Tuesday, November 13, 2007
New URL...
Posting through SFU's ftp system was creating a lot of trouble for timely posts...so I've set this blog to be published on Blogger's own servers. It's a lot better now!
Week 9 - Presentation Critiques: Part 3
Project Stick Ninja
Mechanics:
Dynamics:
Aesthetics:
Project Zodiac War
Mechanics:
Dynamics:
Aesthetics:
Project Crack Quest
Mechanics:
Dynamics:
Aesthetics:
Mechanics:
- Dice rolls
- Blunt weapon > Ethereal enemy // Sharp weapon > Physical enemy
- Player makes choice as to which weapon to use
- Obtain enemy traits after defeating them (Kirby)
Dynamics:
- AI (human) dice rolls for real time feedback
- 4 levels for player to go through and defeat lvl mini boss, then fight big boss
Aesthetics:
- Stick, quick sketch style quite appealing
- Obtaining enemy traits increases player’s choices (Mega-man)
Project Zodiac War
Mechanics:
- Turned based RPS
- Player vs Com (tester)
- Pick action before round, then show action
- Build up points and you store energy for special attack
Dynamics:
- Game speed needs to be balanced
- For a fighting game compared to Street Fighter/King of Fighters, prototyping as a turn based RPS is very slow
- Attack variations for RPS limited to 3, but real fighting games, have multiple options, and combos to build up
Aesthetics:
- Zodiac theme is interesting
- Would like to see how each zodiac animal is balanced out
- Who is strong against who, weak against who
Project Crack Quest
Mechanics:
- Digital prototype – up, down, left, right, space
- Throw syringes, crack grenades, dodge enemy attacks, navigate through level
Dynamics:
- Spawn enemies from all directions to increase game intensity
- Ability to shoot down enemy bullets is overpowered, needs to be “nerfed”
Aesthetics:
- Animations nice and simple
- Player is given too much power and so game isn’t as challenging as it should be
- Making a game out of a topic that isn’t considered “safe” and “risk free”, increases the players interest in playing as the danger and illicitness of the idea is alluring
Week 10 - Weekly Assesment
Troubling Times...
The past week has been very stressful. Being a project manager for another course, this course, and the lead programmer for out game...I had to take a step back and look at what I was able to accomplish this week. Since making the critical decision of switching to XNA in week 8, I have had to withdraw that decision and switch back to Game Maker.
On Friday and Saturday, I discussed with Darrell about what we were able to understand and piece together, I realized that with two weeks of XNA, we weren't even able to get 1/4 of what I managed to build with Game Maker in a day. I spent most of my Saturday trying for a last push into XNA, but realized that I could only visualize what was needed to be done in terms of classes and funtions and arrays, and that the task was just too insurmountable for two mediocre programmers.
Tutorials were plenty and I'm sure the TAs and instructors could provided some help, but it was just too complicated to piece all those sources of information together so that it could work for us.
Having been a project manager and team leader on past and present projects, switching to XNA has been the worst decision I have ever made. I failed to look past what we were able to accomplish in Pong and didn't realize the depth of our knowledge and understanding. I suppose the illusion of the enthusiasm and efforts made for XNA were too great to pass up.
With XNA behind us, I spent my Sunday cracking through the Alpha I made in Game Maker. In the few hours of working on it, I managed to produce more results than when I was working in XNA...
The past week has been very stressful. Being a project manager for another course, this course, and the lead programmer for out game...I had to take a step back and look at what I was able to accomplish this week. Since making the critical decision of switching to XNA in week 8, I have had to withdraw that decision and switch back to Game Maker.
On Friday and Saturday, I discussed with Darrell about what we were able to understand and piece together, I realized that with two weeks of XNA, we weren't even able to get 1/4 of what I managed to build with Game Maker in a day. I spent most of my Saturday trying for a last push into XNA, but realized that I could only visualize what was needed to be done in terms of classes and funtions and arrays, and that the task was just too insurmountable for two mediocre programmers.
Tutorials were plenty and I'm sure the TAs and instructors could provided some help, but it was just too complicated to piece all those sources of information together so that it could work for us.
Having been a project manager and team leader on past and present projects, switching to XNA has been the worst decision I have ever made. I failed to look past what we were able to accomplish in Pong and didn't realize the depth of our knowledge and understanding. I suppose the illusion of the enthusiasm and efforts made for XNA were too great to pass up.
With XNA behind us, I spent my Sunday cracking through the Alpha I made in Game Maker. In the few hours of working on it, I managed to produce more results than when I was working in XNA...
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