dimeRocker Arcade

Anyone looking to put their games up on Facebook should check out the newly launched dimeRocker Arcade app on Facebook. It's a great solution for simply putting your game on Facebook in a matter of minutes.

If you're also interested in integrating features such as achievements, high scores, and micro-transactions, they have a new, very simple API you can check out.

The app is just finishing up it's alpha stage, so there are not many games on it at the moment. Now is a great time to get your game on there before dimeRocker does their big marketing push.

If you've checked out dimeRocker in the past you should take note that this is a different product. And much easier to use than the old one.

 

I will also vouch for dimeRocker arcade. Kairos was quickly integrated with all of the Arcade features, and it literally was up and running within minutes. It's definitely a great service!

 

New game approved today, Void Hammer. Very well polished and fun. Check it out http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/VoidHammer

 

Is there a way to integrate the arcade features so that you don't have to maintain two Unity projects: one for dimeRocker, and one for other portals?

 

You could put all of your dimeRocker related code into one script. Then simply comment out any calls to dimeRocker when you release elsewhere. Or you could check out which domain your game is on, if it's not on arcade.dimerocker.com then don't use dimeRocker.

For dimeRocker Arcade support questions or comments, check out developer.dimerocker.com

 

New game approved this morning called Snake. As you might have guessed by the name, it is based on the classic arcade game.

Play it
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/snake

 

Mystery Invaders was really easy to integrate and deploy on DR's Arcade Facebook Platform. We integrated achievements and high scores and have all the Facebook social features. The API integration was easy, fast and very straight forward. You can play the game at: http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/mysteryinvaders

 

Alright a couple new games on dimeRocker Arcade since yesterday.

Ehren integrated Langman, you can check it out here .

An action space shooter game called Solarz was put up this morning. Play it here.

 

Played both games and they are really cool. I actually digged Langman a lot, very nice and fun retro game and an awesome way to combine gameplay mechanics. You guys are doing an incredible job with dr Arcade !!! Congratz!!!
-arbbot

 

I tried some Games out, I like for example Langman it's fun to play it
But now a question about dimeRocker Arcade, is it for free only now that it's in alpha state or will it continue to stay free? I play with the Idea to finally start making Webgames and with Unity we've got the best engine out there to do this. But I'm just a hobbyhist developer right now thats why I ask if it will stay free (dimeRocker Arcade) or is it just tempory free as long as they're not full lounced? My qestion is made because today I've read that dimeRocker Arcade is at alpha status but on the other hand I've read on their Webpage that dimeRocker Arcade means for the developers no cost for hosting...so I assume that it is free to use at the end of the day. What is if someone wants just deploy it with dimeRocker and without any commercial thoughts behind it? Are Developer forced to think about making Revenues to join the dimeRocker Arcade Experience or is it also ok for Developers who just want a way to make their games available on facebook and not interessted in the rest of the ( I admit really great) features? Don't misunderstand me, dimeRocker offers a great way to get in the game of socialgaming but unfortunately I can't make money right now from games ( I know it sounds crazy lol ) as I don't wanna become an entrempeneur, create a company or something like that. I just wanna deploy maybe my game on the web within facebook and that's it. So I'm the typical hobbyhist gamedeveloper with restricted financial freedom in this moment Is there any sense in my Situation without financial Interesst, to use dimeRocker Arcade for just deploying my Game when it's done under their Pool of Games? Hope my English was not too bad, I apologiez for it and thanks in advance for answers. I post the question here because if it wouldn't make sense for my situation I'll not register an acount on dimeRocker, hope it's ok as it might be a question other Unity Users may find important too. Especially if they live in Countries with a little bit complexity with bureaucracy...(and my situation doesn't permit me to to this whole gamedevelopment more than just as a hobby). I hope my questions are ok, if not then sorry guys

 

The dimeRocker Arcade will always be free. But dimeRocker takes a 30% cut from every micro-transaction.

If you simply just want to put your game on the Arcade so it's hosted there, you are allowed to do this. In fact it would be great if all the Unity developers on here just logged on and uploaded any old complete games they have kicking around. The Arcade is great for getting your game "out there" and noticed.

If developers are interested in adding monetization to their game, they are welcome to contact dimeRocker for assistance on a good monetization strategy.

 

That's great and one of the best news in the last months for me lol
Thanks for the reply Brad and have a nice day

 

What about the old method used by dimerocker? The stack, where you have your own personal page on facebook? I have a game that is still in development and this is the method I would like to deploy in facebook, could you give me an explanation?

 

Anyone who is already using Stack, can continue to do so. However, dimeRocker will not be providing any further support or development with that product. Stack has been replaced with 2 products. The Arcade, for those wanting simple Facebook deployment with features like high scores, achievements, and micro-transactions. And the Custom Framework, for those making a fully social game on their own Facebook app. You can read about them at www.dimerocker.com or ask any questions you have on the dimeRocker forum developer.dimerocker.com and they will be answered promptly.

Most developers using the old Stack system have games that are more suitable for the Arcade, which is partly the reason it was created. The Custom Framework is something that small and large game studios have been interested in. However the Arcade can be extremely flexible because of it's arbitrary data store functionality and will be able to support the needs of most games by the time it goes into Beta.

Edit: I should also mention that the Beta launch for the Arcade is planned for mid-January.

 

A couple new games up on the Arcade today.

SHMUP Orbital Command
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/game10001105

Hyper Bowl
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/hyperbowl

 

New game up in the Arcade, Jetlane
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/jetlane

There was also a major update to the Arcade itself which primarily introduces the idea behind the internal activity feed being built.

To compliment this update, there is also a new version of the dimeRocker Unity client available that allows developers to push custom activity feed messages to a user.

For example, if you want to create an activity feed item when a player levels up you can simply go..

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. dimeRocker.SubmitActivity("Levelled up and reached level 10!");
3.  

 

OK - I thought I had a handle on this, but for the life of me, I haven't been able to get any of the samples to actually communicate with dimerocker's API. I'm a javascript coder, and try to avoid the CS code as much as possible. Is there a good tutorial out there for using javascript to connect with the API? I scoured the dimerocker sites and forums, but I'm lost. I've added the API to a couple of my projects, and tried uploading them to the facebook/dimerocker site. They show up, and I have set some preliminary things (achievements, a couple items to purchase) on the site - just for testing for now - to see how it all interacts so I can start integrating it all into my major projects.

BUT, I can't figure out exactly where to put any of the sample code. I'm using the latest version of Unity (have been upgrading every time a new version comes out, and finally getting the time to actually dig into it all - I LOVE Unity!!! I feel like a kid in a toystore with all the features available!)...

Anyway. I may very well have missed something, a tutorial or page somewhere out there that would make it all click for me - but I've been looking everywhere and finally just broke down and gave up. Could you post a fairly simple step-by-step for after I have dimerocker's API installed (shows up in the menu, I have my secret-token entered, I see the "dimeRocker arcade" object in my Hierarchy in my project, and the "dimeRocker Listener" under that...

Now say I look at the sample code for "Displaying User Information" from the docs.dimerocker.com site (Examples/Local User Example from the left-side menu on your documentation site)...

Now what?... I tried just copying that code, but have no idea at this point where to put it. If I can figure out where that goes, it'll all click. But I just can't for the life of me figure out where to put it (also, I do believe there's a line-break in the middle of that last string, and a period missing in the "drUser localUser = drClient.User.localUser;" line (about 20 lines down or so), and a reference toward the end of the example that also seems to be missing a period: "foreach (drUser friend in localUser.socialNetworkFriends) {"...

Help please! I really want to understand this, but though it's bad enough I know I'm inept with CS, and would rather code it in javascript, it's even worse when I think the sample code has errors in it, making it twice as hard to figure out if I'm doing it right, or if there are errors that aren't even due to my own inexperience...

I REALLY want this to work. And it "looks" easy enough to implement. But I just need that last push (and clean sample code with a bit more instruction on where exactly to put it to see how it works)...

Please... please... hellllp meeeeeee..... (little fly voice... sorry - getting loopy here from sitting on this computer all day with kiddos and kittens distracting me).

 

It sounds like you downloaded the API library for the old Stack system. Delete all of the dimeRocker files you imported, and instead download this API.

Let me know if that works out for you.

As far as when to use the API calls, just be sure at some point to check that dimeRocker.isReady is true before doing any calls.

 

Dan,

I want to clarify that the dimeRocker Arcade and the 'old' dimeRocker are two different services, with two different APIs.

docs.dimerocker.com is the reference for the 'old' API and will not work with dimeRocker Arcade.

I recommend starting here:
http://developer.dimerocker.com/developer-resources

1. Get an app on the Arcade
2. Get the drArcade Unity Package (http://developer.dimerocker.com/downloads)
3. For documentation, use THIS: http://developer.dimerocker.com/docs
4. For other assistance, or to see questions from other Devs: http://developer.dimerocker.com/

Unfortunately I think the old documentation mixed with the new API might have exhausted you, trying to reconcile the two services. Fear not, the drArcade is completely compatible with JavaScript. Our API will work regardless of what language you use.

As for an example, the documentation site has examples of how to use the API. It is in C#, but it should be pretty easy to convert. The best way to start would be to create a new JS script, and begin with:

Your script will display that message in the log when the dimeRocker object is ready. Now you can make other API calls. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them here or on the developer forum!

Good luck

 

OMG, you are FAST!!! See, this is just another reason I love developing with Unity - this community really blows away all the others out there!

I'll look at the docs for dimeRocker Arcade you mentioned. Yeah, I think I got all these versions confused. What I really want to do is see that info from facebook popped into a GUI, the way I imagined that code sample I was trying worked. If there's a javascript version of that demo, I'd love to try it out

Thank you for clarifying the differences! It'll make it more effective in my pursuit of samples, knowing that I might be reading old stuff... I'll post more on here as I get this up and running.

Once again, THANK YOU!

 

At the moment you won't be able to get friend information in the Arcade. You can get the playing user's information however. This will only work when the game is actually on Facebook. It won't appear in the Unity editor.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. if (dimeRocker.isReady) {
3.     if (dimeRocker.userInfo != null) {
4.         GUILayout.Label("Your name is " + dimeRocker.userInfo["name"]);
5.     }
6. }
7.  

 

Incase you missed it, here are some new games up on the dimeRocker Arcade from over the holidays.

Pigs Revenge
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/pigsrevenge

Rally Autopia
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/rally

Castle Smash
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/castlesmash

 

There have been a number of new games published on the dimeRocker Arcade lately. Here are some new noteworthy Unity games:

Cobalt PWC Racing - A jet ski racing game similar to N64's Wave Race
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/cobalt

Foosball 3D - The title says it all
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/foosball3d

FB Racer - A 3D racing game in a unique environment
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/fbracer

Space Junk - A multiplayer FPS in space!
http://apps.facebook.com/dimerocker/play/game10001829