Unity Tutorial 4

In this weeks unity tutorial I found it took me longer than usual as  I was struggling a little bit. I was trying not to use the hints at first and do the tasks myself but I was finding it hard enough! I must say it made me kind of nervous about actually creating my own game as I wasn't thinking too much about actually creating the game (although I definitely should have been) I kept thinking about how I wanted my game to be and what each stage and mode would be but not too much about making it. Although after doing this unity tutorial I have been thinking about it a lot more and watching some tutorials on youtube (thank god for them) and now I feel a bit more confident after doing this tutorial as it has made me think more about my game and how I am actually going to go about creating it, which I needed! Although I found it difficult I did enjoy it and it did expand my knowledge on game design and made me realise what I need to work on and practice more.

Game Vision Statement

 In this blog post I will be talking more about my game and the research I have been doing. I’m making a game that will be similar to Mario Kart but with famous people driving the cars instead of the cartoons. I love this idea as I feel everyone loves a car game no matter who you are and everyone also has a favourite famous person I’m sure they would love to play a video game with. The game will be where you go on, choose a car of your choice and then create any celebrity/famous person you like. There will be an option to play solo against random people you don’t know, or if you can play a two player game with someone you know which would be really fun. I think I’m going to call the game “Celebrity Driver”. The idea of the game is to race and move up levels. So every race you win you will move up to a harder level but each level will give you access to nicer more advanced car. 

Modes-

Along the track there will coins that you can collect and they get you access to all the modes and you can pick whichever one you want. One of the modes is “invisible mode” where you can go invisible to get past everyone for 10 seconds which would bring you closer to they start without anyone getting in your way. 

Another mode will be “speed mode” which will get you super speed for 5 seconds which will also be of benefit to help you win. 

I also read this article that helped me with my decisions on this game. https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/what-is-game-design

Games MDA

The first reading is about game research, design, and, development by using the method MDA. MDA stands for Mechanic, 

Dynamics,

Aesthetics. 

Each of them have their own meaning which is-

 Mechanics describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms.

Dynamics describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each othersí outputs over time.

Aesthetics  describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system.

MDA suggests that games are more like artifacts than media. By this they mean the content of the game is it’s behaviour and not the media. I have learned that by thinking of games this way it helps create the idea that games build behaviour via interaction. This is a very interesting thought to me and I’ve never thought of it like that before. I always learn new things about games from reading these articles, and it interests me. I never really thought I was into gaming or games but I have to admit it is very interesting to get to know more about them and how they’re made. The link to this article is https://users.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

Second Reading- This reading is about DDE, which is Design Dynamic Experience. The whole idea of DDE is to try and improve the previous method of MDA. This also looks at the game through the creator and the players perspective which makes sense I feel. It looks at what is going well and what isn’t going as well so they can work on this for the next game.

Feedback Strategies

 I have read two articles about how to give feedback and learned a lot from them. 

Five Reasons to stop saying “good job!”

I read through this article and I completely agree. People are not asking you for feedback for you to say “good job”. I know myself personally I would prefer criticism than those two simple words “good job” it’s like an insult, a way of saying “ I didn’t really read it but I want to say something so I’ll just say this and hope it makes you feel good about your work” but realistically it doesn’t and it doesn’t help the writer or creator better themselves or get an insight into what people really think of their work. Of course not everyone’s opinions matter but if you’re looking for feedback from someone surely you care about what they think, therefore you’re looking for destructive feedback. It’s not just a phrase used when you’re asking for feedback on your work, it’s used for everything as stated in the article it’s even used to encourage children when they first start to clap their hands, draw their first picture and so on. Fine, it’s good enough for them but it is not the type of feedback you want to hear when you’re asking someone for their opinion on something you’ve worked hard on. Anyway, after reading this article I will be more conscious about the way I phrase my feedback and the effort I put into it. Sources- http://www.amblesideschools.com/sites/default/files/Five%20Reasons%20to%20Stop%20Saying%20%20Good%20Job!.pdf

How to give feedback without sounding like a jerk

The second article I read was this one. I actually feel like this was made for me to read. I literally can not give someone constructive feedback because I feel so guilty if I say anything that’s not “amazing” “great work” and so good on. I know more often than not they need to hear it, if their work isn’t the best they need to know, but not from me is what I always think. I just can’t be mean! Although after reading this article I have gained some ideas on how to give feedback but not sound mean, like putting praise at the start and end and then putting the criticism in the middle so it doesn’t seem as bad for the person receiving the feedback. I also learned that it is actually what they need and want to hear even if they don’t know it, they will thank you in the long run.

https://heleo.com/adam-grant-give-bad-feedback-without-jerk/8968/

Game idea research

 The game I decided to focus on creating was Mario Kart but with real people (famous people) and make them drive the cars instead of cartons. I chose this game to focus on as I feel it would be fun and suitable for everyone. I’m excited to get started on this. I’m hoping with the help of tutorials and lectures I will be able to create this game. Now I just need to decide what game mechanics need to feature in my new game. I read this article on Mario Kart that has a lot of information about it and was really helpful in the planning of my game design. https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Mario_Kart_Wiij

Game Elements

 During this weeks reading I learned a lot more about game design and elements. There are a lot of different definitions when it comes to game design which I understand and learned from. We keep seeing the same rules for games like they have rules, conflict, goals, they can be fun but they can also cause a lot of tension and conflict but we need to remember they are just games. There are a lot of atomic elements when it comes to games, which I have learned a lot about and learned that they include- Players, who is playing the game against each other, Objectives, what are the goals of the game, what are the rules of the games and many more that are involved in designing a game which are very important for students like me who are trying to learn more and anything I can about game design and game elements. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading and expanding my knowledge on this.

Game Design

   I think the information I have read is so interesting. I never really thought about games as how they’re designed and how they work, to be honest I’ve never really had much thought about them at all. Although after reading what I’ve read I’ve learned a lot. I’ve seen the definition of a game as “play activity with rules that involves conflict” and I thought that is a really good definition of what a game is and I’ve never seen that before so I thought that was a good way of putting it. Games have a set of rules with an outcome that involves no actual prize or wealth from it, which I also learned from what I read. I learned a lot from my reading, including, games are an activity, they have rules, they have conflict, they have goals they are a form of art, although you have to remember games are artificial, they are made up and not real but when we’re playing them that’s not what we have in mind. I enjoyed reading through the information on game design very much. 

Game Brainstorm

  FIFA

I have chosen 4 games that I want to explore and brainstorm. The first one I have chosen is Fifa. I would like to see a game similar to fifa but for Gaelic football instead of soccer. I like the idea of this because I think there’s so much circulation around soccer (understandably) but we are Irish and I think it would be good to have a game that represents a sport a lot of us Irish people play and love. I don’t know much about games or ever really play them but I would love to get to know more about them and I am enjoying the process and learning as I go. I think this idea as a game would be good as it’s something I think a lot of people would be passionate about and could get on board with. 

https://www.fifa.com/

MARIO KART 

Another game I chose was Mario Kart. I chose this game because it’s literally the only game I ever played to be honest. I loved this game so much, I used to spend lots of time on it when I was a child and would occasionally still play it on the switch if I ever got a chance to use one. I always thought it was such a fun cool game that everyone enjoyed no matter what age or what you’re in to. I think that’s why it’s so enjoyable because you don’t have to be in to a certain type of thing to play it, it’s enjoyable for any type of personality. Therefore I would love to explore a game that was like Mario kart but different. I was thinking even a game where it was similar to Mario kart as in we play the same sort of game (cars) but use real people. I was thinking something like being able to use our favourite famous people as our driver, maybe it wouldn’t work but I think it would be so cool and it’s something I would definitely play, which I think is important if I want to actually think about designing a game I would want to be interested enough to want to play it myself. I also think a lot of other people would find that entertaining and fun too.  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64282/get-speed-these-15-facts-about-mario-kart

WII FIT 

I also used to enjoy playing WII Fit. I always used to feel like I was actually exercising when I was doing it which is cool. I think we need more games that promote health and fitness rather than sitting in front of a screen with a remote not moving at all. I think the idea of doing something similar to wii fit bit more in detail. For example more intense workouts, starting off as beginner and working your way up the more fit you get, while it tracks how many calories you burn and how you’re improving your fitness level. I know you could just go to the gym or go outside but I think this way it would make it fun and in your own home which for some people could be a lot more comfortable. For me this is my favourite idea as I enjoy exercising and would love if something like this existed as I think it would be so beneficial and could really promote a more healthy lifestyle for so many people, including people who enjoy playing video games! https://www.ducksters.com/games/wii-fit.php