Aspects of Play

Run Caveman Run

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Week 6

Did a lot of placeholders and inserted basic code so I knew what would happpen, such as the scrolling of the background and increasing the score at a steady rate.

Code:

I can now start on animating, drawing and coding more in depth as I know now where everything is going to go.

Frame 1 - Loading

Frame 2 - Credits

Frame 3 - Intro with skip function

Frame 4 - Main Menu

Frame 5 - Game screen

Week 5

Response and Approach

The game will be used with either two or three buttons at most along with the use of the mouse.

You play the role of a caveman named tUG and you start by getting chased by a dinosaur. You then have to stop the dinosaur by calling out to your caveman friends to throw obstacles, however this will deplete your score. The score increases gradually the more that you run however if you don’t defeat him by the time you reach the end of the level then he will eat you.

Mechanics:
50 points – Rock Bat (Press “S” to smash the rock at the dinosaur)
100 points – Tree trunk (Press “A” to jump over)
150 points - Boulder (Press “S” to smash)
200 points – Pterodactyl Swoosh (Press “A” to jump over)
500 points – Lava Rain
Special – Floor Smash – Creates a crack in the floor to trip up the dinosaur, you then do a combination of buttons such as (S,S,A,S,A,A,A,S)  if you successfully manage to do it then you can inflict high damage.

Press A to jump over other obstacles like small rivers, lava streams etc.
Clicking on Cave Paintings will give you bonus objectives there will be a few different types of cave paintings. Some will upgrade your attacks and others will lead to minigames which will give you a boost of points if you do well in them.

Minigames
Ug of War

You must tap “S” and “A” to snatch back the rope from the dinosaur if you succeed you will earn some kind of bonus points depending on how well you did.

The AI will work by jumping at set triggers.
For example:

Week 4

What I have come to from research is that I must try to keep the game interesting at all points, by either throwing a new challenge into the game at set intervals. I will be done as a side scrolling platformer; however you won’t necessarily control the character’s movement, just the actions. This eliminates a lot of the coding needed however it will also add a new twist to side scrolling games.

I have learnt that games must flow so a good story normally helps to keep the player interested. My idea is to create something that makes the player want to know what happens next.

An iconic character is something that helps people to remember the game. It creates a kind of liking for the game if they like the character. You wouldn’t like the character design in a game where you play a black circle; therefore I think character design is very important.

Progressive gameplay, and an easy to understand method of playing, limited buttons not hundreds of combinations, where this works in games such as beat-em-ups for games where you are trying something challenging it is not needed.

A clear HUD, no player wants to be looking at each corner of their screen each time they need to check up on the characters health. Clearly making this visible and look interesting I think is very important, after all, colour adds to the whole style of the game and if you have a black bar for health that depletes, and the rest of the game brightly coloured it would look out of place. Saying that even a red bar can sometimes look too common. Innovative ideas that show your health are sometimes great ways to add to the whole look, even in some case making the player think “that’s clever.”

I would look at Dead Space for this kind of idea where they use the suit to display everything and due to it being set in the future it completely fits in with the holograms used.

(screenshot: Dead Space)

However for my project I think I might do a drawing of the character with a ring of health around him similar to Kingdom Hearts 2.

Week 3

I drew up some colour schemes and what I wanted in the game.

Problem
The problem with many games nowadays is that they are rather similar and all follow a basic structure; beginning to end with a gradual progression in difficulty. My aim is to try and create a game which doesn’t follow the same rules as others. I have come up with a few ideas and I am trying best to counteract that problem. A game with replayability is something I think is critical so I will keep this in mind throughout the design and planning process.
A few things that can make a game replayable are:

Score; this is something that you can beat and aim to improve on.

Multiplayer; because multiplayer is operated by other players, it changes each time it is played.

Goals; challenges, where if completed could unlock items.

Unlockables; customization, new weapons and clothing.

Alternative gameplay; different monsters or different endings depending on your skill and rank throughout.

I know that visually I want it look quite artistic and attractive, gameplay comes before graphics however an artistic style is something that attracts the audience to playing the game. As far as the art style goes I want it to be really colourful.
The colours I have decided to try and go for are:

This game would have to be done with quite a wide area of play, which would make it harder as there would need to be a lot drawn. The general idea of the game is to create lots of little problems to get out of a bigger problem.

Week 2

Research

Csikszentmihalyi identified 4 flow components.

Control
Intrinsic Interest
Curiosity
Attention

Caillois

Agon: Literature, conflict between protagonist and antagonist. Contesting.
Alea: Games of chance such as roulette or a lottery.
Mimicry: Copying and playing a story or role.
Illinx: Where a player has a momentary disorientation, usually in the physical sense.

Kingdom Hearts 2
Playstation 2
You take on the role of Sora in a third-person RPG platformer. The game combines ‘Final Fantasy’ characters with ‘Disney’ characters to create a game that is appealing for a very wide audience.
The game uses Agon, Mimicry and reference of Alea.
The game is fun as it combines 2 really big companies, Square-Enix (formerly Squaresoft) that produce games that are loved by all ages and Disney who produce cartoons that are loved by people of all ages. It is quite an easy game to pick up on as the rules are progressively described so that you learn in parts.
Things I would use:
GUI, Stylish Characters, Swords, Colourful Art Style.

Cluedo
You must work your way around the board collecting evidence to find the murderer, weapon and location of the killing.

Agon: who can find out first?
Alea: uses dice
Mimicry: Play as one of six characters.
The game is fun and doesn’t play the same each time which is a major factor.
The rules are given on paper however I had to play the game one or twice before I got the hand of it properly.
This game is used on ‘itbox’ machines for gambling asking general knowledge question every time that you make a move.
Things I would implement in my game:
Role-playing, Mystery factor, Few characters.

Alien Hominid
You take on the character of a little alien in a retro, arty, shoot-em-up side-scrolling platformer.
Mimicry
The game is fun as it is a fast paced game. The game is kept fun with the use of various power-ups.
The rules of the game are stated at the very beginning, telling you the controls and basically telling you to move from left to right.
It was moved onto consoles which still worked however they added vehicles and other things so that is would sell.
Things I would interpret for my game:
Artistic style, Arcade feel*, Iconic character
By arcade feel I mean 2 buttons maximum and a score that adds some competitive factor.

Dead Space
3rd person horror survival shooter
Mimicry: Play as a character called Isaac
Illinx: Atmosphere makes you feel a part of the game and actual fear throughout playing.

The game is really fun with the ability to upgrade your weapons, armour make it quite a hybrid game adding an RPG element to it. With the element of surprise some parts can really catch you off guard. The rules are built up as you progress, teaching you new things throughout.
The game would only be suitable for console gaming and I personally think the Playstation 3 is the best choice however it is available for the Xbox 360.
Things I would use:  Horror, Surprise, upgrading items, in-depth character design, atmosphere, lack of GUI, movie like experience.

Monopoly
Make your way around the board investing in properties and dodging your rivals properties.
Agon: Compete against other tycoons.
Alea: A dice is used.
The game is fun as it is played with friends so keeps it social it also changes each time you play it and with the money been involved it is kept track like a score. This game like a few other board games is used for gambling on ‘itbox’ machines and the money is used like a score.

 

Week 1

Started researching the games and platforms about how games what makes them challenging and why we want to play them.

Module Description

This module provides a variety of tools for the analysis of a range of existing games, both electronic and traditional, in relation to games theory. It will explore the relationship between traditional and electronic game play, including the identification of, and appropriateness to, intended audience. The module facilitates the student in the construction of a (fragment of) an interactive digital game, bringing the critical awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the games studied to this process.

Syllabus

The module will appraise a range of games, both electronic and not, encompassing a variety of techniques and sources such as online games, arcade games, old card and board games etc. The student will research, propose and produce a (fragment of) an interactive digital game, justifying its development in terms of game play, genre and audience/user(s).

Teaching & Learning Methods

This module is studio based, with an emphasis on responsive, student-centred experiential learning (including peer group learning). A range of teaching and learning methods are utilised including research/seminars, workshops, group critiques, and individual tutorials.

The learning outcomes will be assessed through:

A body of work including a proposal, research findings, a (fragment of an) interactive digital game, and a written self-appraisal (weighting 100%).