Homework 8

Our Team Game!

1. The Tetrad

• Aesthetics - I think they aesthetics is a huge part of my team's game. Because this is a survival horror game, atmosphere and feeling is very important. I think that the polish and attention to detail will not be very high in our game. Because we are beginners and the severe lack of time, I predict our game to be not very polished aesthetically. 
• Story - I do not think our story is weak, however it is simple. Our story allows the play to be placed in a creepy and terrifying setting. I do not think it succeeds much beyond that though. 
• Mechanics - This is a huge area of the game that we are working on. We really want the player to feel vulnerable. We want them to feel like they are in a place that is dangerous. Gameplay has a huge effect on the feeling of vulnerability. Our gameplay mechanics make the player helpless. This is a game of survival and stealth. There are weapons to defeat the monsters, but the basis of the gameplay is centered around stealth and sneaking.
• Technology - The submarine that the player is trapped in will be clean, sleek, and technologically advanced. High-tech computer monitors will be present on the ship. We want the technology in our game to inform the player that this is a technically evolved submarine. There will also be many weapons on the sub such as knives, lead pipes, assault rifles, pistols, and others

2. Balance

• I think the balance of our game should be steady. The scope of our game is very small and contained because of the setting. I think that this allows us to keep the game feeling balanced and well-paced

3. Emergent Properties

• I would assume that this game would have quite a few intentional and unintentional emergent properties. The intentional emergent properties occurs when some creative uses of the game are intended by the designers. Unintentional emergent properties are instances such as bugs and glitches. I do not think that this game will be perfect. There will be some bugs and glitches. Hopefully they can be easily patched.

4. Interest Curve

• Interest curves ensures the player is interested in the game from start to finish. I think that our game will be pretty well paced which will keep the player interested. Because this game is not very long, I do think that the setting, atmosphere, and mechanics will keep the player invested and the interest curve high.

5. Enjoyment

• I enjoy survival horror games very much. So I might like this game more than the average gamer. This game should be enjoyable for the length of it. If we were to create a feature length game, I think that we would have to add more variations to the gameplay. 

What I did last week:

• worked on setting up the team repository
• worked in blender
• worked on objects such as weapons and computers

What I will do this week:

• mainly work in blender
• design new objects and assets for the game

Homework 7

Repositories

https://github.com/pennellcr/sample_level

What I did last week

• I reviewed and researched animations and models online. 
• Worked on blueprints with lighting, collectibles, and enemy movement
• Set up Github account, source control, and repositories

What I will do this week:

• I plan on working in blender a lot this week
• designing objects for the game
• work on some character models
• design weapons, knives, computer screens

Homework 6

Game 1: Witcher 3

1. The Tetrad
• Aesthetics - I truly believe that the aesthetics of this game are nearly flawless. The polish and attention to detail are amazing. The sound design also adds to the aesthetic of the game. Finding this top-notch level of polish is very rare in gaming. Only a few games achieve this.
• Story - I think that Witcher 3 has a very strong story to keep the player interested. I think that the story relies heavily on character relationships and emotion. I do think that the story does contribute and enhance the experience that the game is aiming to create.
• Mechanics - I think that the core gameplay of Witcher 3 is very good. It might not be on par with the aesthetics and story but it is still fun. I found that the best part of the gameplay was exploring the vast open world. This definitely plays back into the aesthetics of the game. I think the aesthetics probably enhance the mechanics.
• Technology - Because this game has such high production values, the technology is of a very high standard. When you just view a image of this game, you realize the level of technology being used to design the game. 
2. Balance
• I think this game remains very well-balanced despite the remarkable scope it is aiming for. I think most of great pacing and balance is a product of the very strong story. It keeps the game focused and personal with the game's enormous size staying in the background.
3. Emergent Properties
• Intentional emergence occurs when some creative uses of the game are intended by the game designers. This can be the framework or simple rules of the game. And in this way, I do think that Witcher 3 has succeeded once again. This is a carefully designed game with few bugs and flaws. And when there is an unintentional emergence in the form of a glitch, it is patched very quickly.
4. Interest Curves
• When using an interest curve, you can ensure that your game interests the player from start to finish. I think that this goes back to pacing, balance, and story. Which this game excels. 
5. Enjoyment
• I obviously enjoyed this game very much. I think that the reason I liked it was mainly because of the story, pacing, balance, and aesthetics. I can really appreciate this game simply because of how well-made and polished it is. 

Game 2: Evolve

1. The Tetrad
• Aesthetics - The aesthetics of this game are very good. This is probably the best part of Evolve. The visuals and sound design are very well implemented. I can't complain about this game's aesthetics.
• Story - This is probably the weakest aspect of the game. There is absolutely no story. This is the main reason I found myself losing interest in Evolve very quickly.
• Mechanics - the core gameplay is very strong. the gunplay and movement is tight and responsive. However, I found the the gameplay very repetitive. The game became very boring only a few hours in.
• Technology- This again ties back into aesthetics. This is not the problem with the game. the technology and aesthetics are very good. The level design does add something to the gameplay. 
2. Balance
• With the complete lack of story, I feel like the balance of this game is off. There is not really any flow or pacing to this game. To me, it feels fragmented and dull. And these feelings are mainly caused from the balance and pacing.
3. Emergent Properties
• Again, I do not think there is a problem with emergent properties in Evolve. The mechanics and core gameplay are designed very well overall. Almost all of the emergent properties are intentional.
4. Interest Curves
• I think that this is another area that Evolve is sorely lacking. I was interested in the game for about two hours. I then became completely uninterested. The repetition and non-existent story destroyed this interest curve.
5. Enjoyment
• I enjoyed my first few hours of this game. However, I became very bored because of the lack of story, balance, pacing, and interest curve. 

Homework 5

• For my first blueprint I decided to create an item that would be used for a pickup or collectible. In our game, we plan on having some sort of pickup that the player will be able to obtain. My group has discussed possibly having audiotapes that will be obtainable to the player. 
• For this blueprint, I am still working on modeling the actual audiotape that will be used in the final game. For now, I am just using a small white cylinder to represent the audiotape. 
• I also plan on creating an additional blueprint that will count the number of items picked up. I am not certain that this will really be vital to our final game because I don't think we will need to count how many audiotapes the player has collected. I just think that it would be a good skill to have.
• So for this blueprint, I have the object being destroyed when the player touches in and therefore, the player obtaining the object. I have also added a spawn emitter at location to add an effect when the player obtains the object. For now, I have an emission of smoke or fog coming from the transaction. However, I am still tinkering with this aspect. 

Screenshots

Video Team Assignment

Here is the link to our team video

Our team video!

Team Homework 1

This week, our group met at Strozier library for about two hours to work on the video game. We mainly worked on created the video for the team homework 1. We also created some objects and building with unreal together. So far, I feel that our team is communicating very well and are very organized. I do not see us having any problem with team chemistry this semester.

Specific Contributions

• Justin (me)
• I am continuing to learn the tools in unreal
• Finding and completing various unreal tutorials
• Working with blueprints, importing character models, and applying animations to those models
• Cameron
• Has begun developing a submarine hallway with various rooms
• also helped with creating the Tetrad video. 
• Cameron will continue to work with unreal and design the hallway
• also continue to learn unreal's tools and complexities
• Sebastian
• He mainly put together the audio and video for the Tetrad video
• Sebastian also is continuing to learn unreal
• Began modeling in blender
• Samuel
• developing rooms and lighting for hallway and rooms in submarine
• Researched submarine types and architecture
• also researched different survival horror video games for inspiration in our game

Class Participation Opportunity 1

Marooned and left for dead on a remote island, Captain Smith is forced to survive any way possible. Determined to have his sweet revenge against his former crew, the Captain must battle against and avoid deranged villagers across the island. While gaining new abilities and weapons, the Captain must also collect valuable materials in order to craft his makeshift boat to escape the treacherous island. Those traitorous scallywags will pay!