Micro Game Coding Challenge

[Chris]

Now to take a break from the big competition let's make a small one

The goal is to make a mini game (single player, no database) like one of these http://worldoflords.com/misc/games/

Rules:
- you have 24 hours (you can use clock) to code it, you can spread these 24 hours within next 2 weeks as you wish (you are expected to make it in less than 24h, it is just to sped up perfectionists)
- if you have some gfx you are allowed additional 24 hours to make all pictures/css/etc
- you can spend as much time planning/designing as you want (but only within next 2 weeks)
- the source code has to be no bigger than 16kb (excluding gfx, css, standard JS libraries like mootools (read: not made by you))
- everything not covered in rules should be interpreted to your favour

PHASE 1:
Once everyone is ready we create a pool and everyone on the forum votes (you can not vote on your game, and you have to vote if you participate). The title of the best "game maker" is awarded.

PHASE 2:
After this is done we make a second challenge, you are to select one game that is not yours and make A BETTER version of that game Then again scoring will take place (for the title of the best "cloner").


Anyone willing to participate put your name below.

[raestlyn]

I'm in. I'll start planning right away.

[jannesiera]

Cool, that should fit in my time schedule I think . I'm not sure if I'll be able to spend the time and energy yet but count me in for now.

[raestlyn]

Does the standard js library mean I can't use jQuery plugins? Or are the plugins calculated on that 16k?

[Chris]

Does the standard js library mean I can't use jQuery plugins? Or are the plugins calculated on that 16k?

OK, if these are standard jQuery plugins, then these do not count. But it applys only to JS plugins, if you are to use other plugins/libraries these have to be within 16kb limit.


Good, so we have 3 people so far. Should be enough for an absolute minimum

Example PHP code to handle single player mini game (create class then serialise/unserialise it and save into session, if you enter 'option=reset' in URL then you reset the game and start a new one)

Code:

session_start();
$save='session_variable';

class CGame
{
// your game here
}

$game = new Cgame;
if($_REQUEST['option']!='reset' && isset($_SESSION[$save])) {$game=unserialize($_SESSION[$save]);}

$game->run();

$temp=serialize($game);
$_SESSION[$save]=$temp;

[jannesiera]

Can I use the kohana framework?

[Chris]

Can I use the kohana framework?

Only if it has 16kb or less

It is called "Micro" challenge, there really in no need to use frameworks. The only exception is for JS because some people are addicted to it (and I start wondering if it was not a mistake...). We just open notepad, write some code within a few hours and that's it.


Hardcore mode added:
If your game with everything (code, gfx, css, JS) is within 16kb you completed Hardcore level I. If you managed with 8kb total then Hardcore level II.

[Teckniel]

Well i'm interested, but i need a concept hmmm, anyone have a idea?
Time is not a issue since i'm 2 weeks economic jobless..
Ps: text/xml files ok for database option? :p

Greets Me
www.windwalker.be

[Chris]

Ps: text/xml files ok for database option? :p

Yes, within 16 kb limit.

[aquilax]

I'm also in.

[aquilax]

Here is my submission "CowsNBulls".

It's a game I loved playing when I was younger.

Demo: http://posterfans.com/game/
Source code: http://posterfans.com/game/index.php.txt (2013 bytes)

The code can be further optimized, but let's leave something for Phase 2
Total planning + development + bug fixing time about 1 hour.

[Chris]

Well i'm interested, but i need a concept hmmm, anyone have a idea?

http://www.nrtoone.com/dictator/index.php

[xBleuWolfx]

I am definitely in. Just need to think up a game idea. Also, is the due date the 6th of May?

[Chris]

6-th March

[toxin]

I guess i can give it a go.

[Chris]

To avoid people taking too long to decide, all participants who do not post what kind of game they will be making by the end of this month will be called "mufflixer" (whatever it means, but it should be interpreted as something offensive and a title to be ashamed of) for the duration of 2 weeks.


Some free ideas:
- survive as many months as a dictator as possible while transferring national funds to your personal bank account (example: http://www.nrtoone.com/dictator/index.php )
- you are a ninja in training, during 30 turns you are presented with 2 mutually exclusive options (shurikens, trainings), every 5 turns you go on a mission of a difficulty rating you selected and use the things you collected to get the most points in the end
- tower defence, every 5 turns a new wave of enemies (each time more difficult) arrive, you build defensive structures to kill them, all enemies that survived when a new wave arrives deal damage to you. Survive as long as possible.

[lolninja]

Right I'm in, going to make a planet hopping trading game where you fly around the universe buying and selling resources to planets for fun and profit... in theory

**edit**
Hey, I had a bit of free time to work on my entry, and its done you can have a go at http://demo.httpmmo.com/16k the code is viewable at http://demo.httpmmo.com/16k/code.txt, though there isn't much in the way of php, its all mainly Javascript. I was trying to get in under the 8KB limit for hardcore level 2, but I failed, this game comes in at Size: 8.59KB, which puts me 0.59KB away from being Hardcore II.

The idea of this game is you fly around different solar systems buying and selling raw materials. Clicking on the links in the red box will move you off to different solar systems, and clicking on the planets will move you to that planet. When you arrive at a planet you will be shown a list of materials that are available and asked if you wish to buy or sell anything. All of the planets within a system require the same resource, which forces the player to wonder off around the universe tracking down the materials to get super rich.

Hope you enjoy

[jannesiera]

Cool game lolninja ^^. I think you should:

1. Make it hardcore level II
2. Improve the current version to make it 16k but with actual "warpholes" (and perhaps some graphics to spice it up a bit).

So you prove your absolute superiority by making 2 versions .

[nano]

lolninja that's pretty impressive. According to the rules, the graphics don't count towards the limit, so you can take out the inline images from your source and slim it down. On top of that you could run it through a JavaScript minifier like  http://jscompress.com/ .

[lolninja]

I was under the impression that for the hardcore mode you have 16KB and 8KB for the different ranks including everything

Hardcore mode added:
If your game with everything (code, gfx, css, JS) is within 16kb you completed Hardcore level I. If you managed with 8kb total then Hardcore level II.

If that isn't the case then awesome, otherwise I'll try chopping some fat to get it under 8KB.

Cool game lolninja ^^. I think you should:

1. Make it hardcore level II
2. Improve the current version to make it 16k but with actual "warpholes" (and perhaps some graphics to spice it up a bit).

So you prove your absolute superiority by making 2 versions .

Thanks, thats a good idea I was talking to Gnoh on #competition yesterday and was thinking about expanding it into a more full game, but flushing out my competition entry could be the next step in my prototyping cycle.

[Chris]

Yes, hardcore levels count absolutely everything into size limit (code, JS, gfx, etc).
If you go for non hardcore then gfx is unrestricted.

[saljutin]

amazing work lolninja!

I would like to add some things:
1. its boring with no goal = add some goal like 20k $ on bank or something, and every time you move ship or warp you spend 1 turn/day whatever - using this you can create some ranking system -> Nick ... 20k $ ... goods transfered: 5939 ... turns needed 383 ... eficiency: money/turn and goods/turn
2. I miss option when you change galaxy and you appear on some planet and you cannot click on planet where you are at to see goods but you need to go to some other planet and back
3. maybe you can have 2 versions of game and ranking -> one ends at 20k $ and other ends on 100 turns

[Chris]

About source codes:
- You do not need to post your source code (just post how many kbs it has).
- During PHASE 2 (cloning) you can not use the original game's source code, you have to write your own (but you can check how the original was written if the author made the sources available). The goal of that phase is not to imitate the game but make a better one, so you could use completely different technology and generally everything as long as it will be perceived as "better" implementation of that concept.

[raestlyn]

Yes, hardcore levels count absolutely everything into size limit (code, JS, gfx, etc).
If you go for non hardcore then gfx is unrestricted.

does it also count the js lib?

[Chris]

Yes, hardcore levels count absolutely everything into size limit (code, JS, gfx, etc).
If you go for non hardcore then gfx is unrestricted.

does it also count the js lib?

Yes. Hardcore mode means hardcore. Absolutely everything counts as a limit. But that's optional and does not affect the final scoring, it is just an optional restriction you could impose on yourself.

Standard mode means that standard JS libs do not count.