homework 14

monsters don't make a regular appearance until the first jump scare in the church, after words, they will continue to appear with more and more frequency. Puzzles are constantly involved, and get harder, if nothing else then because the map gets bigger and bigger over time, and remembering where things are. so long as the character is downtown (eg outside) there is a time based element, but while inside, there is no time trial.

this is a basic map, showing start to end of every major location, as well as where they are relative to each other.

homework 12

10/24: between now and next week, I will be building a world that can be moved around in. it will not be particularly detailed, but it will have several locations to move around in, and to show off the mechanics in. My main focus is going to be the central sanctuary, and any extra time will be working on the downtown region.

10/31: between now and next week, I intend to finish downtown, and start on the museum, and clean things up for the demo

10/7: between now and next week I intend to have all artifacts done, as well as build the university

11/14: Between now and next week, I intend to have a finished environment for the player to walk around in in the world.

11/21: between now and next week, I intend to have a workable enemy designed and built, as well as work on the esher room

11/28: Between now and next week, I intend to work on music an sounds, and get them conglomerated into the game. I also intend to clean up any loose ends, and get it ready to present for next week.

homework 11

Chapter 15

A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing. 

strictly speaking no, it could be used as a means of teaching a in a tutorial way

What is the relationship between the main character and the goal? Why does the character care about it? 

the character is the mother of her son, and as such, wishes to see her son to safety

What are the obstacles between the character and the goal? 

the fog, the creatures, the environment, and  sometimes people

Do the obstacles gradually increase in difficulty? If yes, how? 

yes, the puzzles get more intricate, the monsters become more prevalent, and the world becomes larger

Great stories often involve the protagonist transforming to overcome the obstacle. Does your protagonist transform? 

ultimately not very much, she is still a mother at the start and end

How is the game world simpler than the real world? 

there are clearly "evil" entities, as uposed to real life where such a title is rediculous

What kind of transcendent power do you give to the player? 

some protection, but not much

What is the weirdest element in the game story? 

the esher room, a room where you walk on all walls and ceilings.

How do you ensure that the weirdest thing does not confuse or alienate the player? 

given that's a bit of the point, nothing

Will the players be interested in the game story? Why? 

I think so, because it is a story of a mother looking for her child, which resonates with a lot of people.

Chapter 16

In what sense does the player have freedom of action? Does the player "feel" free at these times? 

the player is free to walk wherever they want, doesn't necessarily mean they should.

What are the constraints imposed on the players? Do they feel constrained? 

the player is restricted by the map and puzzles. the hope is they will feel trapped.

Ideally, what would you like your players to do (lens #72)

run around frantically searching for a progression.

Can you set constraints to "kind of" force the player to do it? 

the map is built to only allow one path of progression.

Can you design your interface to "force" the player to do what you (the designer) wish him/her to do? 

yes, and that is the hope with the above question.

homework 9

The first aspect of balance, fairness, is unfortunately a bit hard to quantify: we want the player to have a reasonable chance of success, but you do not want to have it so easy they succeed with no challenge. The harder the challenge, the higher the sense of fear, however To much and they get frustrated and quit. This feeds into the second balance time, but we will probably shoot for a continuous, I'll be it high, difficulty curve.

While we are going to have some choices present, we do want to have the illusion of not having much choice, therefore upping adrenaline and fear. Ultimately, the choice will mostly be run or attack obstacles. while run can give you security in the short term, eliminating a threat can give you access to areas later

Hopefully, the majority of the game will be mental challenges, so skill will be applied most. Strictly speaking, there is some cooperation with NPC's, but the majority of the game will be competing with the environment itself. the monsters, the puzzles, and the fog are all enemies in the field, but none of them are really anything beyond the game crunching numbers. 

If we have time, I would prefer a long game, but restrictions of time and resources may cause it to be much shorter. over all, we are looking at a goal of 5 hours of game play, but I will be satisfied if we can get 2 in by the end of this semester. The rewards will mostly be progression into new areas, as well as progression of the story. For the most part, punishments only comprised of game overs should your character die, which will send you back to the beginning of the level, or the sanctuary, depending on the context.

The game will appear to be controlled and complex, what with the fog closing in at all times as well as the lack od sight leading to complex impresions, but it will be an illusion, whereas it will actually be quite free and simple. mostly the game will beThere will be implied depth a lot, however using the players imagination, we will make it appear bigger than it actually is

Homework 8

Is the space in your game discrete or continuous?

the space is continuous.

How many dimensions does your space have?

the game is mostly 2D

What are the boundaries of your space? 

the edges of the game world

How many verbs do your players (characters) have? What are they? 

there are 6 verbs:  move, swing crowbar, look at map, check journal, pick up object, interact with object.

How many objects can each verb act on? What are these objects? 

objects that can be affected are as follows:

move- player only.

swing crowbar- objects that can be damaged.

look at map- camera only.

check journal-camera only.

pick up object- any object that can be picked up.

interact with object- any objects that can be interacted

How many ways can players achieve their goals?

the main goal mus be accomplished by finding all of the people within the map. Micro goals however can be accomplished by a combination of movement (running away from threats, or towards objectives) or interacting with them (attack threats, interact with environment).

How many subjects do the players control? What are these subjects? 

directly, the player can only control the main character, there for only 1

How do side effects change constraints. 

side effects of eliminating threats will allow for more free roaming of the map.

What are the operative actions in your game? 

the operative actions are move, swing crowbar, look at map, check journal, pick up object, interact with object.

What are the resultant actions in your game? 

other characters are added to the sanctuary, the plot is progressed, and the map has more sections opened up.

What actions would you like your players to do that they cannot presently do? (based on your current knowledge of Blender)

I want to be able to look at map, check journal, pick up object, interact with object.

What is the ultimate goal of your game? 

To save all the characters, therefore allowing the son to be saved

Are there short and long term goals? What are they? 

short term, the player needs to stay alive and navigate the world. long term, the player needs to find all the other people.

How do you plan to make the game goals known and understood by the player? 

the player is forced to explore, and will find her first person. at that point, the plot will progress, indicating that that action must be repeated.

What are the foundational rules of your game? 

all human objects must be located and returned to a single area. all enemy objects work to prevent this goal, either by getting in the way, or attempting to attack the player

How are these rules enforced? 

the first one is enforced by pieces of the map being inaccessible before people are found. the second one is enforced by game ending should the player not avoiding hazards.

Does your game develop real skills? What are they? 

the game develops skills in problem solving, exploration, and logical deduction 

Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they? 

the game develops skills in crowbar skills, and dodging of dangers 

Homework 7

I started by creating the "fog", a sphere that would contain the character:

after giving it particles, and a rotation animation,therefor making it a moving object. I added it to the sanctuary scene, comprised of a field, and a tent that was built in an earlier assignment:

adding in the fog:

as well as parenting the camera to the fog, in order to have the fog be ever present in the camera (read players) eyes

Homework 6

Four each of the four elements of the Tetrad, explain how it is addressed by your game. If one of the four elements is not used, please state this. 

mechanics: addressed by having the player send in input (wasd and space bar) in order to explore the environment. The player may interact with the environment, but otherwise, exploration is the main goal.

story: the story serves to enforce the ideas of being alone and scared, as well as tell some back story to the events that are occurring.

aesthetics: the atmosphere of darkness adds to the experience, increasing the fear and lonely feeling the player should have.

technology: the engine gives us something to build in.

Do the four (or less) elements work towards a current theme? 

the element of mechanics, story, and aesthetics work towards the theme, the technology doesn't help or hurt it.

In your own words, describe the meaning of a "theme", and how does it differ from an "experience"

the theme is the unifying aspect that all parts follow to help create the single experience.

What is your game's theme? 

dark and obscure, creating fear of the unknown

What are the elements in your game that are meant to reinforce this theme? 

fog, lack of light, monsters, and lack of people.

What is it about your game that you feel makes it special and powerful?

the atmosphere the game presents.

Homework 5

first thing I accomplished was adding a camera and a lamp to my room, thereby giving me a "character" to move around

then I created a new tent that would appear as time progresses (for now just the space bar)

and finally a sphere, which will later be fog, which moves along with he player to keep them "in the dark"

This sphere will act as a fog to keep the player from fully seeing there environment. the tents will appear as more survivors are found, and they represent the rebuilding of the society. the more tents, the stronger the sanctuary.

Homework 4: Teamwork

Homework 4: Teamwork

Do you love your project/game. If not, how can that be changed?

I think love is a strong word, however I am enjoying the creation process. I do wish we could be building more then just talking about the game, however I blame that more on the restrictions of learning the tools (blender) then actual incompetence on the part of the team.

Does the team as a whole love the project? If not, what can be done?

I believe everyone enjoys working on it, however, I have have no real way of knowing, and they tell me they enjoy it (although they could be just saying that). If anything could be improved, I think it would be a more tangible result to our planing processes would help.

Are the team members communicating with each other?

Some of the team members are communicating very efficiently, while others are not as good. we have some people who have not been consistently keeping tabs with the activity, and as such, I think their input is dwindling, which may be causing frustration.

Does the team have a regular meeting schedule? What is that schedule?

wednesday afternoons. usually around 330 or so

Describe the modes of communication between the team members.

Facebook is used for messages, and Google drives are used for information and data storage

Regarding game documents, what must be remembered while designing your game?

the book says it is that the game document is meant for communication and memory, however I would also think it has the purpos of having all information that serves as the biases for every aspect, be it design or technical. in other words, It needs to have the "mission statement" of the game

homework 3

My object is a tent and will be the first object built after this town has been destroyed. It comprises of two planes that have been extended and bent,  as well as two cylinders for the polls. On the inside, a meta object is used to create a sleeping bag, with a small cylinder used for a tin can.

Throughout the course the game, the player will meet and bring several characters back to her sanctuary, when they are there, they will pitch a small tent As a temporary housing before they can start to rebuild their town within the sanctuary.

video

this is a video of me explaining my room. It is a very nice room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJwr8lSwYI&feature=youtu.be

Image and game post

the above are a series of sprite pages I created for a game I was working on.

two games that include city building:
http://www.thesims3.com/

http://www.civilization5.com/

in case one of the above doesn't count:

https://minecraft.net/