Game Development
Samer Muhamed Usef / 0357036 / Bachelors of Computer Science (Hons)
Game Development
Game Development
(Week 1 - Week 14)
MODULE INFORMATION
Week 1
For the first week of classes for Game Development, we were introduced to our lecturer and teacher throughout this module, Mr. Razif Mohammed.
We were first briefed on the module information of this subject which is fully course work based and after that, we were shown many games developed by prior students who had taken this module with the final product having to be a 2D based game and later at the end, we were thought the components that takes place inside game development as well as the elements present in a game.
Fig 1.1 Design School, GAME DEVZONE website
We were then given the task of critically reviewing the games present in the website as take home exercises till the start of the next class.
Exercise 1
Out the many games present in the Design school game dev's website (shown in Fig 1.1), I've tried out 2 of the games fully, which were:
Reaper Test (By Sam Mun Hoe)
Fig 1.1.1 Reaper Test
A Platform like game with a series of challenges faced by the protagonist named "Kuro" who has passed away from a car accident and has been chosen to become the next grim reaper. From this game we can see a lot of details which are good/bad about it. They consist of:
Pros
- The story telling narrative is interesting
- Showcases good controls navigation for a beginners
- Character animations feels smooth
- Soundtrack sounds nice to listen to (menu & in-game)
- Jumping feels satisfying (The perfect jump distance, not too less, not too high)
Cons
- Lot of sound queues missing (death, UI popups, jumping, running, hitting enemy)
- Length of game is pretty short
- Difficulty at the platform sideways course with spikes and mines (Extremely hard, took a while for me. I'd say change the instant kill mechanic on at least the mines.)
- Fighting the land enemy (No knockback? I need to be rewarded when I'm hitting an enemy, not simultaneously getting hit.)
- Art could use some work (razors could be animated? Platform are all the same textures, even the walls)
- The sound track replay's again when the song ends (Could add a fade in and more tracks to the game)
- The Game HUD could have been done nicer
Saving Pon (By Ash)
Fig 1.1.2 Saving Pon
Compared to Reaper Test, this one seems to have no context in terms of story but from playing it, we can see that the player tries to save his lover, Pon who is taken by a person controlling a robot with a satellite on his head therefore, the protagonist navigates through a series of courses. The disliking's of this game, greatly outweighs the liking I have for this game and they are:
Pros
- Character design looks cute
- Saw wheel is animated compared to Reaper Test's
- Character animation seems good to
- Wall climbing mechanic seems cool
Cons
- No background music (making me not immersed to the game)
- Design for the background showcased is none at all (its just plain blue)
- There is no HUD system at all
- Only obstacle trap is the saw wheel (could add more traps to make the game feel different in each course)
- The bosses laser beam attack sounds like static (which hurts my ear)
- No indication of the boss attacking whatsoever? (making it very rng based to beat the boss)
- The bosses Health box isnt even centered?!
- There's no instructions on the game controls (I saw later on some of it is in the description of the game)
- Minute sound queues present in the game.
Reflection
After experiencing the two games I've only played till the end, I could say that each of them displays characteristics that could be implemented within the other. In the case of Reapers Test, we could take Saving Pon's boss fight mechanism to provide forth a more rewarding feeling after beating a boss especially when the attack patterns are somewhat broader compared to Saving Pon and the animations for the traps itself. As for Saving Pon, we can add up a lot of elements missing which I've discussed from the cons I have for this game from Reapers Test which demonstrates those capabilities. Overall as games made by students at Taylors, it isn't easy to make top notch games but definitely classifies as their own unique platform games which I can appreciate and hopefully, I could be on par to them :").
Exercise 2
This week we looked into the basis of Ideation in a game and the different types of methods which can implemented when ideating a game that consists of: Brainstorming, 6-5-3, SCAMPER and 3(I), all unique in their own ways to brainstorm a game up
After that, we were insisted on going with SCAMPER with the following Slide as our Game Ideation Proposal:
Fig 2.1: SCAMER idea Proposal
Week 3/Exercise 3
For this week it was an interactive based ideation on what type of game we all liked and what were the core mechanics that seemed interesting and innovative to us from a players perspective. For this, I had known all along what I wanted to talk on and the design/mechanics I had liked about it and it would be about my all time favorite fps shooter game, Black Ops 3 :)
Here is the notepad script I had prepared with the likings and background story behind the reason for this game:
______________________________
First the backstory behind the game:
The Game that I always returned to play even when I've stoped playing for certain period of time would be the Call Of Duty Franchise and specifically from the franchise, I would say, is Black ops 3
In my Opinion, I love this game since It was the most hours I have ever put in a game and it was during my best gaming phases of my life which I have ever had which was during my primary-middle school period.
When I had always used to come back from school which was around 2-2:30pm, I would get on my ps4 directly and play the multiplayer mode with my other school friends who would do the same exact thing and play for 1-2hrs of it and later play at the night time as well.
So Black ops 3 consists of 3 primary modes, that are Multiplayer, Campaign and Zombies mode
Campaign consists of the storyline of Black Ops 3 but the other two modes are by far the main reason I loved this game for the mechanics and game design it had to offer which were multiplayer and zombies mode
What made Black ops 3 multiplayer unique and fun for me compared to the other Black Ops are, it had Jetpack mechanics which allowed players to boost towards a wall and run on it and specialist characters which players can choose from and use the characters special ability once it has been fully charged and neither of theses mechanics were there before this game.
Next would be the zombies mode, where a minimum of 1 to max 4 players team up together to survive the horde of zombies in a round based survival mode until all the players die by the zombies with a newly implemented gooble gum system in this game which allowed players to get a special affect for a duration of time.
Black Ops 3 zombies is the first cod to introduce Boss Fights in Zombies where the players would have to solve mysteries within the zombies map which was known as easter egg to unlock the Final Boss of the Map and had a storyline element when doing the easter eggs from map to map which really fascinated me especially when I completed the first zombies maps easter egg called "Shadows of Evil".
With these modes, there was additional content for the game which gave the player additional multiplayer and zombies maps to play and that was the only Digital content I have ever spent more than 10$ which costed 60$ that is 280RM in Ringgit and was definitely worth what I paid for.
From Mechanics perspective:
1 The visual design of the maps with the utilization of the jetpack system on mind as well the DLC content they released every 2 months which had the same quality of design in every single one of the maps.
2 The movement system which was unique to this game and felt smooth when running on walls and flying
3 The Customization feature allowed players to tailor what type of gameplay is right for them, experiment with different combinations, and create personalized strategies. It encourages player with creativity and adaptability.
4 The Specialist characters with their unique abilities is a design innovation that added depth and variety to the multiplayer experience where players can accommodate which type of playstyle from which, each of specialists had to offer.
5 Going into the Multiplayer mode, this mode offered several different multiplayer based game modes which consisted of a 6 versus 6 pvp within a battlefield where they will be in and both the teams will compete to finish the objective of the mode first. The most notable modes in multiplayer consisted of Team Deathmatch, Domination, Search and Destroy, Capture the Flag and Hardpoint.
_________________________
After this, we were told to start our ideation on our 2d game proposal that we will be making throughout this semester.
Week 4/Exercise 4
From this week onwards, we were told to present ours ideas on our game that will commence towards development for this module. From that I showcased sir my ideation on a potential platformer named as "The Unknown Beyond" and this is the document and video proposal of my game I have finalized on:
Fig 4.1: Game Document Proposal
Fig 4.2: Video Presentation
Reflection
Coming into this module, I felt the pressure of being able to built a game or not but. As a gamer, I often wonder about the efforts and complexities behind a game mechanic, and I'm onto the path of creating my very own game. While I'm excited to start, I need to be more attentive and focused even though I have extra-circular activities on the side. Other than this hurdle on the side, I'm definitely excited and stoked to advanced onto my ideation and bring this proposal to life. Looking forwards to the upcoming weeks of this module :D.
Week 5
Week 5, we started on the basis of game development using the software Unity that would be used throughout this course. We started off by making a simple car based game with a road and the control keys needed for each of the arrows as well as scripts to used to make the game come to life.
Week 6/Task 2
This week, we were informed to continue our designing for our games that included the character and environment design. But each of these assets are to be split into two weeks (week 6 & week 7) and can be done in any order as per our comfort.
So for myself, I started off with the character designing which are assets I've taken from online since I'm not much of a designer, being a computer science student and the following is what I have come up with:
Protagonist:
Fig 6.1.1: Leo
Fig 6.1.2: Screwdriver
As seen here, Leo who will be the playable character in my game would look like this. It matches the storyline and character of Leo who has a backpack (with the many tools he has) and outfit representing a journey to Raftbold Mountain. Alongside that, Leo will be carrying his trustful buddy the screwdriver which he will be using for the entierity of the game.
Common Enemies:
Fig 6.2.1: Sphere
Fig 6.2.2: Spider
As for the common enemies found throughout the platforms of my game, I used something similar to Skyrim's enemies as reference and found 2D assets close and similar to it. This would be the Sphere and Spider within my game.
Mini Boss:
Fig 6.3: Centurion
Reflection
While further getting into the game development, I have found a barrier within my limits to produce a good/well made game and that would be my designing skills. From a young age I was pretty bad at drawing but really fond of games and how they worked but now I have released this is another skill which I should hone. As for now I have found some assets which compliment the game I am trying to go for but for the later stages of this game, I shall try my best on designs that would be needed later on hopefully since I have other modules to look & take care of as well.
Week 7/Task 2
As for this week, I began looking at the design of the environment that would be needed for my game. The following is what I have come up with
Background:
Fig 7.1: Day & Night Cycle + Background
As mentioned in my proposal, Ill be adding the day and night cycle with the background stated as a mountains throughout the entirety of my game.
Reference: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/environments/painted-hq-2d-forest-medieval-background-97738
HUD
Fig 7.2.1: Welcome Screen
Fig 7.2.2: Player Stats HUD
So when the player gets into the game, they will be greeted with a game page which would look like the above screen. After they get inside the game, they would have a health bar and armor icon indicated at the top right of the screen to show the all the necessary details about the player. Lastly, a day/night cycle HUD to add some appeals to the game.
Checkpoint System (Bone fire)
Fig 7.3: Checkpoint System
So I mentioned there would be a checkpoint system when going up and for that, I will be taking these assets of houses varying for each of the checkpoints with the addition of a campfire next to it which will be unlit, and when the player gets to the radius of the campfire, it lights up on fire indicating the checkpoint has been updated.
Reference:
Platform (To progress up)
Since the main priority of my game requires platform for the protagonist to go up, I have found platforms that would be viable and sync in with the mountainic look I will be going for. Hence, here are the variety of platforms I will be using.
Raftbold Mountain
Reflection
Onto 2nd phase of assets I have undergone in is the environment which I honestly feel more satisfied with compared to my character design, which could have more improvements tbh. Nonetheless, I have found many sites that can aid in my inability to draw which I'm really grateful for but I'm really stoked towards putting all of my assets into the prototyping phase of my game which we will be doing in the later coming stages, I'm stoked!
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