Moving into the final weeks of classes so unfortunately this blog got lost amongst all the other activities battling for my attention.
No shortage of things to talk about though. Time constraints have forced us to the point that I believe we have decided to drop 'combat' completely. We can, as our digital prototype showed, create an enjoyable game without needing to bring in that type of interaction directly. We can create a game based around simpler interactions with the AI, ie what was seen in the tag version of the AI. This cut brings our project to a point that I believe is quite good- I'm getting close to the point of being finished implementing the content structure, and thus hopefully we will be able to spend the last week after the 4th just creating more and more interesting maps.
What I have worked on in the last bit was first the debug system. This wouldn't go into a final product, but its been wonderful for getting feedback from my teammates (which was non exist ant before this) I have also added a mouse look system, that helps the player see their surroundings. Personally I don't know if I like this feature, but as the option exists to ignore it, and my teammates liked it, it will remain. The final component, which has become one of the most interesting components to this entire project is the trigger system which I have partially implemented, and will hopefully finish tonight.
Basically my trigger system is based off of the Warcraft 3 trigger system. Any selection of a number of conditions are grouped together, and tied to a selection of effects. Each program loop each set of conditions is checked, and if all true, all effects tied to them are set off. This allows the map creator to emulate so many different types of effects such as teleports, destroying bridges, and so much more. This is definitely a system I will be using again in a future project. Its adaptability shows quite a bit of promise to me.
In general this engine has definitely succeeded in the goal I set out to reach- create an adaptable environment which can be extensively altered without needing to compile anything. I could take the engine Ive made and create a completely different game with this, in comparatively little time.
My teammates have been generally pretty good about coming to meetings, but I still feel like I have to try to much to get them to send me the content. For example I told them quite clearly that I needed anything they wanted in the game on tuesday by yesterday night, and only one teammate met that requirement. Ill move forward how I can though.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Week 4 of Critiques
Heres the final paper prototype critiques.
Team Aquila was the first. They had a generally good quick presentation, which is something given the lengths so far, though the one guy really needed a microphone. They seemed to get good feedback from testing.
Chop Stick Chung definetly impressed me with the visuals- you can tell that production so far has been going strong on art assets. The idea for this project is one of the few that has potential for humor, so it will be interesting to see if that very difficult aspect to capture succeeds in this one. This project did seem a little behind implementation given they want to have several minigames.
Deep Field was another game that went with a more physical prototype then paper. probably a good approach given the idea, but I really would have liked more information on how exactly that will transfer to a digital game.
Dynasty's presentation had some interesting design elements. The one block of text with a few words highlighted in different places really caught my attention. Im not sure I like the thought of requiring research to play the game, but its hard to say how much of an influence this will have anyways. This was another project that I really couldnt tell how its going to transfer to digital.
Team Aquila was the first. They had a generally good quick presentation, which is something given the lengths so far, though the one guy really needed a microphone. They seemed to get good feedback from testing.
Chop Stick Chung definetly impressed me with the visuals- you can tell that production so far has been going strong on art assets. The idea for this project is one of the few that has potential for humor, so it will be interesting to see if that very difficult aspect to capture succeeds in this one. This project did seem a little behind implementation given they want to have several minigames.
Deep Field was another game that went with a more physical prototype then paper. probably a good approach given the idea, but I really would have liked more information on how exactly that will transfer to a digital game.
Dynasty's presentation had some interesting design elements. The one block of text with a few words highlighted in different places really caught my attention. Im not sure I like the thought of requiring research to play the game, but its hard to say how much of an influence this will have anyways. This was another project that I really couldnt tell how its going to transfer to digital.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Weekly Assessment
We are coming down to the due date for the digital prototype so alot has been happening for our project. Im finally starting to get some assets from my teammates, though I am still short of what I would like to have. Oh well I think I can work something out with what I have.
As far as what ive been working on- I have continued to make lots of changes to the program. I have finished most of the work on the AI system, and just today I added the ability to have multiple different types of terrain. Tommorow I am planning to expand the AI, as well as add more functionality in a debug sense to allow my teammates more ability to change things using what I have created to improve it.
We met last tuesday, and thursday, and were planning to meet tuesday again.
As far as what ive been working on- I have continued to make lots of changes to the program. I have finished most of the work on the AI system, and just today I added the ability to have multiple different types of terrain. Tommorow I am planning to expand the AI, as well as add more functionality in a debug sense to allow my teammates more ability to change things using what I have created to improve it.
We met last tuesday, and thursday, and were planning to meet tuesday again.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Week 3 of Critiques
Finally almost the end of the paper prototype critiques.
The Stick Ninja group started off. I have to say I kinda like the overall design idea behind this. The 'boring' office feel put along side the fantasy elements is an interesting combination. I didnt really see how they were going to take advantage of the digital format however. Their game seemed to me to be one that would be best as a board game anyways.
Following that was Zodiac War. Fighter games would be one of the worst genres to make a paper prototype so I am impressed that they came up with a workable idea. It even seemed from what I was reading that they had decent success with it in terms of feedback. I couldnt hear a darn thing the presenter was saying though...
Crack Quest finished the day. I have to say that their prototype was impressive for its stage of development. I definetly can see them not only finishing but having the time to improve it. However, irrelevant as it might be to the quality of it as a game, I cant help but think this concept is disgusting and tasteless. If they wish to do it, that is their choice. However this is certainly not a project I am at all interested in seeing developed.
The Stick Ninja group started off. I have to say I kinda like the overall design idea behind this. The 'boring' office feel put along side the fantasy elements is an interesting combination. I didnt really see how they were going to take advantage of the digital format however. Their game seemed to me to be one that would be best as a board game anyways.
Following that was Zodiac War. Fighter games would be one of the worst genres to make a paper prototype so I am impressed that they came up with a workable idea. It even seemed from what I was reading that they had decent success with it in terms of feedback. I couldnt hear a darn thing the presenter was saying though...
Crack Quest finished the day. I have to say that their prototype was impressive for its stage of development. I definetly can see them not only finishing but having the time to improve it. However, irrelevant as it might be to the quality of it as a game, I cant help but think this concept is disgusting and tasteless. If they wish to do it, that is their choice. However this is certainly not a project I am at all interested in seeing developed.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Weekly Assessment
On my end the game is really coming along. I still have one remaining issue with collisions, but Im putting that to the side for now, to give my mind a chance to think on other issues first. The next issue I wish to delve into is creating the AI system to run the monsters. My intention is to create an adajcency graph out of the places the AI can potentially move from and to. This descretization of the world will allow me to apply Dijkstra's Algorithm to plan the shortest plan between destinations. Ill then have the monsters follow a base behaviour until the player comes close enough, then they will move along a shortest path towards the player to attempt to attack them. It should work fairly well, and shouldnt be too hard to implement I hope.
What worries me at the moment is that I have yet to see any artistic assets for the game. All I have right now is the stuff I created myself to be able to test stuff- this really isnt where we should be at this point and it worries me quite a bit. Integrating media takes time, and so I need time. With three artists and one programmer this shouldnt be the issue...
What worries me at the moment is that I have yet to see any artistic assets for the game. All I have right now is the stuff I created myself to be able to test stuff- this really isnt where we should be at this point and it worries me quite a bit. Integrating media takes time, and so I need time. With three artists and one programmer this shouldnt be the issue...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Game Prototype Presentation Critique Part 1&2
I didnt get around to posting for the first set of presentations yet, so I figured Id merge both.
"Mizu", the game based around the water droplet character, had in my opinion the best designed presentation of all I have seen on either day. This perhaps isnt the most critical thing in regards to making the game, but I do think it says something about what we can expect from the final game. The concept seemed interesting as well. Bringing it into 2D also makes the scope more manageable. Like many presentations though, I did wonder if they spent too much time on explaining their concept and not elaborating on how their testing went.
For the game based on Ants, I have to say I think they gave up on the RTS idea too easily. I think they would have found Warcraft 3 to meet their needs perfectly and would have allowed them to create a strong game quickly.
The last game I remember from the first day I believe was called "Fins of Fury", and was based around a fish growing up. When I was hearing about the concept I really thought of spore, and so I have to wonder if they have a good plan on how to implement what seems like a rather large scope to me.
Today started off with an RPG, 3rd Cloud. RPGs happen to be my favorite genre so I could help but personally be interested in this idea. I really liked though what they managed to get through testing. They seemed to have very good results from the prototype and personally I think this was due to the fact they got an electronic version up and running. Didnt quite understand where they were going with the battle system though.
"Food Fight" seemed to me to be a game based on plans that didnt seem as well thought out as I would expect. Nevermind as was brought up in the lecture that fog of war makes little sense in a cafeteria, how the heck would you make that look appropriate in a classroom setting? I personally would like to have seen a better mockup of what the final screen organization will be, but then I guess this is something I havent seen any team do. This team would just draw more from it. Their testing didnt seem too valid in face of this to me.
"Drive Thru Tycoon" is of the simulation genre which I never could personally get interested in really. There is a chance in the humor though. If they can bring out more in the sounds and text it might be able to succeed in that vein. I didnt understand how they were testing this when they stated that it worked in real time, mayhap they had an electronic version ready for the test as well, but I didnt hear that clearly.
"Circular Strife" was the most interesting idea of all the presentations so far. A 3D flight game like what they are describing could be quite incredible. I do wonder about how hard it will be to make such a game in the time left though. The prototype test sounded quite fun, other then walking around attaching the bombs =). I do kinda think that bringing in such a unique dynamic for a prototype kinda draws away from the ability to learn about how the final game, but I cant deny that it was an interesting choice all the same.
"Mizu", the game based around the water droplet character, had in my opinion the best designed presentation of all I have seen on either day. This perhaps isnt the most critical thing in regards to making the game, but I do think it says something about what we can expect from the final game. The concept seemed interesting as well. Bringing it into 2D also makes the scope more manageable. Like many presentations though, I did wonder if they spent too much time on explaining their concept and not elaborating on how their testing went.
For the game based on Ants, I have to say I think they gave up on the RTS idea too easily. I think they would have found Warcraft 3 to meet their needs perfectly and would have allowed them to create a strong game quickly.
The last game I remember from the first day I believe was called "Fins of Fury", and was based around a fish growing up. When I was hearing about the concept I really thought of spore, and so I have to wonder if they have a good plan on how to implement what seems like a rather large scope to me.
Today started off with an RPG, 3rd Cloud. RPGs happen to be my favorite genre so I could help but personally be interested in this idea. I really liked though what they managed to get through testing. They seemed to have very good results from the prototype and personally I think this was due to the fact they got an electronic version up and running. Didnt quite understand where they were going with the battle system though.
"Food Fight" seemed to me to be a game based on plans that didnt seem as well thought out as I would expect. Nevermind as was brought up in the lecture that fog of war makes little sense in a cafeteria, how the heck would you make that look appropriate in a classroom setting? I personally would like to have seen a better mockup of what the final screen organization will be, but then I guess this is something I havent seen any team do. This team would just draw more from it. Their testing didnt seem too valid in face of this to me.
"Drive Thru Tycoon" is of the simulation genre which I never could personally get interested in really. There is a chance in the humor though. If they can bring out more in the sounds and text it might be able to succeed in that vein. I didnt understand how they were testing this when they stated that it worked in real time, mayhap they had an electronic version ready for the test as well, but I didnt hear that clearly.
"Circular Strife" was the most interesting idea of all the presentations so far. A 3D flight game like what they are describing could be quite incredible. I do wonder about how hard it will be to make such a game in the time left though. The prototype test sounded quite fun, other then walking around attaching the bombs =). I do kinda think that bringing in such a unique dynamic for a prototype kinda draws away from the ability to learn about how the final game, but I cant deny that it was an interesting choice all the same.
Weekly Assessment 24-30
Collision detection has been quite a trial to implement for my engine. I have been spending substantial amounts of time attempting to implement this crucial system. At this point I believe I have just about accomplished the goal- there are gaps for which the system is missing, but otherwise it seems to be working. If I can just figure out where in my algorithm is causing that flaw I will have it. At that point I will be in a very good position given our time constraints.
If I do manage to make it work, it will be quite an accomplishment to me- it is the most mathematically complex problem I have tried to solve in any program.
I am a little worried about the fact that I have not seen anything from the art side ready from my teammates, but Im sure that will start coming soon.
Im hoping to meet my teammates before the lab on thursday.
If I do manage to make it work, it will be quite an accomplishment to me- it is the most mathematically complex problem I have tried to solve in any program.
I am a little worried about the fact that I have not seen anything from the art side ready from my teammates, but Im sure that will start coming soon.
Im hoping to meet my teammates before the lab on thursday.
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