Notices

Lcuk and I came up with an idea for a simple acclerometer game on the bus to Barcelona Airport. Unfortunately we got to terminal 2 before we got to the coding..

The concept is simple. You have a field of sheep, with a few pens. You rock and tip the device to get the sheep into the pens. Then as you go through the levels, the game develops complications. You are the 'sheepdog' rounding up the sheep. Once a sheep has been penned, it becomes inert (and therefore cannot be bounced or scared out of its pen)

Level 1: Pup

Six sheep, two pens. You must get three sheep in each pen. Responsiveness relatively slow. If user takes too long, the sheep get a bit bored and occasionally stop to eat flowers: they can only be dislodged with a 'bounce/flick' of the device. This will also move any other unpenned sheep.

Level 2: Training dog

Twelve sheep, three pens. Four sheep in each pen (you can't put more than 4 in any one pen). Medium responsiveness. If you are slow the sheep will stop and eat flowers, or lift their tails and poop. Bounce/flick to dislodge them. This will also move any unpenned sheep. Introduction of 'wolf' concept: wolf icon appears from one side of the screen and all unpenned sheep scatter in the opposite direction. Repeat if the game taks too long.

Level 3: Man's best friend

Twenty sheep, four pens. Five sheep in each pen (and only five). Responsiveness maximum. Sheep occasionally stop to eat flowers and poop and need to be bounced. Wolves may enter from all sides and scatter the sheep. Wolf may move across the field, scattering unpenned sheep in all directions away from it.

When all sheep have been penned, game over screen shows a bone and "Well done, good dog!"

Do I get it right that your movements influence sheep in a specific way (tilt right, the sheep will go that way)?

Yes, basically the sheep will move down the 'slope' of the screen. The idea came because Lcuk's device has a simple 'three boxes that tip' system on it, and I suggested having to put them into pens... and it grew from there. It's a tipping/co-ordination game.

Not "That'll do, pig. That'll do."?

This sounds like a fun project (ok, it was the part about pooping that got me in ).
I can take care of accelerometers and engine parts.

I did think that... but it might be copyright.

Brilliant!

I said I'd never used anything like an acceleromoter, so Lcuk pointed out to me that I used to play those games with little silver bearings which you have to navigate into holes or up spiral slopes - it's exactly the same principle. Somehow we got from there to pooping sheep.

You ever played/seen this ?

Nope.

I don't 'do' gaming. I play solitaire, mahjong, and I just got into tetris. I once played a game of Myst. I am that person who complains about young people today wasting time on computer games... in my day we did something productive with our time!

It doesn't surprise me that sheep games exist. It's a pretty obvious format for gathering things together.

What I have in mind needs prettier sheep than those.

For some reason, I'm thinking of llamatron.