A few that stick out to me, mostly because I've played them and they're pretty good, are Human Resource Machine, While True: Learn(), Opus Magnum, and Shenzhen I/O. I would say Bitburner too but that's more-so literally programming.
I think your idea is interesting, but based on the examples I've listed, which I must admit is not a huge sample, most of them are played in a sort of GUI experience sort of way. I think it would be very, very difficult to translate the core concepts of programming to a side scroller.
However, as I said, I think it's a really cool idea, just thought I'd point out some similar games in case you had never heard of them.
I think your idea is interesting, but based on the examples I’ve listed, which I must admit is not a huge sample, most of them are played in a sort of GUI experience sort of way. I think it would be very, very difficult to translate the core concepts of programming to a side scroller.
Unfortunately, I haven’t played any of these games, but I have scrolled through that category myself to see what’s out there. I agree with you, that a side scroller is probably not the best option to introduce programming concepts from a game-mechanic perspective. I think didn’t really communicate well, that the way I envision my game differs a bit from these approaches. I don’t actually want to focus on specialized in-game mechanics that help to visualize algorithms or programming concepts. Instead, the game is meant to be a very mechanically trivial, story focussed frontend, that makes achieving the programming tasks more exciting.
You could maybe make some kind of a lemmings style game where functions change the behaviour of the creatures in order to achieve some kind arbitrary of goal. Like arranging their colours based on the rainbow, or something to that effect. The creatures would be a stand in for data, and the things the players can do manipulate the data to achieve a specific outcome. Is that more what you were thinking?
I think your idea sounds neat! Have you ever played any Zachtronics games? Those games have kind of a “programmer” logic to them, and might be useful to you in getting ideas on how to dress up programming concepts as game mechanics. I could see Zachtronics fans really digging your game idea. One of their games, Exapunks, is literally about being hacker and doing actual (simplified) programming to beat levels. Another called Opus Magnum dresses up the concept as a “transmutation machine” that you must program to create alchemical creations.
Zachtronics games are on another level, really. I think what sets them apart from “edutainment” games is that they’re not really made for someone to learn programming, they’re a labor of love for people who love to program. And as a result, they just happen to be the most attractive resource to learn programming that I’ve ever seen.
I think that’s a good lesson that all games that want to be educational should take away: don’t feel the need to force material down the player’s throat, instead make a game for someone who loves the subject matter, and the rest will take care of itself.
yep, any and all educational games will get played. there are a whole lot of idle young minds out there. i would say the main issue is whether or not you can make money from it. if you’re able to supplement your income while you work on the game, then i would say absolutely go for it.
For context: I’m currently employed as a software engineer, I do consultancy on the side and I previously was a technical lead. Around 15 years of professional experience which includes a lot of mentoring/training.
It’s a cool idea - there are quite a few little things kicking around with some similarities - “advent of code” is the closest thing I can think of. I’m sure it could be very fun and educational.
Personally, and I’m going to be completely honest and frank with you, I don’t think I would play it, (though I’m definitely not the target market), but also, it’s not likely that I would recommend it to someone who wants to learn to code either.
Usually when people want to learn to code, it’s because they have some end goal in mind - they want to make an app, game, website, they want to get a job as a developer, data analyst, QA, etc. or they have something in particular which interests them - such as machine learning, embedded design, blockchain (yes, I know it’s a scam), digital music/art, etc. - and based on what they want to do, I’d recommend them some very different pathways, and it’s very unlikely that your game would be the best use of their time, to be honest.
I think, personally, this kind of learning device is only really good as a starting point for people who want to learn for the sake of learning, people who want to learn programming but have no real idea about what they want to program - this tends to be quite rare, though, because we all interact with technology from such a young age, by the time people are capable of learning programming, there would be something that gets them excited and that they would enjoy working towards.
I think what I would like to suggest to you instead, is something that I think would be - in my opinion - really cool, genuinely helpful as an educational tool, and with a lot more potential for monetisation:
The exact game you described, but rather than the game being the end goal, instead, you focus on the foundations that the game is built upon, and have the game be a tech demo for an educational, learn-to-code driven game engine.
Prioritise all of the game design tools for building the game such as the world/quest editors and make sure you have some way of supporting different languages, allowing custom assets to be easily imported, etc.
Make it nice and easy for people to build on top of - in an ideal world, it should be possible for someone to decide to make a module for an esoteric conlang and whip up a simple proof of concept adventure with your framework in an evening or two.
Then you can provide it as a subscription based online platform with some sort of limited free trial, a selection of pre-made official modules for individuals and organisations who pay, a “module marketplace” where people can design, share, and sell new adventures (where you take a cut, of course) and self-hosted (or separate) instances for schools, colleges, boot camps, and so on. who want to provide a series of adventures as supplementary learning material for classes.
I think if you put some effort into this you could make something really cool and successful. But it’s definitely a huge undertaking. If you want to take on the challenge, let me know, maybe it’s something we can work on together if you’re interested.
Personally, and I’m going to be completely honest and frank with you, I don’t think I would play it, (though I’m definitely not the target market), but also, it’s not likely that I would recommend it to someone who wants to learn to code either.
Usually when people want to learn to code, it’s because they have some end goal in mind - they want to make an app, game, website, they want to get a job as a developer, data analyst, QA, etc. or they have something in particular which interests them - such as machine learning, embedded design, blockchain (yes, I know it’s a scam), digital music/art, etc. - and based on what they want to do, I’d recommend them some very different pathways, and it’s very unlikely that your game would be the best use of their time, to be honest.
I appreciate the honesty, and I see your point about the game not appealing to a lot of the target audience. Your suggestion with the platform-first approach and the monetization options sound like a good idea, but it is not the direction I’d want to take. I definitely have to think about it more and figure out, how to address the points you made while still pursuing a project I fell invested in.
I think the other direction you could go is to aim for a younger demographic than you’re likely thinking of. Maybe something like 12-15 years old. It’s very important to note that I’m not suggesting you make the story/aesthetic “kid friendly”, if anything I’d suggest more the opposite, kids love things that seem really adult - but the actual challenges and content itself, keep it tuned to a younger audience. I think that age group would get the most out of a general-purpose “learning to code” educational game
i don’t know too much about jellyfin compatibility, but your issue is probably ASS/SSA format subtitles, which are a complex graphical overlay subtitle, rather than simple text so device support is less guaranteed.
You could try pre-burning the subtitles in before hand by re-encoding the video, or find content with SRT subtitles which have wider support.
ASS on android clients is mostly a solved issue these days so as the other commenter suggests, the google TV chromecast with a native jellyfin app would be a more reliable solution for you.
Seeing what’s been already recommended here, my suggestion sounds out of left field even to me… But somehow, “Elden Ring bug easier” makes me think first and foremost of Zelda breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom. Huge open world with secrets everywhere, engaging aesthetics and, challenging yet less punitive combat. The only thing would be that the combat is less emphasized, an exploration and problem solving more. But combat is still very much there and you can go quite deep in its mechanics, especially with all the time stopping and telekinetic shenanigans.
Edit: Not really a western ARPG I guess but the freedom of play is similar
I believe jellyfin has an option to ‘burn in’ subtitles so they are part of the video. I don’t know how this effects performance or anything but it should work for what you described. I believe you can turn it on through the admin web ui.
This is indeed the correct answer. It is under the transcoding options. Your server will essentially need to re-transcode the video on the fly to add in subtitles. Which requires a not insignificant amount of processing power.
I ran into this issue while running jellyfin on a raspberry pi.
So long as your server has hardware acceleration turned on. To allow jellyfin to use your GPU for transcoding. You should be fine.
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