Friday, 15 April 2011
Week 12: Game Evaluation
In the end I need to remove the story element from the game, because I did not have enough time to add it in. although I had to remove some of the features from the game, because I did not have the knowledge to add it in. I believe that the features that were removed also removed the horror element from the game that was in the design documents. Over all the game is fully completed, and I have tested it on several people. The in the game texts that tells people what to do has help to tell people where to go in the game so they don’t get lost. When designing the game I think I was focusing on the wrong parts. I should have focus more on the gameplay instead of the look of the game and the Kismet sequences. I spent most of my time making complex Kismet sequence instead if thinking about that fun of the game. Next time I will think more carefully about the game that I am asked to make instead of rushing into it.
Week 12: Test Table
1. The Flashlight
To make sure the flashlight can be toggled on and off for darker places in the game.
F key before flashlight is required
F key after flashlight is required
F key before flashlight is required = flashlight does not turn on
F key after flashlight is required = flashlight runs on and off
2. Level 1 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Start game
Start game = level one was streamed
3. Level 2 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level one
Walk into teleport on level one = level two was streamed
4. Level 3 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level two
Walk into teleport on level two = level three was streamed
5. Level 4 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level three
Walk into teleport on level three = level four was streamed
6. Level 2 - 3 keys
To check that the main doors can be opened once all the key cards have been acquired.
Try to open door with 0 key cards
Try to open door with 1 key cards
Try to open door with 2 key cards
Try to open door with 3 key cards
Try to open door with 0 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 1 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 2 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 3 key cards = doors opens
7. Level 2- Main puzzle
To see if the right combination of colours is accepted for both sides.
Accept combination with wrong colours
Accept combination with right colours
Accept combination with wrong colours = not accepted on both sides
Accept combination with right colours = accepted on both sides
8. Level 2- Teleport
To see if the player is teleported to the next level once they completed the main puzzle.
Try teleported before completing puzzle
Try teleported after completing puzzle
Try teleported before completing puzzle = does not teleport player
Try teleported after completing puzzle = does teleport player
9. Level 3- Unlocking both main power rooms
To see if the main power rooms are unlocked once all the switches have been turned off.
Try to open main power rooms with no switches off
Try to open main power rooms with all switches off
Try to open main power rooms with no switches off = doors don’t open
Try to open main power rooms with all switches off = doors opened
10. Level 3- Main puzzle
To see if the right number is selected so the lift can move up to the next level.
Wrong number to try and move lift
Right number to try and move lift
Number wheel past max number
Wrong number to try and move lift = lift does not move
Right number to try and move lift = Lift moves
Number wheel past max number = Number wheel resets back to 1
11. Level 3- Teleport
To see if the player is teleported to the next level once they completed the main puzzle.
Try teleported before completing puzzle
Try teleported after completing puzzle
Try teleported before completing puzzle = does not teleport player
Try teleported after completing puzzle = does teleport player
12. Level 4- 2 keys
To check that the main doors can be opened once all the key cards have been acquired.
Try to open door with 0 key cards
Try to open door with 1 key cards
Try to open door with 2 key cards
Try to open door with 0 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 1 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 2 key cards = doors opens
13. Level 4- Door puzzle
To check to see if all the doors are working properly so the player can get trapped.
Walk around the maze and check the doors
Walk around the maze and check the doors = All interp actor doors open and close
14. Level 4- Drop Teleport
To check to see if the player is teleported if they fall off the edge in the finally room.
Walk of the edge an fall
Walk of the edge an fall = Get teleported back to the top
15. Level 4- End game
To see if the game closes once the player reaches the end on the game.
Get to the end of the game
Get to the end of the game = message displays for 5 second then game closes it self
To make sure the flashlight can be toggled on and off for darker places in the game.
F key before flashlight is required
F key after flashlight is required
F key before flashlight is required = flashlight does not turn on
F key after flashlight is required = flashlight runs on and off
2. Level 1 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Start game
Start game = level one was streamed
3. Level 2 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level one
Walk into teleport on level one = level two was streamed
4. Level 3 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level two
Walk into teleport on level two = level three was streamed
5. Level 4 Streaming
To make sure the correct level is streamed to the main level
Walk into teleport on level three
Walk into teleport on level three = level four was streamed
6. Level 2 - 3 keys
To check that the main doors can be opened once all the key cards have been acquired.
Try to open door with 0 key cards
Try to open door with 1 key cards
Try to open door with 2 key cards
Try to open door with 3 key cards
Try to open door with 0 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 1 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 2 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 3 key cards = doors opens
7. Level 2- Main puzzle
To see if the right combination of colours is accepted for both sides.
Accept combination with wrong colours
Accept combination with right colours
Accept combination with wrong colours = not accepted on both sides
Accept combination with right colours = accepted on both sides
8. Level 2- Teleport
To see if the player is teleported to the next level once they completed the main puzzle.
Try teleported before completing puzzle
Try teleported after completing puzzle
Try teleported before completing puzzle = does not teleport player
Try teleported after completing puzzle = does teleport player
9. Level 3- Unlocking both main power rooms
To see if the main power rooms are unlocked once all the switches have been turned off.
Try to open main power rooms with no switches off
Try to open main power rooms with all switches off
Try to open main power rooms with no switches off = doors don’t open
Try to open main power rooms with all switches off = doors opened
10. Level 3- Main puzzle
To see if the right number is selected so the lift can move up to the next level.
Wrong number to try and move lift
Right number to try and move lift
Number wheel past max number
Wrong number to try and move lift = lift does not move
Right number to try and move lift = Lift moves
Number wheel past max number = Number wheel resets back to 1
11. Level 3- Teleport
To see if the player is teleported to the next level once they completed the main puzzle.
Try teleported before completing puzzle
Try teleported after completing puzzle
Try teleported before completing puzzle = does not teleport player
Try teleported after completing puzzle = does teleport player
12. Level 4- 2 keys
To check that the main doors can be opened once all the key cards have been acquired.
Try to open door with 0 key cards
Try to open door with 1 key cards
Try to open door with 2 key cards
Try to open door with 0 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 1 key cards = doors does not open
Try to open door with 2 key cards = doors opens
13. Level 4- Door puzzle
To check to see if all the doors are working properly so the player can get trapped.
Walk around the maze and check the doors
Walk around the maze and check the doors = All interp actor doors open and close
14. Level 4- Drop Teleport
To check to see if the player is teleported if they fall off the edge in the finally room.
Walk of the edge an fall
Walk of the edge an fall = Get teleported back to the top
15. Level 4- End game
To see if the game closes once the player reaches the end on the game.
Get to the end of the game
Get to the end of the game = message displays for 5 second then game closes it self
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Week 11: Level Progress
As this is the last week for developing my game, I have to remove the story element from the game, as it will take time to write the diary elements and to make a scale form pop up. I have been having problems with my last puzzle. I can toggle the visibility but not its collision. There is a set collision node inside of kismet, but using it with toggle hide and the different switches, causes the puzzle to not function the way I want it to. Some times you get a visible block with no collision or the complete opposite. When I got people to test out my game I found that they get lost, and don’t know what to do. I have started to make announcements using kismet, to tell the player what to do for each section.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Week 10: Level Progress
Let again I had to remove another features this week. This time it’s for the third level. I wanted to have bots walking up and down the level and when they see the player they chase them. I got the bots to walk up and down the level, but I could not get them to chase the player. Although I thought this would be a fun feature to put in. There where also some other problems that went wrong with the bots. they turn rate was slow, and they ran to fast. I couldn’t fine away to slow down the bots without slowing down the player, so I chosen to forget about the bots walking round the level. For the lift on the 3rd level puzzle. I got it so matinee plays it from it current position. This allows me to have multiple matinees effecting the object.
Week 10: GPUs and CPUs
This week we have been looking at CPUs and GPUs. The question that I have been asked to research is, how does a low spec hardware effect a high spec one in games. From analysing 10 of the games from these two links (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-performance-bottleneck,2737.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-performance-bottleneck,2738.html) I have notice a common pattern in some of the graphs for most of the games. When the CPU is reaching its load limit the GPU’s load limit is less, this causes the frame rate to be for the game. When the CPU load is low or not a its capacity, the GPU load is increased to its limit nearly, and this also increases the frame rate as well.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-performance-bottleneck,2738.html) I have notice a common pattern in some of the graphs for most of the games. When the CPU is reaching its load limit the GPU’s load limit is less, this causes the frame rate to be for the game. When the CPU load is low or not a its capacity, the GPU load is increased to its limit nearly, and this also increases the frame rate as well.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Week 9: Level Progress
This week I have started work on my second floor for my game. I had to rearrange the layout due to the big blocky walls I had made. The reason why I did this was because there where small gaps in the corners, an they seems very off-putting when you walk around the level. I had to remove one of the feature in my design document, that I was planning to put in the level. When the player is walking around, objects will swing and fall from the ceiling. But using a joint actor I could not get the effect I wanted, without having the lights floating in mid-air.
Week 9: GNU General Public License & Creative Commons Licence
The GNU General Public License was written by Richard Stallman in 1989 for the GNU project (a free operating system with free applications). The GNU is the first copyleft license. Copyleft license offers the distributing of free software an any modified or extended versions of the software has to be free as well under the same license. Information on how to modify and reproduce the software must be available to the people that receives the software(source code).
The Creative Commons Licenses (also know as CC) allows you to combined 4 different baseline rights for non-commercial use for free worldwide.
The four different baselines:
Attribution- People can copy, distribute, display and perform the work only if they give the author credit.
Non-commercial- People can copy, distribute, display, and perform the work for non-commercial uses.
No Derivative work- people can copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, but can not base their work on it.
Share-alike- People can bases their work on it only under a license similar to the original work.
Differences:
The Creative Commons Licenses allows you to customise your license with 4 options to best suit you, while the GNU does not give you the option to do this.
The Creative Commons Licenses allows you to have other licenses with it that can allow you to make a profit, while the General Public License does not allow you to do this.
With the General Public License you need to give the source code with the software to allow people to recreate or modify the software while with the Creative Commons Licenses people can use your work only if they give the author.
The GNU General Public License is only for computer software where as the Creative Commons Licenses is for videos/films, art, books, website ect.
The Creative Commons Licenses (also know as CC) allows you to combined 4 different baseline rights for non-commercial use for free worldwide.
The four different baselines:
Attribution- People can copy, distribute, display and perform the work only if they give the author credit.
Non-commercial- People can copy, distribute, display, and perform the work for non-commercial uses.
No Derivative work- people can copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, but can not base their work on it.
Share-alike- People can bases their work on it only under a license similar to the original work.
Differences:
The Creative Commons Licenses allows you to customise your license with 4 options to best suit you, while the GNU does not give you the option to do this.
The Creative Commons Licenses allows you to have other licenses with it that can allow you to make a profit, while the General Public License does not allow you to do this.
With the General Public License you need to give the source code with the software to allow people to recreate or modify the software while with the Creative Commons Licenses people can use your work only if they give the author.
The GNU General Public License is only for computer software where as the Creative Commons Licenses is for videos/films, art, books, website ect.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Week 8: Level Progress
I started to make the first level of my game. I used the cylinder tool to create a circler room. To make the circler walls I used the hollow option. I used the subtract tool to cut out a hole for the door to be placed in. First of all I tried one of the doors in the generic browser, but they seem to not blend into the level. I made my own door by changing the vertices of the builder brush, with the geometry tools. Once I got the shape I wanted, I applied my own custom material to it. The material was a blend of two textures inside of the generic browser. I converted the BSP door into a static mesh and added basic collision to it. I made two other static meshes as well. I made another door, what is half of the size of the other one. A white lab table, to make the room look like a lab. Using Kist met I added a moveable point light the flickers. I made the flickering effect by changing the brightness properties inside of Matinee and looped the animation around.
Week 8: Atari 2600 VCS
Most of the first generation consoles have built in games in till the second generation, where the Atari 2600 was one of the first video game console to use cartridge successfully. Atari was in competition with the Fairchild channel F at the time and both consoles did not sell very well first of all, due to the fact that the public thought the consoles could only play games like pong . Fairchild channel F dropped out of the competition ageist Atari, as they through video games were a passing fade. The programmers learned of the capability of the Atari 2600 what lead the public finding out that the Atria plays other games other than pong. As Fairchild channel F dropped out of the competition the Atari 2600 had the upper hand of the second generation console war because it was the only second generation console still on the market at that time. The Atari had 1 million units sold by 1979 where other consoles joined the second generation console wars (Magnavox Odyssey 2 and the Intellivision). The Atari 2600 had more accessories available to buy than any other console of its generation. With more accessories means more ways you can plays game which can enhance your gaming experience. The Atari had over 400 games including 3 parties games although most of them did not come out in till the 80s. By 1983 the video game crash happened, one reason for this was the realise of low quality game and made the public lose interest. The Atari 2600 had over 400 game and made a gross of over 2 billion in 1980. Were companies developing lots of poor quality games because they wanted more money, and did that cause the 1983 gaming crash to happen? Although the Atari 2600 did have a part to play in the gaming crash in 1983 the console did have some rememberable games.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Week 7 :Story Character
The sidekick and main character take refuge in a peasant’s house to plan there escape out of the city, after they evaded the death penalty for a crime they did not commit. The main character and the sidekick went too scout the exits of the city to make their escape, but on their return to the kind peasant’s house they found that the house had been set on fire with the peasant’s family still in side. The sidekick rushes in side the burning building against the main character’s command while guards are present at the scene.
Scenario 2:
While travelling to a different city the main character and sidekick witness a group of bandits steeling from a travelling merchant. The sidekick rushes in to save the merchant and aggressively attacking the bandits. While the last remaining bandit surrenders and puts his weapon down, the sidekick raise his weapons to deliver a killing blow, but before the sidekick could strike the main character stop him. The main character tells the sidekick that killing an unarm person who’s surrendering is murder but the sidekick disagrees and says people like him don’t deserve to live.
Scenario 3:
The sidekick and main character meets a young talented women who works her charms on the sidekick. The sidekicks feels like he needs to protected her while the main character does not trust her. This causes a disagreement with the main character and sidekick. One night while the main character is keeping watch out side their camp the young women sneaks up on the main character with a blade. Before she has a chance to kill the main character the sidekick runs up and pushes the mane character out the way casing the sidekick to be stabbed.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Week 6: Poem to Game Idea
(I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.)Ideas and images I get for the first section of the poem is a lonely traveller, travelling in a air blimp/ship that has no destination. Yellow/golden daffodils symbolise unrequited love which means loving someone who doesn’t love you/don’t know that you love them. spirits dancing to mother nature.
(Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.)Burning objects falling from the sky that stretches far as the eye can see as the sprits continue to dance.
(The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought)The objects crashed in the sea and a battle commences with the sprits and fallen objects. The lonely traveller just gazes.
(For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.)The lonely traveller couldn’t watch the slaughter of the sprites any more so he joins the fight to try and help them.
A lonely traveller from another planet comes across a planet filled with sprits that protects every other life on planet dances to their god to stop the invasion of the alien threat falling above. The alien threat crashes to the planet and a battle breaks out between the sprits and the aliens. As the lonely traveller flies past seeing the slaughter of the sprits that protect the planet he chooses to save them.
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.)Ideas and images I get for the first section of the poem is a lonely traveller, travelling in a air blimp/ship that has no destination. Yellow/golden daffodils symbolise unrequited love which means loving someone who doesn’t love you/don’t know that you love them. spirits dancing to mother nature.
(Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.)Burning objects falling from the sky that stretches far as the eye can see as the sprits continue to dance.
(The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought)The objects crashed in the sea and a battle commences with the sprits and fallen objects. The lonely traveller just gazes.
(For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.)The lonely traveller couldn’t watch the slaughter of the sprites any more so he joins the fight to try and help them.
A lonely traveller from another planet comes across a planet filled with sprits that protects every other life on planet dances to their god to stop the invasion of the alien threat falling above. The alien threat crashes to the planet and a battle breaks out between the sprits and the aliens. As the lonely traveller flies past seeing the slaughter of the sprits that protect the planet he chooses to save them.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Week 5: Virtual world effect the real world
Second life the game where the player controls an avatar and socialise with other players, has had numerous cases where in game actions effected the real world. According to the Guardina.co.uk a married couple in real life divorced after the wife found out that her husband has been having an affair with another avatar (full story here http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/13/second-life-divorce). One of the points of this game is to become someone else but is having a relationship in this virtual word cheating if you have a relationship in the real world? I believe it is as it is no different from if you where flirting on Facebook or any other social network. How far will virtual word relationships effect real life? Resent games like Sims, Mass Effect and Dragon age origins have the player role-playing as the main character and giving them the choice to form relationships with NPC. Games are evolving very fast and soon we might not be able to tell the different between a NPC or a real persons in these virtual word . Will people start divorcing their partners because they are having a relationship on games? Or will people start to find companionship in games instead?
Monday, 21 February 2011
Week 4: Mechanics Of CCA & NetHack
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure is a player versus environment game with loads of possible outcomes. If the player makes the wrong choice it will have dramatic impact. Taking the wrong path or not picking up an item can lead to the players death. Sid Meier said gameplay is “A series of interesting choices” and that’s what this game is about. This game heavily deepens on causality (That’s basically what the game is mainly made up of) every action will have a consequence for good or bad reasons, there will always be a consequence for every action. The challenges in this game is to think logically about every action you take and think about what actions you should do in every area. You could be standing in a forest and you see a bird so you killed it. killing that bad will have consequence. Good news is you got a free meal but bad news is that bird belongs to a rich fellow who wants you dead now (Although I’m sure that this event does not happens in the game). Colossal Cave Adventure is a turn bases game, the player enters a command/ phrase the game outputs the information, this process repeated throughout the game.
NetHack
NetHack is a player versus environment game set in dungeon style levels. Although the game seems like its in real time its actually a turn based game. The games gives the illusion of it being real time as you can walk around the area like it’s a real time game, but like Colossal Cave Adventure the player enters a command and the game outputs the information. this process repeated throughout the game. The game lets you take alterative root and use different weapons, by choosing going down one path your may encounter a hard enemy or get a powerful weapons, this is a good example of causality.
Colossal Cave Adventure is a player versus environment game with loads of possible outcomes. If the player makes the wrong choice it will have dramatic impact. Taking the wrong path or not picking up an item can lead to the players death. Sid Meier said gameplay is “A series of interesting choices” and that’s what this game is about. This game heavily deepens on causality (That’s basically what the game is mainly made up of) every action will have a consequence for good or bad reasons, there will always be a consequence for every action. The challenges in this game is to think logically about every action you take and think about what actions you should do in every area. You could be standing in a forest and you see a bird so you killed it. killing that bad will have consequence. Good news is you got a free meal but bad news is that bird belongs to a rich fellow who wants you dead now (Although I’m sure that this event does not happens in the game). Colossal Cave Adventure is a turn bases game, the player enters a command/ phrase the game outputs the information, this process repeated throughout the game.
NetHack
NetHack is a player versus environment game set in dungeon style levels. Although the game seems like its in real time its actually a turn based game. The games gives the illusion of it being real time as you can walk around the area like it’s a real time game, but like Colossal Cave Adventure the player enters a command and the game outputs the information. this process repeated throughout the game. The game lets you take alterative root and use different weapons, by choosing going down one path your may encounter a hard enemy or get a powerful weapons, this is a good example of causality.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Week 3: Kismet Interactions
List of kismet interactions that will be in the level:
Automatic open/close doors.
Door that require key cards
Flashlight
Custom player camera
The automatic door will use a tiger volume that is a linked to a touch event. When the player is in the trigger volume a matinee sequence will start up that will cause the doors to open, when the trigger volume is not touched the matinee sequence will reveres causing the doors to close. This event can happen as many time as it wants. If I add a lift in my level it would work the same way as how a door opens and close.
The key card will be a interp actor with a trigger volume around it. When the player walks in the trigger volume the key card actor will be destroyed and set the “has key card bool” to true. When the player walks in the trigger volume for the door it will check to see if the “has key card bool” is true, if its true the door will open.
Using a spot light movable I will attach the actor to the player with the attach actor option is kismet.
With the custom player camera I will do test to see what type of camera angles I want.
I Will add more kismet interaction later on but these are the one I have came up with so far throughout my planning
Automatic open/close doors.
Door that require key cards
Flashlight
Custom player camera
The automatic door will use a tiger volume that is a linked to a touch event. When the player is in the trigger volume a matinee sequence will start up that will cause the doors to open, when the trigger volume is not touched the matinee sequence will reveres causing the doors to close. This event can happen as many time as it wants. If I add a lift in my level it would work the same way as how a door opens and close.
The key card will be a interp actor with a trigger volume around it. When the player walks in the trigger volume the key card actor will be destroyed and set the “has key card bool” to true. When the player walks in the trigger volume for the door it will check to see if the “has key card bool” is true, if its true the door will open.
Using a spot light movable I will attach the actor to the player with the attach actor option is kismet.
With the custom player camera I will do test to see what type of camera angles I want.
I Will add more kismet interaction later on but these are the one I have came up with so far throughout my planning
Week 3: Chosen Game Idea
After much consideration I have chosen to go with game idea 2 (Waking up in the military base). Although the detective idea would offer more to the player every time they play the game because the murderer and clues will change each time they play. but for the game to succeed successful I would have to create a lot of my own models and textures what would take a lot of my time up and time is a issue on this project. The reason why I would have to create my own textures and models is because the ones that came with UDK are to sci-fi or dirty looking and would not go with the detective game idea. But the textures and models in UDK will go with the military idea game.
The feeling I want the player to experience when playing the game are: alone, deserted, scared, suspense, fear. All these emotion will be achieved by what the player see, hears and do.
I will have 4 main puzzles that will advance the story by unlocking different sections of the military bases that will explain what has happened to this place. To activate these main puzzles the players need a key card and turn the power on in that section. Reason why I am doing this is because I want the player to explore the area more. I would compare my game to the old resident evil and dino crisis games.
The feeling I want the player to experience when playing the game are: alone, deserted, scared, suspense, fear. All these emotion will be achieved by what the player see, hears and do.
I will have 4 main puzzles that will advance the story by unlocking different sections of the military bases that will explain what has happened to this place. To activate these main puzzles the players need a key card and turn the power on in that section. Reason why I am doing this is because I want the player to explore the area more. I would compare my game to the old resident evil and dino crisis games.
Week 3: Game ideas
I have to make a game that consists of:
1. No fighting \ guns \ weapons
2. The player cannot be killed
3. The player must use skills of logic and deduction to win the game
4. The game must be based around a plot of mystery or exploration
5. Puzzles should be a central part of the player experience
6. Has to be made in UDK
I have been using UDK and the unreal engine 3 since 2007 and I am very familiar of what the engine consists of and its capabilities. As the game cant have any fighting or guns\weapons I will have to remove the default gun that the player is given when they spawn in to the game. The player cant died in the level so I will have to toggle god mod on when the player enters the level, but if for some reason the player falls though the level will the kill z volume still kill the player? The puzzles in the game cant be to complicated as I want any one to be able solve the puzzle but I also don’t want the puzzles to be easy and boring. Having a mystery story that goes with the puzzle could work to an advantage to keep the player interested. To advance the plot of the story the player needs to solve the puzzles and without solving the puzzles the player will not solve the mystery. Giving the player the opportunity to explore the level instead of having puzzle after puzzle can help to create a better atmosphere of the level, as the player has the freedom to walk where they want, but its also important to let the player know where they need to be heading to advance the story.
Basic Game Ideas:
Idea 1: Murder mystery where the player is a detective and needs to find clues to solve a murder. Each clue will give the player a hint on who did it. The culprit is randomly selected each time the player plays the game and the clues change each time as well.
Idea 2: The player wakes up for a deep frozen sleep on a military bases where everyone is dead, your goals is to escape. While escaping you start to uncover what happen to the military bases and why you where there.
1. No fighting \ guns \ weapons
2. The player cannot be killed
3. The player must use skills of logic and deduction to win the game
4. The game must be based around a plot of mystery or exploration
5. Puzzles should be a central part of the player experience
6. Has to be made in UDK
I have been using UDK and the unreal engine 3 since 2007 and I am very familiar of what the engine consists of and its capabilities. As the game cant have any fighting or guns\weapons I will have to remove the default gun that the player is given when they spawn in to the game. The player cant died in the level so I will have to toggle god mod on when the player enters the level, but if for some reason the player falls though the level will the kill z volume still kill the player? The puzzles in the game cant be to complicated as I want any one to be able solve the puzzle but I also don’t want the puzzles to be easy and boring. Having a mystery story that goes with the puzzle could work to an advantage to keep the player interested. To advance the plot of the story the player needs to solve the puzzles and without solving the puzzles the player will not solve the mystery. Giving the player the opportunity to explore the level instead of having puzzle after puzzle can help to create a better atmosphere of the level, as the player has the freedom to walk where they want, but its also important to let the player know where they need to be heading to advance the story.
Basic Game Ideas:
Idea 1: Murder mystery where the player is a detective and needs to find clues to solve a murder. Each clue will give the player a hint on who did it. The culprit is randomly selected each time the player plays the game and the clues change each time as well.
Idea 2: The player wakes up for a deep frozen sleep on a military bases where everyone is dead, your goals is to escape. While escaping you start to uncover what happen to the military bases and why you where there.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Week 2: Design documents samples
1. Why do you think there is so much variation in the structure of each design document?
Although each of the design documents have different structures none of them are the correct or wrong way of making them. A design document has to start somewhere but I believe that the start of the design document has to have a big impact on the people who is reading it. The reason I think this is because no one is going to read a whole design document if the first section does not get them interested in the game idea.
2. How much technical information is contained within the design documents?
Each of the design documents varies in how much technical information they contain within them. The Claw and the Technomancy: The Shadow War design document contains a lot of technical information while the Grim Fandango Puzzle design documents does not. I believe that there is a slight advantage from this as the person who created the design document will have to sit down and discuss with the different departments. Although they would still have to do this even if they did add the technical details in the document, but creating ideas for the levels looks and gameplay for scratch with the different department can give the departments a better understanding of what type of game they will be making as they help to fill in the missing asset from the design document.
3. Discuss a few good points about these example documents, and then identify a few areas which you would improve in your own design document.
I find that the Claw design document is well organised and seems to try and cover every aspect of the game they want to achieve. The one thing about this document that I dislike and would improve in my design document is the continues lines of text. I would add level layouts and images of the type of feeling I want the player to feel when playing that game as I want the reader of my design documents to know exactly what type of game I want to make.
The Grim Puzzle design document has images on nearly every page what tells us what the game atmosphere is going to be like. One thing that I will put in my design document that the Grim Puzzle design document does not have is better level layouts and a description of the gameplay I want the game to have.
The Technomancy: The Shadow War design document has more detail level layouts than the other two design documents which shows how big each of theses level will be. What I also like about this design document is that it compares the type of gameplay they want with other games. Although the design document has images of the level layouts it still lacking images as the main majority of the design document is text.
Although each of the design documents have different structures none of them are the correct or wrong way of making them. A design document has to start somewhere but I believe that the start of the design document has to have a big impact on the people who is reading it. The reason I think this is because no one is going to read a whole design document if the first section does not get them interested in the game idea.
2. How much technical information is contained within the design documents?
Each of the design documents varies in how much technical information they contain within them. The Claw and the Technomancy: The Shadow War design document contains a lot of technical information while the Grim Fandango Puzzle design documents does not. I believe that there is a slight advantage from this as the person who created the design document will have to sit down and discuss with the different departments. Although they would still have to do this even if they did add the technical details in the document, but creating ideas for the levels looks and gameplay for scratch with the different department can give the departments a better understanding of what type of game they will be making as they help to fill in the missing asset from the design document.
3. Discuss a few good points about these example documents, and then identify a few areas which you would improve in your own design document.
I find that the Claw design document is well organised and seems to try and cover every aspect of the game they want to achieve. The one thing about this document that I dislike and would improve in my design document is the continues lines of text. I would add level layouts and images of the type of feeling I want the player to feel when playing that game as I want the reader of my design documents to know exactly what type of game I want to make.
The Grim Puzzle design document has images on nearly every page what tells us what the game atmosphere is going to be like. One thing that I will put in my design document that the Grim Puzzle design document does not have is better level layouts and a description of the gameplay I want the game to have.
The Technomancy: The Shadow War design document has more detail level layouts than the other two design documents which shows how big each of theses level will be. What I also like about this design document is that it compares the type of gameplay they want with other games. Although the design document has images of the level layouts it still lacking images as the main majority of the design document is text.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Week 1: Colossal Cave Adventure & NetHack
Colossal Cave Adventure
Q 1. Which elements of the game did you find enjoyable?
As there are no images and the game describes your surrounding for you, your imagination takes over and it feels like your in a book. I have played games like this before but they used images but this game has a completely different feel to it and it also seem to me to be more enjoyable.
Q 2. Which elements of the game did you not find enjoyable?
I did not enjoy how you travel, as I found my self going in circles and getting lost most of the time.
Q 3. For those elements of the game which you did not enjoy, why do you think the game has been designed in this way?
To move forward you need to type the compass direction of where you want to move, But its very difficult to do with out a map. I think they made the game like that so if your travailing long distances you will not get lost if you have a map and head north, while if you just movie forward, back ,left right you will not know what direction you be facing.
Q 4. At the time this game was originally released why do you think it was so popular?
I think the game was popular when it was originally released because it feels like an open world where anything is possible. When playing the game your imagination take over and your picturing a world that only you can imagine while picking up item and interacting with the environment.
Q 5. How does the game attempt to compensate for the lack of graphics?
The game describe the scenery for you, so instead of a image to look at, your picturing your own world in your imagination with the help of the game describing the scenery of where you are in the game world.
Q 6. In terms of the ‘player experience’, does Colossal Cave Adventure offer any advantages over modern adventure games? Describe your views on this.
In modern-day adventure games, when travailing from place to place the player tries to get to points a to b fast as they can and look out for any thing on interest to advance the story. But In Colossal Cave Adventure you take in the scenery more when travelling to place to place and interactive with things more like killing a bird.
NetHack
Q 1. Which elements of the game did you find enjoyable?
This game reminds me of a very simple version of a game called Diablo where you go around a dungeon style map killing enemies while levelling your character. The game seems very fast pace and no long battles what I like, unlike some modern day RPG games where you some times spend minutes just killing one enemy with the same move.
Q 2. Which elements of the game did you not find enjoyable?
I did not enjoy all the different key commands you had to use to perform certain task as it gets confusing.
Q 3. For those elements of the game which you did not enjoy, why do you think the game has been designed in this way?
Because the game does not have the capability to use a mouse the player cant not just press icons to bring up menus like today’s game, so every action needs to be assigned its own key. Although it might seems easier if you type the actions like eat *items name*, Inventory, or use *Item name* this will slow down game play.
Q 4. At the time this game was originally released why do you think it was so popular?
When this game came out game console were in its third and forth generation with games like sonic and super Mario bros what had good coloured graphics for its time. Although NetHack does not have good graphic as other games in it time it does have many options for the player to use like changing your weapon and armour, using tools to get to you objective. This is different to other games in its time as most of the game that I know about where getting to the other side of the screen by jumping and attacking, while this game gives you the option to go down different paths. I think one of the main aspects that made this game grate for its time was customising your character as it give the player the opportunity to player the game again with a different class and use different weapons.
Q 5. Are there any elements of gameplay within HetHack which are not used in modern role playing games? Describe your views on this.
Although taking care of your health is vital in this game you also have to make sure you feed your character or they will faint. Modern games do use food in games to restore health but I have never played a RPG game where you need to eat just to make sure the character does not faint. I think this adds a bit of realism to the game but I can not see this being used in today RPG games as players would not want to spend time making sure their character does not faints in battle and this would also mean there would also be a lots of breaks between battle to feed your characters.
Q 1. Which elements of the game did you find enjoyable?
As there are no images and the game describes your surrounding for you, your imagination takes over and it feels like your in a book. I have played games like this before but they used images but this game has a completely different feel to it and it also seem to me to be more enjoyable.
Q 2. Which elements of the game did you not find enjoyable?
I did not enjoy how you travel, as I found my self going in circles and getting lost most of the time.
Q 3. For those elements of the game which you did not enjoy, why do you think the game has been designed in this way?
To move forward you need to type the compass direction of where you want to move, But its very difficult to do with out a map. I think they made the game like that so if your travailing long distances you will not get lost if you have a map and head north, while if you just movie forward, back ,left right you will not know what direction you be facing.
Q 4. At the time this game was originally released why do you think it was so popular?
I think the game was popular when it was originally released because it feels like an open world where anything is possible. When playing the game your imagination take over and your picturing a world that only you can imagine while picking up item and interacting with the environment.
Q 5. How does the game attempt to compensate for the lack of graphics?
The game describe the scenery for you, so instead of a image to look at, your picturing your own world in your imagination with the help of the game describing the scenery of where you are in the game world.
Q 6. In terms of the ‘player experience’, does Colossal Cave Adventure offer any advantages over modern adventure games? Describe your views on this.
In modern-day adventure games, when travailing from place to place the player tries to get to points a to b fast as they can and look out for any thing on interest to advance the story. But In Colossal Cave Adventure you take in the scenery more when travelling to place to place and interactive with things more like killing a bird.
NetHack
Q 1. Which elements of the game did you find enjoyable?
This game reminds me of a very simple version of a game called Diablo where you go around a dungeon style map killing enemies while levelling your character. The game seems very fast pace and no long battles what I like, unlike some modern day RPG games where you some times spend minutes just killing one enemy with the same move.
Q 2. Which elements of the game did you not find enjoyable?
I did not enjoy all the different key commands you had to use to perform certain task as it gets confusing.
Q 3. For those elements of the game which you did not enjoy, why do you think the game has been designed in this way?
Because the game does not have the capability to use a mouse the player cant not just press icons to bring up menus like today’s game, so every action needs to be assigned its own key. Although it might seems easier if you type the actions like eat *items name*, Inventory, or use *Item name* this will slow down game play.
Q 4. At the time this game was originally released why do you think it was so popular?
When this game came out game console were in its third and forth generation with games like sonic and super Mario bros what had good coloured graphics for its time. Although NetHack does not have good graphic as other games in it time it does have many options for the player to use like changing your weapon and armour, using tools to get to you objective. This is different to other games in its time as most of the game that I know about where getting to the other side of the screen by jumping and attacking, while this game gives you the option to go down different paths. I think one of the main aspects that made this game grate for its time was customising your character as it give the player the opportunity to player the game again with a different class and use different weapons.
Q 5. Are there any elements of gameplay within HetHack which are not used in modern role playing games? Describe your views on this.
Although taking care of your health is vital in this game you also have to make sure you feed your character or they will faint. Modern games do use food in games to restore health but I have never played a RPG game where you need to eat just to make sure the character does not faint. I think this adds a bit of realism to the game but I can not see this being used in today RPG games as players would not want to spend time making sure their character does not faints in battle and this would also mean there would also be a lots of breaks between battle to feed your characters.
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