Plinko game ideas
May 01, 2024
By
Shela Block
Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone has built a Plinko-type game in Storyline. This is Plinko: Plinko | The Price Is Right Wiki | Fandom
The idea is there would be a board and a ball would be dropped at the top, it would clink-clink-clink all the way down until it lands in a spot that would normally be a money amount, but in this case it would be a Knowledge check question that they would now have to answer.
Curious to know if it's possible in Storyline and if anyone has built something similar.
Let me know if I'm not explaining anything clearly or if you have any questions! Thanks in advance for any ideas!
12 Replies
Hi Shela, great idea. It would be so visually interesting, and if you could get audio then it will be amazing.
In my old game development days, I would code this in javascript with some sort of rudimentary physics engine.....
Unfortunately that's not as easy in Storyline, so I would actually go for something easier. First create enough individual videos of the plink dropping down different paths using some.animation tool or after effects etc.
Then just randomly choose one outcome in storyline, and play that video.
Easy but effective! 😋👌
I would LOVE to see this creation! As a long time TPIR fan - I have been trying to create a "Half Off" game lately. But PLINKO would be AMAZING!!!!!! Will you share?? :)
Here's an idea that could work. I only spent a few minutes on it so disregard the timing. I used the mouse cursor feature.
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/b401e429-3198-4530-b421-586649846eb0/review
Similar to Andrew's suggestion, if you're looking for simple you could also set up some custom objects and animation paths that you could trigger and play at random.
If you're up for it, also have a look at the step by step Plinko tutorial (Part 1 & 2, under videos) at https://github.com/liabru/matter-js/wiki/Tutorials using the matter.js library. Also check out https://brm.io/matter-js/ for more info. This could make a very cool Plinko simulation. Note, I haven't used this inside SL, but it may be worth exploring.
I wanted to try out matter.js, so I cobbled together this basic demo of Plinko on a Storyline slide. This uses a web object to display the Plinko board. You can click at the top to drop chips and watch them fall. when they reach the final bin, the count is updated on the slide. You can therefore detect which bin gets the chip and trigger a question in Storyline accordingly.
The web object contains all the code, and it is included in the attachment (not a coder, so forgive the hodgepodge approach). As long as it is hosted on the same site as your Storyline files, you can communicate with the player and its variables.
Try it here:
https://360.articulate.com/review/content/69189ad4-d0db-4cec-98ea-7ee3866991d0/review
The code needs some refinement of course, such as preventing multiple collision counts for a single chip.
Thanks for the suggestion, Andrew! With time, this would be a fun way to put it together. I'm at the prototype stage and actually ended up putting something very simple together with a plinko board image, a storyline shape moved along a slow motion path, and then a glow effect that appears around the destination slot when the motion path ends. A question can pop up at this point, or it can be activated with a click. Still in beginning stages, so we'll see how it unfolds...
Thanks again!!
I'll see what I can do once it's built! I can't make the content public, but there might be a way to share only the functionality. If there is a way, I definitely will!
Hey, not bad! Thanks for the demo, Tom! I like that the timing is more random... makes it more believable. I've never used the mouse cursor feature, so 'll have to experiment with it. The only drawback I could see with this so far is that it can't be used on a layer, so I'd have to go to a new screen each time the learner clicked a plinko chip.
Ooooh! This is a GOOD ONE (Nathaniel's matter.js option)! I need to look into matter.js more. I am just learning more about Java, so this will be a good brain stretch for me! :) Thank you for sharing this sample with us! I love it!!! :)
Shela - I would love to see this! I was thinking about doing the same thing! I spent a day last week looking up a good image to use, and then trying to determine the best way to use motion paths to make it believable! I am looking forward to seeing your ideas!
Wow, this is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your efforts! I'll be taking a deeper dive into this and seeing if I can make it work for what we need. If not, I'm sure plenty of people will appreciate this head start. Thanks again!!
Hey Lisa - Happy to share what I can once I've worked on it more. Feel free to share anything you come up with as well. It's a fun challenge for sure!