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 

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 

Game Design Document for Flying Bird

This week I created a Game Design document outlining the details of the game I am going to create. 

it provides all the details of the game including how it will be made and specific features of the game.

The link to the game can be found below 

Game Design Document

source: photoshopped artwork created for game world.

Game Vision Statement

Flying Bird

Game vision statement 

The purpose of this document it to outline the plan for the upcoming game that I will be designing for this module, this document will provide a detailed outline of what is involved in the game, the game description and genre, concept art, information on how the game will be made, resources used, recommended platforms and a brief outline of my current game design skills.

Introduction:

“Can You make it through the Concrete City?”

Flying bird is the latest immersive platformer game, fly high through a city of skyscrapers of different lengths dodging the buildings as the game proceeds as you build your high score.

 

Description /Game Play 

you will enter the world as a bird, you will be playing the game in a city simulated environment, there are buildings, skyscraper of various heights and width, your objective? Keep flying, keep flying through the world and avoiding the buildings, as you continue flying and as you pick up points you also pick up in speed, this new speed obstacle may make it difficult for you to progress. What happens if you crash? Then you start again from the original starting point, that’s as simple as it is, your aims and objectives of the game is to keep flying whilst increasing in speed and increasing your high score and flight time with each game. 

Game genre –  

Flying Bird is a platformer game, this game is heavily inspired from the original platformer game “Flappy Bird” the genre of platformer allowes the player to control a character whilst moving through a world, in this case we will be controlling an animal/ a bird flying through tall buildings in a city. The purpose of a platformer game is to conquer the obstacles, earn points and build on scores.

This game style originates in the early 1980s, this platformer games consists of  4 main characteristics, these include an interactive environment, a third person perspective, vertical and horizontal movement, and controlled jumping. 

 

Platforms

This game will be mainly designed for a desktop or computer platform. I would like for this game to be used on mobile devices but due to my limited skills in game design, it will be designed for a desktop.

Conceptual Art 

Below have some rough mock-ups displaying how I would like my game to appear, I have the flying bird asset which can be bought from the unity asset shop, and I also have an image of an animated city skyline which I have Photoshopped the 3D bird onto, these design mock-ups best represents how the game will turn out.

source: photoshopped image of ideal game world

Resources required

In order to create this game, I will be using the unity hub, however as I am still in the early stages of game development, I will have to complete more unity tutorials in order to build my skills and understanding of game design.

Unity- links to create a platformer game 

This source that I found on unity provides a guideline how to complete a 2D platformer game, of course in this case the game will be a 3D platformer, but the tutorial still proves useful. I will also be able to buy and create assets for the game on the unity store, these assets will include a city/skyscraper background environment, and 3D- flying bird. This unity tutorial  will be useful as it gives guidelines on creating your own desirable game environment using the Tile map editor, this is essentially an artistic tool which allow users to paint directly in unity and to be able to create vast and complicate tile maps within unity.

 

Conclusion

This vison statement clearly outlines it purpose, which is to create a platformer game called Flying bird. The game will be presented in a third person view and the player will have control of the bird, moving it forwards and backwards and up and down to doge the obstacles. The purpose of the game will be to continue flying until you crash and with each flight you aim to beat your high score. In order for the player to record their high score I will put a timer within the game, so that witch each play the player can see and record their scores. I will create the game environment using the unity software. I feel confident in this game idea so far, I believe that I have the basics skills to create and set up he game environment and as the weeks progress I will gain more skills and become more confident using unity. 

Game Idea Research

 

The Game “flappy Bird” is something that I would like to recreate , however I would recreate this game using a paper plane of some sort and the plane would have to fly though and avoid obstacles similar to that in “Flappy Bird”

Game Mechanics 

Platformer Mechanics 

I’ve chosen to look at platform game mechanics because it aligns with the type of game that I would like to create. Platform games allow the player to control a character in another world, this usually also involves other elements such as conquering obstacles, collecting coins and earning points. There are 4 important features required when it comes to designing a platform game, these can be listen as follows: the game must have an Interactive environment, Third person perspective,(i.e. the player can see the character their controlling in the screen in front of them) Vertical and horizontal movement and controlled jumping.

 

Scoring Mechanics 

Scoring systems are another system in which I wanted to implement my game, as I would like to make my game a neve ending style of game. The main purpose of the game will be to keep playing each time and achieving a higher score than the last time. The scoring mechanism Is a way of measuring success within the game. By having this quantitative scoring system its adds to the enjoyment factor of the game whilst also enhancing the gameplay (Lee et al 2017).

 

Movement Mechanics 

Movement mechanics are important within a game, by impending enough controls the correct amount of movement in a game can help improve the player experience, this video discusses the importance of movement mechanics using the example of tomb raider. It can be seen in the earliest version  of the game when the player is jumping, that it requires more buttons and more inputs in order to jump, such as running building momentum, jumping, then using the hands to pull up over the edge. But in the newest version of tomb raider it is not quite the same , instead of the various inputs that were required to jump in the old game copy, the game developers changed this, instead all you have to do is simply press one button or input and the player will complete the whole processes of jumping , I personally feel that this creates a disconnect between the player and the Gameworld, this shortcut of jumping takes away from some of the fun and reality aspects of the game, it can be concluded that movement in a game is important and this is a game mechanic that I will definitely implement when it comes to designing my game.

source 

Game Idea

 

Game Idea 

 

So for my Game Idea, I thought to draw inspiration from games that I liked to play, most of these where mobile designed games and they all often follow a simple format, this involved moving an object in a certain direction whilst avoiding obstacles to either collect points or reach the end goal. Below I have listed my top four ideas.

 

1.     Flappy bird

This mobile game involved using the touch screen in a sliding motion to control a bird, there are various obstacles involved in the game, some of these include pipes and floating bricks, as you progress on in the levels the obstacles become more harder, some of these may include other flying birds! I liked this game idea as it is simple and effective, there is no end goal in this game, the objective of the game is to see how long you can last without dying by crashing into one of the obstacles, so it gives you an opportunity each time to increase your high score, which is the addicting part of the game!

 

Flappy bird Game

2.     Subway Surfers 

This is a similar game type to flappy bird as it has no ending, the objecting of this game is to keep playing each time in order to beat your personal score. It is an endless game which involves a chosen character running on and underground subway, there are obstacles on the subway such as trains, cones and tunnels that have to be avoided, as you progress in the game the speed of the runner gets faster, and the obstacles become closer and some of them even move e.g., moving trains. I like this idea because this a similar objective of flappy bird, it is simple, addictive and the objective of the game is to increase your high score.

 

Subway Surfers Game

3.     Temple Run

This is another mobile game that I was inspired by. It Involves a character running with no ending to the game, however the setup is different , the character is running in a jungle from a large animal and the character has to avoid different obstacles in the jungle, the objective of this game again is to increase your high score with each run.

 

Temple Run Game

           

4.     High Heels 

The final game that I was inspired by is a bit different to the others, The game is called high heels and it involves walking on a fashion runway and collecting heels to reach the end of the runway, however it is not that simple , the more heels you collect the harder it is to balance and also there are obstacles along the way that reduce the height of the heels you have collected. The objective of the game is to basically reach the end of the runway with the highest heels possible and there are different level and worlds that can be unlocked with each level. I like this game because of the useability and the colors, I like how the game is different to other games that I’ve played before and I also like the fact that there is an end goal for the game.

 

                                                                       High Heels Game