Posts

Research into Wordpress Interface

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As I have no experience using Wordpress, I wanted to investigate the interface so that I was familiar with editing the website. After logging in as an administrator, I first attempted to add a different theme to the already-existing website however this ruined the layout of the page which included the content, imagery, image slider, icons etc. (Own Image, 2019) Initially I thought that the original designer had added code to the back-end of the site which caused this problem. I decided to tackle the moving image carasole as this was causing the main problem to layout. I thought this may have been coded in however I found a plugin I believed was responsible for  this feature and decided to de-activate it. (Own Image, 2019) With this removed, the layout looked better but still didn't follow the theme that I had chosen. Design decisions included attempting to remove images/content/slider to understand how workpress.org worked. On reflection I would have need to le...

Gaming Components & Target Audience

I composed a simple list of things that I wanted my game to be/include: 2D Platformer Side Scroller Uses one scene Collectible items Enemies Non-Playable Characters to talk to (or them speaking)  Includes a message for the audience Target audience: Initially I was considering aiming this game primarily at children as I thought that a cute artstyle and a moral message would be more appropriate for a child. However I began to think more into my ideas and realised that a teenager/young adults would be better suited towards this type of game as the story may be too complex for a child to understand fully and the situation may be more relatable to this age group. Therefore my target audience is as follows: Mainstream audience: Teenagers Secondary audience: Adults Peripheral audience: Children No Interest: Individuals who do not play or enjoy video/computer games.

Unreal Engine Lecture

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David introduced us to the Unreal Engine interface where we used an already-existing template of a first person shooter game and attempted to add some components with added functionality. He showed us how to export object assets and into a 3D modelling software e.g. Autodesk Maya. so that we could re-shape these objects and create custom collisions. He explained that an .FBX format would work in almost any modelling software and therefore should use this when exporting assets. Instead of using scripts Unreal uses blueprints which include nodes that are able instruct assets and user input. It was programmed so that when the player was close to the lamp it would be on and if not it would be off. I attempted to program it so that when the player was near to the lamp, a text message would appear on the wall explaining that if you press a button on the keyboard the light would turn on. I wanted this message to only appear when the player collided with the lamp's collision sph...

Adobe Flash/Animate Game

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During the Adobe Flash/Animate lecture we spoke about Tim Schafer who was popular for creating point and click games. This is similar to create using Flash/Animate and therefore recapped on ActionScript3 and how we can use buttons to create a game with a story that the user to interact with. By giving a button an instance name, we can use AS3 to direct the user to a specific frame once the button has been clicked. I used the characters from We Bare Bears to demonstrate what we went over in class. We also played 'A Duck has an Adventure' which uses Adobe flash to tell a story in a more animated way. There were interesting items (hats) and achievements to collect for completing each path of the story and some parts of the story interlinked with each other.

Pokémon GO & Let's Go! Comparison

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Pokémon GO is a mobile augmented reality game created by Niantic. Similar to the earlier pokémon games, your aim is to become the best pokémon trainer by capturing pokémon and training them so that you can defeat other trainers and gym leaders.  Pokémon GO introduced a new catching style which allows you to catch pokémon by flicking a pokéball towards a pokémon that has been fouund on the map.  This is different to it's predecessors as originally this was completely using turn-based battling. To catch a pokémon, you needed to reduce their health points as low as possible by battling then attempt to use a pokéball to catch them. Pokémon GO's new catching style allows you catch pokémon more efficiently which is vital for a phone game. Battling friends is turn-based however when attempting to take over a gym the combat power of your pokémon needs to be high so that it can endure automated attacks and allow youu to attack powerfully by tapping.  Like VR, yo...

Black Mirror: BanderSnatch

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After watching/playing BanderSnatch, I was left feeling uneasy about the decisions I had made for Stefan Butler. Even though I had attempted to make good decisions for this character, this still ended terribly. Stefan is anxious throughout the entire film because he feels as though someone is making decisions for him against his will. The concept of this Black Mirror episode was very interesting and I reaslised that there are multiple endings that lead to different fates. The game Stefan makes shows the pressures of the gaming industry as he struggles to finish one of the endings for his game. The game he creates is ironically about decisions and is the first of it's kind. (IGN, 2019) I enjoyed the storyline and the coincidences between Stefan and the audience, aswell as the interactivity that allowed you to choose what path Stefan will take. Although this did become annoying at times as you would sometimes find yourself with little or too much choice. At some points you wa...

Research: Super Mario Odyssey

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Super Mario Odyssey felt very different to many of the previous Super Mario games that I have played as it focused more on the narrative. Narrative The narrative is similar to the previous games where Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach with the intention to marry her. However, in Mario Odyssey, this is taken a step further where Bowser travels from world to world collecting special items for their wedding. Mario’s task is not only to rescue Princess Peach but to solve the problems that Bowser has made in his visit to each world. Similar to Super Mario Galaxy, you need collect moons to power Mario’s ship (the Odyssey) so that he can travel to each world to fight Bowser’s minions and get closer to saving Peach. Super Mario Odyssey is a 3D platformer which involves jumping, puzzles and fighting enemies. This takes place over various levels that have been designed in a different environment e.g. the seaside, moon, city etc. Travelling to each world begins in a lin...