Unwell Mel - my latest game
Community Forums/Showcase/Unwell Mel - my latest game
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| Hi everyone, I'm proud to present my latest game Unwell Mel: http://www.greyaliengames.com/unwellmel.php (more screenshots there too) It's a medical-themed match-3 game with some unique twists and a lot of polish. I believe that it's really good fun to play and customers seem to agree based on early sales figures. It's entered the BFG top 100 at 21 and hasn't had any special promotion yet. It should catapult into the top 10 over the weekend and then I'll see how high it goes. Naturally I'd love it to be my first no.1 game but as we know the top of the top 10 is normally ruled by Hidden Object/Adventure games, although the occasional Time Management can hit the top spot if it really excels. The best match-3 of recent times, Fishdom, got to no. 3. You can read about how long it took and related stuff in this blog post: http://greyaliengames.com/blog/just-finished-programming-my-latest-game/ Why did we make a match-3 game? Well John Cutter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cutter ), a senior designer/producer at BFG and veteran game designer/programmer from the Amiga days, has made loads of great games for the BFG online community site: http://atlantis.bigfishgames.com/ , and BFG thought it would be a good idea to convert the most popular ones to download versions. So first I converted Fairway Solitaire (and added loads of extra stuff in with John + polished it) - it was a big hit. So then they renewed my contract and we decided to convert Unwell Mel because a) it was popular b) it had a unique theme and would stand out c) I already had a match-3 engine that I could adapt and d) we thought it would be quick. Well d) turned out to be false due to the complexity of some of the game elements (bug interaction, different game mods, powerups etc), meta game, and polishing - and also delays caused by myself if I'm honest. Anyway, finally it's launched and I'm very proud of the end result. I was involved in a lot of the design for this one which is why I'm credited as a designer too (check out the credits screen, it's neat :-)) A little polite request: if you don't like match-3s, please don't come here to troll. At least try to see the good points in how the game is made and enjoy the fact that it's made in BlitzMax, which rocks (I 100% recommend it if you haven't bought it yet).     |
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| Nice one Grey! :) Looks great! ;) I was expecting something a little different from you after fairway solitare... I dunno... Something a little juicey, something bigger if you will! :) But if Match-3 sells and seems to sell well, then, yeah, I'm not surprised you (and BFG) decided to target it again. Again, well done Grey, top job! Dabz |
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| so its a match 3? hmm Ill have to take a look although I am not good at match 3 they are still fun. Nice work. |
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| Not an anti-match-3 troll, but how do people choose between them? Given the gameplay's always pretty much the same, does the amount of 'polish' factor in, or do people buy games based on themes that interest them, like this medical one? It's an interesting question given that most programmers tend to only think of the actual gameplay as the important part in determining how good a game is, and I thought you'd know a thing or two having seen sales stats. The BFG stub app won't install on 64-bit windows 7, so I can't try the game, sorry! |
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| @Dabhand: I'm flattered that after Fairway some people though I was going to make something "juicy/bigger" but I'll hopefully do that for the next game. This game is an achievement for me in many ways though, in the details, the addictiveness, the quality, and the original elements. Despite people saying that "match-3s" were dead a while back, I'm here to prove them wrong. There's a huge number of people that still love them and will buy good quality ones. @Warpy: The basic match-3 gameplay mechanic is the same, but many introduce different elements such as powerups (purchasable and on-board) and other game-board pieces that do different stuff. They also have different Goals: some games make you just make a certain number of matches to win (I find those a bit boring), others make you remove tiles (see gunk in Unwell Mel), others make you match a target number of a certain shape (see bugs in Unwell Mel), or make you have to drop special shapes off the bottom, or clear a path for an explorer to walk along etc. Plus there are the time management/match-3 combo games where you make matches quickly just to serve customers, they normally have a fairly basic match-3 component but it's tied to the restaurant or whatever meta game. Some don't even use the traditional match-3 mechanic, they do sliding rows (like Chuzzle) or clicking bunches of matching shapes, or dragging the mouse over paths of matching shapes (like Magic Match). Also many match-3 games have different mini games, some even have hidden object mini-games. There are loads of different themes, often centring around ancient times, so Mel is different because it's medical and it's funny. Also some have stronger stories and collecting trophies or building something meta games (Cradle of Rome for example) and those meta games really hook the player in. Then of course you've got hugely varying polish levels from game to game and polish helps to sell for sure, but it must be added to an already solid theme and game with some original elements. So in summary, despite there being tons of match-3s, they are not all the same at all - they share the same basic mechanic in the way that a sidescrolling shoot 'em up does, but vary in many other factors and this is enough to keep customers downloading them and buying them like they do with Time Management games, Hidden Object games, and indeed FPS and Racing and Sports games, and movies, and music - familiar (and fun) yet different. Hope this makes sense. I should blog that... |
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| after all that build-up I lolled at the second screen, when I realised what kind of game it was, It will probably sell though, the graphics are good and it seems like an interesting theme. |
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| It's just occurred to me that Avicennist medicine could very easily be adapted into a gameplay mechanic - balance the four humours by bloodletting / feeding drugs at the right locations and times. |
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| Looks nice enough but its an odd choice of theme and I'm not exactly enthused by the title. That the best they could come up with? o.O Be interesting to see how it does. There aren't many 'medical' themed games I can think of; Theme Hospital and Life & Death would be the only two. |
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| Good job GA! Just given it a whirl and seems very polished! Think Ive spotted a bug though... if you go to the options screen during the game and then go back to the gamescreen the background tiles are now a different colour (blue) when they were originally brownish... |
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| Looks nice, feels relaxing to play. But it is a match 3 after all. I too was expecting something more original in terms of game idea, but you have come up with an original theme so that is good! It seems like you have the direction to add polish and good theme, your next step is to come up with a unique game idea and apply this (if you have the freedom to at BFG). Instead of a bigfish number 1, you could potentialy have a portals number 1! Theres a bug on widescreen monitors. You give no option to choose an apropriate resolution so the picture is stretched. |
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| I have to confess that I am disappointed in the genre - I expected something a bit different from all your other games - something out of the ordinary rather than same old same old. Thats said, it looks good so all the best with it. If it sells it sells and that's all there is to it at the end of the day. |
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| Hey GA.... on the BFG site it states the Unwell Mel comes with Mini-Games: * Match 3 splendor * Fun power ups * Great Mini-games After playing it for the hour and wanting to see what mini-games there were in it, none appeared... so I looked in your data folder and couldn't see any graphics (etc) for the games??? BTW the pill effect is great (the slow-mo and zoom-in), also I liked the ice-block power up where you could more a column or row... and I noticed you've do the effect where the gems (why food?) don't just go down vertically but diagonally too (if there is a space for them)... |
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| @Warpy: Very possibly. You're the man for the job... @GfK: The title is alliterative and memorable. What would you have come up with? People are loving the comedy medical theme. @TheRevills: Thanks. Are you able to duplicate that bug on a particular level as I can't? @skn3[ac]: Yeah I know about the widescreen issue, it's the same for most games. I asked them if they wanted proper support and they weren't too bothered (most customers don't care believe it or not, only developers do). But I'll most likely add it to the next game anyway. @therevills (again): It's an error that I spotted as soon as the page went live. I've asked them to change it. The online version had an operation mini-game. This one doesn't have any mini-games unless you count the collecting 10 coins micro-game and the use of the ice-cube to go into slide mode. Yes I'm very proud of that zoom in and slo-mo effect. You now know how to make the slo-mo effect with the framework and the zoom in was using the projection matrix - still it takes an expert eye to use it + apply sounds in the way I did ;-p [/blow own trumpet mode off]. Yep adding diagonal moves was hard (to avoid bugs). Note that they only go diagonally if there is no possible vertical movement, I felt this was more realistic than most games where the items slide diagonally too much just in order to show off the effect. Oh, food because it's inside Mel's body :-) |
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| I love the style of the graphics (eye candy!) I like how the options screen and most other graphics look like a coloring sheet where the kid that was coloring it couldnt stay in the lines. It gives it a loose fun feel :) |
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| Are you able to duplicate that bug on a particular level as I can't? Sorry GA, I put the wrong test scenario before, its when you go to the instructions screen from the gamescreen (I must have gone to the instructions, then options, then game screen before)... happens all the time... Why didn't you do the operation mini-game? Mel's been eating some bad stuff... btw what is this:  Oh and I noticed in the calendar graphics its very Americanised... |
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| @Nate the Great: Yeah the art style is really neat, loose and cartoony which fits the zany medical theme and gives the game a unique style (makes it stand out which is important in the match-3 genre, well in any genre actually). @TheRevills: Thanks for duplicating! Will fix. It doesn't seem to crash which is good. Funny how QA caught so many things but not that (and nor did I). No time for the mini game also some people complained that the online one was too hard (due to crappy mice, dirt in roller etc). The thing is supposed to be an egg, weird looking hey? Yeah you mean calendar graphics have some American holidays? True, but a large part of the audience is American and BFG calls the shots on that. |
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| ..well..same old stuff, with new 'cloth'(textures)..thats why it seems to be quite fast in development i guess, but as for everything, im sure loads of people will enjoy it..long as you and BFG are happy..keep it up.. |
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| @Naughty Alien: Thanks, yep we are happy with it (and so are the customers like you guessed). It's slightly more than some new textures, and it took 12 months, do you consider that fast? I don't, I need to get the next game lots quicker ;-) |
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| Funny how QA caught so many things but not that (and nor did I). QA can be a funny thing indeed! When I did my translations for Gunslinger Solitaire, I sent in the German version and only once did it come back with a bug report (translation errors)... Recently BFG sent me a bug report for the Spanish version... now the tester for did this wanted me to change the actual graphics for the game. For example the General Store has an image of the shop and on the shop is text on the store which says "General Store", the tester wanted me to translate that... also the bonus cards for the mini-games etc... for the German version I didnt have to do all that!! (just fix up the actual text on instructions etc) |
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| @GfK: The title is alliterative and memorable. What would you have come up with? I dunno, its just the "unwell" bit that doesn't work as part of a title for me. I'd have probably called the main character "Malingering Mel Munchausen" though*. ;)(* not really) |
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| Nice one again Grey. :-D Its been a while since we cought up! Methinks i'll drop you a mail! :-) |
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| the "unwell" bit that doesn't work as part of a title for me. Hmm... Alternate titles:Sick Dick Steve's Sneeze Ill Bill |
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| Spew Stu Terminal Terry Man Flu Mandy |
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| wow... I had no idea there was an entire year spent on the development of this game. |
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| sick rick |
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| lol @ alternative names. @MGE: Yep, but it wasn't really 12 solid man months, did you read my blog about it? http://greyaliengames.com/blog/just-finished-programming-my-latest-game/ |
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| Congrats Grey, although I`m more into console style games from the looks of the video on the BFG site the game looking undeniably slick (as always). I`ll be sure to actually download and play it when I get a mo and will spread the word. Well done on another release and even more so as your still using the default IDE I believe ;) I`m still hoping that one day you will get the chance to branch out and do that platformer... Jason. |
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| @Quicksilva: Thanks! Yeah be sure to check it out sometime. I did use the default IDE for that game it's true! Probably why it took so long :-) I'll be changing for the next game for sure. Yeah I'd still love to make a platformer or shooter in my spare time (what spare time!?). I'm making a template game system at the moment with the framework that I could use for such a project. Btw, a lot of the polish in Unwell Mel is influenced by console games, for example the Mega Pill on level 7 basically does bullet time and the level end scores appear in a very arcade-like manner, and even the fireworks on the level end were influenced by Geometry Wars Evolved, oh and the way he ailments on Mel flash then fade came from me watching a super weapon build piece by piece in a shooter. There's even a picking up coins challenge which is pretty hard to get all 10. Check out the way the scanner slides out piece by piece and clunks and whirs + the way the hot spots appear - very arcade style. The fireball explosions feel really satisfying and some players have commented that the game feels like a fruit machine or something (that's because of the raising pitch of the match noises). Basically it's all in the details which is why it took so long. I used my retro heritage/knowledge to put in effects that I know work well and will look cool. It's tempting to say "oh it's just a match 3, they are easy to make", and that's true for the basic mechanic, but then adding in new mechanics (like the 4 interacting bugs and 8 powerups) takes more time then polishing it all takes ages, then you have to add on multiple non-game screens which takes months to get right. That's the reality of making a top level casual game, which people who've never finished one don't quite understand. |
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| Congratulations Grey Alien! Very funny game and polished, good 'theme' and graphics too! (I completed all the 1 hour for the demo...usually after some levels I leave...) |
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| Thanks degac. The first hour is specialy honed to keep people addicted. It's at No. 8 in the BFG top 10 today. |
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| Grey: Just out of curiosity, is that #8 based on (trial) downloads, or actual purchases? |
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| Nice one Grey! Yet again your setting the Bar! Darn it programmer art just won't cut it anymore, now where were those blueprints for that time machine! ;0) |
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| @xlsior: It's a special formula that I'm not party to which I believe is some kind of mixture of sales and downloads - But I really can't say for sure. It's not faked, I know that much. @Merx: Thanks! Yeah after Xmas Bonus I realised that programmer art was not the way forward (in order to make sales), so I hired a pixel artist for Easter Bonus who made some great art but then I realised that pixel art wouldn't cut it either when compared to the modern casual games at the time, which were using 3D rendered shapes and fantastic hand-painted backgrounds (or 3D rendered ones) etc. So Oz and Holiday Bonus had much better graphics in order to compete, plus made use of BMax's 2D effects (scaling, rotation, alpha-blending). Fairway and Unwell Mel both use cartoony art which is a different style again. I get a feeling thought that 3D rendered and/or hand-painted quality stuff is the most popular style which sells most copies (Azada2, Ravenhearst 2 etc) |
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| So was there a lot of changes to your branched BFG framework to achieve these effects/transitions/credits ect? |
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| Not really, a slow motion class and a projection matrix class (for the mega pill), a new class for the intro and game outro (could have made it work with existing classes but wanted to make an easy movie player), TCheckbox, TDynamic Tip, and stuff you won't see in the release version like TLogFile and TSelectionScreen (for the editor). Also numerous minor tweaks to the framework will be released soonish. Most effects and transitions done with existing components. I didn't make the credits into a new type (probably should have!) |
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| It's at no.3 today in the top 10 and is on track to be the best selling match-3 of recent times, which is nice. |
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| Good for you Jake! |
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| First off, really polished and slick looking project, G.A. I'm not much for casual games, but I know they garner huge market share, and I have enjoyed my share of them over the years. Kudo's on your partnership/work with BFG. I played the demo a bit, and I wanted to chime in with my opinion on the art. I love it. I spent at least half of my 15 years in the commercial game industry generating 3D assets, and the other half sketching, painting in photoshop, or pixeling. They all have a place, and help set the the flavor of a game. I don't know if it was your choice or a management decision/support guidance from BFG, but that kind of cartoony loose style of illustration is exactly what the doctor ordered for Unwell Mel. The retro references to the 50's and 60's are awesome too. Beautiful. Bringing Joy to the world one pixel at a time... http://www.BenFischer.com |
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| I agree with Ben. It's really well made graphic-wise. Congrats for the #3 position. *wishes I had bought the framework before* |
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| @ImaginaryHuman: Thanks. I'll post again when the Mac version is out so you can try it out if you are interested. @fischer: Yeah the loose art style gave the game a unique look and feel. This art style had already been decided on for the online version but we got to expand upon it a lot for the download version. We also wanted that 50s and 60s feel to permeate the whole game including the music too. @byo: Thanks. And sorry about not being able to sell the framework any more. But hey it's possible to make your own, I did, it just takes a lot of time and effort. Plus there are more on the way (like MGE) and even existing ones like the retro remakes framework. |
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| Nice to know. Keep up the good work and success to you and BFG. |
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| Jake, finally had a chance to check it out. what can i say, 'WOW' top notch game man. the look,feel,style,presentation,sound....every thing about it screams good game imho so kudo's to you and here's hoping it hits #1 and stays there for sometime... good job man. |
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| Well in light of the fact that you're now working for BFG and being told what games to make, I will say "good job". But if you were still solo and made this game, I probably wouldn't be so forgiving. :) It looks pretty cool but what worries me is the rehash of an existing match 3 game with a few extra features. The hype will most decidedly wear off pretty quick (couple of months or less?) and it will fall quickly into the match 3 graveyard (hope not for your sake). I don't think any amount of polish will be able to stop that. But for what it's worth, congratulations on cranking out yet another match 3 game and I hope it does really well for you! |
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| @KingNothing: Thanks! #1 is not that likely because of the two heavyweight Hidden Object games above it, but I remain hopeful :-) I believe that the game is another good advert for the capabilities of BlitzMax. |
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| Unfortunately i'm not really an addict of these kinds of games, however I love the graphics and how well you know your market. Wouldn't expect less of you. I look forward to seeing a large-scale project from you some day. |
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| Thanks Retimer. I'll be starting my next game soon and it'll be neither a card game nor a match-3 game. Although I don't know if it could be called large scale - in fact most casual games are not large scale due to their very nature. |
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| Nice game! I look forward to seeing a large-scale project from you some day. I'm not sure if a large-scale project in this market area really would payback, as all the cost would grow as well large-scale (and the risk) and you have to finance that long time somehow. For BFG may no problem though. |
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| Up to no.2 today, this is awesome! |
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| ...and they say match three is dead. |
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| Yeah lol. Every time anyone said that over the last year or so I was sniggering but couldn't say anything. There have been a few match-3s in the last year that have really been excellent and that got into the top 10 and made pretty good sales (they will never sell as many as a good HO game). BFG wouldn't have entertained the idea if match-3s were really dead. They are not dead although now they are a bit rarer due to everyone making HO games, so when a good one comes along match-3 fans love it, and there's a lot of them out there...Mine didn't even have any mini-games or many meta-games, but it still did well. The key is just making sure the actual game rocks and is polished, then making sure any other screens you are also well made. Oh plus I guess an unusual theme helps too. And Marketing. Actually it's quite a few things... |
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| I'm sick of time management games more than anything else. Fashion this, fashion that, pizza this, diner dash that... :/ |
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| "And Marketing." True dat, especially when the game is exclusive on the #1 portal for match 3 games. ;) |
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| Looks great! Congrats on all of your success! |
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| @GfK: You forgot farm games. Actually I love really good time management games, the best seem to alter my brainwaves or something so I'm practically reeling when I finish playing. @Chugs40: Thank you! I'm pleased with it. |
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| congrats Grey on another polished looking product - man flu mandy is a bit topical today - Peter Mandelson got a face full of green goo from a activist! Although I prefer unwell mel. Downloading the demo now...... I like the relaxing music associated with the game.... up to your usual high standards. |
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| Thanks. The music is by Somatone who do lots of BFG music. We specify what we are looking for and send them examples and then we work with the to refine it until it's just right. The in-game music is supposed to drive you forward in a fun way to make you want to keep playing. |
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| Me (and my wife) are addicted to play Bejeweled and Bejeweled Twist. It's so hard to beat them. |
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| @GfK: You forgot farm games. Actually I love really good time management games I played a few of the diner dash ones and some fashion ones for research, to see how the time management mechanic worked. I think the genre has the potential to be much better than it is. Its all "click click bloody click" and overly simplistic.My favourite game of all time is Rollercoaster Tycoon which is really an expanded version of the same genre, but it requires thought and planning, and can get very time-consuming. Casual gamers don't seem to want all that though. |
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| RollerCoaster Tycoon is also one of my favorites. I never really considered it as a time management sim, but I guess it could be. Gives me a whole new outlook on the game... |
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| I think Rollercoaster Tycoon is a sim. @GfK: Well that overly simplistic clicking is what people like (and learning the most efficient patterns to click things in). If it was changed too much then maybe people wouldn't like it as much. |
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| Do have done a great job Grey Alien, very nice game :) |
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