Not as certain as I thought I was...

So, last night in class Yusuf mentioned that he was going to set a theme for assignment 3 - and here I thought it was flexible! Now I have an idea re 'Orange' I'm really worried that he's going to set it to something completely different - and that I'll have to come up with another idea all together. What is keeping me hopeful is the fact that he said he'd pick a fairly abstract theme to allow for maximum creativity. Out of all of his original theme suggestions, 'Orange' is certainly one that is closest to fitting the bill...

This being said, now I no longer like my idea! I LOVE the game he showed us in class submitted by a student from a couple of years ago - the one where you colour in the boxes while being chased around, with different levels of play offering more complicated tile arrangements. I actually WANTED to play that game after seeing it! I usually like pattern/puzzle games (Kurushi, Tetris, Zuma, Atomica, Mah Jong, just off the top of my head). They are my favourite to play - I wish I could design one like that. Maybe I can turn the Orange game into one? Is there a way I can arrange the oranges (or their behaviour) to make it like a puzzle game, while still retaining the message and player experience I wanted to create?

I've been considering reversing the point of view in order to achieve this. Instead of you being the stink bug, maybe you can be the farmer that chases the stink bug with spray? That way there could be lots of stink bugs - increasing in number, speed and randomness as you progress up levels? Cold there be different 'weapons' you could use to kill the bugs - maybe some less effective but less harmful to the environment? Maybe if you use too much spray you can't sell the oranges because they'll be full of poison? That could be an angle/message, considering the issues farmers need to deal with, the environment etc.

This being said, I quite like the idea of random bird attacks on you as the bug. Might have to sleep on that again (or just wait to hear the set theme - no point developing this if I can't use it!)

I was also quite excited seeing what could be achieved in GameMaker last night when Yusuf gave us a run through in class. I'm obviously a bit freaked out as it's something new (and really wishing I had some more chunky programming experience so I could really get into tweaking the game). I'm sure, as with all new programs, after using it for a couple of weeks I'll feel way confident and be tweaking to my hearts content.

Last night in class, a guy named Andrew from my tutorial class approached me and invited me to join his team. It was both really lovely and flattering! To tell you the truth, if I was going to join anyone's team it would be his - although he's an undergrad, he always seems switched on in class and most engaged (and able to express himself) in the tutorials. On top of that, he seems to know how to program - my weakness! Even not knowing who else he's already teamed up with, it made me pause and consider my options. But int eh end, not only does he want to use Sandbox (and I'm quite keen to stick with GameMaker), I know that if I joined up with his team, I'd be unlikely to actually do much in the way of production and playing with the program (and potentially the code!) - although I might get good marks, I might not be pushed far enough out of my comfort zone and not learn as much as I could - which is why I'm doing all of this!

The only thing I'm missing even now is the brainstorming opportunities. Just need to start bouncing ideas off anyone that will listen...