#Parent #Gamedev

CaptainD · Tue 20/01/2015 10:28:40

Okay, so Monkey424 said on another thread...
"There seems to be a few of us on the forums juggling AGS with a young family. Someone should make a game about this. "

Lasca said:
"That's a great idea! Put together a team with parents and get it done in no time
I'm definitly in."

So I said:
"(If people really are interested in doing this, we should set up a "swarm" team for it and give it its own thread.)"

So... here it is!

Firstly, just to see who's interested... you have to be a parent and a gamedev! Since everyone working on this will be a parent, we can expect to deliver this game sometime after our children have turned 20!

(Well, actually no, you don't have to be a parent! I mean why would we limit a swarm effort like that? It would just be silly, right?)

Okay, more seriously... would be a cool thing to do, with no time pressure... let's see how many would be interested soon, and for what. Just reply here and say what you can do... if anyone wants to be team lead on this just shout, I won't have time to do that.

Current team:

Monkey424 (Scripting?)
Lasca (Graphics?)
CaptainD (Game design, Voice Acting, SFX)
Miguel (Anything as long as it's not testicle jokes)
NickyNyce (Game/puzzle design, Graphics)
Selmiak (Many and varied helpful things)
Stupot+ (Writing, Voice Acting)
Baron (Moral support, Animation, Writing)
MiteWiseacreLives! (Neato parenting advice)
Eric (Adding fearful realism)
Dualnames (Demanding Musician)

monkey424 · Tue 20/01/2015 10:57:48

What?! I was just about to reply to the other thread and already I've been recruited?

Well, ok!

Quote from: Lasca on Tue 20/01/2015 09:45:59
I imagine the end product looking something like this game: Bobo

Quote from: CaptainD on Tue 20/01/2015 10:09:53
Heh... I was thinking more along the lines of Jack the Nipper in reverse. But that game looks quite funny Lasca!

I was thinking along the lines of a Breaking Bad scenario - juggling the relentless life of an AGSer with the responsibilities of family. Drugging the kids (and the wife too) would be a practical solution to score more AGS time.

CaptainD · Tue 20/01/2015 11:00:33

Quote from: monkey424 on Tue 20/01/2015 10:57:48
What?! I was just about to reply to the other thread and already I've been recruited?

Hehe... well you did sort of volunteer... I think...

Lasca · Tue 20/01/2015 11:12:37

I'm up for graphics! But with my current work-rate I think the project would benifit from more of us in this department.
I'll also do Voice Acting if needed.

QuoteI was thinking along the lines of a Breaking Bad scenario - juggling the relentless life of an AGSer with the responsibilities of family.

I think I was imagining something similar. Dodge/taking care of lots of distractions to score seconds by the computer. That's why I though of the nappytime sequence from Bobo.

monkey424 · Tue 20/01/2015 11:16:29

I nominate the following:

Baron - project manager

Gribbler - Polish translation

miguel - testicle jokes

CaptainD · Tue 20/01/2015 11:34:16

I thought of Baron too as he has previously been a Swarm Queen, but I don't know if he'd have time.

I vote that this should be a family-friendly game, so Miguel's spherical obsession should be kept as far away as possible!

selmiak · Tue 20/01/2015 14:10:18

you forgot #swarm in the title.

As I don't have any kids I won't be of great help. But I'll make sure to keep and eye on this thread and what comes out of it! Maybe I'll be the whining kid and bump the thread sometime in the future... maybe I can even help out sometime in the future...

miguel · Tue 20/01/2015 14:44:28

I'm going to keep an eye on this project even if I'm not allowed in due to the political oppression that falls on my internet persona. What? I don't know.

NickyNyce · Tue 20/01/2015 20:37:43

I actually think people are ready for another swarm build. But I think it would be a shame to limit it to just parents. We can keep the whole parenting theme/AGS game developer life story, but why limit it to just parents?

Forgive me for just putting this out here like this, but I bet a bunch of people are disappointed that they can't be involved. I would be involved, and if it does matter, I am a parent.

Game/puzzle design, graphics.

CaptainD · Tue 20/01/2015 22:17:43

Oops... I meant to put something like "Okay, you don't actually have to be a parent to join in the fun!" - but... er... I forgot.

I really quite like the idea of making this an RPG / Life Sim with the odd arcade mini-game. You're presented with choices like do your work / sneak a bit of gamedev time, spend time with your family / sneak some gamedev time etc, with stats for Inspiration, Coding Skill, Graphics Skill and suchlike, and also stats for your workplace and family that you have to try to stop from dropping too low.

Battles include:

Nappy Changing!
Bug Blasting
Mowing the garden quickly so you can keep your spouse happy and sneak some gamedev time

Just to reiterate - this really isn't limited to just parents, anyone can join in. (Let's face it, we won't have time to do it anyway!

)

I've updated the first post btw.

miguel · Tue 20/01/2015 23:03:30

So non-parents are allowed but I'm not, okay. Fine.

CaptainD · Tue 20/01/2015 23:36:53

Quote from: miguel on Tue 20/01/2015 23:03:30
So non-parents are allowed but I'm not, okay. Fine.

Er... you're on the team. Officially. Even though I'm not sure what you're going to actually do.

Stupot · Wed 21/01/2015 03:24:05

I'm not a parent yet but I've lived with them most of my life thus far.

I'd like to contribute something if I can. Maybe some jokes, my voice, or a puzzle or two.

Baron · Wed 21/01/2015 04:05:26

Awesome!

I like the idea of a family-friendly game, but to be honest to Miguel it really is testicles that are at the root of the plot.

There is no way that I have time to manage this project, but maybe I could chair a sub-committee or be on the board or something. I can also offer an animation and a writing contribution. I also moonlight as the agent for this aspiring child-actress who is keen on voice acting bit parts.

Good luck!

MiteWiseacreLives! · Wed 21/01/2015 05:50:57

I might be able to do a little swarming... not sure how it works, but it sounds neat

(That line right there should prove that I'm a dorky out of touch parent!)

Eric · Wed 21/01/2015 06:21:29

I think the game should focus on getting a toddler to go to bed. Playthrough will be three hours at its shortest point. It will utilize TellTale style dialogue options, and the toddler NPC will remember every single thing you've said, trying to draw you into contradictions. The toddler will have a sleepiness bar, which you can build through assuaging them, but at a certain point, they become too sleepy to go to bed and spill over into furious fit territory. The parent / PC will have a frustration bar. This one will vary wildly depending on the given situation. The game will feature a false ending where you think you've gotten the toddler to go to bed, before hearing a call from their bedroom that they have to go potty. At this point, the game restarts itself.

CaptainD · Wed 21/01/2015 08:46:48

@Eric - good idea but we're not aiming at THAT much realism!!

It is after all supposed to be fun.

First post updated again.

monkey424 · Wed 21/01/2015 10:44:36

I like the idea of a bunch of manic arcade-style mini games. Perhaps we could intertwine these with some alternative gameplay, say whatever the game developer is working on. Blue Lobe Inc. and its Kentucky Scott game-within-a-game springs to mind.

miguel · Wed 21/01/2015 11:11:54

I am on the team? I belong somewhere? If words about this fly around the net I'll be having some guy in a dark suit knocking on my door pretty soon...
...
...
...
Wait...
I here something...
...
...
...
Nah, it was a fart. I can't even predict when one of my own farts is arriving destination. Only when my huge testicles defy gravity raising several centimetres inside my pants, then yes, I know I just farted.
I'm a failure.
...
...
...
So, we're making a game are we?

Dualnames · Wed 21/01/2015 11:20:01

I DEMAND TO BE GIVEN THE POST OF A MUSICIAN.