Thanksgiving week! A lot of tasks to be done:
1. Fix problems
2. Append everything together
3. Test run the game
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Week 11/18-11/22
This week's tasks:
1. Create the grab animations and set up the objects in the game
2. Create the forests with animations
1. Create the grab animations and set up the objects in the game
2. Create the forests with animations
Monday, November 11, 2013
Week 11/07 -11/14
Tasks:
1. Character animations
2. Maze: The player will need to walk through the maze to find the woods and other resources to build a house.
Update: The following maze is created and the character can do the following actions: walk and run.
1. Character animations
2. Maze: The player will need to walk through the maze to find the woods and other resources to build a house.
Update: The following maze is created and the character can do the following actions: walk and run.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Homework 14
1. Panel: Grain - bake bread/sow - if bake bread then 1 grain turn into 3 bread- if sow then 1 grain turns into 2 grains later
2. Starting interface. Start interface - start new game/continue - if start new game then select male/female
2. Starting interface. Start interface - start new game/continue - if start new game then select male/female
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Homework 12
Because of my schedule, I have to work on my own from this point. For this week, my tasks are:
- Come up with the storyline and mechanics
- Try to find some usable existing models
- Start to pull things together
Update: The background has been pulled together. I've found some objects and the character for the game.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Homework 11
Chapter 1
1. A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing.
1. A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing.
I think so. One of the motivations of playing game is the feeling of achievement. The obstacles will create the situation for the players to achieve and challenge him/herself.
2. What is the relationship between the main character and the goal? Why does the character care about it?
The background story of our game comes from the comic books dragon balls. When the player plays the game, he/she will feel like the character in the book. The character is heroic, brave, capable, and trustful. The character will save the village and his/her family and friends.
3. What are the obstacles between the character and the goal?
The obstacles include fighting over the aliens, getting clue of the dragon balls, and finding the dragon balls to move forward.
The obstacles include fighting over the aliens, getting clue of the dragon balls, and finding the dragon balls to move forward.
4. Do the obstacles gradually increase in difficulty? If yes, how?
Yes. As the player gets familiar with different kinds of aliens, he/she will be able to get the skills to fight with the alien using right strategy. And the player would be able to have enough money to purchase weapon and medicine. As the player gets the better weapon, there should be challenge for them.
Yes. As the player gets familiar with different kinds of aliens, he/she will be able to get the skills to fight with the alien using right strategy. And the player would be able to have enough money to purchase weapon and medicine. As the player gets the better weapon, there should be challenge for them.
5. Great stories often involve the protagonist transforming to overcome the obstacle. Does your protagonist transform?
The weapon will transform to another level as the protagonist gets further in the game. This will help the player to face the challenge and better himself.
The weapon will transform to another level as the protagonist gets further in the game. This will help the player to face the challenge and better himself.
6. How is the game world simpler than the real world?
The player can always escape from the battle and get food and medicine in the store. And the rules of the game is pretty simple: fight over alien and get the ball.
The player can always escape from the battle and get food and medicine in the store. And the rules of the game is pretty simple: fight over alien and get the ball.
7. What kind of transcendent power do you give to the player?
At the very end of the game, the player would be able to make any wish and it will come true. And during the game, the player would be able to use magic at some point and fight with aliens.
At the very end of the game, the player would be able to make any wish and it will come true. And during the game, the player would be able to use magic at some point and fight with aliens.
8. What is the weirdest element in the game story?
The alien attack a medieval village with virus.
The alien attack a medieval village with virus.
9. How do you ensure that the weirdest thing does not confuse or alienate the player?
The alien will look retro in the game so that they can fit in to the game design. It can be the exploration of imagination if it works out.
The alien will look retro in the game so that they can fit in to the game design. It can be the exploration of imagination if it works out.
10. Will the players be interested in the game story? Why?
Yes. The game story is developed based on a very popular comic book and people love it!
Yes. The game story is developed based on a very popular comic book and people love it!
Chapter 16
1. In what sense does the player have freedom of action? Does the player "feel" free at these times?
The environment of the game is exploratory. Ideally, the player should be able to interact with any items in the world. The boundries are invisible and covered by the forest and the houses. Basically the player can go anywhere they want.
2. What are the constraints imposed on the players? Do they feel constrained?
The constraint will be the houses with aliens hidden in it. The player will not be able to get into the house until the player kill the aliens. And if the player does not have adequate money, food, or weapon, he/she will be killed by the alien.
3. Ideally, what would you like your players to do (lens #72)
Ideally, the player will follow the storyline of the game. They should be able to know how to use the items in the game and how to get information. They will have conversations with in-game characters and find out clues for their next steps.
4. Can you set constraints to "kind of" force the player to do it?
Conversation with the villagers on the street belongs to this category. The player needs enough information to move forward with the game.
5. Can you design your interface to "force" the player to do what you (the designer) wish him/her to do?
Not yet. But I am planning to set up a hint like "talk to the guy sitting in the corner to get some info".
1. In what sense does the player have freedom of action? Does the player "feel" free at these times?
The environment of the game is exploratory. Ideally, the player should be able to interact with any items in the world. The boundries are invisible and covered by the forest and the houses. Basically the player can go anywhere they want.
2. What are the constraints imposed on the players? Do they feel constrained?
The constraint will be the houses with aliens hidden in it. The player will not be able to get into the house until the player kill the aliens. And if the player does not have adequate money, food, or weapon, he/she will be killed by the alien.
3. Ideally, what would you like your players to do (lens #72)
Ideally, the player will follow the storyline of the game. They should be able to know how to use the items in the game and how to get information. They will have conversations with in-game characters and find out clues for their next steps.
4. Can you set constraints to "kind of" force the player to do it?
Conversation with the villagers on the street belongs to this category. The player needs enough information to move forward with the game.
5. Can you design your interface to "force" the player to do what you (the designer) wish him/her to do?
Not yet. But I am planning to set up a hint like "talk to the guy sitting in the corner to get some info".
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Homework 9
Balance #1: Fairness
I think the balance of the fairness relies on all of the
following items. I will relate each of the balance type to our game in the
following.
Balance #2: Challenge vs. Success
Some of our challenges in the game include getting the message
of the hidden place of the dragon ball, practice before the player can upgrade
to a better weapon, and the maze. For an experienced RPG player, it will be
easier. But still, we have the triggers of exposing the message of dragon
ball’s location. The player has to talk to the right people passes by to
trigger this message. There are 4 worlds in our game and each world is harder
than the last world. The player won’t be able to get into the next world until
he/she succeeds in the last world. By increasing the difficulty with each
world, we are trying to make the players keep the interest in the game.
Balance #3: Meaningful Choices
One of the applications of Triangularity in our game is the
choices of the weapon. The most basic weapon would be the sword. The player
will have a sword once he/she gets into the game. But after a while, the sword
won’t be enough for the player to fight over the aliens. He/she has to buy a
better weapon in the shops. Different weapons can be used to fight with
different aliens.
Balance #4: Skill vs. Chance
I am not aware of the skills and chances in our game yet so
far. But it’s a good strategy to apply to the game.
Balance #5: Head VS. Hands
I personally prefer a game involves more thinking and
strategy rather than just pushing the buttons. I think we are trying to combine
and balance the mental and physical elements in our game. For example, the
communication between the player and the passer-by involves the information
collecting and analysis. The player needs to think before action. While he/she
gets into the maze in the house, the player will need to use the sword and use
different motions to fight over the aliens in the maze.
Balance #6: Competition vs. Cooperation
Our game is single player game for now and the player will
compete with the computer-controlled aliens. We have only have a more specific
idea of our first world for now (will have four world in total). For the first
world, the player will get the help from the other villagers around him/her.
The player will need to cooperate with the villagers (for example, to help the
senior lady to carry her stuff or to prevent the villagers from hurting each
other) so that the player will be able to get the hidden message from the
villagers.
Balance #7: Short vs. Long
The time to achieve the goal for the
game will vary for different players because of many of the triggers in our
game. For example, the player has to kill enough aliens before they can upgrade
their weapons, the player has to talk to the people to get the message and
trigger the following steps. I was thinking the way we balance the time of our
game for different players can be to add another character in the game who give
hints to the player saying like “You should talk to Jim in the shop to get more
info.” And we can set up the time for the hints to show up so that a beginner
won’t feel frustrated if they cannot find the message.
Balance #8: Rewards
The rewards for our game can be resources (the food needed
for the player, coins to upgrade the weapon, etc). Because we have a pretty
clear purpose, which is to collect dragon balls and get the dragon out at the
end, so the dragon balls can be viewed as rewards at the end of each level. The
player who has ever watched the Dragon Balleze should be able to easily relate
to the game.
Balance #9: Punishment
The punishment for the player of not fighting over the
aliens would be loss of blood. This will make the player die. He/she has to
come out and buy the medicine/hurbs to get their blood back.
Balance #10: Freedom vs. Controlled
The controlled elements in our game include the environment,
certain message given to the players, the weapon needed to kill one kind of
alien, etc. The freedom of the player is that he/she can explore the world and
talk or interact with any kind of thing to get message and figure out strategy
to kill the alien and get the ball.
Balance #11: Simple vs. Complex
Our current story and mechanics both are pretty simple,
especially for those who are familiar with the Dragon Ballze. And for now the
storyline is basically “get the message, kill the alien, look for the ball”. It
is straightforward. We will try to include some of the complexity later given
the time.
Balance #12: Detail vs. Imagination
We set up the story background as in medieval, which makes
it easier to tap the imagination. The players is so familiar with the modern
settings and technology that they will find it fresh to get into the
environment they are not familiar with.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Homework 8
1. Is the space in your game discrete or continuous?
I think it is discrete. Because the player will walk in different locations/stores to fight with the aliens and find the dragon ball. The spaces of different stores are independent. They are connected by the street in the middle.
2. How many dimensions does your space have?
It should be 3 dimensional.
3. What are the boundaries of your space?
The boundaries is surrounded by the house, stores and forest. The player will not see exact boundaries. But when the player walks into the house or stores, the boundaries would be the walls. They will not be able to walk through the wall or the forest. The boundaries will be set up transparently.
4. How many verbs do your players (characters) have? What are they?
Fight: The player will be able to use the sword by pressing certain key and fight with the aliens.
Interact: The player should be able to interact with/talk to the person at stands to get the hints or triggers to proceed.
Move: The player should be able to walk to different directions by pressing four keys.
Run and Jump: These two can be the same key by setting up time endurance pressing on the key. The player can press the key to jump over object or run by keeping pressing the key.
5. How many objects can each verb act on? What are these objects?
Fight: The fight verb can only act on the aliens and enemies.
Interact: The interact verb should be able to use on the villagers and the objects, such as the dragon balls, swords, food, etc.
Move: This verb should be able to act on the grounds, and any platform that the player is walking on.
Run and Jump: These two verbs should act on the same objects as in "Move".
6. How many ways can players achieve their goals?
I think there should be only one way to achieve the goal, which is to collect all the dragon balls and get the dragon out. But there are different triggers for them to find the clues of the location of the dragon balls.
7. How many subjects do the players control? What are these subjects?
For now what I am thinking of is the character and the sword. I saw my teammates created other equipments as well. The sword can be upgraded when the player get certain level and the player can have different skills set with different sword.
8. How do side effects change constraints.
The player has to upgrade the sword before he/she can fight over certain alien. The player may not be able to upgrade the sword until they talk to the right person and get the information. This may differentiate the time for the player to find the balls and it may take forever for a game beginner.
9. What are the operative actions in your game?
Fight (swing the sword), move forward and back, jump, and run.
10. What are the resultant actions in your game?
Talk to the villagers, collect the balls, enter into the store
11. What actions would you like your players to do that they cannot presently do? (based on your current knowledge of Blender)
We have not done a lot yet. I'd like to see the players to interact with the villagers smoothly and the villagers will response appropriately.
12. What is the ultimate goal of your game?
The ultimate goal of the game is to collect the dragon balls and get out the dragon. The player will make a wish to get rid of all the aliens and save the village.
13. Are there short and long term goals? What are they?
The short team goals are to fight over the aliens hidden in different spaces and collect each of the dragon balls.
14. How do you plan to make the game goals known and understood by the player?
The player will be able to know the story following the game. In the beginning the master of the player will talk to the player about the background story. During the process, the player will be able to talk to the villagers on the street and get to know more about the information.
15. What are the foundational rules of your game?
The foundational rules may include the sword level, blood meter, dragon balls in the bag.
16. How are these rules enforced?
There should be alert setting to alert the player of there blood meter when they are fighting with the aliens. And everytime the player collects the dragon ball, the bag will show up so that the player will know the number of the dragon balls collected. The sword level will be enforced everytime the player upgrade his/her sword. The player should be able to check these rules all the time.
17. Does your game develop real skills? What are they?
I think so. The game will enforce the player's responsibilities and his/her analysis skills. The player will need to analyze where is the enemies and how they will be able to win the game. And the player will need to go and talk to the person in the game to collect information. They will be able to practice their skills on collecting information.
18. Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they?
Maybe. I was thinking maybe they can build up their own sword in some certain.
I think it is discrete. Because the player will walk in different locations/stores to fight with the aliens and find the dragon ball. The spaces of different stores are independent. They are connected by the street in the middle.
2. How many dimensions does your space have?
It should be 3 dimensional.
3. What are the boundaries of your space?
The boundaries is surrounded by the house, stores and forest. The player will not see exact boundaries. But when the player walks into the house or stores, the boundaries would be the walls. They will not be able to walk through the wall or the forest. The boundaries will be set up transparently.
4. How many verbs do your players (characters) have? What are they?
Fight: The player will be able to use the sword by pressing certain key and fight with the aliens.
Interact: The player should be able to interact with/talk to the person at stands to get the hints or triggers to proceed.
Move: The player should be able to walk to different directions by pressing four keys.
Run and Jump: These two can be the same key by setting up time endurance pressing on the key. The player can press the key to jump over object or run by keeping pressing the key.
5. How many objects can each verb act on? What are these objects?
Fight: The fight verb can only act on the aliens and enemies.
Interact: The interact verb should be able to use on the villagers and the objects, such as the dragon balls, swords, food, etc.
Move: This verb should be able to act on the grounds, and any platform that the player is walking on.
Run and Jump: These two verbs should act on the same objects as in "Move".
6. How many ways can players achieve their goals?
I think there should be only one way to achieve the goal, which is to collect all the dragon balls and get the dragon out. But there are different triggers for them to find the clues of the location of the dragon balls.
7. How many subjects do the players control? What are these subjects?
For now what I am thinking of is the character and the sword. I saw my teammates created other equipments as well. The sword can be upgraded when the player get certain level and the player can have different skills set with different sword.
8. How do side effects change constraints.
The player has to upgrade the sword before he/she can fight over certain alien. The player may not be able to upgrade the sword until they talk to the right person and get the information. This may differentiate the time for the player to find the balls and it may take forever for a game beginner.
9. What are the operative actions in your game?
Fight (swing the sword), move forward and back, jump, and run.
10. What are the resultant actions in your game?
Talk to the villagers, collect the balls, enter into the store
11. What actions would you like your players to do that they cannot presently do? (based on your current knowledge of Blender)
We have not done a lot yet. I'd like to see the players to interact with the villagers smoothly and the villagers will response appropriately.
12. What is the ultimate goal of your game?
The ultimate goal of the game is to collect the dragon balls and get out the dragon. The player will make a wish to get rid of all the aliens and save the village.
13. Are there short and long term goals? What are they?
The short team goals are to fight over the aliens hidden in different spaces and collect each of the dragon balls.
14. How do you plan to make the game goals known and understood by the player?
The player will be able to know the story following the game. In the beginning the master of the player will talk to the player about the background story. During the process, the player will be able to talk to the villagers on the street and get to know more about the information.
15. What are the foundational rules of your game?
The foundational rules may include the sword level, blood meter, dragon balls in the bag.
16. How are these rules enforced?
There should be alert setting to alert the player of there blood meter when they are fighting with the aliens. And everytime the player collects the dragon ball, the bag will show up so that the player will know the number of the dragon balls collected. The sword level will be enforced everytime the player upgrade his/her sword. The player should be able to check these rules all the time.
17. Does your game develop real skills? What are they?
I think so. The game will enforce the player's responsibilities and his/her analysis skills. The player will need to analyze where is the enemies and how they will be able to win the game. And the player will need to go and talk to the person in the game to collect information. They will be able to practice their skills on collecting information.
18. Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they?
Maybe. I was thinking maybe they can build up their own sword in some certain.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Homework 7
Description: The sword can be controlled using A to stab the monkey head. Once the sword gets close to the monkey, the monkey will get exploded. The sword is the parent of the camera so that the viewpoint will be from player in the game. The color of the ground was changed to make it like ground.
How it fits into our game: This animation will be used in the fighting scenarios when the player uses sword to fight with aliens.
Link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42628612/Game%20Design/Homework%207.blend
Friday, September 20, 2013
Homework 6
1. For each of the four elements of the Tetrad, explain how it is addressed by your game. If one of the four elements is not used, please state this.
Story: The frame of the story results from a discussion of our team. We have different thoughts and finally we combined it together. The story is all about to have the players having fun in the game. The player will be playing a role as the hero in the game to save the whole village at the end. The background story is this mysterious old saying passed on: If you can collect all the dragon balls in the village, you will have any of your dreams come true. The aliens heard the story and want to control the world. They landed on the village and try to infect all the villagers with viruses so that they can easily find the balls. The player is supposed to shoulder the responsibility of saving the village.
Technology: We are all currently using Blender now. Mike knows Python, so we are able to achieve "whatever we like" in the game later on.
Mechanics: The player is supposed to use sword to fight with these aliens. I am thinking there should have no time limits because the player has to fight with the aliens and at the same time look for the balls ahead of the aliens. It is more of exploretary. The more aliens the player kills, the more hints they will get to find the dragon ball.
Aesthetics: We have discussed the design theme of our game in our kickoff meeting. The game skeleton was just built up but there are so many details need to be fixed and put into right place at the time. So we searched around the images and games and tried to find the images in our minds for our final game. The following is a picture of what we see our game may look like. Follow the theme, we will be able to build our objects and design the games in a consistent way, especially when we work independently.
2. Do the four (or less) elements work towards a current theme?
I think so. We have built up the game as RPG in medieval era and trying to fill in the details with our frame of the background story.
3. In your own words, describe the meaning of a "theme", and how does it differ from an "experience" (see book for examples in Chapters 2 and 5.)
From player's perspective, the theme is the impression on the game while the experience is what their impression comes from, including the interface, etc. (all the elements in Tetrad).
From designer's perspective, the theme is the concept or idea that applied throughout the entire game consistently. The entire game should follow one theme. The experience can be really different with regard to different settings and game elements. The designer will consider Tetrad when designing for desired user experience.
4.What is your game's theme?
Basically, it's about medieval era fighting game. We wanted the game neither too cartoonish nor too realistic.
5.What are the elements in your game that are meant to reinforce this theme?
All the elements (aesthetics, technology, mechanics, and story) we have been working on are based on the theme that we have discussed. We have been creating the objects following the four elements in Tetrad.
6. What is it about your game that you feel makes it special and powerful?
I think our team makes it special. We discussed and agreed on the game background story. Everyone of us is motivated to learn skills in blender. And we are trying to think about the user experience when thinking about the objects and mechanics. I think this makes the game special.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Homework 5
1. Forward (F)
2. Back (B)
3. Rotate and move forward (R), if you keep pressing on R, it'll be the mass stabbing.
4. Rotate and back (S)
These motions can be used when the character is fighting with the aliens and the player will use the sword to protect himself/herself. Once the player get much experience, he or she will be able to upgrade his/her sword and get much skills to use the sword. The following is the video of the sword animation.
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