Course Reflection

Throughout the semester I learned many ideas that I had had not known before. Some ideas are one I would have not thought about if they were not introduced in the class. The MDA framework was the most influential as it was much shorter and straight to the point. It contained a many important points that apply to game design. The rest of the material was relevant to the subject and added a little extra to my knowledge of play, games, and design.

The prototyping really helped me understand how useful iterative design can be. For some reason I have a habit of fleshing ideas out in my head before I get them on paper. I realized that just putting ideas out there and testing them immediately is the best way to find out if they work or if they are fun.

Reading about games was helpful to understand the ideas behind the design. Playing games, however, became an extremely useful tool in understanding game design. I have started playing all the games I play with the mind of a designer. It really helps to understand what makes a game good or bad and what elements worked and didn't work.

The final project pushed me to make something beautiful and work out all the details, while testing everything in the process. I am still in the process of working on the game, but I hope it is something I can be proud to say was design by me.

Final Game

At the beginning of the semester I was approached to help Design and Program a game out of a village created by a 3D modelling class taught by Tom Austin of the Animation/Illustration department at SJSU.

My final project is about taking all the assets that they create and making it into an environment with a story and sound. Having a whole village created and polished is a huge honor to be part of and I have been motivated all semester to do the best I can with it.

While the full story and dialogue is not completely fleshed out, the basic premise is about following a man in his journey to discover past events in which he has forgotten. He must scour the village for any clues that may refresh his memory and found out why the village is left empty.

The player will control this man through a first person perspective. Picking up notes and finding special items of significance will reveal more of the story. There may be some supplemental items that are not vital to the main story line that players may not find if they are not observant enough on their first play through. Floating text (Hopefully voiceovers in the future) will display important bits of information to the player to help them unravel the story further.

The point of this game is to put players in another world and become the character that they control. They can explore their surroundings at their own pace and take as much time as they need to do so. The game ends when they reach the end of the main storyline.

Here are some images of the assets.

The Circle

Today as a class we were involved in an interactive play based off the book "The Circle." It was a very unique theatre experience. The viewer acts as a new recruit to this massive company that has taken over the world of social media. It is the typical new employee orientation that would happen at a big company.

The initial impression was that the experience would benefit greatly from the use of environmental storytelling. This could mean placing objects/ posters/ TV's in areas in order to create a sense of immersion for the people in attendance. The only place they did a good job of this was in the outside tent area and the living room area that was in the auditorium. This was mentioned in the Jenkins reading and is something that really sells that you are experiencing another world.

Video Game Prototype

One Night at Winmart is game which went through a multitude of changes since its conception. These were changes to mechanics and aesthetics that made it completely different from the original idea.

As you may know from the previous post, the game was going to be about the player working at a gas station and handling any tasks that may come up in the process. On the technical side of things, this is a pretty hard thing to program in such a short amount of time. We ended up changing things into a more simple top down shooter. The controls ended up being very responsive and smooth the work with.

Feedback in play testing was that it was very fun to play. The control scheme was unique compared to a lot of the other games that were made.

As much as I wish that the original idea would have come true. I think the game ended up being a success and was pretty fun to play. I would have liked to have it be more polished with multiple menu options or multiple levels. It does deserve to have just a little bit more depth to it.

Download Link

First Digital Prototype

One Night at Winmart

Download Link

I am the designer and the artist of this game. At the moment the player only needs to walk around to shoot and destroy all the boxes that exist in the level. They do react to the player and will move on contact or if you shoot one of the boxes next to them.

This is a major change from the original design which involved the player running a convenience store and making sure it does no fall apart. It was scoped down due to technical issues in which the programmer could not figure out how to do in time. We are in the process of figuring out exactly where we want the game to go without making it terribly complicated.

It is hard to really assess the gameplay and the reaction of the people that played it today since the game is nowhere near the original design concept or the place we plan on going. The game definitely needs a time limit to add challenge and urgency. Moving enemies and a variety in score would make it a little more interesting.

Most of the comments were positive as far as how smooth the game ran. Some feedback was to add texture to the floor and make it more challenging. We will continue to streamline and improve the game

Video Game Lab

The other day my partner Kunal and I played a few games together from the aspect of a designer. Here are a few of them:

This is the Only Level

This game, at a very basic level, is just a simple platformer that includes killer spikes, a locked door and a button to open the door. At least that is exactly what is is for the first level (or is it). In stage 2 an unsuspecting player would immediately run into the spikes at the start. They will soon figure out that the keys have been reversed and you have to adapt to that. It is at this point that the player will expect something different in the next level and that they have to figure out what to do or risk death.

This game is brilliant as far as game design goes. It creates variety through game different mechanics rather than level design. Most games will change up the levels and only leave you with your starting mechanics and possibly introduce a few more as you progress through the game. This was an incredibly entertaining game and a kept wanting to know what the next level would be like. It is only one level, but a well made one. Each of the mechanics plays well with design of the level and can punish you if you execute it incorrectly.

How to Be Happy

This is a wonderfully simple dating simulator. You play as a puzzle piece trying to find your second half. Through the use of abstraction it tells a story of most relationships and a persons journey to find true happiness. The game does not specifically tell the player this, they just know. In one stage, which I assume to be the "sex scene" you try to fit into one space together. This is followed by a quick "oops!" and another space appears. You fit into this space but the other piece you are connected to still has a space missing. She coughs, fills in the hole and changes color for the rest of the game. In the end, after button mashing like crazy to try and stay together, the game ends saying "We hope you won." 

It is a lot like real life in very subtle ways. If you fail your first relationship, it takes a long time to find the right partner again. You try and try to find another piece that fits with you until you get frustrated. you then finally find another piece that fits and you start all over again.

Wizard Wizard

The premise of this game is just like every other game we have ever seen. Jump the saws, grab the keys, save the girl. Throughout playing the game you find out that this feels very different. The game-play it self is fun and offers a great challenge to those looking for it. The first play through will result in many deaths along the way.

The random NPCs that say something different to you every time you pass by them is what keeps the game interesting. I found myself more interested in finding out what they would say next, rather than being able to finish the level. 

Board Game Prototype

Here is the description of the game as well as the rules to make it easier to understand

Name; Absolute Space

Items:

2 dice

2 player tokens

1 Time-warped Reactor Piece

Game Board

Deck with only face Cards and jokers

Max Players: 2

Premise: A Time portal has opened which allows you to warp to 3 different timelines. This allows you to travel to either the past, present or future in order to obtain a Time-warped Reactor which you must bring back to your timeline to save yourself from disappearing altogether.

Rules:

- Each player chooses a different timeline in which they begin in the outside space.

- The Time-warped Reactor will be placed at random in the timeline that the players do not belong to.

- Players begin the game by rolling 2 die each to try to reach the Time-warped Reactor first.

- Reaching the time portal counts as one space. Once there the player can choose which timeline they would like to go to.

- The first person to reach the Time-warped Reactor is now the Carrier.

      - Carriers can move either backwards(towards the center time portal) or forwards(towards the outside edge), but must commit to either one before each roll.

      - Carriers can not choose to go backwards AND forwards on a single roll.

      - Carriers can not play action cards

- The person that does not have the Time-warped Reactor is now the Chaser and must attempt to steal the item from the Carrier before they reach the end of their own timeline.

       - Chasers can only move forwards(towards the outside edge)

       - The Chaser can now play action cards when they land on a dotted space

               - JACK- Allows the Chaser to move either way on the roll of their choice. Chaser can keep this card and use it at any time

               - Queen- Forces the Carriers next roll to be going towards the Chaser.

               - King- The Carrier must skip their next turn and the Chaser gets to roll again.

               - Joker- Warps the Carrier to the timeline in which the secret item came from.

      - The Chaser mush reach the Carrier's space to steal the Time-warped Reactor. If the Chaser still had more spaces left to go on their roll after they steal the item, they can move those spaces in either direction.

- Reaching the outside edge of a timeline teleports you to the time portal in the center.

- Reaching the outside edge of the timeline in which you came from AS THE CARRIER Wins the game.

Exploding Kittens Session Report

Kittens do whatever they want. They don't care what their owner is doing or what is going on around them. As innocent and cute as they may seem, they do have a secret plan to destroy us all in the game Exploding Kittens. Kunal, Jun, Erikson and myself decided to sit down together and play a hopefully friendly game.

As the cards were being dealt we went over the rules which were simple enough. As soon as I picked up my cards I found myself just staring at the images and laughing at what the creators had came up with. Some examples being a rare form of cat called "Beard Cat" and attack card in which you awaken the bear-o-dactyl. The first card I played was the "Special-Ops Bunnies" which allowed me to privately view the top three cards to see if there might be an exploding kitten coming up soon. I then drew a card from the deck as to end my turn and live another turn without having a kitten blow me up

The game went on with the Kunal deploying "thousand year back hair" to attack the the person next to them. Erikson had to " don a portable cheetah butt" to skip his turn and not have to draw a card. Jun decided to "rub the belly of a pigacorn" to view the top three cards on the deck.

I then drew the first of the three exploding kittens on the deck. This kitten was about to walk all over the key board of a nuclear missile launcher when I quickly defused the situation by distracting it with a mountain of catnip sandwiches. Whew! Luckily we all started out with at least one defuse for a free life to start out the game.

When the kittens start exploding you must do anything to prevent it. This could mean distracting it via laser pointer or even via kitten therapy to get this homicidal kitten some help. But when you have run out of options to defuse, there is nothing you can do when that cat start munching on the dynamite. 

Jun and I had fallen to these evil kittens and only Erikson and Kunal were left standing to face the wrath of these felines. Only one exploding kitten card was left in the deck of only two left and it was Erikson's turn. He deployed the double "potatoe cat" allowing him to take one card of his choice from the three cards that remained in Kunal's hand. His first pick did not go over well when he picked only a cat variant. Erikson then deployed a double Tacocat allowing him to take one more card from Kunal. What he did not know is the only card remaining in his hand was the final defuse card which he desperately needed to evade the inevitable exploding kitten.

Erikson exploded with his buddy holding a hand grenade and only Kunal survived the exploding kittens.

Board Game Geek Link

Adopt a Game

For this adopt a game activity I chose to play the game Sky Base

I usually do not like to play older arcade games in my free time although I do appreciate them and acknowledge their part in the beginnings of gaming as an industry. Sky Base is a fixed shooter Galaga-like game with very fast moving enemies and a small gun to start out with. The initial play-through was just figuring out the controls and how the game works. I immediately found out that a quick reaction time was key to surviving in this game.

It was pretty hard to progress very far in the game because of the difficulty and speed of the levels. I tried my best to progress as far as I could for about 15 minutes and only got to the third stage. Perhaps if I played more of these types of games I could easily get farther, but I lost interest after a short amount of time.

At the time, the original hardware was probably using most of it processing power to run this game. Now I play it through an emulator on a computer that has a thousand+ times the processing power of that machine.