But, where do all the Gadgets go?

Introduction

With the advent of new ways to interact with our devices, comes a wave of new icons to intuitively suggest those actions... this may be all well and good, but for the operating system old faithfuls, it's not such good news. They are being replaced and hung out to dry.

Can anyone save them from their fate?

The game is set. You control various "ye olde" gadget characters, and using their specialist skills in combination, you have to help them escape from being erased with the trash. A platform puzzler with a difference, and that difference is being wiped out by the latest design craze.

Overview

This idea has been in my brain since way back in 2000, but it has never been a primary focus... it is just something that I’d like to see some day. It might happen, if I can manage to keep up with technology whilst juggling work and life.

The plot is simple, and just a little nostalgic. The “digital” world is accelerating so fast, that many of those trusty icons — ones that we clicked happily, for years — are disappearing. Simply forgotten in a world of cumbersome finger-swipes and next-gen. interfaces.

This online game will be my attempt to give them a good send off ;)

Character test

Below is some old experimental code, testing out the characters and their movements.

Collecting logic

In terms of actual coding, I haven’t done much specifically to Gagets. It is currently more a collection of experiments and prototypes (which I find as the best way to develop anything). Currently, as I advance my other projects online, Gadgets will benefit — mainly as I develop my code in a modular, re-usable fashion.

Basically, I have a list of the capabilities that Gadgets will need as an engine, and I’m developing those abilities as standalone systems.

The checklist:

• Better understanding of WebGL (I’m learning more every day)
• Polygon platforms (currently being developed for Pebbl)
• Dynamic lighting (currently being developed for Sunlight & Sushi)
• Shape tweening and animation (I have a already few experiments with this)
• Puzzle/Map designs (I develop these whenever I can, mainly on paper)
• Online/Offline game state (currently being developed for Pebbl)
• Particle Generators (I’ve already got quite a bit of experience with these)