Beta

 After weeks of work and editing and writing and rewriting scripts I can successfully say that I have successfully completed my game!

This week I was able to implement any final changes for my game. These changes involved including a score board in the game and a game over screen. I was able to implement these UI elements using Text mesh pro and canvas. I had learnt how to do this from the unity tutorials advised in week 9 and 10.

I also carried out some user testing of my own. I was able to have my game tested by two separate individuals one o f which was a friend, and the other was a family member. Both individuals enjoyed playing the game and found the game functionality smooth and easy to use. One piece of feedback I was given was to provide a reset button at the end of the game to allow for the player to restart. Another piece of feedback I received was to provide a lives option for the player, to give them a chance to resume at the point they left off at when they lose or die in the game.

Carry out this player testing was beneficial as it gave me more insight into how to create a more user-friendly game experience for the players.

 

After weeks of work and editing and writing and rewriting scripts I can successfully say that I have successfully completed my game!

This week I was able to implement any final changes for my game. These changes involved including a score board in the game and a game over screen. I was able to implement these UI elements using Text mesh pro and canvas. I had learnt how to do this from the unity tutorials advised in week 9 and 10.

I also carried out some user testing of my own. I was able to have my game tested by two separate individuals one o f which was a friend, and the other was a family member. Both individuals enjoyed playing the game and found the game functionality smooth and easy to use. One piece of feedback I was given was to provide a reset button at the end of the game to allow for the player to restart. Another piece of feedback I received was to provide a lives option for the player, to give them a chance to resume at the point they left off at when they lose or die in the game.

Carry out this player testing was beneficial as it gave me more insight into how to create a more user-friendly game experience for the players.

source: game over screen of final game 

Playtesting

It is coming close to the end of this module and this week the focus is on playtesting. Game testing or playtesting in a crucial step to help ensure optimal performance of a game before it is published.

There are multiple factors and particularities to consider when it comes to game testing, I learnt that it is not only about the functionality of the game, that it is about other things, such as game fun, human interactions, human behaviours, game fun reactions, and entertainment factors. All of these and so much more come into consideration when implementing a Playtest

The multiple gam testing types can be listed below:  

• Functionality testing
• Combinatorial testing
• Ad Hoc Testing
• Compatibility Testing
• Clean room and Tee Testing
• Regression testing
• Performance Testing

Based on my current game structure and design I believe that functionality testing would be the most appropriate playtest for me to use. This is simply because the aim of this testing method is to hunt for generic problems within the game such as asset integrity, stability issues, audio visual and game mechanic issues.

I learnt that there are different types of play testers

Myself, close friends and family, experiences gamers and complete strangers.

For convenience will be playtesting this game myself, friends and family and other strangers. My purpose of doing this is to gain a well-rounded body of feedback from the testing phase of my game and hopefully implement may changes accordingly

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Sources 

source 1 

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source 3 

Game Stories

 

This week I learnt about game stories. This was an interesting read because I was able to learn not only about the importance of storytelling within games, but also the structures that some of them may follow.

I was able to gain some knowledge on what a story is and how they can be narrative focused, or character focused. Both of these affect the way in which the player interacts and engages with the gameplay.

I learnt about the three main frameworks that game designers refer to when it comes to implementing storytelling within games.  

This can be listed as follows:

•       The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

This puts emphasis on myths and heroes within mythology. This framework establishes a common structure found between mythological stories

•    Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee

This framework discusses how storytelling is not about formulas, it is about forms. And each follows a similar form.

•         Poetics, by Aristotle

This framework is not about poetry as the name would suggest, it Is actually about tragedy and the inclusion of tragedies within storylines. It often represents stories that replicate real life, rather than supernatural, mystical or romantic endings #

 

I found these readings quite interesting and beneficial. It  is good to have a academic knowledge of how stories are told and the different framework bodies used by game designers.

 

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Sources 

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Tutorial 10

 

This week’s unity tutorial I was able to learn many new game design and coding techniques that I can and will use to apply to my final game. Some of the new elements learn can be listed as follows:

I learnt about using 2D and 3D view.

I learnt how to create a game manager object instead of a spawn manager which would have been typically used. This allows us to control the state of the game as more features are being added to it.

I learnt about mouse events this entailed how to make an object destroy itself when clicked. 

I leant about the platform Text mesh pro and canvas. These platforms allowed for the me to add in some UI elements to the game improving the experience for the player such as a score count ad player score board.

I learned how to create and manage game states to make it a smoother game experience for the player. I was able to do this by providing player feedback using the game over and reset button.

I learned how to use buttons in the game and make them active by giving them a command in the code, I was able to use the UI library used to help interact with buttons in scene.

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Alpha

This week I am continuing to work on my platformer game called “Flying Bird” so far, I have completed the all the basic fundamentals required for game set up. I have all my scripts created with all the functionality applied to them. I have my player controls implemented onto my avatar and I have also completely set up my game world. 

This week I am working on creating a score board for when the player dies in the game. The purpose of the score board is to inform the player of their final score and also inform them that thy have died and that the game Is over. I am also working on including a score board at the top of the game which can allow for the player to keep track of their score and even beat it with each game round. I am finding it difficult to implement these new changes to my game, however I have found useful video tutorials online which I am currently working through. 

My current goal for next week is to have all these changes implemented and completed so that I can  begin game testing by next week’s project task 

The link to the video I am referencing to can be linked here 

 

Unity Tutorial 09

 I continued working on the game prototype tutorial from last week. some new functionality I was able to learn and add to my game in the tutorial can be listed as follows:

I learnt about four loops- this keep control over the number of times something needs occur. This is useful in game design where you want something to spawn several times, this coding technique can be implemented.

By the end of this prototype, I learnt how to include a countdown timer in the game power up. I was able to learn camera control in the game and learnt how to use vector math to control the direction that the enemies are moving towards so that they can eventually run into the player. 

I was also tasked with completing a challenge task relating to this tutorial. This involved fixing a corrupted game file with bugs. The purpose of this game challenge was to test out the skills learn from the previous challenge. 

I found these game challenges to be quite useful, although difficult they are giving me a winder knowledge of coding and using the unity hub for game design. They are also quite useful for the production of my game as there are specific skills I can use to implement in the scrips of my final game

source: screenshot from unity hub 

Reading and Writing

This week’s reading task required a review and reflection of all the work done so far and the work left to complete 

Looking back

I am reflecting on all the previous reading and writing assignments I have completed for this module thus far. I have found every single ready assignment to be very useful and beneficial for the module and for the game design process. In the first week I named my favourite game, this simple brainstorming task of choosing my favourite game allowed me to think about the many games and game genres that are available.  I was able to learn many new skills and terms, from time management strategies to technology tools and even learning about the growth mindset and how they can help me with this module. Some of the more recent reading assignments gave me a deeper understanding of game design and how games are made and what components make up a game. The readings were about game design, game elements, game design documents, game fun and game decisions. These most recent readings helped give me a good knowledge of everything involved when it comes to game design. So far, I would say I am happy with my game project. I have a clear vision for how I want the game to turn out, but I am confident that with my current unity skills and knowledge that I will be able to complete it to the best of my ability.

Image 

Below is my chosen image. I chose this image from the reading task from week 2. I chose this image because this was my second ever assigned reading for this module.  Tis image is of significance to me as it as my first ever knowledge of learning about the growth mindset theory. Learning this growth mindset theory has change the way in which I approach not only my studies but my daily course of work and other aspect of life. It has taught me that in order to succeed at something you have to allow for failure or mistakes to happen, which in turn leads to learning from them and thus growth.

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Looking forward 

I believe that moving forward, it would benefit me to carry out some extra reading material or more specific unity tutorials to refine and complete my game. I want to add in some art features in my game, such as a scoreboard and a results page for when the game ends. I believe it would be beneficial for me to do some extra reading material and unity tutorials around this to enhance my game. Moving forward I also plan to be more strategic with my time management and planning for the game. Each week I decided to allocate 10 hours to this module and the module task, this included the tutorials, reading and the project work. I also plan to liaise with my cousin regarding my game and outputting my final game, as he is a game designer and is quite familiar with game code, I plan to ask him for tips and tricks that I can apply to my own game design.

Unity Tutorial 07

 I have now started unit 4 of the unity tutorials, upon finishing the game of the last tutorial I found this one to be interesting. This tutorial did prove to be slightly more challenging than the last one, I believe that as you go through the units in unity, the tutorials get increasingly harder, which is going of course to build my game design skills!

I was able to learn some new terms about game functionality. I was able to learn how to apply conditions in the script that will allow for the camera to rotate around the game world and also for the player to move in the direction that the camera is facing.  I learnt about co-ordinates within the game world and how they are used to place a specific game object where desired.

Although I learnt many new games task, I was able to revise over old familiar terms, such as vector and movement and direction of the player.

Whilst these are only a small few of the new terms I've listed , I have learnt that completing these tutorials, they are many more useful ones that I will most definitely apply and use when it comes to designing my own game.

source: screenshot from unity hub

First Playable

I now have the fundamental  elements added into my game. Last weeks task involved working on my prototype which consisted of setting up the main game area and collecting all my assets. 

This week I focused on applying roles in my scripts to create a playable version of the game.

I looked back on previous unity tutorials to help me with this. Simple elements like moving forward, and up and down where the main movements that would be required for the player.

I also played around with keys and decided how I would want my player to move in the game. I decided to opt for the mouse option as the main game control, as this is a pc focused game, I decided to keep the player keys as simple as possible.

I now have a game where I can move the bird ( my avatar) up and down and obstacles that the player can crash into. I have made the buildings the obstacles and I have applied rigid body's to them so that when the bird fly's into them they crash and die and hence the game is over.

Below I've attached an image of my current game world which includes the game bird and the obstacles .

source: unity  game world screenshot 

Protoype

This week I began creating my prototype for my game ‘Flying Bird’ I began by creating a new 2D unity workspace and finding assets that I would like to use for the game. I used the unity store to source my assets as they had free options available as well as options you could buy.

I can say that at this stage I am finding it difficult to set up the game world and create the game, although I have gathered all the assets it  proving to be difficult to create a game from scratch without the guided notes of the unity tutorials.

As I have a clear idea and plan of the game that I would kike to design I  have created the following plan for how I want to build my game:

1: collect all game assets, i.e. world, sounds, avatar and audio

2. decide and create the appropriate number of scripts required for the game to function 

3. Decide how the player will control the avatar in the game, ie which keys will be used to move up and down/ avoid obstacles/ die 

4. start implementing the code required for the game to function 

Below I have included an image of my initial game prototype. I began by importing all my assets and avatars for the game. Next I will start scripting to bring the game to life!

source: screenshot from unity hub 

Unity Tutorial 6

Picking up from the unity tutorials I had halted last term proved difficult. After spending time trying got recover the tutorial files, I was able to continue from where I left off.

 Some new functionality I was able to learn from tis weeks tutorial were animation controllers, animation states, transitions and how they work.

I was able to learn how to change animation parameters which allowed the player to run faster. I learnt about animation programming and how adding in things like Inclusion of triggers to allow player to jump in script. After adding in some final particle effects and audio, I can now say I have created a well-rounded game on unity!

Although my game still has some glitches, and some bug fixes would be needed.  I am quite proud of the game I created and the new skills I had gained from them.

The final challenge task involved adding in floating balloons bombs and Booleans within the game, adding in cool effects when you grab them and including sound effects. I enjoyed this game task as it allowed me to refresh and practice the skills I had already learnt in previous tutorials and apply them without a step by step guide.

source: screenshot from unity hub

Game Decisions

 This week’s reading task was based on game decisions and flow theory within games

Some points that I learnt and can apply from this week’s reading task can be listed as follows:

I learnt the meaning of flow theory in games. Flow is a theory that we can adapt to our game to make challenges that allow for a more engaging gameplay. I learnt that flow theory is necessary to create an engaging gaming experience, and it is also based on human psychological trends.

 

I learnt about flow state. This can be described as being in the zone of the game or in a state of hyper focus. I was able to learn about the benefits and drawbacks of flow experience. Whilst self-improvement is one of the benefits, a drawback caused by overconsumption can lead to devastating effects on mental and physical health,

 I learnt that the term flow experience can not only be applied to gaming but it can be applied of all aspects of life, such as flow experience in work, flow experience in playing sport, or flow experience in playing music

 The last keyword vital to gaming is the term game decisions. Decisions and decision making are vital to creating a game most games have some manner of decision-making, and it is here that a game can be made more or less interesting. I learnt that in order for a decision to be interesting or good, it needs to involve some sort of trade-off. This can involve

 

But what makes a decision “interesting”? What Makes a Good Decision?

Generally, interesting decisions involve some kind of trade-off.

All of these decisions involve the player judging the value of something, where values are shifting, not always certain, and not obvious.

my sources can be linked below:

Flow experience in computer game playing among Thai university students

Flow Theory 

What is flow theory in game design 

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Games MDA

 

 

This week’s reading task had a focus on understanding the MDA framework.  The term MDA stands for mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. My understanding from these reading sis that the MDA framework was created as a formal body to be able to help understand games. It was created to help connect all the elements of game design, development,  criticism and technical game research.

 

I learnt that this framework is used for game developers and designers because it helps them to understand how gameplay decisions can affect the user experience of the game. Which can also be useful to make changes to the game further down the line of developments

 

Another thing I learnt about the MDA framework is that it has limitations and is often criticised. This is because it neglects many aspects of game design and has a focus on mechanics, making it unsuitable for all game types. I learn that there are alternative design frameworks that can be used.  The other two frameworks can be described as follows:

 

-          Elemental tetrad – defines mechanics and aesthetics as central components similar to the MDA framework. however, it does not agree on how they are connected

-          DDE framework – Design dynamics and experience – this overcomes MDA frameworks weaknesses and is therefore used in place where it is limited.

 

I enjoyed learning about this framework and its uses and it limitations, I look forward to progressing more with my knowledge throughout the course and applying it to my future game projects

 

Below are links to resources I used to create this blog post

 

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research

Design, Dynamics, Experience (DDE): An Advancement of the MDA Framework for Game Design

Explaining the MDA Design Framework | Video Game Design

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Reading 12

 

The final week has come and I didn’t think I would make it this far! I have to say I am very proud of myself for challenging myself each week to not only complete each of the research and essential tasks but also to complete extra credit tasks. And yes the extra points were a good motivator for completing the tasks but also the extra knowledge gained form the tasks were also useful. From the coding tasks to the tech tips to blog commenting and learning about growth mindset, each proved useful and beneficial for not only this module but this whole course.

 I thought it was a great idea to collectively create a book as a class, it allowed for peer review and analysis of each others work, this proved beneficial because I was able to get feedback from like minded individuals who were going through the same process

I really did find the researching skills very beneficial, although they were a bit tedious at times the end result proved to be worth it. I'm looking forward to applying these research skills to all aspects of my academic future, and hopefully use them to progress in my studies, hopefully to pursue a masters degree!

Check out my final book here 

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Doing Reading 11

 

Week 11 is here and it is coming towards wrapping up the final bits for the book chapter and making final edits. My main focus for this week was to proofread and make any last final edits for my book chapter. Last week I added my authors bio and images to my chapter in the working document. This week I gathered all the content that was in my chapter, the text, the images and the bibliographies, and I put them into a single word document.

As it is coming toward the end of the term and completion of the book chapter, I found myself reading through my other classmate’s chapter to get a sense of the content that they were writing. I also had a read through my other classmates authors bios, to learn more about them and their process when making their book chapters.

I have enjoyed this experience of writing a book chapter, prior to creating this chapter I had no knowledge of games, I also did not realise how many components where involved regarding games, such as the origin of games, gamer psychology, gaming addiction and so much more!

 

My completed and separated book chapter can be found here

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Doing Final Chapter Edits

For this week’s reading task, I was required to update my book chapter by adding in some final edits. I was required to add in some graphics relating to my topic into my book chapter. I was also tasked with creating an author’s bio for the chapter and including my references.

The title of my book chapter is “Psychology of why people are gaming/gamer psychology”

I chose these two images to include in my book chapter because I believe they best represent what my chapter conveys. They also represent the aspects of gaming that my chapter conveys, which in this case are both positive and negative. Both images are sourced from Pixabay, a free online copyright free catalogue of images for use.

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As I am now coming toward the end of this module and towards the end of the reading tasks of this module, I am able to look back on the full body of work that I have completed relating to this chapter and feel proud. I am quite proud of the research skills I have attained from this module. I’m happy that I’ve obtained these skills and I am looking forward to using these skills in future aspects of this course and module.

My updated book chapter can be found here!

Beginner Scripting : Delta Time

 

For this week’s extra credit task, I decided to choose the tutorial about Deltatime.

I chose this tutorial because the term delta time was a familiar statement that I had always come across when completing my unity tutorials and I wanted to further and recap my knowledge on it.

Some main points I was able to take away from the tutorial were:

The term Delta time, means the time between each update or fixed update call

Time between frames is not constant therefore they need to be modified by using delta time

It makes the movement of objects more smooth and takes away that glitching effect that would occur if it wasn’t implemented.

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Reading 09

 

This week’s reading involved critically reading two of my peer’s work, commenting on them, providing feedback, and reviewing any feedback that I myself had received.

 

I found the task of reading my peers groupwork very beneficial. I was able to gain valuable knowledge of different chapter topics and gain an understanding of new topics relating to games and gaming.

 

Some feedback I was able to provide for my teammate’s where to change their style of writing, I found that when reviewing the text, they were written in the context of the first person. Based on what I have learnt thus far about academic writing and academic writing styles, I learnt that it is to be formal and that it should avoid personal opinions.

Some feedback I received for myself, were to break up long sentences into shorter ones and to ensure that each factual statement is referenced. I found this feedback very useful because I feel that as writer I can sometimes forget to include pauses and breaks between sentences. Moving forward I will be more aware of this and chose to structure my sentences better.

 

My book chapter and comments I left for my classmates can be found at this link here:

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Extra Credit: Update and Fixed Update

For this week’s extra credit task, I decided to choose the tutorial about update and fixed update.

I chose this tutorial because these were both familiar items that I had always come across when completing my unity tutorials and I wanted to further and recap my knowledge on them.

Some main points I was able to take away from the tutorial were:

For void update: almost anything that needs to be changed or adjusted regular happens in that section and it is not called on a regular timeline, therefore the timeline between the calls is not the same.

For fixed update: it is a called on a regular timeline and will have the same timeline between calls.

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Growth Mindset- : Exploring the Random Growth Mindset Cats

I chose the cate meme randomiser for my extra credit task this week. below are the three images/memes that I enjoyed the most and a little description about why I choose them

I  like the message given in this image, I like the idea that new experiences are required to open up the mind and how once the mind is constantly exposed to new experiences that it can only develop and grow from then onwards.

I like the message provided about success in this image. the idea that it is a process meaning it requires time and work. The message that I was able to take away form this is that success is not just a singular event but it is a continuous process.

This image i think speaks for itself, the concept of idea generation is exiting to me, not only for academic related school ideas, but for all aspects of life, such as business, work and cooking ! etc