4 ms·

Writing an average 2d game with a good framework like cocos2d is easier than most applications IMHO, so it could be a good start.

by raquo 16y ago

Mz 16y ago
Oh, my real goal is to teach people how to get well (or at least healthier) when that is supposed to be impossible as I have a form of cystic fibrosis. I have found that the written word on my website is just not information dense enough. I have begun supplementing it with links to videos and graphics and such, but it seems it is just not enough. The gap between my mental model and what the rest of the world "knows" to be true is just too large. So I want to create a simulation showing some of the ideas of the mental model which has worked to help me get well so that people can play with the concepts and learn them in a safe way rather than making huge and damaging mistakes with their health. I've discussed it with my adult sons. They have suggested a type of game as a starting place: A roguelike. I need to come up with a means to measure or graph (for game purposes) some key things I mentally track in my own life, such as acidity, germiness, and toxic/allergic exposures. I really have no idea where to begin. :-/ I find it frustrating because the few people who have been able to make use of my ideas indicate they have gotten some very exciting results. But most people are just angry at me and treat me like a liar, charlatan, and snake oil sales(wo)man. They just can't wrap their head around where I am coming from and it just makes them angry to hear from me, like I am sticking my tongue out at them and saying "nanner nanner -- I'm well and you're not!!!! ha ha ha" And now I think I have figured out the means (a game/simulation) to overcome the information gap but just can't seem to figure out where/how to start. Sigh.
- jlees 16y ago
  Something almost Sims-esque? I'd ignore the haters for now and try to figure out what your vision is. It's not clear if you have a game in mind or just know you want to make a game - but assuming you have the difficult but rewarding task of creativity ahead: Figure out who would use it, what you want them to learn, and how you want to convey it. Imagine how you would play the game. Play other simulation games and see what works and what doesn't. Take what works and draw on paper to figure out how things are going to fit together. Your initial game prototypes can be on paper with your sons, using dice instead of a computer, just to get the concepts straight. Then the technical part of implementation and platforms comes once you have a greater understanding of what you actually need to build, so you can pick the right platforms and toolkits with that context. Good luck, it sounds like a very worthwhile project.
  - Mz 16y ago
    Thanks! My sons have been dragging me slowly into the gaming world. They have introduced me to Tiberian Sun and, more recently Master of Magic. I have played Simcity for years and, historically, was really good at games like Tetris, Dr. Mario and Minesweeper but always hated games involving fighting and generally was not good at them. My sons keep emphasizing the aspects of the games they introduce me to that are "like Simcity" -- ie the infrastructure development parts which are critical to supporting a good military force and that this is actually a bigger part of some of these games than the fighting per se. Then they sit with me and coach me sometimes so I don't get thrown to the wolves. We recently started a website together in part to talk about games ...well, that doesn't do it justice but it will have to do for now. So I am, actually working on stuff. Just not actually coding and that makes me very frustrated. It feels so far away. But thank you for the feedback! It makes me feel better about where I am on this whole thing -- that maybe I am not just spinning my wheels.
    - keeptrying 16y ago
      How about just a list of actions you've taken and the results that you've gotten from them? I think that it self would be revolutionary if the methods you describe are clearly and measurably effective. I want to do the same for people with knee pain. Knee pain is a huge subject and there is some really good research on how to prevent it with proper exercise. I just dont see it disemminated well enough to the public.
      - Mz 16y ago
        I have a website already where I have attempted to do that kind of thing. One of the first pages on it was a checklist. It grew out of an email that got the response of "Can I forward that to someone I know who has a child with CF?!!" I felt being able to share a link would be better than having people forward my emails all over the place. Unfortunately, the only people who seem able to benefit from the website mostly fall into one of two categories: A) People who have pursued alternative remedies for a long time who therefore have some context for what I am talking about. B) People with a fairly recently diagnosed child who have not yet been inculcated with the current thinking. Also, I was extremely sick at one time and spent about a year at death's door. When someone is that sick and heavily medicated, learning new material can be very challenging. But games often were a godsend to keep me harmlessly occupied and also happen to be an excellent educational tool. As for "measurably effective", although I do my best to provide links to supporting information, at this point in time people essentially have to take my word for it. I'm not interested in being Joan of Arc or some such (what with her being burned at the stake at the age of about 19). I don't want people to do this "on faith" because they believe in me. I am very painfully aware that people tend to divide up between folks who react like I am some hero/savior figure and folks who would like to put together a lynch mob. It's extremely important to me that people understand and what I am doing currently is insufficient to that task. It is imperative that I develop an educational tool so people aren't putting their lives in my hands on faith/belief in me personally and can, instead, effectively take their lives in their own hands. (As an aside: currently, such individuals routinely put their lives in the hands of others -- mostly doctors -- so that is a familiar model for them and I think it is part of the problem. So I don't think you can even achieve the goal by following such a path. Thus what would be the point, other than possibly ego gratification?) If I can't overcome that obstacle, I am willing to walk away (rather than be martyred, literally or figuratively) and go live a "normal life" now that I am well enough to do so for the first time in my life. Thanks.

Writing an average 2d game with a good framework like cocos2d is easier than most applications IMHO, so it could be a good start.

by raquo 16y ago

Writing an average 2d game with a good framework like cocos2d is easier than most applications IMHO, so it could be a good start.

Mz 16y ago

Oh, my real goal is to teach people how to get well (or at least healthier) when that is supposed to be impossible as I have a form of cystic fibrosis. I have found that the written word on my website is just not information dense enough. I have begun supplementing it with links to videos and graphics and such, but it seems it is just not enough. The gap between my mental model and what the rest of the world "knows" to be true is just too large. So I want to create a simulation showing some of the ideas of the mental model which has worked to help me get well so that people can play with the concepts and learn them in a safe way rather than making huge and damaging mistakes with their health. I've discussed it with my adult sons. They have suggested a type of game as a starting place: A roguelike. I need to come up with a means to measure or graph (for game purposes) some key things I mentally track in my own life, such as acidity, germiness, and toxic/allergic exposures. I really have no idea where to begin. :-/ I find it frustrating because the few people who have been able to make use of my ideas indicate they have gotten some very exciting results. But most people are just angry at me and treat me like a liar, charlatan, and snake oil sales(wo)man. They just can't wrap their head around where I am coming from and it just makes them angry to hear from me, like I am sticking my tongue out at them and saying "nanner nanner -- I'm well and you're not!!!! ha ha ha" And now I think I have figured out the means (a game/simulation) to overcome the information gap but just can't seem to figure out where/how to start. Sigh.

jlees 16y ago
Something almost Sims-esque? I'd ignore the haters for now and try to figure out what your vision is. It's not clear if you have a game in mind or just know you want to make a game - but assuming you have the difficult but rewarding task of creativity ahead: Figure out who would use it, what you want them to learn, and how you want to convey it. Imagine how you would play the game. Play other simulation games and see what works and what doesn't. Take what works and draw on paper to figure out how things are going to fit together. Your initial game prototypes can be on paper with your sons, using dice instead of a computer, just to get the concepts straight. Then the technical part of implementation and platforms comes once you have a greater understanding of what you actually need to build, so you can pick the right platforms and toolkits with that context. Good luck, it sounds like a very worthwhile project.
- Mz 16y ago
  Thanks! My sons have been dragging me slowly into the gaming world. They have introduced me to Tiberian Sun and, more recently Master of Magic. I have played Simcity for years and, historically, was really good at games like Tetris, Dr. Mario and Minesweeper but always hated games involving fighting and generally was not good at them. My sons keep emphasizing the aspects of the games they introduce me to that are "like Simcity" -- ie the infrastructure development parts which are critical to supporting a good military force and that this is actually a bigger part of some of these games than the fighting per se. Then they sit with me and coach me sometimes so I don't get thrown to the wolves. We recently started a website together in part to talk about games ...well, that doesn't do it justice but it will have to do for now. So I am, actually working on stuff. Just not actually coding and that makes me very frustrated. It feels so far away. But thank you for the feedback! It makes me feel better about where I am on this whole thing -- that maybe I am not just spinning my wheels.
  - keeptrying 16y ago
    How about just a list of actions you've taken and the results that you've gotten from them? I think that it self would be revolutionary if the methods you describe are clearly and measurably effective. I want to do the same for people with knee pain. Knee pain is a huge subject and there is some really good research on how to prevent it with proper exercise. I just dont see it disemminated well enough to the public.
    - Mz 16y ago
      I have a website already where I have attempted to do that kind of thing. One of the first pages on it was a checklist. It grew out of an email that got the response of "Can I forward that to someone I know who has a child with CF?!!" I felt being able to share a link would be better than having people forward my emails all over the place. Unfortunately, the only people who seem able to benefit from the website mostly fall into one of two categories: A) People who have pursued alternative remedies for a long time who therefore have some context for what I am talking about. B) People with a fairly recently diagnosed child who have not yet been inculcated with the current thinking. Also, I was extremely sick at one time and spent about a year at death's door. When someone is that sick and heavily medicated, learning new material can be very challenging. But games often were a godsend to keep me harmlessly occupied and also happen to be an excellent educational tool. As for "measurably effective", although I do my best to provide links to supporting information, at this point in time people essentially have to take my word for it. I'm not interested in being Joan of Arc or some such (what with her being burned at the stake at the age of about 19). I don't want people to do this "on faith" because they believe in me. I am very painfully aware that people tend to divide up between folks who react like I am some hero/savior figure and folks who would like to put together a lynch mob. It's extremely important to me that people understand and what I am doing currently is insufficient to that task. It is imperative that I develop an educational tool so people aren't putting their lives in my hands on faith/belief in me personally and can, instead, effectively take their lives in their own hands. (As an aside: currently, such individuals routinely put their lives in the hands of others -- mostly doctors -- so that is a familiar model for them and I think it is part of the problem. So I don't think you can even achieve the goal by following such a path. Thus what would be the point, other than possibly ego gratification?) If I can't overcome that obstacle, I am willing to walk away (rather than be martyred, literally or figuratively) and go live a "normal life" now that I am well enough to do so for the first time in my life. Thanks.