In-Class Exercise Friday March 4th 2011

The game that I will make will a real-time strategy game that takes place in modern times.

For the mood and atmosphere, this game will not have the traditional military/modern warfare feel that is common in most real time strategy games. Instead, this game will have a more somber/melancholic aspect because this game will not deal with the act of war/conquering the opponents but more with the consequences of war.

As for the game environment, it will take place in destroyed villages and towns with innocent bystanders. During the campaign mode of the game, the game will show cutscenes of innocent bystanders struggling to survive while the player destroys their village/fight their opponents. In the game, the player can interact with civilians (who are netural to the conflict of the war). You can help them or you can attack them. Helping them will divert resources from fighting to helping out the players. Attacking bystanders, will make you unpopular and will cause the civilians to riot and attack you.

The music, I plan to use Michael Nyman as the composer. Specifically, the music will be similar to Nyman’s score for the movie The Piano. The main theme for the piano is both somber and heart-wrenching.

In Class excercise - Playing Atari Games 2-25-11

Play one of the classic vintage arcade games (but NOT a facebook game!) online via a browser - e.g. asteroids, battlezone, centipede etc

And answer the following questions (CUT & PASTE THE QUESTIONS INTO A PERSONAL BLOG ENTRY AND PROVIDE ANSWERS WITHIN SAME BLOG ENTRY)

Include a graphic image of the game you played in your blog entry.


Student Name: Jimmy La


Today’s Date Feb 25, 2011


Game Title Examined Crystal Castles


Year of Publication (if known - check thedoteaters.com for details) 1983


Game Publisher Atari


Game Developer (if different from Publisher) Atari


1 - What is the game genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero) Collect the jewels


2 -What is the type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)

The world is an isometric maze with geometric structures.


3 - What is the perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.

3/4 Orthographic view (isometric)

4 - What is the actual gameplay – what does the player have to do?

The player has to help a bear navigate through a maze collecting gems while avoiding bad guys (similar to Pac Man)

5 - Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.

Yes because you navigate the bear with the mouse. However, without instructions, I would not know that the bear can destroy bad guys/stun them by jumping over them, etc.

6 - Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)

The bad guys move at random.

7 - What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?

Because it was isometric and had a lot of color, you can tell that this Atari game came later then games like Asteroid or Pong. The graphics are similar to very early version of Donkey Kong.

8 - Describe your views about the game from the point of view of


1. ease of play
The game is quite easy to play compared to other older Atari games. Other Atari games required you to press multiple buttons which made the controls a bit difficult. This game only used a mouse and the space bar.


2. enjoyability
Due to the ease of use, I actually found this game more enjoyable then older Atari games because I intuitively knew what I had to do to go to the next level w/o having to read instructions.

c) level of engagement/immersion
There is a good amount of level of engagement because it is fun to try and collect all the jewels while avoiding the bad guys. Also, progressing to new levels also gave you a sense of accomplishment.

9 - Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?

Nope first time playing.

10 - what does playing the game remind you of in terms of other games/media?

This game reminds me of Pac Man. the only difference is that they beefed up the graphics by making it isometric which gives the illusion of having 3D structures as background. However, because of the isometric view, I think its harder to navigate the bear then it is to navigate Pac Man which had a flat 2D view.

Game Idea - High Concept Statement

1) Write a high concept statement: a few sentences that give a general flavor of the game. You can make references to other games, movies, book, or any other media if your game contains simlar characters actions or ideas

My game will be a platform/puzzle game where you must die and loose a player life in order to solve the puzzles/progress through the game.

2) What is the player’s role? Is the player pretending to be someone or something, and if so what? Is there more than one? How does the player’s role help to define the gameplay?

The player will have mutliple lives/ghosts and using up these lives will create a ghost that will help solve the puzzles.

3) Does the game have an avatar or other key character? Describe him/her/it

The character will be a cat and other characters in the game world will be cute forest critters/animals.

4) What is the nature of the gameplay, in general terms? What kinds of challenges will the player face? What kinds of actions will the player take to oercome them?

The game will be a 2d game platform game where the goal will be to get from point A to B. In order to do this, the game will have puzzles/switches that are blocking the way. To get past these puzzles, would require the user to kill him/herself and use up a life.

The idea is that every time the player dies, it will create a ghost of the player that will follow exactly what you did in your previous life. To solve the puzzles, the player must use your character and your ghost to collaboratively hit switches, etc to solve puzzles.

5) What is the player’s interaction model? Omnipresent? Through an avatar? Something else? Some combination?

The player will only be able to control the cat/main character on the screen.

6) What is the game’s primary camera model? How will the player view the game’s world on the screen? Will there be more than one perspective?

The game's camera is a 2D platformer/side scrolling view.

7) Does the game fall into an existing genre? If so, which one?

The game will fall under the hybrid puzzle/platform game.

8) Is the game competitive, cooperative, team-based or single player? If multiple players are allowed are they using the same machine with separate controls or different machines over a network?

The game will be single player.

9) Why would anyone want to play this game? Who is the game’s target audiencde? What characteristics distinguise them from the mass of players in general?

The game is suppose to be for casual adult gamers who like to solve puzzles.

10) What machine or machines is the game intended to run on? Can it make use of or will it require any particular hardware such as dance mats or a camera?

The game is intended to run in browser or a mobile device.

11) What is the game’s setting? Where does it take place?

It will take place in a fantasy garden-like world.

12) Will the game be broken into levels? What might be the victory condition for a typical level?

The game will be broken into sets of levels where the player must get from point A to point B.

13) Does the game have a narrative or story as it goes along? Summarize the plot in a sentence or two.

The story is based on Through the looking glass. The main character accidently falls into a hole and enters a fantasy world where he must find his way back to the real world.

Robot Game Instructions

1) if not hit, rotate+move towards goal
2) if hit>rotate towards unless facing back
3) if that's so (facing back), drop mine
4) fist (if in front) 2
5) if two spaces out, move back one, and..
6) laser eye (0010)
7) if tank is behind, drop mine in his direction
8) if not, move towards goal
9) rotate towards closest tank
10) #4 -> #5

mine: blow up anything directly adjacent after one turn

Cooperative Chess Game

Cooperative Chess Game
Teammates: Leonardo, Alan and Jimmy

Rules/Game Objective

The goals for our game is to have chess pieces on either side and to move all the pieces to one side. The winning conditions are get each colored piece in an alternating patter (ie. white, black, white, black). Doing so would require the players to work together to kill off the correct pieces to achieve the winning conditions

Starting Positions

Winning Conditions


Game 1 (Easy Mode) only had 4 pieces per side and took 16 turns to complete.

Game 2 (Hard Mode) requires6 pieces per side and took 14 turns to complete.




Winning conditions: We couldn't end the game with a white, black, white, black pattern so we devised an alternate winning solution which consists of white, black black, white white and black.

Rise of Video Games Level 1

1) Videogames emerged from the culture of the "Cold War" - what does Henry Jenkins from MIT compare the period to in terms of a famous board game?

Battle Ship. The Cold War was essentially a simulation pitted against one another.

2) a) Who was the inventor of the first Video game according to the documentary?

William Higgabaughem.

b) What was the name of the game?

Tennis for Two

3) Steve Russell is credited with the first true computer-based videogame (in terms of its use with the 1961 PDP1 mainframe computer) with SPACEWAR - what popular science fiction book series also influenced him?

Bob Smith's Lensmen series.

4) What innovation did Steve Russell's SPACEWAR introduce in terms of input hardware?

The joystick.

5) a) In the anti-war and counterculture period of the 1960s and 1970s, what new home entertainment system let consumers finally control what was being seen on the home television?

Atari

b) b) Who was its inventor/developer?

Nolan Bushnell

6) PONG emerged out of the counterculture spirit of the early 1970s - its natural home was what type of entertainment setting?

Bars and Pubs

7) Who does Nolan Bushnell say were generally best at playing the game?

Women because they have better muscle coordination.

8) "Space Invaders" emerged in the late 1970s as the first game from Japan.
How did the TAITO production team intensify the emotion of the game using the four-note in-game music theme?

As the invaders came closer to the player, they would speed up the tempo of the music. It mimicked the beating of the human heart.

9) Steve Moulder reflects that the first arcade games tended to result in the player's defeat. This he argues in turn reflected the view held by many designers during that time that war itself is defeatist.

Has this view changed since that time? Do today's latest games still convey this sense? Why? Why not? (use your own words)

Yes that has changed. Game designers now know that the player likes to have a sense of control and power. Hence, games are designed so that you can win and get the desired outcome. In addition, game designers and even players nowadays, are far removed from the wars and conflict that was associated during the cold war. Hence, games are less influenced by the strife of war and more about the entertainment value of war as depicted by Hollywood.

10) Have you ever played any of the games shown in this the first episode of "I, Videogame"? What was your memory of playing it? Where were you, when was it?

I remember playng tetris on the NES. I was only 7 or 8 years old and remember it as being the game I could not beat. I also remember playing Tetris on the Gameboy and I would play it as a diversion from being bored when my parents were visiting my relatives.

legend of zelda

1) How would you describe the level of engagement compared to more action oriented games from the same period?

This is a fairly engaging game. However, because it is an indie game, it doesn't feel as complete as a professionally designed games. However, for just one level, the graphics and sound are detailed enough to create a realistic fantasy world. The gameplay does have some level of secrets (the arrow bush) and a large area of exploration which would be something that is exciting for games in the 80s.

2) What role does setting and characterisation play in the game?
it is very important to create some level of engagement. Setting and characterization helps create an emotional attachment with the users and the game itself.

3) How do spells, pickups and power-ups assist the game play?
This game doesn't have power-ups but for pickups they have hearts that help users in case they loose too much life. Which of course balances the gameplay a bit for new users since they need a way to restore their life should the be injured too much.

rise of the video game level 2

1) What kind of company was Nintendo before it made videogame and videogame consoles?
Nintendo was a company that made plastic toys and playing cards.

2) What videogame system did it sell before it made its FAMICOM (known in USA as Nintendo Entertainment System) - Nintendo sold the odessy game system

3) Shigeru Miyamoto was not a programmer - what skill set did he bring to the industry?
Miyamoto brought the art of storytelling to video games.

4) How did the limits of the technology affect the way Mario could be shown?
Mario was designed with features that were recognizable. His nose was designed to be recognizable on the screen. Hair was hard to draw so they gave him a hat. He wore red becasue it was a recognizable color. They gave him a mustache because mouths are hard to draw.

5) Why did US retailers think there was no future in home videogame consoles at the time just prior to the NES release in the USA? Prior to the release of the NES, the Atari crashed and everyone thought that was the end of the video game industry. Also, personal computers were getting picked up.

6) What was assumed to the be the 'next big thing' by electronics manufacturers?
Personal computers were supposedly the next big thing.

7) What did Legend of Zelda bring to gaming that was new?
The Legend of Zelda brought the notion of character development. In the game, Link starts out weak but becomes stronger as the game progress through the collecting objects in his inventory.

8) How did the conservative values of the 1980s (Reagan & Thatcher etc) affect the culture of videogames? The values of the 1980s perpetuated that technology was just for fun and had no other practical reason.

9) How were the PC games published by Mystery House like King's Quest different from console games?
The games were slower and more cerebral. Play mechanics involve solving a puzzle and exploring a 3d like worlds. Also, they are less action base. You didn't control the character directly

10) How did Sega's 16 big Megadrive system change home console gaming?
Targetted an older audience and had faster sound/graphics.

11) How did "Leisure Suit Larry" differ from most genre based games of the period?
He's the anti hero/ balding looser trying to get girls. The game had racy content and is the first game set in a real world environment where characters are in present day time.

12) How is this aspect reflected in many games of today?
This push technology for more realism and addressed that the audience aged.

13) What is 'motion capture'
Motion capture is the process where you put markers on a person and capture the movement of the person to get realistic motion.

14) What is the 'uncanny valley'?
Its the response humans have to things that look like human (i.e.robots) but aren't. Because video game characters are designed to look lifelike, the usually end up looking dead. Thats because are aware of the fact that these characters aren't real and therefore we reject them and find them repulsive.