Hello touch arcadians. I'm happy to announce that my first iPhone Game, Wormies, is nearing completion. I've been working on this for the last few months in my spare time, and it's finally shaping into a real game. The main goal is to raise a population of underwater worms, encouraging their growth while avoiding predators. As the worms mate, they become stronger (bigger) and faster (more colorful), helping them survive the harsh ocean conditions. Periodically predators will show up to feed on your worms. You can either dodge them, or strengthen your worms to prevent death. Below are some screenshots and a (poorly-made) gameplay video. The video was taken from the simulator (thus, the cursor), though I also have Wormies running smoothly on my 2nd gen iPod Touch. http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v18645959zhg2S3eg I'm still not certain how to finish the predators. I could keep them as they are now, but I think it's a bit awkward to switch to the movement tool just to dodge them. I could make a separate "predator mode," where you have to battle them. This would essentially turn predators into little boss battles, RPG style. These changes would be a fair bit of work, but it might be worth it. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions... if you guys favor a different approach, I'll try to implement it. I made Wormies using the great cocos2d graphics library (http://www.cocos2d-iphone.com/). If you want to get into iPhone game programming, this is a great (and free) option. I owe a lot to my fellow developers, who helped me out with various technical problems and other advice. Hopefully I can release this game within the next few weeks, unless a major predator overhaul is needed. I appreciate any suggestions or advice you can share with me. - Allen Jordan (super nerd, and worm expert... and I made up one of those two things) Background images credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / Department of Commerce
The weaker parent determines the minimum abilities of each child when mating. This means that if you kill off the weaker worms, the population will evolve quickly into strong/fast worms. You can also use the radiation tool (shown in the video) to randomly increase and decrease worm attributes, then squish the weaker ones for rapid growth.
Ooh, interesting, that's a pretty cool concept. How do you tell if the worms are strong/fast? Did I miss something from the video?
I just mentioned it offhand in my first post... I should have elaborated a bit. Worms get larger as they get stronger, and greener as they get faster (though I'm planning on having more colors later). The video doesn't really show this, as it takes more generations of worms for the changes to become noticeable. The stronger ones are resistant to predators, and the faster ones can escape attacks quickly. I'm thinking of having the strength and speed factor into a battle mode against predators.
Thanks for the feedback. Being a programmer, my art is pretty horrible. I'm trying to make up for it with fun gameplay (or so I hope). If this thing sells well, maybe I can afford an artist for my next game . At least paint.net works well for novice sprite makers.
The gameplay seems really fun, actually. I didn't mean the graphics are horrible, just not the best one out there. I'm pretty sure all devs go through this with their first game. If sales do go well, add more things to do to the wormies- idea: worm battles, different color worms fight for survival Have birds.
Underwater birds? It is kind of strange to have this take place in the ocean, I guess, but I thought the movement looked more like swimming than crawling. Good suggestions, though. I would like to add battles into it, with worms swarming and attacking as a group.
LOL, I just notice that this is underwater worms. Oops More about the battles, have a sea snail and worms try to conquer. I know this is early development for you but I have a few ideas ringing through my head.
Do you have any knowledge in the field of genetic algorithms? Seems a lot like typical crossover and mutation operators. If you don't understand what I'm saying, just ignore me.
Yep, this game is really a watered down genetic algorithm. Mutation occurs, and crossover sort of happens (I only take one parent into account instead of two). Computer science skills FTW. Selection also kind of occurs, as worms have another attribute to determine their mating probability ("charm").
Heh, I like the fact that you used actual real photographs for backgrounds. So I guess I'm a little confused. Is the goal to keep the worms alive or is it almost like an aquarium where you can do what you'd like? I ask because you have the option to kill the worms and up until that point I thought the objective was to avoid enemies. Just wondering what the end goal is. Good luck!
The real goal is to end up with a population of super strong and fast worms... squishing the weaker worms is just one way to get there quickly. Right now, the game will even play itself, though progress is slow without user interaction. Eventually I'll make it so the player has to actively participate in predator battles.
I quite like the look of this =D I might get it, depending on the price. How much were you thinking of pricing it at?
Graphics arn't horrible haha, they're "user-friendly". This game reminds me of Fish Tycoon.. Exept simpler. Seems pretty fun
