Homework 14

Diagram 1: Start Menu

Diagram 2: Astronaut States

Homework 12

Between now and next week I will be working on some animation components for the main character.
The tasks I will do are:

• Bend the Characters hands
• They are stuck in a karate chop pose right now
• Get feet to bend when crouching
• This is to fix a weigh paint error which causes the characters feet to go through the ground when he crouches.
• Animate a melee attack
• I will be doing the attack for a simple sword
• This will be the base animation for all melee attacks

Homework 11

Chapter 15

1. A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing. 

When it comes to games, the player must face some obstacle when reaching his goal. The designer should ensure that the obstacles are relevant and that they are ones the player wishes to overcome.

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

The relationship between the main character and the goal is that he wishes to save the moon colonies from the invaders. The character cares about it because he is a lunar native and they are trying to steal their resources.

3. What are the obstacles between the character and the goal? 

The obstacles between the character and the goal will be the antagonist astronauts whom he must fight.

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

Yes, as the player progresses, the enemies will have increasingly better weapons.

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

No. However, although the protagonist does not transform, the weapons which he uses will be better as he faces his opponents.

6. How is the game world simpler than the real world? 

The character is locked into the x axis, and he can only perform a given set of actions.

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

The player does not necessarily have any more special abilities than a human being. However, his being an astronaut and being in space is something that most real people have not experienced.

8. What is the weirdest element in the game story? 

I personally think that the weirdest element in the game story is the use of unconventional weapons. The lunar battle takes place unexpectedly and for this reason, the battling astronauts are not equipped with firearms.

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

The weirdness declared on question 8 was purposely designed that way. By only giving the player unconventional weapons we have created an original experience from other games.

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

I think the player will be interested in the game story because it involves extraterrestrial elements of aesthetics in combination with a fight for independence, something most educated Americans can relate to.

Chapter 16

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

The player is free to explore the lunar level on the x and y axis. The player also has freedom over his weapon of choice and how he chooses to use that particular weapon.

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

The player can only move on the x and y axis. The game mechanics are designed to work with 2-dimensional physics, for this reason I don’t think the player will feel constrained. Our goal in constraining the player to the x and y axis is to ultimately give the player more freedom within the respective boundaries.

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

Ideally, we want the player to play with the assortment of objects, and figure out the different ways of killing enemies with them.

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

We will periodically spawn enemies with different weapons to try to kill the player. If the player chooses not to kill these enemies, he will likely end up facing death himself.

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

We are hoping we can influence the player to perform the desired actions by displaying enemy warnings and maybe even using sound to command and inform them.

Homework 9

The 12 types of balance are important factors in deciding the equilibrium of games. Our game has many balanced as well as unbalanced aspects which create defining characteristics.

The game will be symmetrical in regards to the enemies having the same abilities as you. However since you will be generally fighting more than one enemy, the game also contains asymmetrical factors.

As the player progresses throughout the game, the level of difficulty will progressively increase. The enemies will have better and more effective weapons as you move along. There will only be one difficulty in the game. The challenge of the game will be dependent on how you kill enemies.

The meaningful choices of the game generally consist of what weapon you chose and how you use that weapon. The player will also be given a slight amount of freedom in regards to where he can go, but the mission goal is at the end of the level

Since our game is not point based, there isn’t really any triangularity in it. However, since triangularity is an important aspect of game balance, we might implement it later into the game. One way could be by adding a point system to kill types. Every weapon will have a melee and a throwing attack. We could possibly give the player more points based on the type of attack, how far his kill was, and the distance of his throw.

Our game is mainly skill based. The only real elements of chance would come from unfamiliarity with the game. If you have never played a level before, the spawning of enemies and layout of the level will be random. A first-time player might make a risky choice based on his unknowingness of his environment.

Although our game will be mainly dexterity based, there are also intellectual challenges. For example throwing a weapon will require the player to perform some physics calculations in order to predict its trajectory. As far as puzzle solving, the game doesn’t really have any.

Our game is completely competitive. As of now, there are no aspects of cooperation in our game.

Our game will be fairly short. However since our game is level based, the length of the game will ultimately be dependent on the amount of levels we make. The game length will also be affected by how many times the player die, since he will be respawned at an earlier location.

The player will be rewarded in a variety of different ways. Every kill will reward the player with amusing space animations as well as the option to pick up whatever weapon the enemy was using.

The player will be punished every time he dies by having to restart the level. This will create the fear of death.

The player will mainly have complete control over his character. He will decide the main choices such as where to go and what weapons to use, but must eventually reach the end of the level.

Our goal is to make our game easy to pickup but hard to master. The simplicity stems from the ease of control, and 2-d platformer setup.

The elegance of the game stems from the many ways to kill enemies. Our game will contain many different weapons, each with their own perks, and each with their own melee and distance attack.

I think the game’s astronaut deathmatch style will get players excited.

Since the main character is impersonal, it gives players imaginative freedom in defining his character and background. The moon will be the most detailed part of the game.

Homework 8

1. Is the space in your game discrete or continuous?

Since the player will be able to move in a semi-open world, the space of the game will be continuous.

2. How many dimensions does your space have? 

The player will have a 2-dimensional range of mobility in a 3-dimensional world.

3. What are the boundaries of your space? 

The boundaries of our space will be the ground, the range of the gravitational field, an object blocking the start, and the objective at the end.

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

The player will have four main verbs and two side verbs. They will be moving, jumping, striking, and throwing, as well as crouching, and picking up objects.

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

The verbs will act on two types of objects, the environment and the enemy. Weapons which collide with the environment will simply stick or bounce, and weapons which hit enemies will kill them or take damage.

6. How many ways can players achieve their goals

Although your experience will differ from game to game, there will be one main way to achieve your goal. What the goal is will depend on the level.

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

The player will only control the main character, the astronaut.

8. How do side effects change constraints. 

Side effects will change constraints by involving the player in situations such as defeating an enemy.

9. What are the operative actions in your game? 

The operative actions in the game will be moving, jumping, striking, and throwing.

10. What are the resultant actions in your game? 

The resultant actions of the game will be either killing the enemy, or losing your weapon (perhaps to the enemy) depending on if you threw it or not.

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

We might want the player to play online in multiplayer battles. Since blender does not easily support multiplayer we might use an external engine.

12. What is the ultimate goal of your game? 

The ultimate goal of the game is to kill all the enemies and recolonize the territories.

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

The short term goals will be to kill enemies in range and to finish the mission. The long term goal will be to free the space colonies.

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

The game will provide a short summary of the story and goals before it starts.

15. What are the foundational rules of your game? 

The fundamental rules of the game will be:

1.       Stay within the boundries

2.       finish a level before you go to the next one

3.       you are locked in 2-dimensions

4.       you cannot move through solid objects

16. How are these rules enforced? 

The rules will be enforced by game mechanics which support logical reasoning.

17. Does your game develop real skills? What are they? 

The game will develop aiming skills (like angry birds) and mental calculation.

18. Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they? 

Currently, the player does not develop any virtual skills.

Homework 7

For this assignment I have created an armature system for my main character, created a walk, turn, crouch, jump, and toss animation, added a set of motion and animation control and a simple physics system. The character rig consists of parented armatures to a collision bounds and motion object. I used some simple material texturing on the background, the character, and the platforms. The background, platforms, and character have been linked together for the purpose of this demonstration.

This basic setup will be the base of the main character rig in the game. Our next step will be to prepare the weapons system for the character to interact with.

Homework 6

1.       We tried to incorporate all four elements of the Tetrad into our game. The aesthetics will be addressed by our 3d models and backgrounds. The player will be in lunar world consisting of rock formations, constructions sites, and galactic backgrounds. The story of the game will focus more on the situation than the characters personal tale. The forte of the story won’t be the writing but rather the concept of a space colonization battle. The story will be used to support the mechanics of the game. The technology used in the game is what will allow us to piece the game together. We will be using some blender as well as possibly ogre engine to support multiplayer. Our team will be working with our own custom engine to incorporate our designs into the game. Lastly, the mechanics will play a huge role in the game. Everything around the game is designed to showcase the mechanics which will consist of lunar and space physics as well as user control of the astronaut.

2.       The four elements of our game definitively work towards a current theme. They will be utilized to simulate the theme of a lunar astronaut battle.

3.       The theme of a game is what the game is about. The experience of a game is what the player feels when playing the game.

4.       The theme of the game is the battle of independence of space colonies. However the game is not about liberation. The game is more or less a fighting game. We want the player to experience the feeling of being an astronaut. We want them to feel the mystique of being out in space as well as the sensory of low gravity. We want the player to be weary of the fragileness of being in a space suit in an environment not meant for man, all the while there are other players trying to kill him. 

5.       Our goal is for every element in the game to support the theme. We want to incorporate low gravity physics, a story about astronauts in a battle, and outer space graphics into the game.

6.       I think there are many things about this game that makes it feel special and powerful. To start off a story about gaining independence is ubiquitous to the human experience (or at the very least, something all Americans can relate to). The player will be working to protect his human rights. Like most people, I’ve also always had a fascination with the beauty of space and the galaxies, as well as the sublime sight that is the earth. I think these story and aesthetic elements combined with good plat former gameplay will make the game really special.