Posted by Jonathan Whiting (twitter: @whitingjp)
February 8th, 2009 10:20 am
Well, it looks like I’m not going to get any further on my entry, pretty bored with my idea now. Having said that this *is* a complete entry, it’s just not as fun/interesting as I’d hoped it’d be.
So yes, here it is: fauna.zip faunasrc.zip
You can browse through the vast array of remarkably similar species, and name them to your hearts content, there’s even some internet based sharing of names, (but it’s decidedly flimsy, and involves lame command prompt windows popping up momentarily).
*sigh*, not my finest hour, I think I might stick with a more conventional game idea next time around, and/or only enter if I’m actually feeling fairly commited. It was good for trying out LÖVE though.
Obligitrary screenshot:
Tags: final
i think that’s really original and generally cool!
it’s a pity you can give things duplicate names, though.
I’m glad I’ve let my mark anyway.
I find your game very pleasurable! I am glad I could contribute some geni to the pseudoscientific community. Some more variety would be great, but what this game does have is a very clear art direction.
Ok, increpare, I promise I’m not stalking you. That said, my gameplay session went like this:
1. Wonder why curl.exe is there; isn’t that an http client?
2. Name first unknown organism Foo.
3. Wonder why console window popped up.
4. Name second unknown organism Cap.
5. Figure out why console window popped up, why curl.exe is there. Curse at exposing self as conceited bastard.
6. Mouse over one more organism, notice it’s named increpare, feel better about self.
I don’t think I’ve ever had that sort of emotional response to a game before. Good job!
I actually really like this, I think it would really work well if it was in a browser and people could just come along and name stuff, also if there were a bestiary of all discovered species that would be cool too
ok — this is strangely compelling. I think I added a LOT of bug names.
there is something fun about seeing names you didn’t create and trying to look at the creatures and figure if there was a connection to the name. there is also something really fun about leaving your mark and knowing that other people might encounter your bugs. something about the whole claiming territory vibe or naming creatures that is really addicting somehow.
I did find the ‘increpare’ bug. I also left a ‘hybridmind’ bug too.
great idea!
This is excellent! A lot of fun.
-Simon
Oh, I would’ve also mentioned that I think it is very commendable that you, designwise, went with where your implementation took you, instead of forcing some structured gameplay on what is a fun toy in itself.
I had a lot of fun just scrolling around and looking at the names of the critters. “Wurgle” is my favorite.
I personally didn’t see any of my creature names re-appear in the game, which was slightly disappointing, though it’s really cool that I was able to name them and see a lot of increpares.
A week or two ago I read about LÖVE for the first time, I’m glad to see that it worked out so well for you!
Oh lord, I didn’t read the description so I went and named my two first creatures fucker and faggot before realizing it’s sending the stuff to a server.
Hehe, well thanks guys
I truly didn’t expect the feedback to be this overwhelmingly positive (and amusing). Very glad people have been enjoying it, and it’s been awesome seeing the species names filling out a bit.
I’m half inspired to make a decent version with better variety between species/interface/etc. in flash, could be kinda neat, and (aside from learning flex) probably pretty easy too.
Cheers