Tuesday 26 March 2013

Grindle Development Diary 1 – Evolution of a Grin



Grindle Oni A is a game which has been developed over time, through a number of separate periods that have produced four distinct versions. Events during this time have meant these previous versions have not gone further than fully working games to show possible publishers, but now Grindle Oni A is being released on Android devices, and in this first developer diary I want to share where it all started and how it got to where it is today.



Grindle Initial Concept - 2010 

Development of the Grindle game began way back in the early part of 2010, with the initial idea to make a simple memory game for mobile devices involving four different coloured grins. The initial concept screen was quickly produced the next day and a working version of the game was done within a couple of weeks. At this point Grindle only featured four games. The graphics were very basic, but the program was designed to just get the idea into a physical form that could be played and developed.
  


Grindle Extreme - 2010

Towards the end of 2010 the second version of the Grindle game took shape. The graphics became more refined, starting to incorporate tribal tattoo ideas into the style. The grins developed and a simple menu was built for the four games and the four difficulties that they could be played at. This version was called Grindle Extreme. The graphics started to take shape but they were still too dark and the tribal theme could do with pushing to a greater level.



Grindle Oni - 2011

A year passed and then towards the end of 2011 the third version of the game, Grindle Oni, was developed. This version added another eight games to the previous four, adding many new ideas to the Grindle mechanic. Now players had to move the Grins around the grid, watch sequences of lights, and match pairs. The vibrancy of the graphics was increased and the tribal theme was pushed more with the incorporation of Japanese elements. Four Grindle characters were introduced in this version, and the twelve games were split between them, giving the program more of a distinct structure. Achievements and Challenges for each game were also added at this point to expand the Grindle experience. The whole game was now taking on a unified look and the Grindle environment was coming together, but there were still a few more things to come.



Grindle Oni A - 2013

Again time passed with no development, and then as 2013 dawned work began on the Android version of Grindle, Grindle Oni A. With the decision to bring the game out on Android tablets the game needed upgrading and all the art was redrawn for the HD screens, this increase in screen size also meant the program code needed to be redone, and it was fully reprogrammed for this version. During this process refinements were made to all areas of the game. Some of the features in the previous version of the game were not adding anything to it and were probably confusing the experience, while other features just needed a slight alteration. The challenges were now all split into their separate games, with ten for each one. A star award system was also introduced to the challenges, offering a greater reward to the player for completion, while giving them greater targets to aim for.



Grins Over Development - 2010 - 2013

And so now we have Grindle Oni A, developed and refined since its initial concept in 2010 to be a challenging but enjoyable test for all players on Android devices. I hope you have enjoyed this look back at the development of the game and how it has progressed from the initial idea, and keep watching for more development diaries as I take a look at how the different elements of this final version of the game took shape.

Winterflood


Official Grindle Oni Facebook page - Link

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