EPORTFOLIO

GAM 220

NAVIGATE

Week 1, Introduction (2 the top): I got into this course to gain the knowledge that’s necessary to start developing games. I’m talking about the in depth, individual bits and pieces of game development.

Week 1, My Class introduction (2 the top):

“Hello everyone, I’m Ryan Bridglal and have been in some of your previous classes. I feel great to move on to this class from my previous one (weird experience) and can’t wait to get into the work. My ultimate goals are to focus on a Doctorate in AI engineering, game programming in general. The best way to reach me is through UAT or my personal email. I check it multiple times a day and spend the majority of my computer time during the late nights. Don’t let the time zone time-stamp fool you; I recently moved to Maui, HI and when I make a post at 1 am, it registers at 5am in UAT’s world. I have an 8 month old daughter and spend all of my free time with her and my wife when I’m not working on anything (that’s why I use my pc strictly at night; they’re asleep). I’m also a hardcore gamer and look forward to any LAN parties going on. So if you want to meet up within any game server, let me know and I’m up for it. I love helping out wherever I can…….

Anyone use Second Life?

By the way instructor, I like your introduction and wish our class was web cam interactive. You could see my collection of pahjammahs! Too bad I won’t damage anyones eyes with them. Turnitin is an AWESOME service and I would prefer to submit my work through it. I already have an account with the site, let me know what the class details are if you intend on utilizing the service. By the way, do you personally or professionally know Mark Baldwin? He was my instructor for GAM101 and I learned a great deal from him…. just curious because I saw the items within the doc sharing area….” (Bridglal, 1)

Week 1 Readings (2 the top):

Creating a Great Design Document

Game Design: Secrets of the Sages

The Anatomy of a Design Document, Part 1

The Anatomy of a Design Document, Part 2

Collaborating in Game Design

Week 1, Project (2 the top):

Complete the following:

# 1) Name the game and identify the context of the game (see page 69 in your text for the definition of context and what it should contain.)

# 2) Identify three major elements of gameplay (page 70 in your text) that form the core of this game and the player’s primary activity. For example, a MLB basketball sim would feature team building, player control during a game and perhaps Internet play against other opponents.

# 3) Identify three gameplay hooks as defined by chapter 2.2 in the book. Identify each an as action, resource, tactics or time hook (if these don’t fit, invent your own category!) and write a short description of how they take place in the game.

# 4) Identify the genre of the game, the audience for the game and how these two are related. Often the audience for a game is determined by a previous title (such as Warcraft III appealing to WC2 fans) so mentioning related titles is fine.

# 5) Draw a spider model of the game’s elements (see page 45-47) that identifies the major systems of the game and how they connect; again, you need a minimum of ten elements.

My submitted project within a word document:

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Running head: Unit 1, Week 1 - Assignment

Unit 1, Week 1 - Assignment

Ryan Bridglal

University of Advancing Technology

GAM220, Applied Game Theory

Professor Ken Adams

July 27th, 2008

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Unit 1, Week 1 – Assignment

# 1) Name the game and identify the context of the game (see page 69 in your text for the definition of context and what it should contain.)

The Game I choose to write about is the World of Warcraft. A lot of people have and are playing this game. It’s a great financial investment for the developers and companies involved with the release; the game is here to stay and will only expand. The developers did a great job of creating the context. Everything within the game ties into everything else and it’s expandable. The player is who you want to be and based on a predefined set of races and physical looks. Beyond that, your character is fully customizable with the clothing and gear. The developers did offer a good amount of character presets that satisfies the gamers (Mage, Warrior, Rouge, Hunter, Warlock, etc..). The goal of the character is based on what the player wants to do with their character. You are suppose to level up by questing and killing things. But you can use the game as a communication tool or a way to get together with friends to accomplish the goals of the game. One of the best features of Warcraft is the vast world you have to roam around in. There’s 3 main continents and the game is open to uncountable expansions. It’s very rare that you’ll run into the same person twice by accident. In most cases, you’ll have to locate them through your buddy list and meet up with them.

This is not a bad trait because the game never seems crowded or over populated to the point where you can’t enjoy the game. World of Warcraft gives the player a magical land where they can escape from their daily lives. Some people enjoy going through the small stories (quests) that are pre-made. Some like meeting up with friends to achieve the objectives of the game. Other love to just run around and interact with people while being able to roam the land in

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a death match style of a game. And others enjoy creating (a character) something they can never be in real life and making it grow. Warcraft satisfies the imagination within us and let’s us interactively live through the experience (you can be a magic user and customize it).

# 2) Identify three major elements of gameplay (page 70 in your text) that form the core of this game and the player’s primary activity. For example, a MLB basketball sim would feature team building, player control during a game and perhaps Internet play against other opponents.

The game play for the World of Warcraft is based on the PC platform. The player is linked to the world through a mouse and keyboard combination. You can create and customize your character and play along with friends or random strangers without changing anything in the game. The story is based in mid evil times where mythical creatures roam the world and you have the opportunity to interact with them. Most people can related to their characters, the creatures within the game and the environment. This leads to a relationship between the player and game that builds upon itself while drawing the player in for more hours of gaming; it’s addicting. Another interesting feature about Warcraft is the translation system thats in place. It allows for many different kinds of people throughout the world to participate with the same rules as every one else.

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# 3) Identify three gameplay hooks as defined by chapter 2.2 in the book. Identify each an as action, resource, tactics or time hook (if these don’t fit, invent your own category!) and write a short description of how they take place in the game.

Action Hook; With the World of Warcraft, you can navigate and move your character around the environment with only 5% restriction (there are certain mountain tops and oceans that are unavailable). You can communicate with the non player characters, opponents, group members or other clan members and objects. You have the option to choose your battles and even try to retreat from them. Use the map and mini map to view your surrounds and keep track of where you’ve been. Theres always the exploration of everything within the game and playing the quests you accept. Warcraft itself as a whole is a giant story broken down into thousands, upon thousands on mini stories.

Resource Hook; Everything is scored and has a hit point system. You can obtain, manage and earn money. Buy, sell, trade and give away items. After gaining enough experience to level up, your characters scores are automatically increased. The game does allow you to control how much damage your character is able to absorb (based in their armor and magical enchantments). You can also manage your characters abilities with trade skills and managing everything relating to your character.

Tactical Hook; You have your choice of weapons and spells to choose from. The game allows for addons to help guide you through and offer map coordinates and game aids. You an repair your items, group with other people to have an advantage, customize your character and upgrade their skills.

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# 4) Identify the genre of the game, the audience for the game and how these two are related. Often the audience for a game is determined by a previous title (such as Warcraft III appealing to WC2 fans) so mentioning related titles is fine.

The game’s genre is an MMORPG which stands for a Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing game and the intended audience is everyone who is capable of playing and understanding video games. From the adults to young children, World of Warcraft is easy to understand and adapt to. The audience is related to the genre based on the people who love to play with their imagination. This game is beyond reality and the only way it’s enjoyable is if you like being and becoming what the game has to offer. You can pretend to be a magic user, warrior and other characters; theres something that everyone can relate to. The previous titles that help built the audience for this MMORPG where any Role Playing Games in general. Let’s take the book and paper game of dungeons and dragons. That game is 100 % based on imagination and without this thought process, it would not exist. The majority of D&D players have moved on the MMORPG’s because of the ease of finding people to play with, the game world is already setup and rules in place. Everything is there, all they have to do it build a character and use their imagination to have fun.

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# 5) Draw a spider model of the game’s elements (see page 45-47) that identifies the major systems of the game and how they connect; again, you need a minimum of ten elements.

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References

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (2003 to current). World of Warcraft, Information located and Retrieved on July 27, 2008, from http://www.blizzard.com/us/wow/.

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This is the end of my assignment…

Week 1, QUIZ (2 the top):

END QUIZ 1(2 the top)

Week 2 Readings, (2 the top):

3D Engines for Games

Tricks and Techniques for Sound Effect

Producing Audio for Halo

Learn Faster to Play Better

Developing Action-based Mobile Games

Cross Platform User Interface Development

Developing Online Console Games

Week 2 Discussions, Interface (2 the top):

Information posted by the instructor:

“Interface with games is a big bugaboo of mine.   I believe interface should be there to facilitate gameplay, to draw the person into the game, the story and the game world, and therefore it should be as transparent as possible.  But for many games, the challenge of the gameplay centers on overcoming the interface.  What do you think, should interface constitute an acceptable challenge in gameplay?   What are some examples of transparent interface and interface that is part of the challenge of the game?” (Adams).

My Post:

“The interface is important and should facilitate game play, yet be in the background. That why it’s important that your interface doesn’t garble the screen with items that could become useless to the player (because they block the playing field). Some of the classic AD&D style computer games had large portions of the screen dedicated to every aspect of the game except the game world. That drove me nuts and I didn’t spend too much time on them. When it came to games that showed more of the playing field, my attention was taken. I preferred the choice on having the option to customize your interface. The player is in control of what is displayed. I loved how you could have a full screen effect with Doom. I didn’t care how many bullets were in my gun, or how much health I had. I loved being able to run around and live the experience.

By being able to change the interface within doom on demand, that changed the challenge of the game itself. I would have to use my judgment and try to stay alive. I wouldn’t even know when I’m about to run out of ammo and adapted ways to use other features of the game (brass knuckles or the lovely chainsaw). I think a game that had a good transparent interface was the original Soinc the Hedgehog. I Believe it only displayed your score, time and rings collected. The rest of the screen was dedicated to the game environment. Personally, I love games that allow customization. I do like to have certain interface objects, but I need more game play screen” (bridglal).

My response to a student’s post:

” I think I’m going to like Assassin’s Creed. I’ve wanted to try it for the longest time. Some of the things you talk about are how we got spoiled in the video game world. Ok I need to accept the fact that even though I love realistic games, not all of them should be. With assassin’s creed, when your health is low and close to death. Are there any signs of it within the game other than your health bar? I would prefer that movement is hindered or even the sight of blood on my hands from a wound that restricts the use of that hand or 2. But then again, game should be entertaining and having an interface that provides information about the game is important. In the World of Warcraft, I like knowing when spells I have, or the mini map (that I pretend is a futuristic GPS). Without the health bar, there’s no other way of known when I’m going to die” (bridglal)!

My other response to another student’s post:

” I share the same views as you do, but I still play WOW. I don’t believe in paying to play though; so I play on a private server. With that comment, I’m not saying or promoting illegal electronic activities. I believe I paid my dues to blizzard because I bought the game, bought the expansions, paid to play for months and it was a waste of money. I didn’t get any financial return on that investment. SOOOOO, now I play on a private server with a bunch of personal friends who feel the same way as I do” (bridglal).

Week 2 Discussions, Audio (2 the top):

Information posted by the instructor:

“Game Audio is becoming more of an importance in Game Designs. What are your thoughts on sound in games? What are some recent games that have excellent audio design, in your opinion” (Adams)?

My post:

” Personally I love realistic games. The audio within a game adds to the realism, interaction and entertainment. Of course I can enjoy a game without sound; but a silenced title doesn’t seem lively at all. When my character moves or an object flies through the screen, I want to hear the response or sound effect. It’s critical in making the players feel as if they were not playing a game. You can’t even play some games to their 100 % capacity. You need to experience what’s going on through sound, to predict what’s going to happen next. With a lot of first person shooters (such as Counter Strike), just because you heard a gun shot or you can hear your enemy approaching you from a certain direction, judges whether you can respond properly and make the kill or winning move for your team. Sound is entertaining and video games are like movies. Most people want to hear a certain sound play in the background that matches the mood of the player, character and game scene they’re involved with. It’s can also add to your profits; Let’s look at Guitar Hero, even though I believe the developers had to pay the owners of the music for the rights to use their property within the game, they choose to use songs that appeal to the public. In turn, it attracted (and created new) a lot of people. Generating so much sales, they game has made its way to part 3 and in many versions. It even introduced a lot of people to the music type, genre and style, that would normally not have been interested with the songs.

Audio is a critical component of any game that shouldn’t be left out or slacked on” (bridglal).

My response to a student’s post:

” There are times were some games could do without certain sounds or it seems to be over kill. That’s another important issue that developers face when creating games. Just as the storyline, graphics, game play type or interface, the audio within a game is what can also ruin or make a great title. Hey I’m all for realism myself and you’re correct about it; when I’m running around, swimming, playing paint ball or on my sports bike (real life scenes), I don’t hear the music I would experience within some games.

But I like having music at certain times. Everywhere I go, I see people listening to music while driving. This is why I couldn’t believe GTA didn’t adapt a better audio system that allows realism to the game. Why couldn’t they acquire licensing from a record label and artist to use their music within the game? I believe a lot of people would be drawn into video game if they were based on realism. Isn’t the Nintendo Wii on this concept? It’s an old and out dated graphic system. But because of the physical interaction, people are attracted to it” (bridglal).

My response to another student’s post:

“Those are some good points….. but regarding the Bells and whistles or pac man. Come on the sound served as a critical part of the game. WAAAAAAAAAAAAY back in the 80’s that sound (you know, it sounds like a howling dog, with a voice problem) that occurred when a ghost kill the beloved pac was noticeable is any arcade. People knew when a player was doing good or bad because of the sound alone! That’s why sound was added to those titles; to give further interaction with the game. Some kind of acknowledgment that your doing good or bad. I didn’t have to look at my friends play to know if they were dieing or leveling, I could hear it” (bridglal).

Week 2 Discussions, Control (2 the top):

Information posted by the instructor:

“What games that you have played have the best “feel” and control scheme for the following:
(1)   For a console game
(2)   For a PC game

What are some issues for designing a game for both PCs and Consoles, in terms of controls” (Adams)?

My post:

” The best control scheme can be based on your personal preference. This is going to be a little difficult for me to discuss because I grew up on mouse and keyboard gaming (I also prefer and love it; I hate console controllers except joysticks).

The control scheme for console games that can be considered the best is one that is simple and easily adaptable. Most console controllers have a few amount of buttons and their operation is limited. Let’s talk about the Legend of Zelda for the SNES. The controls were easy to use and adapt to. I didn’t require any training on how to play the game. I automatically knew the directional pad moved my character up, down, left, right, etc… and the buttons performed actions. The controllers of the system had a nice layout. Each button was easy to access and within reach, while properly holding the controller. Within the game, I didn’t have to use any special button combinations to perform actions within the game.

With PC games and in most cases, the controls are geared toward hardcore gamers. This allows the player to have more control of their character and game environment. Let’s take a look at NovaLogic’s MiG-29 Fulcrum, flight simulator. Roughly, there are more than 50 different commands you can execute with your mouse and keyboard. Why? This game was meant to be a realistic flight simulator of the MiG-29 Jet; because of the advanced controller layout (even if you choose to use a mouse, keyboard and Joystick with rudder pedals), it’s required to have the capability to control the aircraft’s every move. You can’t achieve this with a console control layout. With all console control layout flight sims I’ve seen, you have to sacrifice some form of realism.

Your initial targeted audience plays an important factor when you are designing your game. Based on the age, genre, platform and type of players you expect to create your game for, is based on how you will setup your control scheme. Obviously if you’re designing a game for any console, you have to setup a basic control system that’s sufficient to allow the player to have good control of their character and environment. If you implement an advanced system that requires multiple combinations of buttons to be used at the same time to perform a move, it can be to difficult for some to execute. With PC gaming, you can create an advanced or simple control scheme. Most games use the mouse and keyboard combination which is sufficient and adaptable to most computer users. Most games even allow the option of a game pad. So a major challenge of creating control schemes with pc games is the amount of time and resources the developers have to spend on the game. You don’t have to create a keyboard/mouse combo control scheme for a PS2″ (bridglal).

My response to a student’s post:

” I want to get a WII but I haven’t taken the plunge because I don’t no if I will like it. Want to try it before I buy it (I haven’t found a working display in any game stores). Don’t buy a WII because of the the graphics because it’s not meant to produce graphically beautiful games. The part that draws me in is the physical interaction. It would be nice to have something close to batting cages or a bowling alley. I live in Maui and there are NO batting cages and only one bowling alley that over crowded. I’ve resorted to a set of golf clubs and a driving range; but that doesn’t come close to a pitching machine and a wooden bat. Besides, the rich sobs at the ranges in Hawaii are always annoyed at my excitement when I drive a ball” (bridglal).

My other response to another student’s post:

“LOL, Glenn, I’m the same and the only time I learned the buttons or moves was during the reign of Mortal Kombat 2. Other than that, it’s been a controller destroying, button mashing hell.
Date Modified: 3 Aug 08    2:17 PM MST”(bridglal).

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1. Bridglal, Ryan. July 21st, 2008. Applied Game Theory, Introductions. Originally posted within the University of Advancing

Technology’s GAM220 class curriculum. Now located at http://eport.ryanjb.com.