anonymouss

Alright, so, I'm starting a team for my site, but, it needs a logo. Coincidentally, the logo will be going on my site. (They both need to match, now don't they?)

So, Here's the style I would like it in:

Same color scheme for the text, and something pretty done with the 'i' at the beginning of 'iWanna Play.'

Size: 350x120.

Also, if you are desperate enough for money, I will pay up to $1 CAD for this job. Not much, but, you do usually work for free, so, it could be a nice bonus. Payment only through paypal.

Keep in note that there is no space between the LOWERCASE i, and wanna. So,  it should go as I have put it everytime in this post: 'iWanna Play.' With the W capitalized and everything. I wont kill you if the width goes over by up to 50 pixels.

It is important that you do not make a background. It will need to be transparent to match all different color schemes. If you can't make it transparent, make it a pink background or something, and I will use a program that Fede-Lasse told me about to make it that way.

Thanks.

iWanna Play


There is now a Contest!~ See it here.

iWanna Play is a hub for Indie game development, supporting both Flash games, and Game Maker games. We are willing to help you with your games, help you publicize them, or just about anything.

What makes us different from the rest?
Well, besides being pure awesome, we are probably the most willing Flash Arcade out there. By that, I mean that if you link me to a Flash game you like, I will upload it to my site for your playing pleasure.

Our Script
We are currently running Joomla to use the main website, using a template and some Modules form Yootheme.
The arcade is ran off of PUArcade.
Black was ran off of a custom script, but stuff happened, and it is now running on Joomla.

The Goal
Although we may just seem like another money-hoarding, no good, two bit company, we aren't. We are out there to help you. Do you have a flash game that needs publicity? We'll put it on our site. Does your game design team need some help? We're there. Are you having webdesign problems? We're on it.
We will do whatever is in our power to help you out.

Have Ideas?
If you have any ideas on what we can do to improve our site, please tell us!~

Need Help?
As previously stated, our goal is to assist you. If you need an engine made, feel free to tell me!~ I will take the liberty of working on designing it. Remember, though. iWanna Play is ran off of GM7, not GM6. So, you will have to convert it yourself.
Are you working on designing your site, and need help? Aside from our huge scripts and Templates collection (Over 1000 Templates, over 10,000 Scripts,) we are also half decent coders. So, if your site is in need of help, we're on it.
My game isn't being played!~ If you wish, we can link to your game in an article. If it is good enough, it will get a Get out of jail free card, and go straight onto the front page. However, if it doesn't meet our high standards, we will merely write a review. One way or another, your game is going to get publicity.


Many Colors
Is our theme too bright or dark? Mouse over the "Home' link in the menu, and click on something else. We have tons of schemes.

Earn Money!
For each really helpful thing you do for the community, I will grant you a point. Points are in your profile, but will not display if you don't have any. Now, you may be wondering what these points are for? Well, simple!
Besides being able to show off, they can be exchanged for money. $0.10 Each, to be exact. Minimum cashout is at $2.
Once you reach those 20 points, you will receive an Email with further information. This isn't done automatically so I can prevent abuse, and make the experience better for everyone.

Current things being worked on:

• More Content [Trust me, it will come quickly]
• More contests
• Fixing the bug at the bottom of the arcade
• PM System

And here's the link again, incase, for whatever reason, you cannot locate it.

Alright, before I post the actual post content, I'de like to say that this isn't an attempt to advertise my site. The games I link to are on my site because I like them, and it's the easiest place for me to find them.

So, let's face it. The easiest kind of games to get to are Flash Games. You just type into your address bar "iwannaplay.org," or "addictinggames.com," and you're there. You can then play a lot of games, in all different genres.

Now, considering all those games, you have to build up favorites over time. So, what are your favorite Flash Games?

Mine are:
Demonic Defence 4
Interactive Buddy
Kill Pacman
Bow Man 2
Crimson Warfare
And World Domination

(Again, not just advertising my site. I put these games on my site because I like them.)

Feel free to discuss these here.
Because I am taking down iWanna Play due to lack of interest, and transforming it into a flash arcade, I decided I should scrap the good articles. So, without further adu:

Level Design Theory

Players/Consumers are a top priority in your game. After all, they ARE the ones you are deisgning it for, no? They could be doing a wide range of things for you; paying money to play your game, spending there time to download your product, making your dream job come true, etc. Without the consumer, there is no point in making your game, so, it is extremely important to keep them satisfied.

Making your level Unique
Why would a consumer play, or buy, the same game more than once? They obviously won't, and they probably don't like being told to buy it twice. The same goes for levels. The player wants the levels at least semi-unique. Try not to recycle graphics too many times. Even if the game is entirely based in a single building, you can at least have different carpets, enemies, objects, etc.
Of course, in games like Grand Theft Auto, or books like the Gor series, people will constantly buy the same game-- of course, with variations (at least slight,) in plot, setting, characters, art, etc. So, try to keep that in mind when you design your game.

Player’s don’t like playing, or indeed, buying, the same game twice. Of course, like Star Trek fans and readers of the prodigious Gor science fiction series, some players will continuously buy into the same formulae or even the same game with just slight variations in plot, setting, characters and art. The same can be said for level designs – people don’t like playing the same level twice. Not only does it ruin the entertainment value, it also fails to spark the imagination. It’s therefore incredibly important that levels introduce some variation in the plot, challenge, setting, and characters (i.e. the enemies.)

Challenging your Player
People buy games for a few reasons:: The challenge, the fun, and doing things they wouldn't do in real life. However, if you made a game with no challenge, it would take away from the fun. Then, once you take away from the fun, the game is screwed. Even if it is in a world inhabited by aliens that you can talk to. Shooters should test accuracy. Strategy games should test tactics. Sim games should test the players ability to think. That is something important to keep in mind.

Escaping Reality
As mentioned in "Challenging your Player," the player wants to do things they normally wouldn't do. They want to escape reality. They want to be in an alternate world. The setting needs to be designed in a way that it fits in with the world; It needs to convince them they aren't on Earth, sitting on there chair, playing the computer.
This one is commonly ignored, and shouldn't be: A mage shouldn't be telling you to press Ctrl+T to teleport. Leave that for the manual and settings screen. Try to keep everything in context. Nothing should be said that normally isn't said.
Think about the world the game is in while you code. Even if your game is based on Earth, the player should feel as if they are at that location.

Conclusion
This isn't a rulebook for level design. These are merely suggestions. However, they will greatly improve your game if you follow at least some of them. Remember, extremely high realism; boring. Extremely low; just creepy. Just try to keep these in mind while coding!~
Til next time, Happy designing!~

Exploration

Exploring is a very important part in many RPG's. In fact, many RPG's are merged with Adventure because of this. It is the muscle of the design. If you can't explore anywhere, why play? Exploring shouldn't be a chore, however. The player should also be able to discover things by themselves because they experiment. They should be rewarded for that.
Big games with many oppurtunities to explore are some of the biggest out there. Look at Dark Cloud, Final Fantasy, and the works. They let you explore!~
Also, finding a way back shouldn't be too hard. Many games have landmarks you can see. Or maps. That way, the player doesn't get lost.
This leads into Level Design, as well. Have some secret paths, but also have an obvious way to the next location. Being lost is never fun, and generally drives people to close your game.


That is about as far as I can go into this subject, as it is tieing too far into Level Design, which is for another article. Til then, Happy Designing!~

Why wasn't there an announcement on this? Apparently the GMC added a Rich Text Editor that cna be used if you have IE6+, Mozilla / Firefox or Opera 9+.

For people who want to know how to activate it, it's under Control Panel>Board Settings.


Did anyone else not know this?