As of tonight,
is officially over! I received three full levels which, after cleaning up and compiling together, I will eventually release as the first Ruckingenur Community Edition, probably with a level or two by me added to the set. More information as I get around to doing that.
I went to the mall a few weeks ago and wandered into a game and calendar store. While I don’t know what games and calendars have in common, I did discover two interesting looking games that I’d never seen before: Jakbo and Pictionary Man. From the back of the Jakbo box:
Starting from opposite sides of the board, players try to out-maneuver their opponent to cross the board and score points before all the pieces are played. Points are scored by playing your pieces in your opponent’s end. The player with the most points when the pieces run out wins! Play up, down over and around to block, defend and attack. Use the range of JAKBO pieces to discover a depth of strategy that will captivate beginners and experts alike!
Thoroughly intrigued, I set about making my own game using the contiguous block-placing mechanic. The finished product: Kudzu!
The rules of Kudzu! are simple: players alternate placing their pieces on the board until all pieces have been played. The first piece placed must touch your starting square, while the rest of your pieces must touch a piece that you previously played. A piece may only be played in a “stable” position and may not rest on, but may hover over, blue “water” squares. At the end of the game, the player with the most “flowers” facing up and not covered by another block wins. As there are only seven pieces per player, games generally take under 5 minutes, making this the only board game I’ve ever made that can be played in under four hours.
In the above picture, dark green beat light green 5 to 3.
Surprisingly, it’s not a bad game. It only took me a few hours to build the above prototype; all you need to build your own is a sheet of wood for the board and 64 cubes to glue together to create the pieces, and perhaps some paint to make it look nice.
There are only SIX DAYS LEFT in the
I’ve received two submissions so far and, although it’s unlikely I’ll receive 30 or more and thus award the PIC prize package, there WILL be a prize for whoever creates the best level. So, finish up your levels and send them in! If there’s anything I can do to help you finish your level, please let me know – Ruckingenur fans world wide are counting on us to make the Community Edition awesome!
I’m working on a small board game at the moment; when I’ve created some more details for it, I will post them here!
Before I consolidated my ideas into Bureau of Steam Engineering, there was World War Awesome! – Tank Battles. In it, players would construct tanks in a manner very similar to the way mechs are built in BSE, with the exception of a looser “pulse” system instead of the more complicated “steam” system. Bouncing pulses into ports on the side would activate treads, allowing the tank to turn in either direction or move forward. Bouncing pulses into weapons would cause them to activate and fire. Unlike in BSE, external devices (like weapons) could explode when hit, requiring players to implement fallback circuitry by using components like fuses.
The idea never progressed further than the mockups below, but there’s a good chance a game like it may see the light of day at some point in the future. In the meantime, enjoy!
I’m fairly brain dead after cranking out Bureau of Steam Engineering (which you should definitely play if you haven’t already) so I don’t have much to cover here.
So far, I’ve only received one submission for the second and final phase of the Ruckingenur Challenge. With only two weeks left, we’re getting down to the grind, especially if you need artwork created for your puzzle. If anyone is working on a puzzle but has not yet submitted it, you should say something in the comments. Feel free to advertise for the Challenge if you know people who would be interested! Remember – PIC programmer!
I’m going to be working on some new games in the next few weeks, and will post details here as I make progress. In the meantime, though, we need filler content! What would you like to see here?
Over the past few weeks (namely, since finishing the Ruckingenur Editor for the Ruckingenur Challenge), I’ve been working on a totally new game. A game that I have just now finished. I present to you, Bureau of Steam Engineering.
Launch Bureau of Steam Engineering (1024×768)
Launch Bureau of Steam Engineering (512×384)
Unlike any of my previous games, BSE is entirely Flash based, meaning that (almost) everyone should be able to play with no technical problems!
In Bureau of Steam Engineering, you play as an American steam engineer at the beginning of an alternate civil war who must design and duel steam powered mechs to defend the Union!
Enjoy!
A few notes:
Sorry about the posting void – I’m working on a new game that I want to have done before Phase Two of the Ruckingenur Challenge ends. I’ll be posting more information about it in the coming days.
Additionally, I’m upping the ante for the Ruckingenur Challenge! If I receive thirty (30) or more complete submissions, I will be awarding a special Microchip PIC prize kit to the creator of the best level, containing the following:
While you’re free to create submissions as groups, only one prize package will be awarded. Pictures of the prize package coming soon, in addition to formal updating of the Ruckingenur Challenge Phase Two page to include this information.
Get to it!
Holy crap! It’s time for Phase Two of the Ruckingenur Challenge!
If you somehow missed, it the Ruckingenur Challenge is a contest where YOU create a level for the not-yet-but-perhaps-one-day-award-winning Ruckingenur II. Here are the conditions for Phase Two:
The deadline for entries is December 1st, 2008. If you need artwork, it’d be wise to submit your otherwise fully completed level to me at least two weeks before that date.
As always, I’ll be happy to field any questions you have – just post them to the comments!
When I released Ruckingenur II three months ago, the reaction was pretty epic. One of the most common comments was that there was no level editor; today, I deliver!
Everything that applied to Ruckingenur II applies to the Ruckingenur Editor; you’ll need .NET 2.0 (maybe 3.5?), it’ll probably crash if you’re running a 64-bit version of windows or don’t have a sound card installed, and should be easy to get running under Mono or Parallels.
The Ruckingenur Editor conforms to fairly standard editor mechanics, so it should be pretty easy to use your first time. Here are some tips:
If you have questions or find bugs, please email me at zachbarth@gmail.com! Good luck!
After much deliberation, a winner has been picked for Phase One of the Ruckingenur Challenge. Congratulations to Fredrik of Sweden! You can view Fredrik’s submission at the end of this post.
It was tough picking a winner; while I only received 9 submissions, they were all very diverse and generally well thought out. While some seemed to be a little obscure for obscurity’s sake, it seems like most everyone who submitted has a pretty good grasp on what goes into making an interesting and complete level.
In other news, Phase Two of the Ruckingenur Challenge begins tomorrow! I will be posting rules and information then, so stay tuned!
And now, the Wee-CD!
Follow the fold for the rest of this submission!