Guide for designing games?
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Guide for designing games?
by chulo333 » Wed 29. Oct 2008, 01:48
It'd be great if we could get some kind of detailed guide for creating games. I really have no idea how the game designer is supposed to work.
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Re: Guide for designing games?
by cosmo » Wed 5. Nov 2008, 12:49
At first it seems to be a little bit complicated, you’re right.
But after you have built your first game you get it how it works. I'll try to describe step by step each point with features.
First, you should know that every single game consisting of several quests triggered in a linear time sequence.
Please remember that it can take a lot of time to design a game till it is ready to launch. It is also advisable to test your designed game before launching.
To launch your game you mark 'enable' in the games tab. Pay heed that an enabled game is also accessible for other players. Therefore you should not enable your game before you have completed your game design.
Now, I’ll introduce you how to design your game. Ask if there are any questions, of course.
A) Design a game
You can label your game first and edit it later. Personally, I plan a game in my mind and write it down, including every single incident step by step. This makes it easier to create the game.
1. Choose ‘Design a game’. Label the name of your game, e.g. “my game”. Set location information where the game takes place and enter the name of the city if needed. Note that if you don’t set location information of start latitude and longitude your game will not be visible for player in the proximity.
2. You can set the minimum and maximum of players and teams, but you can also shift that and set it at a later date.
B) Quests
A game can’t be enabled without any quest, of course. So, the main task is to organize quests.
Quests can be instructions, map quests, side quests or riddles. In ‘all quests’ you can see quest created by other game designers. These quests can be helpful for the first time to understand how to create a game. You can copy and modify existing quests for your own game. Choose ‘my quest’ to see the list of your created quests only.
Please read description of the quest features and their functions.
Now it is advisable to set first an instruction for players.
Kindly note that game designer can’t upload audio files at the moment. But this will be possible soon.
Instruction
Quest types as instructions are usually set at the beginning of a game but can be also set during a game.
At the beginning the instruction describe the player the story of your game and/or what he or she might expect for a kind of game; e.g. multi player footrace game. During a game the instruction can tell the player what he or she has to do next, linked with a picture.
1. Enter the name of the instruction, e.g. “start of my game”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the instruction. The title of the instruction will be seen by the player above the instruction text, e.g. “Your objective in ‘my game’”.
3. Enter the text for the instruction that informs the player about what to do to play the game.
4. You can upload a picture.
5. Save your instruction and continue with the next new quest.
Look for an example of an instruction at the beginning of Roads of San Francisco, position: 1, quest type: instruction, labeled ‘Introduction’.
Look for an example of an instruction during Roads of San Francisco, position: 11, quest type: instruction, labeled ‘end of game’.
Map Quest
In map quest the player has to find a place. Describe the task that the player has to solve. It can also be a picture as clue. You submit the local information, so that the player gets new facts if he reaches the wanted place.
1. Enter the name of the map quest, e.g. “bus stop quest”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the quest. The title of the quest will be seen by the player as notification, e.g. “Begin your first quest”.
3. Enter the description for the quest that informs the player about what to do to solve the task.
4. Set location information where the quest will lead to a destination. If there are team mates or enemies to find you do not need to set the location information.
5. Enter the ‘target reached text’ that will appear if the location is reached by the player.
6. You can upload a picture that will appear if the location is reached by the player.
7. Mark ‘Find Teammates’ or ‘Find Enemy’, and the player has to find a mobile target that is visible on the cell screen. To hide direction to the target by a red line in a simulation mode you mark ‘hide target’.
8. Mark ‘force satellite view’ if in an area the player has to find certain signs that are only visible in a satellite view. If these signs are only visible in a zoomed view you can set the ‘zoom level’.
9. Save your quest.
Look for an example of a simple map quest in City Race Munich, position: 3, quest type: map, labeled ‘Theresienhoehe’.
Look for an example of ‘find enemy’ in City Race Munich, position: 11, quest type: map, labeled ‘Find other player’.
Side Quest
Side Quest can only be added to Map Quests!
They can be set either with timer or location-based events. If the player approaches to the map quest location he can get an additional clue to solve the quest. Enter then an ‘activation distance’ to trigger a clue. If the player should get his next information for the quest after a certain time you can enter an ‘activation time’ to trigger the clue.
1. Enter the name of the side quest, e.g. “dismount bus”. This is for your view to identify and to add the side quest into a map quest.
2. Enter the text of the side quest. The text of the side quest will pop up after a certain time if the player is following his original quest (depending on ‘activation time’) or in a certain distance to the located map quest (depending on ‘activation distance’).
3. You can upload a picture.
4. Set ‘activation distance’ or ‘activation time’ to trigger the side quest. If you don’t set any activation feature the side quest will not appear.
5. Save your side quest.
Look for examples in Roads of San Francisco, position: 2, quest type: map, labeled ‘Yuen Drug Store’: side quests.
Riddle
Any kinds of simple or complex riddles are to be solved by the player. Riddles can be word or numeric puzzles, brain-teaser and much more.
1. Enter the name of the quest, e.g. “hangman riddle”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the quest. The title of the quest will be seen by the player as notification, e.g. “Solve the riddle”.
3. Enter the text for the quest that informs the player about what he or she has to do to solve this quest.
4. You can choose now if the answer can be free or set. If the answer can be free there is no entry needed for ‘Answer’ and ‘False report’. To set an answer please note that you must enter all possible answers separated by a vertical bar “|”. So, assuming that the answer is 13, you enter the number “13” and the word “thirteen” as well as any other expression, e.g. the solution is “13”: 13|thirteen|Thirteen
5. Enter an ‘Affirmation’ text if the answer is correct.
6. In ‘False report’ you can comfort the player with fine words if there are further trials
7. Set the maximum of ‘Trials’ the player can enter an answer.
8. You can upload a picture if needed.
9. Enter ‘Keywords’ if there are helps provided, as web search. The keywords will be automatically placed into the search field, if the help is set as internet type.
10. If the player has to contact a virtual person by call, you can enter ‘Call number’. Please pay heed to enter the complete phone number with the country code.
11. Save your riddle.
Look for an example of ‘answer’ in City Race Munich, position: 9, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Hofbraeuhaus’.
Look for an example of ‘keywords’ in City Race Munich, position: 4, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Bavaria’.
Look for an example of ‘call number’ in City Race Munich, position: 6, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Phone Quest’.
C) Targets
A ‘target’ can be set to install a meeting point after the game has finished; e.g. to have drink together. But there is no need to set a 'target' as endpoint in a created game. You can set an ‘instruction’ text with a picture at the end of your game, as well.
1. Label the name of your target.
2. Set latitude and longitude of the location.
3. Save your target.
D) Helps
Helps can be added to Riddles only! There may be situations where a player does not know, how to solve a riddle by using aids. Sometimes a player just needs a little help to get it how to gain more information to solve a riddle. ‘Helps’ can be set by hosts as hint for player.
Create a new help or copy helps and add it to your riddles.
1. Enter the name of the help, e.g. “Use Internet”. This is for your view to identify and to add the help into a riddle.
2. Enter the type of the help, e.g. “internet”.
3. Enter the text for the help that informs the player about what he or she can do to get more information for solving this riddle, e.g. “You can use the Internet”.
4. Enter the menu label of that help, e.g. “Search Web”.
5. Save your help.
So far, that was a detailed description of each point. But I think how to design a game will be clearer for you if you can see the main structure and the result of a game design. For that “Roads of San Francisco” will be perfect.
Have a look on prepared games and the structure of the games. Create a new game, copy quests and put them in your game, then modify them to see what has changed when you play around and see which item triggers a new feature.
I hope my description was helpful for the use of the game designer. Please report if there are any questions, problems or bugs. We are still working on the improvement of the usability. So, it will be always helpful for us to know, how you manage the use of JOYity.
But after you have built your first game you get it how it works. I'll try to describe step by step each point with features.
First, you should know that every single game consisting of several quests triggered in a linear time sequence. Please remember that it can take a lot of time to design a game till it is ready to launch. It is also advisable to test your designed game before launching. To launch your game you mark 'enable' in the games tab. Pay heed that an enabled game is also accessible for other players. Therefore you should not enable your game before you have completed your game design.
Now, I’ll introduce you how to design your game. Ask if there are any questions, of course.
A) Design a game
You can label your game first and edit it later. Personally, I plan a game in my mind and write it down, including every single incident step by step. This makes it easier to create the game.
1. Choose ‘Design a game’. Label the name of your game, e.g. “my game”. Set location information where the game takes place and enter the name of the city if needed. Note that if you don’t set location information of start latitude and longitude your game will not be visible for player in the proximity.
2. You can set the minimum and maximum of players and teams, but you can also shift that and set it at a later date.
B) Quests
A game can’t be enabled without any quest, of course. So, the main task is to organize quests.
Quests can be instructions, map quests, side quests or riddles. In ‘all quests’ you can see quest created by other game designers. These quests can be helpful for the first time to understand how to create a game. You can copy and modify existing quests for your own game. Choose ‘my quest’ to see the list of your created quests only.
Please read description of the quest features and their functions.
Now it is advisable to set first an instruction for players.
Kindly note that game designer can’t upload audio files at the moment. But this will be possible soon.Instruction
Quest types as instructions are usually set at the beginning of a game but can be also set during a game.
At the beginning the instruction describe the player the story of your game and/or what he or she might expect for a kind of game; e.g. multi player footrace game. During a game the instruction can tell the player what he or she has to do next, linked with a picture.
1. Enter the name of the instruction, e.g. “start of my game”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the instruction. The title of the instruction will be seen by the player above the instruction text, e.g. “Your objective in ‘my game’”.
3. Enter the text for the instruction that informs the player about what to do to play the game.
4. You can upload a picture.
5. Save your instruction and continue with the next new quest.
Look for an example of an instruction at the beginning of Roads of San Francisco, position: 1, quest type: instruction, labeled ‘Introduction’. Look for an example of an instruction during Roads of San Francisco, position: 11, quest type: instruction, labeled ‘end of game’.Map Quest
In map quest the player has to find a place. Describe the task that the player has to solve. It can also be a picture as clue. You submit the local information, so that the player gets new facts if he reaches the wanted place.
1. Enter the name of the map quest, e.g. “bus stop quest”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the quest. The title of the quest will be seen by the player as notification, e.g. “Begin your first quest”.
3. Enter the description for the quest that informs the player about what to do to solve the task.
4. Set location information where the quest will lead to a destination. If there are team mates or enemies to find you do not need to set the location information.
5. Enter the ‘target reached text’ that will appear if the location is reached by the player.
6. You can upload a picture that will appear if the location is reached by the player.
7. Mark ‘Find Teammates’ or ‘Find Enemy’, and the player has to find a mobile target that is visible on the cell screen. To hide direction to the target by a red line in a simulation mode you mark ‘hide target’.
8. Mark ‘force satellite view’ if in an area the player has to find certain signs that are only visible in a satellite view. If these signs are only visible in a zoomed view you can set the ‘zoom level’.
9. Save your quest.
Look for an example of a simple map quest in City Race Munich, position: 3, quest type: map, labeled ‘Theresienhoehe’. Look for an example of ‘find enemy’ in City Race Munich, position: 11, quest type: map, labeled ‘Find other player’.Side Quest
Side Quest can only be added to Map Quests!
They can be set either with timer or location-based events. If the player approaches to the map quest location he can get an additional clue to solve the quest. Enter then an ‘activation distance’ to trigger a clue. If the player should get his next information for the quest after a certain time you can enter an ‘activation time’ to trigger the clue.
1. Enter the name of the side quest, e.g. “dismount bus”. This is for your view to identify and to add the side quest into a map quest.
2. Enter the text of the side quest. The text of the side quest will pop up after a certain time if the player is following his original quest (depending on ‘activation time’) or in a certain distance to the located map quest (depending on ‘activation distance’).
3. You can upload a picture.
4. Set ‘activation distance’ or ‘activation time’ to trigger the side quest. If you don’t set any activation feature the side quest will not appear.
5. Save your side quest.
Look for examples in Roads of San Francisco, position: 2, quest type: map, labeled ‘Yuen Drug Store’: side quests.Riddle
Any kinds of simple or complex riddles are to be solved by the player. Riddles can be word or numeric puzzles, brain-teaser and much more.
1. Enter the name of the quest, e.g. “hangman riddle”. This is for your view to organize the sequence of quests later on.
2. Set the title of the quest. The title of the quest will be seen by the player as notification, e.g. “Solve the riddle”.
3. Enter the text for the quest that informs the player about what he or she has to do to solve this quest.
4. You can choose now if the answer can be free or set. If the answer can be free there is no entry needed for ‘Answer’ and ‘False report’. To set an answer please note that you must enter all possible answers separated by a vertical bar “|”. So, assuming that the answer is 13, you enter the number “13” and the word “thirteen” as well as any other expression, e.g. the solution is “13”: 13|thirteen|Thirteen
5. Enter an ‘Affirmation’ text if the answer is correct.
6. In ‘False report’ you can comfort the player with fine words if there are further trials
7. Set the maximum of ‘Trials’ the player can enter an answer.
8. You can upload a picture if needed.
9. Enter ‘Keywords’ if there are helps provided, as web search. The keywords will be automatically placed into the search field, if the help is set as internet type.
10. If the player has to contact a virtual person by call, you can enter ‘Call number’. Please pay heed to enter the complete phone number with the country code.
11. Save your riddle.
Look for an example of ‘answer’ in City Race Munich, position: 9, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Hofbraeuhaus’. Look for an example of ‘keywords’ in City Race Munich, position: 4, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Bavaria’. Look for an example of ‘call number’ in City Race Munich, position: 6, quest type: riddle, labeled ‘Phone Quest’.C) Targets
A ‘target’ can be set to install a meeting point after the game has finished; e.g. to have drink together. But there is no need to set a 'target' as endpoint in a created game. You can set an ‘instruction’ text with a picture at the end of your game, as well.
1. Label the name of your target.
2. Set latitude and longitude of the location.
3. Save your target.
D) Helps
Helps can be added to Riddles only! There may be situations where a player does not know, how to solve a riddle by using aids. Sometimes a player just needs a little help to get it how to gain more information to solve a riddle. ‘Helps’ can be set by hosts as hint for player.
Create a new help or copy helps and add it to your riddles.
1. Enter the name of the help, e.g. “Use Internet”. This is for your view to identify and to add the help into a riddle.
2. Enter the type of the help, e.g. “internet”.
3. Enter the text for the help that informs the player about what he or she can do to get more information for solving this riddle, e.g. “You can use the Internet”.
4. Enter the menu label of that help, e.g. “Search Web”.
5. Save your help.
So far, that was a detailed description of each point. But I think how to design a game will be clearer for you if you can see the main structure and the result of a game design. For that “Roads of San Francisco” will be perfect.
Have a look on prepared games and the structure of the games. Create a new game, copy quests and put them in your game, then modify them to see what has changed when you play around and see which item triggers a new feature.I hope my description was helpful for the use of the game designer. Please report if there are any questions, problems or bugs. We are still working on the improvement of the usability. So, it will be always helpful for us to know, how you manage the use of JOYity.
Servus! I am moderator of the JOYity forum 
- cosmo
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- Joined: Tue 28. Oct 2008, 11:15
Re: Guide for designing games?
by Andreas » Fri 29. Jan 2010, 18:11
So we got some more questions from Paul about designing games that I want to answer here:
It's 25m.
Yes, it is not mandatory to go to the games start position first. If you want to make it mandatory, use a map quest as the first quest of the game.
I think this has been described by Cosmo, see above. If you have any specific questions please let us know.
Thanks for this suggestion. I think it would make a lot of sense and we consider this for the next version.
Thanks, Paul, for your questions. Any additional questions or remarks are always welcome.
How close does someone have to be to a map quest target to make it complete?
It's 25m.
When someone starts a game, it seems players get any initial instructions before they are anywhere near the game's start position? If I wanted game players to start from a certain spot, would I need to start the game with a map quest?
Yes, it is not mandatory to go to the games start position first. If you want to make it mandatory, use a map quest as the first quest of the game.
Could someone please define the map quests, riddles, instructions and side quests and when they should be used, their differences and how they work?
How do Targets work and what should they be used for?
I think this has been described by Cosmo, see above. If you have any specific questions please let us know.
A simulation mode for just the designer would be useful when debugging games. Is that possible?
Thanks for this suggestion. I think it would make a lot of sense and we consider this for the next version.
Thanks, Paul, for your questions. Any additional questions or remarks are always welcome.
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Re: Guide for designing games?
by stubblychin » Fri 29. Jan 2010, 18:35
Thanks for the quick reply!
With the answers in mind, I think it would be great if we could define a custom distance on a map quest so we could require people to be very near to somewhere before it completes.
With the answers in mind, I think it would be great if we could define a custom distance on a map quest so we could require people to be very near to somewhere before it completes.
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- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri 29. Jan 2010, 13:20
Re: Guide for designing games?
by TheChrisOneil » Sun 22. Aug 2010, 20:52
Hi
Killer app. I have been asked to create a team bonding application to both get the engineering / Marketing teams together and to also share the potential of GPS based gaming. I have a few questions related to creating a game for work.
I am sorry I have to ask this first couple of questions, it is really coming from the sponsor of this project at my work. There appears to be at least two platforms capable of creating location trigger quests you and http://www.scvngr.com/. The question is which platform is better?
Two years ago there appears to have been a lot of buzz for Joyity.com and then the internet seems to have stop highlighting this app, is this related to the acceptance of the general public to engaging in this kind of game?
Can a the phone being used to play the game, continued to be used for the sending and receiving calls and texts once they have entered the game? Can they leave and then come back?
Can the game be monitored by the host, and due to the performance of the gamers, have some the of the quests changed while the game is ongoing?
We are expecting 100 people to participate (well that is the optimistic count anyway), can the game accommodate that player count? What is the max player count? We anticipate creating 4 teams of 25 players.
Can the game design be created using a PC/Internet verse using the phone?
Is there support for Blackberries? Forgive my ignorance, I presumed the game works on all version of Android suported phones -right? Is the iPhone supported?
Thanks,
Chris
Killer app. I have been asked to create a team bonding application to both get the engineering / Marketing teams together and to also share the potential of GPS based gaming. I have a few questions related to creating a game for work.
I am sorry I have to ask this first couple of questions, it is really coming from the sponsor of this project at my work. There appears to be at least two platforms capable of creating location trigger quests you and http://www.scvngr.com/. The question is which platform is better?
Two years ago there appears to have been a lot of buzz for Joyity.com and then the internet seems to have stop highlighting this app, is this related to the acceptance of the general public to engaging in this kind of game?
Can a the phone being used to play the game, continued to be used for the sending and receiving calls and texts once they have entered the game? Can they leave and then come back?
Can the game be monitored by the host, and due to the performance of the gamers, have some the of the quests changed while the game is ongoing?
We are expecting 100 people to participate (well that is the optimistic count anyway), can the game accommodate that player count? What is the max player count? We anticipate creating 4 teams of 25 players.
Can the game design be created using a PC/Internet verse using the phone?
Is there support for Blackberries? Forgive my ignorance, I presumed the game works on all version of Android suported phones -right? Is the iPhone supported?
Thanks,
Chris
- TheChrisOneil
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sun 22. Aug 2010, 12:09
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