The game I am choosing for my third dekonstruer is our own game Aeolus. I chose our game cuz it is nearing completion as this semester comes to an end and I thought it would be a good way to look at what we have applied from what we learned from this course. Also, I am running out of games to discuss in my blogs as you can see I am almost at 25 blogs for the semester. That's an all new record for amount of blogs for one class! Anyways, onto the blog at hand.
Players
I will be writing in the perspective of the game being complete in April to give myself more to talk about for this blog. When it comes to the players in our game, there will be a campaign experience where the player will be pitted against the A.I in our levels. They can take their helicopter and skills online and challenge their friends to matches while wagering parts online or even their own helicopter.
Objectives
In the campaign of our game the player will be able to complete different missions. These missions consist of collecting supplies, destroying key buildings, and taking out enemy helicopters. They are basically whatever job is given to you by your mercenary leader. The merc leader will give you a list of missions you can do and from there you can choose to do whichever one you want. The choice is there so you can gather parts you want for the helicopter you feel comfortable flying. So the objectives in this game are: Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
Rules
The rules in our game consist of a set of boundaries in which the player can fly their helicopter. The player cannot leave the playspace of the level. There will be an invisible ceiling that keeps the player from flying too high and there will be walls that have the same effect. If the player reaches these boundaries the helicopter starts to fail and the indicator lights will turn on. Another rule is the energy for the helicopter. If it reaches 0 your helicopter will also start to shut off.
Resources
The major resource in the game is the energy. Player's need to manage their energy for their helicopter so that they don't have their engine fail in the middle of trying to fly or shoot down enemies. Later in the development cycle we will have a currency system that player's will use to purchase and sell components of their helicopter. This would then make the components themselves to be a form or resources. The weapons, generators, engines, and hulls of the helicopter's that you earn through the campaign can be collected for customization or for profit.
Game States
The game states in our game are reflective of the helicopter and the missions. We have states for when the helicopter is firing or not. There is a state for when the helicopter is flying or not based on the amount of energy in the generator.
Information
Some of the information displayed are related to your resources. There will be information about the generator in the HUD. The HUD will also display information about the helicopter's position and orientation relative to local and world space. This is here to help the player fly the helicopter with ease since they can see elevation, angle of rotation and so on. The player also has armor which is information displayed in the HUD.
Sequencing
In our game the energy causes pressure on the player. The way how the player feels pressured by the energy from their generator is that the energy depletes as the player uses the mechanics in the game. This forces the player to manage which mechanics they want to use while playing the game. The player's health is also pressuring because they can die if they don't avoid crashing and being shot at.
Player Interaction
The player interaction in the game is only found in the multiplayer experience. There isn't a coop campaign yet. The player's interaction consists of a pvp match between one another. The two player's will face off in a duel and the victor gets the opponents helicopter. The losing player will then lose their helicopter in the fight. The player's can instead wager only certain components of their helicopter if they don't want to gamble the entire helicopter.
Theme/Setting
Our team is trying to go for a realistic look and feel of the game. We want to set the mood of the game to be futuristic, so there will be music that is calm similar to Halo. We also want the feel in game to be gritty like Gears of War. The theme of the architecture for the buildings and helicopters is similar to the Mech Warrior games.
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Fun and Accessibility
In this blog today I will be talking about what a fun game is and how a game is fun. Video games are for entertainment and learning purposes. With entertainment being half, if not all, of a game's purpose for existence, fun becomes a critical aspect of design for a game. Let's get into some more detail on fun in games.
What key elements would be used for seeing if a game is fun? Well, the dramatic elements that I talked about in my third lecture will be good to check if games are fun. More specifically, let's look at challenge, play, and story. These elements will emotionally hook your player's into your game and having a player immersed into your game will cause them to have fun.
When it comes to challenge, there are very important aspects the we need to know. First, reaching and exceeding goals is an important part of challenge. The way how a player can exceed goals is by giving them subgoals or bonus objectives to also complete while finishing the main goal. Competing against other opponents to give the player someone to compare themselves to is a natural challenge for players. Stretching a player's personal limits allows player's to challenge themselves. Exercising difficult skills gives the player the chance to master and display certain skillsets. Choice creates situations where players must weigh their choices and can be found as a challenge.
There are 7 natural types of play:
Living out fantasies
Social interaction
Exploration and discovery
Collection of things
Stimulation of senses and imagination
Self-expression and performance
Construction/Deconstruction
With each type of play in a game, there is more and more fun added to a game. Using StarCraft as an example, you can live out the fantasy of controlling a large army, you can socially interact with your team and opponent, explore the map and discover where your enemy is, collect minerals and gas, imagine being in this universe with alien races, being able to do what you want and seeing a performance report after, and finally being able to build and destroy what your opponent builds. Since StarCraft has all 7 types of play it makes the game very fun.
Continuing with StarCraft as our example, this game had one of the best stories actually winning best story award recently. Story is a powerful mechanism for engaging people's emotions. The story naturally tells the tales of a specific hero with their ups and downs in a critical time in their life. Within the story, there needs to be a created drama to make empathy. This makes the player have something to relate to as well. The mechanic of story in StarCraft that takes their story one step above this is that it gives the player choices to how they want to go through the story. There is a choice in the order of the story. The incredible story on top of this mechanic gives StarCraft a very big fun factor for their game.
On the topic of decisions, let's briefly list and explain the types of decisions. There are 8 different types of decisions:
Hollow - no real consequences
Obvious - no real decision
Uninformed - an arbitrary choice
Informed - where the player has information
Dramatic - taps into a player's emotional state
Weighted - a balanced decision with consequences on both sides
Immediate - has an immediate impact
Long-Term - whose impact will be felt down the road
To end of this blog, I would like to discuss fun killers that need to be avoided. Excessive amounts of micromangement can kill the fun of a game. I have found this in StarCraft to be a fun killer at times but it is part of the challenge where it stretches the player's limits causing it to be fun. StarCraft stretches the player's limits just enough to not break it and kill the fun. Stagnation will also kill fun. Repetition, balance of power, and having a negative feedback loop will kill the fun in the game. I have also found that an insurmountable amount of obstacles will drain the fun out of games. Having arbitrary events will bring the fun down to a minimal. Finally, predictable paths will make the game boring from being to easy. Easy, boring games are not fun and should be avoided.
What key elements would be used for seeing if a game is fun? Well, the dramatic elements that I talked about in my third lecture will be good to check if games are fun. More specifically, let's look at challenge, play, and story. These elements will emotionally hook your player's into your game and having a player immersed into your game will cause them to have fun.
There are 7 natural types of play:
Living out fantasies
Social interaction
Exploration and discovery
Collection of things
Stimulation of senses and imagination
Self-expression and performance
Construction/Deconstruction
With each type of play in a game, there is more and more fun added to a game. Using StarCraft as an example, you can live out the fantasy of controlling a large army, you can socially interact with your team and opponent, explore the map and discover where your enemy is, collect minerals and gas, imagine being in this universe with alien races, being able to do what you want and seeing a performance report after, and finally being able to build and destroy what your opponent builds. Since StarCraft has all 7 types of play it makes the game very fun.
Continuing with StarCraft as our example, this game had one of the best stories actually winning best story award recently. Story is a powerful mechanism for engaging people's emotions. The story naturally tells the tales of a specific hero with their ups and downs in a critical time in their life. Within the story, there needs to be a created drama to make empathy. This makes the player have something to relate to as well. The mechanic of story in StarCraft that takes their story one step above this is that it gives the player choices to how they want to go through the story. There is a choice in the order of the story. The incredible story on top of this mechanic gives StarCraft a very big fun factor for their game.On the topic of decisions, let's briefly list and explain the types of decisions. There are 8 different types of decisions:
Hollow - no real consequences
Obvious - no real decision
Uninformed - an arbitrary choice
Informed - where the player has information
Dramatic - taps into a player's emotional state
Weighted - a balanced decision with consequences on both sides
Immediate - has an immediate impact
Long-Term - whose impact will be felt down the road
To end of this blog, I would like to discuss fun killers that need to be avoided. Excessive amounts of micromangement can kill the fun of a game. I have found this in StarCraft to be a fun killer at times but it is part of the challenge where it stretches the player's limits causing it to be fun. StarCraft stretches the player's limits just enough to not break it and kill the fun. Stagnation will also kill fun. Repetition, balance of power, and having a negative feedback loop will kill the fun in the game. I have also found that an insurmountable amount of obstacles will drain the fun out of games. Having arbitrary events will bring the fun down to a minimal. Finally, predictable paths will make the game boring from being to easy. Easy, boring games are not fun and should be avoided.Sunday, 24 November 2013
PVP Fight 2
Dark Matter.
This is my second pvp blog and this one is going to be on Emilian Cioca's game Dark Matter. I did not see or hear many people play this game but I got a chance to go at it and the game was pretty good. There was some room for improvement as well, so let me go into detail about what was good and what could have made the game better.
Let's start first with what the objective of the game is. This game is even more simple than the last one I did, even though they do still hold the same objective which is get to the other end of the level. There is very little to stop you from completing your objective. The only thing that is holding you back from reaching the other end of the level are three different colored blocks. The blocks are either red, black, or white. Depending on which color you are allows which one you can go through. So if you are a black particle, you can go through black bricks but not red or white ones. This is a cool mechanic because it can cause you to try and solve different problems with that. There is only one problem with that and it's the controls.
The controls in this game are almost non existent. You are only able to jump and change color. This can be a good thing because it is easy to learn and master. The problem with this is that the game forces you to constantly move to the end goal. This is how the game can become challenging. As I played I was anticipating quickly flipping through colors trying to make it through the level near the end. This brings me to my next point of challenge.
The challenge in this game was not as challenging as it should have been. There was a good increase between skill of the player and experience with the game for the beginning. The level went through teaching the player the mechanic of jumping first, then the mechanic of the different colors. It didn't take long to learn the colors so I expected the game to pick up and increase in difficulty from the tutorial. However, the speed in which your particle moved did not accelerate to a more difficult speed. The separation of colors did not decrease much either. It wasn't nearly as difficult as it could have been and that would have been a key improvement to the gam
eplay for the level.
In terms of the feedback in the game, there was very little. There were no sounds at all so there could've been great opportunities for auditory feedback. I think a simple, yet effective form of auditory feedback would be to have sounds for when you change colors. Another possible sound for feedback would be when an incoming block is being approached and the player isn't in the right color to pass through it. He does have visual feedback for when you are able to pass through a block which is good. When you are able to get through a block the block would turn transparent which is a nice way to visually show the player they are good to go. He also had good visual feedback of which color you have selected by directly changing the color of the particle.
I like the art in the game. It is very simple and sets a mood for the game. There is a nice color scheme to match the colors in game. I think the red should have been changed to blue and the white changed to purple to follow the color scheme for the rest of the level better. The colors would need to be bright blues and purples so they can be distinguished from each other easily and have some sort of way to stick out from the background.
In conclusion, I enjoyed playing this game but I don't feel the need to go and play it again. I would love to go back to the game on another level that was more difficult because I am one for a challenging game. The art was simply appealing and the gameplay mechanics were creative. I would give this level a 6/10, would play again on the condition that the next level is more challenging.
Let's start first with what the objective of the game is. This game is even more simple than the last one I did, even though they do still hold the same objective which is get to the other end of the level. There is very little to stop you from completing your objective. The only thing that is holding you back from reaching the other end of the level are three different colored blocks. The blocks are either red, black, or white. Depending on which color you are allows which one you can go through. So if you are a black particle, you can go through black bricks but not red or white ones. This is a cool mechanic because it can cause you to try and solve different problems with that. There is only one problem with that and it's the controls.
The controls in this game are almost non existent. You are only able to jump and change color. This can be a good thing because it is easy to learn and master. The problem with this is that the game forces you to constantly move to the end goal. This is how the game can become challenging. As I played I was anticipating quickly flipping through colors trying to make it through the level near the end. This brings me to my next point of challenge.
The challenge in this game was not as challenging as it should have been. There was a good increase between skill of the player and experience with the game for the beginning. The level went through teaching the player the mechanic of jumping first, then the mechanic of the different colors. It didn't take long to learn the colors so I expected the game to pick up and increase in difficulty from the tutorial. However, the speed in which your particle moved did not accelerate to a more difficult speed. The separation of colors did not decrease much either. It wasn't nearly as difficult as it could have been and that would have been a key improvement to the gameplay for the level.
In terms of the feedback in the game, there was very little. There were no sounds at all so there could've been great opportunities for auditory feedback. I think a simple, yet effective form of auditory feedback would be to have sounds for when you change colors. Another possible sound for feedback would be when an incoming block is being approached and the player isn't in the right color to pass through it. He does have visual feedback for when you are able to pass through a block which is good. When you are able to get through a block the block would turn transparent which is a nice way to visually show the player they are good to go. He also had good visual feedback of which color you have selected by directly changing the color of the particle.I like the art in the game. It is very simple and sets a mood for the game. There is a nice color scheme to match the colors in game. I think the red should have been changed to blue and the white changed to purple to follow the color scheme for the rest of the level better. The colors would need to be bright blues and purples so they can be distinguished from each other easily and have some sort of way to stick out from the background.
In conclusion, I enjoyed playing this game but I don't feel the need to go and play it again. I would love to go back to the game on another level that was more difficult because I am one for a challenging game. The art was simply appealing and the gameplay mechanics were creative. I would give this level a 6/10, would play again on the condition that the next level is more challenging.
PVP Fight
Hover Tank.
This is my first pvp blog and I have chosen to use Cameron Chodan's famous game Hover Tank. This game has been known as the claimer of souls for it's extremely challenging gameplay. His game teaches patience with really simple mechanics, smooth controls and decent aesthetics.
The objective of the game Hover Tank is to reach the end of the level. As anyone who has already lost their soul to this game, you will know that it is a side scroller game. This game has more objectives as you progress through the level. It begins with teaching simple mechanics like moving and moves on to jumping. Then when the platforms start moving it will teach you timing and the biggest lesson of the game, patience. The key to victory in Cam's game is timing and patience. Later in the game's level the objective graduates to activating triggers to open doors so you can move on to the finish. This is a simple to understand mechanic and it works well in a side scroller game.
Game objects that can be found in his side scroller would be the turrets that try to prevent you from completing your objectives, and triggers that will open doors. In his next level he adds pits with spikes at the bottom but for this level he just has bottomless pits.
In terms of difficulty, it has been made clear of how difficult this game can be. There is only a handful of other students who have actually beaten the level. The learning curve is too steep in the level. Although he does teach the all of the mechanics one at a time, which really helped make the game not be impossible, you get to a point in the level where you are stuck for majority of your play time because the difficulty is too high. A suggestion I would have made for this to improve the gameplay would have been to split the problems into smaller segments rather than having to do it all at once. This gives the player more relief knowing they don't have to do the same easy part of the problem every time they fail the hard part in the level.
The feedback in the game was very lacking. To start, there is no auditory feedback or any sounds at all for that matter. It would be nice to know by listening if a bullet is shot out of the turrets or if I need to hurry because something is on a timer. I did like the ant lines that were attached to the triggers in the level which gave you feedback as to what door or object they affected. He also has the ant lines change color when they are activated to give feedback. The lines also blink for timed triggers which is great feedback but I didn't realize this on my first playthrough. If there was even a picture with words saying that is what a blinking line means I would've got it. Another good form of feedback he could've added if he had controller was a vibration when the hover tank got hit by the bullets.
The controls are very simple. The player can use 'a' and 'd' to move left and right as well as 'space' to jump. These are standard controls for a side scroller. The controls were smooth and responsive. The only thing I would suggest for improvement is that the controls didn't have physics properties attached. The momentum that comes from jumping off of a platform can really cause problems for timing with jumps. This could just be a feature for Cam's level to add to the difficulty but I think this is a feature that this game could do without.
In conclusion, this game is very challenging. It is almost extremely frustrating, but it's just frustrating enough to want to beat it. Once you do beat it you feel very accomplished. I didn't really say too much about the art but I will say that it did not hinder the gameplay. If anything, the art worked well together and everything was very distinguishable. I would give Cam's level an 8/10 would play again. Well, I had to play it again for screen shots but I would probably play it another time.
This is my first pvp blog and I have chosen to use Cameron Chodan's famous game Hover Tank. This game has been known as the claimer of souls for it's extremely challenging gameplay. His game teaches patience with really simple mechanics, smooth controls and decent aesthetics.
The objective of the game Hover Tank is to reach the end of the level. As anyone who has already lost their soul to this game, you will know that it is a side scroller game. This game has more objectives as you progress through the level. It begins with teaching simple mechanics like moving and moves on to jumping. Then when the platforms start moving it will teach you timing and the biggest lesson of the game, patience. The key to victory in Cam's game is timing and patience. Later in the game's level the objective graduates to activating triggers to open doors so you can move on to the finish. This is a simple to understand mechanic and it works well in a side scroller game.
Game objects that can be found in his side scroller would be the turrets that try to prevent you from completing your objectives, and triggers that will open doors. In his next level he adds pits with spikes at the bottom but for this level he just has bottomless pits.
In terms of difficulty, it has been made clear of how difficult this game can be. There is only a handful of other students who have actually beaten the level. The learning curve is too steep in the level. Although he does teach the all of the mechanics one at a time, which really helped make the game not be impossible, you get to a point in the level where you are stuck for majority of your play time because the difficulty is too high. A suggestion I would have made for this to improve the gameplay would have been to split the problems into smaller segments rather than having to do it all at once. This gives the player more relief knowing they don't have to do the same easy part of the problem every time they fail the hard part in the level.
The feedback in the game was very lacking. To start, there is no auditory feedback or any sounds at all for that matter. It would be nice to know by listening if a bullet is shot out of the turrets or if I need to hurry because something is on a timer. I did like the ant lines that were attached to the triggers in the level which gave you feedback as to what door or object they affected. He also has the ant lines change color when they are activated to give feedback. The lines also blink for timed triggers which is great feedback but I didn't realize this on my first playthrough. If there was even a picture with words saying that is what a blinking line means I would've got it. Another good form of feedback he could've added if he had controller was a vibration when the hover tank got hit by the bullets.
The controls are very simple. The player can use 'a' and 'd' to move left and right as well as 'space' to jump. These are standard controls for a side scroller. The controls were smooth and responsive. The only thing I would suggest for improvement is that the controls didn't have physics properties attached. The momentum that comes from jumping off of a platform can really cause problems for timing with jumps. This could just be a feature for Cam's level to add to the difficulty but I think this is a feature that this game could do without.
In conclusion, this game is very challenging. It is almost extremely frustrating, but it's just frustrating enough to want to beat it. Once you do beat it you feel very accomplished. I didn't really say too much about the art but I will say that it did not hinder the gameplay. If anything, the art worked well together and everything was very distinguishable. I would give Cam's level an 8/10 would play again. Well, I had to play it again for screen shots but I would probably play it another time.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Skills, Goals, and Feedback
In this blog, I will be going over three different i like games. More specifically, I will talk about the feedback the game gives the player, the skills required and the goals in the game. The three games I am going to cover are SSX, Left 4 Dead, and StarCraft 2.
First off, in SSX there is lots of feedback given for many different scenarios. The one feedback I will be focusing on is the music. I really like when the player goes into super tricky mode, the music blends the song it's tricky and plays that while you are in super tricky mode. The song ends and blends back to your other song when the super tricky mode is over. The skills needed to play this game is how quickly you can gain and maintain super tricky mode. Once the player has access to super tricky they can move faster, and do better tricks. These are two different goals that will also be found in the game.
Next game is Left 4 Dead and this game has several different ways it shows feedback. One of the ways the player is given feedback is physically. When the player takes damage the controller vibrates to optimally give physical feedback. The most important skill in this game is teamwork. Without teamwork the survivors won't be able to make it to the safe house. This brings me to the goal of the game which is to make it to the safehouse alive.
Finally, I will address StarCraft2 and the feedback that is given in this game. There is a visual feedback provided in the game. This feedback is a blinking explanation mark on the minimap to show when something you own is under attack. Another example of visual feedback that's really nice is the green circle that shows up around your unit that is selected. Some skills that would be needed for this game would be the ability to micromanage groups of units while macro managing an economy and production of an army. The objective of this game is to eliminate the enemy player's base.
Those are the three games I have decided to talk about. I wanted to make sure I covered three different types of feedback. These three that I covered were: auditory, physical, and visual. I also wanted to make sure that in this blog there were three different skills and three different types of goals.
SSX, Left 4 Dead, and StarCraft2. Describe feedback generated. List the skills required. What type of skills do people enjoy that you could incorporate into the games i design.
Those are the three games I have decided to talk about. I wanted to make sure I covered three different types of feedback. These three that I covered were: auditory, physical, and visual. I also wanted to make sure that in this blog there were three different skills and three different types of goals.
SSX, Left 4 Dead, and StarCraft2. Describe feedback generated. List the skills required. What type of skills do people enjoy that you could incorporate into the games i design.
Reverse Scrowdriver 2
Welcome to my second reverse scrowdriver blog. Last time I took the game Monopoly and added a new mechanic to it. This blog will take the game checkers and add a mechanic to the classic board game. Here's my new mechanic:
If you get your king back to your side of the board, you can move any piece on the board anywhere on the board.
This mechanic will add a feature that will move game pieces out of spots that they are stuck in. This often happens in a game of checkers when a game piece starts on the side and then the opposing game piece is "camping" it's only move making it unable to move. Other instances of this are back pieces are blocked by pieces in front of them.
The mechanic will also apply to your opponents pieces. With this you can move their pieces into danger. This is balanced by still giving them the chance to move their piece away or having them jump your piece.
This new ability can also be a combo. The way how this can combo is if a king jumps a game piece that is one space from being a king, as it gets back to it's own side to activate the new mechanic, it can move an enemy game piece into the same spot for a combo.
Having this mechanic active will increase the flow of the late game. In checkers there is a lot of chasing each other's kings or regular game pieces. This mechanic will hopefully improve that problem.
This mechanic will add a feature that will move game pieces out of spots that they are stuck in. This often happens in a game of checkers when a game piece starts on the side and then the opposing game piece is "camping" it's only move making it unable to move. Other instances of this are back pieces are blocked by pieces in front of them.
The mechanic will also apply to your opponents pieces. With this you can move their pieces into danger. This is balanced by still giving them the chance to move their piece away or having them jump your piece.
This new ability can also be a combo. The way how this can combo is if a king jumps a game piece that is one space from being a king, as it gets back to it's own side to activate the new mechanic, it can move an enemy game piece into the same spot for a combo.
Having this mechanic active will increase the flow of the late game. In checkers there is a lot of chasing each other's kings or regular game pieces. This mechanic will hopefully improve that problem.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Crafting a Dekonstruer 2
I have decided to discuss the game atoms of SSX 2012.
For those who look at this and say TLDR I have three short videos at the bottom summarizing what I've written.
Players
The players in this game do not interact physically, only physically with the AI. What I mean by this is, when playing the campaign, which is offered to the player, you can push the AI as you snowboard in order to gain an edge over them. The multiplayer is player vs player in a free for all game style where everyone is pitted against each other. However, since the developers knew that not many people will be online at the same time, the online challenge only comes from the leaderboards. How they then populate the scene without player's playing the game at the same time as you, is that they created replays of other player's runs and they call them ghosts which are holographic replays of another player's run.
Objectives
There are three different objectives in this game and this goes for both of the single player and online play, and those are: race, trick, and survive. For race, the objective is to simply be the first one to the bottom of the mountain. With trick, you are trying to accumulate the highest score by lining up multiple tricks in a row while building and maintaining a combo. Finally in survive you try to escape or evade some form of elemental danger whether it be cold, low oxygen, rocks and trees, gravity, or even avalanches. Best way to complete these objectives is to explore the mountain run before attempting to set a highscore. The objectives that come with this game are: Race, Alignment, Escape, Construction, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
Rules
SSX does not enforce many rules in the gameplay. The major rule was the boundary in the game. Even though the mountains seem like you can go anywhere on it, there are invisible walls that will not bounce you back in to the world but instead suck you into a vortex that kills you. Other boundaries that kill you are the crevasses in the mountain that you can fall into.
Resources
In the game there is one major resource available and that is boost. The boost in the game allows you to be able to move faster. With this resource the player can get higher jumps to do more tricks, avoid danger easier, and make it to the bottom faster. To acquire this resource the player needs to complete tricks. Doing tricks adds to the amount of available boost. The game also offers a series of bonuses to boost, speed, trick score, and other perks for gear which can be considered resources since they need to be managed on your in game currency and when you need to use them for the runs down the hill.
Game States
One of the most noticeable game states in the game is if you are riding down the mountain. Other game states that are seen while playing the game are: idol in the helicopter, tricking, tricking in the air, tricking on a rail, using a wingsuit, a game state for each equipment and if they're being used, about to die, rewinding, tricky mode, super tricky mode, wipeout, and the finishing game state.
Information
The hud in this game provides specific information about the player's progress as well as what you are doing in terms of tricks. So in the top left it provides details such as your distance left on the mountain, speed, time for the run, and total distance traveled. The top right provides information on the other player's scores. At the bottom it shows details about your tricks like trick combo, trick score, total score, tricky state, and boost meter. There is also a status bar to tell the player how his equipment and health is doing. Everything is available to the player, the challenge ahead is what to do with all of this information.
Sequencing
When racing, the time puts a serious pressure on the player. They feel very eager to get to the bottom of the mountain. With the 3-2-1 Go! online mode that was released in a patch, it allows player's to take part in events such as race or trick in real time against each other in a free for all. This gives added tension to the player's as they play side by side without being able to see the goal they need to reach since it will be provided at the end when everyone has placed their score.
Player Interaction
As I said above, the player interaction is limited other than in the 3-2-1 Go! online mode and the competitive ladders. There is also a world events section where player's can spend in game currency to compete against each other in the attempts to win other's in game currency. Other forms of player interaction is this game mechanic called a Geotag. What a Geotag is exactly, is a marker in the world that any player can put in the world, if any player playing the game does not go to the same spot in their game where you put the marker, you achieve maximum in game currency the Geotag awards you. However, if a player does then you achieve less and the other player will gain in game currency. This is how player's can interact with each other.
Theme/Setting
Similarly in my previous Dekonstruer, I said that Greg Hasting's Paintball 2 was going for realism, SSX 2012 went for the same thing as you will see in the video I posted below. With the realistic physics for the avalanche as well as movement and control of the character, it feels very realistic and immersive. Another way they simulated realism is by using real life mountain ranges with real mountains. They also took real life environment dangers and used then as mechanics you need to survive. Only difference between my first game I analyzed and SSX 2012, is that the developers wanted to pertain to their former audience which really liked their old SSX games that were outright over the top in scale and humor. That's the only thing that draws the game from a full try hard mode to be completely realistic like Greg Hasting's Paintball.
To conclude, I leave you with a few videos of some gameplay as well as what I see to be dev diaries of the game. They cover just about everything I mention in this blog.
For those who look at this and say TLDR I have three short videos at the bottom summarizing what I've written.
Players
The players in this game do not interact physically, only physically with the AI. What I mean by this is, when playing the campaign, which is offered to the player, you can push the AI as you snowboard in order to gain an edge over them. The multiplayer is player vs player in a free for all game style where everyone is pitted against each other. However, since the developers knew that not many people will be online at the same time, the online challenge only comes from the leaderboards. How they then populate the scene without player's playing the game at the same time as you, is that they created replays of other player's runs and they call them ghosts which are holographic replays of another player's run.
Objectives
There are three different objectives in this game and this goes for both of the single player and online play, and those are: race, trick, and survive. For race, the objective is to simply be the first one to the bottom of the mountain. With trick, you are trying to accumulate the highest score by lining up multiple tricks in a row while building and maintaining a combo. Finally in survive you try to escape or evade some form of elemental danger whether it be cold, low oxygen, rocks and trees, gravity, or even avalanches. Best way to complete these objectives is to explore the mountain run before attempting to set a highscore. The objectives that come with this game are: Race, Alignment, Escape, Construction, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
Rules
SSX does not enforce many rules in the gameplay. The major rule was the boundary in the game. Even though the mountains seem like you can go anywhere on it, there are invisible walls that will not bounce you back in to the world but instead suck you into a vortex that kills you. Other boundaries that kill you are the crevasses in the mountain that you can fall into.
Resources
In the game there is one major resource available and that is boost. The boost in the game allows you to be able to move faster. With this resource the player can get higher jumps to do more tricks, avoid danger easier, and make it to the bottom faster. To acquire this resource the player needs to complete tricks. Doing tricks adds to the amount of available boost. The game also offers a series of bonuses to boost, speed, trick score, and other perks for gear which can be considered resources since they need to be managed on your in game currency and when you need to use them for the runs down the hill.
Game States
One of the most noticeable game states in the game is if you are riding down the mountain. Other game states that are seen while playing the game are: idol in the helicopter, tricking, tricking in the air, tricking on a rail, using a wingsuit, a game state for each equipment and if they're being used, about to die, rewinding, tricky mode, super tricky mode, wipeout, and the finishing game state.
Information
The hud in this game provides specific information about the player's progress as well as what you are doing in terms of tricks. So in the top left it provides details such as your distance left on the mountain, speed, time for the run, and total distance traveled. The top right provides information on the other player's scores. At the bottom it shows details about your tricks like trick combo, trick score, total score, tricky state, and boost meter. There is also a status bar to tell the player how his equipment and health is doing. Everything is available to the player, the challenge ahead is what to do with all of this information.
Sequencing
When racing, the time puts a serious pressure on the player. They feel very eager to get to the bottom of the mountain. With the 3-2-1 Go! online mode that was released in a patch, it allows player's to take part in events such as race or trick in real time against each other in a free for all. This gives added tension to the player's as they play side by side without being able to see the goal they need to reach since it will be provided at the end when everyone has placed their score.
Player Interaction
As I said above, the player interaction is limited other than in the 3-2-1 Go! online mode and the competitive ladders. There is also a world events section where player's can spend in game currency to compete against each other in the attempts to win other's in game currency. Other forms of player interaction is this game mechanic called a Geotag. What a Geotag is exactly, is a marker in the world that any player can put in the world, if any player playing the game does not go to the same spot in their game where you put the marker, you achieve maximum in game currency the Geotag awards you. However, if a player does then you achieve less and the other player will gain in game currency. This is how player's can interact with each other.
Theme/Setting
Similarly in my previous Dekonstruer, I said that Greg Hasting's Paintball 2 was going for realism, SSX 2012 went for the same thing as you will see in the video I posted below. With the realistic physics for the avalanche as well as movement and control of the character, it feels very realistic and immersive. Another way they simulated realism is by using real life mountain ranges with real mountains. They also took real life environment dangers and used then as mechanics you need to survive. Only difference between my first game I analyzed and SSX 2012, is that the developers wanted to pertain to their former audience which really liked their old SSX games that were outright over the top in scale and humor. That's the only thing that draws the game from a full try hard mode to be completely realistic like Greg Hasting's Paintball.
To conclude, I leave you with a few videos of some gameplay as well as what I see to be dev diaries of the game. They cover just about everything I mention in this blog.
Crafting a Dekonstruer
I have decided to discuss the game atoms of Greg Hasting's Paintball. This game is a paintball simulator for multiple platforms.
Players
This game offers a single player campaign as well as a versus mode. With this, the player can play against the AI or other players and they then have the choice to do it locally or online. There is cooperative versus AI as well since you can add AI to the versus games.
Objectives
There are different game modes that each give different game objectives. The game modes are the same for both the single player campaign and the online experience. The game modes available consist of elimination, capture the flag, and center flag. These were the only game modes in the first game, when Greg Hastings Paintball 2 came out they added extra objectives such as Point Capture, Assault, and Sniper & Recon.
Rules
The standard rules that are associated with this game reflect the rules from in the actual paintball sport since they tried to simulate the sport into a video game as closely as possible. These rules would be the boundaries of play, the objective at hand must be completed to win, establish the time of play per rounds, determine teams for the match, set the start point for teams, understand when a player has a solid nickel sized mark anywhere on the body or equipment that they are out, players can call paint check if they aren't sure that they are out, anyone who is out must raise their hand and exit the play area. Also follow all safety rules like wearing a mask at all times etc. The rules of play are very flexible depending on where you play and what game type you play.
Resources
There are two resources that the player needs to manage during play and that is their paint or ammo, and the compressed air they use to fire the paint. The paint can be reloaded at any point but they only have a certain amount they can reload in a match. The player's can't reload their air tanks during a round so they need to pick a tank that can last them the match and fire the amount of paint they can carry during a round.
Game States
There are only a few noticeable game states when playing. There is active in the round or shot out. If the game were to be saved at any point in the game, some information that would need to be saved would start with if the player is in or out, then if they're in the info needed for a save would be position, orientation, stance, amount of paint, amount of paint refills, and amount of compressed air. The same info would be needed for each AI in the round. Lastly, objective information would also be needed such as how many flags have been captured or how many players are out.
Information
Most of the gamestate information for others in the round is not visible to you. You are only given your own information and then your teammate's positions. This is done because the opponent is trying to shoot you, so you want to conceal as much information about yourself as possible. The opponent will try to do the same thing because you have the same goal as your opponent which is to shoot him.
Sequencing
\When it comes to the sequencing of play for Greg Hastings Paintball, the start of a speedball match can be frantic since you are exposed initially. The game is hot, fast paced, and intense from start to finish but there is a moment of what feels like silence once each player is in their spot. The real time play allows for the gameplay to be quick and thrilling.
Player Interaction
So there are two different ways players can interact in this game. The players on your team can share information with you about where the opponents are and the opponents have a direct conflict with you.
Theme/Setting
The theme of the game for Greg Hastings Paintball is authenticity. They tried to simulate replicate settings seen in the actual sport such as professional speed ball tournaments with professional and rookie AI's all named after actual players. The tournament setup is similar to real life and so is the way each arena layout is designed. Even the weapons and accessories are all authentic replicas of their real life counterpart.
To conclude, I really like what the development team did when making this game. They did a great job pulling off the authentic paintball experience for only the price of the game. Anyone who knows paintball knows the price, pain, and problems that come from playing paintball, so the development of this game has turned the sport into an enjoyable experience for all. I remember when I played on my team the viewers had a hard time spectating games especially when we played in the woods.
Players
This game offers a single player campaign as well as a versus mode. With this, the player can play against the AI or other players and they then have the choice to do it locally or online. There is cooperative versus AI as well since you can add AI to the versus games.
Objectives
There are different game modes that each give different game objectives. The game modes are the same for both the single player campaign and the online experience. The game modes available consist of elimination, capture the flag, and center flag. These were the only game modes in the first game, when Greg Hastings Paintball 2 came out they added extra objectives such as Point Capture, Assault, and Sniper & Recon.
Rules
The standard rules that are associated with this game reflect the rules from in the actual paintball sport since they tried to simulate the sport into a video game as closely as possible. These rules would be the boundaries of play, the objective at hand must be completed to win, establish the time of play per rounds, determine teams for the match, set the start point for teams, understand when a player has a solid nickel sized mark anywhere on the body or equipment that they are out, players can call paint check if they aren't sure that they are out, anyone who is out must raise their hand and exit the play area. Also follow all safety rules like wearing a mask at all times etc. The rules of play are very flexible depending on where you play and what game type you play.
Resources
There are two resources that the player needs to manage during play and that is their paint or ammo, and the compressed air they use to fire the paint. The paint can be reloaded at any point but they only have a certain amount they can reload in a match. The player's can't reload their air tanks during a round so they need to pick a tank that can last them the match and fire the amount of paint they can carry during a round.
Game States
There are only a few noticeable game states when playing. There is active in the round or shot out. If the game were to be saved at any point in the game, some information that would need to be saved would start with if the player is in or out, then if they're in the info needed for a save would be position, orientation, stance, amount of paint, amount of paint refills, and amount of compressed air. The same info would be needed for each AI in the round. Lastly, objective information would also be needed such as how many flags have been captured or how many players are out.
Information
Most of the gamestate information for others in the round is not visible to you. You are only given your own information and then your teammate's positions. This is done because the opponent is trying to shoot you, so you want to conceal as much information about yourself as possible. The opponent will try to do the same thing because you have the same goal as your opponent which is to shoot him.
Sequencing
\When it comes to the sequencing of play for Greg Hastings Paintball, the start of a speedball match can be frantic since you are exposed initially. The game is hot, fast paced, and intense from start to finish but there is a moment of what feels like silence once each player is in their spot. The real time play allows for the gameplay to be quick and thrilling.
Player Interaction
So there are two different ways players can interact in this game. The players on your team can share information with you about where the opponents are and the opponents have a direct conflict with you.
Theme/Setting
The theme of the game for Greg Hastings Paintball is authenticity. They tried to simulate replicate settings seen in the actual sport such as professional speed ball tournaments with professional and rookie AI's all named after actual players. The tournament setup is similar to real life and so is the way each arena layout is designed. Even the weapons and accessories are all authentic replicas of their real life counterpart.
To conclude, I really like what the development team did when making this game. They did a great job pulling off the authentic paintball experience for only the price of the game. Anyone who knows paintball knows the price, pain, and problems that come from playing paintball, so the development of this game has turned the sport into an enjoyable experience for all. I remember when I played on my team the viewers had a hard time spectating games especially when we played in the woods.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Balancing
In my next blog about the content I learn in lectures, I will talk about balancing in games. Now balancing usually comes in near the end of the development cycle but all sorts of balancing can be made before that. For example, in our game Aeolus we needed to do some tweaking for the flying to make sure it was skill balanced. Making sure it wasn't too difficult while maintaining realistic helicopter flying.
When it comes to balancing, there are four different types, I mentioned one of them already and that was skill balancing. The other three types of balancing are: variables, dynamics, and starting conditions.
We will be balancing the variables of the attack and armor for the players and enemies once the attacking is put into the game. This will help improve the quality and fun of the game. To define variable balancing it would be to take the game objects properties such as attack and armor and change their numbers to work with other game objects they interact with.
I don't think we will encounter dynamics balancing until next semester when there are PvP matches in our game. As we balance we want to avoid dominant objects, making sure that there are no "super" units in the game. Every object in the game needs to have it's advantage and drawback. For example, in our game we have a laser that shoots fast but does little damage. So it will be good for light units but bad against armored units.
Our game avoids move issues with positions since we are a helicopter game. There is not much balancing needed for positions unlike in CoD where there would be lots of balancing for positions to avoid campers and spawn campers.
As we talk about spawn, for the next semester when we have multiplayer, spawning in our game will be important. We will have cross map symmetrical spawning, and to avoid spawn camping there will be no respawns.
There are different techniques for game balancing. The four main techniques for game balancing are:
Think Modular
Purity of Purpose
One Change at a Time
Spreadsheets
The technique we are currently, One Change at a Time, has been really effective so far. We don't have much to balance at the moment. I am seeing in the future, once we have lots of different components that can be attached to the helicopter, spreadsheets will be very effective for balancing the game mechanics.
When it comes to balancing, there are four different types, I mentioned one of them already and that was skill balancing. The other three types of balancing are: variables, dynamics, and starting conditions.
We will be balancing the variables of the attack and armor for the players and enemies once the attacking is put into the game. This will help improve the quality and fun of the game. To define variable balancing it would be to take the game objects properties such as attack and armor and change their numbers to work with other game objects they interact with.
I don't think we will encounter dynamics balancing until next semester when there are PvP matches in our game. As we balance we want to avoid dominant objects, making sure that there are no "super" units in the game. Every object in the game needs to have it's advantage and drawback. For example, in our game we have a laser that shoots fast but does little damage. So it will be good for light units but bad against armored units.
Our game avoids move issues with positions since we are a helicopter game. There is not much balancing needed for positions unlike in CoD where there would be lots of balancing for positions to avoid campers and spawn campers.
As we talk about spawn, for the next semester when we have multiplayer, spawning in our game will be important. We will have cross map symmetrical spawning, and to avoid spawn camping there will be no respawns.
There are different techniques for game balancing. The four main techniques for game balancing are:
Think Modular
Purity of Purpose
One Change at a Time
Spreadsheets
The technique we are currently, One Change at a Time, has been really effective so far. We don't have much to balance at the moment. I am seeing in the future, once we have lots of different components that can be attached to the helicopter, spreadsheets will be very effective for balancing the game mechanics.
Reward Systems
Welcome to my next blog on what I learn in class. This week I will be going over reward systems in games. Let's jump right into it.
Initially in our class we went over the eight reward forms from Wang and Sun.
1. Score Systems
2. Experience Leveling Systems
3. Item Granting System Reward
4. Collectible and Usable Resources
5. Achievements Systems
6. Feedback Messages
7. Plot Animations and Pictures
8. Unlocking Mechanisms
After the different forms of rewards we discussed the four reward characteristics.
1. Social value of rewards (show skills, compare level)
2. Effect of reward on gameplay
3. Suitability of a reward for collection and review
4. Time required to earn or receive a reward
There are a lot of lists in this lesson so I want to be able to get through them all quickly. On the next list we have hoe player's use these rewards.
1. Advancement - progress in skill and power
2. Review - entertainment, accomplishment, memories
3. Sociality - establish social status
4. Cooperate/Compete - sharing resources, set items
Next up we have Schell's Reward Categories in Games. There are 9 different categories.
Praise
Points
Prolonged Play
A gateway
Spectacle
Expression
Powers
Resources
Completion
When Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning he came up with another list of three.
Pavlov's dogs - salivation triggers, metronome vs food
Stimulus - neutral/unconditioned, conditioned
Response - neutral/unconditioned, conditioned
Now there are three types of game rewards. With these come two engagement processes, wanting and liking. Wanting a reward gives the player ambition and drive. Liking the reward makes it fun and a delight.
Emotional
Individual
Collective
Tom Chatfield has for us, another list of 7. This one contains game reward lessons.
1. Experience bars measuring progress
2. Multiple long and short-term aims
3. Rewards for effort
4. Rapid, frequent, clear feedback
5. An element of uncertainty
6. Windows of enhanced attention (memory and confidence)
7. Other people (strong social pull of collaboration)
The list that goes with the motivations for a player to achieve these rewards. The list after will be for abilities and then opportunities.
1. Make people aware - form mental models
2. Help people understand - connect to emotions, values
3. Make people care - appeal to and satisfy needs
Ability
Goal-setting and Supporting Visions
Mindfulness and Willpower
Self-efficacy
Actual Ability
Habits
Social Support
Opportunity
Time - rhythms and timings
Space - action opportunities
Cues - create wanted and remove unwanted cues
Reminders
The final list I have in today's blog is increasing the engagement of the player for achieving the awards.
Completeness
Positive Reinforcement
Loss Aversion
Saving for tomorrow
The power of Free
Susceptible Moments.
To finish off this blog, I would like to talk about how we plan to implement rewards in our game Aeolus. So the reward we are looking to have is a score system for the first semester. The score will accumulate as you destroy turrets and complete objectives. Next semester we plan to upgrade our reward systems to Item Granting System Reward as well as Collectible and Usable Resources. The way how we plan to do these are to give the player in game items after completing objectives and reaching a certain score in the game. These items will be collectible items and resources that the player can use later in the game.
We wanted to also add Plot animations and pictures with our art gallery but when our game gets displayed at game con, it won't be available for anyone to see since it would all be locked. But it would be extra rewards just like the parts to the helicopter.
Initially in our class we went over the eight reward forms from Wang and Sun.
1. Score Systems
2. Experience Leveling Systems
3. Item Granting System Reward
4. Collectible and Usable Resources
5. Achievements Systems
6. Feedback Messages
7. Plot Animations and Pictures
8. Unlocking Mechanisms
After the different forms of rewards we discussed the four reward characteristics.
1. Social value of rewards (show skills, compare level)
2. Effect of reward on gameplay
3. Suitability of a reward for collection and review
4. Time required to earn or receive a reward
There are a lot of lists in this lesson so I want to be able to get through them all quickly. On the next list we have hoe player's use these rewards.
1. Advancement - progress in skill and power
2. Review - entertainment, accomplishment, memories
3. Sociality - establish social status
4. Cooperate/Compete - sharing resources, set items
Next up we have Schell's Reward Categories in Games. There are 9 different categories.
Praise
Points
Prolonged Play
A gateway
Spectacle
Expression
Powers
Resources
Completion
When Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning he came up with another list of three.
Pavlov's dogs - salivation triggers, metronome vs food
Stimulus - neutral/unconditioned, conditioned
Response - neutral/unconditioned, conditioned
Now there are three types of game rewards. With these come two engagement processes, wanting and liking. Wanting a reward gives the player ambition and drive. Liking the reward makes it fun and a delight.
Emotional
Individual
Collective
Tom Chatfield has for us, another list of 7. This one contains game reward lessons.
1. Experience bars measuring progress
2. Multiple long and short-term aims
3. Rewards for effort
4. Rapid, frequent, clear feedback
5. An element of uncertainty
6. Windows of enhanced attention (memory and confidence)
7. Other people (strong social pull of collaboration)
The list that goes with the motivations for a player to achieve these rewards. The list after will be for abilities and then opportunities.
1. Make people aware - form mental models
2. Help people understand - connect to emotions, values
3. Make people care - appeal to and satisfy needs
Ability
Goal-setting and Supporting Visions
Mindfulness and Willpower
Self-efficacy
Actual Ability
Habits
Social Support
Opportunity
Time - rhythms and timings
Space - action opportunities
Cues - create wanted and remove unwanted cues
Reminders
The final list I have in today's blog is increasing the engagement of the player for achieving the awards.
Completeness
Positive Reinforcement
Loss Aversion
Saving for tomorrow
The power of Free
Susceptible Moments.
To finish off this blog, I would like to talk about how we plan to implement rewards in our game Aeolus. So the reward we are looking to have is a score system for the first semester. The score will accumulate as you destroy turrets and complete objectives. Next semester we plan to upgrade our reward systems to Item Granting System Reward as well as Collectible and Usable Resources. The way how we plan to do these are to give the player in game items after completing objectives and reaching a certain score in the game. These items will be collectible items and resources that the player can use later in the game.
We wanted to also add Plot animations and pictures with our art gallery but when our game gets displayed at game con, it won't be available for anyone to see since it would all be locked. But it would be extra rewards just like the parts to the helicopter.
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Properties of Living Structures
In this blog I will be going over Alexanders 15 properties of living structures. In Christopher Alexander's more recent work he claims these are properties of natural, as well as deisnged, beauty. These properties of good design are supportive of life and growth. These can be applied to different things but today I will apply it to the game Assassin's Creed. Below I've listed the 15 and under each I will provide briefly what it is and how it is seen in the game Assassin's Creed.
Alexander's 15 Properties of Living Structures
Levels of Scale
Where there are large scale architectural designs. In assassins creed there are many buildings that from the top, the player can view pretty much the entire play space.
Strong Centers
This is when there are strong areas of focus or weight to an environment or entity in the game. When using eagle vision you get a good example of strong centers where there is a strong focus on your goals and other entities in the world.
Boundaries
These are limitations for space, rules, and actions. In assassins creed you are acting out a memory and certain walls, if crossed, will cause a memory desync.
Alternating Repetition
This is when there is a repetition of elements to give sense of order and harmony. In assassins creed much of the architecture in the game looks similar and the missions are also similar. More importantly, the alternating factor would be switching missions, go assassinate this person, go talk to so and so, steal this, buy this, then go assassinate this other person.
Positive Space
This is where the shapes in the scene compliment each other and that the background reinforces rather than detracts. Assassins creed did a good job of this making sure they had complementary architecture and even colors.
Good Shape
Having simple forms that are pleasing. In assassins creed the buildings are really well shaped so that it was pleasing for the player.
Local Symmetries
Have small entities and environments with internal symmetry. In assassins creed the horse carriages and ships are very symmetrical.
Deep Interlock and Ambiguity
This is when the designer loops the interconnected structures to promote unity and grace. Like scaling a building then using eagle eye in assassins creed to spot your target, dropping a smoke bomb and performing an aerial assassination on your target and his guard.
Contrast
Use strong opposites to achieve forcus between the friendlies and opponents. For example, the assassins mostly wear white and the templar mostly wear black.
Gradients
Proportional use of space and patterns to promote harmony in the story for example. This is like how in assassins creed they gradually increase the challenge curve by adding more complex environment puzzles that you need to get your character through to reach the end goal.
Roughness
Texture and imperfection conveys uniqueness and life. Similarly in assassins creed, there are buildings that are old and broken down.
Echoes
This is a pleasing, unifying repetition in the environment and story. So in assassins creed, you had a satisfying repetition of assassinating enemies bosses.
The Void
This is when one creates calm and contrast through empty spaces or pauses in challenge. For example, when the player is free roaming and they climb to the top of a building for a sync.
Simplicity and Inner Calm
This is where there are simple rules and mechanics and you only use the essentials. This is most often seen early in the game as you only have what you need to kill someone in the most bare way, you wouldn't have fellow assassins, bombs, guns, throwing knives, traps, etc. I would see the player only having their assassins blade and a sword.
Not-separateness
This is when all the elements in the game are connected and complementary. For example, the player is scaling a building then using eagle eye in assassins creed to spot your target, dropping a smoke bomb and performing an aerial assassination on your target and his guard.
These 15 properties of living structures really enhance the visual experience of the player. It can really bring out the "beauty" of a game.
Alexander's 15 Properties of Living Structures
Levels of Scale
Where there are large scale architectural designs. In assassins creed there are many buildings that from the top, the player can view pretty much the entire play space.
Strong Centers
This is when there are strong areas of focus or weight to an environment or entity in the game. When using eagle vision you get a good example of strong centers where there is a strong focus on your goals and other entities in the world.
Boundaries
These are limitations for space, rules, and actions. In assassins creed you are acting out a memory and certain walls, if crossed, will cause a memory desync.
Alternating Repetition
This is when there is a repetition of elements to give sense of order and harmony. In assassins creed much of the architecture in the game looks similar and the missions are also similar. More importantly, the alternating factor would be switching missions, go assassinate this person, go talk to so and so, steal this, buy this, then go assassinate this other person.
Positive Space
This is where the shapes in the scene compliment each other and that the background reinforces rather than detracts. Assassins creed did a good job of this making sure they had complementary architecture and even colors.
Good Shape
Having simple forms that are pleasing. In assassins creed the buildings are really well shaped so that it was pleasing for the player.
Local Symmetries
Have small entities and environments with internal symmetry. In assassins creed the horse carriages and ships are very symmetrical.
Deep Interlock and Ambiguity
This is when the designer loops the interconnected structures to promote unity and grace. Like scaling a building then using eagle eye in assassins creed to spot your target, dropping a smoke bomb and performing an aerial assassination on your target and his guard.
Contrast
Use strong opposites to achieve forcus between the friendlies and opponents. For example, the assassins mostly wear white and the templar mostly wear black.
Gradients
Proportional use of space and patterns to promote harmony in the story for example. This is like how in assassins creed they gradually increase the challenge curve by adding more complex environment puzzles that you need to get your character through to reach the end goal.
Roughness
Texture and imperfection conveys uniqueness and life. Similarly in assassins creed, there are buildings that are old and broken down.
Echoes
This is a pleasing, unifying repetition in the environment and story. So in assassins creed, you had a satisfying repetition of assassinating enemies bosses.
The Void
This is when one creates calm and contrast through empty spaces or pauses in challenge. For example, when the player is free roaming and they climb to the top of a building for a sync.
Simplicity and Inner Calm
This is where there are simple rules and mechanics and you only use the essentials. This is most often seen early in the game as you only have what you need to kill someone in the most bare way, you wouldn't have fellow assassins, bombs, guns, throwing knives, traps, etc. I would see the player only having their assassins blade and a sword.
Not-separateness
This is when all the elements in the game are connected and complementary. For example, the player is scaling a building then using eagle eye in assassins creed to spot your target, dropping a smoke bomb and performing an aerial assassination on your target and his guard.
These 15 properties of living structures really enhance the visual experience of the player. It can really bring out the "beauty" of a game.
Play Spaces and Level Design
Welcome back to my blog!
Today I will be going over what we learned in class about play spaces and level design. To recap really quickly, game designers design the gameplay rules and level designers design how a player is confronted with them.
Now, level design is putting theory into practice. The theory of what I have been talking about in my blogs for the lectures in my class is applied to the structure of a level. The golden rule of level design is to be consistent. The mechanics need to stay the same. If the player needs skills for a level that you have not taught yet, don't make them do it.
Incremental learning in level design for example, would be if you find a new weapon, learn a new ability, or from a designers perspective, find a new mechanic in the game, the player would then be taught how to use this new mechanic. It is important to break down the core components of this new mechanic and make sure the rules are understood. Proceed to challenge the player with their new mechanic by putting obstacles that challenges their skill of the new mechanic.
For example, in our game Aeolus, we have a complicated mechanic of flying and shooting so we will make sure that the flying is well understood before the player is given the ability to shoot. We will further break down the flying mechanic by giving them an easy tutorial of flying from one point to another with no obstruction and when they are comfortable, add some obstacles to their path from one objective to the next.
The same would apply to the shooting mechanic, we will teach them to shoot at a static object that will not be shooting back, then when they are comfortable with that we will add the obstacle of the turret shooting back. From here we would start to add any other mechanics that the player needs to learn.
What do you teach players? Well you need to teach them the physical rules and limitations of the environment. The abilities the player's in-game character has is also important to teach the player. The enemies behaviors are also important to teach the player. Most importantly, the game's reward system is critical for the player to know or else they do not know what they are playing for.
There are three types of levels, linear, semi linear, and non linear levels. Linear levels are good for their consistency, story development, and pacing. The learning curve is also good. Semi-linear levels are good because they create the illusion of freedom where there is enough freedom for players to feel they are authoring their experience. NonLinear levels are great to give the player maximum control and a sense of gameplay ownership. Some problems with each type of level would be linear constrains player's freedom, semi-linear leaves players to their own devices at inappropriate times. Non-linear levels are extremely hard to test and that can give many loopholes in gameplay logic.
Today I will be going over what we learned in class about play spaces and level design. To recap really quickly, game designers design the gameplay rules and level designers design how a player is confronted with them.
Now, level design is putting theory into practice. The theory of what I have been talking about in my blogs for the lectures in my class is applied to the structure of a level. The golden rule of level design is to be consistent. The mechanics need to stay the same. If the player needs skills for a level that you have not taught yet, don't make them do it.
Incremental learning in level design for example, would be if you find a new weapon, learn a new ability, or from a designers perspective, find a new mechanic in the game, the player would then be taught how to use this new mechanic. It is important to break down the core components of this new mechanic and make sure the rules are understood. Proceed to challenge the player with their new mechanic by putting obstacles that challenges their skill of the new mechanic.
For example, in our game Aeolus, we have a complicated mechanic of flying and shooting so we will make sure that the flying is well understood before the player is given the ability to shoot. We will further break down the flying mechanic by giving them an easy tutorial of flying from one point to another with no obstruction and when they are comfortable, add some obstacles to their path from one objective to the next.
The same would apply to the shooting mechanic, we will teach them to shoot at a static object that will not be shooting back, then when they are comfortable with that we will add the obstacle of the turret shooting back. From here we would start to add any other mechanics that the player needs to learn.
What do you teach players? Well you need to teach them the physical rules and limitations of the environment. The abilities the player's in-game character has is also important to teach the player. The enemies behaviors are also important to teach the player. Most importantly, the game's reward system is critical for the player to know or else they do not know what they are playing for.
There are three types of levels, linear, semi linear, and non linear levels. Linear levels are good for their consistency, story development, and pacing. The learning curve is also good. Semi-linear levels are good because they create the illusion of freedom where there is enough freedom for players to feel they are authoring their experience. NonLinear levels are great to give the player maximum control and a sense of gameplay ownership. Some problems with each type of level would be linear constrains player's freedom, semi-linear leaves players to their own devices at inappropriate times. Non-linear levels are extremely hard to test and that can give many loopholes in gameplay logic.
Friday, 15 November 2013
Objectives In My Favorite Games
Welcome back!
In this blog I am going to discuss the objectives in some of my favorite games. The bonus to this blog is you will learn my top ten favorite games currently. This list was very difficult to come up with since there are so many good games out since I've started gaming and so many I see right over the release horizon. Well with this list I tried to stick to the games that have recently been released.
As a reminder, my games have multiplayer but I'm only going to refer to their single player since not everyone has the ability to play their game online. If you haven't read my second blog about the elements of a game I recommend you go read up on the objectives part of that blog since this blog will be referencing that section. So lets get right to it.
Ten Favorite Games
10 Halo
I've been playing the Halo series since the very first one on the original Xbox. The objectives in this game are: Rescue or Escape, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
9 Call of Duty
I have a feeling this game will make it onto most gamers top ten but I don't think it would be so far away from number 1 on everyone else's list. There are just so many better games than the CoD series in my opinion. The objectives in this game are: Chase, Race, Rescue or Escape, and solution.
8 Left 4 Dead
This game has logged many hours with friends of mine during my last summer before university. It's a great game with many game mechanics that blend together really well. The objectives in this one are: Race, Rescue or Escape, Solution, and Outwit.
7 Dead Rising
I spent the last couple weeks of my summer before third year beating this game over and over again with my buddy James. The objectives in this one are: Rescue or escape, construction, exploration, solution, and outwit.
6 Guitar Hero / Rock Band
I have been playing Guitar Hero since the second one was released and from time to time I still love to shred the plastic guitar with friends on weekends. The objectives in this one is simply Alignment.
5 SSX
I just recently got into SSX since it was released in 2012 but before it's release I was playing a different snowboarding game called Amped 3 which wasn't quite as fun so SSX takes spot five. The objecties in this one are: Capture, Chase, Race, Escape, and Exploration.
4 Battlefield
Instead of going to an after party for prom at somewhere like Wasaga I played BF:BC2 for almost 2 weeks straight and it was way better than some party on a beach. I still play Battlefield over CoD any day. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Solution, and Outwit.
3 GTA
Since the release of GTA3 I have been hooked on this game and it's amazing free roam world. I still play GTA5 today and I have played everything in between. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Chase, Race, Rescue and Escape, Forbidden Act, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
2 Gears of War
Owning the entire Gears series and even purchasing the limited edition Gears of War 3 plus the emblem as my lock screen on my phone as well as nearly buying the life size retro lancer and comic con puts this game at number Two in my books. I would have to say my favorite of the four games would be the third Gears game and that Judgement is my least favorite. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Chase, Rescue and Escape, Solution, and Outwit.
1 StarCraft
Finally the number one game out there is StarCraft. For anyone who knows me this is very clearly obvious since I have almost everything StarCraft from my mouse pad, to posters, collector edition copies of the games, and Sarah Kerrigan just about everywhere on my computers. I have played this game the longest out of any game I've ever played since I have been playing it from the release in 1998. This also means I have been playing this game since I was 5 years old. So, the objectives in this one are: Solution, and Outwit.
Honorable mention: NHL
The NHL games make the honorable mentions for my list of top ten favorite games. The objectives in this one are Solution, and Outwit.
Capture, Chase, Race, Alignment, Rescue or Escape, Forbidden Act, Construction, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
In this blog I am going to discuss the objectives in some of my favorite games. The bonus to this blog is you will learn my top ten favorite games currently. This list was very difficult to come up with since there are so many good games out since I've started gaming and so many I see right over the release horizon. Well with this list I tried to stick to the games that have recently been released.
As a reminder, my games have multiplayer but I'm only going to refer to their single player since not everyone has the ability to play their game online. If you haven't read my second blog about the elements of a game I recommend you go read up on the objectives part of that blog since this blog will be referencing that section. So lets get right to it.
Ten Favorite Games
10 Halo
I've been playing the Halo series since the very first one on the original Xbox. The objectives in this game are: Rescue or Escape, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
9 Call of Duty
I have a feeling this game will make it onto most gamers top ten but I don't think it would be so far away from number 1 on everyone else's list. There are just so many better games than the CoD series in my opinion. The objectives in this game are: Chase, Race, Rescue or Escape, and solution.
8 Left 4 Dead
This game has logged many hours with friends of mine during my last summer before university. It's a great game with many game mechanics that blend together really well. The objectives in this one are: Race, Rescue or Escape, Solution, and Outwit.
7 Dead Rising
I spent the last couple weeks of my summer before third year beating this game over and over again with my buddy James. The objectives in this one are: Rescue or escape, construction, exploration, solution, and outwit.
6 Guitar Hero / Rock Band
I have been playing Guitar Hero since the second one was released and from time to time I still love to shred the plastic guitar with friends on weekends. The objectives in this one is simply Alignment.
5 SSX
I just recently got into SSX since it was released in 2012 but before it's release I was playing a different snowboarding game called Amped 3 which wasn't quite as fun so SSX takes spot five. The objecties in this one are: Capture, Chase, Race, Escape, and Exploration.
4 Battlefield
Instead of going to an after party for prom at somewhere like Wasaga I played BF:BC2 for almost 2 weeks straight and it was way better than some party on a beach. I still play Battlefield over CoD any day. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Solution, and Outwit.
3 GTA
Since the release of GTA3 I have been hooked on this game and it's amazing free roam world. I still play GTA5 today and I have played everything in between. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Chase, Race, Rescue and Escape, Forbidden Act, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
2 Gears of War
Owning the entire Gears series and even purchasing the limited edition Gears of War 3 plus the emblem as my lock screen on my phone as well as nearly buying the life size retro lancer and comic con puts this game at number Two in my books. I would have to say my favorite of the four games would be the third Gears game and that Judgement is my least favorite. The objectives in this one are: Capture, Chase, Rescue and Escape, Solution, and Outwit.
1 StarCraft
Finally the number one game out there is StarCraft. For anyone who knows me this is very clearly obvious since I have almost everything StarCraft from my mouse pad, to posters, collector edition copies of the games, and Sarah Kerrigan just about everywhere on my computers. I have played this game the longest out of any game I've ever played since I have been playing it from the release in 1998. This also means I have been playing this game since I was 5 years old. So, the objectives in this one are: Solution, and Outwit.
Honorable mention: NHL
The NHL games make the honorable mentions for my list of top ten favorite games. The objectives in this one are Solution, and Outwit.
Capture, Chase, Race, Alignment, Rescue or Escape, Forbidden Act, Construction, Exploration, Solution, and Outwit.
Friday, 1 November 2013
Reverse Scrowdriver
Welcome to blog that changes a game mechanic in an already existing game!
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So for this blog I have chosen to change a game rule in the classic Monopoly. This rule change will be affecting the game mechanics. This game mechanic is based on luck so it will not break the game unless someone is really lucky or unlucky.
The rule I have added is if you roll a 7 you move in the opposite direction you were initially going before rolling the 7.
The way how this will change the game is that players will have more chances to get a property or specific tile they want in the game. This will speed up the game as well since there are more chances to also land on someone else's property.
There have been many times in my games of Monopoly I wished I could go back the other way and try to complete my set or even collect go just one more time. I can see this mechanic being over powered if the player managed to bounce back and forth over the 'GO' tile constantly collecting $200. This is highly unlikely since getting 7 several times in a row would be highly improbable. I think this mechanic will really increase the fun that Monopoly already brings to the dinner table.
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So for this blog I have chosen to change a game rule in the classic Monopoly. This rule change will be affecting the game mechanics. This game mechanic is based on luck so it will not break the game unless someone is really lucky or unlucky.
The rule I have added is if you roll a 7 you move in the opposite direction you were initially going before rolling the 7.
The way how this will change the game is that players will have more chances to get a property or specific tile they want in the game. This will speed up the game as well since there are more chances to also land on someone else's property.
There have been many times in my games of Monopoly I wished I could go back the other way and try to complete my set or even collect go just one more time. I can see this mechanic being over powered if the player managed to bounce back and forth over the 'GO' tile constantly collecting $200. This is highly unlikely since getting 7 several times in a row would be highly improbable. I think this mechanic will really increase the fun that Monopoly already brings to the dinner table.
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Becoming a Critic 2
Hearthstone
There are other rules on top of how the game plays. The most frustrating rule I have encountered from my couple days of play has been the limited emote chat system they have made for the game. It looks like this:
There are lots of resources in this game and the designers did a great job of making them easy to understand and manage throughout the game. To list the resources I have found in this game, they would be: mana, health, minions, spells, weapons, and time. The way how I find time as a resource is when I play as a hunter hero in the game, my time window to be effective with the hero is early game since lots of my minions are low mana cost. This means I will be weak in the late game and have to use the time in the early game to win the game.
The conflict in the game is pretty straight forward. So you have an opponent that you need to defeat. The game also has obstacles from having you complete your goal where some minions have taunt which means you need to attack that minion before attacking another enemy minion or hero. Some dilemmas I face when I play the game is as a hunter class the late game has barely any cards to play since they are all low cost and get played early in the game. There is a good balance of conflict in the game which isn't too frustrating or too boring for the player.
Some boundaries I have noticed in the game is that you have a certain number of minions you can play on the board. There is only a maximum of 7 allowed which is fine for just about every race except for hunters class. Since the hunter's build is all about lots of small minions it restricts their play style to not be as effective as possible due to their boundaries. I think the designers shouldn't have put a boundary in the game in terms of how many minions could be played. The only reason I can see that they would need this boundary is for visuals since the board is pretty tight once there are 7 minions on the board.
Last time I did a Becoming a Critic blog I negatively critiqued the game to the point where I was getting lots of negative feedback from my peers so today I will be looking at a game I actually enjoy playing. With that being said, I will still be critical with this game about the way the designers put together this new game which are still beta testing. I will also keep in mind the fact that the contents of the game are still in beta and subject to change when the game releases. For now, I will be doing my analysis on the game as if this is the gold version and not the beta in case nothing is changed from now until release day. Remember I will be analyzing this based on the elements of games from my second blog. If you still haven't read that one I highly recommend you go and do that first. With that being said, let us begin.
Player
When the game first runs it throws the player right into the tutorial. Now this game is a trading card game and each deck you can play with has a hero, this is to help fit each player's play style. I appreciate that the designers made the decision for the new players to play as the mage hero but I think it would've been better to explain the heroes and let the player decide right away so they are more comfortable when they start the game. Aside from that one minor flaw I see in players, I actually really like the amount of choice for heroes that can be used by the player. Each one is unique and fun to use. On top of the heroes, there are also unique cards to each hero. Below is an example of the starter hero in the tutorial and the unique spell the hero can use next to her. There is also a fireblast card which is an example of a hero or class specific card to further make the player's deck more unique to their play style.
Objective
Now they made the objective of this game very simple. Your goal is to drop the other heroes health to 0 before your health reaches 0. Now this is a good objective but I feel that the game needs more than one objective. If we look at the objective types, the designers only really implemented Solution and Outwit. You could also say race since it does feel like a race to who would get the other's health to 0 first. Having few objectives can be positive since it makes the game simple and easier for new players. It also give the experienced players a chance to focus more on certain strategies that don't need to encompass so many goals. However I think they should add some other forms of objectives such as construction where you can build cards from putting together other stronger cards. An example of another card game which made this a construction objective in their game is in yu gi oh where the player constructed the forbidden one to win the game.
Procedure
The way how this game plays out is that it's a turn based game. Every card has a certain amount of mana to play and each turn the player gets their maximum mana increases by 1. I like what the designers did with this because it keeps the game progressing in a linear fashion. What I mean by this is that the game doesn't skip any early or mid gameplay and plays right into the late game cards. I would've like to see that designers do something a little more out of the box with the turn based mechanic so they could stand out from being just another card game. It would need lots of attention to detail on how that mechanic is changed since it would affect the entire game flow and how it plays. I feel like the designers at Blizzard could make it work.
Rules
There are other rules on top of how the game plays. The most frustrating rule I have encountered from my couple days of play has been the limited emote chat system they have made for the game. It looks like this:
I can't even laugh at my opponent! All I can do is click on the cheesy threaten quotes they have for the heroes. Sometimes i want to talk to them about how over powering some cards or combos are in the game too, but I'm very restricted to simply saying hi, thanks, and sorry. They thankfully have at least a "gg" emote which is called "well played" in there. They should allow for a full chat system since it is completely possible. The game is able to chat with other players who are your friends and the other blizzard games like StarCraft allow you to talk to your opponent. There is no reason why I am not allowed to casually talk to my opponents.
Resources
There are lots of resources in this game and the designers did a great job of making them easy to understand and manage throughout the game. To list the resources I have found in this game, they would be: mana, health, minions, spells, weapons, and time. The way how I find time as a resource is when I play as a hunter hero in the game, my time window to be effective with the hero is early game since lots of my minions are low mana cost. This means I will be weak in the late game and have to use the time in the early game to win the game.
Conflict
The conflict in the game is pretty straight forward. So you have an opponent that you need to defeat. The game also has obstacles from having you complete your goal where some minions have taunt which means you need to attack that minion before attacking another enemy minion or hero. Some dilemmas I face when I play the game is as a hunter class the late game has barely any cards to play since they are all low cost and get played early in the game. There is a good balance of conflict in the game which isn't too frustrating or too boring for the player.
Boundaries
Some boundaries I have noticed in the game is that you have a certain number of minions you can play on the board. There is only a maximum of 7 allowed which is fine for just about every race except for hunters class. Since the hunter's build is all about lots of small minions it restricts their play style to not be as effective as possible due to their boundaries. I think the designers shouldn't have put a boundary in the game in terms of how many minions could be played. The only reason I can see that they would need this boundary is for visuals since the board is pretty tight once there are 7 minions on the board.
Outcome
The outcome of completing the objective results in rewards. These rewards are in the form of in game currency which can be spent on entering into the arena to win prizes for the game or buying card packs. The outcome of winning can also be used to complete daily challenges such as winning 5 times with a specific race for a lot of in game currency. Plus if you reach the outcome of winning a match three times you get extra in game currency. The outcome will always result in rewards that in the end better your game.
I really like this design idea since it gives that satisfying resolution of winning to earn good cards for your decks. The strategy involved in the game to beat another player also gives the player maximum emotional investment to win from the satisfaction of being a more strategic player.
In conclusion, this is a really well done game with simple to learn mechanics that are addictive to play. The amount of various play styles adds to the amount of fun every player can get out of this game. They did a really great job on all of the art with their 3D renderings of the board and cards with numerous particles to make the game juicier. The design of the games mechanics were really well thought out and flow nicely. I would definitely recommend this game.
The outcome of completing the objective results in rewards. These rewards are in the form of in game currency which can be spent on entering into the arena to win prizes for the game or buying card packs. The outcome of winning can also be used to complete daily challenges such as winning 5 times with a specific race for a lot of in game currency. Plus if you reach the outcome of winning a match three times you get extra in game currency. The outcome will always result in rewards that in the end better your game.
In conclusion, this is a really well done game with simple to learn mechanics that are addictive to play. The amount of various play styles adds to the amount of fun every player can get out of this game. They did a really great job on all of the art with their 3D renderings of the board and cards with numerous particles to make the game juicier. The design of the games mechanics were really well thought out and flow nicely. I would definitely recommend this game.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Design Your Game Item 2
In my last post about designing my own game item I created the gruesome Gears of War weapon, the Wrapper. This week I want to keep up the high intensity game items. To keep this item as awesome and bad ass as the last I will be designing this next item for the class Dead Rising series. With a game like this, it gives me the freedom to develop something that will fit the theme easily while having the space to still change and improve the gameplay experience. Dead Rising 2 introduced combo weapons, ones that the player can combine two items in the world to make a better item. My item will also be a combo item that can be put together from Dead Rising 2.
Now for the item I will need to first make a weapon that doesn't exist in the game. The other part of this combo card I will use the cement saw that is in the game already, usually found in construction areas. So the new weapon I will need is called Chain. This is a standard, long, set of chain links. This weapon when used on its own would swing around the player and do large area of effect damage but it has a short life span as it will wear out easily. The other attack option that comes with it is when you hold the attack button near a zombie, the character will rap the chain around the zombies neck and then kick the body tearing the head off. The weapon is not a two handed weapon so it can fit in the player's inventory. That's all the detail about that weapon.
For the item that will change the gameplay and add a new mechanic to the game. So, when the cement saw and the chain are duct taped together, it will create the Hookshot. This is crazy, I know you're probably thinking, how does some duct tape turn those two into a hookshot? Well you can ask how one chainsaw turns into two or how the flamethrower doesn't catch itself on fire. My theory on how the chain and cement saw would become the hookshot is the blade from the saw is turned into a nice spear tip somehow and its taped to the chain, really well. Then the chain is wrapped around the rotor of the saw blade and the other end is taped to the rotor, and again, really well. Finally when the saw is started, the hookshot would launch.
This hookshot will open up all kinds of new game mechanics and tons of fun gameplay moments. The way how this item changes and improves gameplay without making the game broken is it's ability to interact with the environment. Once it hits something it would pull it in if it's dynamic, and if it's static wood, the player's character would be pulled toward that position. Any other type of static material being metal or brick etc. the hookshot will not pull they player.
So with this game changing mechanic, the player can escape danger easily if there is nearby wood platforms around. These can be found a lot where the item can actually be crafted in the game. The scaffolds in the construction areas where the parts for the hookshot are found are made of wood which leaves open lots of game mechanic use. This item can also grab items that are not within reach.
Time for the fun part, how the hookshot kills zombies. The primary attack for this item launches the hook forward skewering all zombies up to a max of eight. If you hold the attack button to use the special attack, that is when you pull objects and zombies towards you or you pull yourself towards what you attacked. It helps to aim for the special attack because you have the choice as to what you pull. If you free aim there's a high chance you will pull a zombie towards you. You can't throw the hookshot since it is a ranged weapon.
The amount of times I wished I had a weapon like this during my times of play. It would have made the game a lot more dynamic and interesting.
So with this game changing mechanic, the player can escape danger easily if there is nearby wood platforms around. These can be found a lot where the item can actually be crafted in the game. The scaffolds in the construction areas where the parts for the hookshot are found are made of wood which leaves open lots of game mechanic use. This item can also grab items that are not within reach.
Time for the fun part, how the hookshot kills zombies. The primary attack for this item launches the hook forward skewering all zombies up to a max of eight. If you hold the attack button to use the special attack, that is when you pull objects and zombies towards you or you pull yourself towards what you attacked. It helps to aim for the special attack because you have the choice as to what you pull. If you free aim there's a high chance you will pull a zombie towards you. You can't throw the hookshot since it is a ranged weapon.
The amount of times I wished I had a weapon like this during my times of play. It would have made the game a lot more dynamic and interesting.
Friday, 11 October 2013
Emotional Contagion 2
My last emotional contagion went over the compelling love story between two characters and their adventures together in the StarCraft universe. Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan had an amazing story put together for them by some talented story writers. I have found another great set of story writers in yet another great game series. The release of this new series was on July 11, 2007, and had many emotional scenes. The one that gave me the most emotional response to was in the end of the series released September 20, 2011. This was not a relationship between lovers like my last one, but instead a relationship between best friends. If you haven't guessed which game this is yet, it's Gears of War 3. The scene I have chosen contains spoilers and will be disclosed after the spoilers line.
----------------------------------SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT------------------------------------
The scene chosen was when Dom makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his squad from imminent death of the lambert and locust and kills himself as well as the enemies enclosing Delta squad. Here is the scene from the game.
The way how the designers and story tellers had constructed this scene to be so emotional is to bring back as much from the past as possible to stimulate more emotion to the viewer. For example, the most obvious part was when Dom brings up his wife Sofia. He has gone through a lot in the second installment of the gears series looking for his wife. This search results in finding his wife did not make it. Again, in the initial trailer of Gears of War 1 they released it with the song Mad World playing in the background. This became something like a theme song to the first Gears game because of that trailer. They later made it an easter egg in the third game when you played on a certain multiplayer map Gridlock. So to hear this song playing in the background of the scene brings back all the memories of Marcus and Dom together. These memories will further grow the emotion of the viewer for this scene.
During the scene they show that everyone is affected by the death of Dom but Marcus is the one who is most affected. This is because the designers wanted to focus all of the emotional feedback and response to the player. Likewise in my last blog, they put the focus of the emotions on Kerrigan because during that scene, they had you playing as her and it will impact you greater if the player you are controlling is going through these emotions.
The sacrifice Dom made for his best man and his squad could really emotionally impact those who have served in the military before and went through a similar scenario. I could only imagine the flashbacks of a soldier having their best friend saving their life. I can see that a friends sacrifice wouldn't even be necessary since it would be such an emotional topic to begin with. But to have lost a best friend so you could live on would really get to the viewer deep.
I think this scene is the most emotional cutscene in any game, more emotional than the loss of Cortana or the loss of Tycus. This game is about war and sacrifice. There are many more scenes of loss that Marcus and other people in the Cog army have experienced loss.
If you are interested in viewing the full cutscenes of this game to understand how this one scene can be so emotional to players, I will leave a link below.
----------------------------------SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT------------------------------------
The way how the designers and story tellers had constructed this scene to be so emotional is to bring back as much from the past as possible to stimulate more emotion to the viewer. For example, the most obvious part was when Dom brings up his wife Sofia. He has gone through a lot in the second installment of the gears series looking for his wife. This search results in finding his wife did not make it. Again, in the initial trailer of Gears of War 1 they released it with the song Mad World playing in the background. This became something like a theme song to the first Gears game because of that trailer. They later made it an easter egg in the third game when you played on a certain multiplayer map Gridlock. So to hear this song playing in the background of the scene brings back all the memories of Marcus and Dom together. These memories will further grow the emotion of the viewer for this scene.
During the scene they show that everyone is affected by the death of Dom but Marcus is the one who is most affected. This is because the designers wanted to focus all of the emotional feedback and response to the player. Likewise in my last blog, they put the focus of the emotions on Kerrigan because during that scene, they had you playing as her and it will impact you greater if the player you are controlling is going through these emotions.
The sacrifice Dom made for his best man and his squad could really emotionally impact those who have served in the military before and went through a similar scenario. I could only imagine the flashbacks of a soldier having their best friend saving their life. I can see that a friends sacrifice wouldn't even be necessary since it would be such an emotional topic to begin with. But to have lost a best friend so you could live on would really get to the viewer deep.
I think this scene is the most emotional cutscene in any game, more emotional than the loss of Cortana or the loss of Tycus. This game is about war and sacrifice. There are many more scenes of loss that Marcus and other people in the Cog army have experienced loss.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Digital Prototyping
Welcome back to the blog posts relating to the course material of Game Design and Productions 2. The last few posts have been side tracked to help boost the experience of your favorite avatar TwoLock. Anyways, continuing with this weeks lecture. This week in class we discussed digital prototyping as well as a few other smaller topics. There are four areas of digital prototyping: game mechanics, aesthetics, kinesthetics, and technology. I will also go over designing control schemes, selecting viewpoints, effective interface design, and go over some prototyping tools.
Game Mechanics
When it comes to the mechanics of a game you want to make sure that the mechanics are simple. This doesn't necessarily need to be a standalone progrm. The mechanics of a game are focused on a particular design question. So when designing you would start with your core mechanics. Mechanics may sometimes have a spreadsheet filled out with questions embedding the complex game logic.
Aesthetics
When creating the aesthetics of a digital prototype, you need to keep the mindset of juice it or lose it. This means that you need to make your prototype juciy. If you don't know what that is, well I'd recommend you watch this video.
This can be done for storyboards, concept art, interface, and even audio.
Kinesthetics
Now kinesthetics is talking about the feel of the game. So for example, how responsive the interface is as well as how the controls feel. This would also involve the type of controls available to the player. It is good to have a compelling control scheme.
Technology
When developing the tech for your prototype, you want to make sure you cover these key points. These would include: Graphics, AI, Physics, Production Pipeline, etc. During the tech development you also want to validate your ideas are good and to refute the bad ideas. Make sure that when rapid prototyping, you design something small, and can be completed quickly.
Designing Control Schemes
For the design of a control scheme for whichever choice of input, whether it be mouse and keyboard or a gaming controller, the controls need to be good and intuitive. Allow for mulitple controller types because not everyone is going to want to use the same type of controller. Understand the capabilities of your controller and know how your game can make optimal use of the controller you've chosen. Having a list of procedures that the player can do helps with designing the control scheme for your game. Procedures tied to game states is another way to approach the design of the controls. When testing the controls, remember to keep in mind that effortlessness is key.
Viewpoints
The viewpoints in the prototype will be of your game environment and it's not your visual display of the game's status. There options of viewpoints can either be: Overhead view, Side view, Isometric view, First- person, or Third person view. When choosing one you want to think about what degree of access you want to give the player of the game world. Also keep in mind the relationship of the player to the game objects around them.
Interface Design
Really briefly, the effective interface design would include: player information design, form follows fumction, metaphors, visualization, grouping features, consistency, and feedback.
Tools
When making the prototype, keep in mind that the design of the experience comes first and that tech is second. Now, when it comes to different tools that are great for this would be game engines such as CryTek Engine or level editors like Unity, UDK, WarCraft 3, StarCraft 2, and even Portal. Or of course you can program it yourself using C++ or your language of choice.
Game Mechanics
When it comes to the mechanics of a game you want to make sure that the mechanics are simple. This doesn't necessarily need to be a standalone progrm. The mechanics of a game are focused on a particular design question. So when designing you would start with your core mechanics. Mechanics may sometimes have a spreadsheet filled out with questions embedding the complex game logic.
Aesthetics
This can be done for storyboards, concept art, interface, and even audio.
Kinesthetics
Now kinesthetics is talking about the feel of the game. So for example, how responsive the interface is as well as how the controls feel. This would also involve the type of controls available to the player. It is good to have a compelling control scheme.
Technology
When developing the tech for your prototype, you want to make sure you cover these key points. These would include: Graphics, AI, Physics, Production Pipeline, etc. During the tech development you also want to validate your ideas are good and to refute the bad ideas. Make sure that when rapid prototyping, you design something small, and can be completed quickly.
Designing Control Schemes
For the design of a control scheme for whichever choice of input, whether it be mouse and keyboard or a gaming controller, the controls need to be good and intuitive. Allow for mulitple controller types because not everyone is going to want to use the same type of controller. Understand the capabilities of your controller and know how your game can make optimal use of the controller you've chosen. Having a list of procedures that the player can do helps with designing the control scheme for your game. Procedures tied to game states is another way to approach the design of the controls. When testing the controls, remember to keep in mind that effortlessness is key.
Viewpoints
The viewpoints in the prototype will be of your game environment and it's not your visual display of the game's status. There options of viewpoints can either be: Overhead view, Side view, Isometric view, First- person, or Third person view. When choosing one you want to think about what degree of access you want to give the player of the game world. Also keep in mind the relationship of the player to the game objects around them.
Interface Design
Really briefly, the effective interface design would include: player information design, form follows fumction, metaphors, visualization, grouping features, consistency, and feedback.
Tools
When making the prototype, keep in mind that the design of the experience comes first and that tech is second. Now, when it comes to different tools that are great for this would be game engines such as CryTek Engine or level editors like Unity, UDK, WarCraft 3, StarCraft 2, and even Portal. Or of course you can program it yourself using C++ or your language of choice.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Becoming a Critic
Outlast
So in the hour I spent watching someone else play this game, because there is so much wrong with it, I refuse to play. Allow me to go in detail about these key points in which made this, a bad game. I apologize in advance for those who found this a good game. I have this set up to go over each of the topics from my second blog about the elements of games. This is how I will break it down plus I need to say some things about graphics after. Alright, here we go..
Player
To start, this character you play really shouldn't have forgotten their inhaler, they have such a hard time breathing this whole game. Aside from that annoyance in your ear every two seconds, the design for the player is very primitive. There is no back story or really any game story describing the character. It's a single player game which right there is a big turn off for most people since they want to play games with friends. I can see how this can be played with friends, you have one person walk through the game while everyone watches since realistically the only gameplay feature is jump scares. The designers might have set the player up like this to make it more relative to the people playing and more immersive.
Objective
The player's objective is a linear progression and very poorly marked during my experience with the game. When I watched the hour of gameplay, the goals were as followed: explore asylum, access security room, escape asylum, turn power back on, turn on gas pumps and breaker, and then at this point I wasn't sure what the next goal was. So there was a total of three objective types: Escape, Exploration, and Solution. Not very fun when there isn't many objective types such as GTA5 where they incorporate many objective types. The designer should have added at least construction to this horror game like Dead Rising has.
Procedure
So basically for the procedure of this game, you can't fight back, all you can do is run and hide. I can't say much about the controls and how they feel since I didn't actually play the game myself but from what I saw it looked like they were pretty generic. Throughout the game there is minimal interaction between anything other than the environment. If the designer's were going to do that, they should have made it more like Assassin's Creed, where the environment is a challenge. Instead they just had tables you can hurdle, doors you can interact with, and tight vertical spaces to squeeze through.
Rules
With the rules in this game, you had to follow the instructions provided at the bottom of the screen to win the game. While doing this you need to avoid hostile NPC's. However, they don't make it clear which NPC's are hostile or neutral in the game. This was quite frustrating in some parts since you would be under the impression you can't get through a section of the level because of what looks to be a group of hostile NPC's who are just hanging out watching snow on the TV. There were also batteries in the game you needed if you didn't want to play the game with your monitor on full brightness.
Resources
Moving from rules, the only resource you had, aside from the tolerance level of a god to play this game, was the batteries. You had additional pickups like security key cards and such but they weren't really a resource you collected for supplies to aid you in the continuation of the game. I think they added batteries for the video camera, rather than just always having battery, was to add an additional level of fear. Fortunately when I watched the game it seemed there was an abundance of full AA batteries just laying around this nut house. I'm pleased the designers did that or else I probably couldn't handle an hour of watching a black screen.
Conflict
The conflict in this game was minimal. There was no conflict for the first 35 minutes of gameplay. Then there was finally one guy who shows up when you're in the security room. Later there is one guy who wants you dead down in the basement where the power is. It was almost as boring as Slenderman. When there was conflict, the game had you running from it and hiding in a locker or under a bed. Even if you caught you simply got a slap on the wrists and then you're free to continue wondering this asylum. The designers made the game too easy with a very shallow learning curve. This causes the game to be very boring, even if the purpose of the game is to be scary. Gears of War 1 was a scary game with a great learning curve, conflict, etc.
Boundaries
These limits in this game very extremely limiting. There was not very much play space in this asylum. This can come from poor design of the level. There were even boundaries for visibility which is no fun. However, they designed it like this for the player to build anxiety and a level of fear while playing this game.
Outcome
There is so much uncertainty in this game it drove me crazy just watching. Why it drove me crazy? Because it was for what I needed to do! It wasn't for when they were going to try and jump scare me. In fact, it was quite the opposite! You'd see a door with a trail of blood going into it, door slightly open, the level is designed so it's the only way you can go, so if I was playing, I would just sit there and go, "NOPE! not going in there, too spooky." and uninstall the game. When I completed objectives for the game I felt little satisfaction.
In conclusion, the design of the game could have had some more time put into it for certain aspects where they were weak, such as conflict, and outcome. They really need to add more interactions with the hostile NPC's. The game's design would also be improved if the objectives were more clear and the jump scares were less obvious.
So in the hour I spent watching someone else play this game, because there is so much wrong with it, I refuse to play. Allow me to go in detail about these key points in which made this, a bad game. I apologize in advance for those who found this a good game. I have this set up to go over each of the topics from my second blog about the elements of games. This is how I will break it down plus I need to say some things about graphics after. Alright, here we go..
Player
To start, this character you play really shouldn't have forgotten their inhaler, they have such a hard time breathing this whole game. Aside from that annoyance in your ear every two seconds, the design for the player is very primitive. There is no back story or really any game story describing the character. It's a single player game which right there is a big turn off for most people since they want to play games with friends. I can see how this can be played with friends, you have one person walk through the game while everyone watches since realistically the only gameplay feature is jump scares. The designers might have set the player up like this to make it more relative to the people playing and more immersive.
Objective
The player's objective is a linear progression and very poorly marked during my experience with the game. When I watched the hour of gameplay, the goals were as followed: explore asylum, access security room, escape asylum, turn power back on, turn on gas pumps and breaker, and then at this point I wasn't sure what the next goal was. So there was a total of three objective types: Escape, Exploration, and Solution. Not very fun when there isn't many objective types such as GTA5 where they incorporate many objective types. The designer should have added at least construction to this horror game like Dead Rising has.
Procedure
So basically for the procedure of this game, you can't fight back, all you can do is run and hide. I can't say much about the controls and how they feel since I didn't actually play the game myself but from what I saw it looked like they were pretty generic. Throughout the game there is minimal interaction between anything other than the environment. If the designer's were going to do that, they should have made it more like Assassin's Creed, where the environment is a challenge. Instead they just had tables you can hurdle, doors you can interact with, and tight vertical spaces to squeeze through.
Rules
With the rules in this game, you had to follow the instructions provided at the bottom of the screen to win the game. While doing this you need to avoid hostile NPC's. However, they don't make it clear which NPC's are hostile or neutral in the game. This was quite frustrating in some parts since you would be under the impression you can't get through a section of the level because of what looks to be a group of hostile NPC's who are just hanging out watching snow on the TV. There were also batteries in the game you needed if you didn't want to play the game with your monitor on full brightness.
Resources
Moving from rules, the only resource you had, aside from the tolerance level of a god to play this game, was the batteries. You had additional pickups like security key cards and such but they weren't really a resource you collected for supplies to aid you in the continuation of the game. I think they added batteries for the video camera, rather than just always having battery, was to add an additional level of fear. Fortunately when I watched the game it seemed there was an abundance of full AA batteries just laying around this nut house. I'm pleased the designers did that or else I probably couldn't handle an hour of watching a black screen.
Conflict
The conflict in this game was minimal. There was no conflict for the first 35 minutes of gameplay. Then there was finally one guy who shows up when you're in the security room. Later there is one guy who wants you dead down in the basement where the power is. It was almost as boring as Slenderman. When there was conflict, the game had you running from it and hiding in a locker or under a bed. Even if you caught you simply got a slap on the wrists and then you're free to continue wondering this asylum. The designers made the game too easy with a very shallow learning curve. This causes the game to be very boring, even if the purpose of the game is to be scary. Gears of War 1 was a scary game with a great learning curve, conflict, etc.
Boundaries
These limits in this game very extremely limiting. There was not very much play space in this asylum. This can come from poor design of the level. There were even boundaries for visibility which is no fun. However, they designed it like this for the player to build anxiety and a level of fear while playing this game.
Outcome
There is so much uncertainty in this game it drove me crazy just watching. Why it drove me crazy? Because it was for what I needed to do! It wasn't for when they were going to try and jump scare me. In fact, it was quite the opposite! You'd see a door with a trail of blood going into it, door slightly open, the level is designed so it's the only way you can go, so if I was playing, I would just sit there and go, "NOPE! not going in there, too spooky." and uninstall the game. When I completed objectives for the game I felt little satisfaction.
In conclusion, the design of the game could have had some more time put into it for certain aspects where they were weak, such as conflict, and outcome. They really need to add more interactions with the hostile NPC's. The game's design would also be improved if the objectives were more clear and the jump scares were less obvious.
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