Assignment 6 - Starting Sketchup

With the 2D design largely done (I'm been running along the lines of having to see how the basic level idea looks in a 3D environment before working out any additional details like scenery and platform placements that will be needed) I've finally started work in Google Sketchup, and I'm happy with what I've done so far. Not bad for someone that struggles to think in the third dimension... though I'm also telling myself that I have to be a bit realistic about the assignment, and that I won't be working quite so well in an area I am unfamiliar with.

Without further ado, a couple of screenshots from my early efforts.

I'm only focusing on one side for the time being, seeing as the map is largely mirrored. Although working so far, I already feel like I could make some changes in places. I will elaborate when I've worked some more.

What. Tuesday mouse doodling. Ugh.

Assignment 6 - More Level Design

That is right.

So my idea had been to create a sort of road style map, with a gas station and a scrap yard incorporated into the design. And to be perfectly honest, it sounded better in my head than when I committed it to paper. The basic flaw was that I was imagining the world quite flat, as one would really expect for a desert gas pump station. I tried to fiddle with a different design more based on farmland, but that didn't interest me greatly.

I initially lost hope on the idea of an MVM map. But inspiration struck me whilst I was on the bus to college on Tuesday (27th) as I began to think instead of something along the lines of a vertical based level. Mountain trails. The sort of little retreats one might go to with the Scouts or something along those lines. I thought mostly about the sort of precarious roads hugging the edges of steep cliffs as seen in many a film... and ran with that sort of theme. A level heavy on the potential for knocking robots back, but where a misplaced step could lead to certain doom.

(By the way, that recurring fellow is called Bill Dup)

I'm still not sure, honestly. I tried to create a mock up in Illustrator that I coud try and work out smaller details like obstacles or buildings, and I ended up making the map fold back on itself a little bit. I made a rudimentary key to go with it, but forgot to include the yellow, which represents the straight path to the bomb chute.

Assignment 6 - Vertical Level?

Continuing the work on designing a Mann vs Machine map for Team Fortress 2, my attempts at level design have proven fruitless. As with last time, I tried not to get frustrated by the lack of progress and instead looked at the aspects that were causing problems. And I found that the theme of scrapyards and gas stations was not working mostly because I could not work out how to make the level branch out, nor how to keep the player within the playing area.

Instead, I've decided to reevaluate my ideas, and I have begun to work along the lines of a more vertical based level, like the maps Offblast and Upward that already exist in Team Fortress 2. I also worked with the idea of an area disguised as a scenic mountain trail, with environmental hazards keeping the player from trying to explore beyond the playable area. A level that ascends upwards also allows me to make use of twisting paths which I think could prove interesting.

I'll upload rough designs once I return from college, but for now, some images lovingly pilfered from http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Main_Page. Just to show roughly what I am trying to aim for.



http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Offblast



http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Offblast

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Upward

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Upward

Assignment 6 - Things To Consider

Oh boy. Things to consider. Yeah. I've not made the sort of progress I'd have hoped to have made by now, mostly because it seems like I am in demand until Friday and this is lowering my mood for doing work. But I've done what all that I could with the time I've had.

When designing a Mann vs Machine map, I have to consider a number of things that must be included. As mentioned previously, there must be a player spawn and a robot spawn. But beyond that...

• There must be additional spawning points within the map for Spy Robots. Seeing as they do not enter the map in front of players but behind them.
• There must be one or two spawning points for tanks to enter the map, which is generally in the same area as the normal robot spawn. The difference being that they appear from behind fences on ground level.
• I believe with the player spawns, there needs to be either one large spawn point that includes two stores where players can upgrade their weapons, or two smaller spawns each with a store. 
• Some maps do not have holes with which to dispose of a carried bomb. Instead, they have bridges which bomb carrying enemies can be pushed off, which means that the bomb carrier must backtrack down a path to return to the main route. I have a choice between having pits or having these lower paths. 
• Maps are generally rectangular in shape, which allows players plenty of distance to keep the robots away from their base.
• Players must be able to see which robots they will be fighting before they enter the map. This can be done with elevated ground the players can stand on or a slope that the robots run down.

 I'll be bringing some graph paper into class tomorrow to get started on a more elaborate map design if I manage to get a scribbled version down in time. I know I'm looking at having four paths for the enemies to run down, and I know that the players will be defending their point in a junk yard. I'm looking at using barns to help keep players in the map, and that is about all I can write right now. Tired.

Quick Post

Because spotting a brief article on Ether One on Gamespy is possibly worth linking.

http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/articles/122/1226736p1.html

Assignment 6 - What is MVM?

This might well classify as initial research, although the certainty is not one hundred percent. None the less, I shall write now.

Having decided to focus on creating a map for Team Fortress 2's Mann vs Machine mode, and getting the idea of using a middle of nowhere road setting, I've taken a step back in order to take a closer look at how the three existing maps function. To roughly explain what Mann vs Machine IS, the game mode is about a team of 6 players defending a point from several waves of enemy robots that are trying to transport a bomb to the player's point. Although what kind of robots will be appearing will show up at the top of the screen, they still have something of a run up to give the player time to see which robots they will be encountering (They are invincible at this point to stop players killing them before they've made it into the map.). Essentially, each Mann vs Machine map offers branching paths that the robots may take in any wave, and not all of them will necessarily take the same one. These paths also offer opportunities for the player team to defend and halt the robots progress. Some maps also offer trap holes that the bomb can be forced into, forcing a new one to appear at the robot's spawn point.

To show this, I made a rough top down illustration of the map Decoy with the coloured lines showing the possible routes that the robots can take.

So with any map I try to design, I will need to bear in mind that the robots must have enough branching paths to go down without also overwhelming players, and provide vantage points for said players to be able to make a stand. I will also have to be concious that I need to consider suitable spots for Engineers to build sentries and for Snipers to... snipe from.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm working towards a gas station theme, which I've been doodling on loose paper and my magic pocket book.

I'm going to try and work out ideas along the way, I only know so far that I have a gas station and junk yard idea (a 50's/60's style gas station would look pretty neat) and a road. Along with some hills for the robots to run down during waves. I'm currently considering how to make the paths branch and make sure that the player can't wander out of the playing area. I might have to build the area up some more.

Edit - A little further internet scraping has yielded http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Example which is quite literally an example Mann vs Machine map. I might go into the source engine or Gmod and have a look through.

Assignment 6 - Initial Thoughts

Right. So Assignment 6 is to design a 3D level in Google Sketchup using a game of our choice, or even our own levels from the earlier 2D level design. My mind isn't in the right place at present, as a long trip to Sheffield for no discernible reason at the crack of dawn would probably do to most gentlemen of the 21st Century.

I've given the task some thought, and although my plans at present are to try and recuperate from what has been a busy week packed to the brim with early mornings and late nights, I have decided that I'm going to focus my attention on creating a Mann Vs Machine map for Team Fortress 2. Partly because I can't envision extending my 2D level design despite initially wanting to, and partly because it would simply be fun to try and make something I've always wanted to do for a game I enjoy immensely. Of course, I'm under no illusion that we're working in a program that won't translate to any game engine, but it never does any harm to have a dream. Besides that, over the christmas holiday it might be a fun little project to learn how to use the Source engine and create a rough version. At least, if I get that far.

I shall be scanning some pages from my book and uploading some found imagery at some point over the weekend, and my early ideas are focused around the idea of a highway, with a middle of nowhere gas station and scrap yard. I'm not expecting miracles in Google Sketchup, so the plan at present is to only create rough silhouettes of objects rather than attempt to create perfect likenesses. I've also been dissecting the existing MVM maps to try and get a rough idea on how to approach the design... given that one has to consider the players as well as the paths for the AI team to follow.  Again, those drawings will be uploaded in due course.

Assignment 5 Conclusion + 3D Level Design

Well, today's lesson has come and gone, work handed in and feedback received. I'm satisfied with what the tutor said to me... I was far less certain about what to discuss regarding the game mechanics than I was about the art aspects of Team Fortress 2. I have a great interest in the TF2 art style, which lead me to have already delved into the whats and whys and appreciate it. Certainly if there was another chance to write this document, I would strive to be more focused with the mechanics part and whittle it down - I felt like I was trying to explain too hard.

And now Assignment 6 is up and running, to be handed in in two weeks. After a brief play in Google Sketchup, we have been tasked with created a 3D level of our choice. Right now, I'm torn between trying to make a 3D version of the 2D level design I did in the third assignment... or making an MVM map for Team Fortress 2. Each has it's advantages and challenges... so one is going to sleep for the night and get some preliminary ideas down tomorrow. For now, BED.

Assignment 5 - Oh Dear

I've just uploaded my assignment to the best of my ability, and I feel forever thankful that I decided to look at my blog list before going to bed. My assignment was finished, and I somehow made the dreadful mistake of believing the deadline was on Thursday, so I have pretty much run out of time to correct any flaws in the work. 

I can't help but feel that I should have gone more in depth with the piece, although given that I'm already 78 words over the word count... that might not be possible. It may be too late now for the printed version, but I might yet be able to make refinements to the online version. 

For now, Frank is going to sleep. 

Assignment 5 - Deconstruction and Analysis

My chosen game for this assignment is Team Fortress 2, released in 2007 by Valve Software. A sequel to the Quake 1 mod Team Fortress (1996) and the Half Life 1 mod Team Fortress Classic (1999), Team Fortress 2 was in development from 1998, and the game evolved in several directions and incarnations as it first changed from the Gold SRC engine to the Source engine, moving the game from a modern setting to a human vs. alien invasion setting before finally concluding with the game we know today, set in the late 1960's and inspired by early 20^th Century industrial artwork. My aim for this assignment is to explore how Team Fortress 2 uses both familiar and original game mechanics to create a game that encourages and rewards teamwork whilst also satisfying a player's competitive nature, and how it's distinctive art style helps the player identify other players and navigate the environment. 

1. Gameplay

Fundamentally, Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer team based first person shooter, and in terms of basic gameplay a player can run, shoot, jump and crouch, actions that are common across all 9 available classes. Already discounting iron-sights or the ability to sprint or walk, the game further deviates from others in the genre by creating different play styles for every class, so how one would play as a Soldier differs from how one would play as the Scout. And it is these differences between the classes that actively encourages players to work together – each class can counter another class, and there is no advantage in players all choosing to play the same character class. Instead, the opposite is true with class stacking resulting in diminished results against a team of players working with different classes. And in that vein, the euphoria that a player can experience when a team is well balanced and cooperative as they fight for victory can be highly rewarding, further rewarded in being able to kill the losing team in a“humiliation mode”.

Rough example of how three classes counter the other

It is from these individual mechanics for each class that encourages and rewards players for working together as a team for a common goal. Like most multiplayer games, Team Fortress 2 includes a kill feed displaying which killed another player and the weapon used which adds to an individuals score, however it also brings a notion of assisted kills, with the last two players to kill an opponent being credited with a joint kill, with points being allocated to both the player that made a kill and the team mate that assisted. On top of receiving points for killing opponents and capturing points, those playing as classes that don't necessarily fight directly can also receive points for helping out their team, whether it be points for Medics healing injured players, points for the Pyro and Sniper extinguishing team mates that have been set on fire, or points for the Engineer for other players using a teleporter he has built.

Kill feed credit for a kill being allocated to two players. Also a credit for defending an objective.

  However, individual player points rarely mean anything if the team does not achieve it’s objective, and instead points are used as a way for the player to track their personal records – this is especially important when it comes to new players unfamiliar with the game. Death in general is approached in a light hearted manner, and as the inexperienced player improves, death will sometimes bring up a message informing them of having dealt more damage or healed more points than in previous lives, rewarding persistence and challenging the player to improve to beat their previous record. As mentioned above, these stats are more than most kills, and can involve the number of captures, number of teleports, amount of healing achieved and so on. The game further tracks these records, and uses them to encourage new players to beat their previous best rounds, and also challenges more experienced players to continue improving. 

A kill screenshot, with a message indicating that the player almost beat their previous record in assists

Another example of Team Fortress 2 using game mechanics to direct players towards working as a team rather than acting selfishly includes one of the most distinctive features of the game, the Uber Charge. Most other games that feature medic classes, for example the medics in Killing Floor (Tripwire, 2009), Brink (Splash Damage, 2011) or even the original Team Fortress Classic, requires the player to be in close proximity to an injured team mate in order to restore health... and as a result, players in these games generally play more selfishly by using the healing abilities to keep themselves alive whilst fighting with the rest of the team instead of helping those in need of health.

As a Medic heals injured team mates via a healing beam that visibly shows a team coloured effect when used, he will also slowly fill a bar at the bottom of his screen, which will flash once the player has filled the bar entirely. At this point, whilst continuing to heal a team mate, he can activate an Uber Charge, which is effectively 8 seconds of invincibility for the medic and their chosen patient. The Medic cannot attack and be invincible at the same time, and the team mate must be connected via the healing beam to receive the benefit. 8 Seconds of invincibility can make the difference between victory and defeat in the choke points located in every map, a way of breaking through the enemies defence to create a path for their team mates to continue. The Uber Charge is a reward for the Medic player's patience and hard work to heal and stay alive, and a reward to his team mate if the uber is used effectively to break through an enemies defence, both players stacking points in the process… furthermore, the praise players may receive from their team mates for successfully using an Uber Charge can create positive encouragement, especially during a final push that results in victory shortly afterwards.

A Medic deploying an Ubercharge with a Heavy, defending a control point.

 

2. Art

Another aspect of Team Fortress 2’s underlying design involves the art style and how it is utilised to enhance the gaming experience beyond cosmetic appeal. On face value, the game simply appears cartoon like and heavily stylised, and upon the game’s final appearance being unveiled the initial reaction from fans of the original were negative decrying a lack of realism and ‘kiddie’ graphics. Since release, Team Fortress 2 has instead received praise for it’s distinctive visuals, and like the rest of the game the graphics were a very deliberate choice in the game's design. Stylised, cartoon appearances help to emphasis the humour and fun that the game presents to the player, instantly making gameplay aspects like rocket jumping seem more feasible than if the graphics were set in a realistic environment.

Typically, games that have separate character classes make all player models appear identical in shape, and rarely provides the sort of visual information that allow team mates to easily identify which classes the others are playing. Looking at Killing Floor once again, any character model can be used regardless of the class chosen, and as a result it can be difficult to identify which classes the other players have chosen. One of the principle ideas behind Team Fortress 2 was to make it easy for players to easily identify their enemies visually, even when the player may see nothing but an outline, and with that philosophy in mind made each class bear a unique shape distinct from the others. Furthermore, the characters are designed with the most detail being allocated to the chest, to direct the player's eye towards the weapon being carried at the time. Together, even in silhouette, a lot of information is presented to the player in a clear and concise fashion without being intrusive or distracting the player with excessive information.

Demonstration on how each class is unique, even in silhouette

 Likewise, the art style of Team Fortress 2 is used in the design of the levels featured in the game, the colour palette being subdued and neutral with the suggestion of detail rather than than featuring elaborate textures. This in itself serves to look visually pleasing without distracting, and also further emphasises each team's base... which stand out with their team colours. Whilst maps are entirely asymmetrical, each team bears distinctive flairs to distinguish one side from the other, with the Red team appearing old and wooden and the Blue team appearing sleek and cold, adding to the cartoon and stylised appearance of the game by making the concept of two rival groups being situated opposite each other feasible by following a vintage spy theme, with secret bases hidden by innocent and bland buildings in the middle of nowhere. In terms of the actual game, it aids the player by making it clear where they are at any time and reduces the odds of a player getting confused and lost – the asymmetrical level design also serves to prevent one team from having an unfair advantage over the other.

Team logos and bases from CTF_2Fort

Although I have barely managed to scratch the surface of what makes Team Fortress 2 an ingeniously designed game, the aspects I have brushed upon hopefully serves to highlight the very basics in how the game conveys information visually to the player, and how the game uses game mechanics to encourage team work as well as to encourage individuals to continue playing and improve.

Assignment 5 - Some Images

The essay continues to make slow and steady progress, and after a spot more time spent in Team Fortress 2, I've finally worked out how to conclude the paragraphs on points and stats.

But that isn't really why I am writing this today. I've spent the evening working on some images to accompany the essay in general - I'm using screenshots/grabs where appropriate as well.

For now, the images. One is a version of the earlier silhouette pictures I've previously uploaded, whilst the other is new and specifically to point out some examples of how Team Fortress 2's teams counter one another. I seem to be making use of a TF2 colourscheme as well... seems appropriate somehow.

Rock, Paper, Scissors. Sort of.

Class silhouettes, lovingly arranged and named. Class logos too for greater glory.

Assignment 5 - Some of the Research

I thought I would take this moment of sleeplessness to get up to speed with my assignment. I've hit nearly a thousand words now, so I'm pretty much on the home stretch and just need to add some images to aid my writing.

I'm now going to list the sources I have made use of in addition to the general knowledge that comes from four to five years of playing the game. (Jah. I'm a Grizzled Veteran, and my digital gold medal says so. If only I was good at the game.)

http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/05/team-fortress-2-proto/

The website discusses the history of Team Fortress 2's development, which whilst it is not directly relevant to the deconstruction I'm writing,

http://www.giantbomb.com/kill-feed/92-5490/

Nothing to do with Team Fotress 2 exclusively. I was just trying to find the first game that utilised a kill feed and in what manner. I failed.

The Art Of Team Fortress 2

A series of videos created by Soul Graffiti discussing the artistic influences of the game, whether in terms of scenery, character design or story (Which isn't an area I'm focusing on in the assignment, given the focus on gameplay). I watched these a couple years back and found them to be very interesting, if not inspiring.







http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Main_Page

Part of http://www.teamfortress.com , this wiki contains a lot of information surrounding classes, weapons, maps, hats and ingame terms and mechanics. 

http://www.teamfortress.com/artwork.php

Again part of the above website, this page simply features the artwork and concept art of Team Fortress 2... or at least, the concept art so far released. Simply an inspiration, and naturally enlightening to watch the art style of the character designs shift as the game took on it's present appearance.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/TF2_Design_Theory

Whilst I'm not sure if I'm going to have much left to write about level design in the assignment... or if it is even relevant to the core design of the game, this page again discusses the map types in Team Fortress 2 ... more for prospective level designers, really.

Assignment 5 - Oops

I've realised a little too late that I have neglected to show my research into the current assignment. And I fully intend on correcting this mistake either tonight or over the weekend. Links to videos and websites I have used are presently resting in a draft blog entry, pending a proper write up.

The essay is going to be a little challenging in itself. I've just about hit 700 words in my draft in a few hours, and I've only just said enough about some of the more basic mechanics in Team Fortress 2's game design. Not too sure that another 750 words is going to be enough to write about the other areas I wanted to look at, which would be the art style and level design.

Viva la Frank

TF2 silhouettes

I am still hunting down where I first read about the importance of silhouettes in Team Fortress 2... not only in terms of the general shapes of each playable class but also how detail is focused upon the chest region to draw the player's attention to the weapons that allies and enemies have equipped.

In the mean time, I'm going to post an image I will be using when I get down to writing the deconstruction and analysis. To roughly go through how I made this... I used Valve's Source SDK and Model Viewer to take screencaps which I then put into Adobe Photoshop to convert into plain black and white. And THEN taking those images into Adobe Illustrator, I converted them into vector graphics so that I could easily recolour and resize each picture without reducing overall quality. Yay me.

This version was a half hearted attempt to use team colours upon the silhouettes. Very poor indeed.

Basic silhouettes, from top left to bottom right - Soldier, Scout, Pyro, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, Medic, Sniper and Spy.

Assignment 5 - Getting Started

So I have definitely decided that I'm going to be looking at Team Fortress 2 for the assignment to deconstruct and analyse a game of our choice. 

For me, this is going to be a fun assignment for I certainly have a lot I could talk about... beyond what was discussed in class yesterday. A lot of the design choices behind Team Fortress 2 were very deliberate and serve to make the game enjoyable as well as functional.
I'm going to be making a list to refer to once I get into the research proper.


1. Underlying mechanics

As discussed, Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer team and class based first person shooter, with a very strong emphasis on TEAMWORK. The example cited was how the medic is focused on healing other team mates in order to build ubercharges which will allow the player to grant ten seconds of invincibility to another player and break through choke points (And the fulfillment that results from both players in allowing the rest of their team to take position after they have cleared out enemy players). I will be going more in depth with the other ways that players are made to work together to produce rewarding results both personal and as part of a team

2. Art Style

I am certain that the art style of Team Fortress 2 is another very important aspect to the game, and this ranges from the cartoon style of the graphics making the over the top action that little more believable to the fact that characters and their weapons were deliberately designed to be distinct from one another - to allow the player to identify an enemy player's class as well as the weapon they are carrying even when a large distance seperates them. 

3. Sound

An area I'm not all that sure about researching into, but again... Team Fortress 2 uses sound effectively. To go with visual identification, the game also makes use of sound by giving every weapon a different sound that can help a player work out who they may face as they approach a battle. For example, the engineer's sentry gun constantly beeps and can alert a player to it's presence and adapt their strategy accordingly... it becomes the player's fault for lacking caution if they were to then run straight into the path of said sentry. 

Voice commands could be another area to consider. At a fundamental level, the voice commands in the game allow players to communicate without the use of a microphone and thus give instructions to team mates or alert them to the presence of a sentry or an enemy spy.

I'm tired. I shall remind myself this is just a list that I'll go indepth with at a later date.

Personal Entry - Redesigning Blog

Gosh, isn't that shocking? I've whimsically decided I'm going to try and give my blog something of a face lift and a rework. One of the things I'd really like to do is to go back and edit my entries to include tags/labels and organise them into categories to make it easier to find older assignments and such.

The other thing is the face lift. I suppose I could sit fine with what Blogger provides as default... but I'm not really the sort of person that can be content with that. So I'm creating a new header and background to bring this blog more up to standards with the blog I use over on Tumblr. (I haven't posted that here mainly because you'll mostly just hear me go on about the fish I've recently inherited from my brother.) 

So with that said and done, I'm going to upload the early stages of one of the images I've made in Adobe Illustrator and that I hope to incorporate into a header. I do like my pixels, but I'm not very good with them.

Early stages. I'm still trying to make a suitable colour pallette that I can use. Illustrator tends to play silly when I try to import colour schemes I've made in other programs. It is also surprisingly difficult to get a decent glow effect going. I've really messed up here, but at 4am, I really couldn't try and fix it any further. Another day, maybe.

Assignment 5 - Initial Thoughts

I might as well get this down before I forget. So our latest assignment is deconstruct and analyse a game of our choice in roughly 1500 words.

At present, I'm simply trying to decide between two games so I can get started playing for the whole week with my research. Naturally, I had a much larger list, but at the end of the day it really does boil down to just two. One would be Team Fortress 2 and the other Bionic Commando - Rearmed.

Team Fortress 2 remains a game close to my heart... apart from being the first game I played that made me WANT to play online, it is also the game most responsible for reigniting the ambition to someday work in the games industry and my desire to draw and design. Naturally, a great bonus it was made by my favourite games company Valve. I've looked into the development and history of the game, and it continues to inspire and excite even today.


 
Bionic Commando : Rearmed (A remake of the NES original) on the other hand is a game that I fear is too hardcore for me to really complete. But it continues to draw me back every few months to try and progress further. I always found the platforming mechanics to be very interesting and change the way one approaches the game and its challenges. It remains a viable alternative if I want to try and veer away from my gut instinct to look at TF2.

A Frank Guide to Blogging

Hopefully you saw what I did there. A "Frank" Guide to Blogging. Oh ho, that slaps me on the knee.

But I digress. I thought that I'd take the opportunity between assignments to throw up some quick points to help people with their blogs. I'm not a great blogger by any means, but I can at least offer some hints and ideas... because blogs do present a great opportunity to offer a glimpse into the mind to show your work amongst other things. 

Half of the stuff I'm going to mention are the sort of things I used to do in paper format when I was making books for my animation projects at City College Manchester (A place that taught animation in theory, but in practise the tutors didn't know anything about it at all.)

Gosh, I really hope I'm not coming across as impetuous. Just sharing information that could be useful.
 
 1. Show Development

I used to take this approach with my work books, and it as an approach that I'm now taking with my blog as well... I would really say that it would be a great idea to make use of a journal as well, and I do this at present with the sketchbook I bring into class.

Basically, use your blog as if you were writing a diary. Write down your thoughts and ideas as they cross your mind, and update as you do further work and allow those ideas to evolve. Not only will it show off your work process for others to look at and get an insight into what you're trying to achieve, it is always a great thing to watch how your work evolves from humble ideas into the final work you hand into class. It can help you look through your ideas and see how they sound once they're out of the mind and onto the screen/page and then later you can talk about how and why these ideas may have changed over the course of any work/assignment you do - being able to show how you came up with your finished work is always a great benefit. You can get feedback from classmates as well. 

Even if you scan pages from your books or upload doodles, it helps. In short, treat the blog as a window into your mind's workings, and it helps to learn more about each other.

2. Share Information

See something that could be useful to everyone else? Write about it, provide a link so everyone else can have a look. Earn prestige and respect upon your amazed classmates. Or even if it is just something that you find really cool, like a video or a website, you should share it!

I've often made it my business to provide links to the websites I've been using or the articles I've read, a little bit like writing an appendix so that people can find out more about whatever I might be referring to or talking about. I'm going to try and do more of this, and soon I'll see about making a blog entry for some points of interest in Manchester, like some places to buy art supplies or the ever wonderful Nexus Art Cafe hidden in the Northern Quarter (They make great pie!)

3. Blog Frequently

This really shouldn't be it's own category, but I'm already struggling to come up with anything else after the first two points.

But yes. It is quite important to try and keep up to date with your blog... at least, if you want people to be seeing what you're working on. A blog that is only updated to upload work isn't nearly as interesting, and naturally increases the chances that people may skip over your blog. And you don't want that, do you?

4. Reviews!

A category that I have not started with yet. But I'll explain it none the less.

Even if it is worded simply, you can talk about a video you've seen or a game that you've played stating why you liked or disliked it, or if there were any particular elements that you thought was great or terrible. You never know if someone else in the class might be interested in playing said game or watching said video.

This doesn't really fall so much into the Share Information bit simply because it is more opinion based. Your reasons why the thing you are looking at is great or feeble.  This could even fall into the category of opinion pieces. For example, I'm thinking about writing up some thoughts on how Final Fantasy 7 could be remade today... but why it will probably NEVER happen.



...



So yes. I hope these points are helpful in some way.

Assignment 4 - Conclusion

Alternate Title - Paper Based Level Design Post Mortem.

Well... Thursday has come and gone, and the level design drawn up for class has been handed in. Until I can regain access to the work and find a way to get a picture of it uploaded, I'm afraid I won't be able to show the final piece.

And looking back on the progress I have made over the last fortnight, I have thoroughly enjoyed creating my level whilst simultaneously conquering a deep rooted fear - as stated in an earlier blog entry, I started the assignment with a lack of confidence and an uncertainty that I would be able to make a functioning level. It is a lesson learnt that I need to start applying my approach to research more broadly than I have done in the past, for research proved invaluable in my efforts after deciding that I wanted my level to present multiple paths a player can take. I interpreted the moveset we were instructed to work by as a basis for creating something that emphasised momentum, and thus I wanted to make my platforming level revolve primarily around reaching the end as quickly as possible.

This initially created frustration and the serious consideration of dropping the idea until I came to the decision that whilst player paths can deviate, they also need to come back together towards the end. And it was through this that I managed to break through the problems I felt existed in the earlier iterations of my design, and create a level that I was satisfied with. And I was pleased with how well my design translated onto the larger graph paper and how I was able to adhere to the rules that the tutor set for us without having to change too much.

Before I continue, I shall include the feedback I received from Aaron, who playtested my level.

"The map is very well designed, very well calculated whilst adhering the rules. The player is offered a number of paths which is good as the player has a number of choices, this creates a feel of more involvement in the game. Although the player is presented with multiple paths, each path still has obstacles which the player must over come.

The only way I would say the design could be improved would be to label if the keys corresond to certain doors or does any key open any door. Finally, how far is the player able to drop before dying and how often do the platforms move."

I'm naturally happy with the positive aspects of the feedback, and I also accept that I could have done more to explain about the areas mentioned in the /criticism/.  

Personal opinion falls into the question about death from falling... and I feel that it honestly depends on the realism that a game would be approaching. I was working from a cartoon angle, and thus I never considered fall damage to be something to think about - fall damage in a platformer is much better suited to a slower paced game... for example, Dead Light. A bad example of fall damage in a fast paced platformer would be Bubsy, as noted by the esteemed JonTron. The other aspects of the game I neglected to consider simply because I thought it would be more something that would be playtested in a test build, and changed as appropriate.

So in conclusion, I honestly feel like I've done a lot better than I felt I was going to when the assignment started, and I have the itch to someday try and test the level in a game engine. I followed the rules successfully and I feel like if there was any way to improve on the work I've done, it would be to make the objective and use of items in the level clearer. I enjoyed the assignment and it has succeeded in making me want to explore this further in my own time. Design a level for a Source based game, for example.