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Dec 8th, 2012 at 15:59:33 - Introduction Blog (Other) |
A game that I have recently played on my iTouch is called the game of “Line Bird” made by a mobile game design company called Djinnworks. Line Bird is an one player real time strategy that utilizes the same core mechanics found in many similar games such as the “Helicopter Game” and other games that require the player to fly an aircraft. The core mechanic of the game is to continuously “flying” in midair without crashing into the sky above or the ground below. For the game “Line Bird”, since it is played on an Apple iTouch device, the control of the game involves having the player holding down one of their finger on the iTouch screen to accelerate the bird upward. With the basic physics concept of gravity implemented into the game, the flying objects, the bird, will automatically descents if no additional force of acceleration are applied. Therefore, the players will need to be familiar with the terrain inside the game and the amount of acceleration in relation to the period of time the finger is touching the screen. Moreover, the game is made more difficult with incrementing speedy over total surviving time. It is an additional component the players must address in planning out their strategy and techniques of staying alive for as long as possible. The game allows the players to choose the speed level most compatible with their skills. The faster the bird flies initially, the faster the player will receive points. From “easy” to “difficult”, I am currently in the range of easy and normal. With many obstacles in the game, the players will always have to look ahead and think ahead. Overall, as simple as this game might seem, it requires a lot of balancing between the speeds of the bird, the time it takes to encounter two or more obstacles, and last but not least, the amount of points a player should receive from surviving.
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Dec 1st, 2012 at 23:38:09 - Introduction Blog (Other) |
Through my game design class, I have discovered many well designed and interesting games introduced by my game design professor. For the past weeks of blog posts, I have written discussions to share the game with my blog posts readers. Once again, today I am going to discuss a game that I was also introduced by my Professor Totten, and I have recently played on my iPod Touch. This game is called “Shadow Cities”, and it is a MMORPG game based on location of the player with wifi accessed to create a world inside their Apple devices. It belongs to the group of Alternate Reality game because the gameplay involves utilizing real world as a gaming platform. In addition, the game is based on a narrative story created based on having real world activities. For instance, in the game of “Shadow Cities”, every player is chosen to be a “mage” with limited “mana” that can be used to cast spells. This directly connects with the core mechanic of the game, which is to use draw spells with one’s finger. The game platform inside player’s “iOS” devices to determine player’s GPA location and creates a gaming environment. The objective of the game is to work together with the team the player has chosen and defeat the other team’s players or their “spirits.” Combats and battles are done by casting spells to damage other player’s spirit, and whichever player’s health has reached zero first that player loses. Spells are also used to create buildings called “Dominators” that generates energy over time. A “Dominator” can be harvested when it is filled completely, and in the other hand, it can be destroy by opposing teams. “Dominators” are important part of the game, not only does it give the owner set amount of experience points, but it also shows the player has conquered the area. It is the reason sometimes it is considered a territorial game. There are tools in the game that assist player in winning the game such as “mana potions” that replenish player’s “mana”, and also skills and elements system that can increase player’s power by increment points. This game is well designed and addicting, and I have been playing it since I started the game.
This game does not only introduce a new gaming platform but a construct connection between world inside the games and the real world. Furthermore, some games similar to “Shadow Cities” provide benefits to the world when applied to biological studies and technology advancements by allowing players to solve difficult puzzles. With a rewards system in the game, players are more encouraged to solve a puzzle that was originally a stressful task. Overall, the new Alternate Reality Game is a new breakthrough for the world of gaming, and it can be beneficial to the real world. “Shadow Cities” is a great game, and I am going to continue playing until a better one comes out.
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Nov 21st, 2012 at 23:38:49 - Introduction Blog (Other) |
For this week’s game journal, I am going to write a game review on a game called the “Meat Boy”, and the process of this game development that had been made into a movie called “Indie Game: The Movie.” This game was first introduced to me through the movie “Indie Game: The Movie” where my game design professor, Professor Totten, decided to include as a part of the game design lesson. The movie first started out with one of the main game design in the movie, Tommy Refenes, freaking out in front of his X-Box, nervously searches for his team’s new developed game in the X-Box Live Arcade Catalog. Microsoft had agree to put their new game, “Meat Boy”, on the catalog for the “Game Feat Promotion” that could be viewed by hundred thousands of gamers all over the world, an hour had past, and the game was still not shown in the list of promotions. Throughout the whole movie, Tommy and his teammate Edmund McMillen had spent a great deal of time to produce this Indie Game, and just when it seemed like all their hard work is going downhill, the game was uploaded to the promotion list. The game was a success and sold out almost twenty thousand copies within a day up on the shelf. The audience can clearly see happiness from the tears in their eyes and their appreciation for game design.
Now that I have discussed the movie of the game production, I am going to discuss the game “Super Meat Boy.” The game is developed by the team “Team Meat”, under two incredible game developers, Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen. The game “Super Meat Boy” is an indie platform game where the core mechanics of the game is to run and jump. I have played the game on Kongregate, and controlled with keyboard arrows and jumped with space-bar. The game concept might seem simple enough, but with many features and personalities that the main character “meat boy” is designed based on, the game became challenging and more difficult to pass after each level. The narrative of the story started off with “meat boy” and his girlfriend “bandage girl” having a date, and everything went well until an evil man in a suit kidnapped bandage girl. The whole game is based on “meat boy” chasing after this man in suit to rescue “bandage girl.” The game started out easy, allowing the players to understand the mechanics of the game, such as basic movements, running, and jumping. Soon, as the game progresses even further, new mechanics such as “wall climbing” and “sliding” becomes an important technique the players must learn to win each level. Even more, advance obstacles are implemented into the game to produce a more difficult environment for meat boy to move freely. Some of these obstacles include “spinning saw”, “easily breakable platforms”, and even “burning fire.” With well placements of these obstacles, the game’s difficulties raised significantly. Even after a few levels, I was unable to continue on forward before replaying the level thirty to forty times.
In my opinion, the reason the game had made top four in the X-Box arcade game was through the simple game play mechanics, while having many challenging levels. My favorite part of the game was when meat boy dashes in one direction leaving a trail of red juice in the road behind him. Overall, I think not only is the game worth appreciate for, but the fact that when I watched the game development movie during class, Edmund McMillen said what catches his heart the most is knowing some children out there had played his game and decided he or she are also capable of creating a similar game of their own.
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Nov 16th, 2012 at 21:03:59 - Introduction Blog (Other) |
The history of card games goes all the way back to the day when the cards are physically made out of basic materials that were easily acquired such as wood and stones. Nowadays, cards for card games are not only made from real objects but virtually designed from computer graphics. The advantages of having such a system are the extension of card durability, vast duplication, and the possibility of hosting the game worldwide. A game that I have recently played is called “Ayakashi Ghost Guild – fantasy card game –“, it is made by the interactive entertainment company "Zynga". The core mechanic of the game is to collect virtual cards that can be used for battles for the stories in the game or compete with other players. The game itself not only is well designed in narrative stories but the game mechanics.
For the narrative part of the game, the cards fall into three categories of character cards, and each focus on a type of “Daemons”, ghosts, in the game. The three types of character cards are called “Phantom”, “Divina”, and “Anima”. Every card is drawn in anime style based on their type and each is given a name that is closely related to their personality. For instance, a new card recently introduced in the game is named “Sphinx”, and the character in this card is a young girl dressed in Egyptian style clothing with a pair of cat ears and wings that can be related to the Sphinx from Greek Mythology. For the same reason, she falls under the category of “Phantom” for being a fallen “Daemon” in the game based on the Greek Mythology of her tricks, murders, and riddles.
For the mechanics part of the game, each card comes with attack, and defense points and these points stack up by having multiple cards. During a competition, the player with the higher points will most likely to be the winner. In some situations, when two players possess similar amount of points, the unique abilities will usually determine the winner of the competition with addition bonuses. Every card starts out as level one, and it can be incremented by “fussing” multiple cards. Points and abilities associate with the card will also increase as the level of the card increases. Such a system encourages the player to continue explore and search for cards to be the strongest player in the game.
Overall, I personally enjoy searching and collecting cards with unique abilities and being able to defeat other players. Moreover, with each card named based on their personality, it creates a personal connection between the players and the characters. The game is one of many games that I appreciate and continue to play today.
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hliu10 has been with GameLog for 12 years, 2 months, and 23 days |
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