Projects I Won't Finish » Games

It’s hard to post when it isn’t a habit

mdiehr — Thu, 26 May 2011 02:06:00 +0000

I've been busy playing things like Minecraft and Terraria, which are both sandbox adventure games where you dig in the ground to find valuables, which you then use to build better stuff for digging in the ground with.

They both also have multiplayer support, and let me tell you, it's amazing to build and explore with your friends.

Both games cost less than $20 apiece - it's worth getting one of them and checking it out. Minecraft has the advantage of being 3D, while Terraria has a better adventure progression built into the game.

Dominion Spoilers site Updated

mdiehr — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:35:03 +0000

I've released an updated version of the Dominion Spoilers site, this time with a search bar and some UI pretty stuff.

Check it out here: http://dominion.diehrstraits.com/

Pyramid Defense Flash Demo

mdiehr — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:26:09 +0000

Here's a flash demo that makes an isometric "pyramid":

Well, it's really only a quarter of a pyramid, and they did a bad job making it even. Also, there are snakes everywhere.

You can press "space" to randomize what shows up!

Man, Flixel is easy to use.

Game Idea: Building Controller

mdiehr — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:17:00 +0000

A planning failure has left a nearby construction project almost complete, but the company that will be leasing it has very strong efficiency, water, energy, and security concerns that must be addressed.

As a building automation controls engineer, your job is to make this building smart enough to improve all of the above categories, which will save the leasing company money in the long run.

At your disposal are various kinds of sensors that can be used almost anywhere, and they can be used to control different aspects of the building to keep things running smoothly. You'll have to design a robust system that can handle all 7 days of the week, including any special events or circumstances that may drastically raise or lower the amount of people present.

Gameplay items:

Monitor usage to increase or decrease the temperature of a particular floor or area
Lock or unlock particular doors on a time cycle
Set up elevator park locations and other behaviors
Dim or shut off lights in areas that aren't being used, or have enough natural light

Game Idea: Pyramid Designer

mdiehr — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:49:53 +0000

As the pharaoh's lead pyramid design technician, you are tasked with creating the ancient world's foremost anti-tomb-raider burial monument. You get to create the layout, dead ends, pitfalls, traps, and distractions to keep any robbers from making their way to the pharaoh's final chamber.

As a renowned engineer, you have the ability to utilize ropes and weighted stones to create shifting or reactive paths to the burial chamber, and you will definitely need to use as many tricks as you can to succeed.

Every successful invader will be handily dispatched by the pharaoh's mummy, but allowing too many will find you being subject to the mummy's curse as well. If you perform well enough, you will be rewarded in the afterlife!

A hybrid between an engineering puzzle game and tower defense.

Dominion: Alchemy Visual Spoiler

mdiehr — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:25:09 +0000

I updated my dominion site with a new MySql/PHP backend and scans from Dominion: Alchemy. Some of them are in other languages, pending better scans.

http://dominion.diehrstraits.com/

Enjoy!

Bastion v. 8

mdiehr — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:34:36 +0000

Here is the new visual spoiler for Bastion:

http://b.diehrstraits.com/playtest8/cards.html

Dominion Spoiler Updated

mdiehr — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:35:46 +0000

Visual Spoiler: http://dominion.diehrstraits.com/

Text Spoiler: http://dominion.diehrstraits.com/list.html

Bastion Template v4

mdiehr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:15:00 +0000

The latest template:

http://diehrstraits.com/gg/bastion/playtest4/cards.html

Bastion

mdiehr — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:24:57 +0000

In my spare time I've been working on a card game called Bastion where two players duke it out in a battle reminiscent of warfar in the 16th through 19th centuries. During this time period they had big solid fortresses, and an incredible variety of techniques for capturing those fortresses.

Here is a topic I started on GoodGamery to discuss the development of Bastion.

The core of the game has one player buying defenses while the other player tries to breach them. Most of the cards they use will be similar, except that the defender has access to a bunch of fortifications, while the attacker will use specialized units like miners, sappers, siege ladders, and so on.

Each of the units has a couple corresponding Combat cards, which represent maneuvers or tactics that the player's troops use in battle. The more expensive units have access to more flexible or more powerful Combat cards, and specialized troops have specialized Combats. By moving all of the specialized rules for the units onto their combat cards, it keeps the units from having a bunch of special keywords, numbers, and abilities. Instead, they have only a cost and a health, and the rest gets to be artwork. All of the complicated stuff is on the combat cards, and since you only pick from a couple of those per turn, the combat plays out pretty simply.

Here is a spoiler of all the cards I've designed so far.