Hello IGF friends...
I know, I know... I have no business entering my little game in your contest, but my boy Andy said it might have a chance. So what the heck, it's only $95.
My name is Adam Spragg. I'm a life-long gamer, and have been trying my hand at developing games for quite a while now. It wasn't until I discovered the Xbox Live Indie Game platform that I was actually motivated to complete and publish a game. This latest one is my third (after "Bad Golf" and "Battle for Venga Islands"). When I'm not developing games, I'm a dad, husband, and software developer.
In case you don't already know, Hidden in Plain Sight is a local-multiplayer-only game where players are trying to win by accomplishing goals, but also given the means to eliminate each other from the game. This puts the player in an immediate state of conflict: should I try to touch all the statues to win, or by doing so, does that give me away as a player character?
In all game modes, there are a bunch of NPC characters that mostly just wander around randomly. So, kind of like SpyParty, a big part of the game is trying to blend in and look like a computer controlled character.
It's the first game I've made that I think is ACTUALLY FUN, and the first that my friends (playtesters) genuinely seem to enjoy. So I'm pretty excited to get it out there.
Look for it to be published in late November. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Trailer
I made a new trailer video...
Also, since the last time I wrote, Ninja Party has been updated sort of significantly.
The real problem with Ninja Party was that it was impossible to determine who the players were. Players could easily just wander around and look exactly like the NPCs. Basically, you just needed to wait until someone got impatient and start taking swings at everyone, and it just turned into a duel.
So I needed to add something that the players would react to, but that the NPCs would ignore.
I added statues. You can win the game if you touch all five statues. This gives the players something to do, and something to guide their behavior, and therefore something to give themselves away.
The addition, I think, is a good one. It allows for multiple levels of strategy. You could just go for the statues straight away, but that would probably be pretty obvious. You could camp a statue, but you'd have to be careful, or you'd look suspicious.
The statues also have the benefit of blocking the view and giving some cover, so you can hide behind them and spring out at people. That's kinda neat.
I uploaded an official version to the IGF, to the tune of $95 or something. It's almost certainly money down the drain, but who knows. Just waiting on the finish cover art from my boy Eryn, and I'll be good to go. (See, I told you waiting on art would have a silver lining! If I wasn't waiting, I wouldn't have improved the Ninja Party gameplay!)
Also, since the last time I wrote, Ninja Party has been updated sort of significantly.
The real problem with Ninja Party was that it was impossible to determine who the players were. Players could easily just wander around and look exactly like the NPCs. Basically, you just needed to wait until someone got impatient and start taking swings at everyone, and it just turned into a duel.
So I needed to add something that the players would react to, but that the NPCs would ignore.
I added statues. You can win the game if you touch all five statues. This gives the players something to do, and something to guide their behavior, and therefore something to give themselves away.
The addition, I think, is a good one. It allows for multiple levels of strategy. You could just go for the statues straight away, but that would probably be pretty obvious. You could camp a statue, but you'd have to be careful, or you'd look suspicious.
The statues also have the benefit of blocking the view and giving some cover, so you can hide behind them and spring out at people. That's kinda neat.
I uploaded an official version to the IGF, to the tune of $95 or something. It's almost certainly money down the drain, but who knows. Just waiting on the finish cover art from my boy Eryn, and I'll be good to go. (See, I told you waiting on art would have a silver lining! If I wasn't waiting, I wouldn't have improved the Ninja Party gameplay!)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Hidden in Plain Sight -- DONE
After a few nights of just playing around and testing and tinkering and tweaking, I'm ready to stand back from the canvas and say that I've painted my last stroke on this masterpiece of a game.
The ONLY thing left is to wait for Eryn to finish up the title/loading screen image for me. As I've said, I'm not in any hurry to release, and this extra time has given me some opportunity to do some extra polishing and stuff. So that's all good.
I made a YouTube video introducing the game. It's a subtle game, so just showing silent gameplay footage wouldn't really sell it, I don't think. The video ended up being 10 minutes long, but I think it does a decent job explaining each of the game modes, and showing why it's a fun game. I was hoping to get some playtesters together tonight and record some actual game footage, but plans fell through. Maybe next weekend.
I emailed out some websites with a link to the video. I have no idea how to do marketing, and the very idea of it kind of makes my skin crawl, but I also want people to know about my game. I try to convince myself that I'm just making games for myself, and it's neat if people download it, but of course in my secret heart I want the game to go viral and get thousands and thousands of sales.
Anyhoo, here's the video, if you haven't seen it already:
The ONLY thing left is to wait for Eryn to finish up the title/loading screen image for me. As I've said, I'm not in any hurry to release, and this extra time has given me some opportunity to do some extra polishing and stuff. So that's all good.
I made a YouTube video introducing the game. It's a subtle game, so just showing silent gameplay footage wouldn't really sell it, I don't think. The video ended up being 10 minutes long, but I think it does a decent job explaining each of the game modes, and showing why it's a fun game. I was hoping to get some playtesters together tonight and record some actual game footage, but plans fell through. Maybe next weekend.
I emailed out some websites with a link to the video. I have no idea how to do marketing, and the very idea of it kind of makes my skin crawl, but I also want people to know about my game. I try to convince myself that I'm just making games for myself, and it's neat if people download it, but of course in my secret heart I want the game to go viral and get thousands and thousands of sales.
Anyhoo, here's the video, if you haven't seen it already:
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Hidden in Plain Sight progress...
Getting closer! Am I done?
In the last week or so, I’ve upgraded the menus so that they somewhat match the tiles theme that Eryn introduced in his title artwork. I also added in the Trial mode stuff (two game modes free with trial, the rest you get with purchase), and a credits screen. I’m pretty much done, I think.
Eryn emailed me today and said that he has some work and a timeline at his job, so he won’t be able to do more work on the title screen for a little while. This is kind of a bummer, as I’m eager to get this to market, but also a blessing in disguise. There absolutely no reason I need to rush anything, and having some extra time for playtesting and tweaking is always a good thing. So I can put on my QA hat and look for bugs. I could also try to do some marketing, but I don’t really know how to do that.
I did spam out some emails to gaming sites with a link to a pre-release version of the game. I think one or two might have downloaded it, but I haven’t heard anything back.
One of the biggest steps I still need to take is put together a good demo video. And I need the help of friends for that. So hopefully I can rally a couple people this weekend and record that.
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