Sunday, June 19, 2011

My Old Idea

Hey Gang,

So have you ever had to go out on a long (or short) trip out of the house but need to get some chores in-game done? This has happened many many times for me and pet training. It seems that when I need to get pet training done the most, I have to be somewhere else or I'm simply not in the mood for repetitive minigames. Well, I have a suggestion for KingsIsle that's been thrown around in my head for quite some time: The Pet-Mobile!

I know, maybe doing a corn spin-off of the Book-Mobile wasn't the catchiest name out there, but you get the idea; pet training on the go! There could be an app where you could train your pet while you're on your way to a location like school, dinner, or a family event. Not only would this allow people to play [semi-]new minigames for Wizard101 on the go, but it would also give players a chance to get some tasks done even if they aren't at the computer. Here's how it would work:

You'd click on the App on you iPhone list of Apps. The same screen that shows when opening Wizard101 and WizardBlox opens of the KI logo. After that, the screen with Merle Ambrose and the Crystal Ball Appears, asking if you are a new or returning wizard (the same screen we see when you redeem a code on the WizardBlox App). After you sign in you'll see six boxes; three on the top of the screen and three on the bottom. These boxes will have your character(s)'s names printed below, along with a school doodle (Death Student Doodle, Fire Student Doodle, etc.) representing the school of that wizard.

When you tap a character, a list of pet names that are currently in that character's backpack will appear. The menu will be a single-file drop list of pet names with portraits next to the names (you may scroll up or down on this list). When you select a pet, a big circle will appear that's split into four pieces. Each will have a name of a mini game as well a a screen shot of the game being played. When you press on the piece of the circle. It would take you to the rules of the minigame, and below that would be what we normally see below the rules; the different snacks we could play with. Touching a snack would bring you to the minigame. Here's how I pictured each of the games working:

1. Cannon Game:

This minigame is probably the most compatible with the iPhone/iPod/iPad touch screen movements. The buttons to move power, position, and tilt can easily be taken out and can successfully be replaced by simply sliding your finger along each gauge. Example of gameplay is shown below:


2. Dance Game:

This was one of the simpler games to adapt to the touch screen of Apple's products. All that's needed to replace your directional keys is buttons on the screen to represent the directions that your pet needs to imitate. While sliding your finger along the screen could probably work as well, it may get confusing for the iPhone/iPad/iPod to determine which way your finger is moving and may mark it wrong when it was indeed right. Example of gameplay shown below:


3. Maze Game:

Adapting this game to the touch screen was probably one of the hardest. This game needs to have the space for a player to see, and putting a directional pad to the side might inhibit the player's sight on the side. Therefor, I decided to put the directional pad on the very bottom of the screen. This made it so it would not interact with the sight of the player however it would still function well. Example of gameplay shown below:


4. Gobbler Drop Game:

If I had to pick which minigame was the hardest to adapt to the iPhone/iPad/iPod, it'd have to be the Gobbler Drop Game. There are several actions needed to be successful in this minigame, and squeezing all of those buttons onto a tiny touch screen can make it kinda crowded. In the end, I decided on a directional pad to the left and a "Jump" button to the right, however I wonder if the directional pad would go best on the bottom like the Maze Game. Example of gameplay shown below:


When the game ended, you'd be brought to the same screen you are brought to when you finish a minigame on the computer where you may feed your pet a snack and choose to either play again or leave the game (at which point it would bring you back to the circle with the four minigames).

I hope you liked my idea! Don't forget the Diary of a Wizard party is THIS Saturday! Also just some personal news: I recently completed my Legendary sets on Diana and Luke! So congrats to them! Noah is blasting his way through WinterTusk (FINALLY!), as he is currently starting Sundrilund (but after that, there's really only Nastrond :P). After that, I must finish up with Mycin in WinterTusk (he's in Vestrilund) and finally Gilroy (who's currently has to face Jotun still).

I also trained a Sea Dragon I got to Ancient which obtained Pierce Train, Tower Shield, and Dissarment (I had another Sea Dragon who obtained Health Gift at which point I stopped training it), so I'm hoping to scrounge up the gold to mix it with my Shadow Phoenix.

That's really all I have for now. Until next time!

P.D.

P.S: Sorry the pictures are so horribly drawn, it was midnight so I was tired and I'm not very good at drawing on the computer anyway!

3 comments:

  1. That good ideas, but i may suggest for all android, not iphone only or whatever. But that cool idea of your about it. I like that. :) Why not gardening, too? While you away.

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  2. @Diana:

    Sure, we can make them for Android, but currently WizardBlox is only available for iPhone (or at least I think so).

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  3. Nicholas LionRiderJune 23, 2011 at 9:57 PM

    This is a really good idea Luke. I was thinking of making a new Wizard101 Webshow and I will be having a "Ideas from Wizards Like You" segment which is a general idea of future ideas KI should think about (Future worlds, shops, spells, ect.) and this would be a good first episode. Write me back on what you think.

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