Week Thirteen 3RD CLOUD Project Update

The following is an update as to my activity with the 3rd CLOUD game project:

Final Testing:

This week, Drew, Henry, and I are going to be testing for bugs and inconsistencies with the first level of 3rd Cloud. We have also at this point decided to abandon the second two clouds in order to make a polished first cloud.

Game Event Mapping:

We are currently editing some of the story in order to meet the teams needs for which they wish to have in the game. This will be finalized and implemented by next week.

Manual:

A manual is required for this game to work most effectively. I will be in charge of making this manual so our users will be able to be guided through our world of magic.

Weekly Meeting Times:

Our last meeting was in the Games Room on Tuesday Novemeber, 27th at 2:00 PM. Our next meeting will be at the same time, location, and day of the week.

Next Weeks Objectives:

For next week, we will have a complete first cloud with a basic user manual.

Week Twelve 3RD CLOUD Project Update

The following is an update as to my activity with the 3rd CLOUD game project:

User Testing:

I was in charge of the user testing. I was able to find and test five test subjects and record the data of our prototype.

Game Event Mapping:

We have finalized the game map for the first cloud. The mapping for the second and third cloud have been delayed to ensure one solid level will be created, the first cloud.

Weekly Meeting Times:

Our last meeting was in the Games Room on Tuesday Novemeber, 14th at 2:00 PM. Our next meeting will be at the same time, location, and day of the week.

Next Weeks Objectives:

For next week, I would like to polish up the first cloud. After this we can move onto the details of the other two clouds.

Week Eleven Class Critiques

Aquila

Mechanics

Two main mechanics are important to this game: Movement and Attacking. A variety of both of these mechanics can be seen with the vast selection of units that have all different types of movement and attacking differences (some have higher hit points and attack from others while others are cheaper). The only problem is possible balance issues with the different mechanics. Some units will be obviously better than others but the cost needs to match the advantage; otherwise we will have the same problem Advance Wars for the Nintendo DS has with Megatanks, too cheap in cost and too powerful to play.

Dynamics

To help support the mechanics and challenge the player, two things can be done: have special terrain bonuses and have specialized units. By having terrain bonuses, penalties, and restrictions, the user has to critically think about which units they have to purchase for each round. For instance, you can make it so in arctic storms, air vehicles can’t be used and all other units move at half speed. Also, by having specialized units the user again has an extra element of strategy to consider. For instance, having anti air infantry would be super effective against air and normal against armored vehicles. Regular infantry however could decimate this unit type.

Aesthetics

The major forms of fun that are in this game are narrative, challenge, expression, and sensation. The game has a very basic story line: two factions, one trying to take over the world and the other is saving it. This kind of story is always welcome for this genre of game. It is challenging because you need to be able to strategically determine and plan against another player. It is expressive in the sense that you can choose what you want in your army and you can eliminate choices and make custom force. Finally, it is sensation because of how the user feels after winning or losing a battle. They will feel the most positive sensation if they win a close match.

Legend of Chopstick Chung

Mechanics

The major mechanic in this game is the ability of the player to click the mouse. Because of this, it is important to make this mechanic as fun and dynamic as possible. Simply clicking can tire after repeated or extended periods of time. Having ways to affect the speed of the clicking or how fast the player has to click will assist with the dynamics of the game.

Dynamics

As said earlier, having different ways of effecting the clicking will help keep the game interesting. There are two ways that this can be done. The first way is to have the time of the game effected either through progressing through the game or having it done every so often on a timer. The second way is through power ups that effect how you click or allow you to mess with time. An example of this could be a scatter click where it would count as a giant click within a certain radius of the click origin.

Aesthetics

The main forms of fun in this game are challenge, fantasy, and submission. It is challenging because of the dynamic way you have to click to achieve points. An example of this is with the first level of the game where you have to catch flies with chopsticks. It is fantasy because of the theme, main character and tasks the player is required to perform. Finally, it is submission because it takes the player little time to complete each task, like Warioware.

Deep Field

Mechanics

The main mechanic for this game is the ability to click the mouse. Like with Chopsticks Chong, it is important to make this mechanic as fun and dynamic as possible. Simply clicking can tire after repeated or extended periods of time. Having ways to effect the speed of the clicking or how fast the player has to click will assist with the dynamics of the game. Because this is being done in a 3D environment, having the clicking done from all angles and possibly having different effects could prove to be entertaining.

Dynamics

The best way to increase the dynamics of this game is to take advantage of the 3D environment that the game is being done in and the speed of the AI. By having enemies that jump or fly at the opponent, it makes the player think as to how they can avoid both land and air based attacks. Also, by having AI at varying speeds, you can have AI that can blitzkrieg the player and have other computers that are a creeping doom. This will help ad to the suspense of the game.

Aesthetics

The main forms of fun in this game like Chopstick Chong are challenge, fantasy, and submission. It is challenging because of the dynamic way you have to click to achieve points. An example of this is when you have to strategize between opponents of different speeds. It is fantasy because of the theme, main character and tasks the player is required to perform. Finally, it is submission because you are required to perform repetitive tasks for a short duration of time until a level is complete.

Dynasty

Mechanics

The two main mechanics for this game is the ability to interact with objects and movement. Based on the genre of game this is, it will be difficult to keep these mechanics interesting. The simplest way would be to create some kind of barrier that the user would have to somehow find a creative way to get past.

Dynamics

The Dynamics of the game will be determined by the difficulty and the creativity involved with the puzzles used. They have to be balanced enough for the player to be challenged by not frustrated. To help with this, barriers again can be used to help increase the challenge of these puzzles.

Aesthetics

This uses the following forms of fun: Sensation, Narrative, Fantasy, Challenge and Discovery. Challenge and discovery is felt through the thought process of completing puzzles while sensation is felt through the successful completion of the puzzles. Narrative is taken from Chinese history but with the time mix up twist. Finally, fantasy can be seen through the unrealistic backgrounds and character designs.

Week Ten Class Critiques

Stick Ninja

Mechanics

The main mechanic in your game is your ability to strike your opponent. You were able to recognize this early and you already have a support structure for your main mechanic: you have super effective weapons and least effective weapons against certain types of enemies. The only problem I can see is with any secondary mechanics that you might have such as movement. Take for instance if you wanted to use the Torque 3D engine for this game. If you have movement in a 3D environment then that changes the dynamics of how you strike at someone because it is easy for you strafe around them if you are fast or you have be powerful if you are slow. The only exception to this is if you are making this a turn based strategy game like an early version of Final Fantasy.

Dynamics

The main dynamics of this game is the variety of opponents the user can face off against. This not only effects the mechanics of the game, because certain weapons are effective against certain monsters, but also because you can absorb the powers of the monsters you defeat making the enemy weapons either ineffective or super effective against you. This gives the game additional strategy because the player has to worry both about themselves and their enemy resistances. The only problem I see for this is the possibility for having random encounters. The reason for this is because if the encounters are random for the user then it makes it incredibly difficult to make a strategy. The user would be forced to use the strongest weapon rather than the most efficient strategy.

Aesthetics

The main forms of fun being used in this game are challenge, fantasy, narrative, expression and discovery. To help support challenge, you have created the intricate strategy system outlined above. For fantasy and narrative, you have made a character that is entirely fictitious, cartoon like and put him in a fantasy based story line. As for expression and discovery, the user has the choice to customize his character for combat and can figure out the effectiveness of character type and weapon combinations.

Zodiac War

Mechanics

For a 2D fighting game, the two main mechanics are the ability to move around and the ability to strike opponents. For movement, it is the same as normal 2D fighting games and that is acceptable since it is the norm. For attacking though, it is important to have a balance in variety of moves for the user to choose from. If the user is limited in their attack selection then they will button mash constantly. If there are too many attacks then the user will pick the best move and use it the most. With a balance of power on selection the player will feel as though they have a larger choice of good quality moves and will then use the variety given to them.

Dynamics

The easiest way to create dynamics in a 2D fighting game is to balance the speed of the game. If the game is fast paced, which most 2D fighting games are, then the user is expected to fight within the bounds of the speed and attempt to use the speed to his/her advantage. By having means to change the speed of the game, either literally with time stop or speed up abilities, or practically with super moves, this creates new and different strategies for the user to implement.

Aesthetics

Sensation, fantasy, challenge and submission are the main forms of fun for this game. To create a sense of sensation, the user will take great pleasure in decimating their opponent especially if the opponent provides a challenge against them. The fantasy of the game is supported in the non-realistic maneuvers. The challenge is provided by having the user face off against different human opponents as well as having them face off against different avatars with unique moves. Finally, this is a submissive game because it is not meant to last for hours like an RPG. It is meant to take several minutes to play the entirety of the game and have replay value because of the character selection available to the player.

Crack Quest

Mechanics

The two most important mechanics in the game is the ability to move in a 2D space and the ability to shoot. Because of this it is important to have power ups, environments and enemies that either hinder or help these mechanics. One example of this could be glue on the floor to slow the user down or some kind of drug that boosts the character speed.

Dynamics

Like Metal Slug, there is a lot that happens in a very short period of time. The user wants to scroll through the level as quickly and safely as possible. Because of this, it needs to be a fast paced game with lots of enemies to shoot down. Also, there should be multiple ways to destroy enemies and enemies should also be resistant to some ways of destruction.

Aesthetics

Like Zodiac War, sensation, fantasy, challenge and submission are the main forms of fun for this game. To create a sense of sensation, the user will take great pleasure in decimating their opponent especially if the opponent provides a challenge against them. The fantasy of the game is supported in the non-realistic characters and quests. The challenge is provided by having the user face off against different opponents but more importantly a large number of them. Finally, this is a submissive game because it is not meant to last for hours like an RPG. It is meant to take several minutes to play the entirety of the game.

Week Eleven 3RD CLOUD Project Update

The following is an update as to my activity with the 3rd CLOUD game project:

Game Mapping:

We are finalizing the map of the first and second cloud over the next few days. The map will take about 15 minutes to 20 minutes to travel across while completing quests along the way.

Game Event Mapping:

A draft of the second half of the First Cloud is complete and needs to be approved by the group. Also a draft of the second cloud is almost complete.

Weekly Meeting Times:

Our last meeting was in the Games Room on Tuesday November, 7th at 2:00 PM. Our next meeting will be at the same time, location, and day of the week.

Next Weeks Objectives:

For next week, I would like to have the events for all three clouds complete. The map of all three clouds will be complete. Also the menus for the clouds will be complete.

Week Nine Class Critiques

Food Fight:

Mechanics

The three mechanics of this piece that should be focused on is the movement mechanic, the shooting mechanic, and the fog of war mechanic. All of these have a very unique way of changing the game play. Having items and power ups to support these mechanics are important to create an interesting and dynamic such as faster/slower movement power ups, inaccurate hi damage weapons, accurate low damage weapons, fast and slow weapons, temporary omniscience, and dizzying food.

In the presentation it was mentioned that the ability of the individual characters where not tested. Because they manipulate the various mechanics you have, another prototyping session is required where these abilities can be critically analyzed.

Dynamics

I think that the most powerful dynamic in this game is the suspense created with a fog of war. The only problem is that this mechanic does not match theme, a food fight. Generally when one has a food fight, you can see all your opponents. A more appropriate way to support the theme is not with a fog of war, but with just a limited view of the war, like with Liero. This limited view on the world brings in a new form of play, blind shooting, but does not give the illusion of exterior darkness.

Aesthetics

The four types of fun of this game are Competition, Challenge, Fantasy, and Sensation. Your aesthetics are well supported by your mechanics and dynamics. It has a fun loving and cartoon like look to it giving the sense of fantasy. Also, the theme itself supports this form of the aesthetic, a food fight in a school cafeteria. There is and competition challenge because you are fighting human opponents with special powers. There is sensation because you are dealing with enemies in an unknown location.

Drive Thru Tycoon:

Mechanics

The mechanic in this game is single click optimization strategy game, pointing and clicking in a pattern to achieve a tasty outcome. This is a very enjoyable mechanic because of its simplicity. However, it is important to be able to optimize one’s clicking and combinations with some kind of items, upgrading appliances, super appliances, super managers and employees. There should also be items that can give bonuses for some things but penalties for others. There should also be some items or situations that some how to make the user click additional times, such as double patty burgers.

Dynamics

The best way to support the dynamics of this game is to create suspense and a sense of urgency in the player. This can be done by having uncontrollable events such as having lunch and dinner rushes or even having city wide emergencies that require you to serve a lot of food at a discounted price.

It would be intriguing if the player was able to control the price of the food and make their own dinner and lunch rushes. This combined with random events could assist in changing the feel and pace of the game. Also, perhaps having several modes of play to entice users could help achieve long term playability, such as having a sandbox mode, a greed mode, a survival mode, etc.

Aesthetics

For a game like this, it is most important to have appropriate aesthetics in order to help immerse the user. By know that this game contains components of expression, submission, challenge, fantasy and narrative, the game can maximize its effectiveness on the audience. Because it is an expressive game, it is important to have a variety of appliances and looks to the fast food establishment. Otherwise the user may be uninterested in what they see and do because this is not “their” place. It is also a very submissive game where missions last only a few minutes rather than a lengthy period of time. It is with this that that sense of urgency is important to implement to make minutes seem like hours. It also provides a challenge to the user to have to remember their orders let alone work on a timer. Like most Tycoon games it is a vary fantasy based game where either the equipment that you use is very much make believe or the look of it is, as though it is from a cartoon. Finally, it is important to know that there is a narrative that is taking place. The user is making the story of their fast food place. The great thing about this is that the user will make this almost for you. The only flaw with this though is that it makes missions rather difficult to implement because not all stories will want to follow the same line of quests.

Circular Strife

Mechanics

The two primary mechanics for this game are the ability to move in a 3D environment and the ability to drop bombs. Because of this, the user should have some way of being able to manipulate these. One example could be simple power ups that make the avatar of the main character speed up or have dud bombs that actually slow down the user. Another example is having big and small bomb power ups or power ups that give you longer chains.

One of the biggest problems with the mechanics is with the accuracy of the players. By having chains of a certain size and needing to be a certain distance from the ruins to blow them up, this may frustrate the users.

Dynamics

To solve the problem with the above mechanic, it can be fixed by having several different modes that require different skill levels to complete to allow for tiered complexity. This will help make the game appeal to players.

Also, as was tested, having a time trial or at least multiple modes for the player it use the mechanics would diversify the game allowing players to have the option of repeat playability.

Aesthetics

Based on this game’s four main forms of fun, fantasy, challenge, submission and discovery, an interesting idea is developing. First off, it is in a fictionally based universe full of sky ruins. With some possibly cartoon graphics, fantasy is heavily supported. There is obvious challenge with the bombing placements and the submission of missions taking several minutes to do gives it a pick up and play feel. Also, with new ruin sites and varying bomb locations, there is a definite sense of discovery.

Week Ten 3RD CLOUD Project Update

The following is an update as to my activity with the 3rd CLOUD game project:

Game Menus:

Development of the game menus has stalled. I have only been able to have them in draft form. It is more imperative that my attention is placed on other aspects of the game. The menu will be finished by the launch of the prototype.

Game Mapping:

Drew and I are not designing the map of the 3rd CLOUD. However, we decided that we will build the map for each cloud and work on each cloud as though they were their own independent game. Because of this, it is the first cloud map that has been finalized and the second and third are still in production.

Game Event Mapping:

This is where most of my attention has been placed. Because of our moral mechanic that involves are artifact of evil, we want to be have particular events take place based on who has the artifact, and who wins certain combat. It is this we have mapped out for the first half of the first cloud. The team has been sent the mapping of it and Drew will be building the events as specified.

Weekly Meeting Times:

Our last meeting was in the Games Room on Tuesday October, 30th at 2:00 PM. Our next meeting will be at the same time, location, and day of the week.

Next Weeks Objectives:

For next week, I would like to have the events for the first two clouds complete and a draft of the second cloud complete. I would like to have the first cloud menu finalized and added to the game.