Boardy Games

So an idea has occurred to me.

I have a lot of sedentary time on my hands. I'm a programmer of some small skill. I have a paid version of Game Maker, which makes production of graphical programs pretty easy.

In the last week or so, I have built two board-games with Game Maker, with varying degrees of polish; Trian(http://wolvesdenpublishing.com/Trian.zip), which I talked about in the last thread I started, and Pente (http://wolvesdenpublishing.com/Pente.zip), a boardgame I did not invent. it's semi-challenging, and it's fun.

So here's the idea. You all, potentially, have boardgames you are designing. I am offering, on a first-come, first-served basis, to prototype your games in a digital format. The advantage to you is that you have a way to play the game without having to mock up pieces, and to give the rules a detailed workthrough (both in communicating them to me, as programming doesn't allow for any hand-waviness, and in playing the game, strictly by the rules as defined). The advantage to me is that it helps me stretch my programming techniques (as Game Maker DOES have a moderately robust coding language built in) and gives me something entertaining to do.

If you're interested, here's the specs on what I can/am willing to do:

- I can make the game for as many players as you like, with the ability to choose the number, but at current, all players will have to play at the same computer. My savvy with the Game Maker multiplayer features is still lacking, and I don't want to commit to something until I've successfully done it on one of my own projects.

- The graphics will be semi-generic. I can do semi-pretty effects, but the main thing I'm offering is prototyping. If later you'd like it polished up to be an actual product, we can talk then.

- I fully expect that I will have to change the game at least once or twice after playtesting begins. However, my connection is iffy, so I'd strongly prefer not to have to make minor tweaks for each build. If you're going to request a new build, try to get as many changes as you can into a single request. If I accept the project, I will commit to 2 rebuilds. More than that will require individual negotiation.

- I take NO legal rights to your game or its rules. The product will list you as designer. All I ask is that I get the credit for coding and all graphics I provide. If you provide graphics, they will also be attributed as you choose.

- The product I build cannot be sold. It must be distributed for free, but it will only be distributed by your guidance. I will not take it upon myself to share the product with anyone outside of your guidance.

- Any exceptions to the above will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

I really hope my proposal is of interest to some of you, because the idea of collaborating in this fashion is really quite exciting to me.