Saturday, September 25, 2010
Design Chemistry
When there is a project at hand, having the right people on hand can make or break its success. Surely there are somethings that we are good at working alone. However, when you want to make something big, you will most likely need more people; and surely there are certain things that someone else might be specifically better or quicker at completing on the level needed to ensure its success. In my own experience, the smaller the team, the easier the communication. Furthermore, the smaller the team, the better everyone can get to or already know each other. With this being said I currently believe that small teams can communicate to other small teams via a liaison. As we have learned from the assembly lines of the early Ford automotive production plants, specialization multiplies productivity. Granted you need to have the right people in the right places.
Prototyping
Prototyping is an extremely useful tool in design. In the field of architecture, people build prototypes or models to test for structural stability and aesthetic reasons. Afterall, the last thing you want to have happen is spend all your time on an idea and find out too late in the process that it cannot accomplish the big ideas you had for it. In video games the same is true. Plus prototypes can inspire new ideas or perfect the current one. The earlier you know how and what will work for your game, the better prepared you are to bring the whole thing together.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Character Development
The following is the description of my player:
His name is Spatula Francis Dogwalker. He is an american ninja. Grew up in the trailer park until 16 when he left, after his single-mother's death. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade and moved to Japan with money saved from pick-pocketing. Which is where he learned the ways of mixed martial arts from sinsea Master Jetlu. After winning many competitions and events of defending his honor, Spatula moved back to the states to avenge his mother's wrongful death.
He can defend himself as a reflex, is bi-lingual, and in excellent physical shape. He has a dragon tatoo on his left forearm, is 21 and is 6'0" and 200 pounds. His parents separated before his birth. His mother was addicted to pain killers. She started taking them after a drunk driver hit her car when she was 17.
His overall goal is to avenge his mother's wrongful death. She was killed by gang members in a drug deal gone wrong. His tactic?--Kill 'em all!
His name is Spatula Francis Dogwalker. He is an american ninja. Grew up in the trailer park until 16 when he left, after his single-mother's death. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade and moved to Japan with money saved from pick-pocketing. Which is where he learned the ways of mixed martial arts from sinsea Master Jetlu. After winning many competitions and events of defending his honor, Spatula moved back to the states to avenge his mother's wrongful death.
He can defend himself as a reflex, is bi-lingual, and in excellent physical shape. He has a dragon tatoo on his left forearm, is 21 and is 6'0" and 200 pounds. His parents separated before his birth. His mother was addicted to pain killers. She started taking them after a drunk driver hit her car when she was 17.
His overall goal is to avenge his mother's wrongful death. She was killed by gang members in a drug deal gone wrong. His tactic?--Kill 'em all!
GameMechanics Examined
I agree with the article that too many mechanics can mean too much resting on the shoulders of the player. For example, in the game The Matrix: Path of Neo there are so many different combo moves that you end up just hitting buttons and seeing new moves by accident. I loved this game though because I loved The Matrix the movie. However, I basically stuck to a few combos I remembered as they came up in the game and discovered others by randomly pressing buttons. I have also felt this weight in other games where there is so much up to you, you get overwhelmed thinking of how to organize your gameplay in order to be successful in the game.
Accessibility
The controls for Quake IV are not difficult to get the player moving and targeting/shooting. However, to do more advanced movement and shooting takes time and practice to master. It is simple to go straight ahead, jump, and shoot. Strafe-jumping (which allows the player greater speed) on the other hand takes some practice to get down. Also aiming and hitting enemies with the different guns takes some practice as they all fire differently.
With no arms you cannot play the game at all in its current configuration of controls. You would pretty much have to have the ability to aim and turn and strafe by looking (perhaps with glasses that tracked eye movement), and perhaps some foot pedals to move the player.
If playing this game without sight, one would need to play by sound and vibrations. For instance, the player could move the mouse and when the crosshair was aimed at a player it could vibrate and he could fire. And when he was in the crosshair of an enemy he could hear a danger sound and could move away accordingly. Also one would need to know the map, perhaps by studying it and hearing a certain sound when a wall was collided with. The maps would need to be pretty straight forward for beginners.
With one arm a player would definitely need some of the aforementioned equipment. Perhaps the simplest would be some foot pedals to move and the mouse to aim and fire.
With no arms you cannot play the game at all in its current configuration of controls. You would pretty much have to have the ability to aim and turn and strafe by looking (perhaps with glasses that tracked eye movement), and perhaps some foot pedals to move the player.
If playing this game without sight, one would need to play by sound and vibrations. For instance, the player could move the mouse and when the crosshair was aimed at a player it could vibrate and he could fire. And when he was in the crosshair of an enemy he could hear a danger sound and could move away accordingly. Also one would need to know the map, perhaps by studying it and hearing a certain sound when a wall was collided with. The maps would need to be pretty straight forward for beginners.
With one arm a player would definitely need some of the aforementioned equipment. Perhaps the simplest would be some foot pedals to move and the mouse to aim and fire.
Chalk Free Play
This game is refreshingly simple yet challenging. I did have fun playing it; you definitely have to be quick to progress. I found it challenging because of how quick you need to move-running away and attacking and playing a good defense.
This game does have a replay value. If you want to prove that you have great control with the mouse, this is the game with which to do it. Comparing high scores with friends is what I think would make this game fun.
Story does not drive Chalk. This is a game play driven game. After all there is nothing but a blackboard, chalk, and enemies and obstacles. It does seem to remind one of his own experience with the blackboard, daydreaming in classes-seeing more than meets the eye of what a teacher writes on it. And saying this it makes the game just seem like a daydream being presented to you-which in some backwards way-makes it somewhat story driven.
The game stays fresh with simple but entertaining sounds and graphics. As soon as you think you know your enemy, a new kind of enemy pops out. Either that or a bunch more of them do. It gets tougher as you go along and all of the sounds fit their purpose, making it work in a very uncomplicated way.
The controls are also quite simple in that you only use the mouse. Running, moving, "chalking", all require the appropriate direction given by the mouse. Things seem to run smoothly at first, but as soon as more enemies show up, drawing a straight chalk line becomes more difficult (which keeps things challenging and fun).
If I could change one game mechanic here it would be to let the player use the space button to jump over enemies. This would make dodging a little more easy with multiple oponents, which would probably need rebalancing by making the bullets follow you on harder levels; but would make things a little more interesting.
On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this game a 5 on the computer (too simple), but a 7 on the cell phone (just makes more sense on a phone-good time killer when you're mobile. It's not a bad game, I would just rate it better on a phone.
This game does have a replay value. If you want to prove that you have great control with the mouse, this is the game with which to do it. Comparing high scores with friends is what I think would make this game fun.
Story does not drive Chalk. This is a game play driven game. After all there is nothing but a blackboard, chalk, and enemies and obstacles. It does seem to remind one of his own experience with the blackboard, daydreaming in classes-seeing more than meets the eye of what a teacher writes on it. And saying this it makes the game just seem like a daydream being presented to you-which in some backwards way-makes it somewhat story driven.
The game stays fresh with simple but entertaining sounds and graphics. As soon as you think you know your enemy, a new kind of enemy pops out. Either that or a bunch more of them do. It gets tougher as you go along and all of the sounds fit their purpose, making it work in a very uncomplicated way.
The controls are also quite simple in that you only use the mouse. Running, moving, "chalking", all require the appropriate direction given by the mouse. Things seem to run smoothly at first, but as soon as more enemies show up, drawing a straight chalk line becomes more difficult (which keeps things challenging and fun).
If I could change one game mechanic here it would be to let the player use the space button to jump over enemies. This would make dodging a little more easy with multiple oponents, which would probably need rebalancing by making the bullets follow you on harder levels; but would make things a little more interesting.
On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this game a 5 on the computer (too simple), but a 7 on the cell phone (just makes more sense on a phone-good time killer when you're mobile. It's not a bad game, I would just rate it better on a phone.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Chapter Four Book Work
(2)
(A.) Swat. A leader, heavy military training (15 years). Outstanding physical shape and physical ability. High IQ.
(B.) Dr. Fisher. CIA genious chemist. Taught Swat chemistry in college.
(C) Jane Smith, Black Ops perative trained by Swat. Also very high IQ and physical ability. Alleged double agent. Intel has her working for Iran in the Nuclear weaponry division, collecting secrets from the US to sell to them.
(A.) Swat. A leader, heavy military training (15 years). Outstanding physical shape and physical ability. High IQ.
(B.) Dr. Fisher. CIA genious chemist. Taught Swat chemistry in college.
(C) Jane Smith, Black Ops perative trained by Swat. Also very high IQ and physical ability. Alleged double agent. Intel has her working for Iran in the Nuclear weaponry division, collecting secrets from the US to sell to them.
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