Games Prototyping | Media 180

Subway Surf:

How to interact with app?

Simply swipe and flick all at a touch of your finger whislt being chased by a police man dressed in a christmas outfit. You encounter obstacles like moving trains, and literal hurdles in the middle of the track which you need to duck under. In additon to this you would find youself leveling up in the game beating new high scores and using some of the thrilling rewards. You might also get the oppportunity to have a new avatar of your choice. Also there are options in the online store to pay for addiotonal coins but many of the other features are free!

Encouraging more time?

The game promps user to spend more time by offering added "lifes" in order to beat another online competitor. It also boosts this idea of earing new "avatars" by playing more to earn coins. The game also has the "avatars" doing liveley actions such as jumping;eating or skating whilst waiting for the user to make there next move. This keeps us entertained throughout as there is always a distraction for our eyes to fixate on.

How well app works?

When first opeing the app it askes for your age; wheather you agree to the terms and conditions etc. - however what i found works well is that the app does this in a fun and charming way. Whilst running through these questions the apps avatars are centered above logos, and they futher use colour to keep the users engaged. In addition the app has customised there visials to the "festive season" by using visal animations (such as snow; christmas hats). I think that the snow itself has been designed in a way that doesnt effect the experience of the game but rather enhances it. Genrally i think the app works really well with no glitches or out of place buttons and i enjoyed my expirence whilst on the app.

Entertaining?

Highly addicitive game to play, with countless visal effects and exiting rewards to further lure you in. Many of the rewards include using a hoverboard, jetpack gaining keys to bring you back to life and many others. Its certainly not a game to get boared of as they contiuoulsy add in new features. The app also has a settting of houses; familiar scenes whilst running away from the police, this sense of familiarty in terms of enviromenet resures users of a secured enjoyment, (almost like being garnteed pleasure becouse you become familair with something).

Improvments?

I agreed to the terms and conditions of the app, however i think many would glide past what data the app is collecting- me being one of those many. Whilst playing the game it becmae appparent to me that i must of agreed to a term which meant i was competing online with other people who i dont know. Now i do belive this is a personal mistake of mine but i think the app should have a seprate question for users who dont wish to compete with stragers. Besides this i still am a fan of the game and cannot think of any other faults.

Fruit Ninja 2:

How to interact with app?

Once you downloade the app your asked the genral questions such as ("ask app not to track") and then exported over to the "Avatar" section where you can tailor and edit a avatar. Then you work through the diffrent leveles climing up the ladder and slicing fuit. There are also attribuites such as avoiding the "boms"; calaiming rewards.

Encouraging more time?

I do not think the game effectivly encourages users to spend more time as the first levels are too short, and there is lots of text to read. Not to mention it lacks in audio entertaiment; can seem quite repativive to the point that it gets boring.

How well app works?

In terms of its privacy settings I think the app is well equipt having options for who can see your activity. The animated arrows function efficently and each featured text emerges instantly without being delayed.

Entertaining?

With regard to the app being entertainig I think that the action of slicing furits; leveling up could be a postive aspect. However I do think it lacks in being entertaining compared to the other games i have tested.

Imporvments:

When tailoring the avatar they could make it more engaging by actually having some anmations on the side Due to the fact the background is plane black with a few boxes.

Ive also noticed that there was no music or sounds , and lots of reading within the fist half of playing which should defently be imporved.

Majic Tiles 3:

Piano game.

How to interact with the app?

In order to interact with the game its simply the case of repatative "tapping" which is known to be adictive when using technology. The app's idea is to use the piano tiles to play through the songs, and if you where to tap a wrong tyling it offers a "life" by watching a video to continue playing.

Encouraging more time?

The app appeares to tailor your intrests and meet your needs in order to encourge you to spend more time using the game. One of the ways it does this is by asking you to select your favriout music genra. As you contiune to work through the varity of games the app send's through notifications ("keep playing the song at higher speed to achieve crowns"). The concept of the word "crown" makes the user feel superiour as well as feeding into the time we play on the game to achieve these "crowns".

How well the app works?

In addition to this when you first download the app it offers you a "tutorial song" where its design guides you on how to play the game. This is benifical as it allows users to not be confused, which is one of the reasons why someone may choose to delete an app. I also think the use of switching between primary colours such as (orange; blue) in each level keeps us entertained. Along with motivating bubbled text that appares at the top of the screen stating buzz words like (great; wow!) every so often. The app times these words and diffrent visal interactions well leaving the user always busy gaging our attention.

Cleverly the app has a featured "life" for users who have wrong clicked a title and want to contiue playing a song. In order for us to gain a free "life" you need to watch a (video add) allowing to app to genrate more income.

Entertaining?

Yes, upon first downloding the app it intices you in with music such as the "top pop" hits. The app further encourages "real time battle" where you can play against other contestants causing you to invest more of your time using the app. In conclution I belive that the app's features (colours, notifications, pop-up writing, levels etc.) all contriubute to the app being highly entertaining.

Improvments?

When first downloading the game there are notifications on "asking app not to track";"send notifications" these can be annoying for the user.

Some of the bonus features require a subscription of (£9.99) which is more pricy than a Netflix subscrition. I think in order to get more sales the app should find a way of reducing their monthly subscription or at least offer more bonus features.

The notifications pop up in a blue box with thin white writng- I feel that the white text could be put in bold.

I think the app should also take into consideration individuals who are colour blind as the majority of colour blind people are unabel to fully "see" red, green or blue light. The game is formed mainly around these pirmary colours, therfore something the app could do to imporve this is have a taiolored button for those who are colour blind to switch to an alternative layout.

-Game Research-

-walking simulator games-

Virginia

gene = thriller/adventure/mystery

(PEGI)

16+

art style?

all the characters are animated.

incorporation of film like format with jump cuts from first-person perspective. upon first starting the game this is more apparent, however as the game progresses towards the end you walk along more settings building up suspense. In order to propel the story forward scene transitions use cinematic editing with cuts; dissolves. The game is set in summer allowing scenes to be edited with beams of sunlight for a eye-catching effect. Its hasty cinematic pace is dense with drama and the game relies on visuals to show rather than tell players vital information.

engaging?

its a game completely without dialogue which is already off putting for some gamers. But if offers a unique style and stands out of the crowd because of this approach.

The storyline centres around a FBI agent who is investigating the disappearance of a boy in the time period (1992). All whilst trying to shine a light on the sinister forces at work, discovering there hidden agenda and working along side (Maria) who's another agent . I think this makes for a thrilling; engaging storyline that would entice gamers to play due to the mystery element and complex clues. It also means that individuals would be driven to continue playing as they would want to crack the case!

Ideas to incorpirate?

according to reviews the intital opening shot we see is of a women sliding a key inot a locked box. The review quotes "The camera cuts away before we get to see what’s inside, gracefully setting the tone for the haunting, enigmatic tale to follow."

For me this stipulates that a opening shot which requires people to puzzle elements of narrative acts as an constructive hook. Thereofre incorperating a short clip at the beggining of my game would be ideal.

Everybody's Gone To The Rapture

genre= adventure/first-person adventure/indie

(PEGI)

16+

art style?

Rapture utilises storytelling techniques to put forward there intriguing tale. Reviews highlight that "Well-written audio diaries" and "fantastic character interactions" aid in building up the tale. The game consist of six major characters, this means that we can pinpoint into the characters backstories; really understand them making powerful, memorable character moments. The climax of the story is portrayed with use of vigorous hymnal music.

engaging?

The driving plot for this game is that it takes place within a small English village, where the people have mysteriously disappeared. Players interact with floating lights throughout this village which reveal missing parts of the story. The main objective of the game is to try discover how and why the individuals who once lived in the village have gone missing. Personally I find that this storyline is perfect for making players question reality and push them to continue playing for longer durations due to the idea of solving an unknown case. In addition the game is transformative with highly detailed visuals of settings such as parks and homes. This grants for a immersive experience that traps players into a whole new realistic world further propelling it to be a dreamy ordeal.

ideas to incorporate?

The game is a visal treat as much as it is a narrative one- now alhtough I might not be as expirecned in game desinng I still uphold the opniion that a game needs to be visally intresting in order to engage an audience. In the breif it states the game art style should be "simplistic and focus on clear bold shapes and silouiets". This has made me ponder the value of colour; so an idea I want to incorparte is the use of stroytelling through visal effects but altering so that my siolouits and shapes have diffrent shades to it.

What Remains Of Edith Finch

genra= main: first-person adventure game

(sub genre) advanture game, ; indie(means its created by independent game devlopers)

(PEGI)

16+

Art style?

This animated game introduces new art styles and colours as you continue to play allowing players to expirence a sense of aging time. Furthermore each time a character dies their is a specifc alteration made with colours. For example it personalises its colour palette with more muted faded colours or bright colours to represent diffrent characters death's. One elment of art that is incorporated is a classic comic style. This is particularly used to portray the deceased character (Barbara)- who is an indvidulal that wanted to be famous; remebered. Therfore this comic style ties into this concept of a rememrable personality due to the fact its so unique in its art style. The game utilizes style to impact themes and further details about characters throughout the game. It also makes efforts to have intricate scenes to imerse players in its stroyline.

Engaging?

The game is described as providing the feeling of playing a diffrent game in each section that you interact with. The driving motive for players is understanding the numerous deaths from various time periods; to engage players the visal aspects take charage to show instead of tell.

Ideas to incorporate?

I really want to take onborad the idea of "show not tell" as I feel it fits into the breif. This is becouse the breif outlines that the game should aid in the prevention of memoery loss - and through visal aspects players would learn to recall objects or important sences. In addition I want to magpie the scheme of customizing each section of the game empowering my audience to have a feeling of playing a diffrent game each time. I rekon if each section players interact with is diverse then it would make for a more memsmorizing plot.

I have been assigned to produce a game design document; prototype for a walking stimulator game that I will design. The company who has provided this brief highlight that the reasoning for the creation of this game is to help people with spatial memory.

Taking this into consideration my initial idea is to create a walking stimulator game that incorporates puzzle problems. Research illustrates that jigsaw puzzles increase the production of dopamine (a chemical that regulates mood, memory, and concentration. The game idea will follow a recompense and sanction system whereby players would be rewarded with puzzle pieces in order to complete an image (this image would reveal vital information to the players; it’s the main aim of the game to complete this image), but also players can also have these pieces deducted off them. Participants would progress through the game collecting puzzle pieces from various locations which are memorable due to the game art style being schematic clear bold shapes and silhouettes. The complete image would reveal what happened (however i haven’t quite figured out what it is that the image entails for my audience). The memory aspect comes into play as players would be sanctioned for wrong doing (again I’m usure on what the wrong actions might be). Sanctions would work by having a pre-collected puzzle piece disappear from what the player already has collected in their "gallery". The aim would then be to recall where in the game you found that missing puzzle piece. Overall, the idea is still undergoing contemplation but I now have a slight glimpse into how I’m planning to embody the memory aspect of the brief into my walking stimulator game.

-Brief Analysis-

-Further Research-

Walking stimulator games are adventure games that are attentive on gradual exploration;uncovering via observation.

These types of games are popular among individuals due to typically having a compelling narrative. The narratvie strucutre commonly is based around human stroies making for a more engaging and realistic outlook. In addition to this it allows for players to understand and "walk through" the game at their own pace, taking in the landscape and even audio effects.

Frequent themes that tend to pop up in walking stimulator games is navigation; well the idea of walking about and interacting with numerous objects. Genre conventions such as discovery, exploration, stroy telling and interactions with the enviroment that the player is in are just some conventions.

Delving deeper into the orignins of walking stimulator games, it became evident how far back the "founders" of this genre where. In 1986, (Graham Relf; Simon Dunstan) created " Explorer" which purely generated limitless locations to visit and explore --focusing solely on navigating using a map. Prior to this , Relf developed a game called "The Forest" , had a range of terrains. Both these conepts from the 90's demonstrates how these could be considered the "founders" of this genre rather than the well known walking stimulator game "Dear Esther".

Common gameplay features are using the character to interconnect with objects which could potetally reveal a hidden stroy - such as a door or portal that have a message behind it. In addition to this the game may have options for players to cast magical spells using game controls ( this is of cource depending on the genre that the game is). Overall walking stimulator games provides an almost "real life" aspect as you travel through discovering the world that your in making for a alluring expirence.

-Reflective Log-

The production of making the assets was challenging at first due to problems such as assigning a new material to the object so that it has colour. Or even being able to mesh-union the objects together as I was navigating the various tools. One object I particularly found difficult to make was the puzzle pieces. I still am dissatisfied with the end result, as the vertices are not aligned and the piece looks rushed. However, when I exported it to Unreal Engine the appearance of the pieces seemed to have a more professional look.

There were also times where I opened up a completely new project and experimented with some of the curves, shapes and ways to deform a simplistic cube, or polygon to make an eye-catching object. I loved doing this and managed to create three different objects (the gaming headquarters, shelter cube for the diamond and finally my “egg”. Some of the steps I carried out to create this was, taking a cone and deleting some of the faces in order to create new triangles. I even began extruding parts of a cube and using keys (B) for soft selection to change part of the shape. Primarily I allowed my imagination to take over which led to using (discs); cylinders and scaling these to create a spiral effect around the egg as opposed to a basic box to place the egg in. Controls such as “shift” allowed me to clone my creations which is especially evident with my low poly trees. I learned the shortcut keys as a way of saving time and being productive with the formation of my assets.

Unreal was a very new concept to me, therefore I prioritised writing notes beforehand from tutorials, to get to grips with the umpteen controls that it seems to feature. Although I was unable to download the software at home due to lack of storage, I still found that learning controls such as (W, S etc) was vital in order to move around. For me personally this became beneficial as I am an individual who does not play games and isn't as familiar with controls. This research meant I could refer to my notes in class if I was ever stuck, but I knew that I could still rely on Martyn’s tutorials to aid me. To get familiar with the program and the way you could use interactable objects within your game, we explored the already built game in the (student demo) file. This was extremely helpful and the assets within the game such as the (vase) meant that I could later use the blueprints for that object to apply it to my own game. It also exhibited the routes for me to add intractable objects in my game for it to be more captivating. Overall adding my world into Unreal was surprisingly more straightforward than I expected. Of course, I had issues with scaling and rotating objects so that they replicated my Maya project, but with patience I managed to somewhat mirror it. I especially used the content drawer once I uploaded things from Maya to access the lamberts; blin colours any anything that uploaded separately. I later used these colours for additional objects that I created in Unreal (such as a cube).

In terms of exporting, I knew I couldn’t “shift” select the whole project all at once and import it into Unreal as it could cause the system to delay. This is why I carefully named my objects placing them in a gaming file as a way of organising them. Due to the fact that I had only one level to build my game into Unreal everything was already set out after all the assets were exported. The only adjustments I made was selecting a few objects to add the blueprints to them. Asides from this I took use of the rotation; scaling tools to fit everything onto the island. This was especially used for my fences which are placed around the exterior of the island.

It was fundamental that I tested the prototype to see if it worked; if there were any further requirements, I could make in order to better improve it. I encountered a fault with the positioning of where the player started off the game. This was due to a default in game player mode. The difficulties with positioning my character; continuously bumping into objects or the player starting on the ground rather than the surface of the island all needed to be fixed. Once internalising this I attempted to find the route because through adding assets to Unreal it played around with the game players start. So, I needed to open up the island's static mesh to change the game player mode; prevent the player from moving around without collisions. This changed the way my polygon outline fitted around my island and meant I could fix the problem.

In terms of understanding the gaming features in my prototype I have managed to incorporate interactable objects for the players to grab and read features like the puzzle pieces. The concept behind the puzzle pieces is that game players would collect them in order to form a completed puzzle at the end, providing the location of a missing child. The puzzle pieces are an essential element as it ties in with our brief to design a prototype for individuals with spatial memory. In addition, another interactable object is the bomb which was designed in Maya; it aims to add an obstacle for the player. In the later development of the game the bomb would be programmed to explode when the player has grabbed it. At the beginning of the level players would be warned and demonstrated a series of shapes in which they need to memorise and avoid (the bomb being one of them). Furthermore, as demonstrated by the screen recording of the game the players can interact with a floating egg. As players advance throughout the game it will become apparent via the puzzle pieces that the hidden child is actually trapped within this egg. Comprehensive the design of the game’s low poly trees and pastel colour scheme are featured throughout. All objects created in Maya were exported over to Unreal Engine 5 and their purpose is to generally be visually pleasing. Some of the objects such as the (headquarters building; where the diamond is sheltered) were freestyled by myself. Whereas features like the low poly trees, clouds, fences, water floating island and rocks required me to follow tutorials. The advancement of these components is all outlined within the attached power-point.

In addition, I've attached a screen recording of my gaming world in Maya to really represent the variety of colour I used in order to make my game stand out acting as a USP. The extra recording of the Maya project features some of the objects which were not exported to Unreal Engine hence its inclusion.