Thursday, 12 December 2013
week 9
this week billy and i were the only ones present ones from our group to show but at the end of the lecture billy just left without sitting down and discussing what to do next for our game. this made me very angry as we now have less that 2 weeks before our pitch is due and i have no idea what my groupmates are up to, as they are not returning and messages or emails i send them. apart from that i have also got a few peices of refference art from the books to help flesh out the idea.
week 8
again this week my group didnt turn up although we do have google drive i woyuld prefer to talk and discuss our game with the other members in person hopefully this will be the last time as we need to practice our pitch wich is due in 3 weeks. on the other hand though i have finished the mortal engines concepts.
week 7
this week we set up our google drive to share each others work. after a meeting we decided it would be an idea to have one as some weeks members of the group have not shown up. this week i started work on the mortal engine machines so far ive got all 3 asian cities done and started the russian city. the rusian city will be very bare on design as there city is more about carrying there people and they are not worried about enemy fire hoping the terain of their land will keep the enemys out.
week 5
this week billy and ross wern't in class today so i wasnt able to contact my group since they wernt answering my messages on facebook. part from that minor setback ive drawn up the prototype for The main character and the steampack and grapple gun. the steam pack is like a little furnace that is connected on the players back which is the source of power for the weapons and armour for the player wich can be upgraded to give more power and other upgrades. the grapple gun is the main source of manoverability around the city for the player as you can use it to reach high places and also to swing on and to grab things from out of reach places.
Week 4
This week we disscussed more about the game machanics for the combat system. During the week between last weeks meeting and this meeting Billy had came up with a combo system for the fighting is based on the combat system devil may cry and games in that genre use. Billy calls the combat system the "Waltz" as it each move is based on 3 button inputs or "triplets". The walz combat system is completly unique to our game, its machanicly rewarding and skill intensive but at the same time its easy to use and pick up for players with a low skill level. As mentioned before the system is based on a course of 3 button inputs, this is a prime example of a "quick to leaarn and hard to master" machanic. For example:
"[XYB][XXY][XBX][YYB][XXX]"
This is a series of 5 triplets, what a triplet does is based on what triplet does before it.
to read more on this combat system we designed follow the link bellow to the full article.
http://pastebin.com/Ge9mZZAu
We also thought it would be a good idea to add a combo metre to the figthing machanic allowing the player to build up a power move for to use in combat for extra damage. The metre itself is a triangle located in the left of the screen, each segment of the triangle having 2 circles in the middle. Once all three circles in a segment are full the player can initiate a deadly combo attack, as each segment is filled the combo attack gets longer and does more damag. For example only having one segment filled will result in a combo lasting around 5 seconds, compared to a combo with 2 segments the combo will last 10 seconds and do more double the amount of damage than the single segment and so on and so forth till it reaches the final segment which is a single circle that is located in the centre of the triangle. This is the "ultimate" move that uses all the segments for one combo move that does 4x the damage of a single segment.
On refection I feel
- the 6 main input Commands: (on XBOX controller for the sake of example)
- X - Stabbing attack
- Y - Vertical Swings
- B - Horizontal Swings
- A - Jump
- LT - Dodge
"[XYB][XXY][XBX][YYB][XXX]"
This is a series of 5 triplets, what a triplet does is based on what triplet does before it.
to read more on this combat system we designed follow the link bellow to the full article.
http://pastebin.com/Ge9mZZAu
We also thought it would be a good idea to add a combo metre to the figthing machanic allowing the player to build up a power move for to use in combat for extra damage. The metre itself is a triangle located in the left of the screen, each segment of the triangle having 2 circles in the middle. Once all three circles in a segment are full the player can initiate a deadly combo attack, as each segment is filled the combo attack gets longer and does more damag. For example only having one segment filled will result in a combo lasting around 5 seconds, compared to a combo with 2 segments the combo will last 10 seconds and do more double the amount of damage than the single segment and so on and so forth till it reaches the final segment which is a single circle that is located in the centre of the triangle. This is the "ultimate" move that uses all the segments for one combo move that does 4x the damage of a single segment.On refection I feel
Week 3
This week we discussed the different things the main character can acquire during the main campaign such as weapons, clothing, armour, money and upgrades and the movement style of the cities. For the upgrades we discided that they would just be based around weapons and armour for the main character and the city, such as basic armour upgrades for the city, better lightweight and more durable metals for armour, stronger damage for the sword and guns for the main character.To purchase these upgrades the player would collect different metals as currency we based our currency on a gold, silver and bronze type tier system.
Copper being the lowest like bronze, iron being the middle like silver and steel being like gold. The use of copper, iron and steel as currency because in a post-appocolyptic setting these items would be more useful and easerer to access where as money will have know value.
For the movement of the cities we decided that due to marsh lands around the starting area for Britain, it will move using spider type legs allowing it to cross most terrain, because america is over seas they would use a boat style city to cross over, then construct wheels to travel on land, for asia we decided that as is a big place they have 3 smaller cities, these being China, Japan and Korrea they will each have a different mode of transport (Air, Boat and Tyre tracks) making them a formidable allie or foe.Where as Russia will have tank treds as the rough terain of its country makes it hard to traverse. The cities will be able to upgrade to different modes of transport at certain parts of the game to get across the different terains. During the length of the campaign the game prompt the player to find resources for these advance upgrade. This idea for 'Advance Upgrade' came about when we talked about how to keep the player intrested from start to finish. We found out that one of the best ways to mix up the gameplay was to change the missions types forcing the player to change there tactics and keep them guessing on what to do next. For this idea we thought about previouse games we had played that use the same type of mission structure one of these games being "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", this game constantly forces the player to travel between to time lines to progress through different points in the campaign. In one of these instance the game forces the player to change back to 'young' Link to aquire the lense of truth, which is needed to progress through the shadow temple as adult Link. this keeps the player engaged and challenges the player to new missions which help the progression of the story.
On refection I feel that we should of asked other gamers on what keeps them instrested in a game. This would have been very benificial to our but we shall use this hopefully at a later stage of the development.
Copper being the lowest like bronze, iron being the middle like silver and steel being like gold. The use of copper, iron and steel as currency because in a post-appocolyptic setting these items would be more useful and easerer to access where as money will have know value.
For the movement of the cities we decided that due to marsh lands around the starting area for Britain, it will move using spider type legs allowing it to cross most terrain, because america is over seas they would use a boat style city to cross over, then construct wheels to travel on land, for asia we decided that as is a big place they have 3 smaller cities, these being China, Japan and Korrea they will each have a different mode of transport (Air, Boat and Tyre tracks) making them a formidable allie or foe.Where as Russia will have tank treds as the rough terain of its country makes it hard to traverse. The cities will be able to upgrade to different modes of transport at certain parts of the game to get across the different terains. During the length of the campaign the game prompt the player to find resources for these advance upgrade. This idea for 'Advance Upgrade' came about when we talked about how to keep the player intrested from start to finish. We found out that one of the best ways to mix up the gameplay was to change the missions types forcing the player to change there tactics and keep them guessing on what to do next. For this idea we thought about previouse games we had played that use the same type of mission structure one of these games being "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time", this game constantly forces the player to travel between to time lines to progress through different points in the campaign. In one of these instance the game forces the player to change back to 'young' Link to aquire the lense of truth, which is needed to progress through the shadow temple as adult Link. this keeps the player engaged and challenges the player to new missions which help the progression of the story.
On refection I feel that we should of asked other gamers on what keeps them instrested in a game. This would have been very benificial to our but we shall use this hopefully at a later stage of the development.
Week 2
Today I was added to Billys and Ross's team for this project, we chose our game concept and the basics for the game. The game is based off of a series of books called 'Mortal Engines' Written by Phillip Reeve, the idea to base the game off the books came about through Ross saying that he felt that the premiss for the story would suit a video game, and that my idea for a steampunk styled game would make this game unique, as there are not many games in the industrury in this style. Billy did not put forward any ideas about the concept of the game but he did want to implement a combat machnic like in 'God of War' or 'Devil May Cry' series. This part of the process went well as we listened to each others ideas for the game and judged each idea on it merrits for why it should be accepted. It was important that each member had at least one idea acepted in to the game so that everyone stayed motived in the creation of the game.
The main idea of the game which we discussed was that it would be set in a post apocoliptic world where it would not safe to live on the surface. Instead they build moving machines which house the identity of the former cities moving from place to place finding resource to survive on.
We decided to have 4 or 5 countries that will be these humongous machines, each machine will represent a country: Great Britain, America, Asia , Russia and possably Australia. Although we know what the cities are we still need to discuss the way that the cities move, each being slightly different from the other. The game types we've discussed so far is that its a 3rd person action adventure game with a slight open world aspect with RPG (Role Playing Game) and RTS (Real Time Strategy) elements.
We chose to have these game types as we felt that action adventure games have a good combat machanic which suits Billy's idea of the 'God of War' (GoW) and 'Devil May Cry' (DMC) type games. The open world element was to allow the option for the player to explore the city inbetween missions which will also extend the time it will take to complete the game. For the RPG and RTS elements we wanted the player to be able to create their own character and micro mange their own city during the campain.
On refection for this week I feel that we should of had a target audience in mind so that we think of what the player might want in relation to our ideas when designing a game, as I felt we were to focused on our likes and dislikes and what we wanted from the game.
The main idea of the game which we discussed was that it would be set in a post apocoliptic world where it would not safe to live on the surface. Instead they build moving machines which house the identity of the former cities moving from place to place finding resource to survive on.
We decided to have 4 or 5 countries that will be these humongous machines, each machine will represent a country: Great Britain, America, Asia , Russia and possably Australia. Although we know what the cities are we still need to discuss the way that the cities move, each being slightly different from the other. The game types we've discussed so far is that its a 3rd person action adventure game with a slight open world aspect with RPG (Role Playing Game) and RTS (Real Time Strategy) elements.
We chose to have these game types as we felt that action adventure games have a good combat machanic which suits Billy's idea of the 'God of War' (GoW) and 'Devil May Cry' (DMC) type games. The open world element was to allow the option for the player to explore the city inbetween missions which will also extend the time it will take to complete the game. For the RPG and RTS elements we wanted the player to be able to create their own character and micro mange their own city during the campain.
On refection for this week I feel that we should of had a target audience in mind so that we think of what the player might want in relation to our ideas when designing a game, as I felt we were to focused on our likes and dislikes and what we wanted from the game.
Week 1
Due to having to attend a first aid training course I missed the first lecture of this module, I did get in contact with a class member earlier today to find out what I had missed during the lecture.
I was told that they had choosen the groups for the project and to start this personal blog on the processes of the project. This means that I will have to wait till next week to find out if there is any group that needs another member, if not I will have to work on my own for this module.
A lesson I have learned from this is that in future I will have to make sure that any comitments I have for university and / or work do not clash. This will allow me to have all the right information I need and that I will work with people I know and trust. However I do realise I will have to work with people I dont know in the real working enviroment, so this may turn out to be a good experience for me.
I was told that they had choosen the groups for the project and to start this personal blog on the processes of the project. This means that I will have to wait till next week to find out if there is any group that needs another member, if not I will have to work on my own for this module.
A lesson I have learned from this is that in future I will have to make sure that any comitments I have for university and / or work do not clash. This will allow me to have all the right information I need and that I will work with people I know and trust. However I do realise I will have to work with people I dont know in the real working enviroment, so this may turn out to be a good experience for me.
week 10
this week my team wasnt in again. this is getting to the point for me now where im stressing out about the pitch and design document as the are not even started. ive completed all my designs and writen down how i got these ideas ready to add to the design document. i added more to the design, these were some enemy types for the game. i based them off of mutants as i didnt want to follow the 'Zombie' craze in the industry. so far i have the standard mutant enemy and a few ideas for the flying type.
i hope that my team will be in next week as they arent getting incontact with me or returning any of my mesages to them. all i have left to add to my folder of concepts for the game is a mentor and a few more enemy types.
i hope that my team will be in next week as they arent getting incontact with me or returning any of my mesages to them. all i have left to add to my folder of concepts for the game is a mentor and a few more enemy types.
week 11
finaly this week me and my team have started on the pitch and design document we also discussed that we should have the choice of either a female or a male protagonist for the campain. we based this idea on the mass effect francise as it allows you to choose your gender which appeals to a wider audience and giving the player a little bit of customisation to there experience. this decision alowed me to go and draw a standard design for the female character, we also agreed on letting the player to customise the characters face (hense why the character models are faceless) which also gives another layer of customisation to the game.
this week i also came up with an idea for how the mentor should look, we went for a 50ish year old man who will be the father figure to the main charcter, teaching them how to fight and micro manage the city for when he eventually dies and leaves the comand to the city to you. we aso decided on a name for the character. We went with a unisex name as it applies to both male and female characters, we threw around a cople of ideas first starting with a nickname that could apply to both genders but eventually setled for 'Alex' as it can stand for alexander and alexsandria. this also cuts down on the voice acting for the game.
week 12
for this final week my team and i finished the pitch off and power point for the presentation on the 11th at 11 o'clock. the design document is still not finished but the others wanted to get the pitch out of the way first before finishing it off. where as i wanted to start this about 3 weeks ago but my team didnt bother coming in to get anything done. although we work together great as a team when we are all present if i was to work with them again i would make sure they at least work and keepin contact over the period of the module so that we dont rush at the lasst minute to finish off things. we are meeting at 8.30 on the 11th to practice the pitch before our time that is specified and to hopefully work out any bugs we encounter while practicing the pitch.
today we finished off the design document each of us covered a different part of the document so it would take less time we decided the ross should take each bit home and put it together ready for submission with a pdf of our blogs we will all be in tomorrow so hope fully we will see it before we submit it.
today we finished off the design document each of us covered a different part of the document so it would take less time we decided the ross should take each bit home and put it together ready for submission with a pdf of our blogs we will all be in tomorrow so hope fully we will see it before we submit it.
week 6
No word limit to GDD (Game Design Document)
decide on the best format for pitch using some images to help explain the concept better.
level up! - a guide to great game design - good book to help explain good easy game design
Today the group didnt show up at the lecture this has happend once before which in my eyes is very annoying because we cant discuss anything about the game. so far we have only discuss the basics of the game and what roles we are doing. i have the role of 'concept artist' so far i have drawn prototypes for a few weapons (sword and gun). Since the grouip wasnt in i havent been able to see what the others have done, but hopefully next week they will both be in.
decide on the best format for pitch using some images to help explain the concept better.
level up! - a guide to great game design - good book to help explain good easy game design
Today the group didnt show up at the lecture this has happend once before which in my eyes is very annoying because we cant discuss anything about the game. so far we have only discuss the basics of the game and what roles we are doing. i have the role of 'concept artist' so far i have drawn prototypes for a few weapons (sword and gun). Since the grouip wasnt in i havent been able to see what the others have done, but hopefully next week they will both be in.
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