Ok here we go, running a bit buggy (especially in the Simulator, run the apk if possible) but no time left and should be fine to play to the end. Will write some more details on what I was trying to accomplish tomorrow, bedtime now 
https://github.com/ec8or/courier2023
http://largevisiblemachine.com/coronablitz/courier2023.apk
Cheers
Here is some more information and some screenshots.
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Concept
This is a quick test of a type of type of story-driven gameplay that is a bit of a reaction against the current focus on procedural world generation in games design. What I’d like to do is capture the feeling of grinding out and learning the sequence and configuration of levels in old action games such as Green Beret and Commando (some of the first games I played on my c64) but using turn-based mechanics instead. While replaying a game like this once you’ve beaten it won’t be much fun (although some branching can be included) but on the other hand you have a much tighter control over the story and I think with mobile games in particular this is fine as long as the game last a few hours and can be enjoyed in short bursts (the gaming equivalent of reading a paperback on the bus).
Obviously this is a super simple implementation of the concept but should still show where I want to go with this. This is the first time I’ve sat down with Corona properly so a lot of time was spent figuring out how to do things and I had some massive problems with the scene loading in particular (in combination with displaying alerts?) which meant I didn’t have time to include all the events I had planned and had to cut some stuff out at the last minute to make it run ok. Still crashes here and there in Windows but seems to run fine on a low-end Sony Xperia (which also handles the native alerts much better).
Tools
My only previous Corona project was trying to set up a hex map and I’ve used some code from that project for the character movement and drag and drop scroll which borrows heavily from a tutorial by Mario Roberti. Apart from that all code and art (except for Bob) is made by me while the soundtrack is from the record Modus Operandi by Amygdala which is available under Creative Commons.
Time
I probably spent about an hour on the actual game design and then an hour each on the initial code and graphics. I wanted to include some more choices and functionality after that (plus replace the native alerts etc.) but ran into quite a few problems so had to spend an extra hour debugging things and sorting out some bugs. Will make sure I sit down with some tutorials before the next one and things should go a lot smoother
Screenshots
Any comments, questions or tips just let me know!
Interesting entry! Â How did you end up doing the procedural level generation?
Sorry, I meant is it is not procedural at all so just using a couple of tables for tile layout and events. Quite a few of the game designs I’ve been working on lately seem to follow this pattern of being quite linear focusing on the actual story rather than repeat gameplay, and this entry is meant to be a quick test of some of those ideas. It is not like I hate procedural levels in game design or anything, I just want to try and capture that old-school feeling of trying again and again until you “solve” the game and then reward the player with a story.
Here is some more information and some screenshots.
Â
Concept
This is a quick test of a type of type of story-driven gameplay that is a bit of a reaction against the current focus on procedural world generation in games design. What I’d like to do is capture the feeling of grinding out and learning the sequence and configuration of levels in old action games such as Green Beret and Commando (some of the first games I played on my c64) but using turn-based mechanics instead. While replaying a game like this once you’ve beaten it won’t be much fun (although some branching can be included) but on the other hand you have a much tighter control over the story and I think with mobile games in particular this is fine as long as the game last a few hours and can be enjoyed in short bursts (the gaming equivalent of reading a paperback on the bus).
Obviously this is a super simple implementation of the concept but should still show where I want to go with this. This is the first time I’ve sat down with Corona properly so a lot of time was spent figuring out how to do things and I had some massive problems with the scene loading in particular (in combination with displaying alerts?) which meant I didn’t have time to include all the events I had planned and had to cut some stuff out at the last minute to make it run ok. Still crashes here and there in Windows but seems to run fine on a low-end Sony Xperia (which also handles the native alerts much better).
Tools
My only previous Corona project was trying to set up a hex map and I’ve used some code from that project for the character movement and drag and drop scroll which borrows heavily from a tutorial by Mario Roberti. Apart from that all code and art (except for Bob) is made by me while the soundtrack is from the record Modus Operandi by Amygdala which is available under Creative Commons.
Time
I probably spent about an hour on the actual game design and then an hour each on the initial code and graphics. I wanted to include some more choices and functionality after that (plus replace the native alerts etc.) but ran into quite a few problems so had to spend an extra hour debugging things and sorting out some bugs. Will make sure I sit down with some tutorials before the next one and things should go a lot smoother
Screenshots
Any comments, questions or tips just let me know!
Interesting entry! Â How did you end up doing the procedural level generation?
Sorry, I meant is it is not procedural at all so just using a couple of tables for tile layout and events. Quite a few of the game designs I’ve been working on lately seem to follow this pattern of being quite linear focusing on the actual story rather than repeat gameplay, and this entry is meant to be a quick test of some of those ideas. It is not like I hate procedural levels in game design or anything, I just want to try and capture that old-school feeling of trying again and again until you “solve” the game and then reward the player with a story.