Blender File: HW6.blend
Thursday, September 25, 2014
HW6
In this update I have added a female body mesh for the main character, so that she may interact with the scene, and a drink container for her to notice and collect. The team game requires the player to find and collect items to use for survival. When the player moves the character near the container, the container disappears (to be added to personal inventory). Because the scene keeps crashing Blender, only the basic movement is shown and not the ability to interact with the ant/ball that was designed in HW5 to be used to chase the cat.
Blender File: HW6.blend
Blender Demo:
Blender File: HW6.blend
Thursday, September 18, 2014
HW5
For this assignment I have added a table and an ant to my previous scene of a cat jumping over a chair. The player will direct the ant, which if it collides with the cat will make the cat jump to get away.
The ant will be an opponent in the game, that might attack the player's character, ruin the player's food source, or make the player drop a needed item. The table serves more as scenery to make a more realistic landscape, while the jumping cat and toppling chair serve more for the element of surprise.
The cat and chair add to the fun by adding to the element of surprise, to prevent the player from narrowing his or her focus. The ant adds to the fun through its use as an opponent. It provides a challenge for the player to face and overcome.
An extended version of this game could include having the location of the ant's contact with the cat be what determines where or how far the cat jumps. If the cat does not jump far enough, it will either not make it over the chair or will tumble on the chair and not be able to get away from the ant.
Blender File:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkwWSQOFCfQcE03QjNPS1U0RjA/edit?usp=sharing
Blender Video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkwWSQOFCfQYnpyLUV2TmZKMjg/edit?usp=sharing
The ant will be an opponent in the game, that might attack the player's character, ruin the player's food source, or make the player drop a needed item. The table serves more as scenery to make a more realistic landscape, while the jumping cat and toppling chair serve more for the element of surprise.
The cat and chair add to the fun by adding to the element of surprise, to prevent the player from narrowing his or her focus. The ant adds to the fun through its use as an opponent. It provides a challenge for the player to face and overcome.
An extended version of this game could include having the location of the ant's contact with the cat be what determines where or how far the cat jumps. If the cat does not jump far enough, it will either not make it over the chair or will tumble on the chair and not be able to get away from the ant.
Blender File:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkwWSQOFCfQcE03QjNPS1U0RjA/edit?usp=sharing
Blender Video:
HW4 The Game Experience
Chapter 2: The Designer Creates an Experience
Chapter 3: The Experience Rises out of Game
- Forgetting about the game, think about your player. What are the experience(s) you want your player to have.
- My team's game will hopefully help the player to experience the excitement of surprise, confusion, and a sense of accomplishment, but hopefully with some amount of responsibility and a small amount of disappointment.
- What are the essential element(s) of that experience.
- A not too easy to solve maze, opponents that come on unexpectedly, items to collect for protection as weapons against opponents and as shelter for nighttime are the essential elements.
- Suggest a few ways your game might capture those experiences.
- Since players will be exploring a maze of an island city, it is an excellent opportunity to throw in surprises. Players will be concentrating on finding their way through the maze, so that not knowing what will pop out at them will add the excitement of surprise and the expectation that they will need to not limit their focus. The confusion will come out of the quality of the maze. The maze should not be too easy, allowing the confusion to be solvable only with some effort on having foresight, which will add to the sense of accomplishment. The feelings of responsibility and disappointment will add depth, by requiring players to invest thought and effort into finding their way through a maze without it being a given that they will get the outcome they desire. Excluding the opportunity to feel responsibility and disappointment would lose the player's engagement by making the game too easy.
- The maze will not be a direct path from the player's starting location to the escape boat. Players will zig-zag through a maze with multiple paths to the goal, obstacles, and dead-ends.
- Players will be faced with opponents at a moment's notice, which depending on the opponent, they may or may not be required to collect defenses against in advance.
- Discuss a few ways in which you might include surprise in your game
- Surprise will be incorporated by having opponents who show up without warning. These will generally be other people and animals, but will also include falling debris and buildings. It will also be incorporated through the collection of items that are needed for protection. Items will be come across in unexpected places, which may be easily passed by if the player is not alert or thinking of the potential use of the item. The first time the player plays the game, he or she will be likely to pass by an essential item. Another surprise will come from falling buildings and debris, which can change the path through the maze and pose a risk to the character.
- How will your game be fun?
- People who like to explore and collect will hopefully consider the game to be fun. The player will be engaged by the dynamic nature of the maze and the need to think about and find the tools necessary to survive. The player will also have the opportunity to learn the landscape of the city, which for some people is an enjoyable brain exercise.
- Discuss the goals of your game (as it stands now).
- The main goal of the player will be to escape the island. The goal of the game itself is to provide an opportunity for the player to explore a new landscape that offers surprises and requires forethought to engage the player.
- State your thoughts on how you will make the player attached to your game, or motivated to play the game.
- I believe that the player will be motivated by the puzzle aspect of a maze, but more importantly, by the dynamic nature of the maze and the obstacles faced within it.
- What problems do you expect the players to solve in your game?
- A path through the maze.
- Collection of weapons, such as a pipe or gun, for fighting opponents.
- Collection of items for night-time shelter, such as a box or fuel source for fire.
Chapter 3: The Experience Rises out of Game
Contribution to group game: I collected additional objects to be used as the animal opponents for the player to fight, and made suggestions about the type of island environment we should use to copy. I was thinking that doing a version of Hashima Island, off the coast of Japan, that incorporates some aspects of the actual island would add to the user experience, because it is a real place that they can explore through documentaries and Google Maps, in addition to through the game.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
HW 3 Moving Objects
For this assignment, I downloaded a soil ground, a cat, and a chair. Because we are working on a survival game, I thought it would be a good idea to add a few distractions that do not harm the player, but that do potentially startle the player. This way, the player is forced to make the decision of whether or not the noises and visuals are indicating a danger that requires action. A cat making a chair wobble can produce a noise and motion that may serve this purpose, without adding too much activity/computer usage to the game. The soil was chosen because it may be useful for representing an abandoned area that nature is starting to take back over.
When I added the cat and chair to the blender file with the soil ground, the soil looked great, but I was not able to figure out how to reconfigure the menus to get to where I wanted to be to manage my objects. When I restarted blender and added all three items, the soil appearance of the ground disappeared, and I decided to ignore this due to time constraints.
The movement is the cat jumping onto the chair, making the chair wobble.
Blender File:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkwWSQOFCfQRElSVkJyMTF5aWs/edit?usp=sharing
My contribution is the same contribution as mentioned in HW2, looking for appropriate imagery to get an idea of what the best atmosphere will be for the game, given the constraints of what is available as pre-made objects and the inspiration that can be gained from real-life abandoned island cities/buildings.
When I added the cat and chair to the blender file with the soil ground, the soil looked great, but I was not able to figure out how to reconfigure the menus to get to where I wanted to be to manage my objects. When I restarted blender and added all three items, the soil appearance of the ground disappeared, and I decided to ignore this due to time constraints.
The movement is the cat jumping onto the chair, making the chair wobble.
Blender File:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxkwWSQOFCfQRElSVkJyMTF5aWs/edit?usp=sharing
My contribution is the same contribution as mentioned in HW2, looking for appropriate imagery to get an idea of what the best atmosphere will be for the game, given the constraints of what is available as pre-made objects and the inspiration that can be gained from real-life abandoned island cities/buildings.
HW2 Group Meeting
1) When and where did you meet?
My group met twice. The first time was in immediately following class, in the hallway, on Friday, September 5th. The second time was 2pm-3pm in the Majors Lab of the Love Building, on Tuesday, September 9th.
2) What did you discuss?
We discussed game ideas and the genres we are most interested in. At the first meeting, Ashleigh mentioned a game she was interested in making that involved a maze based off of moving blocks that have to be navigated, and I mentioned my idea of having a theme park simulation ride based on the Great Fire of London. We also discussed the possibility of combining the two ideas, by replacing the contents of a haunted-house maze with the moving blocks maze.
3) Did you take notes? Why? Why not?
The first meeting was informal and did not involve taking notes. Every group member took notes at the second meeting. We wanted to not only organize our ideas, but to also keep individual records to reference as needed throughout the game design process.
4) Did you transfer the contents of the discuss to the computer?
Yes. For now, we are using our blogs to document our group decisions.
5) Did you discuss the game document?
We discussed what the game document is, so that we know that each group member is aware of what it is and its purpose.
6) Did you pick a team leader. Why? Who is it?
We did not pick a team leader. We decided it would be best to wait until we have both chosen a game idea and seen how the group works as a unit under equal power for each member. This way, if we end up focusing on one person's ideas, that person can be the group leader, and the amount of power needed to adequately direct the group will be better understood.
7) Please describe briefly some initial ideas regarding the game you plan on developing.
We have decided to create a survival game, set in an abandoned, or mostly abandoned, city on an island. We have not decided the island's location, type, time period, etc. The most likely background story is that the player landed on the island to collect or achieve something, became stranded, and has to find a boat on the other side of the island to escape. We discussed the possibility of having the player collect objects for defense, and to build shelters at night; the idea being that if they fail to have the needed tools they will be killed and have to start over. We also discussed making the island a maze, and potentially having multiple boat docks to search, but only one having an adequate boat.
8) State on your blog the contributions you, the individual, made towards the team game in the last week.
I have looked through blendswap to find appropriate to give an idea of which island environment and city type would be ideal for us to work on, given the constraints of the objects available. I have also looked at various real life abandoned buildings and cities on islands. The three objects I have download for the game so far are a cat, a soil ground, and a chair. I purposely chose items that could be used for a variety of island environments and time periods.
My group met twice. The first time was in immediately following class, in the hallway, on Friday, September 5th. The second time was 2pm-3pm in the Majors Lab of the Love Building, on Tuesday, September 9th.
2) What did you discuss?
We discussed game ideas and the genres we are most interested in. At the first meeting, Ashleigh mentioned a game she was interested in making that involved a maze based off of moving blocks that have to be navigated, and I mentioned my idea of having a theme park simulation ride based on the Great Fire of London. We also discussed the possibility of combining the two ideas, by replacing the contents of a haunted-house maze with the moving blocks maze.
3) Did you take notes? Why? Why not?
The first meeting was informal and did not involve taking notes. Every group member took notes at the second meeting. We wanted to not only organize our ideas, but to also keep individual records to reference as needed throughout the game design process.
4) Did you transfer the contents of the discuss to the computer?
Yes. For now, we are using our blogs to document our group decisions.
5) Did you discuss the game document?
We discussed what the game document is, so that we know that each group member is aware of what it is and its purpose.
6) Did you pick a team leader. Why? Who is it?
We did not pick a team leader. We decided it would be best to wait until we have both chosen a game idea and seen how the group works as a unit under equal power for each member. This way, if we end up focusing on one person's ideas, that person can be the group leader, and the amount of power needed to adequately direct the group will be better understood.
7) Please describe briefly some initial ideas regarding the game you plan on developing.
We have decided to create a survival game, set in an abandoned, or mostly abandoned, city on an island. We have not decided the island's location, type, time period, etc. The most likely background story is that the player landed on the island to collect or achieve something, became stranded, and has to find a boat on the other side of the island to escape. We discussed the possibility of having the player collect objects for defense, and to build shelters at night; the idea being that if they fail to have the needed tools they will be killed and have to start over. We also discussed making the island a maze, and potentially having multiple boat docks to search, but only one having an adequate boat.
8) State on your blog the contributions you, the individual, made towards the team game in the last week.
I have looked through blendswap to find appropriate to give an idea of which island environment and city type would be ideal for us to work on, given the constraints of the objects available. I have also looked at various real life abandoned buildings and cities on islands. The three objects I have download for the game so far are a cat, a soil ground, and a chair. I purposely chose items that could be used for a variety of island environments and time periods.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
HW1 Post 2 Images and Game Websites
Created Images
Image 1: The Common Man Special
I created this image approximately ten years ago, for my business AlbumHut.com, an online music store for independently produced music. The image was created using Microsoft Paint, although more advanced software was an option. The common man special was a package deal for having CDs and CD covers designed, printed on inkjet printers, and placed in jewel cases. CDs would then be available for sale on AlbumHut.com and could be sent to the artist/band for other sales or promotional activities. The package was created to allow independent artists without much financial capital to have a somewhat professional looking product to show for their musical work. The concept of the "common man" is a popular designation claimed by many artists who attempt to accomplish their work on their own, without the influence of producers or others high up in the industry, allowing them to create art that represents the people of the working and/or middle classes. The silhouetted figure was intended to represent an unidentifiable person, an everyman, who may represent the artist him or herself; contrasted by the detailed crate and crate-label.
Image 2: The Album Hut Head Hunter
This is another image that was created for AlbumHut.com, using Microsoft Paint, approximately ten years ago. It was created as part of the advertising campaign for a headhunters program. Although participants in the program are referred to as "headhunters", the image title uses the two separate words version of "Head Hunter". This program paid individuals $10 for every previously unregistered band who listed them as a reference when registering and submitting an album to AlbumHut.com. The image was designed to be reminiscent of the tiki theme that is popular among the Rockabilly music crowd and in pop culture. At the time, I had hoped that this type of imagery would appeal to the artists and friends of artists who were already listed with AlbumHut.com, due to the higher number of rockabilly related artists already registered.
Game Websites
I have chosen the two video games that have been the most memorable to myself. Pharoah, a PC game that I played in undergrad, and Altered Beast, which I played on the Sega Genesis console while in junior high.
Pharaoh is the first game that I feel I had truly became addicted to. I played the game for days at a time, with very few naps, to the point of seeing the game layout every time I closed my eyes, and as my dream landscape. Although it has been more than ten years since I regularly played this game, even the small triggers of a similar sound or visuals give me strong game cravings. I enjoyed the egyptian themed visuals, audio, and topics, but also enjoyed the experience of building city landscapes, attempting to maintain and grow a population, harvesting crops, and producing for trade.
Although Pharaoh is similar to other games that I have enjoyed, such as SimCity and Caesar, the egyptian theme is somehow more appealing to me, personally. I hope that I have learned something of egyptian history through my time spent playing the game. The items grown or created are probably key items to commerce in ancient egypt, and the gods available for worship are probably somewhat accurately described. Hopefully, all history based games are representing accurate information, even if it must be abbreviated.
Altered Beast has been the most memorable game that I have played. It is one of the games that my brother and I shared on the first gaming console that I had regular access to, the Sega Genesis. Although I probably spent many more hours playing Sonic the Hedgehog (the first game in the Sonic franchise), the scenery and sounds of Sonic the Hedgehog have not stuck in my head to the same extent as Altered Beast. I enjoyed the simple 2D side scrolling and platform based path of the game and creative visuals, such as the Octeyes boss throwing eye balls; but the sound of the wolf's howl, the boss' laughter, the deep drum-like beats in the soundtrack, and the narrator's comments, such as "level up", are my fondest memories. I believe this shows that regardless of the depth of a game, or the technology behind the visuals, the auditory aspects of the game can be the main method of endearing the game to a consumer.
I created this image approximately ten years ago, for my business AlbumHut.com, an online music store for independently produced music. The image was created using Microsoft Paint, although more advanced software was an option. The common man special was a package deal for having CDs and CD covers designed, printed on inkjet printers, and placed in jewel cases. CDs would then be available for sale on AlbumHut.com and could be sent to the artist/band for other sales or promotional activities. The package was created to allow independent artists without much financial capital to have a somewhat professional looking product to show for their musical work. The concept of the "common man" is a popular designation claimed by many artists who attempt to accomplish their work on their own, without the influence of producers or others high up in the industry, allowing them to create art that represents the people of the working and/or middle classes. The silhouetted figure was intended to represent an unidentifiable person, an everyman, who may represent the artist him or herself; contrasted by the detailed crate and crate-label.
This is another image that was created for AlbumHut.com, using Microsoft Paint, approximately ten years ago. It was created as part of the advertising campaign for a headhunters program. Although participants in the program are referred to as "headhunters", the image title uses the two separate words version of "Head Hunter". This program paid individuals $10 for every previously unregistered band who listed them as a reference when registering and submitting an album to AlbumHut.com. The image was designed to be reminiscent of the tiki theme that is popular among the Rockabilly music crowd and in pop culture. At the time, I had hoped that this type of imagery would appeal to the artists and friends of artists who were already listed with AlbumHut.com, due to the higher number of rockabilly related artists already registered.
Game Websites
I have chosen the two video games that have been the most memorable to myself. Pharoah, a PC game that I played in undergrad, and Altered Beast, which I played on the Sega Genesis console while in junior high.
Pharaoh is the first game that I feel I had truly became addicted to. I played the game for days at a time, with very few naps, to the point of seeing the game layout every time I closed my eyes, and as my dream landscape. Although it has been more than ten years since I regularly played this game, even the small triggers of a similar sound or visuals give me strong game cravings. I enjoyed the egyptian themed visuals, audio, and topics, but also enjoyed the experience of building city landscapes, attempting to maintain and grow a population, harvesting crops, and producing for trade.
Although Pharaoh is similar to other games that I have enjoyed, such as SimCity and Caesar, the egyptian theme is somehow more appealing to me, personally. I hope that I have learned something of egyptian history through my time spent playing the game. The items grown or created are probably key items to commerce in ancient egypt, and the gods available for worship are probably somewhat accurately described. Hopefully, all history based games are representing accurate information, even if it must be abbreviated.
Altered Beast: http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/altered-beast
Altered Beast has been the most memorable game that I have played. It is one of the games that my brother and I shared on the first gaming console that I had regular access to, the Sega Genesis. Although I probably spent many more hours playing Sonic the Hedgehog (the first game in the Sonic franchise), the scenery and sounds of Sonic the Hedgehog have not stuck in my head to the same extent as Altered Beast. I enjoyed the simple 2D side scrolling and platform based path of the game and creative visuals, such as the Octeyes boss throwing eye balls; but the sound of the wolf's howl, the boss' laughter, the deep drum-like beats in the soundtrack, and the narrator's comments, such as "level up", are my fondest memories. I believe this shows that regardless of the depth of a game, or the technology behind the visuals, the auditory aspects of the game can be the main method of endearing the game to a consumer.
HW1 Post 1 Narrated Video
The March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food; Publix at Walden Woods, Plant City, FL; Friday, March 15th, 2013.
This is a clip from a video taken at the fair food march protest in front of the Publix Supermarket at Walden Woods, in Plant City, FL, on March 15th, 2013. Editing, narration, and publishing to YouTube was completed using Microsoft Movie Maker. The clip shows protesters picketing on the sidewalks on both sides of the street in front of the Publix shopping center. Protesters holding signs, flags, and banners, listen to musicians singing and playing their instruments from the back of a banner decorated flatbed truck.
Video Transcript:
This is a video of a small segment of the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food; which took place between March 3rd and 17th, 2013. This protest march covered the 200 miles between Ft Myers and Lakeland Florida. We are looking at the afternoon of Friday, March 15th, 2013; when the protest stopped in front of the Publix Super Market at Walden Woods, in Plant City, FL. At this interval, protesters waved signs, chanted, and celebrated with music.
Protesters included farm workers, worker’s advocates, students, and other concerned community members. Timing coincided with two of the typical weeks for college spring breaks, allowing for the obvious presence of college students. This afternoon was the last Friday for Florida State University’s spring break.
While the majority of marching protesters held signs encouraging Publix to join the Fair Food Program, musicians played instruments and sang from the back of a flatbed truck. Passing vehicles were flanked on both sides by the protestors. For Publix, joining the Fair Food Program would mean purchasing their tomatoes sourced from participating farms and paying an extra penny per pound of tomatoes to support higher wages for tomato pickers. Participating farms are required to have a zero tolerance policy for forced labor and sexual assault, to allow for onsite education of workers as part of their paid time, to instill an approved complaint resolution mechanism, to maintain health and safety committees, and to prove compliance through ongoing auditing.
Despite the efforts of these protesters, Publix has refused to join the Fair Food Program.
This is a clip from a video taken at the fair food march protest in front of the Publix Supermarket at Walden Woods, in Plant City, FL, on March 15th, 2013. Editing, narration, and publishing to YouTube was completed using Microsoft Movie Maker. The clip shows protesters picketing on the sidewalks on both sides of the street in front of the Publix shopping center. Protesters holding signs, flags, and banners, listen to musicians singing and playing their instruments from the back of a banner decorated flatbed truck.
Video Transcript:
This is a video of a small segment of the March for Rights, Respect, and Fair Food; which took place between March 3rd and 17th, 2013. This protest march covered the 200 miles between Ft Myers and Lakeland Florida. We are looking at the afternoon of Friday, March 15th, 2013; when the protest stopped in front of the Publix Super Market at Walden Woods, in Plant City, FL. At this interval, protesters waved signs, chanted, and celebrated with music.
Protesters included farm workers, worker’s advocates, students, and other concerned community members. Timing coincided with two of the typical weeks for college spring breaks, allowing for the obvious presence of college students. This afternoon was the last Friday for Florida State University’s spring break.
While the majority of marching protesters held signs encouraging Publix to join the Fair Food Program, musicians played instruments and sang from the back of a flatbed truck. Passing vehicles were flanked on both sides by the protestors. For Publix, joining the Fair Food Program would mean purchasing their tomatoes sourced from participating farms and paying an extra penny per pound of tomatoes to support higher wages for tomato pickers. Participating farms are required to have a zero tolerance policy for forced labor and sexual assault, to allow for onsite education of workers as part of their paid time, to instill an approved complaint resolution mechanism, to maintain health and safety committees, and to prove compliance through ongoing auditing.
Despite the efforts of these protesters, Publix has refused to join the Fair Food Program.
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