Paul Sutton

games

Rocks and Diamonds – Level Creation 2

Further to previous post you can see that creating levels for Rocksndiamonds is fairly simple.

I would like to share the following tips for any budding level designers:

  • Start simple
    • Experiment with different game elements
    • Add new elements as you create new levels
    • Don't overwhelm users or players
  • Testing levels
    • Self test levels
    • Get others to test
    • Get feedback
    • Consider any feedback
    • Act on feedback
  • Set the time so that there is :
    • Enough time to complete the level
    • Have a few seconds left over
    • Set time once level is completed
  • Mix it up
    • Start simple and work up to more complex levels
    • As you create more complex levels throw in a simple level

  • Make use of the game editor features to save time such as:

    • Random element placement (discussed in next post)
    • You can draw lines
    • Shapes
    • Fill feature, don't add 25+ blocks manually

  • Have fun

  • Take regular break

  • Stop and comeback later, this gives a fresh view

  • Submit and share levels with the game developers, they can be part of the game level archive

    • If doing this, remember to follow online safety rules
      • Ask permission from an adult
      • Make sure you have not included your name or contact info in any levels
      • Follow any guidelines for submitting levels

#games, #levels, #rocksndiamonds, #level,#creation,#codeclub

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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Rocks and Diamonds – Level Creation 1

We have Rocksndiamonds installed at the library for Code Club.

I am going to write a series of tutorials on level creation. Firstly a very basic how to create a simple level.

When you load the game you are presented with the main menu.

rnd1o

The two items we are concerned about here are :

LevelSet and the screen at the bottom. This screenshot shows level 12 with a preview at the bottom of the menu. This is part of my own level set.

rnd2

If you click on LevelSet you get the following

rnd2

Select custom and make sure this is set to 1, which it will be by default. Now LevelSet will read 001

rnd2

CREATING A LEVEL

If you now click on Level Creator You get a similar screen to that below: ( this is one of my own levels you will get a blank playing area with just the brown sand)

rnd3

I have already created a very basic level here. We can explore how this is done.

Firstly the default level created is huge usually 128x128, this is too big for what we need. On the right hand side there are lots of options. Clicking on CONF:

rnd4

Brings up the level properties.

rnd5

For this level we are going to set

  • Size to 8 x 8
  • Gems to collect to 4

rnd5

Press Escape to return to the editor area.

For a level to work we need at least 2 items.

Exit door

rnd3

Emeralds to collect

rnd3

If you click on the item to select, then click on the level to place it on the playing area.

rnd3

Press Enter to test.

Press Escape to go back to the editor, you now need to save your new level. Click SAVE, this can be found in the same panel area as conf

rnd4

rnd3

Answer yes. Your level is now saved.

Pressing esc from the editor takes you back to the main menu. The new level will be shown at the bottom.

So adding a new level is pretty easy.

You may want to create your own level set as the above adds to an existing level set.

Location of level files in different Operating systems.

  • Linux – ~/.rocksndiamonds/levels
  • Windows –
  • Mac

Note : The file levelinfo.conf is important without this the levels won't show up when you copy them to a new location.

#games, #levels, #rocksndiamonds, #level,#creation,#codeclub

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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Licenced under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

ZX SPECTRUM GAMES IN THE BROWSER

The ZX Spectrum was a computer released by Sinclair Research back in 1982. It was built around the Zilog Z80 8 bit CPU.

Along with the Commodore 64, The ZX Spectrum was a very popular computer back in the 80's and early 90's and there were many classic games made during this period. Some modern games can trace their roots back to the 80's. Thanks to projects such as RetroPie, retro games can be played on modern hardware.

You can now play classic games such as Jet Set Willy in emulators, for operating systems such as Linux, MacOS and Windows. You can also play games, in a web browser, which is great for going back to your childhood memories of 8 bit gaming without having to set up an emulator.

One such site is http://www.onsite-computers.co.uk, which offers over 200 classic games. Some games have been written as recently as the 2000's so the developer community is still out there.

You can have a go here

Spectrum Screen This is the main spectrum screen, from here you could for example load games and type in Sinclair Basic programs, also called Speccy BASIC.

manic miner Manic Miner in a browser

pippo

Pippo (Puzzle game)

We have Retro Pie set up at the South Devon Tech Jam for anyone who wants to have a go.

#zxspectrum, #retro, #games, #browser, #emulation, #SouthDevonTechJam

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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I have been making some regular posts to Friendi.ca on the current NFL Football season. As we are now in post season, it seems this has been neglected a little.

WEEK 17

Week 17 Saw the current Superbowl champions fall to a shock 24-27 loss against the Miami Dolphins, which forced them in to a Wild card play off against the Tennessee Titans in Week 18 wild card game.

This game was lost 20-13.

  • Week 19

Week 19 saw the Divisional playoff games with the 49ers, Titans, Chefs and Packers all securing their places in the Conference Championship games.

The games look like:

  • Titans vs Chiefs
  • Packers vs 49ers

Which will be played on Sunday 19th January 2020 for a place in the Superbowl on 2nd Feb.

In the meantime the Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday January 26th.

#football, #nfl, #results, #fixtures, #update, #postseason, #probowl,#superbowl, #wildcard, #conference, #championship, #division, #games,

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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Licenced under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Code Club 18/01/2020

The next Code Club will be on Saturday 18th January at Paignton Library and information Centre

Carrying on from what we were doing on 4/1/2020. If anyone is interested in the Hour Of Code activity, we can have a go at that too.

More Scratch 3.0 coding, which is great and a good starting point before moving on to other programming languages.

Rocksndiamonds. which I hope we can eventually use to learn level layout.

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References and further information

Next week 11th January 2020 is the South Devon Tech Jam

Next Code Club is on : Saturday 18th January 2020

#coding, #codeclub, #programming, #scratch, #python, #html, #css, #javascript,#coding, #games, #rocksndiamonds, #hourofcode

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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The first Code Club of 2020 went really well. Today we were up to six. So people are starting to come back after the Christmas Holiday.

Today, we undertook some more work on the website that we have been working on. We also undertook an hour of code activity, my aim is to try and get lots of people having a go at this, you get a certificate at the end.

More Scratch 3.0 coding, which is great and a good starting point before moving on to other programming languages.

Rocksndiamonds. which I hope we can eventually use to learn level layout.

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References and further information

Next week 11th January 2020 is the South Devon Tech Jam

Next Code Club is on : Saturday 18th January 2020

#coding, #codeclub, #programming, #scratch, #python, #html, #css, #javascript,#coding, #games, #rocksndiamonds, #hourofcode

You can find me on Friendica at [email protected]

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