lone phoenix

"It Is Time To Do The Design" by Tenney Tang on Dribbble . This week I finished the final set of tutorials for the arcade-style sumo battle game and completed a challenge. I learned how to spawn up to 3 enemies by adding a new void to the SpawnManager and using for-loop. I also learned how to make the number of enemies increase with waves using the (++) operator as well as getting the power-up to respawn in a random spot at the start of each wave.  Screenshot of my work in Unity3D. In challenge 4, I had to correct the scripts of a soccer themed game by applying what I learned from the sumo battle tutorials. I fixed the issue of the enemy flying towards the player instead of away when they collide by subtracting  "transform.position" from " other.gameObject.transform.position" instead of the other way around. I replaced the "Powerup" tag under the enemyCount variable with "Enemy" so that a new wave begins when all the enemy balls are ta...

Continuing with the creation of my game, I resized the player character to make them even smaller based on a comment that was left on my last project blog. I also repositioned the trees to make the space slightly narrower and added some flowers to bring some colour into the scene. With reference from the animal feeding game tutorial, I was able to get the player moving left and right by clicking the arrow keys. I brought in rocks and a branch for obstacles but I need to apply a SpawnManager script and get them to spawn randomly during gameplay. I also have to figure out how to get some branches falling from the trees and bringing in power-ups and points too. Screenshot from Unity3D of my game production.

Illustration by Saikat Kumar on Dribbble . This week I completed the first three tutorials for building an arcade-style sumo battle game. In the first set of tutorials, I imported the necessary assets and brought a sphere into the scene then applied a texture to the sphere. I learned how to give the main camera a focal point so that it can smoothly rotate around the play area. Following this, I learned how to make the ball roll towards the camera no matter what direction it is facing.  I brought another sphere into the scene to act as an enemy in the second set of tutorials. I was introduced to physics materials where I was able to give the enemy the ability to bounce the player away. I made a new script and added code that allowed the enemy to follow the player. I also created a SpawnManager script for the enemy and applied the code which would cause the enemy to spawn in a random area at the start of the game. In the third set of tutorials, I brought in a star power-up and used ...

Games can be described by the 3 components Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics (MDA) or otherwise stated as rules – system – “fun” . The three reading selections this week and the synopsis below all address the term “fun” in relation to game design. There are eight types of Fun outlined by the MDA. These eight are both a source of reference and player experience that blend together in many ways, and essentially what makes a game engaging and enjoyable. Figure 1: Eight kinds of Fun Both Oxford and Merrian dictionaries define Fun as an enjoyment and delight but within the context of a game, it refers to a form of pleasurable entertainment. MDA papers define the '8 kinds of fun';  sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression, and submission. These remain a source of reference and possibly the most popular list of player interactions combining in various forms to attract each player to a particular game. Nicole Lazzaro presents four types of fun that...

I browsed through the Unity asset store to find a package with nature objects that I could use to set up the scene for my infinite runner game. I downloaded the Nature Starter Kit 2  and started building my scene in Unity. This was a little time consuming but I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. I upscaled the trees and bushes, keeping in my mind my initial idea of gaining inspiration from the movie "The Secret World of Arrietty." I got the character from a tutorial I have completed for this module before and positioned the camera behind it. Screenshot of my work in Unity3D. With reference to the lesson 3 Unity tutorial, I started coding by creating the PlayerController script. I used the AddForce method and allowed the player to jump by clicking the spacebar. I declared two public variables to be able to adjust the gravity and player's jump force. Looking into the player's animator controller, I applied a static running animation. I then added a jumping ani...

 Meme created using the Cheezburger website. Image from Cheezburger site.

Computer gamer illustration from Freepik . I went through the final set of tutorials for making a horizontal endless runner game this week. I was introduced to effects and applied an explosion effect for when the player dies. I also added dirt splatter particles to the player's feet to make it appear as though they are kicking up dirt as they run. I added an audio source component to the main camera object and applied a music clip which plays during the game. I also applied a jump sound for when the player jumps and a crash sound for when the player hits an obstacle.  After completing these tutorials, I did another challenge. The game in the challenge was a horizontal endless game where the player has control of a balloon and the obstacles are bombs. I had to apply what I learned in the previous tutorials to complete this challenge. The player was unable to control the balloon using the spacebar because the GetComponent method was not used so I corrected this. I edited the script a...

Video “In order for the player to be optimally engaged, challenges should be presented at a level equivalent or slightly higher than their current skill. Not too easy, not too hard”( Gigity McD ) The word 'flow state' was coined by Csikszentmihalyi (1975) also known as being “in the zone” This is when the player is fully engaged in the game experience. Csikszentmihalyi put a lot of work into observing and analysing various groups of people. This theory is focused on the idea of how people should balance their skills and the demands of particular tasks. An example of Flow would be a challenge in a game that interests the player such as a puzzle or a boss battle meant to keep the player interested and not get bored. Csikszentmihalyi also states that flow is related to an ideal psychological condition when a person engages in a challenge-skill activity, often resulting in concentration and a focused emphasis on a task. A practical technique for improving Flow is to look at what p...

 Images in a row:         Images from  @SF9_FANCLUB Twitter.

Laptop with program code from Freepik . In this week's Unity tutorials, I began making an endless side-scrolling runner game. The first set of tutorials showed me how to make the player jump by pressing the space bar as well as adjust the character's mass, jump force and the scene's gravity. I added an if-statement to the PlayerController script to prevent the player from double jumping. I learned how to make the background and obstacles move left towards the player as well as set the speed in which they move. I reapplied what I learned about making obstacles spawn from previous tutorials.  In the second set of tutorials, I learned how to make the background repeat so it does not disappear along with the obstacles. I also learned how to make the background stop and have a "game over" message when the player comes into contact with an obstacle. I learned how to stop the obstacles from spawning after the player hits an obstacle. I edited the MoveLeft script so the o...

Online games concept illustration from Freepik . What is the GDD for? A Game Design Document (GDD) is a blueprint for the design and development of a game.  The GDD is a way of being creative and documenting the approach to the development of the game. Gonzale (1999) states that “ the important thing is to have something that describes your game project (or any other project for that matter) before jumping into production .( Gamasutra ) It should help to plan out your game. Though it is recommended that the GDD should be short it needs to be detailed enough so as game developers and artists can coordinate the development of the game independently whilst still keeping to the design. The GDD is a blueprint for how the game is going to be designed and built, similar to a mind map. In conclusion, the game design document is vital to making a game and it is important to have in order to describe your game project. How do we make one? There are a variety of tools that could be used to ...