
20-08-2009, 10:37 AM
I have no idea if you've chosen a title or not, but I finally remembered the one title/idea i first thought of:
Dental Defence.
use it, don't use it. It was just bugging me that i couldn't remember it :P
dislekcia
20-08-2009, 01:06 PM
I have no idea if you've chosen a title or not, but I finally remembered the one title/idea i first thought of:
Dental Defence.
use it, don't use it. It was just bugging me that i couldn't remember it :P
Apparently a name was decided on without us, by people who hadn't actually played the game ;) So, yeah, trying to change that at the moment - Right now the best liked name among people who've, y'know, played it is Colgate Dental Defender, so you're pretty close (if that gets used).
Fengol
20-08-2009, 01:43 PM
What's the other name?
Nandrew
20-08-2009, 05:18 PM
It was "Bunny slaughter 2000: the Chippit Edition"
Chippit
20-08-2009, 06:18 PM
http://fabulousblueporcupine.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/fluffy-bunny.jpg
Yum yum. :o~
dammit
20-08-2009, 07:09 PM
Apparently a name was decided on without us, by people who hadn't actually played the game ;) So, yeah, trying to change that at the moment - Right now the best liked name among people who've, y'know, played it is Colgate Dental Defender, so you're pretty close (if that gets used).
Erm, turns out Gazza already suggested this name, so I can't claim is any more :P
dislekcia
25-08-2009, 12:05 PM
Thought I'd post some screenshots of what the game looks like at the moment, still a few things to do with gameplay, but it's mostly complete...
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/6320/screenshot1r.jpg
The toothbrush powerup:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/7885/screenshot2s.jpg
The floss powerup:
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6074/screenshot3mpl.jpg
DukeOFprunes
25-08-2009, 12:16 PM
Your game makes me want to eat candy. Loads of delicious tooth rotting candy.
Nandrew
25-08-2009, 12:30 PM
It's pretty :O~
Fengol
25-08-2009, 12:49 PM
CANDY! Who's doing the art btw?
DukeOFprunes
25-08-2009, 05:13 PM
So does this mean our comp entries get judgemated now? ^_______^
dislekcia
25-08-2009, 05:52 PM
So does this mean our comp entries get judgemated now? ^_______^
Well, the game's not done yet, so things are still crazy time-wise. I'm working my way through the judging though, but I'll really only have time once we've finished another ton of work and y'know, packed up the whole house...
Evolution
26-08-2009, 10:54 AM
Are you guys using the AS3 programming language to program the game?
dislekcia
26-08-2009, 11:25 AM
Are you guys using the AS3 programming language to program the game?
Nope, AS2. We can support more handsets if we target Flash Lite 2.0, which means we've got a sort of mangled version of AS2 to work with. Flash Lite 3.0 is out now (I think 3.1 is coming soon) but it's not on that many phones yet, especially in SA.
I'd really prefer AS3, I hear it's a lot better at pretty much everything ;)
dislekcia
26-08-2009, 02:10 PM
First loading screen:
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5963/screenshot4ejj.jpg
:D
Nandrew
26-08-2009, 03:21 PM
Man, dude, having an artist rocks! \o/
Fengol
26-08-2009, 03:46 PM
having played the game with the new artwork I can tell yo the eggs are the best graphic!
dislekcia
27-08-2009, 02:54 AM
One of the shots we need to supply of the game's functionality:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2862/screenshot5qgd.jpg
I'm really proud of this piece of design. One of the huge limitations of cellphones is that it's very difficult to get information across to the player, especially when that information is a set of instructions to do something. In a gameplay environment you've got movement to emphasise, but when things are static, that's much harder.
Here I've repeated the same information three different ways: Normal text, highlights in that text and via an image I'm inordinately fond of. The idea is that at a glance you'll get what this screen wants you to do instantly.
Also, yes, you really will be able to win airtime :)
dammit
27-08-2009, 11:42 AM
Looking sweet ;)
Nandrew
27-08-2009, 12:58 PM
I do like the touch with the text highlights. It's a useful trick that demands attention over a simple wall of text.
Chippit
27-08-2009, 01:02 PM
Current Colgate logo count? Over 9000?
Cyberninja
02-09-2009, 12:14 PM
First loading screen:
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5963/screenshot4ejj.jpg
Sexy! :P
I love the style and the colours.
dislekcia
03-09-2009, 12:17 AM
Just so you all know, the Colgate campaign has started and the game's been made available!
To get the final version on your phone, SMS "Colgate game" to 34739. That SMS costs R2, but each time you complete all 8 levels you can claim R5 worth of pay-as-you-go airtime (Provided you have a Colgate barcode to unlock the full game with). Also, if your phone can't run Flash files, it won't run the game. (Slight problem communicating that in the marketing copy sometimes)
Thanks for all the feedback and ideas, in this thread, that helped us turn this around in the insanely short month we had available. Also, we're totally tracking stats, so we'll be posting data as we crunch it into being meaningful!
dislekcia
03-09-2009, 12:18 AM
Sexy! :P
I love the style and the colours.
The little egg block is the best by far, everyone loves it! ;)
Also, I've fallen in love with vector art.
Squid
03-09-2009, 12:44 AM
To get the final version on your phone, SMS "Colgate game" to 34739. That SMS costs R2, but each time you complete all 8 levels you can claim R5 worth of pay-as-you-go airtime (Provided you have a Colgate barcode to unlock the full game with). Also, if your phone can't run Flash files, it won't run the game.
Done.
If it doesn't suck I'll go buy some toothpaste tomorrow :P
Fengol
03-09-2009, 11:35 AM
SMS "Colgate game" to 34739. That SMS costs R2
I sent the sms, but just got an sms back with a URL and told to go play? I thought it was game for my phone?
So I've gone to the link on Firefox and saving the page and uploading it my phone. I wonder if you can play through the web?
dammit
03-09-2009, 11:52 AM
Just so you all know, the Colgate campaign has started and the game's been made available!
To get the final version on your phone, SMS "Colgate game" to 34739. That SMS costs R2, but each time you complete all 8 levels you can claim R5 worth of pay-as-you-go airtime (Provided you have a Colgate barcode to unlock the full game with). Also, if your phone can't run Flash files, it won't run the game. (Slight problem communicating that in the marketing copy sometimes)
Thanks for all the feedback and ideas, in this thread, that helped us turn this around in the insanely short month we had available. Also, we're totally tracking stats, so we'll be posting data as we crunch it into being meaningful!
I'll share this with my boss, but I presume the colgate reps will be coming around eventually with at least a poster or something :P
dislekcia
03-09-2009, 12:30 PM
I sent the sms, but just got an sms back with a URL and told to go play? I thought it was game for my phone?
So I've gone to the link on Firefox and saving the page and uploading it my phone. I wonder if you can play through the web?
I was also rather confused when I got that SMS.
Most phones allow you to "use detail" and go to the web address directly, which then pulls the file down on your phone. I'm not super happy with the delivery mechanism (would rather it was a service SMS) but apparently this is how a lot of games are delivered locally, apparently.
Fengol
03-09-2009, 12:39 PM
but does it mean I can share the link; play through firefox and get airtime without the R2.00 sms?
Squid
03-09-2009, 12:50 PM
I sent the sms, but just got an sms back with a URL and told to go play? I thought it was game for my phone?
I just copy-pasted the url into my phone browser and downloaded it. Also, it works perfectly on my 6300, although it was probably designed with this phone in mind :P
dislekcia
03-09-2009, 01:01 PM
but does it mean I can share the link; play through firefox and get airtime without the R2.00 sms?
No, it detects if it's running on PC and will give you a snarky message saying that you COULD have won airtime if only you were playing on a phone ;)
I just copy-pasted the url into my phone browser and downloaded it. Also, it works perfectly on my 6300, although it was probably designed with this phone in mind :P
Indeed it was. Well, tested on one a lot.
dammit
03-09-2009, 05:36 PM
:< Tried it this afternoon and got the dreaded content does not work on this phone message. :<
dislekcia
03-09-2009, 07:06 PM
:< Tried it this afternoon and got the dreaded content does not work on this phone message. :<
I could have told you that would happen from when you couldn't copy the flash file to your phone. We didn't suddenly change formats ;)
dammit
03-09-2009, 08:19 PM
I could have told you that would happen from when you couldn't copy the flash file to your phone. We didn't suddenly change formats ;)
I was having a problem with the transfer programme itself. I was also secretly hoping my phone would have flash capabilities. :P
Chippit
03-09-2009, 10:45 PM
I was having a problem with the transfer programme itself. I was also secretly hoping my phone would have flash capabilities. :P
You'd be surprised the number of times hardware magically acquires new capabilities. My 360 once learned how to display the ring of light in red, and nothing I could do would convince it that that was not its preferred method of operation.
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