Malevolent Level Designer is an idea that was brainstormed at the recent Brainstorming session. We are posting the details on the forum and are interested in seeing who is interested in working on this project. Be sure to check out the other projects too.

Synopsis: Malevolent Level Designer is a level designing tool/game with a twist. It starts off with a blank 2D platformer level. The world has a start point and an end point. There are two players in the game and each player takes turns in adding a new component to the world. These components could be item boxes, pits, spikes or enemies. As each player makes their turn they have to play through the level which has been created. If the player fails at traversing a level then they loose a life. The player that loses all of their lives first, loses the game. By the end of the match the players have created a complete level that could also be fed back into the game.

We are looking for interested parties in the following areas:
- Project Manager
- Programming Leader
- Art Leader
- Design Leader
- Music Leader

We are also interested in people who want to fill the following positions.
- Programmer
- Artist
- Designer
- Music

If you are interested in getting involved in any of these positions then please post below. If you could include what position/s you are interested in and what skills/attributes you could contribute to the team.

Well I could make it in Game Maker very easily. So I guess that would mean programmer (but in my personal opinion game maker isnt proper programming).
I could do it with like C++(darkGDK) or java, but I'd prefer Game Maker for its simple scripting language.

So,

Position:
Programmer
- possibly even designer or assistant designer

Experience:
Well, I have used Game Maker for a few years just as an 'off the side game making tool' when ever I couldnt be bothered programming stuff from scratch. Which means that now I actually have an extensive knowledge of Game Maker. Looking at the game description above, I can easily imagine the code behind it and it should not be more than an hour to get it to a fun playable state.

I could also do the designing, or work closely with a designer.

Team Work:
Active member of a team. (once overcome the 'i dont know any of you' hurdle)
Always will gladly give my personal opinion. ( "constructive critism")
I can be very easy to work with, very laid back, I NEVER get angry. (I never believed this, until after 5 years of my friends trying to piss me off, they finally gave up)
Give me a pen and paper and I can work magic with my ideas. (i cant think of anything to put inside these brackets this time)
I can normally respond to emails very quickly - max wait an hour, so if there are any queries or changes or ideas or developments etc with the game that we are working on, its very easy to contact me. (and I do have a life, I dont spend all my time in front of the computer. but somehow I manage to magically do these quick email responses)


.. well thats enough babling, hope I have said the right things that you needed to know, if not, I'll gladly answer any specific questions..

-- regards, Lyndon

I think as a platform, flash would be much better to develop on. Using Flixel, Flex SDK and FlashDevelop, you dont actually need to buy Flash to develop games for Flash.

The reason I am saying to use Flash is because its cross platform, can be played from a browser and integrates with Facebook fairly easily (which I think is a must for a game like this, which will thrive or fail based on the size of the community).

I would help with the programming if I wasnt so busy. Maybe I can find time to work on a rough prototype if we need to get the ball rolling.

@Dylan. Yes, very true, needs to be cross platform for optimum player base.
Im downloading your links now, Im always glad to learn another language. I have not done much at all in flash, but it would be great to extend my skills in flash.
Well this is good, this club has now helped me out with game development =D
It'll probably take a day or two before I can make some playable games, but I dont have heaps of time, so it'll probably some time in the break that I will be able to teach myself.
I could still also make it in GM as it will be incredibly easy, but it would be good to learn and make it in flash.
..hmm.. I guess this is another attribute to add to my first post, i can be very flexible and will try my best to do whats best for the project.

Cross platform languages are handy (java, flash) but don't get too hung up on them as it is easy to program C/C++ for multiple OS in one go, it just requires some smart design to seperate out the OS specific code into one .h file. Other languages may have similar mechanics we can use.

anyway.

Position:
Programer / Lead Programer

Experience:
I have recently compleeted 3rd year CS and therefore have extensive experiance in java and significant experiance in C/C++. I have also done CG giving me a broard understanding of graphics programing, in particular the C++ GLUT library. Intro to Software Engineering, Software Engineering Project and non subject programing projects have given me a solid understanding of how to design software and implement that design with a minimum of issues. These projects also gave me a solid understanding of version management and documentation tools.

Team Work:
Active team member.
Willing to take a leadership role.
Will give constructive criticism.
Works well with others.
Punctual and reliable.

I look forward to working with you guys in the near future.

This is true, and I write cross platform code anytime I use C++ (using the standard library and boost makes life a lot easier). However, I find that I will eschew downloading and running an executable if there are flash games to play. Mostly this is just convenience (I am already running my browser) and a bit of security (I always get a bit anxious running a binary from some website).

I think C++ has its uses, and if you need speed (or fancy graphics) then you should use it (or perhaps if you want realtime networking). Flash will be fine for this project though.

I have been playing with Flixel, which makes doing retro graphics/platformer gameplay almost automatic. To this end, I think I might try this and maybe get it integrated with Facebook. It might take a while to get started though, I have a few other projects on the go at the moment.

I think it'd make a great facebook app, mostly because it would be the kind of thing you could open up, tinker with for a few minutes (ie, making a level), then stop. Or you could load it up and play some random level someone made with it. Or if a friend is on, you could have a quick game of the competative aspect.

Maybe something like spelunky would work, but with user created levels instead of random ones. I guess this fits in with the other similar idea more (treasure trap).

Hey! This idea is kind of cool.

Has any work been done on it?
Anyone mind if I knock together a quick prototype to satisfy my own curiosity on how the mechanics would work?

I dont think anyone has gotten to an implementation stage, but knock yourself out.

Go for it, it would be nice to see it in action.
I did a quick 10 minute job of it in Game Maker when this topic was first started, but I had better things to do then mess around in Game Maker, so didnt do any other work on it.