end of game

Studio Work Evaluatio

Creating a prototype in BA4 has been a mixed bag of applying what I already know and new techniques in a time efficient and priority based way. The main goal was not to create a fancy looking level with mechanics tacked on, but a level/example of a game that conveys the game mechanics first, and theme second. Throughout the level there are little to no use of normal or specular maps, I just used diffuse maps to get the general feeling of the environment across to the player. By doing all this I was able to achieve a lengthy level that feels like it could be a single level in a game (length wise).

Throughout the construction of my game level I have received constant critique and feedback from friends, family and the game testing sessions. Feedback about the resource system, sense of speed and movement where all taken into account and resolved. From the feedback I’ve learned how to properly prioritise the important feedback, and cover lesser feedback that’s not so important later on when the larger kinks have been ironed out.

One of my biggest aims was to get the game to feel like the player was falling through a scientific testing facility. I started off with making the diagram of the level, showing all the points which the player will fall through. These included areas such as the tesla facility and particle accelerator. I feel these were important parts to make as they would become vital in conveying a purpose to the player’s presence. The second aim was giving the player a reason to be in the game. I did this by including the resource system. I knew the main games focus would be to make it through the level without hitting anything, but I also wanted to include something for players who wanted more from the game than just an obstacle course. The inclusion of the resource system adds risks and an extra layer to the game. If players choose to take these risks then they are rewarded for doing so.

In terms of things that where challenging in the BA4 assignment, I would say it was the scripting side. The game that I thought would be simple enough to script, ended up being one of the hardest. There were little to no pre-sets to be found on the internet, and finding resolves for issues I had turned out to need quite a large work around, never the less with the help of other student and tutors I managed to end up with a presentable prototype.

Overall this unit has been a really great for expanding the fundamentals of game design. Instead of just the visual and technical side of creating an asset/scene, there has been a lot more to now think about. It’s been a good introduction for me into the basics of designing and then developing a concept into a prototype. I look forward to developing my own projects outside of the course in the future.

Vial Counters & Speed indicator

I want to have one UI element and I wanted it to contain all the information the player needs to know. In the case of my game, the UI shows the vial amount either side of the speed indicator. This means the UI isn't dotted around the screen which allows the player to concentrate. The player only has to look at one part of the screen to get all the information they need.

Start screen

resources

These are the "resource" tokens found in the game.  the pink vial will be the speed decrease, and the green vial will be part of the point system.

Adding Collision meshes.

This is the type of collision meshing I've been applying to my game. I've basically added very simple shapes to act as a barrier for the player and to prevent clipping. The reason I'm using simple low poly prefab shapes and not applied a full collision mesh to the asset is because adding a collision mesh to a very complex asset is extremely taxing on a systems performance.

This example is a pretty rough version of what I would like to do if this wasn't a prototype. I would later on add extra polygons for the pipes and canisters If I had more time.

Above are some more examples of my addition of collision to objects. The idea behind this obstacle is that the player hits the box collider that is hidden within the fire, since its invisible in-game, the player will assume the fire killed them, and not the collider.

WEAPON!

This is a design of the weapon (that you upgrade) that will be used by the player to destroy obstacles.

Progress

I'm now looking into creating the character movement and the "feeling" of motion in my game. I'm having a lot of issues trying to get it to work because i don't know the first thing about coding. So far I've got my character falling through the map and i have very little (but i do have some) control of the direction I'm going.

The level is looking nice and pretty fleshed out for a prototype,  but it's not yet complete. about 2/3 of it is now in unity.

Game SS

This is the veiw the player will be greeted with! I plan to add a fog effect so it wont look so complicated, also it will cull the render distance to increase performance.

level map

                                          This is the mapping out of my games prototype level.

Start of the game

This is a conveyor belt I made which will act as the "jumping" point from which the player will start at. This is the first asset I've made that fits with my new theme.

This is a heat exhaust. This is just one of the obstacles found in "The Pit". The idea behind this is that the player will avoid a room full of these as the exhausts spurt flames out of thir large nozzles.

This Tesla coil "cannon" will propel huge arcs of lighting across the playable space, This will be a more unique obstacle because it will be moving to the warping nature of lighting.

Change of Plan!

After careful consideration, I've decided to change my art style. I Don't like the game feels so far aesthetically. It was very fantasy themed, with castle walls and ancient caverns. I've decided to change it to a sci-fi themed game. I'm reducing the cartoon feel, and the environments will be much more industrialised. This design choice will make modelling far more simpler because it wont include complex cave walls and lava chasms.

Prop renders

Obstacles will be everywhere, and there will be a large variety. These obstacles will litter the level and they will hopefully fit in as if they are scenery. There will be 3 kinds of scenery. Castle, Mining cavern and lava cave.

Textures for various environments

I have gone for stylised effect with my textures as I don't what the textures to be to complex or realistic. I applied filters, effects and heavy editing to real life textures to achieve this. By simplifying the images I've also narrowed down the amount of colours in a texture, keeping it to about 4-6 colours.

A look at textures and arts style

Temple run game analysis.

Temple Run game analysis

Temple run is a mobile game that gets the player running in one direction with the choice of turning left or right at certain opportunities. While your running you are able to pick up coins to add to your score. A big part of this game is reaching a high score for sharing and competing with friends. The player will also find power ups while running. These power ups will boost the players abilities allowing them to bypass obstacles and the speed they run. They player only has three dimensions to work with. The horizontal plane allows the player to move to the left right or stay central to the path.

Another feature present in temple run is the "special" bar. When this is filled by collecting coins the player receives a large amount of points. This encourages the player to collect the coins instead of leaving them to minimise risk. 

Another danger that is always present in game are the "demon monkeys". As soon as you start three of these enemies are chasing you. the mechanics work so if you make a mistake, you will slow down and the monkeys will be 1 step closer to killing you. Making another mistake will result in game over. This insensitivities the fact that you must make as little mistakes as possible. 

All these mechanics results in a game that makes the player focus very hard to avoid obstacles, enemies and collect essential power ups at the same time as collecting coins. As a result this game is very engaging and can result in some pretty intense game-play. 

Game progress in maya

My game idea

My game idea (info)

My favourite idea for a game is a “runner” style game, with the ability to move in any dimensions. You would start off by picking any of the three available characters. Each character has its advantages and flaws. The aim would be to “fall” and then while gravity is pulling the players screen downwards, move left, right up or down (any axis) and avoid themed objects and platforms that correspond with the levels environment (guard platforms for the castle level, mine cart railway for the mines or lava boulders for the deeper more advanced levels).

The thing that would make my game different from other runners of this style is that the characters would have a limited number of abilities, such as a bomb that could be thrown to destroy one obstacle/platform thus allowing the player to bypass the obstacle without the risk of hitting it. Also the goal won’t be to just get through the level. The player will collect tokens of some kind that he/she can later spend them on the upgrades such as a pouch that can hold multiple bombs.

What will drive the character to progress through the game?

Not only will the courses become more challenging, but they will start to include different obstacles and eventually different environments completely (as the player gets deeper). There would be 2 modes “progression mode” and “endless mode”. Endless mode would be a version of the game where the aim is to go as fast as possible. Gravity will make the player faster and faster until the point where the player won’t be able to control it unless they have super-fast reflexes.

The player would use a mouse or an analog stick to control the angle of fall. The left and right trigger or right and left mouse button will activate the characters abilities. 

Game idea 2

BA4 - initial game ideas