There is a growing movement toward building more inclusive development tools. Programs such as Unity, Inform7 and Twine are permitting more entry-level developers than ever before to get into games. In that vein comes Robin Rath's Pixel Press, an iOS app which allows its users to "sketch" game levels.
The app - which currently exists only as a prototype - works by having designers use their iPad or iPhone to scan in a pencil outline of their levels, using a standard set of symbols to stand in for particular objects or functions. Once the outline is scanned, designers can flesh out the level with tiles, sprites, sound effects and music. Pixel Press also allows designers to upload their own assets, in addition to the software's presets.
Robin Rath thinks of Pixel Press as a gateway tool for young aspiring designers. "Anybody that's willing to spend the time to do it is going to be able to make a level," he tells The Verge.
You can learn more about Pixel Press from its official website. Rath and his team will also be opening a Kickstarter on May 7th to help fund the project.
My only concern with this app is that it wont really let me design the games I want to design. This is why I write my own tools cause when I first made a game it was with RPG Maker XP and that is only good for making jRPGs (yuck), the second game I made with it was a real pain because I can to use a lot of work arounds to get past the limitations of the tool. I suspect this app will run into the same issues and creating a truely universal tool is no small challenge.
Any technology that moves us towards being able to design things outside the computer and then put those things into the computer is really interesting to me. Who knows where this might lead. I dig it.
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