Homework 20

The main character is the one completing the goal, for all the sense that makes. He's trying to retrieve the bear that belongs to his sister.

The main character must go through several mansions in order to reach the final mansion, which contains Anna's bear. Inside each mansion are various tasks to complete, for example killing monsters, finding switches, mazes, and many more. After some sort of boss fight at the end of each mansion, the player is able to move on to the next mansion.

The obstacles do increase in difficulty. The number and strength of the enemies will increase as well as the challenges presented. For example, the player may have to navigate through a small maze in the second mansion, but by the tenth would have a very difficult maze mixed with other elements such as switches or enemy annihilation.

I feel that the main way our protagonist would transform would be to become closer to his sister Anna. He'll become stronger and better able to fend off the enemies and will walk away with knowledge of the teddy bear trafficking world, but other than that...

For one, the character doesn't really get tired. After a certain amount of time he won't run anymore, but that's the only thing. You also don't need to sleep. XD I don't think the gun recoils as much as a real gun would...can't remember at the moment. No food needs to be eaten.

I don't think our character ever gets that kind of power. I mean, the ultimate, last weapon unlocked would surely be powerful, but that would be available towards the end or at the end of the game where it wouldn't be quite as important except for against the final boss.

I guess the weirdest element is that the game is about Tantalizing Teddies, a teddy bear trafficking ring. And you fight teddy bears. And your main enemy is a teddy bear. >.>

I think our game would be confusing, weird, and just plain strange without a story. I mean, it would be shooting teddy bears in a haunted mansion without the story.

The game forces the player to go through the house pretty much completely. You can't do anything without completing certain things like getting through the mazes or finding switches.

Goals interface is pretty much what I stated above. You have to complete the mini-goals if you want to reach the ultimate goal. In a way, Anna is a controlling character. You're completing the task for her.

Other things we could do would include making the music change when enemies are close, or you're about to die. Also changing the music when the player gets close to an important goal would incite curiosity and make the player go towards the objective.

Homework 17

Elements of chance...I'm not 100% sure, but I feel like the enemies spawn in random places, not the same place each time. I could be wrong though.
Skills used in the game would be the ability to use the keyboard well, being able to aim at your target and shoot, solve puzzles and get through mazes...none of which seem to have any relationship to probability and/or chance.

Well, enemies spawning are out of the player's control. Those babies are gonna come after you whether you like it or not. Other things concerning enemies, such as how many spawn at a time, etc are also out of the player's control. Weapons received when accomplishing something awesome is also out of your control.

Mmm...not that I can tell. At the moment I can't even think of a way that could happen. XD

Let's see if I can word this correctly. He could, in a way. I mean, the computer's skill level is going to increase depending on where the player is in the game. Meaning, the farther along the player is, the more difficult the computer's level. So theoretically one could estimate the computer's skill based on that fact. Also, how menacing a boss looks tends to be a pretty good indication, along with long, melodramatic monologues.

With my horrible close-to-midnight math skills, I'll guess that there's about a 1.92% chance of drawing both a King of Diamonds and an Ace of Spades from two shuffled decks. Assuming the Jokers were taken out.

And for some reason this math problem is blowing my mind. o.o;

Homework 16

Guh. Rules. I really wanna just copy and paste from another homework. XD And it trips me up every time!! Let's see...you go through the mansion fulfilling certain goals in order to progress to the next mansion. This becomes a vicious cycle until we're merciful enough to let you get to the final house and save Anna's bear. You have to do this by completing goals...you can't fly and you can't cheat. >.> You can't challenge the zombie bears to a game of chess.

The ultimate goal is definitely saving Anna's bear. It is certainly achievable, it'll just take mad skills. Or something. But yeah, definitely attainable.

I'd like to think the goals are rewarding. Normally getting through a difficult boss is enough for me. Especially in Kingdom Hearts. If I'm having problems with a boss and I finally beat him, I'm pretty much jumping for joy! I mean, in addition there'd be some sort of reward, such as a power-up or new weapon.

Eight kinds of rules. Operational...we have those, lol. That's the whole you can't fly through this level and challenge the zombie bears to chess. Functional...I must say I'm a little confused on what these are. Maybe...something to do with the gun...I have no idea. As far as behavioral rules go, I'm sure there are a lot of them, but I'm guessing they'd be pretty outrageous. The first thing that comes to mind is that you can't teleport or walk through walls, but those could be functional as well. Let's see...how about after you lose a boss fight, you can't walk up and sucker punch them? Also, I feel like written rules are the same as the operational rules, just shoved into a book that hardly anyone reads. XD I doubt we'd have any laws, because I can't imagine this game being played super competitively. I guess we could have house rules though, if those are comparable to basically changing the controls.

If I understand the question correctly, then yes. Within each mansion, there are a certain set of goals that must be completed before progressing to the next mansion. Each of these mansions must be completed before reaching the ultimate goal. So yes, they are related to each other. I feel like they help the story progress in a reasonable manner. If you were just given one goal and the whole game was to complete that goal without having to do anything else...I feel like that would be awkward.

Mmm, I don't think our game is the type that you could control your own goals. In my head, I equate it to Mario, just with different characters. Technically, you could just go on a zombie bear killing spree, but you wouldn't get far in the game. So the goals are pretty much laid out for you.

Forms of balance our game includes. As you progress farther in the house, you run into more enemies, thus making the game harder. Eventually you are able to upgrade your gun, which would make the game a bit easier, but then you start running into more zombies and the game becomes harder again. And this makes the game balanced.

Operative actions: most basic would be moving forward, backward, left, and right. I think you can also strafe left and right, and you can definitely jump. There is also shoot. Less basic would be picking up objects, such as health and guns. Also interacting with objects such as the flicking of a light switch and the opening of a door. 


Resultant actions: still thinking throwing stuff would be cool. XD Maybe make a gun that does that? 


Real skills developed: finger dexterity, because that's essential in any game in my opinion. Also problem-solving and memorization...and getting a feel for what it would take to survive around zombie bears? It's good practice for the apocalypse...Virtual skills would be things such as...being able to shoot the zombie bears, learning how to move in the game (because for me the keyboard is a bit difficult to use), umm...drawing a blank.


And I feel like I just talked about balance four or five questions ago. XD

Homework 15~ Mostly

Okay. Right now this isn't going to be illustrated. XD

My role in this game is doing artwork/concept art. It's a little difficult because I'm actually a horrible artist, as in I can't draw with my hands. Well, everyone can, but I just suck. Horribly. So most of my concept art is deemed either useless, not detailed enough...or just horrible. Mostly by me.

I've done the concepts for Anna, which I deemed important because she isn't appearing in the part of the game we're creating but is an essential character. Therefore we have a concept I drew of her and also one that my far more talented bestie drew up for me. Unfortunately, my printer isn't working so I can't print it out to color it, and I keep forgetting to send it to Brandon dang it all. D:< I did a concept for the main enemy, but we ended up finding a far more terrifying texture and using that for the enemies. I also have not been able to color that concept. I hate coloring originals. Let's see...I've done a few lamp designs, only one of which I think is actually kind of cool. I also came up with the concept for the outside of the mansion, which is the first thing I drew up. I have a colored version that hasn't been scanned in because my printer/scanner hates everything. >.< Pretty sure I have other concepts that I just can't think of right now.

I am also the primary person in charge of the poster. I've come up with a draft and hope to get started once I receive measurements for the poster. Brandon is in charge of coming up with the words for the poster, but otherwise it's all me. I'm pretty darn excited about the poster. Like I said, it's almost completely planned out, just about down to the types of images that are going to be used and page layout. All I need are measurements, the actual images, and text.

Blender contribution...well, I will admit that mine is little to none. Closer to none. I have almost no patience, and this program certainly requires time and patience. I don't want to say that I'm under the learning curve, but I will admit that I don't learn well from tutorials and by experimenting. I would just need more time to learn the program than most people, I suppose. It's not really akin to Photoshop or Illustrator, which I'm used to working in.

By the way, if you guys enjoy being around Asians/maids/butlers/random girls in lolita, join AASU for the Halloween Social this Friday at 8:00pm in the Globe. It's on Facebook. Just saying.

Homework 14~

All right. Homework time. 


Let's see...I'd say the human characters model the real world pretty well. I mean, the game starts at a garage sale, a common event in reality. You are traveling through a house which is pretty true to a real house as far as proportions go. It's a bit small right now though lol. The guns are...kinda real. The one we have now looks pretty realistic, at least. 


So, my thoughts on the challenge versus skill graph. The player starts off facing simple enemies that are relatively easy to kill as a sort of training round. You've got a simple gun that isn't super powered, but you can take the enemies out easily. As you progress farther into the mansion, there are more enemies, making them harder to kill. At different points throughout the house or at the end of the house, you receive a new, more powerful gun. The process then continues at the next mansion, but the times between getting new weapons sometimes increases or decreases. 


Our game probably lies in the level with almost primal instincts. Survival. You aren't searching for food or anything, lol. You're also not trying to perfect your painting skills. You're trying to stay alive. I guess in a way it fits in with acceptance because you're pretty much doing this for your sister, but oh well. 


As far as objects go, right now we have guns and enemies. I've drawn up some different lamps, as lighting is probably going to be essential in the bottom floor of the first mansion. We're going to have stationary furniture in the mansion as well to make it look more like a mansion. Some way of restoring health and bullets should also be implemented.

The space in our game is continuous, I think. 3D. You can walk just about anywhere (you can't walk through walls, floors, or ceilings). 


Players are going to see at least most of the data. For example, the player will be able to see their health status, remaining bullets, inventory, etc. I think an interesting thing to do would be to have the number of enemies killed and other random statistics listed in another menu, so it would be visible for those curious but not shown on the HUD. 


Operational actions. If I remember correctly, these are the basic actions in the game? Most basic would be moving forward, backward, left, and right. I think you can also strafe left and right, and you can definitely jump. There is also shoot. Less basic would be picking up objects, such as health and guns. Also interacting with objects such as the flicking of a light switch and the opening of a door. 


Resultant actions are fun. I'm thinking it would be cool to be able to shoot down a door, which, if implemented, could be a resultant action if nothing explicitly says 'shoot this door down.' Having more interactive objects would lead to more resultant actions, such as being able to throw the furniture in the room. For example, if you could throw the lamp, you could kill enemies by it.


I think I just listed verbs. XD Let's see, walking, running, shooting, strafing, picking up, maybe throwing, interacting, flicking, opening...er...dying...killing...emerging from your battles victorious...saving...winning...and I'm running out of ideas. ^^;


The all-important RULES! I'm horrible at describing any sort of rules. So you're in the mansions. You can't walk through walls. Your goal is to get to the top, preferably without dying. You have to kill the enemies and fulfill a task in order to progress to the next floor of the mansion. You will have chances to resupply your gun and health. Once you reach the top...I propose we have a boss battle or something and then move on to the next mansion, which will be harder than the one you just left. I feel like this isn't enough elaboration on the rules. XD

Homework 13

Well, the game is pretty much being developed as we go along. The most we're really prototyping is attempting to come up with decent concept art. 

I suppose a lot of things could go wrong. XD There could be some programming errors, as in we can't figure out how to make the character pick something up, or some similar malfunction. We could attempt to model something and it just ends up looking like crap!

I'm pretty sure men and women will not like our game equally. Most women do not like shooting teddy bears. The most feminine aspect of our game at the moment is the concept of Anna. She's friggin' adorable. Making the game more appealing to women would be a terrible ordeal, unless they are women of a different caliber, in which case adding a "dress-up the teddy bear" minigame may work. ^^;

Shooting things is definitely appealing to 15-18 year olds trying to get their hormonal rages in check. XD To make it more appealing to them...add skimpy outfits and boobs. And explosions. Blood and gore. Ages 40-50...skimpy outfits and boobs? Maybe some Pong?

Pleasures...I'd assume it would be pleasurable to destroy/annihilate your enemies. I mean, killing vicious looking bears that consume souls is pretty pleasurable to me. Discovering new weapons, maybe even toss a grenade or two in the mix.

I feel that iteration is probably a problem for us. XD There's a level of awkwardness our group experiences when conversing simply because of the huge gap in Blender skill. My primary focus is art (even though I suck at drawing) and as of now I'm concentrating on the poster. I have some ideas that I've been sketching out and I'm pretty excited about making it. I LOVE MAKING POSTERS. I'm not sure how my ideas are going to come together yet, but I can tell you I'm excited. :Db I try not to take on Blender things for the game just because I know I won't be able to deliver.

Changes to the game...Right now we have no way of figuring out how much health you have, or recovering your bullets. So that definitely needs to change. Progression through the house may change as well.

Currently the game plan is to work out some of the mechanics of the game, like, as previously stated, recovering health and bullets, tracking health, tracking objectives...right now those things aren't really working, partially because they aren't there. The player doesn't have a set goal at the moment, and that certainly isn't working.

I think the player will enjoy shooting unconventional enemies. I mean, these are vicious teddy bears, not humans or evil birds or something. The combination of shooting things and solving puzzles seems to be pretty popular, as shown by games such as Dead Space, etc. They may not like our initial thoughts on handling health; we were considering making the screen steadily turn red as you begin to die. While it's not something done often, it can also make it hard to see your enemies and thus you'll die and then ::ragequit::. I obviously expect players to keep playing, but hopefully will do so repeatedly, as in find the game worth going back and replaying multiple times.

Er...

I decided that I'd share the fact that I spent the weekend in New York City. My friend and I went to see VAMPS and X JAPAN in concert. This is why I've been kinda...slacking...and being made of fail. 

In order to make it up to everyone, I'll post this video I took of X JAPAN singing 'Kurenai.' <3 

I apologize for the horrible quality; I was standing right underneath an air conditioner that was going full blast. ;-;

I also have no idea how Google Docs works. XD

Homework 10

Okie dokie. Theme of our game. I'd say...teddy bears? I mean, we do kinda have a teddy bear motif going on. Teddy bears and pimps. 

I'm having a really hard time coming up with an experience. The only thing I can think of is that fact that my two best friends and I always fight around each other. Not fighting as in arguing, I mean full-on cat fighting. XD It's pretty amusing to watch. So I don't know, maybe a way to incorporate that into the game would be to have characters with that fighting style. Maybe have enemies that jump you in a similar fashion and try to foot sweep you and kick you in the fact. Not that my friends actually kick each other in the face, but it's mentioned quite often. ^^; 

Reinforcement of the theme...well, right now, we have a main character as a teddy bear, the enemies are teddy bears (and pimps)...I think another thing discussed was to put random pictures of teddy bears throughout the house, like portraits and such. The mansion is...a broken down pimp mansion, lol. We could also have teddy bear sounds and stuff. 

Our problem statement...provide gamers with an amusing and creative game that incorporates both mature themes and childish objects. So...as far as constraints go...it's leaning towards a masculine game, so no Barbies. XD Also, the childish objects are pretty much restricted to teddy bears, maybe some other toys but that might be pushing it. It's a shooter, so nothing a shooter can't handle. I feel like we're taking a bit of a light-hearted and comedic approach, so it would be good to keep the seriousness down.

Homework 9

So here's my HUD design and menu design on paper.

Hopefully it shows up okay. >.> From here the green looks yellow.

Homework 8

   After racking my brain for a while, I decided that a non-computer game I really enjoy is Scattergories. For any of you who have never heard of Scattergories, it's basically a word game during which you come up with words that fall under a certain category, yet all start with the same letter.

   The technology provided includes category cards; special paper used to record your answers; a piece of specially formed cardboard that is used not only to hold your paper and category cards but also to keep your answers hidden; a timer that counts down one, two, or three minutes; a die with around 20 letters of the alphabet; a board to roll the die on; and a writing utensil. 

   The mechanics are relatively simple. You have a predetermined amount of time to come up with twelve words that fall under a certain category, which are listed on the category cards. For example, one category could be "Book Titles" or "Presidents of the United States." One of the catches is that they all must start with the same letter. This is where the die comes in. One player rolls the die, and whatever letter it lands on is the letter used. There are three rounds, and the letter changes for each round. At the end of each round, every players' answers are revealed and points are rewarded. Points are rewarded based on the uniqueness of the player's answer. For example, the category is "Book Titles" and two players come up with "War and Peace." Neither of those players get a point. At the end of three rounds, the players add up all the points from the previous three rounds, and whoever has the most points is the winner. 

   It's a word game, so there's not really much of a story, if any. As far as aesthetics, the print outs are nice and easy to read and follow, so you don't have to think too much about where to put your words. Columns are well organized as well. Pretty much everything has 'Scattergories' printed on it, so it's hard to forget you're playing. XD

   As far as our game goes, the mechanics are basically that of a regular puzzle shooter. You have an overall task, which is to find the missing teddy bear, but you also have to keep yourself alive by shooting your enemies and navigating through many puzzles. Aesthetics are hopefully going to include some nice textures and immersive sounds, such as eerie music and haunted house sounds. The storyline is that your sister's bear was accidentally sold at a yard sale, and now it's involved in the teddy bear human trafficking syndicate and you have to rescue it. Technology is Blender.

   From my point of view, a strong theme in our game is perseverance and sibling love. The player is on this quest solely because of his sister. He loves his sister so much that he's willing to go through all this crap to save her precious teddy. He's also persevering through all of these trials and tribulations. So sibling love and perseverance. These are shown through the story because it's a known fact. Also, the player has to go through these challenges, so it's made apparent that it's really only because of his sister.

Homework #7

All right, more information about our prospective game!

Surprises: Flickering lights, enemies coming from absolutely nowhere, and I'd like to think the fact that there's a secret teddy bear trafficking syndicate. 

Goal: To rescue Anna's wrongfully sold teddy bear from the grasp of Big Pimpin'. 

Why: In the long run, there will be a plot twist similar to the classic Mario "I'm sorry, but your princess is in another castle." The incentive will be to figure out where the heck Big Pimpin' has taken Anna's teddy bear. Each mansion is in a different location with a different theme, so curiosity will play a part in incentive as well. Questions like "What will the next mansion be like," or "What kind of enemies will the next place have to offer," will drive the player onward.

Valuables: WEAPONS AND BULLETS. You're gonna need 'em. Also helpful are health packs, in whatever way we choose to implement them. 

Problems: The best example we have so far is that the first haunted mansion is multi-story, and before you can proceed to the next level, where all the enemies are, you first have to find a light switch to light the upstairs or something along those lines. The player will have to navigate through the mansion until they reach the goal, which is probably going to be something akin to a maze. Another idea is that the player can't proceed to the next floor or stage until all of the enemies are defeated, or maybe all the parts to a mechanism have been found. 

Generation of Problems: I was thinking maybe randomizing where the light switch is, or creating side quests to unlock better weapons or armor. Maybe if you revisit later in the game there will be an awesome prize if you go through again. 

Initial Thoughts on the Tetrad: Obviously our technology is Blender. As far as mechanics go, we definitely have a spawn point, but death is uncertain as of late. We'll probably have health packs to help out with the players not dying all the time. Basic rules are that you navigate through the mansion, eliminating the enemies as you strive towards the end of the mansion. Then you go through it all over again. The aesthetics of the first mansion are going to be things related to haunted houses, such as being dark and creepy, a bit old fashioned, howling wind, apprehensive music, loud bangs...etc. And the story is basically the player going through different houses in search of Anna's teddy bear. 

Big Pimpin's First Mansion

So here's the outside of the mansion. This is the first place you visit under Big Pimpin's control. I was informed that this place looks like "oodles of fun" because my drawing style is apparently "super bubbly." I was also asked if I had Sprite before drawing this. It's supposed to be at least a little scary...

Little sister permitting, I'll try to color it tomorrow. She's a pain in the butt sometimes.

Homework 5...

Not so great. XD 

I've managed to get the tracking, groups, motion, sensors...mostly everything works but bullets. I feel like I've followed the file given to us as closely as possible, but something's still wrong. It's definitely made of fail. ^^;  I also had a problem with my tracking; I created Boo-like objects and put them in a group. There's four altogether, and three of them won't float unless the first one has a soft body. I don't know what the heck I did to screw it up, but there's one random Boo creature that seemingly does nothing. He tracks me a bit, but that's the extent of it.





In the video, it's basically me moving what's supposed to be my humanoid/gun object running from Boo-like objects. This relates to our game concept because our enemies are going to be ghost-like creatures, and Boo is a fun ghost and easy to pretend to emulate, so I just took a sphere and gave it arms. 

Also, concept art. I will have the outside of the mansion up tomorrow, and maybe Anna. It depends on if I decide to fix her dress or not. >.< Or I may put her up and then put up the changes I may make later.

About our Game~

So the essential experience of our game is rescue. You are given someone to rescue and you do your best to get it done.







The story begins at a yard sale. There's an adorable teddy bear that appears to be for sale. A mysterious, shady man finds it and asks your friend (who volunteered to help out) how much it is. Your friend ends up selling the bear to him without realizing that it is actually a treasured toy of your sister's (Anna). She is heartbroken after discovering her precious teddy bear is gone, so it's your job to get it back. After doing some investigation, you find out that the poor bear has been sold into the world of teddy bear trafficking and is under the roof of Big Pimpin, the Mack Daddy of All Pimps.

The first level of the game will introduce you to a haunted mansion. Here the souls of teddy bear pimps congregate in an attempt to take you down with them. You will wander through furniture and hallways, collecting guns and ammo along the way.

Our characters so far include yourself, Anna, Big Pimpin, and the Souls of Pimps Past. You are a high school male who enjoys being on your high school football team. You also enjoy taking care of your sister and making sure she's happy. The game is in first person view, so not much is known about yourself. You are able to wield a knife and guns, and you're also athletic. The Souls of Pimps Past take the forms of zombies, ghosts, and ghouls, who are all pretty gross. Big Pimpin' is decked out in a traditional purple pimp suit, complete with cane that fires like a gun. He's wealthy and pretty much overweight, but he doesn't need to be built to run things behind the scenes.

Homework 3

All right~ Actually managed to get this video done. I'm now using a desktop computer, since my laptop seems to hate large programs or operating in general. Sorry for the intense silence, by the way. You can play some upbeat music in the background or something.

I started out by throwing my laptop against the wall creating two cubes. I squished one like we did today in class, and the other I left as a general cube, just yellow. I applied the keyboard sensors for the WASD keys (probably in the wrong directions) and created a jumping option with the spacebar. I gave it a dynamic body and a mass of 20. Next I created a bunch of walls by copying the squished cubes a few times and making them green. They're all static. Lastly, I created three different spheres, all with rigid bodies. The red ones have a mass of 5 and utilize the touch sensors, the larger blue ones have a mass of .7 and have collision sensors, and the smaller blue ones have a mass of 2.5 and use near sensors. I duplicated each of these four times, so there's 12 spheres hanging around. The whole premise is to attempt to knock the spheres off the plane and find out how the spheres react. Unfortunately, my cube tends to run all over the screen at times and my aim appears to be awful. I also added several light sources, though only two appeared to have an impact. I put in two suns in two different locations. It's awfully dark without them. 

On a different note, Birth by Sleep is really awesome.

Homework #2

Here's my creepy little character in some hilly terrain.

All right. Finally was able to make my character on hilly terrain. It took me three days to get to this point because I forgot everything we learned last Thursday. I've never worked with a program like this before, so this is definitely turning out to be a learning experience! 

What I finally did was create a plane, subdivide it, and used the proportional editing tool to make the hills. I played around with the sphere, root, and one other type of hill-making. Then I made an icosphere, used the root subset of the proportional editing tool to make his arms, and shoved another sphere on there for good measure. It seems like the circle that I randomly created managed to get there too. As for the colors...I think it was under materials...or something. I was clicking buttons and found it. XD 

EDIT: Fun new fact: my laptop refuses to run the video capture software while I'm using Blender. It took about five minutes for it to subdivide a random cube once, and then completely crashed. I'll have to install it on another computer and see if it'll work there. Or get a new laptop...

Post #1 - Pictures and YouTube Video!

Here's a duck family at Lake Ella chowing down on some bread.

For those of you who want to know, I took the picture with my nice fancy camera.  

All right, video time!

After racking my brain for a few days, I finally decided to teach everyone how to make a paper crane. My camera takes kinda crappy video (my video camera is MIA) but hey, it's a video all the same. It's a little long and boring, according to my boyfriend. But, if you're interested in folding paper cranes, this video isn't too bad. Unfortunately, the crane turned out worse than mine usually do. 

LET'S MAKE A CRANE!