Friday 28 October 2011

Level 7: Return of the Natts!

Okay so I realise as well as anyone I haven't updated in a little longer then I'd prefer but what can I say I've been busy with work/doctors/other annoyances etc, but am back now y'all.

Okay so last time on 'Steve Takes Control' i was still working on the evolution of my games without narrative development. The central issue of that aspect of my work was exactly how bereft of narrative the ideas had to be. When I started developing my ideas it struck me that environments,characters and even titles suggest narratives so I endeavored to work through the extra scrutiny. After a back and forth with JT (Josh Taylor for the unenlightened few) discussing my ideas and developing what worked I believe the 4 ideas are now in place, albeit with working titles.

Legions: The finalised version of my 'risk vs reward' top down shooter where the player must shoot objects increasing their strength and size (thus an easier target), however their high-score will not be 'banked' until they self destruct.

Countdown: Originally I planned this as a trivia based tower defense game however now it features integrated spacial task instead to broaden it accessibility, which also allows the mini-game elements to fit some-what into whats going on.

Power-Cut: This is the now finalized version of my puzzle platformer where the player must conserve their power while trying to reach the goal point of each level, with bold movements like double jumps expending more power.

Night-fall: I suppose this would be called a survival game, the player controls their character while they move environment objects around a 2d plane before night-fall. When night comes so does a mysterious creature the player must hide within their makeshift forts and hope there days preparations keep them from being noticed by the creatures.

So there we have it that is that side of the spectrum covered now onto developing something on the flip-side. Our initial idea was for me to write an interactive story (therefore narrative with little interaction). However I instead will be pursuing the concept of narrative which is almost clear by the characters, environment and setting. Though the idea remains aloof at the moment I think I will look into games aimed at younger audiences, as these games must be instantly appealing and fun in order to keep the attention span of the young whipper snappers!.

Peace Out!

Sunday 16 October 2011

Level 6: Clarity

So that last going on 2 weeks have been a bit hazy as I pondered and pondered about these games with no narrative ideas, on top of the already cloudy subject of where I am aiming to go in terms of my masters development and research no less. However the last few days have ended up providing as the title of this post suggests clarity.

In terms of the game ideas I was inspired by my brothers suggestion of the fact old arcade games didn't feature any 'proper' narrative, which made me consider modern arcade games as well. To this end I have been working on my ideas while taking into consideration what makes modern arcade games (like those found on PSN and XBLA) fun and accessible. I think I now have a rough idea of 2 of my games from my original root ideas put through the ringer of this new perspective. The other 2 ideas however are still very embryonic I have some ideas of genre and small ideas but generally they still need a lot of development.

Then in terms of avenues to pursue for my masters, I have decided I would quite like to look into the idea of narratives which are built and molded by the gameplay and actions of the player. This will include games where the player alters the course of a limited narrative (eg Mass Effect), the player building their own story within an existent convention (eg UFC or Fight Night) and the player (and potentially friends) building their own story out provided parts (eg Civ 5 and MMO titles).

Overall I would interested in studying this area because I think that players tend to develop stronger emotional ties to game experiences if there is some sort of personal investment within it.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Level 5: The Day My Finances Forgot

After disappointingly missing a contextual trip to Manchester with the Games Design peeps (as well as other masters people though i don't know them) due to complete lack of funds i decided to concentrate my day masters work and research.

This first order of the day was collecting further research material for my upcoming literature and contextual reviews. Due to the contemporary nature of my areas of research I am confined to looking at other games and narrative media rather then traditional design, a fact which i'm not upset about it has to be said. I'm currently thinking of using LA Noire and Minecraft as my game examples as I believe they have plenty of related material and are 2 opposite ends of the Narrative/Ludology scale.

My second task was a continuation of a project I discussed with Josh on tuesday. In order to contrast the narrative pieces I have been looking over I decided it would be an interesting task to develop 4 game ideas that feature no underlying narrative. After much pondering I came to the conclusion that inevitably there will be some layer of intrinsic narrative to the designs as this can't be helped so my main goal is to create ideas with no extrinsic narrative. (so not a set narrative and back story etc)

Though the ideas are still very embryonic I'm currently thinking as follows; (some more in-depth then others)

Basic Tower Defense - A fairly stripped down (narratively speaking) tower defense game  featuring several rows of oncoming enigmatic enemies coming to attack your unidentified bastion.

Survival Game - Basic enemy killing game with your mystery hero fighting hordes of random unspecified creatures.

Puzzle Game: Still nothing solid though following the usual concept of narrative having little impact in puzzle games it seems logical to create one if possible.

Mystery Game 4: This one is still completely up in the air I have several extremely small ideas but nothing I have encapsulated as yet.

So there are my current development ideas as I said these may well change but they make sense to me at the moment so I shall pursue for the moment.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Level 4:Practice Makes.......Marginally Better

In an effort to start getting myself into some real practical activities the last few days have involved more dabbling within the foreboding Unity engine to which i'm still only a basic user.(better then knowing nothing i suppose). Installed within Unity upon its download is a template game called Angry Bots, consisting of 1 third person shooter level for to experiment with. So experiment I have been, this has consisted of finding various components within the engine and script thus swatting up my knowledge on all that may be useful before I jump head first into trying to create my own ideas.


(Some where in that cluttered mess is my sense of comprehension)


The unfortunate thing about game and level design as an individual discipline is the there not the 'showiest' of disciplines mean our work doesn't start getting particularly visible until its in its latter stages. Such things are the nature of the beast however so it can't be helped but I will endeavor to practice where possible.


Aside from my Unity playing I have also been scouring various sources for a plethora of sources for me to use within my literature and contextual reviews which we were informed of on friday. I already have quite a selection of articles and journal sources but the more the merrier I say. It may be a step outside of the usual realms of the design schools but I will still produce a suitable essay of my analysis of the  ludology/narratology debate.