Author: Dan Milward

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Mihi Maker – when Code meets Culture

Gamefroot has made learning your pepeha even more awesome! Based on your feedback, you now get to edit the underlying code for each section of pepeha.

These changes reveal the underlying code and thus the magic of gamefroot, giving you a more authentic digital technologies experience.

We are happy to announce the following improvements available right now!

  • Code View! Edit the blocks and gently familiarise yourself with visual coding – no prior coding knowledge is necessary, we promise!
  • Optional coding challenge – if you’re feeling confident we’ve added a section on coding your own collision detection algorithm (step 10).
  • A default “game thumbnail” has been added for published games.

So please give it a whirl and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

» http://make.gamefroot.com/activities/mihi-maker

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Gamefroot 3.0 “Lori”

game-maker

After many months of work Gamefroot 3.0, named “Lori” in honor of legendary Sierra game designer and writer of the Quest for Glory Series of games Lori Cole, is now ready for you to use.

To sum things up, in this release we’ve focused on improvements for making Gamefroot faster and more reliable. Here are the main benefits for you:

Level Editor
We’ve rebuilt the game editor from the ground up. It is bucket loads faster and more robust. We’ve implemented an infinite canvas meaning you can create games any size without it affecting the speed and performance of Gamefroot.

New Layers Panel
We’ve made the layers panel into a floating box so that you can move it around the stage and see more of your game during your game building process.

You can see inside layers to select, rearrange, and rename individual objects in your game. When you have an individual object selected you can use the snap to button to take you to that object in your game world – this is particularly handy for navigating around big games.

When you toggle the visibility of an object they are now completely invisible. In previous versions of Gamefroot hidden objects were 50% transparent which could look confusing.

Powered up and simplified Tools
Tools now operate on any layer.

Selection tool
The selection tool has been refined. The top handle rotates objects and has some nifty precision features build in:

Hold SHIFT to rotate by 45 degrees
Hold ALT or OPTION to rotate by 22.5 degrees
Hold both SHIFT and ALT/OPTION to rotate by 1 degree

Side and corner handles scale objects:
Hold ALT or OPTION to limit scale to whole numbers
Hold SHIT to scale proportionally

Nudge objects up, down, left, right with arrow keys.
Hold SHIFT to move faster.
Hold both SHIFT and ALT/OPTION to move even faster!

Rotate objects with arrow keys. Hold ALT/OPTION and press LEFT or RIGHT.

Brush tool
Painting and drawing on the canvas is largely the same. In future versions of Gamefroot we’ll be adding more brushes and

Erasing Objects
The eraser tool is locked to the current layer. You can delete objects by pressing DELETE or BACKSPACE while they are selected, or use the right-click context menu.

Pan tool
Pan is easier than ever. Hold MIDDLE MOUSE and move around or hold SPACEBAR down and click and drag.

Keyboard shortcuts for tools are
M – for selection / move
B – for brush
E – for eraser
HOLD SPACE – for pan

New Mini Map with zoom
As part of the rebuild we made the minimap better and moved it to the bottom left corner.

You can now zoom in and out with the + and – buttons on the minimap to see your game in super detail. Click the zoom number (between the + and – buttons) to reset your screen to the default 100% scale.

Game Preview redesign
The game preview screen has been redesigned. When you hit PLAY, your game will open in a floating window. Just click CLOSE when you’re done previewing your game.

Enhanced Tutorials area (formerly Resources)

This is where we put out Hour of Code-style resources. We’re a big fan of that style of learning.

We’ve also redesigned the sidebar for easier navigation. We want your feedback on this. We see tutorials as a major part of the site, and we want them to get bigger and better every day.

General improvements and fixes
We’ve improved the way Gamefroot saves games, added internet connection checks to our API to reduce those pesky “Aw, snap” messages, and we’ve started working on better touch / mobile device support.

In conclusion

Thanks for choosing Gamefroot – we hope you enjoy!

Stay tuned for our next major release. We’ve got Undo/Redo, and Guest Login on the cards. If there is something else you really want to see added to Gamefroot just let us know in the comments below.

» So you want to make a game? Let’s go!!!

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Testing 1, 2, 3.0

We are days away from launching a new, more robust and feature rich version of Gamefroot.

Before we release Gamefroot 3.0 into the wilderness we want to give you, our beloved users, an opportunity to take a look and report any issues.

We’ve worked hard on this release and, while we are 99% confident there are no issues that could affect your game, we want your feedback first!

This is your chance to let us know what you think before we push the button.

Testers beyond this point

To begin testing the new Gamefroot:

Continue reading “Testing 1, 2, 3.0”

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Hey Frooters, let’s jump right in.

Mahuki, the innovation hub powered by Te Papa, has been our home for the last two months and we are loving it!

Don’t know what Mahuki is? In short, it’s a four to six month, in-residence accelerator programme situated in back of house, Te Papa.

In long, it is a space in which entrepreneurs are connected with members of the cultural, or GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), in order to provide solutions to challenges faced by the industry globally. There are ten teams included in the programme who all offer differing digital, technological, and innovative projects of which are all focused towards the future experiences and transformations needed by the cultural sector.

This is where we come in.

Our project and team were selected to participate in this content-rich programme in which we have been absorbing knowledge, networks, and experience, all in the aims of Gamefroot becoming a more viable, valuable, contributor of the cultural space.

We’re two months into the programme, and want to share the rest of this journey with you. Keep up with our blog, make games, and follow us on Facebook.

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Gamefroot 2.1.0

Thanks for using Gamefroot. Every update to Gamefroot includes improvements for speed and reliability. We’re pleased to highlight these new features:
– You can now right click to remove assets
– New Play Sound scripts have been added to the script area
– We’ve made a number of Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer browser compatibility improvements
For those that like to experiment, we’ve added two new beta features: a new learning resources sidebar, and a Mobile Games sidebar for testing games on your Android device. Enjoy!

 

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Guest Post: Kiwi Quest

My name is Natasha and I’m a 19 year old student. On the 28th of October 2015 I went into the Gamefroot HQ to create a game called Kiwi Quest, with the aim to finish it in 48 hours. For the task I was paired with Ben who would help me script the game.

I already had a few sprites, and a rough description of the game, from a previous Gamefroot session. Ben and I’s first task together was to refine the game into a clear plan, which took us about an hour. We identified all the goals and obstacles that were needed, and then we made a list of all the graphics and scripts required. We abandoned the style of graphics in the original concept sprites, in favour of a pure bird’s eye view top-down game.

KiwiQuest

Working with Ben made game production run much faster than I expected, and by the end of the first day we had a movement system and the main character completed. The experience was interactive and we shared ideas every few minutes or updated each other on progress. Throughout the day I was able to bounce ideas off of Ben and Dan (and vice versa) so my time there was very collaborative.

kiwiquest-debrief

By the end of the second day we had items, backgrounds, obstacles and enemies. It was a fully functional game by this point, so we decided to spend a third day polishing it up. On the third day we worked on level screens, a death animation, and level borders. Overall the end result looked really good! The game was challenging and it took me a few tries to complete but it was also enjoyable.

With more time we would have created more variety in scenery and added in fancier GUI to bring it up to an app-store quality game. I’m looking forward to my next session with Gamefroot to create another game in the same amount of time!

How to Play
This game is currently only optimised for a computer or laptop with a keyboard. To play the game use your arrow keys.

Try it out

Play Kiwi Quest

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Dunedin Code Red Workshop

Game-Coding-Workshops-PublicLibraries-final

Code Red “Learn to Code” Workshops are a collaboration between Gamefroot, The Public Libraries Association of New Zealand and various city councils including Hutt, Nelson, Dunedin, Porirua, Gisborne and Timaru City Councils.

Participants are taken through making a game from start to finish. During that process are being taught computer programming principles that prepare them for the 21st century job market.

Last week Dave from team Gamefroot ran Code Red Workshop #1 at the Dunedin Public Library. Feedback from students and parents at the workshops and the community event was very positive. The event was also covered by the Otago Daily Times.

Here’s the low down:

Numbers
29/9/2015 – Teachers Workshop
7 teachers attended, 1 returned as a mentor on the Wednesday. Her son was attending the workshop

30/9/2015 – Workshop (10-14 year olds)
23 attended (12 had laptops)

1/10/2015 – Workshop (10-14 year olds)
21 attended (13 had laptops)

2/10 Workshop (15-18 year olds)
14 attended (11 had laptops)

2/10/2015 Community Event
32 attended

Location & Computers
The teachers workshop took place in the Dunningham Suite on the 4th floor of the Dunedin city library using teachers laptops and APNK wifi.

The students workshops took place in the computer room on the 1st floor of the city library using students laptops, Library APNK PCs and APNK wifi. The community event took place in the Dunningham Room on the 4th floor of the city library.

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Gamefroot 2.3 Changelog

Version 2.3 is a major Gamefroot feature release. Here are the major 2.3 Changelog items:

Misc changes

  • IE11 fixes, so IE11 users can login and do thing’s everyone else can.
  • Old games built in the old flash engine are now visible in the list of games.
  • A tweak to the css so firefox will actually render images properly.
  • User Icons wont weirdly change back to random images.
  • Previewing a lot of terrain will be a lot faster in most cases.
  • Saving and loading speeds have vastly increased.
  • Script icon will display on assets that sometimes wouldn’t have them.
  • The level won’t duplicate it self after saving the game.
  • Some overall bug fixes and tweaks to make Gamefroot that much better.
  • We have a new template game that people can use to build upon.
  • Components on GameObjects that are on a level will now ‘wait’ until all other GameObjects were created before booting. Meaning the getting instances inside the ‘onCreate’ block should work as wanted.
  • Arcade Physics collision stability updates.
  • X/Y coordinates under the minimap are now correct.
  • Terrain grid is nice and crispy now.
  • Various styling updates.

Script / Instance Updates

  • Instance Properties Panel looks more sexy. Numerous Styling updates
  • New Coordinates data type added to the Script Editor.
  • New the Coordinates variables can have the Instance Values set via a new ‘Select coordinates’ tool.
  • You can now set Color Variable values in the Instance Properties panel.
  • New script variables are now private by default. They use to be public by default.
  • Renaming variables should no longer “reset” their default value, in most use cases.

New Script Blocks:

  • Created new Blocks for interacting with Coordinates data types.
  • A section blocks for Plugins has been created.
  • You can now create text, and style the text, via the script editor.
  • Various shapes can be created.
  • Rectangle.
  • Circle
  • Line
  • Star
  • New event for executing code when a level ‘starts’ or ‘switches’.
  • Pre Constantly and Post Constantly event blocks added.
  • Messaging all instances in an array should now work as intended.
  • New ‘lerp’ block added to the ‘Math’ section.
  • Added a additional ‘keys’ section, which allows generic key/value pairs on instances.