Friday, October 24, 2014
Update
This week our group changed up the theme of our game. I proposed taking the advice we got in our demo to do a much more streamlined theme instead of the fantasy theme. We've turned to a much more geometric, 'inside the computer,' or Tron-esque style where the buildings are now electrical components and the enemies are viruses anthropomorphized as geometric shapes attacking the components which we have to defend and repair. The player acts as a personification of the anti-virus software. To this end this week I designed several models of electrical components like capacitors, resistors and CPUs. These are available in our Models section in our Google Doc.
HW 11
1. Our main user interface will be with the keyboard and mouse. The user will be able to control the movement in 3D space using the keyboard and the movement of the camera using the mouse. The user can also attack using the mouse buttons. The screen will also display useful information like amount of ammo, health, time remaining until a new round, and if time allows we may implement a mini-map.
2. The interface will play the role of all the major functionality that the user can perform. In a popup menu when the player clicks for help, the mouse will be able to select the options like exit and return to game. In the game the interface will be how the user interacts with the world and walks through it. The interface is also how the user interacts with enemies, clicking the mouse to perform attacks.
3. Our interface should be relatively simple and easy to learn. Our interface will follow a lot of the conventions that are common in the game industry right now, like simple keyboard and mouse controls together with simple on-screen prompts and displays.
4. The outcome of the game is very much tied to the player. If the player does nothing the game will be over quickly with the viruses attacking and destroying the entire motherboard. If the player is attentive and plays well, he or she can defeat each wave and progress to the next stage.
5. The player should feel powerful in our game. The player controls the most powerful entity in the game, the antivirus program, which is able to neutralize the attacks with the weapons at its disposal. We could continue discussing new and more powerful weapons to this end to improve the user's feeling of power.
6. As of now the player will not be picking anything up in the game. We could potentially in the future implement picking up new weapons or powerups.
7. The interface directly maps to actions in the world. The interface through the keyboard and mouse maps to movement and camera angle in the world.
8. The player can see the world around him or her through looking around with the mouse. The user can hear the enemies and any attacks that happen. There could also be auditory cues for new waves of enemies or things like time bombs that the player could lay down.
9. The only parts of the interface that are not invisible are the ones that display important information on the screen. We will strive to keep this sort of thing minimal in unobtrusive if possible. These interfaces include the health display, ammunition and a time counter. Keeping the player immersed is our goal, so fewer things in the way of the user's vision is better. Our game will also be first person, which will also hopefully encourage immersion.
10. Our interface is natural insofar as it is similar to the standard interface of the game industry. The keyboard and mouse are not very natural interfaces for players because most 3D games utilize them for movement. Most players should be able to use our interface without thinking much about it.
11. I think the ideal for this would be to have no obtrusive displays crowding the visual interface. If the screen could be completely empty letting the user really immerse into the role of the first person character, that would be ideal.
12. The interface gives all the pertinent feedback that the player needs to keep playing. The interface will display health, ammunition reserves and any other useful information. The player also needs to know how much time before another wave of enemies attacks, which will be displayed as a timer. This will help the user to prepare and get things like upgrades and make sure the previous wave is dealt with. The goal in this case is to be prepared for the next wave which the counter helps with.
13. The visual interface is continuous so that he user has up to date information about their health, their position in the game, how long before the next wave and the effectiveness of their weapons (including ammo).
14. There will probably not be much visual change when changing modes. There will really only be the normal mode of running around and fighting viruses and also a slightly different mode when repairing buildings and computer components. That mode could have interfaces for upgrading and repairing the components.
2. The interface will play the role of all the major functionality that the user can perform. In a popup menu when the player clicks for help, the mouse will be able to select the options like exit and return to game. In the game the interface will be how the user interacts with the world and walks through it. The interface is also how the user interacts with enemies, clicking the mouse to perform attacks.
3. Our interface should be relatively simple and easy to learn. Our interface will follow a lot of the conventions that are common in the game industry right now, like simple keyboard and mouse controls together with simple on-screen prompts and displays.
4. The outcome of the game is very much tied to the player. If the player does nothing the game will be over quickly with the viruses attacking and destroying the entire motherboard. If the player is attentive and plays well, he or she can defeat each wave and progress to the next stage.
5. The player should feel powerful in our game. The player controls the most powerful entity in the game, the antivirus program, which is able to neutralize the attacks with the weapons at its disposal. We could continue discussing new and more powerful weapons to this end to improve the user's feeling of power.
6. As of now the player will not be picking anything up in the game. We could potentially in the future implement picking up new weapons or powerups.
7. The interface directly maps to actions in the world. The interface through the keyboard and mouse maps to movement and camera angle in the world.
8. The player can see the world around him or her through looking around with the mouse. The user can hear the enemies and any attacks that happen. There could also be auditory cues for new waves of enemies or things like time bombs that the player could lay down.
9. The only parts of the interface that are not invisible are the ones that display important information on the screen. We will strive to keep this sort of thing minimal in unobtrusive if possible. These interfaces include the health display, ammunition and a time counter. Keeping the player immersed is our goal, so fewer things in the way of the user's vision is better. Our game will also be first person, which will also hopefully encourage immersion.
10. Our interface is natural insofar as it is similar to the standard interface of the game industry. The keyboard and mouse are not very natural interfaces for players because most 3D games utilize them for movement. Most players should be able to use our interface without thinking much about it.
11. I think the ideal for this would be to have no obtrusive displays crowding the visual interface. If the screen could be completely empty letting the user really immerse into the role of the first person character, that would be ideal.
12. The interface gives all the pertinent feedback that the player needs to keep playing. The interface will display health, ammunition reserves and any other useful information. The player also needs to know how much time before another wave of enemies attacks, which will be displayed as a timer. This will help the user to prepare and get things like upgrades and make sure the previous wave is dealt with. The goal in this case is to be prepared for the next wave which the counter helps with.
13. The visual interface is continuous so that he user has up to date information about their health, their position in the game, how long before the next wave and the effectiveness of their weapons (including ammo).
14. There will probably not be much visual change when changing modes. There will really only be the normal mode of running around and fighting viruses and also a slightly different mode when repairing buildings and computer components. That mode could have interfaces for upgrading and repairing the components.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
HW 10
These are images of the normal game on the bottom, above that the view of the whole menu scene and above that is the menu seen through the camera.
HW 9
Our game is going to be asymmetric. We're having the defensive side of the game completely different from the offensive side. The defensive hero will have powers that the offensive side does not have and the offensive side will have numbers that the defensive side does not. Either side will have separate goals but we'll work hard to make them balanced.
I think a way that we will be able to address challenge vs. success is through having many successive waves of enemies that get more difficult with time. A way to keep people from getting bored is by having the easier waves go by quicker and the more challenging levels will take a little more time.
There will be a whole lot of meaningful choices the player can make when it comes to spending resources, upgrading defenses and where the player focuses the ability of the main character. Strategy will also be a choice the player always has to pay attention to when it comes to strengthening defenses or attacking from different angles.
I think we'll be able to minimize the amount of chance that governs our game. Enemies will probably attack with a random number of damage within a range, but everything else can be basically predictable. The point of our game is more to prepare for attackers and reward good preparation, skill and strategy.
Our plan is not to have too much dexterity based game play. We don't want the object to get good at quickly pressing buttons, although it will probably come into play. Our focus is on the strategic elements and on rewarding preparedness.
We're planning on not actually making a set end in our game. We're going to cater to the people who like to grind and gain experience and test their ability arcade-style. We're going to have wave after wave until they give up or lose. In that way the length of the game is chosen by the player. Games like candy crush and other arcades carefully balance reward and give the right amount of incentive to make the player want to play more.
When the book talks about the reward of prolonged play, that seems to fit with our game pretty well. Other rewards we offer include points for using on more upgrades and more powers and access to more difficult competition.
One aspect of our game that we just added is when the player loses on one side of the fight, they then get switched to the other side to fight in the opposite direction. We want to encourage the player to stay with one side as long as they can so when they die, there is a point dock and they have to work to get back to the same position. There will also probably be a timing setback, so a loss will cause you to be out of the fight for a certain amount of time.
We're going to try to offer as much freedom to the player as we can. This will include traveling anywhere within the game they need or want to, upgrading any building or defensive unit they want or getting whatever power or upgrade they want. We really don't plan on interfering with the player once the game begins outside of the normal game rules.
We haven't exactly taken complexity into account yet. We're hoping that our rules will be simple to get so that there will be very will explanation but that the game play will be complicated enough to be interesting for the player.
A lot of the advice we got this week when we presented was that we should keep the buildings and the aesthetics as simple as possible. We're probably going to simplify the world so that it's not so overwhelming but also so it leaves a little more to the imagination behind the scenes.
I think a way that we will be able to address challenge vs. success is through having many successive waves of enemies that get more difficult with time. A way to keep people from getting bored is by having the easier waves go by quicker and the more challenging levels will take a little more time.
There will be a whole lot of meaningful choices the player can make when it comes to spending resources, upgrading defenses and where the player focuses the ability of the main character. Strategy will also be a choice the player always has to pay attention to when it comes to strengthening defenses or attacking from different angles.
I think we'll be able to minimize the amount of chance that governs our game. Enemies will probably attack with a random number of damage within a range, but everything else can be basically predictable. The point of our game is more to prepare for attackers and reward good preparation, skill and strategy.
Our plan is not to have too much dexterity based game play. We don't want the object to get good at quickly pressing buttons, although it will probably come into play. Our focus is on the strategic elements and on rewarding preparedness.
We're planning on not actually making a set end in our game. We're going to cater to the people who like to grind and gain experience and test their ability arcade-style. We're going to have wave after wave until they give up or lose. In that way the length of the game is chosen by the player. Games like candy crush and other arcades carefully balance reward and give the right amount of incentive to make the player want to play more.
When the book talks about the reward of prolonged play, that seems to fit with our game pretty well. Other rewards we offer include points for using on more upgrades and more powers and access to more difficult competition.
One aspect of our game that we just added is when the player loses on one side of the fight, they then get switched to the other side to fight in the opposite direction. We want to encourage the player to stay with one side as long as they can so when they die, there is a point dock and they have to work to get back to the same position. There will also probably be a timing setback, so a loss will cause you to be out of the fight for a certain amount of time.
We're going to try to offer as much freedom to the player as we can. This will include traveling anywhere within the game they need or want to, upgrading any building or defensive unit they want or getting whatever power or upgrade they want. We really don't plan on interfering with the player once the game begins outside of the normal game rules.
We haven't exactly taken complexity into account yet. We're hoping that our rules will be simple to get so that there will be very will explanation but that the game play will be complicated enough to be interesting for the player.
A lot of the advice we got this week when we presented was that we should keep the buildings and the aesthetics as simple as possible. We're probably going to simplify the world so that it's not so overwhelming but also so it leaves a little more to the imagination behind the scenes.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
HW 8
Saturday, October 4, 2014
HW 7
1. The space in our game will be continuous as we will have out main character run around an open map. There aren't any discrete elements that will require discrete placing of pieces or characters.
2. Our game will have three dimensions since the main character and enemies will walk around and be able to jump and interact with things in three dimensions.
3. The boundaries of the game are the outside of the area that contains the villages that the player interacts with.
4. In our game the verbs the player can inform include: attack, defend, jump, heal, cast spells, build village homes, place armaments, take special powers, run, hide, and also fly (on occasion).
5. The verbs describe the player acting on the enemies in terms of the attacks. The player can act on the NPCs in the village with placing them and building homes to protect them.
6. The goal in our game is to have the player defeat waves of enemies that attack the village and defend the village. The player can do this by either attacking using the main character, and so also upgrading the main character, or the player can rely on the armaments and the NPCs that the main character can upgrade to help defeat the enemies.
7. The player can move many different subjects when the player is constructing, upgrading and repairing the villages. The player also obviously controls the main character and to a lesser extent the NPCs' general actions.
8. One change that has side effects in our game is when the main character uses his ability to take an enemy power. Taking that ability has consequences for playing the game later when the player cannot take other more powerful abilities later on. Our game also has side effects similar to the side effects of moving checker pieces when the player moves and builds buildings in the village.
9. Operative actions: attack, shoot, defend, cast spell, jump, heal, build village, upgrade villager.
10. Resultant actions: fortify village, direct wave of enemies, make villagers more effective at defending themselves, make your abilities more powerful.
11. I would like the player to at one point be able to fly if he takes specific flight powers. I also want the player to be able to make movements using animation.
12. The ultimate goal is to defend the village and kill all of the waves of enemies.
13. Short term goals include getting past each individual wave of enemies. Other short term goals include upgrading the main character as well as the villagers. Long term goals include getting powerful abilities and surviving to the end of the game.
14. We could potentially include text prompts on the screen to make it clear, but I think we could also just have the player dropped in the village with minimal prompting since nasty looking creatures rushing for you can be a pretty power visual queue for what to do next. We'll also include a timer on the screen to show the player explicitly how much more time they have left before being attacked.
15. The foundational rules include what happens when an attack happens. Depending on the level and upgrades on the character, a random number is drawn and the opponent takes that much damage. Behavioral rules don't seem to come in play because there aren't other human players playing the game to interfere with.
16. The rules are enforced entirely by the computer and the background calculations going on behind the game. Rules like damage and boundaries are enforced by the game not letting the player do anything out of the ordinary.
17. Our game will develop mental skills because tower defense has a lot to do with conserving resources, patience, and understanding strengths and weaknesses. Our game will teach an understanding of tactics and strategy.
18. Virtual skills in the game include archery, sword fighting, magic skills and any enemy skills that the character learns.
2. Our game will have three dimensions since the main character and enemies will walk around and be able to jump and interact with things in three dimensions.
3. The boundaries of the game are the outside of the area that contains the villages that the player interacts with.
4. In our game the verbs the player can inform include: attack, defend, jump, heal, cast spells, build village homes, place armaments, take special powers, run, hide, and also fly (on occasion).
5. The verbs describe the player acting on the enemies in terms of the attacks. The player can act on the NPCs in the village with placing them and building homes to protect them.
6. The goal in our game is to have the player defeat waves of enemies that attack the village and defend the village. The player can do this by either attacking using the main character, and so also upgrading the main character, or the player can rely on the armaments and the NPCs that the main character can upgrade to help defeat the enemies.
7. The player can move many different subjects when the player is constructing, upgrading and repairing the villages. The player also obviously controls the main character and to a lesser extent the NPCs' general actions.
8. One change that has side effects in our game is when the main character uses his ability to take an enemy power. Taking that ability has consequences for playing the game later when the player cannot take other more powerful abilities later on. Our game also has side effects similar to the side effects of moving checker pieces when the player moves and builds buildings in the village.
9. Operative actions: attack, shoot, defend, cast spell, jump, heal, build village, upgrade villager.
10. Resultant actions: fortify village, direct wave of enemies, make villagers more effective at defending themselves, make your abilities more powerful.
11. I would like the player to at one point be able to fly if he takes specific flight powers. I also want the player to be able to make movements using animation.
12. The ultimate goal is to defend the village and kill all of the waves of enemies.
13. Short term goals include getting past each individual wave of enemies. Other short term goals include upgrading the main character as well as the villagers. Long term goals include getting powerful abilities and surviving to the end of the game.
14. We could potentially include text prompts on the screen to make it clear, but I think we could also just have the player dropped in the village with minimal prompting since nasty looking creatures rushing for you can be a pretty power visual queue for what to do next. We'll also include a timer on the screen to show the player explicitly how much more time they have left before being attacked.
15. The foundational rules include what happens when an attack happens. Depending on the level and upgrades on the character, a random number is drawn and the opponent takes that much damage. Behavioral rules don't seem to come in play because there aren't other human players playing the game to interfere with.
16. The rules are enforced entirely by the computer and the background calculations going on behind the game. Rules like damage and boundaries are enforced by the game not letting the player do anything out of the ordinary.
17. Our game will develop mental skills because tower defense has a lot to do with conserving resources, patience, and understanding strengths and weaknesses. Our game will teach an understanding of tactics and strategy.
18. Virtual skills in the game include archery, sword fighting, magic skills and any enemy skills that the character learns.
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