11-20-2018, 08:10 PM
The devs behind experimental 1D address bar games
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/the-devs-behind-experimental-1d-address-bar-games.jpg" width="200" height="200" title="" alt="" /></div><div><blockquote><p><strong>“When you think of it, most video games take place inside a 2D or 3D space, so playing a game taking place inside a single dimension is very disturbing for both players and game designers!”</strong></p></blockquote>
<p><em>– Dr. Ludos discusses the novelty of creating 1 dimensional address bar games. </em></p>
<p>Rock Paper Shotgun <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/11/16/meet-the-devs-who-made-games-you-can-play-in-your-address-bar/">recently published</a> an interview with some developers who create address bar games, which are meant to be played entirely within a website’s URL.</p>
<p>This is a neat example of developers thinking outside the box, introducing a genre of niche, experimental games worth exploring. </p>
<p>One of the most well-known examples of an address bar game comes from Corey Johnson, who developed <em>URL Hunter</em> using JQuery back in 2011, initially by accident.</p>
<p>“I was working on some code and I accidentally created a bug that caused the URL address to rapidly change characters,” Johnson explains. “I kept thinking about it on my way home, so I stayed up that night fooling around with it until I had created <em>URL Hunter</em>.”</p>
<p>Johnson credits the inherent restrictions of the medium as its biggest appeal. “Seeing if I could make a game with these extreme limitations was the most interesting part of creating it,” he says. </p>
<p>“You can’t program it like a terminal-based game because the address bar doesn’t use a monospaced font, so replacing a character causes all the other characters to move slightly. You have to be clever with how you do movement. Back in 2011, I could only get around 10 fps, which was tough to make look good.”</p>
<p>More recently, Ludum Dare 42 (a competitive 48 hour game jam) produced the address bar game <em><a href="https://v6p9d9t4.ssl.hwcdn.net/html/1005038/index.html">Outrunning Space</a>, </em>an endless runner which pushes players back by every obstacle they fail to jump over until a game over is reached.</p>
<p>Its developer, who goes by Dr. Ludos, reveals that the limited amount of time he had to work on a game for Ludum Dare pushed his creative boundaries.</p>
<p>“It forced me to go all the way into minimalism. I chose to make an address bar game because it takes place in a 1D space. It’s quite a challenge to come up with game ideas that can function inside a screen of only 23 characters of width for a single unit of height!”</p>
<p>Dr. Ludos is convinced that address bar games have an incredible amount of potential ripe for other developers to explore.</p>
<p>“Address bar games are an under-explored field, so I think many designers could invent new kinds of 1D games if someone would like to organize a jam or competition centered on that theme.”</p>
<p>The two were having a larger conversation around address bar games, so sure to read the entire piece over at <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/11/16/meet-the-devs-who-made-games-you-can-play-in-your-address-bar/">Rock Paper Shotgun</a>, it’s well worth the read.</p>
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<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/the-devs-behind-experimental-1d-address-bar-games.jpg" width="200" height="200" title="" alt="" /></div><div><blockquote><p><strong>“When you think of it, most video games take place inside a 2D or 3D space, so playing a game taking place inside a single dimension is very disturbing for both players and game designers!”</strong></p></blockquote>
<p><em>– Dr. Ludos discusses the novelty of creating 1 dimensional address bar games. </em></p>
<p>Rock Paper Shotgun <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/11/16/meet-the-devs-who-made-games-you-can-play-in-your-address-bar/">recently published</a> an interview with some developers who create address bar games, which are meant to be played entirely within a website’s URL.</p>
<p>This is a neat example of developers thinking outside the box, introducing a genre of niche, experimental games worth exploring. </p>
<p>One of the most well-known examples of an address bar game comes from Corey Johnson, who developed <em>URL Hunter</em> using JQuery back in 2011, initially by accident.</p>
<p>“I was working on some code and I accidentally created a bug that caused the URL address to rapidly change characters,” Johnson explains. “I kept thinking about it on my way home, so I stayed up that night fooling around with it until I had created <em>URL Hunter</em>.”</p>
<p>Johnson credits the inherent restrictions of the medium as its biggest appeal. “Seeing if I could make a game with these extreme limitations was the most interesting part of creating it,” he says. </p>
<p>“You can’t program it like a terminal-based game because the address bar doesn’t use a monospaced font, so replacing a character causes all the other characters to move slightly. You have to be clever with how you do movement. Back in 2011, I could only get around 10 fps, which was tough to make look good.”</p>
<p>More recently, Ludum Dare 42 (a competitive 48 hour game jam) produced the address bar game <em><a href="https://v6p9d9t4.ssl.hwcdn.net/html/1005038/index.html">Outrunning Space</a>, </em>an endless runner which pushes players back by every obstacle they fail to jump over until a game over is reached.</p>
<p>Its developer, who goes by Dr. Ludos, reveals that the limited amount of time he had to work on a game for Ludum Dare pushed his creative boundaries.</p>
<p>“It forced me to go all the way into minimalism. I chose to make an address bar game because it takes place in a 1D space. It’s quite a challenge to come up with game ideas that can function inside a screen of only 23 characters of width for a single unit of height!”</p>
<p>Dr. Ludos is convinced that address bar games have an incredible amount of potential ripe for other developers to explore.</p>
<p>“Address bar games are an under-explored field, so I think many designers could invent new kinds of 1D games if someone would like to organize a jam or competition centered on that theme.”</p>
<p>The two were having a larger conversation around address bar games, so sure to read the entire piece over at <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/11/16/meet-the-devs-who-made-games-you-can-play-in-your-address-bar/">Rock Paper Shotgun</a>, it’s well worth the read.</p>
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