Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in pegamoose_g's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, February 16th, 2012
9:07 pm	Finding my Inner Little Red Hen At first, I told a few friends about my idea for a game engine, and a few of them thought it was cool and wanted to help, but they had Other Obligations. The project seemed very daunting, even after breaking it down into more manageable pieces. Eventually, after enough friends saying, "Not I," I discovered my Inner Little Red Hen and started working on the project myself. I'm proud of that Little Red Hen and how far I've realized that, yes I can do it myself. Wanna know what we've been working on? Here it is... http://www.pegamoosegames.com/projects/Peggy/store.php You will need to "purchase" games for your game cabinet, which you will be able to start playing game sessions here: http://www.pegamoosegames.com/projects/Peggy/index.php I know it's nothing too fancy. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that I have on my To Do list, but it is quite a bit. It's still under Beta, so if anyone dares to try it out, please send me feedback to tell me what you like about it, what annoys you, and what you wish it could do. Thank you, Little Red Hen! (Comment on this)
Monday, August 1st, 2011
3:31 pm	Know any volunteer Web Developers? I have devised a concept for a free-form tabletop gaming engine, but I am looking for a web-designer or more to volunteer their services for this project. The engine would make it simpler for game developers to quickly deliver their games via a web browser. Using image files and an XML definition, the game engine interprets the game pieces and how they function. It does not require developers to program the rules of the game. That's handled ye olde fashioned way by the players enforcing the rules. If you would like to learn more about this project, please view the press release here: http://www.pegamoosegames.com/projects/Peggy/peggy_pressrelease.php Design details and image mock-ups are provided. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 4th, 2011
4:51 pm	I've recently added two new pages to the Pegamoose Games site, both are listed under the "Information" tab of the menu bar. Projects - This page lists various projects I am working on, want to work on (eventually), have an sketchy idea for, etc. I've added notes links so I can periodically add updates to the various projects, and keep the public more in tune with what I'm working on. I've even listed a couple of non-game related projects that also occupy a bit of my time. Support - This page lists various ways the public can help Pegamoose Games. Not all items are necessarily money-related. Some are ways to spread the word about the company, or help out with the creation of one of the projects (see above). All part of the new goal to make Pegamoose Games more transparent. (Comment on this)
Friday, April 1st, 2011
5:05 am	Puzzle Challenge 2011 - Motel CA For this year's puzzle challenge, I took things in a different approach. I used Inform and created this year's challenge in the form of a text adventure, or Interactive Fiction (IF). Bare with me, this was my first attempt at writing a text adventure. May I present to you... Motel California! In this challenge, you are trying to leave the Motel California. You can check out any time, but first you will need your room key, luggage, and car key. Good luck! In other news... One of my goals for Pegamoose Games is to be more transparent with the project(s) on which I am working. I may not provide all the details, but I aim to keep Pegamoose Games followers more in tune with what I am working on. Let me start now by shedding some light on a couple of projects. One thing, which is not quite to my liking, is I am working on a "support" page for Pegamoose Games. For too long, I have treated Pegamoose Games more like a hobby than the business it is. It has been profitable enough to sustain the company year after year, but not grow. The support page is a way to ask people to support Pegamoose Games. What does this mean? Some of it is requesting a donation if you enjoy what Pegamoose Games provides, which is why there is a "Donate" button on the side-bar navigation. However, Support is not just about the money. There are other ways to support us. The support page is a list of ways to give Pegamoose Games a hand. I may not (yet) have the expertise to complete a couple of our projects, but if someone out there does have the know-how, maybe we can offer up a work trade. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I would love to bring more projects to the public sooner. There are two other projects in which I am working on. The first is a way to get more traffic to the Pegamoose site, but in a more entertaining way. Every once in a while, I get asked to swap links with other sites. If my crazy scheme works, the goal is to develop an adventure game which creates a symbiotic relationship between Pegamoose Games and other sites. The only thing other people will need to do is link to Pegamoose Games, and the game will automatically add your base site. Then, for the adventure game, people adventure out to the linked site, then find the link back to Pegamoose site to reap your adventuring rewards. As I said, it's a crazy scheme, but I think it will work and be fun. And, both sites benefit from creating links to either site. The other project I am working on is a way to get more table top games to the internet in a quicker and easier way. I have a majority of it sketched out and detailed. I am working through the issues of what I want to use to create the engine, whether I want to make it open source or license it out, etc.. The current code name is "Project Peggy" ("Peggy", for Pegamoose). Although, a friend referred to it as Calvin, because it really follows no rules, like in a game of Calvin Ball. The eventual goal is to create a version of Snipe Hunt (and other games that have sat on the back burner far too long) that is playable online via the engine. This is one of those projects that I may need more support in the non-monetary way. Lots of goodness heading your way. For now, see if you can check out of that Motel. And, if you enjoy the text adventure, help test that Donate button and let us know how much you appreciate playing the game. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
6:24 am	Under Construction Recently, I have been learning about JQuery and AJAX. I revamped the DotBom game to use JQuery, so the commands don't reload the entire page each time. Now... I've revamped the entire Pegamoose Games site. I'm going for the minimalist approach. I reduced and altered the header to (1) take up less real estate on the page, and (2) make it more functional. My hopes are to provide a larger area for visitors to concentrate on playing some of the online games (like DotBom). Also, there are now Hide/Show buttons on the vertical side menu. This also frees up more room. Now, the content can stretch all the way across the page. Plus, with the minimized header, it moves the page's "title" from the page content, and relocates it into the header, freeing up more space. Plus, I moved the breadcrumbs to the bottom of the page (again... more free space). Anyway... Because of how I have things set up, there are numerous little tweaks on the various pages. If you see a couple of warnings at the bottom of the page, it is because the footer requires two parameters to be passed, one for the breadcrumb and one for optional ad flags. I am going through the site, page-by-page, making tweaks as necessary. So... Patience, grasshoppers. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, October 25th, 2010
8:52 pm	Idea Box I knew it was a long time since my last post, but April?! Sheesh! Still working on various projects. I'm taking my wife's advice and picked one project to stick to until it's either finished or I reach a reasonable milestone. So, I've been working on the rewrite of the novel I've been working off and on for 20+ years (mostly off). It's over 30 pages into it, and the main story is just beginning. Then again, Harry Potter usually doesn't get to Hogwarts until at least chapter five or so, right? Anyway... I wanted to hear people's feedback about an idea I have. I call it the Idea Box. I have pages and pages of random notes (70+ pages), most of which I don't know what to do with. But, somebody out there might be inspired by these notes. I've been pondering about how I want to share them. The other day, I came up with the Idea Box. This is how I envision it (eventually) working... The Idea Box is a webpage and database. It is free for anyone to use, and only requires a user account. A person enters a blurb of an idea into a text field, and can associate tags with it (similar to this blog, in a way). Then, people can browse or search the Idea Box by various criteria (by keywords, tags, etc.). A person using the idea can add a note of how they intend to use the idea, how it inspired them, etc. They can even include a link to their project spawned from the suggested idea. The person submitting the idea can also associate their Paypal account with their ideas. This is so someone stumbling upon the idea can either help fund that person's idea (in hopes that it may one day be used), or so they can do it themselves, then tip the one thinking up the idea as a way of thanks. The person submitting the idea can tag it how they see fit. But, people browsing ideas, can organize the ones they like. They can flag an idea, which will put it in their own idea box. Or, they can add flagged ideas into groups. I don't know if other people would use my ideas. I don't know if other people would be as willing as I am to share ideas. I think this will be an interesting experiment, and I hope one day to share many of my ideas with the public via the Idea Box. Besides my pages of notes, I've often heard people say, "Wouldn't it be great if...?" And, the ideas they come up with, either they don't have the time or the means to get them done. Or, they don't know how to get started. Well... To use a sports analogy, maybe someone will pick up that ball and run with it. If you have any comments, suggestions, critiques, please feel free to pass them along. I'd love to get your input. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
7:48 am	The Flash Top-wise Warning: This blog may or may not contain spoilers. Normally, I keep this blog related to Pegamoose Games and the various projects I work on. But, this somewhat relevant topic I just had to share. Who knows how valid it is, but it was worth blogging just in case there is an element of truth to it. I mean, everything you hear on the internet is the absolute truth, right? So, Mark, a friend of mine, lives in Hawaii where they film parts of Lost. Mark was at a Toys N Joys looking for a new game for his game night group. This woman comes in asking about dice of very specific size and style. Mark asked the woman about the dice, and told her that he orders stuff online. She lets it slip that ordering online will take too long and she needs it for a prop on Lost. This little slip up was too much for them and they wouldn't let her leave without dishing. Eventually, the woman gives in and tells them the dice are for the "Flash Top-wise" final scene of Lost. The two hour season finale builds to a great climax. Just when you think Smokey is about to leave the island, intent on destroying the world, the scene changes. It switches to Jacob, Desmond, and the six candidates sitting around a dining table. They are playing a jungle-island themed role playing game. You see the mysterious, legendary Lost numbers as one of the character stats. The fate of the islanders and the world all comes down to a single roll of the dice. The dice are rolled. Dramatic pause. Lots of looking around the table and at Jacob (who viewers assume is the DM). Then, Jacob says, "I'm sorry. You lost." Sawyer says, "What do you mean we lost?" Jacob says, "You lost. The island wins. Game over." Sawyer - "That's it?! What a crock of sh-!" LOST logo. Credits roll. Followed by millions of fans suddenly being totally St. Elsewhere'd after six incredible seasons. As much as I'd love to see that scene played out on YouTube, I think I would still be pretty ticked if that were really the last scene of Lost. But, who knows... The writers have said it will be a big gamble. That would be a huge gamble (a roll of the dice gamble, at that). They said they've had the scene in their minds since day one. Throwing one more different perspective of reality at the audience at the last moment, maybe? On the other hand, studios have been known for leaking fake plot lines. But, to actually go out and buy dice? Hmm... A humorous idea, but I don't know. But, can't you picture the whole Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle coming down to a role against charisma? Sawyer rolling to see if he defeats the polar bear? Ben and Locke rolling to see who turns the donkey wheel? I guess it'd make about as much meaning as anything else. There is actually a Lost card game. Maybe this was the game Mark should have bought for game night. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 11th, 2010
7:14 am	New Menu, New Content, New Outline This is something I've thought about for a bit, but got a wild hare (hair? herr?) to do something about it. Since I've added several new online games and features, I've redone the menu. Now with sub-menus! I might rearrange it again later after adding other games, but still... So far, there are no solvers for the latest puzzle challenge. I had a lot of fun creating this one. I might even reuse the engine for other ideas in the future. I could easily make other text adventures. Or, maybe I'll use it to make other maze exploration games (like Moria, or Hack). In other news... Phil's prototype for connecting a game to Facebook is coming along. It sounds like he is getting close. After the prototype works as expected, our goal is to reconfigure Urban Legions for Facebook, too. Speaking of Urban Legions... I've implemented initiation sequences for three of the five organizations (i.e. the Legions) in the game. Once I get the other two, the third Chapter will become available. In other, other news... I have a solid outline for the rewrite of my novel. I started writing the first chapter, but I may stick this chapter a little further into the story. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
5:42 am	Not April Fooling Around Hello all. A couple of months ago, I was thinking that it has been a while since Pegamoose Games released a Puzzle of the Month. I set out to create a pile of puzzles to release all at once on April Fools Day. But, that wasn't good enough. Then, I thought that maybe I should combine the puzzles somehow into a Puzzle Challenge. That's when I came up with the concept of a maze. Better than that, I broke some of the puzzles into different pieces and scattered them around the maze. Then, I added a few doors to the maze, so that people would need to solve puzzles to get the passwords to open the doors. The result... Pegamoose Games' 2010 Puzzle Challenge - The Maze! The Maze is a pseudo-text adventure in which players move around the maze by typing in commands, and finding/solving puzzles. The objective is to get to the center of the maze where the Pegamoose is hiding. This puzzle is freely available to the public. Plus, since it is online, I have been able to create a few new types of puzzles that are not possible in the PDF format of the Puzzles of the Month. Plus, with Easter around the corner, if you explore The Maze, you might come across a few Easter eggs. PLUS... If you have an account with Pegamoose Games, once you solve all the puzzles, you can enter the solution to the last puzzle to receive beaucoup Pegapoints! Even though I'm entitled to change my mind in the future, I was thinking I might try to make a tradition of releasing a big puzzle challenge on April Fools Day. I already have ideas brewing for next year's challenge. Have fun stormin' The Maze! (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
6:21 am	Dot Bom... Update Just a quick blog to say that I've now integrated score into Dot Bom and taken it out of "Beta". It works pretty well for the number of times I've played it to be out of Beta. As for the score, you earn 100 points per version number, plus how many days you stay in business. Do well enough, and you could totally dominate the high score board in no time. :) Plus, I have two more online games in the works. One is somewhat more puzzle-ish, the other is somewhat overly simplified RPG-ish. (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
6:51 am	My thoughts on the iPad First of all, I think the media did an amazing job of hyping up the speculation of the iPad into something it's not. Which is a real shame, because the expectations of the iPad are set way to high. Instead of focusing on what it can't do, I think people need to realize what it can potentially do. A few years ago, I decided to get an iPhone. My old cell phone broke, someone stole my iPod Video, and my PalmV was way obsolete. The iPhone replaced all those and more. And, I love it. Thinking along the same lines, could the iPad replace my MacBook? Simple answer... No. There's too much invested in software and hardware on my MacBook to consider an iPad as an upgrade. I ask myself, "What could I do with an iPad?" Well... What do I do with my MacBook and my iPhone? I write (both fiction and games). I recently discovered the iPhone's eReader apps. I send emails. I browse the web. I play games. I work on websites. Could I write fiction with an iPad? I'm pretty sure I could. I don't have a problem writing things in Notes with the little keypad on the iPhone. I imagine the iPad's keyboard would be better. Is there an actual word processor app on either the iPad or iPhone? I don't know. I haven't bothered to check. Supposing someone out there did write an app, could I easily export a document into something like PDF and broadcast it? Could I design games? Board games and card games, probably not on the iPad itself. But, I think there is a lot of potential for games designed for the iPad. I read an article (don't remember where; sorry) about playing classic board games on the iPad. In fact, it had a picture of Monopoly. Sure, it would be cool to play classic board games, but what about board games that have too many moving parts to be feasible? Or, ones that would be too expensive to manufacture? When people start thinking outside the cardboard box and discover what is possible on the iPad, there might be a whole new concept of board game. I think that would be very exciting to see. As for Urban Legions... The engine that Phil wrote and we both use to develop Urban Legions is all online. I could still enter content with the iPad. Although, on my MacBook, because of the way some of the editing pages react better to FireFox than Safari, I could develop more Urban Legions content, but it would be a better experience on the MacBook. Plus, all my notes for UL are on the MacBook, and there wouldn't be a easy way to switch back and forth between my notes and entering content. eReaders... This is one feature that may give the Kindle a run for its money. Even if Apple has its own eReader app, the iPhone already has a Kindle app, a Barnes & Noble app, and (my favorite) Stanza, which can access the many public domain books. I know Amazon wants everyone to read their books, and sent out free Kindle apps on various platforms. The iPad can run all those platforms, because the iPhone already supports it... Only bigger! So, imagine having your whole library of all your eReaders in one device (if you go for that thing). The one thing that still slows me down on the eReaders is the cost of eBooks still seems high. Maybe when the iTunes store starts selling books (the non-audio kind), maybe the cost of eBooks might come down in price a bit. I wouldn't mind figuring out some way to trasfer my whole library of physical books into electronic form, but I don't want to pay near-double to do that. Can iPad do email? Check. Surf the web? Check. Play games? Check. Design web pages? Ch-... I don't know. I haven't tried. I've been able to use GoDaddy's browser-based webpage editor. Since the iPad has more real estate, it'd be easier to do than the iPhone. Could I upload/download files to and from the iPad? I don't know that either. Even though I could do most of what I do on an iPad, I'm not ready to invest in one (I know, I know... They're still a few months away from even being available). But, I'm very interested in what people will discover they can do with them. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
6:23 am	It's Dot Bom! Hello there. Long time, no blog. I've "released" an online game of sorts called "Dot Bom". This is a game a friend of mine and I were toying with a few years back. As a card game, the game moved very slow, because there were so many moving pieces. So, I revamped the concept as an online game. In the game, you manage a small start up company. You maintain the employees in R&D and Marketing. You can adjust the sale price once a product ships. You can adjust the average salary. Everything has a check-n-balance. For example, if you do not have enough employees in R&D, the product cannot advance toward completion, but can advance more if you have the amount required or greater. The same with Marketing... The more employees you have, the more the product's hype advances. And, once a product releases, the hype becomes demand. But, if you set the costs too high, then demand drops. Also, demand drops with each daily sale. And so on. The game is designed to cause the start up company to eventually fail, if it cannot be maintained properly. The objective is to last as many days as you possibly can, and release as many products as you can until you run out of money. Unfortunately, I do not have the Help written. So, Help is really No Help. Enjoy! If you try it out, let me know what you think. (Comment on this)
Friday, December 4th, 2009
8:07 am	What is that Doug up to now? So, I've started (just yesterday) messing about with creating a Facebook application. My first test project is to get the Pegamoose Games word salad to generate a random status update to post to Facebook. Although I don't have it integrated with Facebook (yet), here is the test page. Feel free to comment with your favorite random phrase of what Doug is up to. Here are a few examples: "Doug thinks you should quit shucking." "Doug hates talkative iguanas." "Doug is like the dirty, red fish." "Doug likes honking gargantuan asparagus." (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
7:51 am	Peganoose! Word Scrambles, Cryptograms, and now Peganoose! Peganoose! is the Pegamoose Games version of hangman. Get points for correctly guessing the letters, but lose points for each incorrect or repeated guess. The word database has grown to over 1100 words! Woo hoo! Keep it growing! Now, what is the point of earning all these Pegapoints? The goal is to eventually be able to cash them in. (Cash them in? Like, for fabulous prizes?!) Er... No. But, I do have plans for using them. More details... eventually. Also, earning enough Pegapoints will earn you a place on the leaderboard. The top three players are listed on the front page, while the top ten players are listed on the Wall of Fame. Enjoy playing those games! (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
9:57 pm	The Next Phase DMCT NWT UMC NWBTLZJBC NBCELU LUF ELHRPCE PATV? DMCT UMC FOACWQI MCWEF VWGC UMC ATDWTUCE TWRQLT. What does that say?* It says that Cryptograms are now available. I am still working out a couple of kinks, but the Beta is ready. Plus, you can earn 25 points for correctly solving each cryptogram. *And, for those who are curious, it really says... "When can the carnivore credit its dimpled lung? When the squeaky heads gaze the unwanted napkin." (Comment on this)
Friday, October 16th, 2009
4:57 am	And for the next course... Word Salad, anyone? As Phase I of the random cryptogram generator, I created a random sentence generator. These are so mesmerizing to me: "The slippery, dead monkey drove around the thunderous poodle." Well, that's good. At least the dead monkey was cautious enough not to hit the poodle. See? I'm so drawn into these random sentences so much, that I actually comment about them. Phase II is to then translate the random sentence(s) into a cryptogram (i.e. replacing each letter with its counterpart). Phase III is to enable a way for someone to solve the cryptogram back into its original form (and score points). (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
5:59 pm	Points for Words I have updated the Word Scramble and taken it out of "Beta". Now, players can accumulate score as they play the game. Three points for each word correctly unscrambled, and 10 points for unscrambling the keyword. The longer the keyword, the more score you can accumulate. Enjoy! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
6:21 am	Word Scramble! I have collected hundreds of words with CrazEmails (I need more... More! MORE!!! ;) Using the words I have collected, I have a working Beta of the first (of hopefully many) online games and puzzles to use the database of words. The first is Word Scrambles! This is an early beta of the puzzle. I will eventually have blanks for each of the scrambled words and have it tied into the user account scoring system, too. But, it's a great first step! I have a good list going for other uses of the words, including hangman and cryptograms. If anyone has any suggestions for other uses for the words database, please let me know. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
6:07 am	Stage I - Complete I've got good news and bad news... The bad news is I have not created a new puzzle for today. :( The good news is that I have something else that's fun! CrazEmails! I've created this for three reasons: (1) word harvesting, (2) minor advertising, and (3) it's fun! Wait... whoa, Doug... Back up. What in the world are you talking about? What's a CrazEmail? And, what is "word harvesting"? Well, I'm glad I asked. CrazEmails are like MadLibs that you can fill out and email to a friend, family member, or co-worker. For now, there are six different categories, but I can easily add more later. Now, you can tell your boss why you are out sick in a humorous way (at least, I hope your boss has a sense of humor). And, word harvesting...? Any word or phrase entered for a CrazEmail is preserved in a database. My aim is to use this word database for other, future projects, like randomly generated puzzles. Not just two puzzles per month, but continuous puzzles, randomly generated at any time! No worries, peoples... I do NOT use CrazEmails to collect email addresses, only the words. I hate spam as much as the next person, and will not send out advertisements to the emails used. And, I don't let just anyone send out a CrazEmail. People need to sign into the site to access CrazEmails. This is Stage I. Stage II is to start working on the other online games and puzzles that will use the word database. I'm not completely phasing out the Puzzles of the Month. I still enjoy working on those. But, since I have been working on so many other projects too, I want to give the puzzles the attention they deserve. And, since I feel guilty about missing puzzles more and more, I want to fill that gap with other features. So, the Puzzles of the Month will not be going away, but instead, will probably evolve into something different. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
1:37 pm	Gravity, Shirts, Arena fighting, and More! (Dupe of UL Blog) (Note: The following is a duplicate of a Blog entry for the Urban Legions blog) What do these things have to do with each other? Urban Legions, of course! GRAVITY: I have adjusted many of the events that pop up randomly in the game so that the player's approval will gravitate back to zero (0). I realized this when I was ignoring these events testing other things, like the Butter Zombies. My character quickly turned into a super villain. With the approval gravity well, players can now do nothing and result in a neutral character, bordering between hero and villain. SHIRTS!: A CafePress site is now set up with tshirts (http://www.cafepress.com/urbanlegions). Currently, two styles are available: the UL logo on white/light shirts, and the comic book wanted poster (as used on the website's frontpage) which is used on the darker/colored shirts. CONVERSATIONS: Players are now able to "talk" with various NPCs in the game. Each has a default set of topics, and more topics open as the player learns of different sub-plots. Each player provides their own perspective of a topic, often revealing more details and hints in the game. There are at least five citizens in the game now, with several more on the way. And, at least one of the NPCs is attackable (eventually, you will be able to battle any/all of them). ARENA FIGHTING: Speaking of battles... The Astroland Arena is open for combat. Players can select to fight either a hero or a villain for $100. Conquer your opponent, and you double your money, and maybe a bit of experience on the side. Who are these heroes and villains? Why YOU, of course! The game takes a snapshot of another player's character, and you do battle against a player-as-an-NPC (PlayerNPC). Combat does not negatively affect another player's character, and does not change the course of another player's game. (Comment on this)