I'm working on a game that will have an actual intelligent reasoning to it's point system and I figured since I had no idea what I was doing that maybe telling my process might be helpful to somebody else who wants to attempt the same thing.
_____
1.
I had no clue where to start so first I went in to gamemaker and arranged all the blocks by color so I can create a point system based on color pairs. I wanted a pattern but I didn't know how to limit the points. So I decided what's the highest number I want to go with as a point value. I decided 20 was a nice round solid number not that large but not too small, which is what I wanted because I have a bonus block of 50 points and I make one or 2 others but you'll have to work to get to them.
I also wanted the highest values to be the largest blocks and the smallest value with the smallest blocks so I went with a loose guideline of splitting a number in thirds for the sizes, but I also didn't want a double point in any sub section of blocks (Large, Medium, Small) [ex. two blocks with the value of 4 in the medium block category]. So the fun starts.
2.
Before I did the point assigning I first made a color chart on paper, using normal washable markers in a sketch book. I made what you could call a primitive excel-sheet splitting it by color using a maker to represent the color , and size making 3 collums to work with. I then marked with a tick mark (or a check as some call it) the sizes that go with that color. It did more of a preparation on how to figure out what strategy I was going to use to create the system than anything else since I mostly referenced the blocks in gamemaker since it was easier to read but it was helpful none-the-less.
3.
Now comes the "fun" part, point assigning, it was at this point that I went through the point limitation idea and thought process. I counted how many large blocks there were and I made value decisions based on that. I was going to go with factors of twenty but I ended up using another route, which was a better one because all the factors can't be split by 3 without going in to decimals and gamemaker doesn't use decimals in point-values. There are 6 blocks of each (I forgot until now! lol) but since I am going with thirds as a general though not hardlined theme I went with 3 blocks going by multiples of 6 and 3 blocks multiples of 5 skipping five so there would be a higher point value.
So the large blocks ended up being:
I didn't end up being able to split in 3rds in the end, a few numbers were repeated more than once in any given column and I didn't want that so I had to be more loose; but it was a helpful general guidline to get my mind rolling.
I'm not saying much will change, but I still have to look over the points see if I can make it maybe slightly more coherent but for now I'm still happy I made it this far!
Here's what the full draft page looks like:
Final Comments:
The main thing I want you to take away from this is preparation, even if you don't use all of it, it will help you get in to the mind set. And stay organized and undistributed I turned off distractions and put music on that I ended up blocking out. And be willing to make a loose mold to get the best results, somethings are point blank and some aren't. Also, be willing to use all your resources, if you have paper and markers draw out what you need done, whether it's a point system or how you want game menus to look. Anything you want to have you can draw out first to get the idea ahead of time. Movie producers and writers do this all the time, it's called story boarding.
I hope this was helpful!
~ God Bless ~
~ Firefly
Would You Like To Read More
Blog Posts Similar To This One? Take A Look At The Official Blog
Archive.
Would You Like To See My Drawings? Click here.
_____
1.
I had no clue where to start so first I went in to gamemaker and arranged all the blocks by color so I can create a point system based on color pairs. I wanted a pattern but I didn't know how to limit the points. So I decided what's the highest number I want to go with as a point value. I decided 20 was a nice round solid number not that large but not too small, which is what I wanted because I have a bonus block of 50 points and I make one or 2 others but you'll have to work to get to them.
I also wanted the highest values to be the largest blocks and the smallest value with the smallest blocks so I went with a loose guideline of splitting a number in thirds for the sizes, but I also didn't want a double point in any sub section of blocks (Large, Medium, Small) [ex. two blocks with the value of 4 in the medium block category]. So the fun starts.
 |
| Pre-point system arranged blocks in gamemaker |
2.
Before I did the point assigning I first made a color chart on paper, using normal washable markers in a sketch book. I made what you could call a primitive excel-sheet splitting it by color using a maker to represent the color , and size making 3 collums to work with. I then marked with a tick mark (or a check as some call it) the sizes that go with that color. It did more of a preparation on how to figure out what strategy I was going to use to create the system than anything else since I mostly referenced the blocks in gamemaker since it was easier to read but it was helpful none-the-less.
 |
| Color Chart |
3.
Now comes the "fun" part, point assigning, it was at this point that I went through the point limitation idea and thought process. I counted how many large blocks there were and I made value decisions based on that. I was going to go with factors of twenty but I ended up using another route, which was a better one because all the factors can't be split by 3 without going in to decimals and gamemaker doesn't use decimals in point-values. There are 6 blocks of each (I forgot until now! lol) but since I am going with thirds as a general though not hardlined theme I went with 3 blocks going by multiples of 6 and 3 blocks multiples of 5 skipping five so there would be a higher point value.
So the large blocks ended up being:
 | |
| Point Chart |
- 6
- 12
- 18
- 10
- 15
- 20
I didn't end up being able to split in 3rds in the end, a few numbers were repeated more than once in any given column and I didn't want that so I had to be more loose; but it was a helpful general guidline to get my mind rolling.
I'm not saying much will change, but I still have to look over the points see if I can make it maybe slightly more coherent but for now I'm still happy I made it this far!
Here's what the full draft page looks like:
 | ||||
| See how I added notes. |
Final Comments:
The main thing I want you to take away from this is preparation, even if you don't use all of it, it will help you get in to the mind set. And stay organized and undistributed I turned off distractions and put music on that I ended up blocking out. And be willing to make a loose mold to get the best results, somethings are point blank and some aren't. Also, be willing to use all your resources, if you have paper and markers draw out what you need done, whether it's a point system or how you want game menus to look. Anything you want to have you can draw out first to get the idea ahead of time. Movie producers and writers do this all the time, it's called story boarding.
I hope this was helpful!
~ God Bless ~
~ Firefly
Useful Links:
Would You Like To See My Drawings? Click here.
Have A Question?
Ask
The Firefly!
