MLB.com Shuffle

[zaphod]

This isn't the sort of thing you would usually see in this forum, but it's my work and I'm gonna show it off dammit. The company I work for just got this casual game out, I did every ounce of art for the game, from the intro motion graphics to the menus and logo to the actual game itself. It was a really neat exercise in wearing different hats.

here is the product page for it on the site I also designed (it's not actually linked from the site thats up since we haven't officially put it up yet)

http://www.sandcastlegames.com/shuffle.html

The game itself is akin to playing draw poker with baseball cards, and scoring it pinball style with lots of points and bonuses and combos. Since it is marketed towards casual gamers and baseball fans in general, I'm not sure how many people here would really get a kick out of it, but I play it a lot and it is pretty addicting. It's as fun as many other card/matching games out there, especially if you are a baseball fan in any way.

You can download the trial here

http://arcade.mlb.com/game/aff=t_02lm/v ... 8a989b82ab

if you feel like actually giving it a shot, it works as the full game for 30 minutes before prompting you to toss down a jackson.

[Tarky]

Nice work Zaph!

Didn't know you were doing casual games, but great work on the art.

The company I work for has just started on casual games, and I am doing the artwork for one of three games on the go.

I'll defiently give it a try, casual games used to bore me, but the more I work on one, the more they interest me. Good stuff .

[Minos]

That's cool zappy!

@ Tarky: I thought you worked at McDonald's

[Phobos]

That's cool zappy!

@ Tarky: I thought you worked at McDonald's

How else are you going to capture the hamburglar?

[Mazy]

Looks pretty good Zap, must be quite rewarding to do pretty much everything graphics related yourself, a real sense of ownership you down get often on big productions.

[Fletch]

Wooo, put that up on XBLA!

[zaphod]

Wooo, put that up on XBLA!

believe me, we pester my boss about this every day.

Looks pretty good Zap, must be quite rewarding to do pretty much everything graphics related yourself, a real sense of ownership you down get often on big productions.

It is pretty rewarding. Its fun to have to come up with solutions for things you haven't ever had to do before. And you can feel pretty confident in claiming the game to be "yours" even if the game isn't as big name as some other game you did 134 floor tile textures for.

[Tarky]

That's cool zappy!

@ Tarky: I thought you worked at McDonald's

I do heh.

Part time McDonalds Manager

Part time Games Developer

I find it keeps an interesting balance

[Bic-B@ll]

oh fuck yes web 2.0 graphics. i got inspired by a page i saw and created my sig yesterday. i got a bit carried away though

the screenshots look nice, i'm downloading now

oh just played it, the graphics look great, the game though is a little...simple? im not totally sure what iw as doing, apparently you just try to get people with the highest numbers into each position? meh, i got a 45,710

edit: i did not appreciate this very much

[General Vivi]

i sooooo nabbed a wallpaper off that site! NICE JOB MAN! art stuff looks killer!

[zaphod]

thanks guys! did you read the hints that pop up bic? It's a little more complicated than that. You get bonuses for having players from the same team, and also bonuses for having guy from the same team in certain position combos (1st-3rd, pitcher-catcher, all outfield, etc.) Those injury cards can ruin your day for sure, once I even got two in a row in the 9th. If anyone else has a 30 inch dell I have a 2560x1600 wallpaper I didn't bother putting on the site

[Bic-B@ll]

yeah i saw that stuff, it just lacks competition and excitement which sort of ruins it for me, it plays like solitaire

[Tarky]

yeah i saw that stuff, it just lacks competition and excitement which sort of ruins it for me, it plays like solitaire

You have to keep in mind it is a casual game, and is generally not targeted towards standard types of gamers. It is meant to be played on a casual basis, hence the name.

And FYI solitare is a casual game

[Bic-B@ll]

and fyi i was giving my opinion on why i didn't enjoy it

[Tarky]

Gah I wasn't trying to sound like a dick

I understand you were giving your oppinion, I just wanted to point out that casual games aren't generally focussed towards the normal gamer.