Thursday, January 30, 2014
A1 Submission
For this project, I altered the ball so that it can be controlled with the arrow keys and made to move along the x and z axes. If it hits the edge of the plane, then it will bounce off and lose a little of its speed. Also, you can make the ball jump by pressing the space bar, and then it will bounce for a little bit, losing energy with every bounce. The smaller ball orbits the larger one while changing its motion based on how close or far it is from the larger ball.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
J2: Formal and Dramatic Elements
From last time, I talked about Flux and Osu!...
In Flux, the formal elements are very interesting, I think, because they are variable as the games progresses. Naturally, certain elements are fixed, such as the players and how you are allowed to play cards. The rules and objectives of the game can change very rapidly, though, and sometimes they can even change every turn.
In Osu!, the formal elements of the game are much more stable. For the players in the game, there is a single player and a multiplayer mode, but the actual gameplay does not change much at all from one mode to the other. The objectives of the game are to hit the circles on screen with the right timing and to get the highest score. The conflict comes from failing to hit the circles at the right time (or even at all), which penalizes the player by reducing his health, but hitting circles properly will restore a small amount of health.
An interesting thing about both of these games is that neither of them have certain dramatic elements that many people have come to look for in a game; a story, characters, or a real premise. The thrill of both of these games comes from their challenge, rather than any thematic elements of the games. In Flux, the challenge comes from having to outwit the other players and better adapt to the changing rules in order to achieve victory. In Osu!, the challenge comes from hand-eye coordination, and the challenge can be changed so that it is suitable for both beginners and experts.
After doing the reading and applying it to these games, I can better see some of the design choices that were made, and I better appreciate the difficulty in making them.
In Flux, the formal elements are very interesting, I think, because they are variable as the games progresses. Naturally, certain elements are fixed, such as the players and how you are allowed to play cards. The rules and objectives of the game can change very rapidly, though, and sometimes they can even change every turn.
In Osu!, the formal elements of the game are much more stable. For the players in the game, there is a single player and a multiplayer mode, but the actual gameplay does not change much at all from one mode to the other. The objectives of the game are to hit the circles on screen with the right timing and to get the highest score. The conflict comes from failing to hit the circles at the right time (or even at all), which penalizes the player by reducing his health, but hitting circles properly will restore a small amount of health.
An interesting thing about both of these games is that neither of them have certain dramatic elements that many people have come to look for in a game; a story, characters, or a real premise. The thrill of both of these games comes from their challenge, rather than any thematic elements of the games. In Flux, the challenge comes from having to outwit the other players and better adapt to the changing rules in order to achieve victory. In Osu!, the challenge comes from hand-eye coordination, and the challenge can be changed so that it is suitable for both beginners and experts.
After doing the reading and applying it to these games, I can better see some of the design choices that were made, and I better appreciate the difficulty in making them.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
J1: Hello World!
So... two games I've played....
First is Flux, a card game in which the cards decide the rules of the game. The game starts with only two rules: 1) you draw one card every turn and 2) you can play one card every turn. There are 4 (kinda 5) different kinds of cards in the deck: keepers, goals, rules, action, and creepers. Keepers are cards that you play and just hold in front of yourself. Goals allow you to win the game if you fulfill the conditions on them (usually have keepers x and y). Rules add more rules or change rules in the game. Action cards cause various actions such as destroy a creeper of steal a keeper. Creepers must be played as soon as you get one, and they prevent players from winning the game. Players take turns and simply follow the rules that other people have played until someone fulfills the current goal.
The second game is Osu!, a rhythm game in which the player has to click on circles on screen in rhythm with the song. Players can download "beatmaps", which are songs with the accompanying circles, that other users have created and placed on the internet. Gameplay is pretty straightforward, but varying difficulty levels on the beatmaps keep the game interesting and let you play for a long time without getting tired. Also, the user generated content in the form of downloadable beatmaps means that there are songs that almost anybody would enjoy.
From the introduction, I thought that the line "young people in the United States spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games" was interesting. Honestly I thought that the number would be higher and it surprised me a little.
From chapter 1, I liked the line "No rule is set in stone. No technique is absolute. No scheme is the right one." This line makes me think about the development process of some of my favorite games and how, at one point in time, the games may have been very different. I know for a fact that 007 GoldenEye was almost released without the multiplayer part, even though that ended up revolutionizing shooters.
From chapter 2, the line "When you play a game, you set the rules of life aside and take up the rules of the game instead." really stood out. I think it's really cool how you can create an entirely new universe for people to jump into and share in your own fantasies.
First is Flux, a card game in which the cards decide the rules of the game. The game starts with only two rules: 1) you draw one card every turn and 2) you can play one card every turn. There are 4 (kinda 5) different kinds of cards in the deck: keepers, goals, rules, action, and creepers. Keepers are cards that you play and just hold in front of yourself. Goals allow you to win the game if you fulfill the conditions on them (usually have keepers x and y). Rules add more rules or change rules in the game. Action cards cause various actions such as destroy a creeper of steal a keeper. Creepers must be played as soon as you get one, and they prevent players from winning the game. Players take turns and simply follow the rules that other people have played until someone fulfills the current goal.
The second game is Osu!, a rhythm game in which the player has to click on circles on screen in rhythm with the song. Players can download "beatmaps", which are songs with the accompanying circles, that other users have created and placed on the internet. Gameplay is pretty straightforward, but varying difficulty levels on the beatmaps keep the game interesting and let you play for a long time without getting tired. Also, the user generated content in the form of downloadable beatmaps means that there are songs that almost anybody would enjoy.
From the introduction, I thought that the line "young people in the United States spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games" was interesting. Honestly I thought that the number would be higher and it surprised me a little.
From chapter 1, I liked the line "No rule is set in stone. No technique is absolute. No scheme is the right one." This line makes me think about the development process of some of my favorite games and how, at one point in time, the games may have been very different. I know for a fact that 007 GoldenEye was almost released without the multiplayer part, even though that ended up revolutionizing shooters.
From chapter 2, the line "When you play a game, you set the rules of life aside and take up the rules of the game instead." really stood out. I think it's really cool how you can create an entirely new universe for people to jump into and share in your own fantasies.
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