MORSE News

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p][/p][p]Very exciting announcement - MORSE received a two page feature in EDGE Magazine's November Edition! I am absolutely over the moon about this. I was visited by the EDGE team last year at my local hackspace. We discussed everything from interactive LED installations, designing games to help people in care homes, approachable games design and of course, giving them a hands on preview of MORSE. [/p][p][/p][p]There was a big emphasis in the article about my goal of getting folks to use telegraphs to operate the game and introducing more people to Morse Code. Hopefully inspires more people to give it a try building their own and means more ham radio folks find it. [/p][p][/p][p]Regardless of how the game does on launch, this is a lovely artefact to have for my career, I'm very grateful for the feature. I'd love to be able to share with you what was said, but you can get a copy of the magazine here and check it out for yourself! [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Also wanted to highlight this Lets Play by the channel N7KOM Mountaintop Portable Radio who did a playthrough using a Naval Flameproof Key, was very cathartic to watch. I've also been increasingly hearing from folks trying to find technical solutions to wire up their keys with MORSE, it's so exciting that folks are going that extra mile!
[/p][p][/p][p]I'd really appreciate you Wishlisting MORSE, but if you're still not convinced, I'll be doing an update soon showing all the wonderful new features that will be making it into the release build. [/p][p][/p][p]Thanks![/p][p][/p][p]73, Alex[/p]

[p]Hello folks! [/p][p]Just an apology for the lack of posts since August, it has been a thoroughly busy time but I can assure you I've been working hard on MORSE and will have some major announcements coming soon! Your patience, as always, is greatly appreciated.[/p][p]In the meantime, I wanted to share some exciting news! I recently had the privilege of showing MORSE as a guest of the Radio Society of Great Britain at National Hamfest, the UK's largest ham radio event. It was such a wonderful weekend, got to meet lots of new people, proper immerse myself in the culture of the hobby and get a deeper understanding of how the organisations that support Amateur Radio operate. Check out the video I did around the event:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]One of the things that's motivated me a lot in the last few years is how games can serve as a tool to enrich cultural spaces and community groups, particularly those underserved by play (such as the elderly). MORSE has been designed with this in mind, the game is intended not as an endpoint for curiosity into ham radio, but a potential diving board down the rabbit hole. Further, my hopes are for it to serve as a way for encouraging intergenerational play between younger audiences (enthusiastic about games) and older audiences (enthusiastic about ham radio) to help bring new folks into the fold.[/p][p]Whilst my enthusiasm for Telegraphy has been ongoing for a decade, I'm relatively new to that broader Ham Radio hobby. But, over the 6 months really delving into it, I've become increasingly fascinated and immersed in different communities. The group I became a member of recently was the Radio Society of Great Britain or RSGB, they're a century old organisation that does outreach, education and advocacy for Amateur Radio in the UK. I got in touch with them directly earlier this year and they expressed a keen interest in doing more hands on, practical installations at their booth at National Hamfest, so seemed a natural fit for MORSE and I was absolutely stoked to get involved.[/p][p][/p][p]For the event I had two versions of MORSE, one with my Iambic Key and my Straight Key. The Iambic Key was running on a Steamdeck, whilst the other was connected to my LED rope installation that outputs dots and dashes along the LED strip. The idea was to have the Straight Key as an approachable interface for those unfamiliar with Morse Code and an Iambic Key as an approachable interface for those familiar with Morse (a majority of folks that still do CW use Paddles for input). [/p][p]We got a really good placement right in the middle of the RSGB area who had a sizeable footprint for the event, National Hamfest itself was hosted in a big hall on Newark Showground, an old RAF site. The LED rope I mounted up the side of a girder so it really stood out as a beacon to draw folks over. I was quite nervous going into Hamfest, whilst I did have a positive response from the online Ham Radio community for MORSE, there wasn't a guarantee that it'd translate into a conventional setting, but sure enough, MORSE went down really well! [/p][p][/p][p]We had a number of players come say hello who'd been following MORSE online who expressed their enthusiasm about the project, I got to give several seasoned hams their first experience of sending Morse (licenses haven't required Morse proficiency in over 20 years) and watch telegraphists demolish the game. I was particularly fond of was getting older Hams to give the game a go who were able to operate the game because of the familiar controller (Iambic and Straight keys) and were drawn in by the various keys I had lining the table. Even the small interactions were appreciated, several just enjoyed entering messages with the LED rope linked Straight Key which was fun to watch. I'm looking at designing games for older audiences (including those with dementia) once I've finished MORSE, so it was great to have another case study. [/p][p][/p][p]I also got interviewed by several Ham Radio journalists and got to spend time with the folks of the RSGB and get to know them. Sam, their Youth Activities and Engagement Champion was really generous with his time in discussing and playing MORSE, he gave so many different insights to explore, particularly helping me refine the controls for the Iambic key. [/p][p]Easily my highlight was that ahead of the event, I had decided to put some minijack sockets on the back of the MORSE controllers for different telegraph keys to be plugged into. I'd theorised that attendees might have their telegraphs with them and would want to try the game with that personal touch. Sure enough, several attendees connected up their personal telegraphs, my favourite was a homebrew Iambic telegraph made out of a plug socket (below) which was very satisfying to use. [/p][p][/p][p]All in all, it was such a fantastic event to be involved in and cathartic to see that there is an appetite for the project. I am eager to bring MORSE to other Hamfests and festivals, particularly ones abroad next year! MORSE aside, I had a really great time, I got to meet lots of interesting people, learn more about the hobby such as ARDF and BOTA and I got myself a single paddle key and a tiny homebrew Iambic key from the markets. As mentioned earlier, I rounded off the event by registering as a member of the RSGB, getting my first radio and I hope to get my foundation license by the end of the year. Will definitely be back next year.[/p][p][/p][p]If you have any suggestions for any events coming up in the UK or elsewhere you think MORSE would be a good fit, please let me know!

Thanks again for reading this and your interest in the project, I'll be following up shortly with an update on MORSE, got lots of things to discuss!
[/p][p]73, Alex[/p]

[p]Hey folks![/p][p]Just dropping a chunky update for where MORSE is at, thanks for your patience. It's been just over a month since I last posted but wanted to give reassurance that I am still beavering away at the project, here's some of the recent updates: [/p][p][/p][p]+ MEGACON and Sheffield Games Market: Had such a wonderful time showing off the game at these events, the installation was very well received by the public and got lots of useful feedback. Here's some photos from the events![/p][p][/p][p]We had quite a few people play cooperative on the game which I love, one person operates the telegraph, the other the launch button. [/p][p][/p][p]My highlight was getting to see a young boy who was partially sighted and partially deaf play the game and absolutely smash the game, his father mentioned the fact the game was high contrast helped him play. Was very sweet to see, I think the youngest we had playing was 4![/p][p]Here's some footage of the demo being beaten at Megacon: [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]+ Submarines: The latest enemy type, I've been trying to figure out for a while to implement them and finally found a satisfying manner of doing so. Submarines are permanently hidden, even shooting them directly will not reveal them as they're beneath the water. They are effectively jammers, scrambling your letter selection as they move. They're really hard to spot but because they're scrambling letters on the X and Y axis local to them, you can zero in on their location as they scramble more of the letters and numbers around them. They add a fresh spin on gameplay whilst still being cohesive. Here's some extended gameplay showing the submarines in action:[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]+ Expanded Manual: This bit I'm particularly proud of, I've expanded the manual to have a tonne of information about Morse Code. It discusses the different activities available, how to get started with ham radio, common terms/shorthand and national organisations that folks can join if they want to find their local clubs or national events. I'm planning to expand this as the game develops and I come across more events, groups and activities. I have very fond memories from Age of Empires 2 of vast collections of information and history about the different factions/historical events of the time and I'd like MORSE to be a launch point for people to discover the hobby of ham radio rather than an end point. [/p][p][/p][p]+ Receiving Morse Code: Speaking of giving people an entry point into ham radio, this is a small update but with a significant change to the game! A common critique from folks learning Morse Code (and hams more generally) is the dominance of visual Morse Code in my game. So, I've added the ability to receive Morse Code through sound, specifically the coordinates of ships! When you fire, you receive the position of the first ship hidden in the dark on that row audio. You can see this in the video below.[/p][p]I'm undecided on whether this will be an ability or something just available for players throughout, but it it's fun mimicking the audio and seeing the crosshair reach the corresponding letter. Means you build an association between the letter and the sound in a way that it wasn't before (if you can copy the sound and rhythm of the sound, you can create the letter). Any suggestions for implementation would be appreciated! I've also added a blinking light for those hard of hearing to use as reference.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's a video demonstrating the receiver: [/p][p]Morse Transmissions now added to my WW1 telegraphy game![/p][p]+ Key binding for Iambic/Sideswiper: This was a huge faff, but getting key binding sorted for the multi-paddle keys has been sorted! Means that folks can wire up their telegraphs proper to play the game with like their straight keys.[/p][p][/p][p]+ Detail and polish: I've been adding as much polish to the project and detail to the project as possible, things like a backing for the deck cards with dots and dashes, adding a subtle bit of red to the mines when placed, tweaking the probability of ships exploding, fixing issues with mine spawning and softening the penalty for missing a shell on your accuracy scale. [/p][p][/p][p]The launch is coming relatively soon (to be announced soon!) so I'm trying to limit new features/additions so close to launch. Having said that, here's what I have left to do:[/p][p]- Save system: This is going to be a real messy element to integrate for mid-run saves, so to begin with I'm going to get the baseline working for saving base game data (E.g. Achievements and unlocks) then expand from there.[/p][p]- Refinement of the accuracy scale: I'm not happy with it currently, it does enhance the gameplay but is too punitive and lacks a defined purpose. [/p][p]- Tutorial implementation: Whilst I do have a functional tutorial, I have LOADS of lovely visuals in the manual that aren't being properly utilised. [/p][p]- Implement the Cruiser: This enemy is designed but hasn't been properly added to the game yet, [/p][p]- Refinement of Iambic/Semi-Auto: Whilst I'm happy with the Iambic key mapping function, both Iambic and Semi auto need further refinement.[/p]

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p][/p][p]So this is a slightly niche but exciting update, hope you find it interesting![/p][p][/p][p]Which means (in theory) folks should be able to connect up their telegraphs easier via third party software. It's still a work in progress feature but wanted to get it out there to see how people got on with it. I'd love to hear from you and how you got on (and would LOVE to see videos of people playing it with their telegraphs), feel free to post feedback/suggestions/experiences in here: Rebind keys to use commercially available USB interface for morse keys / iambic paddles :: MORSE General Discussions[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So MORSE has had a website on itch for years now, but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it till now. Hosting a web version of the game should hopefully lower the barrier to folks accessing the game and hopefully mean more people who don't necessarily have Steam might be willing to give it a go! The game is nice and small in size so loads quick and because it's built in Stencyl runs pretty smoothly in browser. I've also built a pretty nice site for the game, give it a look: MORSE by Alex Johansson[/p][h3][/h3][p]As a fun experiment, I recently took out a banner advert on popular ham radio website QRZ to reach folks in the ham radio community. The catch? the ad had to be less than 48kb. It was really fun designing something to fit within that constraint, definitely helped by MORSE having a very limited palette. Definitely has a Web 1.0 feel to the design and squeaked in at 44.6kb, I'll be curious to see how it does! Here's what it looks like:[/p][p][/p][p]Finally, MORSE is going to be exhibited at Manchester Megacon Live at the end of the month! I'll be taking my full setup along to the conference on the 26th-27th of July. I'll be bringing different key types for the event and letting people try out expert mode if they fancy the challenge! For a reminder of what the MORSE expo setup looks like, check it out below! [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]That's all for now, give the new demo a try and let me know how you get on with the new key binding setup. Thanks again and stay tuned! [/p]

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p][/p][p]After a little rest, I got so much useful feedback from the festival and have been working to integrate suggestions and solve bugs, which I'm very happy with! Here's a list of some of the features added: [/p]

• [p]Game Manual: This took a good while to put together, but on the pause menu the player can browse through pages of information about the game and explore some of the more subtler mechanics. Paired with the pages is a 4 frame animation that captures the essence of the topic being discussed. My favourite thing added to the manual was the last page which highlights the next step to potentially find ham radio communities in your local area or nationally and as part of the animation, I included the crests of different national ham radio organisations in a way that was consistent. Have a browse through and let me know if I've missed any information and I'll include it.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]More information: Watching a lot of playthroughs people seemed to struggle to pick upgrades as they didn't have sufficient information to make an informed decision. I've now added descriptions that elaborate when options are selected as well as longer descriptions on the card deck screen. I've also better labelled menus to have less ambiguity and added much more supporting text to give context. [/p][p][/p]
• [p]New Launch System: So I alluded to this in a previous post, MORSE now has dynamic controls for firing ammunition. I've had more time with this mechanic and I honestly feel like it's the missing piece of the project clicking into place. When playing the demo, I've now been able to get over 95% accuracy utilising the ammo select to not waste shells which feels incredibly good. As part of this, the accuracy scale is much more filled up for me on the regular which has led me to do some re-balancing of the ammo feed. I'm considering some kind of bonus unlocked perk if you max out the accuracy scale, but need to do more experiments around it to see if it's unnecessary bloat. Related to accuracy, on the end screen stats I've now added your highest chained combo, my highest chained combo is 45 hits on enemies without missing![/p]
• [p]Ships that blow up: I recently watched a documentary about the battle of Jutland, the biggest naval battle of the First World War as inspiration for the project and there was an interesting discussion about a major cause of lost ships on the British side. When German shells hit British ships, the stocks of cordite, a propellant commonly used for launching shells ignited inside the hull which burned the ships from the inside out. The documentary is worth a watch if you've got an hour spare! With this in mind, I've added a chance that munitions can explode, certain ships with more armaments' are more vulnerable to detonating, such as the dreadnoughts. What's nice is the resulting blast can both damage nearby ships and give you an extra bit of illumination as it explodes. [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]As a subtle mechanic, I'm considering making the percentage chance of a ship exploding more likely if you land a direct hit on its centre. [/p]
• [p]Narrative Implemented: On the subject of Jutland, I've figured out a very subtle narrative grounding for the game. There was never a serious effort by the German Empire to attempt a naval invasion of the British Isles, but there was attempts such as the Battle of Jutland to break what was known at the time as the Blockade of Europe. This blockade was a unified effort by the Allied powers to stop supplies from reaching Germany. MORSE will focus around a fictional night time breach of the blockade in early 1916, which narratively fits with the use of sea mines and naval warfare. [/p]
• [p]General polish: I've added in a lot of subtle visual additions to add a bit more spectacle to the game. Generally I want to keep the game as minimalist as possible but things like dithering out the "Fog of war" to the right of the map or adding a smoke plume when ship cannons fire really adds an extra bit of detail to the project. [/p]

[p][/p][p]Whilst most of the changes/updates are for the demo, here are a couple of additions for the full game: [/p]

• [p]Iambic Function: I alluded to it in a previous post, but the previous version of the Iabmic keys were focused on tapping left and right to alternate, but Iambic keys involve a large amount of holding or squeezing the paddles. I worked with the subreddit "Amateur Radio" to figure out how to make it feel right and now I'm very happy with the controls. [/p]
• [p]Battlecruisers: These are midsized ships with medium speed and significant firepower that explode violently when destroyed. I'm considering changing the minesweeper slightly to be closer range with higher shooting speed, whilst battlecruisers would have ranged artillery. [/p]

[p][/p][p]This will likely be the last update to the demo for a while now (unless some major bugs come up!) so I can focus on delivering the final game. Priorities include:[/p]

• [p]Implementing save functionality: This is a well overdue job that is unfortunately a real pig to get working and to not break, the game has A LOT of variables to keep track of, reset and log. [/p]
• [p]Getting controls working properly: Whilst MORSE does work on the Steamdeck, it requires players to manually choose an community input from the default settings is automatically assigned. The main barrier to getting this figured out is the tool that I'm building the game in, Stencyl. It doesn't have a clean easy method for integrating the Steam Input API and key binding is technically complicated to setup. This is particularly important as I've had A LOT of ham radio enthusiasts reach out requesting key rebinding to work with their telegraphs and they software they use to convert input. [/p]
• [p]Enemy ship types: There's at least one other ship type that want to add to the game before launch: The submarine or U-Boat is a staple of the era which would be great to implement. They do function differently to other ships in the game so it's requiring a lot of unique design such as its state below and above the waterline.[/p]
• [p]Get Semi-Auto feeling better: The Iambic Key is now working but Semi-Auto is still based on a previous configuration that doesn't feel very good and is quite buggy. Most likely it'll involve adapting a new version from the Iambic key for consistency.[/p]
• [p]Steam Achievements: I've got the variables set up for achievements in game but haven't actually integrated them into Steam. Got some pretty ambitious achievements to for players to go at which I'm curious to how people get on with! [/p]

[p]I've been pouring a lot of effort over the last month into MORSE and with that I've let a lot of my other career obligations slide so I'll likely be quieter on here the next few weeks whilst I catch back up! This will also likely be the last update to the demo before launch (unless some major mechanic like the ammo switch emerges). All in all though, the game is getting pretty close to release, I'll be announcing the release date in the next month so stay tuned for that! [/p][p][/p][p]Thanks and stay tuned![/p][p][/p][p].-[/p]