Post by Nexust on Mar 29, 2016 17:15:25 GMT
Here's an interesting topic!
The distribution of community made levels for Mallowventure has never been reconsidered since the early days of the game's development- they were always going to be shared via the game's forum (here!). However- we have taken a step back and considered the future of the game.
We have already decided that we want the game to hit Android which inevitably means we are going to have to consider iOS.
This leaves us with a problem. While the game and it's level files will be entirely cross-platform, it isn't as easy to load custom levels on your favourite mobile device.
I know the process isn't impossible on Android and, for those in the know, isn't even that difficult (aside from finding the game's directory)- I know very little about iOS except that it doesn't like people fiddling with it's insides- so moving files around your precious iPhone may prove troublesome for players wishing to play custom levels (again, I'm not sure exactly, I'm not a frequent iOS user).
We considered the possibility of releasing level packs on mobile which limits the levels to 'Official' levels only. While we would happily work with the community to release community made 'Official' level packs, that still limits community input for the mobile player-base.
This is where we had an idea. An online database of community made levels that can be accessed in game.
This idea scares me greatly.
PHP and me have never exactly taken a stroll through a field of tulips before- rather a horrifying trek across the rupturing stone of a spitting volcano. This is why many of my projects have died by the words: 'Let's add online content!'
However, I have taken to experimenting and so far it hasn't crashed and burned.
This feature will not ruin the game. If it fails, we return to the safety of the forum. We will never fade the forum out because it is a nice place for the community to interact- replacing that with an online list of levels would kill feedback and such. It'll just be a nice way to share levels.
This feature- if it ever survives the development process- will probably not be present in the earliest versions. If and when we do finally launch the feature, it will be rolled out to a limited test group to see whether they survive the experience... then we'll release it to everyone.
For now, we will be working on the online level list thingy in the background.
The distribution of community made levels for Mallowventure has never been reconsidered since the early days of the game's development- they were always going to be shared via the game's forum (here!). However- we have taken a step back and considered the future of the game.
We have already decided that we want the game to hit Android which inevitably means we are going to have to consider iOS.
This leaves us with a problem. While the game and it's level files will be entirely cross-platform, it isn't as easy to load custom levels on your favourite mobile device.
I know the process isn't impossible on Android and, for those in the know, isn't even that difficult (aside from finding the game's directory)- I know very little about iOS except that it doesn't like people fiddling with it's insides- so moving files around your precious iPhone may prove troublesome for players wishing to play custom levels (again, I'm not sure exactly, I'm not a frequent iOS user).
We considered the possibility of releasing level packs on mobile which limits the levels to 'Official' levels only. While we would happily work with the community to release community made 'Official' level packs, that still limits community input for the mobile player-base.
This is where we had an idea. An online database of community made levels that can be accessed in game.
This idea scares me greatly.
PHP and me have never exactly taken a stroll through a field of tulips before- rather a horrifying trek across the rupturing stone of a spitting volcano. This is why many of my projects have died by the words: 'Let's add online content!'
However, I have taken to experimenting and so far it hasn't crashed and burned.
This feature will not ruin the game. If it fails, we return to the safety of the forum. We will never fade the forum out because it is a nice place for the community to interact- replacing that with an online list of levels would kill feedback and such. It'll just be a nice way to share levels.
This feature- if it ever survives the development process- will probably not be present in the earliest versions. If and when we do finally launch the feature, it will be rolled out to a limited test group to see whether they survive the experience... then we'll release it to everyone.
For now, we will be working on the online level list thingy in the background.