Character Design

Graphics

Positive-  Cool background, Cool character,  Cool sound effect.


Negative- Player model could use more detail, could use more colors, could improve the win screen.


Mechanics

Positive- Being able to press R to restart is great, movement is good.

Negative- Bad collision boxes (too large), jump height needs to be lowed, you can walk off the edge, you can lose after you have won, hit box is a rectangle when the object is a point.

Game Feel

Positive- Runs smooth, character handles well.

Negative- Jumping feels weird

Fun

Positive- Enjoyable to play, good level design,

Negative- Too easy!

Overall I think my games fundamental functionality works well and the graphics were good and properly displaying the setting and characters moment and the game worked. I could improve my game my adding more levels with higher difficulty and making more detailed graphics but overall I am happy with my game.  

My Platformer

Today I added my walk cycle animation to my character so that my character looks like he is walking when you move him. In order to achieve this I had to make 4 key frames for the walk cycle facing on direction and then 4 more facing the other way in order to make it look like he is walking the correct way when moving either left or right. I then made an Idle pose my character will be in when not moving, I simply made an idle pose and made it the character normal image.

Character Animation

In this lesson I created a walk cycle for my character by creating each of the key frames and playing in order one after another. Overall I am happy with the animation as it is effective as showing that the character is walking but I do think it could be improved. This could be done by adding more key frames and possibly even colour. I could also add more detail to add more character. 

Character Ideas

Trench Coat Guy-




Has a hidden identity and wears a trench coat and a fedora. He can use his trench coat similarly to a parachute to slow his fall, he can also swing it round the attack / stun enemies.














Identity Thief -

A guy that can change his form into another character in order to blend in and not be detected. He would be able to move around, jump and knock out the enemy but he must be close to them.








Jet pack Man-

A guy that has a jet pack allowing him to fly through the air. He will be able to do a normal jump and move left and right but he will also be able to use his jet pack to move up, left, down and right to reach higher places, this will use up his fuel which he can collect more of in the level. He can also push himself right at an enemy to knock them out.





Rewind Man-




A guy that can rewind time by a few seconds. The character will be able to move left and right and jump. He will be able to punch guards to knock them out and his main ability will allow him to rewind time by 5 seconds.

Platformer Research (Characters)

Super Meat Boy

Abilities

- Jumping: You can perform a short or a long jump depending on how long you press the space bar down for. (If you tap the space bar you get a short jump and if you hold it you get a longer jump).

- Running: You can move the character left and right across the screen.

-Sprint: You can press shift to run faster across the screen allowing you to build up more momentum and jump further, (you can also outrun danger).

-Wall Slide: Allows you to slide down a wall slowly.

-Wall Jump: Allows you to jump of walls.

Thomas was alone

Abilities

-Move: You can move left and right across the screen.

-Jump:You can jump by pressing the space button, some characters can jump higher then others.

-Double Jump: One character (the thin yellow guy) can double jump.

Fez

Abilities

-Jump: Allows you to press space to jump.

-Hang: Allows you to hang from a ledge without falling.

-Run: Allows you to move left and right across the screen.

-Change Dimension: Allows you to move / turn the level around to reach a different area.

Donkey Kong VS Money Seize

Although Donkey kong and Money seize are similar in concepts and design they both have distinct game play features that set them apart. They both have one main character  Sir Reginald MoneySeize II, Esq for money Seize and Jump man for donkey kong and both games are platformers but the characters tasks are different. Jump man is scaling the the platforms in an effort to save the princess while in money seize you are trying to collect floating coins in order to build up your skyscraper. I found that collecting coins to build the skyscraper was more satisfying as I could see my tower grow as I completed levels giving me a real sense of accomplishment.

I found that I was given much more freedom in Money Seize as I was not only given a range of tools that I could use to reach my destination but there were also multiple path ways ranging in risk and reward that try at tempt you into risking all of your progress on a level for a few extra coins. This made playing the game more interesting and engaging then the one path donkey kong.

Stevens Pong Game

Controls 

Spawn Ball = Space

Player 1

Move left panel up = W

Move left panel down = S

Player 2

Move right panel up = Up arrow

Move right panel down = Down arrow 

Pong - Game Salad

Actors

Actors are assets that you add into the scene, the actors contain the players background elements, avatars and behaviors. In my game I have 4 actors, player 1, player 2, a wall and the ball. Each of my actors have different shapes and work independently of one another but each have a set of rules which tells them how to react to the different actors. For example the actor ball will bounce off of player on if it comes into contact with it while player 1 will not move if it collides with the ball. 

Scenes

The scene is just the level or stages of the game, its what the player would see when playing the game and represents the environment the player is in. 

Rules

The actors must also have rules to determine how they move and react to other actors. For example, the ball is given the rules to not pass through any of the actors and to bounce of them if it collides with any of the other actors.

Behaviors

After you have added Rules to the actors you can then give them Behaviors, these are similar to rules but instruct an actor to do something. For example you can tell an actor spawn another actor, play a tune or move in a certain direction when a button is pressed. 

  

Box Art

Emotes

The Perfect Tea

What makes a game, a game

A game is a rule-based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome, where different outcomes are assigned different values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the activity are negotiable. Jasper Juul, half-Real (2005)

Games are the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles. Bernard Suits (1978)

The Witcher 3 examples-

The Witcher 3 rule-based system with a variable and quantifiable outcome is that the player is given a quest that have certain objectives the player must complete in order to complete the quest.

There are often different ways of completing each quest and the way in which the the player completes the quest will determine the outcome (like and increase or decrease in the rewarded gold).

The player can influence the outcome by choosing wether or not to carry out a quest in a certain way (for example a player could choose to simply slay a beast without listening to it and will be given the rewarded gold they were promised or the player could listen to the beast to find out it was cursed and then help the beast by going on a mission to retrieve a certain item to help the beast and be rewarded a larger sum of gold from the beast).

The player will feel emotionally attached to the outcome as the player has the power to either kill a character to help them and both ways will effect the character as well as other characters as well as there reward.

The player can choose to just play the main missions to only get the main story and ignore all over side quests, the consequence of this is that the player will miss out of getting extra gold and items which they otherwise could have got if they were to complete the side quests.


The player can choose to carry out a set of task and overcome obstacles for the quest or not as they are given the freedom to simply ignore the quest entirely.

The Witcher 3 Introduction

The Witcher 3 Introduction

The witcher 3 starts with a opening cinematic which will briefly describe the basics allowing you to get and understanding of the games setting, characters and events after which you are then given the option do or skip the tutorial. If you choose to play the tutorial you will be taught the basics of movement and combat but alternatively if you skip it you will be send straight into the game where you can master the techniques on the go. Through the opening quest the game will change the mood and atmosphere repeatedly as one second you are selecting different dialogue choices and developing the plot and the next you are forced to fight a group of ghouls that ambush you. This meant the pace of the game was constantly changing breaking up the development of story with intense action to keep me engaged. 

Info Graphic

CD Projekt Red ownership and history

Research:

Wikipedia-

Founded: 2002
Type: Division of CD projekt
Number of Employees: 230
Parent; CD Projekt
Products: The witcher series and cyberpunk 2077

The official Site

Number of employees: "Well of 300"
Type: A separate department of the parent company CD Projekt
Founded: 2002
Created the RED Engine (specifically for one of their projects)
The original (parent) company was founded in 1994

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