Number Wizard Challenge!

[b4t54ndw1ch]

Okay, so I haven’t done much with Unity in a while. I’ve completed several games, but almost all of them got lost for one reason or another.

Like, I did:

• Number Wizard
• NumberWizard UI
• Text 101
• Argon Assault (old version)
• Terminal Hacker
• Project Boost (old version)
• part of the RPG course
• part of Realm Rush (old version)
• Ball Launcher (mobile)
• Quizmaster
• Obstacle Course
• Delivery Driver, and
• Snowboarder

For various reasons (mostly OS reloads or HDD crashes) almost all of them got lost one way or another so I’m starting over again.

Here is my Number Wizard Lesson 1 challenge with screen shot and code.

All that I have left are two games over at my itch.io account. I have my Terminal Hacker game, and I have this unfinished state-machine game I was working on but never got a chance to complete.

So…umm…I did the music for the game, but my cat, Crunchy, did the vocals. We had a band for a while called ‘Mister Biscuits’ but we never got a recording contract with a major label.

We released an independent 3 song EP a couple of years ago on Amazon, iTunes, and all the other places, but nobody really listened to it so we decided not to renew our distribution services.

Personally, I think we needed a real drummer instead of a drum machine. Crunchy wanted Schwifty (one of my other cats) to play drums, but she’s really not that good (please don’t tell her I said that).

Crunchy’s second choice for a drummer was Stewart Copeland from The Police, while I was hoping we could get Paul Rucker from Armchair Martian. Neither one would accept our calls.

We tried to get Micky Dolenz, but Micky also wanted to be the lead singer and Crunchy wasn’t having it.

Adam Ant inquired about playing bass, but neither Crunchy nor I wanted to wear face paint and frilly-lacy shirts from the Victorian era and and we both agreed to a hard “No!”

I ended up going to work in a frozen pizza factory while Crunchy spent the days sleeping in the living room window. It’s too bad too, because some of our faster stuff really jammed.

Anyway, if you want to hear Crunchy singing, you can check out my unfinished game here:

My Cat Game 1.3.1 by LightningInACone

[Kevin-Brandon]

Phenomenal job with the challenge. Congratulations on your game

I love the detail and effort you put in this post. This is how you will get the most out of the courses.

[b4t54ndw1ch]

Yeah, I was sitting here thinking, “Who does the Number Wizard course anymore?” but I also think that there is valuable stuff to learn from this.

I spent so much time in JavaScript that I completely forgot how to declare a variable in C#. Sad but true!

The “My Cat Game” was based on the Text 101 course, which I had intended to make something similar to ‘Kyle is Famous’ (if you’re familiar with that game). Mind you, I’m not a huge fan of ‘Kyle is Famous’, but I like the simplicity of how the game operates and a game like that is very do-able, even for a beginner.

One thing that I always keep in the back of my mind is the ‘less is more’ mentality.

That is to say, in Tae Kwon Do sparring, the big moves don’t usually score points…which is why we focus so much on the basics like down blocks, side blocks, punches and kicks. The big moves often leave us open to a counter-attack if not executed properly.

The same is true (in my opinion) for making a game. Any one of us can take something simple like Project Boost and turn it into something cool by adding our own little touches.

Case in point: I was really impressed with how @louise_collins made her rocket shoot, and then she added spaceships and a giant iguana into her Project Boost game. It looked really cool and blew my mind, but it was just the Project Boost game at the core (with some Blender thrown into the mix).

‘Kyle is Famous’ is a very simplistic game, but the writing is what makes it fun to play, and that guy is earning Earth monies off of his creation. Maybe not much, but I paid for a copy of it, as did many others.

I think that’s why I want to start over again, even with Number Wizard. I just need to remember to export the games to my itch.io account, and also to go back and make continuous small changes to these games as I continue to get more experience.

Like I said earlier, posting the 13 or so student projects alone would have likely been enough to get me a job interview as a Unity developer, but I don’t have anything to show for it right now.

I need to post every project to my itch account, and then keep working on them as I learn new things instead of abandoning them as student projects.

It all adds up.

Thank you for your encouragement! I always look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas!

[louise_collins]

I found the Number Wizard UI really useful. Had a lot of fun doing this ShareMyGame.com by GameDev.tv

[b4t54ndw1ch]

@louise_collins

Oh yeah, I’m all the way back at Number Wizard, before the UI.

But you’re right, it has been extremely helpful! I had been writing JavaScript for so long that I forgot how to declare a variable in C#!

I’ll go check out your game now.

Edit: I just saw the opening screen of your game and jeez, that is hilarious!!!

Also, the music, once again, is absolutely great! Your song cracks me up!

[b4t54ndw1ch]

Okay, so apparently, the Mister Biscuits 3 song mini-album did accidentally get renewed and it can be heard at the Amazon link here:

Crunchy and I both agree, ‘Bouncy Beast’ was probably our best song on the album.

[louise_collins]

thats so cute

[b4t54ndw1ch]

Crunchy has always been a hit with the ladies. Me, not so much.

I’m definitely the ‘John Oates’ of the band.