Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Play testing my Game with classmates: Two things i learned. Balance and how to make the game go by faster
I had two play tests with my dice game.
In both cases the players stated that the defender has a disadvantage, they say that while the defender has a 12 sided die that can cancel out the attackers roll, but they would still roll, mostly, a value under that of the attackers dice.
The players suggested that the defender get a die that has a higher value, such as a 15 sided die.
Also, players suggested that i lower the amount each player starts with, because if they start at 50, the game can go on for 3+ minutes. That doesn't seem like that long, but the players started getting bored somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes. It was described to me as " imagine if Rock Paper Scissors lasted 5 minutes, it would be boring."
In both cases the players stated that the defender has a disadvantage, they say that while the defender has a 12 sided die that can cancel out the attackers roll, but they would still roll, mostly, a value under that of the attackers dice.
The players suggested that the defender get a die that has a higher value, such as a 15 sided die.
Also, players suggested that i lower the amount each player starts with, because if they start at 50, the game can go on for 3+ minutes. That doesn't seem like that long, but the players started getting bored somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes. It was described to me as " imagine if Rock Paper Scissors lasted 5 minutes, it would be boring."
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Design Theory: Interpreting Man Hunt
Man Hunt as a "sandbox" game
Man Hunt is a game where players run around in an open environment, one team hiding, one team hunting.
The team that is Hiding has the goal of either A: not be found, or B: get to base. Base is an unmovable object that the hiding team goes to in order to win.
I like to consider this game as a "sand box" game because the players can alter the environment to reach their goals. The team that is searching can use different methods in order to find the other team, and the other team can be extremely creative when hiding. Also, the hiding team will also have to develop a wide array of routes to base.
A Sand box game is one were the player alters their environment in order to accomplish there goal. There is no set path. I believe that Man Hunt is the same way. Players must use the environment to hide and seek, and alter it to give them an advantage.
Man Hunt is a game where players run around in an open environment, one team hiding, one team hunting.
The team that is Hiding has the goal of either A: not be found, or B: get to base. Base is an unmovable object that the hiding team goes to in order to win.
I like to consider this game as a "sand box" game because the players can alter the environment to reach their goals. The team that is searching can use different methods in order to find the other team, and the other team can be extremely creative when hiding. Also, the hiding team will also have to develop a wide array of routes to base.
A Sand box game is one were the player alters their environment in order to accomplish there goal. There is no set path. I believe that Man Hunt is the same way. Players must use the environment to hide and seek, and alter it to give them an advantage.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Game Genres: Halo CE, Portal and El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron
Halo CE is a First Person Shooter (FPS) that was released by Bungie in 2001 excessively for the Xbox. The game has what is now considered the normal FPS features. A view of what the character sees in game, a view of the weapon the character is using, an ammo read out to tell how much ammo is left in both the gun and how much ammo the player has in total, and a system to let the player know how much health they have (in this case it is a bar in the upper right and corner of the screen.)
The game is still vastly popular and is still pumping out sequales
Portal is one of the only FPS puzzle games around that has done really well. Portal has some FPS elements such as a point of view of the character in game, and the view of the gun. You have a portal making device that makes two portals, a blue portal and a orange portal. The player must use the two portals to navigate thou the levels, solving problems. This is the puzzle aspect.
How do i get to that cube to put on that switch to open that door without falling down that pit or getting shot by those turrets?
This is the puzzle that the player must figure out in order to continue.
The last game i chose is one that most people have not heard of. El Shaddai Ascension of the Metatron is a 3D platformer in which that player controls the character from a third person perspective. The player must navigate through multiple levels, all lasting about 30+ minutes, of platforming and combat scenarios. The balance is about 60 % platforming 40% combat. At moments, the game will change from 3D platforming to 2D platforming, but will retain some of its 3D elements such as character models.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Everything is Rock, Paper, Scissors: Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a RTS game that was developed by Ensemble Studios. It is the first RTS in the Halo franchise.
Halo Wars has the normal RTS game play mechanics : Base building, unit training, upgrading, expanding your territory etc.. BUT, Halo Wars core combat mechanic is similar, if not the identical to the mechanics of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
In Halo Wars the player can make three types of units. Infantry, Vehicles, and Air units. The way that the combat works is :
1: Infantry have the advantage over Air
2: Air has the advantage over Vehicles
3: Vehicles have the advantage over Infantry.
They have the advantage in the sense that if 10 Air units went up against 12 Vehicle units, Air units would win with 1 man left.
This is the same mechanic as RPS.
Rock beats Scissor
Scissor beats Paper
Paper beats Rock
All units have the advantage over another, but also have the disadvantage to another unit.
However, it does differ from the mechanics of RPS.
In Halo Wars, a player may have 10 Air units, but will lose in a battle versus 15+ Vehicles. If one group overwhelms the other, the player that has more units will always win. But when in a fair match, the player with the advantage will win.
Although there are two races in which you can play, when it comes to the RPS system, the race you play does not affect the out come. That only affects the price and available upgrades. Air will still beat Vehicles, but Human Air might beat Convent Air units ( i never really tried that out to see if that is true. It is just an example)
Also, Halo Wars you can upgrade your units, so that is also a factor that could tip the scale in the player who has the disadvantage in a battle.
Halo Wars has the normal RTS game play mechanics : Base building, unit training, upgrading, expanding your territory etc.. BUT, Halo Wars core combat mechanic is similar, if not the identical to the mechanics of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
In Halo Wars the player can make three types of units. Infantry, Vehicles, and Air units. The way that the combat works is :
1: Infantry have the advantage over Air
2: Air has the advantage over Vehicles
3: Vehicles have the advantage over Infantry.
They have the advantage in the sense that if 10 Air units went up against 12 Vehicle units, Air units would win with 1 man left.
This is the same mechanic as RPS.
Rock beats Scissor
Scissor beats Paper
Paper beats Rock
All units have the advantage over another, but also have the disadvantage to another unit.
However, it does differ from the mechanics of RPS.
In Halo Wars, a player may have 10 Air units, but will lose in a battle versus 15+ Vehicles. If one group overwhelms the other, the player that has more units will always win. But when in a fair match, the player with the advantage will win.
Although there are two races in which you can play, when it comes to the RPS system, the race you play does not affect the out come. That only affects the price and available upgrades. Air will still beat Vehicles, but Human Air might beat Convent Air units ( i never really tried that out to see if that is true. It is just an example)
Also, Halo Wars you can upgrade your units, so that is also a factor that could tip the scale in the player who has the disadvantage in a battle.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Rock Paper Scissors Rules
Rules of Rock Paper Scissors
- Two people stand
across from each other. Both players hold out one hand, palm to the sky, so
that it is parallel to their chest and with the other hand, form a fist and place
the fist in the palm of their other hand.
- When both parties
are ready, both players say, “1,2,3,shoot”; On each word, they raise their fists
and drop them back into their pervious place. When both players both say
“shoot” both players will do one of three actions with their fists on the
downwards motion of their fist.
The three actions
follow:
1: Keep it as a fist, which means that they have
chosen rock.
2: Made it so that their hand is now flat, with the palm facing the ground, which means that they have chosen paper.
3: Formed a V shape with the index finger and middle finger and are holding it sideways, which means they have chosen scissor.
- Once both parties
have chosen one of the three, the following rules apply. These rules apply
for all games and cannot be negotiated.
1: Rock beats Scissor
2: Paper beats Rock
Favorite Childhood Game
Man Hunt
Man Hunt should be played with 6+ people, and also requires a large playing field. This field may be a street, or a cul-de-sac.
Many of the rules are negotiated with the two teams but the basics remain the same.
- One team hides while the other team searches, the team that is hiding has the goal of getting to base.
- There is a base in which players are safe from the searchers.
- Once a player is found, that player must be tagged
- If the player is tagged, he switches teams and helps find the others
- Last man hiding wins.
The rules that are negotiated can vary depending on playing field, amount of people playing and the environment.
Things that are most likely to be negotiated are:
- What is base and how long, if not for the entire round, can a play stay at base.
- What is the playing area. Some times it would be an entire street, other times it would be in till a certain marker.
- Are there any areas in which players can not go. If playing on a street lined with houses, the teams would often agree to not go in houses or cars.
- If the last man standing gets the win for his team or not
- How far away from base must hiders hide. If there is not set distance from base, hiders may hide right next to base, thus being unfair for the searchers.
Man Hunt should be played with 6+ people, and also requires a large playing field. This field may be a street, or a cul-de-sac.
Many of the rules are negotiated with the two teams but the basics remain the same.
- One team hides while the other team searches, the team that is hiding has the goal of getting to base.
- There is a base in which players are safe from the searchers.
- Once a player is found, that player must be tagged
- If the player is tagged, he switches teams and helps find the others
- Last man hiding wins.
The rules that are negotiated can vary depending on playing field, amount of people playing and the environment.
Things that are most likely to be negotiated are:
- What is base and how long, if not for the entire round, can a play stay at base.
- What is the playing area. Some times it would be an entire street, other times it would be in till a certain marker.
- Are there any areas in which players can not go. If playing on a street lined with houses, the teams would often agree to not go in houses or cars.
- If the last man standing gets the win for his team or not
- How far away from base must hiders hide. If there is not set distance from base, hiders may hide right next to base, thus being unfair for the searchers.
My favorite "historical" game : Starcraft
History
Starcraft was developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Development began in 1995, and was finally released on March 31 1998. The Blizzard developed expansion pack, Brood War, was released 9 months after the initial release of Starcraft. Starcraft allowed people from around the world to play with or against each other in ranked games or in custom games by Blizzards Battle.net 1.0 system (released with Diablo). Starcraft also had a map editor which allowed players to make maps, game types, and because of the Battle.net system, allowed them to share their custom games with others.
Starcraft was critically acclimed and gained massive popularity. The game increased Blizzards presence in the gaming industry and is one of the few games, at the time, that would claim the title of the fastest selling game with 1 million copy's sold in South Korea alone. In South Korea the game has become somewhat of a national sport where competitions are held often and the grand prize are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The game is a RTS (Real Time Strategy) and is considered as one of the greatest RTS's of all time. The game involves typical RTS features such as base building, unit production and micro management. The major thing that made this game different than the others was the fact that there were 3 playable races : Terrain, Zerg, and Protoss. Each race had different units and completely different play styles. So you could not play one race the same as the other. This made the player come up with different play styles and made the player choose which race he or she preferred to play. For example, the Protoss are high cost, high power units and the Zerg are low cost, low power units. Thus, if you are Protoss you will focus on end game power while if you played Zerg you would focus on early game harassment and rushing (Zerg Rush). The Terrain played as a good in between.
The reason i picked this game
The reason i picked this game is because it was revolutionary game and set the bar for all other RTS's. The game was one of my earliest experiences playing competitively with others and was also the first game in which i dabbled with the map editor. The game has been marked as one of the greatest games made and squeals are still being made. This game will forever leave its print in the gaming universe.
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