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Tip of the Day: Users don't care about internal IDs, hide them

Focus on Corporate Intranet Sites

Don’t overload the End User which IDs that mean nothing to them.

Do replace the IDs with the actual data values

Do “hide” the IDs on another page. I used a Help button in the example below.

Finally here is the modal page accessed from the help button.

Visual Vocabulary

What is a Visual Vocabulary?

Seems to be a pretty odd combination of words, but it makes perfect sense in the context of UI Design. I define a Visual Vocabulary as the set of UI components that a program use to provide a foundation of consistency for player actions.

UI Design is a discipline in and of itself and on large projects there is often a group solely focused on the user interface. I am a Lone Wolf game developer and thus it falls to me to lead the UI Design Team of me, myself and I.

5 tips for implementing an awesome Visual Vocabulary

Be consistent, well yeah of course you already know that, but I mean really, really, really consistent. For example, the icon to get Help is always the same across scenes in regards to position, color, size and basic functionality in other works, consistent.

Do not reinvent the wheel My game “I Think I Can” uses a left right swipe motion to move a carousel of text. The UI is exactly the same as swiping through images on a Smartphone. Not reinventing the wheel here means that my players will be instantly familiar with how a major UI element of my game operates.

Color is important Color can be a great helper for focusing the player’s attention to what is important. For example, when you want to focus player’s attention on the center of the screen use dark outer edges fading to light inner areas. This will help lead the player’s eyes.

Be A Minimalist Less stuff means less clutter, less confusion and hopefully more game play time.

Make a UI Bible I highly recommend you create a UI Bible even if you are a Lone Wolf game developer like myself.

Until next time take care and thanks for visiting.

Audio Cues in Game Design

Audio cues are an important component of the User Experience for I Think I Can. The Boasts made by the Player require a physical action in the real world which means that there may be times when the Player is not actively looking at the game screen. These sound cues are short and that's all it takes to get the user's attention. Noises such as bells, whistles,clicks and horns are all good examples.

I also use audio cues for starting a level, ending a level, elapsed time expiring, completing a level, and the level celebration screen. Basically I try to use sound cues wherever possible.

Ambient background music is playing on all screens to provide a little additional feedback. The background music supplements the animated visual elements of a scene making it feel more vibrant and alive.

I hope this description of how I am using sound as a game design elements was helpful.

Until next time take care and thanks for visiting.

Timer Implementation for I Think I Can

In this week’s post I want to talk about how I Think I Can is using time. I Think I Can use a timer for score keeping.

Time is one of the three parameters of play that the Player has agency over. A sentence which accurately describes a play session can be created by combing these three parameters of Action, Boast and Time.

For example: I think I can keep my finger on a dot while while walking backwards in a circle for 3 minutes. This can be scene in the following screen shot of main scene.

The game clock is used to show elapsed time during game play.

And lastly the amount of time elapsed is shown again on the level complete scene.

I hope this post conveyed to you how I Think I Can is using time. Stay tuned for more about my development efforts and design decisions.

Thanks and take care

Focus Programming

I always seem have trouble setting aside long blocks of time for programming tasks. Its either the availability of time or my inability to stay focused or a combination of the two. Squirrel!, I'll be right back. See there I go again.

I have developed a set of guideline to help me meet my time challenge which I am calling Focused Programming. It’s really easy to implement and only takes a little prep work to get started.

Write down what you expect to accomplish. Be very, very specific. Here are some examples from my own projects:

Verify all .png files are of correct size

Add Spinning decorator class to background of "Finger On Dot" scene

Fix rounding errors on Timer display

Now, find or make a time slot and get that Focused Programming task done

Revisit your task list and check off what you accomplished.

Congratulations, you just finished a Focused Programming task.

Until next time, take care and thanks for visiting.

Play Lots of Games

A good Writer reads a lot. A good game designer should play a lot. I feel strongly that if you are going to make video games; you need to play video games. And I mean lots of video games. During these “research” sessions look at the game through the Lens of Game Design. Focus on one particular aspect such as the use of sound or color palette choices.

I recently picked up Wade Hixton's Counter Punch on the Game Boy Advance. Right from the start I was drawn to the audio. Here is a game from 2004 helping me design audio in 2016. Awesome.

Tip of the Day

Go out and try a game from a genre outside your comfort zone. It can be inspiring

Until next time, take care and thanks for visiting.

Actions & Boasts for I Think I Can

Here is a list of the Actions & BoastsI have come up with for my upcoming mobile game, I Think I can.

Actions

keep my finder on the dot

keep ball from growing too big

blow into microphone

Boasts

walking backwards in a circle

spinning like a helicopter

standing on my tippy toes

being tickled

my eyes are closed

hanging upside down

holding my arms over my head

hopping on one leg

being poked

make one up!

Different Perspective - Take Another Look

Sometimes viewing a problem from a different perspective can help you see a solution. I was recently stuck on coding issue and just could not figure out why my webpage was not acting as I expected. I decided to send an email out to the development team explaining the situation in detail; hoping someone might spot what I had missed. But that email never went out. Why you ask? Because in the process of writing that email I was looking at my problem from a different perspective and saw a solution in short order. So there is your Tip of the Week. Sometimes you see a rabbit when its really a duck.

Until next time, take care and thanks for visiting.

#art of programming

Game Announcement

This week I wanted to give a brief overview of a mobile game I have been working on called "I Think I Can!".

In "I Think I Can!", the Player chooses an action to perform while executing the chosen boast for a specified amount of time. For example, the Player can choose to constantly tap the screen while standing on one foot for 2 minutes.

What I find exciting about this game is the external element to the game play. The boasts are external actions. The game is not checking to see if you are actually standing on one foot will tapping the screen.

This external feature will make for a great party game where other players take on the role of refereeing the active player’s actions.

The game is being developed using the Unity Development Environment.

Stay tuned for more info.

#Game Developement

Get it out the Door!

Sometimes is more efficient to rolls up your digital sleeves and manually complete the task at hand. The elegant solution is not always the best choice all the time.

I have seen plenty of examples of programmers going off into the weeds and spending hours upon hours on automating or generalizing a task that would only take minutes to complete manually. That's like hiring a painter to redo you living room but instead they paint your whole house. Yes, it looks nice but was not necessary.

Take a minute to step back and look at the bigger picture.You are trying to get a product out the door and compromises to the "prefect world" solution will need to be made.

Until next time, take care and thanks for visiting.

#software engineering

Continuous Learning

The search for overlooked nuggets and hidden gems

Tip of the Week for familiar technologies

You can often find some really beneficial nuggets of information by going back to the documentation and tutorials for technologies that you are already familiar with. Technologies change and evolve and if you want to stay current you need to make a conscious to review what you think you already know.

Tip of the Week for new technologies

There is no shortage of better mouse traps in the Tech Industry. Check out GitHub if you have trouble finding something. There are literally thousands of open source projects to browse through. It’s always a good practice to step outside your comfort zone and try sometime new.

Until next time, take care and thanks for visiting

#continuous learning

Consistency, Meep Meep!

Consistency needs to be baked into and become part of a Software Development Team’s DNA.

This is especially important in Corporate IT because in most cases there is no “Mark from Marketing“ who has ownership of an application and is ultimately responsible for the final product. IT developers are busy enough trying to get their assignments finished and integrated with other corporate systems. There is very little time left in the schedule for such things as Look and Feel or User Experience. This is where we need to rely on consistency, the kind that is “baked” into the Development Team’s DNA.

The kind of consistency I am referring to does not come from a fifty page Standard Operation Procedures manual, but rather a set of rules that everyone on the Team needs to internalize. When the rules are internalized they will become part of the culture and DNA of the Development Team. The time to apply the rules during the development process will be minimal and can easily fit into an already tight schedule.

The Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner cartoons created by animation director Chuck Jones are a great example of how a set of rules can significantly improve the final product. Mr. Jones had a set nine rules that were required to be adhered to for all the Road Runner cartoons.

The Chuck Jones’ 9 Golden Rules for the Coyote and the Road Runner

I highly recommend you take the time to go back and watch a few episodes of the Road Runners cartoons. They aren’t just for kids.

I am sure you could easily come up nine roles for your Software Team. Meep, Meep

Until next time, take care and thanks for reading.

#software develop #consistency

Internet Searches

Back in the day, before the Internet, technical reference materials were for the most part book bound. I remember having a set of Apple Programming guides that took up at least two linear feet of shelf space.

Nowadays however I use the Internet when I go looking for technical reference materials. The amount of information and the rate at which its being created is incredible. My searches invariable return multiple hits no matter how obscure my search criteria was.

But here is the catch. We are getting to the point where there is a lot of old and stale information out there. A Q&A on stack overflow from 2008 may no longer be relevant to my software environment.

Tip of the Week: Make sure that the internet sources you are using are recent and relevant.

The New Normal

Finding the root cause of a problem is important and applying a complete fix is the way to go. A quick fix is short sighted. It often becomes the "New Normal" and can have unintended consequences later down the road in the life cycle of the product.

I have a great story that illustrates this concept very clearly. A 4GL product I was working with back in the 1990's had the concept of a Master Form. Every application created with this tool required a Master Form. I assumed this was the "normal" way to build applications with this tool. I later heard that the Master Form was required because the original development team could not get an application functioning without it. The Master form is a classic example of a band aide that became the "New Normal".

#software craftsmanship

The Crutch of User Contact in Software Development

The frequency of interaction between End Users and Software Developers relevant to the environment/market in which the software is being used can be divided into three categories.

Frequently for a Corporate IT Shop - Users will show up at your desk.

Occasionally for a Turnkey/Vertical Market Reseller - Users paid a premium for your product and they will expect you to be accessible.

Not so much for Off the Shelf Software - When is the last time you talked to a developer in this category?

When you think about these three categories from a software quality perspective and program robustness, which one do you think has the highest level of quality control? If you picked Off the Shelf you are correct! Why is this the case, because it is the category of software that has the least amount of contact between the end user and the developer. The IT Shop is on the other end of the spectrum where in many cases Users have direct access to the Developers.

Users of software developed by Corporate IT Shops are going to eventually show up at your desk when something goes wrong. For the sake of this discussion let's assume that It won't be too much of a hassle to take care of the User’s issue and get a new release pushed to production. This easy access coupled with a quick turn around to changes is very conducive to a iterative software development life cycle. But, this same level of interaction leads to what I call a "The Crutch of User Contact". Why spend the effort on Q&A when the User will just come and get you if there is a problem. This is however a slippery slope and Users can easily lose confidence in products that the Corporate IT Shop is producing because nothing seems to be truly complete and there is always things that don't work.

My advice is to throw that Crutch in the dumpster. Start thinking like a developer at an Off the Shelf company and put the process and procedures in place to produce bullet proof software that is bug free the first time.

It won't be easy. Change never is, but it will be huge dividends in the long run.

#software craftsmanship

The Solo Developer Trifecta

The game development process can be split into three broad creative disciplines.

Game Logic - software development

Visual - art assets

Audio - music and sound effect assets

A Solo Developer like myself must be skilled in each of these disciplines. The prospect of finishing and releasing a game becomes exponentially more difficult without some level of competency in each of these disciplines.

I rank myself strongest in programming and weakest in art with music in between. Even though I feel most comfortable coding there are times when I will use a 3rd party tool to handle a particular task in an effort to save time. I can't stress how important it is to factor in your time. For example, I could write a subsystem for particle effects or I could purchase one from the Unity Asset Store for less than $20. Could I roll my own subsystem, sure. Could I do it for under $20,no way.

There are numerous online resources for each creative discipline that can help you save time and get your game released. Here are few online resources that I find handy

Freesound

Audio Color CC

Glitch Assets

OpenGameArt.org

Icon Finder

Using the Unity IDE

The IDE for Unity game engine is awesome. I love working with it and one of the things I particular like is the way the IDE can be used for certain tasks instead of a pure code solution.

A common objects I use in my scenes is for handling audio,aptly named AudioManager.

In the past I would define a private GameObject variable and then add code to the Start() method for initialization as shown in the following code snippet:

void Start() { activeAudioManager = GameObject.Find("AudioManager");

if ( !activeAudioManager ) { Debug.LogError("unable to find 'EventManager' object", transform); } }

I now however use the Unity IDE to provide access to my AudioManager for source files that require it. All I need to do is add the following line of code and the IDE will do the rest.

Public GameObject activeAudioManager;

Both ways are valid of course so pick a method and be consistent throughout your project. I would even go back and change old code if it’s not too painful

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