Week 5 - Design Challage - Jack and the Beanstalk

Hand drawn "Screen shot" of what the game could potentially look like

Our second task for this week's workshop was to take a short story and unpack it in terms of the three act structure and story grammar. If the story could lend itself to being transposed into a game we had to further decide what elements should be removed or what elements should be added using a little "creative license". 

For this week's design challenge we chose to base our game on the well known English folktale: "Jack and the Beanstalk". For a background on the version of the story used please refer to the following link on wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_and_the_Beanstalk)

We decided quite early on that a top to bottom scrolling platform genre would be ideally suited as a game adaption for this story. With the game taking place on the beanstalk as Jack traverses it's height to the top. 

The game will have several objects both beneficial and detrimental to the players progression. As the vine grows the player will be forced to jump between platforms (mostly composed of leaves extending from the vine itself). Whilst the player is jumping between platforms, the player will come across various creatures (giant caterpillars, bugs, wasps etc) that will attack the player. The giant residing on top of the cloud which will be the game's eventual end boss will also intermittently drop various objects from the land above down onto the player in order to inhibit the player's progress (a slight twist on the original story, in the game the giant is defending the hen that lays golden eggs).

The player will also come across beneficial objects such as the golden harp (which can temporally put the giant to sleep, which stops falling objects), along with various seed pods which may provide a temporary benefit.

A list of currently proposed objects is listed below...

Beneficial objects

Red Bean           Adds Fire attack to Jacks Axe / Berserk mode for Jack

Green Bean       Enables Jack to jump higher

Blue Bean         Makes Jack invulnerable to attacks for a short period of time

Golden Harp     Temporarily puts the giant to sleep

Golden Egg       Increases player's score by a large amount

Bag of Gold      Increases player's score by a small amount

Plate of Food   Restores player's health

Detrimental objects

Purple Bean      Causes Jack to become ill, slows movement speed

Vine Spikes       Causes small amount of damage to player

Falling Objects  Causes small amount of damage to player

Rain Cloud        Causes platforms to become slippery

Storm Cloud     Random lightning bolts that may damage player or enemies

Hail Cloud        Causes small amount of damage to player + slowness condition

Fog                  Obscures portion of screen with fog

To progress through the level and either avoid or pick up objects the player may jump in any direction (up to a higher leaf, down to a lower leaf, left / right to the other side of the vine). Whilst a player may drop down to a lower level if necessary to avoid an obstacle / enemy the player must be cautious to not touch the bottom of the screen else they will lose health from the spikes growing out of the beanstalk.

In order to combat enemies Jack may use his axe however the player must make the choice of either avoidance or confrontation based of Jack's position on the screen relative to falling objects and the spikes a the bottom. If the player is struck by an object or an enemy the player will lose health which may be recovered from falling food plates or slowly due to regeneration.

The game is full of unpredictable elements. Ideally everything will be randomly procedurally generated with leaf and branches randomly sprouting, monster placement and object placement all randomised. Also to obtain a bean the player must break open a randomly generated bean pod when it sprouts which has a random chance to be a good or bad bean (75% good, 25% bad).

Finally once the player traverses the progressively difficult levels Jack will be forced to confront the giant for the golden hen. This will involve similar mechanics to the rest of the game and will act as a conclusion point for the game.

Week 5 - Game Design - Escape Game

A quick prototype of the Escape Game's Game-board 

A must say that this week was a vast improvement over last week. Throughout the course of the week I was a little worried about this week's workshop. I even thought that perhaps I should contact and sit down with the other members of my group before the workshop in order to have more time to work on the design.

As it turns out I did not need to worry; the team was much more cohesive this week and worked together much better than the previous week. So much so that we were able to finish an initial prototype of the game and were able to do some preliminary play testing before the second task in this week's workshop.

Whilst I will most likely elaborate further after next week's workshop has concluded the game as it currently stands in on a space station. You wake from life support along with the other players and find yourself in a critical situation. The space station is damaged beyond repair; however upon inspecting the nearby escape pods you notice that several key systems are damaged / missing.

The aim of the game is to traverse the board collecting the four missing parts from the escape pod: "Micro Fusion Cell", "Life Support Module", "Quantum Computer Module", "Quantum Vacuum Reactionless Drive" (yes I know I am a nerd). These modules may be collected by either traversing to each sector of the station by dice roll or by landing on another player's square and dice rolling to steal a missing module from them.

Once all four modules are collected the player needs to make their way to the escape pod before they are caught by other player's who may be short a part. Whilst the game requires further work we certainly have the beginning of what could be a good escape game here.

Week 4 - Game Design - Escape Game

An early concept picture of our space based escape game.

Thoughts on brainstorming and this week's workshop

During the week 4 workshop the class was segregated into groups of three, tasked with the design of a game built around the escape exploration concept. 

This task is to take place over the next couple of weeks with week 4 focusing on the setting and story, the theme, objects / keys and some of the initial rules and constraints utilising brainstorming techniques in order to design the prototype of the game.

Whilst I have done some brainstorming in the past and did indeed (at least to some extent) realise the importance of not criticising the the ideas brought forth by others, and to encourage differing views and approaches this became even more apparent as my team's brainstorming session continued. 

I felt that although we spent the better part of two hours working on a prototype our progress was artificial hindered due to constant interruptions, objections and complaints to every idea that was raised. Quite often the person raising the objection would be objecting to something that was already thought of with a solution literally only a sentence or two away but such solutions were never conveyed due to constant interruption.

One especially frustrating and discouraging point was that quite often when objections were raised and ideas and thoughts were interrupted the person doing the interrupting would only comment on the negatives but not on the positives and would be focusing only on the problem and not on the solution. Whilst it is frustrating to be interrupted mid sentence during the delivery of an idea it is even more frustrating when the person interrupting offers no solution / advice or support only a complaint.

Thinking of the experience above it was still a valuable experience as it further reinforced that during a brainstorming session you must not interrupt, discourage and criticise the ideas of others but instead encourage and build upon ideas offered. In some ways today's brainstorming session reminded me of work meetings as the exact same situation can be a frequent occurrence...

Week 4 - Game Review - Adventure

Adventure above is a screenshot of the game in all of it's textual glory


Playing adventure was for me a nostalgic trip back through time to my gaming roots. I have many fond memories of playing text based games and MUD's in my early childhood and indeed some of the very first digital games that I have ever played were text based.

Adventure is mostly typical of the genre, a text based adventure game (the first of it's kind) and a form of interactive fiction, where Adventure sets itself apart however is in it's relative ease of use due to the game's understanding of standard English rather than key words and also in the accuracy of the game setting. Adventure also makes use of abbreviations to be further approachable and was written at the time to be usable by people whom were relatively inexperienced with computer usage.

Adventure takes place in a fictional world that has been heavily influenced by the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky and is known for being so accurate that cavers whom have played the game have been able to easily navigate their way through parts of the Mammoth Cave system on their first visit due to the game's accuracy. The game world is further augmented by fictional elements such as mythical creatures inspired by the works of J.R.R Tolkien's "The Hobbit".

Upon launching the game the player is presented with a console in which the game outputs a descriptive summation of the player's surroundings, the player may than parse in commands to the game through the prompt such as: "Walk north". Whilst this game obviously lacks in aesthetics and is entirely dependent on descriptive and well written narrative the game can be quite immersive as it allows the player's imagination to envisage the game environment.

As the player delves into the world of Adventure they may come across various objects that will help them in their travels. Eventually as the player progresses through the game they may stumble across treasures within the cave system with the game accumulating a score dependent on the player's progression throughout the game.

Games such as Adventure were born largely in part due to the limitations of hardware at the time, this genre of game however still lives on in present day both as emulations of previous games and as newly created games with the genre often used as a means for new programmer's interested in game programming to utilize their programming knowledge in a practical manner.

Having an interest in game design and development in this day and age and wanting to develop games can seem be both approachable and seemingly unachievable. On the one hand we have almost unlimited resources both from a knowledge base perspective and a hardware perspective however on the other hand most gamer's these days are only content with A+++ titles with multi-million dollar budgets. Thankfully independent video game development is currently experiencing a resurgence with digital distribution networks and development tools simplifying the creation of, improving the quality and increasing the exposure of indie games. 

Week 3 - Game Review - C&C Tiberium Alliances

 Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances (due to being a browser based game it is available on all platforms including Linux).



One of the interesting developments taking place in the gaming world of late is due to the upcoming release of the Windows 8 operating system. A few very prominent game development studios and publishers such as Valve have even gone so far as to say: "Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space."

Valve is an American video game development and digital distribution company which was ironically founded by two former Microsoft employees: Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. Due to both Valve's general disagreement with the direction and functionality of the Windows 8 operating system and Valve's commitment to the Linux platform Valve have decided to port their digital distribution platform (Steam) to Linux in particular the Ubuntu distribution. 

Valve is of an opinion (of which I am in agreeance with) that one of the primary hindrances to the further proliferation of the Linux operating system is due to absence of games. With Valve porting both Steam and it's in-house games over to Linux this could be the catalyst needed to improve the popularity and adoption of the Linux operating system.

I have "played around with" quite a few Linux distributions in the past but these days I predominantly use Ubuntu and it's derivatives (such as Mythbuntu for my HTPC). Although I do not boot into Ubuntu as often as I should I though I would do a game review of a game that is available on Linux and indeed all platforms as it is browser based Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances.

Interactivity:

Tiberium Alliances is a blend of turn based and action point based territory acquisition through offensive and defensive tactics, research and resource management.

Genre:

Tiberium Alliances is formally categorized as a military science fiction massively multiplayer online real-time strategy video game however as resources are slowly gathered in 1 hour "ticks" and a player accumulates "command points" over time as well which are utilized for territorial acquisition the game may also be considered to have turn based and action point characteristics.

Concept:

This game is purely about territorial acquisition, ladder based competitive game play leading to eventual world domination. The theme is not defined as this game relies upon previous games in the franchise for this. The setting is in a future version of Earth were aliens have infested the planet with an extra-terrestrial substance known as Tiberium for transformation purposes.

Spatial Arena:

Tiberium Alliances takes place in a large world map with each player assigned a "territory" clearly indicated by a border. As the player progresses they may colonize more territory and form alliances in order to increase their territory.

Goal:

The goal of this game is to acquire resources and territory through offensive tactics against hostile computer controller and player controller bases with the eventual goal of world domination.

Challenge:

As this game takes place in a massively multilayer setting the player is under constant threat not only from computer controller enemies but that of other players as well. The game offers various avenues for advancement through the use of offensive, defensive, research and resource management and key location tactics. As the player only has so many command points at any given time a player must plan their attacks appropriate and be careful not to over commit. 

Narrative:

This game is almost entire absent of any form of narrative. There is no story, no reason why you are fighting the enemy, no history as to why this situation came about. As mentioned earlier this game relies heavily on the pr-existing universe setup by earlier games in the franchise along with it's competitive ladder based /ranked tactical game play to keep the player engaged. Simple browser based graphics and sound prove to be more than enough to achieve the effect.

Week 3 - Game Review - Donkey Kong

During the week I had the opportunity to play Donkey Kong found on the following site:

http://www.classicgaming.cc/classics/donkeykong/game_flash.php

My observations are as follows...

Interactivity:

The core game mechanic for Donkey Kong is avoidance of obstacles by jumping and scaling up and down ladders.

Genre:

Donkey Kong is described as a Platform style of game; this is an apt description given the core mechanic of this game involves traversing each level from platform to platform (steel  girders in this case) and jumping to avoid obstacles whilst doing so.

Concept:

The theme of Donkey Kong revolves around the protagonist "Jumpman" which later became known as Mario and the antagonist, a giant ape called "Donkey Kong". The game takes place in an industrial setting (a building site) with the protagonist (Jumpman) jumping and dodging various obstacles in order to save the damsel in distress from the clutches of Donkey Kong.

Spatial Arena:

The "spatial arena" in this game is constrained to the steel girders and ladders from the bottom to the top of the screen which comprise the entirety of each level.

Goal:

The goal of this game is to attempt to rescue the "damsel in distress" in each level whilst avoiding any obstacles within the characters path.

Challenge:

The challenge in this game lies not just in reaching the goal which it itself can be difficult (especially in later stages where there are less ladders and more barrels) but also in how you avoid the obstacles. The player may earn bonus points for jumping over barrels rather than avoiding them by use of ladders. The barrels themselves are also capable of dropping down ladders rather than just rolling down the steel girders which adds an additional timing element to the game.

Narrative:

Whilst the narrative is limited and is not told in a verbal or written manner it is clear from the moment the game is started what has happened and what the aim of the game is. Given the simple core mechanic of this game any further narrative would only detract from the game play itself.

Week 2 - Game Reveiw - Canabalt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Interactivity

 

The core game mechanic of Cannabalt is the avoidance of falling between platforms (predominantly rooftops) and enemies / obstacles.

Genre

 

Cannabalt is known as a side-scrolling platform style of game and is true to the genre.

Concept

 

Cannabalt's theme is based around the idea that your character is escaping from what appears to be an attack on the city. The setting congruent to the theme is based in a sprawling industrial metropolis overshadowed by giant mechanical constructs which appear to be destroying the city in the background. As the player attempts their escape the must constantly be vigilant to avoid fallen between the rooftops or running into enemy, either of which results in the game ending with the player's distance run displayed.

Spatial Arena

 

As is to be expected in a side scrolling platform style of game the spatial arena in constrained to a two dimensional image which constantly scrolls from right to left as the player traverses the level. Some perception of depth is achieved with use of perspective and animated backgrounds.

Challenge

 

Cannabalt whilst being very simple in concept and execution offers a simple yet adequate challenge by speeding up the player's avatar increasingly as the level progresses. This is furthered by the use of randomized obstacles and structures so that the player can not utilize their knowledge of the terrain and must instead "read ahead" and try to anticipate upcoming obstacles. A strategic element exists as well as the player may hit minor obstacles in order to slightly decrease their acceleration in order to make further progression easier however there is always the risk that the player will slow down their avatar after the proceeding platform has already been generated and the player will no longer have the velocity require to clear the next obstacle.

Narrative

 

This game offers little in the way of story and relies on the fast pace of scrolling to draw the player in. Simple, addictive game mechanics with monochromatic yet surprisingly suiting graphics accompanied by basic yet apt background music and effects are the game's strong points.

Week 2 - Game Design Review - CTF (Capture The Flag)

Play-testing Report of CTF

 

During the Week 2 workshop the class was broken up into small groups of 3 - 4 people with each tasked with the creation of a Race to the End style of game taken from Brenda Braithwaite's Blog: (http://bbrathwaite.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/the-easiest-game-design-exercise-ever-really/ )

I had the opportunity to play-test a CTF (Capture The Flag) style of game created by one of the other groups with my review and instructions for the game as follows...

As is identifiable in the image above the game is a CTF style of game and is suited for four players.

Each player is represented by a coloured token with each player assigned an initial starting area as well which is denoted by an identically coloured "flag". The goal of this game is to capture an enemy's flag and return in to your base.

Each player in turn rolls a die and moves in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction with the number of intervals moved determinate of the number rolled. 

If a player is able to land on an opponent's flag they must then attempt to return the opponent's flag without being intercepted. Should a player be intercepted they must defend the flag by rolling higher than the opponent. 

The first player to return to their home base with an opponent's flag wins the game.

Whilst I was told of additional rules to handle other situations such as two players occupying a non-base location at once and various other scenarios these rules where not elaborated upon nor did such situations present itself during play-testing.

During the workshop I was able to play two rounds of the above and was able to make the following observations about the game which I will brake down into pro et contra.

Pros

 

The game concept was a little hard to grasp at first and needed to be "seen" in action however once the core mechanic was understood and the rules clearly defined the game proved to be easy to play.

The gave offered plenty of conflict and also an element of strategy which I enjoyed. Being able to chose direction of movement and whom to attack made this possible.

Cons

 

Once the first player has won the game is over, this can result in a very brief match with other players feeling as if they had little if any interaction or participation.

The game rules were hard to grasp at first without a demonstration from the designers.

Suggestions for Improvement

Whilst I enjoyed the game during play-testing a couple of ideas came to mind as to how this game could be further improved.

The current victory condition is met when any player returns to their home base with an enemy flag but as mentioned above this can result in brief matches with little interaction from participating players. This could be mitigated by having a "last man standing" victory condition rather than first flag to base. Whilst this would result in eliminated players being unable to participate until the game is won, the time between each elimination would drastically shorten as the number of remaining players diminishes.

Rather than the "every man for himself" style of game-play offered a 2v2 mode could be offered. Each two man team would attempt to defeat the opposing team. When a team mate is removed from game due to their flag being stolen the remaining team member could either choose to "revive" his fallen team member with a flag captured from the enemy or have that enemy removed and attempt to take on the remaining player by himself. This would add further depth to the game and prevent other players from becoming bored whilst waiting for the game to be won. The problem with this however is that it could potentially result in a rather protracted game.

Final Verdict

 

All in all I found it to be a fairly enjoyable game and an ingenious use of limited time and resources. Whilst some cons were observed during play-testing it is likely that the game designers would have noticed the same had they more time to test the game.