Post AhdDvyN8nRIySETvuK by jeffc@mastodon.online
(DIR) More posts by jeffc@mastodon.online
(DIR) Post #AhdBYKKpHwJ5iCzpPE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T00:26:09Z
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For a long time I've wanted to make a GPS gardening game (for health!) plant virtual plants in real locations & walk back later to harvest them. Basically "farmeville Go"The big stumbling block? Farming games need a ton of little plant icons and I'm a slow and not very good graphic designer.Could procedurally generated sprites be the answer to my laziness?Maybe?I like this, but I also think part of the fun of a farming game is the graphics...seeing what grows ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZfgKd5QeGc
(DIR) Post #AhdBrpz1qPpdN06VQ8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T00:29:44Z
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When I really about the game I realize it could be more educational if it used real plants, and if you had to take into account good planting locations...Why not have the plants attract various insects...Though, I'm just making excuses to avoid the suffering of getting the core gameplay working & finding out if it's fun or not.The point is to make loot box loops work to get people exercising, not wasting money or doom-scrolling... If games can be addictive can they be addictive for good?
(DIR) Post #AhdCIXDRjHjiyyZtAG by guyjantic@c.im
2024-05-07T00:34:30Z
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@futurebird I don't have a huge dog in this fight (IDK if I'd do this because gardening is a very, very occasional thing for me), but... guerrilla gardening?! Challenge: Plant something native in the median of a major street in your neighborhood!etc.
(DIR) Post #AhdCOAsHhslzQhMvlw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T00:35:34Z
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@guyjantic I mean I do that already. It's not the same as game where the plants grow in 48 hours.
(DIR) Post #AhdCSD1pdkxJGhl5MW by foreveremain@vis.social
2024-05-07T00:36:17Z
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@futurebird there are (I think) data and pseudoprocedurals out there that would lighten the load, both for plants and ways they might interact. Maybe instead provide the core tools and have others build the organisms as part of the engagement.
(DIR) Post #AhdCVBxI5SFMoC3ZT6 by guyjantic@c.im
2024-05-07T00:36:22Z
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@futurebird 🤩 <- this is me saying that's awesome, but I don't get emojis sometimes so I hope it's not weird.
(DIR) Post #AhdDi9FjXvAK95QPse by indigoparadox@mastodon.social
2024-05-07T00:50:15Z
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@futurebird The Pokémon DS games had a system where there were plots in the world you could plant berries at and come back later to harvest them. So that, but in Pokémon Go. And without the Pokémon. :thounking:
(DIR) Post #AhdDvyN8nRIySETvuK by jeffc@mastodon.online
2024-05-07T00:52:52Z
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@futurebird Another approach: use real real plants. Pull from the iNaturalist dataset. Scan plants to identify them and add them to your virtual goody box to assemble food or medicine. At higher levels, you get a higher score for quickly and accurately scanning the plants you need with fewer misses. It would teach plant identification, traditional uses, spotting them, remembering their locations, an appreciation of your environment, and maybe urban foraging.
(DIR) Post #AhdE98nbLDK8Yb8aRM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T00:55:16Z
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@jeffc I like it, but how do you create the 30min to 48 hour play cycle?That was the genius of farmville, it had people coming back to see what changed making it very re-playable, even though you never played it very long. Basically, just perfect for exercise.
(DIR) Post #AhdEkp6V12S0TfwfDM by jeffc@mastodon.online
2024-05-07T01:01:52Z
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@futurebirdYou need to feed your family and keep them healthy, so that establishes your basic goals. Maybe you're helping to forage for a community that grows and evolves over time?
(DIR) Post #AhdFaf5ZUpPYTWEIz2 by jeffc@mastodon.online
2024-05-07T01:11:27Z
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@futurebirdAt one point I was looking at doing something similar with a zombie game that would involve physical movement--scouting, carrying messages, etc, similar to Zombies Run but with a community aspect and the ability for a game master to inject new elements. ("R&D just figured out how to boost transmitter power. Here are the parts your community needs to scavenge or trade to do it." "Work together! We need help moving these packages of virus samples across the country.")
(DIR) Post #AhdJPv32Dho4bQAzI0 by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-05-07T01:23:32.597109Z
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@futurebird as someone who has never touched a gun in their life but has this weirdly encyclopedic knowledge of late 20C/early 21C military firearms thanks to this one gaming trend back in the day, i approve of this
(DIR) Post #AhdJPw2iWN99gj2FQu by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-05-07T01:32:40.925717Z
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@futurebird obviously the game will need to fudge a lot of stuff to allow this sort of daily(-ish) reward cycle, at least without making things awfully abstract or distanced by accelerating everything in the game worldwhich brings up the question of exactly what we want the player to take away from this game, so that those things are either preserved/replicated faithfully or represented in some abstracted way that still gets the core message acrosshow do these plants affect each other's growth? do some crowd out others, and are there other plants that can be deployed to stop them somehow (maybe make habitat for or lure things that eat the invasive, etc.)? do some plants favour a monoculture of pollinators? who suffers when the honeybees crowd out the smaller bees?just some stuff to consider both before, during and after even figuring what activities and resources the game's feedback cycle would even involve...
(DIR) Post #Ahdb0S9YJOTuvEEOzA by degreesOfFreedom@denton.social
2024-05-07T05:11:22Z
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@futurebird Are you familiar with L-systems? They're a somewhat scientifically accurate way of procedurally generating images of plants.https://archive.org/details/the-algorithmic-beauty-of-plants
(DIR) Post #Ahe3tjdJoubdmNIqjg by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T10:35:06Z
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@futurebird there's a whole genre of games which are "manage government policies to combat fossil-fuel-driven global warming". I've never played any of them; the genre developed after my love for games was killed. But the same principles could be applied to a game about managing a garden, or a game about replanting a wildlife conservation area.
(DIR) Post #AheFPkf4dCsJjNaq36 by hdfssk@hachyderm.io
2024-05-07T12:44:10Z
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@futurebird I feel like doing procgen icons correctly would probably be *more* work than getting the art assets conventionally (and adding more plant types over time, as you get the art / learn about them / are enthusiastic about them, is legit)