Magazine (edited)

The Last of Us notes

GENRE

- horror
- post-apocalyptic
- action-adventure
- survival

NARRATIVE/STORYLINE

- original IP
- dual protagonist (Joel & Ellie)
- how do humans deal with killer infection?
- what would happen to society?
- journey across America
- life goes on, nature takes over (destructive & beautiful)
- emotional rollercoaster to connect with audience

PRODUCTION PROCESS

- collection of animators, artists & programmers
- started out with only 12 employees
- were going to work on top of existing characters (Jak & Daxter), but didn't want to change it too much & irritate fans
- story grew from relationship between Joel & Ellie, but not father-daughter relationship as too cliche
- experimented without infected, but was deemed too boring and not interactive enough for player
- idea taken from TV show 'Planet Earth' and fungus (ophiocordyceps) which takes over ants' brains
- motion capture to capture both actors' movements & vocals
- facial movements NOT mo-capped
- camera used to pick up wide shot of each scene
- script changed on set due to actors' improve, strengths, weaknesses
- starts with actors in suits then animators clean up sequences
- organising environments to be sure player will fit
- minimalist soundtrack, low tuned guitar to capture both sound and noise
- although tension often comes from lack of sound
- infected noises made by voice actors (wet, textured, natural, no animal sounds)
- naturally lit to be cost efficient
- shadows key to creating believable environment
- flash light important as many dark areas
- NPCs exist for longer & are given set areas in which to inhabit
- AI is key



CHARACTERS 

ELLIE
- normal looking
- 14 years old
- non-sexualised, strong female character (not seen often in video games)
- tomboy
- not a damsel in distress
- empowered woman

JOEL
- lost his daughter early on
- scarred, broken
- tough guy, but one we haven't really seen before
- "few moral lines left to cross"
- sense of danger in his tone of voice

INFECTED
- began life as very alien/zombie looking
- fungus is growing out of their face & ripping it apart, something not seen before
- relentless, but beautiful
- 4 stages; human looking, lumps, cloudy eyes - 'clickers' fungus covering face - bloaters, completely covered - death (become part of environment & release spores which infect

OTHERS
- Tess
- David

GAMEPLAY

- third person
- play as Joel first then Ellie
- both melee combat & use of long distance weapons e.g. guns, bow
- can choose to fight or be more stealthy
- some puzzle solving
- crafting came from ideas in book for making homemade weapons
- user interface (minimum amount of button presses)
- "item starve"
- rewards for exploration
- want players to have mindset of "I can survive"

TARGET AUDIENCE

- rated 17+ (Mature) due to blood/gore, strong language, sexual content
- could be steered towards female audience with all the strong female characters

PLATFORMS

- PS3 (2013)
- PS4 (2014 remastered version)

Rock, Paper, Scissors Flowchart

Making Pong in Unreal

Start with a blank project & no starter pack
Go to File - New level - Empty level
Create a Box from the BSP category
Make its location 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
Use the image template and drag it into context
Go to File and Save all as P1_Main
Go to Edit - Project settings - Maps and modes
Set the Game default map and Editor startup map to P1_Main
Right click in content, create new material and name it M_Reference
Double click on the material
Hold T and left click
Name the texture, PongTexture
Drag the white pin into Emissive colour
Change the shading to Unlit
Apply
Drag reference onto box
Change the Y to 1290 and X to 900
Go into M_Reference, right click and add a BoundingBoxBased_0_1_UVW
Drag the result out and create a Component Mask
Then drag out from this and create a Custom Rotator
Hold 1 and left click to create a numeric value
Make the value 0.75 and connect this to the Custom Rotator
Return to the P1_Main and create another BSP Box
Make its dimensions 100 by 100 by 100
Right click on this box and Create Static Mesh
Name this SM_Ball
Create another BSP Box and make it 350 by 100 by 100
Create a static mesh from this and name it SM_Paddle
Create another BSP Box and make it 150 by 5100 by 100
From this make a static mesh called SM_Boundary
Create a Text Render, drag it onto the scene and drag it 90 degrees down and 180 degrees around
Change its World Size to 820, its Horizontal Alignment to Centre and Vertical Alignment to Text Centre
Type "0" in Text
Hold Alt and drag it across to duplicate it
Name one P1_Score_Text and the other P2_Score_Text
Right click in Content and create 5 new folders, then move all assets to the corresponding folders
Folders:

• StaticMeshes
• Levels
• Textures
• Materials
• Blueprints

Go into Blueprint, right click and create Blueprint Class, then create a Pawn and name it BP_Paddle_Pawn_Right
Enter the Viewport, go to Add Component - Static Mesh, then choose Paddle _Mesh
Enter the Static Mesh tab, click None and change it to SM_Paddle
Double click on the Static Mesh
Click Collision and choose Box Simplified Collision
Look to the right hand side window
Switch on Simulate Physics and switch off Enable Gravity
Set Linear Damping to 10.0
Compile
Go to Edit - Project Settings - Input
Create a new Axis Mappings called P1_MoveUp
Tab down and create Up (1) and Down (-1)
Enter Paddle Pawn
Right click, make P1_MoveUp and drag off it to create MakeVector
Right click, make AddForce(Paddle_Mesh) and connect this to Event Tick
Right click, MakeVector and connect to Force
Right click, type * and enter 30,000
Enter Blueprint, RC, create BP Class - Game Mode and name it BP_PongGameMode
Change default to Paddle_Pawn
Go to Edit - Project Settings - Input - Maps and Modes
Change the Game Default to P1_Main and Default Game Mode to BP_PongGame

CAMERA

Search for Camera, select unlit and drag onto the workspace
Drag it 90 degrees down so it is facing the board
Then pull it up so the entire boards fits in the shot
Click on the camera, click blueprints then open level blueprint
Right click and create Reference to Camera Actor (must have context sensitive on)
Right click and create Set View Target with Blend (must have context sensitive off) and plug this into Event Begin Play
Create Get Player Controller and plug into Target
Plug Camera Actor into New View Target
Change it to an Orthographic camera (camera settings - perspective)

Go into Materials, right click and create a custom material, name it M_UnlitWhite
Go into this material, hold 1 and left click, change the value to 1.0
Plug this node into Emissive Colour
Turn the shading model to unlit
Return to main page and open Static Meshes
Change the World Grid material to UnlitWhite

PADDLE 

From Event Tick create an Add Force node
Get P1_MoveUp target (return value) - X (10,000,000) - Make Vector (X) - Add Force (Force)

Problems and Progress with my Pong Game

My text has been turned to white boxes because I didn't have permission to save the texture. Also I couldn't get the ball to bounce off either boundaries as it gets stuck at the top and just passes straight through the bottom.

I managed to solve all these problems with the help of a friend, I just deleted my old text and created new ones. For the ball I locked its Z and Y positions which meant it would actually bounce off the boundaries and paddle.

This is the state of my Pong game so far. I have both the player and AI working, however the text does not count up as each player scores.

I now have the scoring system working and the game will now reset.

Unreal Engine tutorial

This is the workspace within Unreal Engine, it has a variety of views including modes, details and content. In order to test your game you press play and then to exit you press 'esc'.

This is the Unreal Editor in which you can edit all the components for your game. To move around the workspace you can use right click to drag and the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. 

Within the editor are tools such as nodes, pins and links. Red nodes represent events and blue nodes represent functions. Links are used to create and join nodes to one another along with pins that let you know whether it is an input or output. To create a new node you right click in a blank space and then search for the function you wish to use, for example here I have used the event of 'T' being pressed. I have then created a link from the 'pressed' pin to a 'print string' node. This will allow text to be displayed on screen when 'T' is pressed. I also added another 'print string' node for when 'T' is released.

Video Game Target Audience Primary Research

More males than females said they played games on their browser and of those people, the average time spent playing games on their browser was 3 hours (male) and 2 hours (female).

Video Game Trends

Arcade/8-bit Art Style

  Dating back to the early 1980s, 8-bit games such as Super Mario and Pac Man revolutionised the way we play video games to this day and even though some of the most popular titles involved rich vibrant environments and realistic gameplay, there is just something about retro style that we cannot get enough of. The top best selling video game of all time is Tetris, released 2006, and has sold over 400 copies, while loosely connected to 8-bit, still resembles that of an old arcade game. In the recent years there have been hundreds of indie games released sporting extremely similar art styles to their predecessors these include; Terraria (2011), Fez (2012), Nidhogg (2014) and Broforce (2015). Also one of the top rated indie games in the Xbox marketplace is Candy, Please, an 8-bit style platformer, with 4.5/5.However it is not just PC and consoles that support these kinds of games, there has been a huge increase in 8-bit style games on mobile devices as well. This, of course, includes Flappy Bird which topped US and Chinese app stores and became the most downloaded free iOS app of all time. Other popular titles include Super Mega Worm (2010) which received 4.5/5 on the Google Play store and Crossy Road (2014) with over 50 million downloads after 3 months of its release.

Character Customisation

  Everyone loves a game in which you can customise your character in a variety of wacky ways before you play, a concept that first began in board games such as Dungeons and Dragons but moved swiftly onto the gaming platform. Starting with the giant that is Nintendo and their introduction of Miis on the Wii. Their first game which came with the console, Wii Sports (2006), is the number one best selling Wii game of all time with over 82 million copies sold, down in third place is Wii Sports Resort (2009) selling over 32 million, followed by Wii Play (2007) which sold over 28 million and Wii Fit (2004) which sold over 20 million copies. Xbox also jumped on this bandwagon in 2008 with the introduction of Avatars and Xbox Live, this then lead to hundreds of games being created that involved the players personal avatars. These include Doritos Crash Course (2010), with 1.4 million downloads, Kinect Sports (2010), selling over 3 million units and several best selling indie games such as Avatar Warfare (2013). However it is not just console specific, several titles have in-game characterisation, for example Saints Row IV (2013) which sold over 1 million copies in a week, Dark Souls II (2014) which has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide and Fallout 4 (2015) which has sold 12 million units totalling $750 million dollars. This also includes Grand Theft Auto Online, launched 2 weeks after GTAV's release, a game which became the fastest selling entertainment product in history, earning $1billion in 3 days and selling over 60 million copies.

One Touch Game Mock-up

One Touch Mobile Games

Relic Rush 

Developer: Crescent Moon Games

Crescent Moon Games was founded in late 2009 with the introduction of their first game Ravensword: The Fallen King. They have developed games across a variety of  platforms such as mobile, consoles and PC, these titles include The Deer God, Paper Monsters and Shadow Blade. Relic Rush was published by Forest Moon Games, the sister publishing company of Crescent Moon Games.

Pyro Jump

Developer: PINPIN TEAM

PinPin Team is a software company based in Paris, France they design games to for both children and adults. They have published their own games as well as games they have created with media partners, cultural centres and museums. Their titles include The King and Salamander, Maths & Memo and Dragon War.

Remember Me reviews comparison

Both reviewers make gameplay and narrative the two key topics within their reviews and have very similar views on them. The story line is generally praised by both and they agree on their opinion of the combat, they both go into a fair amount of detail and explain how it can be frustrating and pretty repetitive. They both respond positively to the 'Memory Remix' sequences as they felt like it gave the game a sense of identity. Except for combat, Bramwell skims over the rest of his play through experience as opposed to Krupa who dedicating an entire paragraph and a half to his dislike of the traversal elements in the game. With a more varied review, Bramwell speaks a little more about characters, explaining some of the protagonist's abilities and experiences, whereas Krupa includes nothing similar, but instead a short statement mocking one of the enemies. Neither reviewers mention platforms, but both websites that they came from did have a list of platforms that the game is available on. Similarly, target audience is not seen as essential by either reviewer as it is only briefly mentioned by Bramwell when he speaks about "fighting game experts." Bramwell is also the only one to touch upon genre and speak highly of it and how the game is a "classic," nothing like this is ever said with Krupa's review. Regarding personal recommendation, Bramwell is a lot more vocal about his own unique experience with the game, describing how he felt emotionally after specific events and ending his review with a short overview,and a rating, Krupa, on the other hand, has little recommendation in his review, but instead has a text box on the web page with a quick overview, a few positive and negative bullet points and a rating.

Overall, while Krupa does touch upon gameplay a lot  in his review and has a clear opinion on the gameplay and its narrative, Bramwell gives more varied information and suggestions, talking about genre, characters and personal recommendation and not just gameplay and story.

First Twine game feedback

Positives

• Good, interesting story overall, feels meaningful
• Story was very good
• Overall story is good
• Game appears really interesting & quite immersive
• Good range of choices
• Lots of options
• Options are good & there are many of them
• Sounds deep

Negatives

• "False" at beginning of sentences?
• Spelling mistakes e.g. "cklimbing"
• Even though you bring your walking staff, you still see "Why didn't you bring your walking staff"
• Few spelling mistakes & issue with the walking staff
• Check spellings, lots of mistakes
• Story needs finalising
• Don't understand the random "false"
• Must be buggy as I took coat but it said I hadn't
• Could have a timer for some quick choices to add urgency
• Spelling mistakes
• Random "false" on some sentences
• Errors when you get ready to hit the creature
• No continuation after you ask for directions to the village
• Few spelling mistakes & "false" at the beginning of some pages
• The word "false" sometimes appears randomly at beginning of passages
• Typos in general
• Some parts were broken
• Not a clear ending, "oh yes, I'm just perfect"?
• More images & clear endings would be nice
• More definitive endings & images

My Text-based Game (draft made with cards)

After having read out my story to my classmate, he said that the gameplay was smooth, fluent and there was no dramatic jumping around the narrative. He also mentioned that he found it easy to follow the story which was helpful. He thought that there were no places that needed more choices added, however there is not real big decision that changed the story dramatically which he thought was a good thing. However there was one action that I had forgotten to continue with so I must add in that choice. He thought that within Twine, the timer would be helpful for the more action packed events towards the end, also sound effects would help create a nice atmosphere.

Text based games

Queers in love at the End of the World

When playing this game I felt pretty stressed out because of the time limit, but once I had completed a few endings I really liked it. It's short, but cute and carries a nice message that made me think. I wouldn't usually class this kind of thing as a game, but because it's all about choice and how they impact the next web page options, therefore I would call it a game even if it is really simple.

With Those With Love Alive

During my first play through of this game, I was really confused and felt super repetitive, but it looked nice with all the coloured text. Then the second time I tried it, I realised that there is lot more than meets the eye and it really has some powerful meanings, it was also a little strange when it asked the player to draw on their body as games don't usually impact a person physically. Again, like the first game it is not what comes to mind when thinking of video games, but this I would say is even more so due to it's trial and error navigation.

Cat Petting Simulator 2014

This game felt a little too long and tedious, but it was funny at times and did make it feel very realistic. This one feels much more like a game because there is a definite ending and you receive scores at the end.

Depression Quest

The combination of the music and subject matter me feel very emotional during this one, but I also felt like I was learning about depression and what it is like having to live with it. It did feel more like an online interactive novel than a game' due to its themes.

Cry$tal Warrior Ke$ha

Whilst playing this game I was a little puzzled as to what the aim was or what it was about (apart from Ke$ha lyrics). It was also difficult to concentrate and read because of the song playing in the background. This one felt more like a tribute to Ke$ha rather than a video game.

Daymare 1: ritual

This game is the most intense of them all, the descriptive language made me feel a little uneasy at times and created vivid images in my head. The themes are very dark and morbid which actually helped draw me into the story as I enjoy horror fiction. This does feel like a game to me as there is a main goal and the concept of collecting objects felt rewarding as it does in traditional video games.

The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo

This game creeped me out because of the sound effects and dark images, also throughout the game it always felt like something was wrong even if something positive happened. The end screen shocked and confused me as it showed a computer screen as though it had been hacked which could imply multiple things. This one is much like Depression Quest, with the sound effects and images, however this was a little more upbeat and felt a little more like a ghost story.

The Domovoi

This game had a nice atmosphere provided with sound effects and beautiful illustrations but because of the large amounts of text I did begin to grow a little bored. You would think graphics would make it seem like a game but it even states that it is a "tale" so to me it just feels like a fairy tale taken from a children's book.

The two games that had the biggest impact on me would have to be Queers in love at the End of the World because it is different to anything I've ever come across and it really made me stop and think about what I really would do if everything I knew was about to end. I also liked the variety of endings and events that could take place and the ambiguity of the story. My second choice is With Those With Love Alive, although I didn't actually finish the entire game, I really enjoyed what I did play, I loved the soundtrack and idea of clicking text to change it to your liking. I also thought the idea of actually physically interacting with the story was really interesting and unlike anything I've ever experienced.

Board Game 2 (Arachnophobia)

For the second board game we worked in teams of 4 to produce a much higher quality game, combining ideas we already had and seeing what worked and what didn't with out other game.

Ratings:

Playability - 4/5
Visual aesthetics - 4/5
Enjoyment - 3/5
Overall - 4/5

Comments:

• Mazes can be traced
• You can see the tracks left behind by other players on mazes
• Good game
• Mazes are easy
• Very childish
• Take visual guide off of back of board
• Good for children
• Colours could stand out more

It seemed most people loved the look and feel of the game and it was fairly easy to understand and then play, but it was maybe a little childish and the mazes were not very successful. Also having the visual guide on the other side of the board proved a little frustrating and awkward for some players.

Board Game (second edition & what have I learnt)

 If I were to make my game again, I would be sure to add images into the rule book to make them as clear as possible. Also because it is a timed game I would add in a small egg timer, in case neither player had any other way of timing e.g a phone. Also to prevent any confusion with the cards I would make several (around 50) for each of the 6 subjects (300 in total) and each card has 6 numbered objects so the other player doesn't have to think of one themselves. I would also change the image die to 6 easier topics, such as TV/Movies or Animals and to change the premise completely I would have the player pick up their own card and have to rant about something without saying the name of the object so the other person would have to guess what it was.

 Throughout the week i have learnt a lot about board games and why it is such a significant starting point when thinking about game development. I have released just how difficult it is to make a fun and entertaining game without over complicating the rules. It is also hard to come up with a completely original idea since there are so many card and board games out there already. It was also really interesting to observe how other people managed with my own game and see where there went wrong and to see what they would do to overcome things they didn't understand. I liked playing another pairs game just to see how different it was to ours and to see how well they incorporated the image die they were given, which was a lot more difficult than it first seemed.

Board Game (observation & summary)

 When observing the two players, they seemed fairly frustrated at first and wanted to rush in, meaning they did not read the instructions thoroughly so missed an important step. Once they had begun to play they laughed a lot and seemed to be having fun and would joke when the other person failed. Having not read the rules they didn't role the numbered die again so instead of one option, the player spoke for 30 seconds about all 6 items on the card each time.

After speaking to the players about what they found fun and what was confusing they said "the instructions were pretty clear (if we had read them properly)." They also pointed out a spelling mistake on one of the cards. One player said that it's "annoying because you might not be a confident speaker" and he said his family would probably make fun of him. One player said that the best part of the game was watching the other person fail and overall they said that it was a good idea.