Pot a Plant: Testers Wanted

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1

Hey!

First of all we would like to thank you all for the help we have gotten from this forum - Thanks! you guys are great!

But our project hand-in is getting really close, so now we need to test the (current) final version and get as much feedback as possible.
So we figured we would post the game here and hope that some of you would have time to try it out and if you have time answer a questionaire afterward.

Basic about the game:
It is a mix between a toy and a game - You mix different DNA strings to grow your own plant and thereby unlocking new DNA strings. But it’s also intended as a casual game where you can just try to create a beautiful flower.

Here are some pictures from the game:

800×479

800×469

Link to the game as a .exe (41mb):
srehder.dk/plantgame/Pot%20a%20Plant.exe

Link to Questionaire:
surveygizmo.com/s/88114/pot-a-plant-copy

Hope that some of you will try the game - ANY feedback is appriciated. Also comments in this thread if you are not the questionaire type =)

NOTE: Link to the src:
Its provided in the .exe after install, but if you feel that 40mb is too much to download, but still would like a look at the code, send me a PM and I’ll make a small .zip file without the artwork and models for you - easier on your bandwidth if thats a problem.

Regards:
Andreas (Hesel)
Christian (SpeLLTjeK)
Stefan (srehder)
Sanne
Ronnie
Tobias

[i]We are a group of students from the It University in Copenhopen who are currently studying Game Design on the â€

2

looks like a cool idea - can you provide a linux version? Or simply the python files?

3

I’m an idiot when it comes to anything concerning Linux :confused: - flat out.

But I can provide you with the python files (plus models and textures needed to run) - I think. Havn’t really tried sending the entire src folder to another computer yet, but you can try and see how it goes.

itu.dk/people/abhe/Pot_A_Plant/P … amming.rar

You will also need to modify your Config file (/etc/Config.prc) by adding the following lines.

model-path $MAIN_DIR/src/
sound-path $MAIN_DIR/src/
texture-path $MAIN_DIR/src/

Good luck and let me know if that helps =)

4

with the path-names set (i added the following lines at the begining of the main.py)

from pandac.PandaModules import loadPrcFileData
loadPrcFileData("", "model-path $MAIN_DIR/src/ ")
loadPrcFileData("", "sound-path $MAIN_DIR/src/ ")
loadPrcFileData("", "texture-path $MAIN_DIR/src/ ")

it runs fine :slight_smile:
sorta managed to grow strange flowers

the only warning i get from panda is
“:egg2pg(warning): Ignoring inappropriate format rgb for 1-component texture Tex8”

how about baking some lightmaps into your scene? would make it look a lot nicer

5

the ThomasEgi fix was indeed needed to make it work
I tested on linux and runs ok for a while but then it freeze
besides I was unable to manage to see growing a single plant I find it a nice idea with potential and, if you ask me, I would suggest you to improve it in this way:
1_ make it feel a better and more precise idea of time passing adding a day/night cycle to the window, a clock and a calendar on the wall instead of a flower where one can see better in how much time the flower reach a certain progress.
2_ instead to have a panel where to choose the plant, make a level based game starting from the easier plant and passing to a less easy one after the player succeed and so on til the hardest
3_ give the player the choice to choose also the terrain to put into the pot (maybe a feature to show in advanced levels)
4_ keep up the nice idea :slight_smile:

6

really nice game concept!

7

Sounds great that it works on Linux =). We had som problems with people using Vista so i was a bit nervous concerning anything non-XP.

But yeah about the changes suggested - the “enviroment” hasn’t been a bit priority, so it’s very true that this could use a couple of upgrades in teh visual department.

And changing the “timer” to be a night and day cycle is an awesome idea. We will definitely have to look into that if there’s time!

Amd sorry about the “freeze”. It happens :wink:

Thanks for the feedback - and if there’s any more of you out there that feel like lending us a hand with testing, don’t be shy! The more the merrier

8

I love the idea of a game where you grow plants by cross-breeding them.

The interface is really hard to grasp right now though. In part I think the problem is a language barrier; the whole concept of mixing DNA strings for growing plants is pretty non-sensical. Considering the interface consists of actually clicking on the plant directly, instead of talking about DNA strings it might make more sense to talk about grafting clippings from other plants:

rdrop.com/~paul/graftingtips.html

9

I completely agree with you on that. The funny thing is, that a lot of people have actually replied that it’s nice with a game that teaches biology :smiley: Had we had more time for development, we might have changed that concept, if only to make sure people aren’t taught non-sensical biological concepts :wink: Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the late reply.