Calendar October 19, 2010 18:51

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Back From Fall Break

So today is the first day back from Fall Break.

Bob and Roger (the teachers) weren't here today, but we had a couple of student from last year talk to the class. I don't remember their names, but they were part of the team that created Urban Space Squirrels.

They talked about the level editor that they created for their game and how important it was to not take it lightly. They said that they actually spend a great deal of time developing the editor, constantly making changes or adding features that they needed in order for it to work the way they wanted it to.

Basically, they created a game that is based around tiles. Their game is a bunch of little pictures put together to create a level. But they also created tiles for different things that happened in the game. They had tiles for lasers, buttons, platforms, etc.

It was really cool what they managed to do with their level editor because it looks really easy to use but very good at what it's suppose to do.

They also talked about what they struggled with. Overall, they were there to tells us what not to do, but how to do it in a way that will save time.

We are also going to start our sprints by next class, so pretty soon I probably won't have a social life (their words not mine). :(

Anyways, thanks for reading.

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Calendar October 19, 2010 01:56

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Fall Break

So even if we are in fall break and we aren't working on our sprints yet, we decided that we should probably start working on some of the modeling so that we don't fall behind. The thing is that it's easier said than done. :P

I have to admit that I got really lazy over Fall break and I didn't do what I originally wanted to do, which is have some sort of model done by tomorrow (10-19). But I did manage to go online and look at some pictures of space ships from other games and I think I know what I want to do now, but I first want to run it by the group to make sure that it matches our "art style" that we are suppose to stick to.

So here are some of the picture that I found that might be of some help.

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So those are the pictures, thanks for reading.

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Calendar October 8, 2010 23:30

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Trimming Down the Backlog

So yesterday, we got together again to talk about the Backlog that we worked on Tuesday during class. But this time, instead of adding more ideas to the backlog we started to talk about what were the essential parts inorder to have some sort of working model by the end of the semester. This means that a lot of the stuff in the backlog are not going to be worked on immediately and might not even make it to the final game.

In the mean time we've decided that some of the most essential things for the game are:

  • Menu screen
  • Control scheme
  • User interface (first person/third person) HUD
  • Player's ships
  • Enemy's ships
  • Load out screen
  • Save/Load game system
  • Pause system
  • Pods functionality
  • Space box
  • Planets/space content
  • Radar system
  • Combat system
  • Mission screen
  • Buy/Sell system or Ship upgrade system
  • AI system (enemies and allies)
We will try to focus on these things and try to have a Beta out by the end of the semester.

That's all. Thanks for reading.

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Calendar October 7, 2010 13:14

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Brainstorming Ideas

So I forgo to update my blog for Tuesday October 5th. So this will post will cover what happened on that day.

So on Tuesday we got into our groups and started to brainstorm ideas for our Backlong of all the features that we could possible have. We also included all the things that we would need to actually make the game work. This includes: 3D models, art, programing, etc.

This is our complete list of ideas:

Game Modes

  • Versus - split screen/networking
  • Campaign - split screen co-op/races/challenges, possibly salvage lost player's ship and lost player could operate in an auxiliary mode (gunner)

Environments

  • Environments with gravity due to planets, black holes, stars
  • Nebula
  • Space stations
  • Trash/Junk sectors

Enemies

  • Fighters of different sizes and classes (bomber, interceptor, swarm, etc.)
  • Capital ships (larger "boss" ships)
  • Space stations
  • Fixed weapon placements
  • Medium cruisers
  • Freighters
  • Aliens

Targeting

  • Target different parts of ships (hull, engines, weapons, shields, etc.)
  • Switch targets
  • Lock on

Missions

  • Escort civilians
  • Disable instead of kill
  • Attack convoy
  • Start with missions that are critical to the story and add more as time permits

Ship Customization

  • Money
  • Locations to purchase upgrades (stations, home base)
  • Find loot/salvage

Gameplay

  • Dog fighting
  • Keep it "busy" - fast paced, lots of action
  • Arcade fell instead of exploration
  • Customization - find loot, buy parts
  • Objectives - Could affect future missions? Dynamic objectives?
  • Missions follow a story
  • Pick your missions
  • Soft abort/escape?
  • Squadron of teammates? - Possibly command them
  • Fast travel - select coordinates and jump to mission location
  • Switch between fight/defense/travel mode
  • Multiple ships
  • Lose ships if you die
  • Lose money if you die
  • Different classes of pods - offensive, defensive, tactical
  • Tutorial on ship functions, fighting, navigating, etc.
  • Different corporations have different tech/upgrades available - need to earn renown with each corp. to purchase

Features

This is a list of all the things Roger went through with us to help us figure out what we need to develop.
  • Menu screen
  • Tutorial mission - combat, flight controls, mission structure, etc.
  • Control scheme
  • User interface (first person/third person) HUD
  • Player's ships
  • Enemy's ships
  • Load out screen
  • Save/Load game system
  • Pause system
  • Pods functionality
  • Warp animation
  • Jump to active mission
  • Space box
  • Planets/space content
  • Radar system
  • Combat system
  • Space loot/recover pods
  • Mission screen
  • Buy/Sell system
  • Ship upgrade system
  • Hangar/Home base
  • Ship to ship communication
  • AI system (enemies and allies)
  • End game scenarios

So as you can see, this is a really long list. But that's the whole point of a Backlog, to writedown all possible ideas and then eventually trim it down to the "essentials" for the game to work and to give the player a good gaming experience.

That's all, thanks for reading.

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Calendar October 5, 2010 18:15

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New Team

So I forgot to update my blog last Thursday (9-30-10), so this blog post will be for that day.

Thursday was the day that we found out which games out of the 9 that we presented on the 28th of last month were picked to move on to be fully developed into a game. So the team that I was on for the Gravity Shift game got picked to be one of the 3 games that we will be making. The people of the other groups were then assigned to one of the other three teams.

So the games that we will be making these next 2 semesters are: Gravity Shift, Creep Commando (originally Twinstick DotA) and the Space Fighter game. 

So I got moved from my team and got placed in the Space Fighter game, which is good because I think that I'll be able to do more in this game than in the Gravity Shift game. Mainly because this game is going to be a 3D space arcade game which will need a lot of 3D models done and I can definitely do that. The other game was going to be a 2D game, so I don't know what I would've done there except maybe get in the way. :(

Anyways, we got to meet the rest of the people in the group and we were introduced to a software development work flow called Scrum.

We also had a brief discusion to see where we wanted this game to go. Anyways, that is all that happened on Thursday. I'll post the video that we were show in class that better explains what Scrum is.

Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 28, 2010 17:21

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Second Presentation

So today is the second presentation for our games. We are going to present the prototypes infront of experts and teachers from other departments and they are going to judge our game ideas.

For this presentation, I had to finish the background for the game. Since we have an art style that looks like a sketch or pencil art, we decided that a background that looks like paper would be better. So I used a picture of graphing paper that I found on the internet and expand it.

Here is a piece of the background. Its nothing fancy, but it matches our art style.


Also, on the last video you had to land on a sign to "win", but it was also kind of hard to see. So I made two others that we could use instead of a sign. Here they are:



Here is the video that I made for the presentation.


That is all, hopefully this game makes it through this round and eventually becomes a full game. Here is the link to the final pitch doc for our game. Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 23, 2010 16:44

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Some Art is Done

So another one of my classes has been sucking up a lot of my time during the week, so I haven't really been working on the art as much as I should. But since the final presentation for the games is this coming Tuesday (9-28) I have to finish it before Saturday night. So have this is the only thing that I've worked on.

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These arrows are going to help us show which way the gravity is pulling our character in the game. The reason I made them this way is so that it matches the art style of the rest of the game. If you look at the video that I posted earlier, the arrows stand out too much. This way they will look more natural.

I will post the rest of the stuff when I'm done. Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 21, 2010 16:30

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Gravity Shift Game Pitch Video


So this is the video that we are going to use for the practice run of the second pitch. Since this video was done, the game has changed a bit. I made this video using Final Cut.

I need to finish the art for the game because we still have the ball on this prototype.

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Calendar September 16, 2010 21:02

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Main Character Revealed

So we decided that the main character is going to be a blob. Unfortunately, we are still not quite sure about the background story for the game. We need to come up with something over this weekend because we have to do a mock presentation this next Tuesday (9-21-10).

I worked a bit more on the art that I posted on Tuesday, and this is what I have so far. Please don't be too hard on me.

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The head looks a little too pointy, so I need to fix it. This will be the sprite used when the character is not moving. I'm also working on another sprite where we see the sprite being thrown into the air.

My assignments for the weekend are as follows:

  1. I have to draw and complete the sprite for when the blob is in mid-air.
  2. Fix the sprite when the blob is not moving.
  3. Make a video for our mock presentation that shows some sample gameplay of the prototype.
The video shouldn't be too hard to do. But I need for Tyler (one of the group members and author of the original pitch for this game) to give me the raw footage. Hopefully he won't take too long, but I know that he's also working on some code for the game.

Anyways, I'll post the art when I'm done with it.

Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 14, 2010 16:41

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Art for Gravity Shift

So I had to come up with "art" for the prototype that we have to present next week. I have to say that I'm not the best artist in the world. So here it is:

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So that is a sketch of a simple level that I came up with. Its horrible art, but the basic idea gets across.


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For our character, we are still not sure if we want an animal, a person or a blob. So this is some of the stuff that I came up for a blob from different angles and movements.


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And if we decide to go with a cute hamster, this is a good place to start.

I still need to work a lot on the art, hopefully I'll be able to get some more work done in the next few days.

Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 9, 2010 20:59

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Theme and Goal for Gravity Shift

Today we had the whole class time to work more on our game pitches. Remember that we have to come up with a working  and playable prototype in less than two weeks. We had to come up with a theme and a goal for the game. We are going to focus on those two things for the presentation.

We have been working on the pitch a bit and we've decided on this. We've decided to place the video game in space on a giant space station. We replaced the red ball with a man that lost the ability to use his limbs in an accident, which is why he is trying to get out of the space satiation. But in the accident that caused him his limbs, he gained the power to control gravity. He's using his new powers to escape.

We decided that the theme is going to be "urgency". The players will have a certain time limit to clear a level before the space station blows up. The goal of the game is to make it out of the space station alive.

That's all for now. I still need to work on the art that was suppose to be done today. I'll get it done over the weekend and post it here when I'm done.

Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 7, 2010 23:26

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First Assignment for Game Pitch: Gravity Shift

So unfortunately my game didn't make it through the first round of voting. :( I'm kind of sad because I thought that it had some good potential, but I guess we will never know. T.T

Anyways, today (9-7-10) we found out which games were selected and we also got placed into a group to further develop one of those games. I got placed into the group that will be working on a game called: Gravity Shift. And it actually sounds like a cool game. Heres the details of the game (keep in mind that this is the original game pitch and it hasn't been developed further yet): game pitch. (Your going to need a google account to view the document, sorry.)

So now that we have been dividen into small groups, our job is to make a simple prototype of the game with in the next two weeks. For this, we'll have to create a very rough design of the game using simple art and borrowing code from the web. This prototype will be used in the presentation where the judges will be able to test out our game and ask question about it. We will eventually throw away everything that goes into this prototype, so we don't have to work too hard as long as it looks ok. :P

So as I've said before, I'm on the film side of the EAE program. So my first assignment for this game is to come up with some simple concept art for the character (were not sure if we want to keep the main character as a red ball) and some level designs by this Thursday (9-9-10). 
Hopefully I'll be able to come up with something cool.


Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 6, 2010 13:24

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Game Pitch: Battle of the Ages

So this is my game idea that I've come up with, feel free to tell what things work well and which don't.

Battle of the Ages




Battle of the Ages is a Odin Sphere meets Guilty Gear game that will allow players to master different sets of controls, character development, exploration, and epic boss fights on a one-on-one basis.

Game Overview

Battle of the Ages takes some of the elements from Odin Sphere and combines them with the fighting and art style of the Guilty Gear series.

Control Sets

Players will be able to switch between two different control sets. The first set will be used when the player is roaming around which is structured in a beat’em up style to get rid of many enemies at once. The second set is activated when a player meets a boss, which will switch the game from a beat’em up to a fighting game.

Character Development

Players will be able to level up during the game, this will increase the damage they can output and the amount of damage received before the character dies. Players will also be able to collect stronger weapons or armor at the end of certain levels or after boss fights.

Exploration

The beat’em up side of the game will have multiple levels. Players will be required to revisit levels to explore sections that they weren’t able to access the first time. Players will be rewarded with items or experience points for this exploration.

Boss Fights


Boss will be fought one-on-one. Players will be able to do different moves than when roaming the world that focus on a single opponent. Players will be able to link moves to do combos and even do destructive finishing moves.



To get a better idea of what I'm talking about here is some gameplay videos from Odin Sphere and Guilty Gear.

So that's my game idea. I'm having second thoughts about some of the stuff that I presented. But I'll just wait and see if my game even gets picked to move on to the next stage.

Thanks for reading.

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Calendar September 6, 2010 13:16

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My Introduction

Hi, my name is Christian and I'm a Film student on the EAE Track. I'm the first one in my family to go to college and, if all goes well, I'll be the first one to get a degree once I graduate.

I love to play video games and watch movies. I mostly play on my PS3 or on my PSP, so I tend to be a bit of a Sony fanboy. I don't play many PC games mostly because I have a Mac, but I have been thinking of getting Windows 7 for my MacBook Pro.

Some of the games that I've played recently are: Assassins Creed 2, CoD: Modern Warfare 2, Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, and Final Fantasy 13.

Apart from being on the EAE program at the U, I'm also trying to get a degree in Japanese. People often ask me why I want to get a degree on Japanese, and I tell them that it's because one day I want to move to Japan and hopefully work in the game/animation industry over there. While I know that it will be very challenging, I think that I should be able to do it.

I'm not very good when it comes to programming, so I tend to go on the art side of things (which is why I'm on the film side of the EAE and not on the CS). I'm good with Maya and I know my way around Photoshop.

Anyways, that's me.

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