As I’m finally (and hopefully) graduating this semester, I wanted to take a class for fun that was not a just another “required” GE. As I’ve always been interested in games and game design, especially in creating concept art and designs, I found this class to be insightful into the actual process of developing a game from beginning to end. Learning about the basis of game design through MDA and board games was particularly helpful. I did not previously know that I could learn so much about video games and designing them from starting at the roots of gaming itself. Collaborating with various partners and groups throughout each exercise was also appreciated. I was able to meet many more people by the rule of picking someone that I hadn’t previously worked with before. I’ve made many friends that I will stay in contact with from this class! (I joined my first D&D campaign from a classmate and friend’s first time DMing, and I and another classmate and friend helped push and expand the AR/VR club along a little further.)

This class also made me rethink my design senses. Coming from Industrial Design, I thought that I knew how to use the design process. However, with the spaghetti exercise, I realized that I was held back by pride in thinking that I knew how to build a simple tower. What I had forgotten, though, was the benefits of rapid prototyping and iterative creation. This class helped remind me of that through the basics once again. This course was a good refresher but also provided knowledge and opportunities in new and different directions that I’d never previously known. The final project of creating our own game with the option of teams was good practice in communication and project planning. Our team was comprised of good people, though we did not communicate nearly as much as we should have. If everyone was on the same page and understanding of each other’s statuses, I believe that our final game could have been much more polished. I learned that it is important to state expectations and work through a project by having everyone be aware of each other’s abilities and expected deliverables. In the future, I will be trying to integrate tools like the burn-down chart in my own projects.

In regards to reading, writing, playing, and designing, this course definitely fulfilled all expectations. I was glad to be able to write on certain topics that interested me, and analyzing games was and is good practice that lets me enjoy critical thinking. Both conceptual and real-world events/research in gaming expanded my expectations of this topic, revealing it to be much deeper than I once believed. Additionally, being able to play games in and out of class were particularly memorable. I am glad that I was introduced to “Play it Forward”, as it re-framed the limits of what I knew games to be.

Designing a game proved to be much less daunting than, again, what I previously expected. Being able to dip my toes into an engine like Unity gives me confidence and ideas in creating more games in the future.

Thanks for the semester, Professor! I hope to still hover around in the community (Discord, Game Dev Club, AR/VR Club etc.) after I graduate. This was a fun class and I am glad I chose to take it, despite my disgustingly overwhelming workload this semester. I don’t regret it as I now have actual game development experience to base my future endeavors on/in. See you around!

P.S.
I didn’t name this blog something like “ART/CS 108” in the hopes that one day I might continue writing, if at least for practice in putting my thoughts down more quickly and fluently. I’m happy that I was able to practice writing, and that I am sometimes able to enjoy it again.

“Neon Climb is a 2D vertical platformer. Explore the environment to collect all required items.”

Here are some general updates regarding my team’s progress on the final project:

Our team is trying to figure out how to harness the fun of the infinite jump without having to create extremely long background assets. The main time sink in balancing this project is the amount of time it takes to look for a resource or tutorial that can teach us how to implement a certain mechanic. The camera issues have been fixed now so that the player doesn’t go too far off screen, ditching the main camera. Additionally, the counter + item collection mechanic now functions in creating the condition for progressing to the next level. The collection of the items is very stale, however, as nothing happens other than a tick in the counter. This seems boring, so I’m trying to add an animation for now as our programmer may not have enough time to figure out powerups.

Regarding the art style, I’ve dialed it down starting from the main menu screen to decrease visual noise and clutter. Because the mechanics are so simple, it is important that we design levels that have a good flow of movement that doesn’t cause too much of a break. The level design ties directly into the background and art, which is one of the main things that will motivate the player to keep climbing. Visual interest is difficult to consider when the canvas is extremely vertical.

Everyone on our team is balancing finals so it is slightly difficult to get everyone to work on it at the same time, but we have all done bits towards the goal so far.

Ingress, now Ingress Prime, is an alternate reality game centered around reaching and capturing points scattered across the map. Tracking the player’s location using GPS, actions are in real time and players play against real people. I remember trying to download this game when I first received a semi-smart phone, but it was not smart enough. Niantic, the creators of Ingress Prime, have since added to their portfolio with the very popular Pokémon Go. Both of these games use the player’s location with objectives overlaid onto a real-world map. However, I’ve never played either of these games before today.

Now that I have a smart-phone and cleared enough space to download more apps, here’s a short not-really-a-session-report report of my experience playing this game at the same time as about forty(?) other people from my class. Downloading and initializing the game was slightly frustrating, as I was unable to get the game to find my location and proceed to the tutorial. I was able to resolve this after quitting the app, rebooting, and turning my GPS on and off. I also had to turn on high-accuracy location, a setting which I had some difficulty locating. After going through some cool in-game image documents, I and the other students tried to complete the tutorial. The tutorial starts with an introduction from the character of an AI named ADA, who guides the player through each mechanic of the game through text and voice audio. The visual and sound design of the game is cohesive and visually appealing, though it can get busy and a bit cluttered in certain locations–especially around portals. Collecting the white dots, or “Exotic Matter” (XM), was actually difficult to figure out. I encountered a few other frustrated students that were unable to proceed past this point in the tutorial for ten or fifteen minutes. We walked around campus and stood in the white points of light, waiting for them to be automatically collected when they were in our range. After standing directly on the XM points for a few minutes, something happened and we were allowed to proceed. Perhaps the servers were confused? After collecting more XM, I was told to look for a portal and provided with “Resonators”. Each point of the tutorial was supported with some more of the narrative explaining the game’s backstory and lore. Though interesting, it was slightly overwhelming. The main negative of playing with so many other people at once just starting was that I was actually unable to complete the tutorial. One of the objectives of the tutorial was to access two portals–either an unclaimed white portal or a blue portal. However, as everyone in the area had started the tutorial and claimed the area in the starting green, I was unable to find a portal that wasn’t green nearby. (The game told me that the portals I was trying to select were of the wrong faction.) When I tried to approach and select the non-green portals that were nearby, I was presented with the error message: “Access Level Insufficient”. I received/collected a few items such as “Bursters” and “Power Cubes”, but I have not yet had a chance to explore their function.

Running into classmates around campus trying to figure out how to play the game was an interesting experience. A few of the people I encountered were able to pass the tutorial, but some had encountered similar issues as I did. The game seems like it can be immersive and fun overall, but I will have to retry soon to give the game a chance, as it genuinely seems like a cool experience. The many items and lore require some getting used to, but my battery died before I was able to get any further. I went home to recharge, but now it is too dark to play on my phone safely. I’ll try again tomorrow.

It is exciting to have stepped into the digital realm in regard to game and video game development. Going from initial design document and ridiculously naming the game “SAVING COOL CYBERNEON BUDDY” (working title) to a (barely) functioning prototype concept is a big step in just starting. Just getting the proverbial foot in the door helps the whole project begin to roll towards the eventual final. Unity is surprisingly empowering in terms of making an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and creating a concept that can be called a “game” is very satisfying. I discovered that Digital prototyping and its similarity to physical prototyping for model making in Industrial Design—once my partner and I began using Unity and figuring out how to tie mechanics in with the visual assets, we immediately began to see what did and did not work. My role as the artist in the mini pipeline had a few difficulties, especially since I was also performing the role of the producer and pushing deadlines. It was interesting being the producer, as when I began to create more assets, I began to have more ideas that I wanted to push. My designer had to remind me of the deadline and the need to just create a working prototype for the alpha.

(Here’s a Windows and a Mac link to the game.)

Our first playtest was an exciting event to build towards. Showing people our product was gratifying, and the responses were positive. People enjoyed the art and figuring out the mechanics (while comparing them to Flappy Bird), and multiple playtesters enjoyed the concept of “flying” in the game. However, our game still needs a lot of work. Playtesters were not sure of the objective, and one playtester said that the controls actually felt too powerful. In response to that, I would like to incorporate more constraints and incentives to build towards to grant abilities for the achievement of objectives and exploration of the map and backgrounds. Additionally, we will be creating a splash screen to introduce the player to the narrative. The narrative is currently barely existent, but I would personally like to enforce it as more central to the gameplay (to reference and explain the title). I’m excited to continue developing.

Title:
SAVE COOL CYBERNEON BUDDY (or yourself?)

Team members:
Sean Cheng
Armon Liaghat

Description:
This is a 2D (potentially puzzle) platformer set in a retro-future neon (emphasis on neon)
cyberpunk city. In this game you control a character trying to collect and survive parts for their cyborg self and their android friend. In the level you have to collect the parts and bring them to their android friend. (Android represents endpoint). The goal is to collect all of the parts and get to the endpoint without dying by falling or traps / etc.

Game Objects:
– Cyborg
– Android
– Parts to be collected
– Cityscape (Background)
– Traps/Hazards

Sounds:
– Cool tech lo-fi music
– Cybersounds
-Robot noises
-Jumping
-Walking?
-Collecting noises

Controls:
-“WASD”/”W” or “Space” for Jump

Game Flow:
-The player spawns next at the opposite point from the android.
-The player has two lives/tries to collect all parts and get to android.

Levels:
-There is initially one level for player to get used to gameplay. 2D platforms that the player must survive and jump around on while collecting required parts to complete level and help android.

Video games are a powerful medium for commentary and sharing experiences that may be more difficult to communicate through a singular method. Video games often combine visual with narrative, but where they shine is in allowing (forcing?) the “player,” or potentially the “audience”, to interact to proceed. Interaction implies choice, or at least the illusion of it. When experiencing a video game, there is an expectation for the possibility of agency. However, games like You Gotta Get Off The Train and You Have to Burn The Rope both subvert this possibility. (Links to each game at the bottom).

In You Have to Burn The Rope, the player can control the avatar and move through the “level,” but calling it a level is an exaggeration. The player is heavily guided through the hallway with blatant signs that inform every detail of the level, including what and how to defeat the final boss. This hand-holding is a commentary on dumbed-down games that allow for lazy level design while preventing the player from inferring and figuring out their own paths through experience. Underestimating the player trains them to be complacent in their experience and it is detrimental for the overall enjoyment of the game. Much like in You Have to Burn The Rope, You Gotta Off The Train provides an atypical “gaming” experience. The player is presented with a monotone, dream-like scene that is reminiscent of a surreal nightmare, and must figure out how to get off the train by ragdolling into one of the yellow portals on either end of the cabin.  As I stated in my Game Lab post, You Gotta Get Off The Train is an uncomfortable train ride, as the “lack of autonomy/direct translation of character movement vs player input felt like wearing a too-tight shoe in which one’s toes are sweaty, immobile, and very claustrophobic.” Opening the game and starting off with a caps-locked and squished “LADENLOADINGLADENLOADING” loading text was already disorienting enough as the screen proceeds to drop the player into a silent cabin of immobile and faceless mannequins. Unlike in You Have to Burn The Rope, there is most assuredly no excessive hand-holding in this game. Though the control keys are displayed on the window, the player must figure out how to move, and while the objective seems simple, it is quickly apparent that it is anything but. There is only one level, and the player beats the game if they succeed in flailing their way out of the train. (While being given the option to restart the grueling experience with the press of a button).

Watching my partner play the game was amusing but frustrating, as the game becomes: “I Gotta See You Get Off The Train.” Without initially experiencing the game before my partner, it was not immediately clear that the game’s movement mechanisms are akin to QWOP’s chaotic spasms. Simultaneously being unable to assist while only being able to observe without becoming a back-seat gamer provides another level of stress in the lack of agency.

These types of “games” allow players to question the definition of what a game is. Without using the formal “tutorial” like text in You Have to Burn The Rope, You Gotta Get Off The Train and the “dating simulator” game Cum High use an unorthodox or “casual” presentation of instructions and narrative text. Cum High is vulgar and blatantly non-sequitur, and I question whether or not to even call it a “dating sim”. However, this quality is similar to the other two games in its randomness. Cum High seems like a joke, but it can serve as a satirical parody of the dating simulator genre. (though that in itself may be a reach for meaning, as the creator was apparently drunk when he created the game.)

A game easily suffers when the player is fully guided through the experience. The ability to choose and explore options should be intentionally designed towards, as it provides a game with more potential for depth. You Have to Burn The Rope criticises games that simply provide a dumbed down video game version of a “get to the end” “roll/spin move” experience without even having to roll or spin to move. You Gotta Get Off The Train is a potential example of an interesting experience that requires little guidance, and Cum High, though completely scripted as a result of its genre, still provides an interesting and non-traditional use of the usual medium.

You can play the games for yourself here:

You Have to Burn the Rope

You Gotta Get off The Train

Cum High (Download and run the .html)

1. Title: Oomw (Pronounced “oomoo” and stands for “Out of My Way”)
2. General Administrative Rules
   1. How many players can play the game?
      1. 2 players
   2. What are the suggested ages for players of this game?
      1. 5+ (including a small parts choking hazard warning)
   3. On average, how long does it take to play a single game?
      1. 10 minutes
3. Introduction
   1. What is the background story or theme?
      1. This is a game is a strategy game focused on taking up as much space as you can, even if you have to move your friends out of your spot.
   2. What can you say that will draw the players into the game world?
      1.  Push your friends out of the way!
4. Summary of the game system and objectives
   1. In GENERAL terms, how is the game played?
      1. Players place beads on the board’s spaces to create as many “fives” as possible.  
   2. In GENERAL terms, what is the objective of the game?
      1. Oomw is an area enclosure game in which players try to get the most amount of “fives.”
5. Components of the Game
   1. In GENERAL terms, what are the game pieces and what do they represent?
      1. Inventory:
         1. 24 single colored beads per player, 48 beads in total 24 black, 24 gold.
         2. Boards
         3. 1 d6 (6 sided die)
   2. What game specific vocabulary do players need to know?
      1. Beads
         1. Game pieces. 24 beads per player.
      2. Spaces
         1. Empty circles on the board.
      3. Five (appendix item a2)
         1. Five beads, 4 as a box surrounding and one inside.
6. Set-Up
   1. How do you set-up the game board at the beginning of the game?
      1. Players roll the d6, higher number goes first. 
      2. Setup is part of the game so the board is initially empty.
   2. What components do each of the players need to start the game?
      1. Players each have 24 beads and take turns using the d6.
7. Basic Game Structure
   1. In what order does a turn/round/phase/etc. occur?
      1. Players roll the die (D6) to determine who goes first. Whoever rolls the highest number goes first.
      2. Players alternate turns after first turn is taken.
      3. Players roll to determine amount of beads placed.
      4. Turn ends after beads are placed.
8. Specific Game Structure
   1. Step by step, what happens on a turn? Explain concepts as they occur during a turn.
      1. Players each place beads on any empty space on the board.
      2. The amount of beads is determined by the roll of the d6.
      3. If a player rolls a 1, they can replace a bead of the opponent. (If no pieces on board yet, player places one bead.)
      4. If the player rolls a 5, they get to remove one of the opponent’s beads from the board.
      5. If the player rolls a 6, they get to remove 2 of the opponent’s beads or place 2 beads of their own.
      6. If a player rolls between 2-4, they simply place the corresponding amount of beads on the board. If they roll 2, they get to place 2. If they roll 4, they get to place 4, etc.
9. Ending the Game
   1. How do you know when the game is over?
      1. The game ends when every spot on the board is filled.
   2. How do you know who won the game?
      1. Whoever has the most fives. Overlapping fives count as well.
10. Appendix
    1. Is there any extra information that would be helpful or fun for players to know even if it’s not necessarily a part of the rule system?
       1. Feel free to declare, “out of my way”, when removing your opponent’s pieces.

Here are the rules for Oomw.
Oomw is an area enclosure game in which players try to get the most amount of “fives.” Initially this is unclear, as it used to be an amalgam of line drawing, tag, Pac-Man, and just a mess in general.

The first playtest was a mess. My partner and I grabbed too many pieces, over scoped the range of the games’ goals, and attempted to put in too many mechanics.

Here is the session report for the first playtest:

Setup began by putting down the board and putting a d6 on each corner of the board. We then put 14 beads around the border of the map, 14 on each half (players must stay on one side of the board for the setup of this turn.) After the border of each half is filled, a “monster” token was placed at the center spot on both of the long sides of the board. Once the entire border was filled and the d6s were in place, the initial setup was complete. (Yes, it’s confusing.) After that setup we began to populate the board with 12 beads each for both players. Players roll one d6 to determine who gets to begin placing first. I rolled and got a higher number so I began to place my beads. (Players can place beads from anywhere a previous bead is linked, starting from the border, and “linking” is determined by the movement path of the previous bead, which is one space in any direction.) We placed the beads one by one without much strategy in mind until the chain of 12 beads was complete for both players. The game then changes modes and we started the next phase of the game–bead taking, with the monsters at each long side of the board. We both took two d6s, one red and one black. The black determines horizontal movement and the red determines vertical movement (both in either direction). Monsters move on the intersections of the lines (on the points of the grid.) As I went first for bead placing, my opponent went first for the monster movement. He rolled a 3 (red) and a 4 (black), so he moved vertically 3 and to the right 4. He took all of the beads that he passed. For my turn, I rolled a 5 (red) and a 1 (black) and moved correspondingly. The game ends when the monsters land on one another, and whoever has the most beads wins. We continued to collect beads for 3 more rounds until I rolled and landed on my opponent because I wanted to end the game. He had more beads so he won.

The second session report with a focus on the rule changes:

Playing this game at home was an interesting experience. As my opponent this time was not a partner who helped write the game, the rules and point of the game were not the easiest to understand. We went through the setup phase which was relatively simple, we rolled to see who would go first (my roommate went first), and began to populate the board with beads. We increased the amount of beads to 20 each, and moved the monsters accordingly. The game proceeded similarly to the first one. I rolled a 3 (red) and a 6 (black). Rinse and repeat, as we didn’t change much outside of bead count. My roommate tagged me, which ended the game. I won by 3 beads. My roommate didn’t like the game much, but to be fair, I didn’t like it very much either.

2.5th Playtest (In class)

As my opponent this time was a fellow classmate, he gave me many suggestions and confirmed my thought that the game was not very fun and overly complex in a bad way. I revamped the game completely after this.

The third and final playtest was the most refined state of the game. It had changed drastically from the initial playtest but for the better, I think. Please refer to the rules link at the top to see the full rules. Here’s a summary of what I changed:

1. Trimmed the fat and revamped the entire game. Now following an Area Enclosure mechanic. I think at this point it’s a completely different game.

2. Removed the messy initial board and redrew a cleaner, more portable version.

3. Decreased the total amount of beads to 24 each.

Here’s the session report.

My opponent and I rolled to see who would go first. My opponent went first. He then rolled a 3, and placed 3 beads on the board. This ended his turn. I rolled and got a 4. I placed 4. This continued until the board was mostly filled. At the 7th turn, my opponent rolled a 6 and replaced one of my beads. This happened a few times, but not very often. I received good feedback that rolling the five was overpowered and needed some balancing as the six was too weak. These changes went into the final rules. This version of the game was the most entertaining.

“HE HE”

-EV (Evil Vulture(s))

Studying the history of video games involves playing those games. Seeing how games started and mastered the basic mechanics helps one learn how improve one’s own games.

As stated in the description, Dazzler “is rather like a cross between Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Junior.” Although I’ve never played Donkey Kong Junior firsthand, I’ve seen other people play it and understand its influence on many games proceeding it. Created in 1982, Dazzler was not exactly what I expected it to be based off its name and visually imposing logo. Obviously, the bias on my part from consuming modern media needs to be put aside when looking at an emulation of an arcade game from the 80s. However, the game was surprisingly difficult—I wasn’t expecting it to be easy, but I died too many times despite its deceptively simple “collect-the-item” in a maze mechanics. It took me quite a few deaths before I could safely avoid the paths and programmed behavior of for the amusingly named “Evil Vultures” (EV). Playing on an emulator has drawbacks such as learning the controls, but I think the main detraction is from not having the arcade and arcade cabinet experience. The emulation performs mostly fine outside of input lag and occasionally invisible pixels to get caught on—but otherwise the simple arrow keys are very easy to understand.

The character one plays as in Dazzler is “Our Hero” (OH) who must eventually rescue the unnamed gorilla after feeding it bananas in return for the method of defeating the Evil Vultures. (Random funny feature: occasionally, one can boost themselves up in the score ranking (by 500 points) by collecting a randomly placed smiling lemon, but if it is not collected in time it will frown and disappear.) Games have come a long way, but it is interesting to see how something was able to be fun by taking advantage of simplicity under heavier constraints.