Tết is a time for family gathering, reflection, celebration, and fun and games!

In our family, we’d take our newly gifted Lì xì (or lucky money in red envelopes) and trade some of it in for change. Then we’d have some fun trying our new year luck at teensy bit of gambling.

One of the games we used to play in my household was called Bầu cua cá cọp (Gourd, Crab, Fish, Tiger).

To play, you bet your change by placing it on one of the animals. The then dealer rolls the dice. If the dice match your bet, you get to keep your money and win the same amount times the number of matching dice!

And now, you get change to try the same game!

Under The Hood

We whipped this up over the weekend with the help of Gemini and DALL-E for the art work.

I wanted to future proof the game by using a table to store the bet data and allowing for multiple columns, in case I wanted to make it multiplayer. The game has a table that has a row for each square. The first column holds the name of the square and subsequent columns could represent players. In the future I could add more columns to represent more players!

Placing bets and rolling dice were pretty straightforward, but calculating payouts was a bit trickier. In a more traditional language, you’d usually just do two nested loop to calculate payout. Loop through all of the squares, and for each square then loop through all the players (or vice-versa).

Unfortunately, GameSalad’s doesn’t support nesting loops yet. BUT, since we had 6 actors already representing each square, we just put the looping logic inside each actor, which got rid of the outer loop. Now I only had to loop through each player’s bets using Loop Over Table.

Next I had to figure out the payout based on the dice. The dice results were stored in a 3 column table, one column for each dice. I just needed to compare each dice with the square’s current value. For every match, I’d add 1 to the payout multiplier. Now the most natural way to think about doing this would be to use 3 rules, one for each dice. If there’s a match, increment the multiplier, if not, don’t. Unfortunately Rules aren’t technically Actions, so while it would likely work fine, you couldn’t guarantee that all the rules would resolve in an orderly fashion based on how GameSalad’s “language” is specified. So how do I do 3 match number checks in a row with just Actions? Why with some math! I used 3 times to set the PayoutMultipler for a given square.

self.PayoutMultiplier = self.PayoutMultiplier+(1-(min(abs(tableCellValue(tables.DiceRoll,1,1)-self.BetRow),1)))

See if you can work out what I did there…

… got it? …

… here’s rundown …

First I get the difference between the current square’s number and the dice number.

If the two numbers match, we get 0. If they don’t the combination of the abs function and the min function turn the difference into a 1.

The take that value and subtract it from 1. That turns the 0 into a 1 and the 1 into a 0.

The end result is that I add 1 if there’s a match and nothing is if there is no match!

Pretty nifty, no?

Okay enough nerding out, I hope you have fun with this little bit New Year tradition! I certainly had fun sharing it with you!

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

The post Chúc Mừng Năm Mới appeared first on GameSalad.

Want to build your own GameSalad games, apps and widgets? Check out https://gamesalad.com/developers

Looking to inspire your kids to build their own games in the classroom? Check out GameSalad for Education! https://gamesalad.com/education

Have an idea, but want some help building it? Check out our friends at GSHelper! https://gshelper.com/contact-us-4/

The post Happy Holidays from GameSalad! appeared first on GameSalad.

https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/gamesalad-interview

Looking to create your own video games?

Looking to bring GameSalad into your classroom?

The post Website Planet Interviews GameSalad CEO appeared first on GameSalad.

The Shell.

The file linked below contains the template for the main arcade machine. We had a local sign printer print the shell on 4mm coroplast (fluted plastic board).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xkkoa1accckuoz/Large%20Sheet%20Arcade%20Cabinet%20Tabbed.pdf?dl=0

The template includes two version, one for a 24″ x 48″ sheet and one for two sheets a 36″ x 24″ sheet and a 24″ x 12″ sheet.  Choose what works best with your local sign company. Have them print it on 4mm coroplast (the same material that makes up yard signs). 

This designed was inspired by the CardCade. If you’d like something a bit bigger and has room for two players, go buy a copy of their template here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/706372507/tabletop-bartop-arcade-template.

You can get it for 40% off with code ‘gamesalad’ and they even have a full sized stand up one!

If it weren’t for the size being a bit bigger than we wanted, we would definitely have just used their design as it’s superior to ours in almost every way!

The Controller

I got these from Amazon buttons from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CRR2SM9

There are some obvious pots where you should cut out holes for the buttons. We also needed as set of 4 screws and nuts to mount the joystick to the cabinet. There’s a lot of vibration when people are playing, so we suggest also using a bit of threadlocker on the screws to keep players from jiggling things apart.

The Screen

We used the following screen on Amazon, though I’m sure you can find similar ones on Ebay and other marketplaces:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R4WMKBR

I cut a piece of black Coroplast to fit in the face of the cabinet and then cut a hole in the middle big enough to embed the screen.

I then used black electrical tape to tape the screen to to the black board and the whole thing to the arcade cabinet. 

The cabinet design has two middle panels to support the monitor. I mounted the electronics for both the controllers and the monitor on these near the back of the case and cut holes in the back to allow wires through.  This lets you hook up any PC you have to the cabinet.

The Brains

If you need a suggestion for a PC, I used a Raspberry Pi 4B.

The case I used was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097XWGB7R

This case was the cheapest one I could find that supported the SATA flash drive (which boots much faster than the SD card).

This is a high level overview of how things are put together and we hope that helps you build your very own mini arcade cabinet!

The post The GameSalad Mini Arcade Cabinet appeared first on GameSalad.

But for games.

And shorter. 

Game Jams and Hack-a-thons are events where participants gather with a goal of building complete products together. Game Jams focus on games. Hack-a-thons are more generally about creating an app. We’ll use the phrase Game Jam for both in the rest of the article.

The idea is to create an intense, time-boxed period of creativity. 

Some common features of Game Jams:

• Time frame. Traditional in-person game jams happen over a weekend. Virtual events can be anywhere from a weekend to a month. Set students up in a library or classroom for the weekend, overnight, or every day for lunch for a week.
• Theme. Most game jams have a theme, to give creators a common starting point. Sometime it’s specific like “School Pride”. Sometime’s is purposefully vague to encourage creativity like “Lost and Found” or “Duality”. Sometimes it’s a specific problem areas: “Build games to teach basic math concepts”
• Teams. To create the best experience for everyone, try to get a diverse set of participants: coders, musicians, artists, designers, organizers. You should have some experienced participants to help mentor beginners. In the middle of a jam you’ll often hear of late comers: “Hey, we have a new ___. Anyone need another __ for their team?”
• Share. Schedule some time at the end of the game jam to allow teams to present their creations to everyone. Encourage them to talk about how their game relates to the theme, how they came up with the idea, how the short time affected their design and development process, and how different team members contributed.
• Prizes. Some jams are just about participating and building, some include a prize component where the best projects are selected by the whole group or by independent judges.

To learn more about Game Jams in an Educational Setting:

• Students As Designers: Game Jams!
• Game Jams In Formal General Education
• Student Game Jams

Some public game jams to share with your students:

• Global Game Jam is the premier worldwide game jam, held every year in January.
• Games for Change host Game Jams as part of their Student Challenge.
• Itch.io host numerous community run game jams throughout the year.

The post Activity Ideas: <strong>Game Jam / Hack-a-thon!</strong> appeared first on GameSalad.

Games were judged on originality, design, and lack of bugs! There were High School and Middle School divisions as well as team and individual competitions for each. Our second year of competition, this year’s winners received cash prizes, t-shirts, and GameSalad Pro licenses!

First up, we have a number of notable games that didn’t win, but their fun and creativity warranted honorable mention! 

Honorable Mentions

High School team Meatbag Games from Southside High School in Ft Smith Arkansas brings us Claustrophobia: Into the Lungs of Hell, a survival horror game that we’re still puzzling over! Play it here: https://arcade.gamesalad.com/games/165330

Next up, Ridge Colquitt, also of Southside High School captured our hearts (or maybe stomachs) with Burger Builder! Play it here: http://arcade.gamesalad.com/games/165996

And now, on to our winners!

These students captured top prizes in their respective competitions, bringing us games that were largely bug free, well designed, with solid and fun game play!

Winner – Middle School Individual Challenge

Austin Zgoda of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ is taking home the scholarship prize for the Middle School Individual game creator with “The Legend of Purple Chicken: Power of the Poultry”. In the game, you control the titular chicken as they flap their way around spikes on a journey home(?). Play it here: http://arcade.gamesalad.com/games/167499

Winner – High School Individual Challenge

9th grader Soren of Douglas High School submitted the top game in the Individual Challenge with their charming platformer Alien Adventure. The game’s polish, including in-game tutorials and a world map made it the best game in a very close field. Play it here: http://arcade.gamesalad.com/games/165449

Winner – High School Team Challenge

Team Waterdrinkers from Southside High School in Fort Smith took home the High School Team Game Prize. Consisting of Dang Nguyen (9th grade), Christian Rawley (10th grade), and Matthew Senetho (11th grade), their tower defense game Resist the Unknown, lets you take control of Resistor Force as you protect Murica’s precious mineral asteroid! Play it here: http://arcade.gamesalad.com/games/165395

Congratulations to all the winners and a shout out to ALL entrants for meeting this year’s GameSalad Game Creation Challenge!

To learn more about how to bring GameSalad into your classroom, visit: https://gamesalad.com/education

The post 2022 Game Creation Challenge Results! appeared first on GameSalad.

With the increasing popularity of hyper casual gaming, we firmly believe that first person 1D is the next dimension in gaming!

Your prototypical hyper-causal gamer are constantly looking for new addictive, easy-to-play experiences.

With GameSalad First Person 1D technology, we take way horrible things that may get in the way of users enjoying your game: bad artwork, difficult gameplay, complicated control schemes.

 “Everyone is always thinking forward. Backwards is the new forward!”

– Anonymous Innovative Game Developer

With GameSalad Creator 1D, we make it extremely easy to build your own video games in first-person 1D video game!

Take a look at this example (excuse the debug info):

You can use the ‘W’ and ‘S’ keys to move forward and backwards. We also automatically change your view so you can see in the direction you are moving, seamlessly!

With our advanced 1D Lighting Engine, we properly simulate light in a 1D environment. Which is to say, light is at a constant intensity as light doesn’t diminish with distance in a 1 dimensional space.

We look forward to seeing what our creative community builds with this new technology. A top mobile game? A new hyper-casual metaverse? The line’s the limit with GameSalad 1D!

Watch a demo of our new GameSalad Creator 1D editor: https://youtu.be/4S3yxJHKBiE

Learn more about building your own video games quickly and easily with GameSalad: https://gamesalad.com/developer

The post A New Dimension of Play! appeared first on GameSalad.

Looking for a last minute Valentine’s Gift?

Is quality optional?

Let an AI (OpenAI’s GPT-3) generate a valentine’s poem for you!

How does it work?

This GameSalad game makes a request to Glitch REST API.

The REST API makes a call to OpenAI with a prompt in the form of: “A [type] poem for Valentine’s day for [topic]”.

OpenAI does it’s AI magic and generates a poem based on said prompt,

Glitch transforms it into a format GameSalad can understand,

and GameSalad displays it for you!

All you have to do is click on the image icon on the bottom right and you now have your very own AI generated custom Valentine!

You’re welcome (we think)

Happy Valentine’s day

The post AI Valentine’s Day Poetry appeared first on GameSalad.

The post National Poetry Month: Virtual Poetry Magnets appeared first on GameSalad.

Learn more about her story:

https://www.ksl.com/article/37349079/utah-teen-builds-successful-app

https://www.deseret.com/2016/4/8/20586191/16-year-old-st-george-girl-designs-free-gaming-app#kelsea-barker-is-the-16-year-old-creator-of-hue

The post 16-year-old Utah Girl Becomes App Creator appeared first on GameSalad.