An earlier version of this blog post promised a tutor session with the devs, which Mikkel was silly and promised before he knew for sure whether the devs had time for that. Instead, the winner will be able to choose either additional merch OR a mediocre MS Paint drawing of their winning in-game shop done by Mikkel.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
It’s been roughly two months since we added the Shops Pack to the editor, and roughly one month since we added the Creator Program to CREY Games. In honor of that, the builder challenge for April is the Build a Shop challenge!
In this challenge, you must build a purely visual shop – no actual shop functionality is needed, just the visuals.
Our game dev and community judges (Joakim, William & Mikkel) have been practicing their shopping in preparation for judging your in-game shops!
HOW TO ENTER
The “Build a Shop” Jam starts on April 17 and ends on April 26.
Once the deadline has been reached, our judges will deliberate and then reveal the winner before the end of the month!
Here are the rules to participating in the “Build a Shop”‘ Jam:
Create a new game that consists only of an in-game shop (and a character so we can walk around the shop)
Publish your game and add ”Build a Shop 23” in the description of the game
Post your published game in #BuildAShopJam channel on our CREY Games Discord
The winning entry in this game jam will win a custom made thumbnail for one of your games AND get your in-game shop added to the editor library as a Plug and Play asset! This means that your winning entry will be available for use by all CREY Games’ builders, with your name credited in the description of the item, of course!
The winner will be contacted via the email associated with their CREY account (we’ll try to get a hold of you by other means if we don’t hear back from you via email, but please make sure your email is valid – that makes the whole process a lot easier).
Eligibility for participating in the CREY Build-a-Shop Jam:
The Office Pack adds over 750 new assets to the Modern category to help you recreate the office space of your dreams (or nightmares!). No matter if your favorite office environment is Initech, Dunder Mifflin or something else entirely, this asset pack has something you’ll enjoy!
The pack adds assets for creating office spaces that are modern (or decidedly less so!), and you can even create your own influencer space / podcast studio, that is what you’re after.
To quote a wise man:
“An office is a place to live life to the fullest. To the max. To… an office is a place where dreams come true.”
The Farm Pack adds over 400 new assets to the Modern category to help you create the rural, folksy game of your dreams! Build a ranch, create a home garden or re-create your favorite spooky backwoods farm (and more) with these new assets.
That’s not all, though – we’ve also added new water effects! That’s right – you can now add water in different elevations, perfect for when you need a pond at a higher elevation than the ocean. As an added bonus, these new water effects are also tintable!
We can’t wait to see what you do with the new Farm assets and Water effects!
The new water effects can be found in the Effects category.
It’s finally (kinda-sorta) spring, and what better way to celebrate that, than to have a game jam based on sports? It’s time to for the…
✨Spring “Sports” Jam!✨
Our game dev and community judges (Joakim, William & Mikkel) are pumped to apply the science of their individual fields to judging your games!
HOW TO ENTER
The “Sports” Jam starts on the 20th of March and ends on the 29th of March. We will arrange a Q&A session with the game devs William / Joakim on March 22 between 13-17 CET (Copenhagen Time) to give you some early feedback or tips to use in your “Sports” Jam submissions. Come prepared with your ideas and questions!
Once the deadline has been reached, our judges will deliberate and then reveal the winner before the end of the month!
Here are the rules to participating in the Spring ”Sports” Jam:
Create an original game that is in some way based on sports (Anything can be turned into a sport right?)
Publish your game and add ”Spring Sports Jam 23” in the description of the game
Post your published game in #SpringSportsJam channel on our CREY Games Discord
You can win a tutor session with the devs, a custom made thumbnail for one of your games as well as CREY Games branded merch of your choice. The winner will be contacted via the email associated with their CREY Games account (we’ll try to get a hold of you by other means if we don’t hear back from you via email, but please make sure your email is valid – that makes the whole process a lot easier).
Eligibility for participating in the CREY Games Spring ”Sports” Jam:
We’ve added the Shops Pack to the CREY Games Editor, bringing you the single largest content update in, well… A while! In fact, with this update to the editor, you’ll have over 1900 new assets in the Modern category to make your games even more awesome with!
You’ll be able to make the shop – or even mall – of your dreams! You’ll be able to make arcades, gyms, cafes and more! You’ll also be able to make your own signs with the new letter props! The pack also comes with new options for sidewalks, roads and parking spaces, in addition to various types of outdoor furniture and decorations!
The assets are all live now in the Editor Library, so go check them out – and let us know which of the new props are your favorites!
Setting up Monetization features inside a game has never been easier. Let’s dive in on the how to’s.
Setting up a shop
There are two types of shops in the CREY editor and both can be found in the library:
The shop The shop can be used to sell temporary items (boosters, extra lives etc.) and permanent items (skins, weapons, decorations etc.).
In this update, we have added three community requested features to the shop:
Discounts on items
Categories for items
The “on selected” feature which enables shop visitors to see the items that they are buying on their character before actually making the purchase (neat!).
In this shop, builders can sell items for in-game currencies but not directly for Sparks. To sell in-game currencies for Sparks, the creator must use the Sparks Exchange Shop.
The Sparks Exchange Shop
The Sparks Exchange Shop is a brand new feature. It is where builders can sell in game currencies (gold, silver, diamonds etc.) in exchange for Sparks which are contained in the player’s wallets.
It is the only place where builders can sell something for Sparks: currencies sold in the Sparks Exchange Shop go to the players and the Sparks spent go the builders.
The Sparks Exchange Shop is easy and intuitive to use. In order to have a working Sparks Exchange Shop inside a game, a builder must comply with the following rules:
The builder must be registered to the Creator Program
In my creations, go to “Settings” → “Game settings” → “Enable multiplayer”
The level does not already contain a Sparks Exchange shop.
If those three conditions are filled, a builder can effectively use the Sparks Exchange Shop in the library and start selling in-game currencies in exchange for Sparks.
Instructions
Open a new or existing game template for editing
In the editor, head to the Library by pressing “Tab” on your keyboard or clicking on “Library” in the bottom left corner
In the search bar, type “Sparks Exchange Shop”
Using your left mouse button, drag and drop the prop inside the game. At this stage, you will be asked to fill in the three conditions mentioned above.
Create a currency by going into the library again and typing “currency”. Drag and drop the currency prop and fill in the details about your currency (Name, default, min, max, current). Make sure you save the currency, to save a currency click the “Saved” radio button on the prop setting screen.
Please notice: not saving a currency will prevent your level from being published later on!
Open the Sparks Exchange Shop and add your currency which will become a sellable currency pack. Here you can select the cost in Sparks of the currency pack and the amount of currency you wish to sell in the pack. You can also select a custom image for your currency, we have added currency specific images in the image library (diamonds, gold, bolts, cash).
Create a way for users to access your new shop. You can do this by adding a sensor: Search for the “Sensor” prop in the Library and connect ite to the Sparks Exchange Shop. You can also use an input trigger.
Press 9 to view your shop in playtest mode. Please note that you cannot purchase currency with Sparks in playtest mode, the transaction can only happen once your game is published.
Publish your game (“Game page” → “Settings” → “Release game”) and start earning!
Rules about selling currencies
You cannot sell currencies for less than 5 sparks and for more than 10,000 Sparks. A creator can determine their own exchange rate between their in-game currency and Sparks.
Naming of currencies: Profanities and harmful language will not be tolerated
Sparks cannot drop in negative
If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us on our Discord Channel
Start earning money with CREY Games, join our Creator Program now!
We are extremely excited and proud to unveil new features which will enable builders on CREY to monetize their creations.
As mentioned in our previous statement regarding Finance & Monetization, we believe that giving the option to builders to make real money out of their imagination is one of the key pillars to making game creation truly accessible. We want to help aspiring game developers pursue their dream of making a living off of their creations a reality, with the belief that with enough financial stability coming from their games, builders out there will be able to spend more time crafting games and creating ever more entertainment and fun for others.
Without further ado, let’s jump in to what’s new!
Earn Sparks
Builders can now earn Sparks. Sparks are CREY Games main platform currency and are brought by players in our store to be spent inside games made by builders. Sparks earned by builders are subject to fees and can be exchanged for real world money in the Creator Program after reaching a certain earnings threshold, more on fees and thresholds below. In order to earn Sparks, builders can set up shops in their games to entice players into buying things. Like all of our features, we strive to make them accessible and easy to use.
The Creator Program
The Creator Program is where builders can exchange their Sparks for real world money. It is also a space where builders can access all other information regarding their Sparks including their earnings history and their exchange request history. In order to be eligible to apply to the Creator program, users must comply with the following rules:
Users need to declare their country of residence and Zip code
Users must agree with the following Terms & Conditions:
I am responsible for the recognition of any taxes and obligations in my country of residence
This is a beta-version of the monetization program
I will need to accept a full set of terms and conditions later in order to continue participating in this program
I agree to provide my name, address, and banking information in order to receive a payout
I am liable for any illicit or illegal content
CREY has the right to accept or reject a potential payout according to applicable laws
If the above conditions are fulfilled, users who apply to the Creator Program are automatically and instantly accepted, greatly simplifying the process to monetize games.
For more detailed information about the Creator Program, please check out our FAQ.
CREY Games strives to make game creation as accessible as possible through no-code, technological innovation and finance. In order to keep providing innovative tools and features to the builders out there, CREY Games needs to sustain itself financially, without compromising it’s core values. Therefore, to stay true to our mission we have decided to provide our builders with the best fees in the UGC gaming industry.
Pie charts representing the revenue split between creators and UGC gaming companies. Source: Roblox, Core, Recroom
Any commissions incurred by CREY Games makes goes toward sustaining the company, covering our operations and reinvesting into building our service. Here’s a breakdown of the builder earnings:
In game transaction:
We will charge 20% of the value of Sparks that is earned by a builder for all in game transactions. This means that the builders get the remaining 80% of Sparks.
Examples
If a builder sells a bag of currency worth 10 sparks, CREY Games will take away 20% of that amount meaning the builder will receive 8 sparks in his account and 2 Sparks will go to CREY Games.
We also round up in favor of builders in case of decimals. For example, if a builder sells an item for 6 Sparks, they will earn 5 Sparks.
Exchange of Sparks
In the Creator program, successful builders can request an exchange of their Sparks for real world money. In order to be eligible for a cash out, builders must have at least 30,000 sparks in their account, or the equivalent of 300 USD. At cash out, builders are subject to a 30% fee from the requested amount.
To make cash out request, users can click on the “Cash out” button which will trigger a process where all of the Sparks in the account will be exchanged for real world money.
A pop up will appear where a user must indicate his or her PayPal account information (email) and the desired currency in which they wish to receive payment. CREY Games supports transfers via PayPal only at this stage, please contact us if you have any issues with PayPal.
Once the request is made, the Sparks in the user’s account will be placed on temporary hold and the user will receive an email confirmation with the details of the exchange request.
After a request as been made, it goes under review by our internal team. An audit is performed to make sure that the request was not made by a user who has breached community guidelines, committed fraud or has been involved in illegal activities such as money laundering. Please allow up to 7 days for this process to happen.
If the request is accepted, the user will receive a confirmation email and a transfer on their PayPal account.
In the unfortunate event where the request is denied, the user will receive an email with an explanation and their Sparks will be returned to their account.
If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us on our Discord Channel
Start earning money with CREY Games, join our Creator Program now!
The first month of the year is always a month of great news and great new features here in CREY. Today, we’re improving our platform by introducing new Animated NPCs – In this article we’ll explain how to implement them in your games.
(PS: If you are a newbie take a look at the end of this post to know a little more about NPCs´ world)
How to create an animated NPCs on CREY Platform
Here’s a quick guide on how to use Animated NPCs. You just need to follow this simple step:
Open the library and search for “Character”. Find the Animated NPC you want to use in the game.
Place the character in the scene and double click them to open the settings window.
There’s 3 settings for the character’s animation;
A dropdown list of all possible animations.
Current Animation, an index value you can use to change the currently used animation. In game you could use this with a Variable-based setup. The value relates to the order of animations in the dropdown list, between 0 (Idle) and 10 (Run).
Play Speed, which adjusts the speed of the current animation.
By default, animations will loop. So if you want an animation to play just once, or stop playing after a certain point, consider creating a system to change the Current Animation back to 0, which is the Idle pose.
The Animated NPC can be affected by all other Gameplay Props like a normal prop – You could set it up with a Directional Mover so you have your NPC walking around, spin around on the spot with a Rotator, and so on.
You can also check out this demonstration of what can be done with the NPC system to get some inspiration!
What are NPCs and why are they important?
NPCs, or non-player characters, are characters in a videogame that are controlled by the game’s AI rather than by the player. They can serve a variety of roles in a game, such as providing information, offering quests or missions, or serving as enemies to be defeated.
Their presence is important because they help to create a rich and immersive game world by providing characters for the player to interact with and helping to advance the game’s story and objectives. Additionally, NPCs can provide a sense of realism and depth to a game by creating the illusion of a living, breathing world with inhabitants who have their own motivations and agendas.
Dear Community, My name is Hippolyte, I am the Economy designer at CREY Games. Today marks a new chapter in our vision to democratize game creation by making it accessible, easy to use and fun. Until today, we have been focusing on two essential pillars: Game creation and providing a fun play experience. We would like to introduce a new pillar which we hope will support this vision: Finance.
Making amazing games can be hard and time consuming. While we are focusing daily to making our building tools better, more intuitive and easier to use, we also believe that the creators out there should be supported in their effort to bring amazing games to the world. Finance englobes a variety of features which will go towards financially supporting builders in their game creation. We believe that with the proper support, the sky becomes the limit in terms of what creators will surprise us with, as they have done so already on many occasions. Having said that, we plan on releasing finance features incrementally, taking your feedback along the way on our Discord channel. At the end of the day, we will always ensure that privacy, security, and protection of creativity remain as our highest priorities.
Finance 1.0 update
We are pleased to announce that we are unveiling some exciting new features that will help support the creators out there. We are rolling out the first version of what in-game purchases will look like in CREY Games. This is big news as it means that soon, builders will be able to earn real money from making games on CREY Games! The team has been actively listening to the community and working hard to deliver the best possible experience for creators and players alike. Here’s why we will be rolling out the full feature incrementally, taking your feedback every step of the way through the discord channel.
New features
New currency: We are proud to unveil our new platform wide currency: Sparks. Sparks are CREY Game’s virtual currency. They can be used to purchase a variety of items which can enhance your gaming experience and support game creators! In our next updates, Creators who earn Sparks in their games will be able to exchange them for real world money.
Sparks can be obtained by clicking on you account balance, found at the top right in playcrey.com
Using Sparks, you can purchase in-game currencies which will allow you to unlock two types of items: permanent items (Cosmetics, upgrades etc.) and repeatable items (Extra lives, boosts etc.)
For more detailed information about Sparks, please refer to our dedicated help page.
In game: We have added in game shops in the following fan favourite games: Time Travelling Zombies, Lava legends and Mega Obby. We have selected these games because they are loved by our community and believe it is the best way to put our new features to trial.
Note:
These new features represent the first part of what we plan on delivering and are being thoroughly tested inside the games mentioned above by players. Once we feel these are ready, we will release the full in-game features to all the creators out there who wish to start making a buck out of their imagination. In the meantime, feel free to share any feedback on our Discord channel!
What’s coming
In game shops for builders to use inside all their creations, which will be fully linked to Sparks meaning that players will be able to spend Sparks in them if they wish to.
New customisation tools for builders to create meaningful and player friendly shopping experiences
The ability for builders to request an exchange of their earned Sparks for real world money. We will share more on that soon!
We are at an era where creators can now earn a living from making amazing things from their imagination, whether it’s games, music, art and more. It is our belief that such creators should be empowered to do so, and we intend to uphold the highest standards of fairness, respect, and user experience. Stay tuned for more and reach out on Discord!
