For this assignment the class was asked to create a Tic Tac Toe game within the Unity environment. We needed to use a variation of Javascript to create the game. As I have never used Javascript let alone Unity I found this quite daunting. I began by sourcing ideas for a theme for my game, I chose a medieval/regal theme for mine, so I began by getting a royalty free wooden texture and edited it in photoshop to use as the background to my game, I then worked on the other assets such as the X and O icons and borders.
My first task was to create a splash screen that when the start button is clicked it will initiate the game to start, I did this by creating a game object that when clicked will load the new scene which is the game board. I then needed to create a game object which would make the game exit when clicked. I did this by coding a quit texture to close the application when clicked.
For the game board scene I added the grid and positioned the boxes, i then coded it so that the border would appear when the mouse hovers over a box. I also created a code which would place the X and O icons in an alternate fashion while locking the squares so that they couldn't be changed with another click.
For the last part of the project i was supposed to create a winning scenario code and add sounds, but after days trying to figure out how to code both and several attempts nothing would work.
In reflection I felt like I was thrown in at the deep end with this assignment as I had never coded Unity script before. I felt I would have been able to complete the assignment if I'd had previous experience or more tutoring on the subject.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Assignment 2 Cinematic in UT3 editor
For this assignment I was asked to continue working in the same group as the previous assignment. We where asked to create a cinematic using the tools within the Unreal Tournament 3 editor. This included kismet and it's matinee function to add cinema style effects within a level.
We needed to choose one of 3 different themes for the cinematic, we chose the theme which featured a predator, I personally liked this idea the most because it featured suspense and an element of horror. As a group we began by discussing ideas about how we would undertake the task and what we wanted the cinematic to contain.
After brainstorming some initial ideas we came up with a finalised idea. The story of the cinematic would contain a man invading an enemy submarine, after this he would soon be pursued by an enemy predator. To create the suspense we decided to not actually show the predator, but have certain scenes which would be viewed through the predators eyes.
We worked on an initial scene plan together, planning out the required 60 seconds. During this time we each decided on a section that would be our main focus, my main focus was the sounds. For the sounds part I read through the plan and noted down which parts would require a specific sound other than the ones that would be needed throughout the cinematic such as footsteps and background noise.
As individuals and as a team we worked on building the level and working on the kismet, in reflection I feel I did not put as much as I would have liked to into making the level but due to timetable's clashing this was not always possible.
As the sounds needed to be added on nearer to the end of the project, when the level was almost finished, I helped out Shauni and Ian with their parts. When they had almost finished, I decided to finalise which sounds I would use for the project, I decided to stick to the in game sounds as they had the sounds that would fit the cinematic perfectly. After figuring out a simple way to do the sounds, I simply added them in on a sound track on the matinee by choosing the sound in the generic browser and pressing enter at the keyframe on a new sound track in the matinee.
Now that the project is finished, I think it is very well done. I feel that we worked well as a team, but I felt like I couldn't contribute as much as I would have liked at times because I wasn't always available to come and work in person.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Machinima Presentation
For the first assignment of the year I was asked to get into a group and research the topic of Machinima and create a presentation. We gave each other a specific section to work on, and decided to collaborate for the rest. My section is the history of Machinima.
I firstly decided to watch a few Machinima videos on youtube to refresh my memory of what Machinima is and how good it can be. I then checked out the official Machinima site and browsed around, looking at which games had the ability to create them. I then decided to go on to learning more information about Machinima so i checked the faq and about pages on the machinima website, I also briefly looked at wikipedia.
I searched around for the Machinima history, I found it on http://www.zeitbrand.de/machiniBlog/WhatIsMachinima.html#history .
I read through the page a few times and picked out what I found to be relevant for my section and re read those sections, combined with the information on the machinima website I begun making notes for my part of the presentation.
As a group we chose to use prezi to make the presenatation, this is because we could all work on it at the same time. We met up and created the presentation, I researched into the first machinima which was "Diary of a camper". I watched this a few times and made notes on it. We decided to feature the video in the presentation.
For this assignment I felt the communication was superb as we emailed each other our work to keep up to date on what we where doing, we also created the presentation together so we could exchange ideas as we did it.
I searched around for the Machinima history, I found it on http://www.zeitbrand.de/machiniBlog/WhatIsMachinima.html#history .
I read through the page a few times and picked out what I found to be relevant for my section and re read those sections, combined with the information on the machinima website I begun making notes for my part of the presentation.
As a group we chose to use prezi to make the presenatation, this is because we could all work on it at the same time. We met up and created the presentation, I researched into the first machinima which was "Diary of a camper". I watched this a few times and made notes on it. We decided to feature the video in the presentation.
For this assignment I felt the communication was superb as we emailed each other our work to keep up to date on what we where doing, we also created the presentation together so we could exchange ideas as we did it.
Friday, 14 May 2010
Design Document
Description of work done
For this piece of work we were asked to create a design document for a game that didn't exist, a game of our own creation. For this we needed to come up with a basic idea for a game then flesh the idea out in a more detailed fashion, this included creating the metrics and the mechanic's for the game. We were to treat the design document as if we were actually going to be presenting it to a professional company. The actual game was not needed, just the design document made to a professional standard. Each person in the group was required to do at least 4 pages of work, with there being 6 people in our group, we needed to create a 24 page document as a minimum. Between us we created far more than the 24 pages required, however we where let down by 1 member of the group only contributing 1 page of work. This meant that the rest of the group had to make up for this lack of effort.
Reflection and Issues Identified (SWOT)
There was both strengths and weaknesses within the group and the work. One of our strengths was the regular meetings that we held which often included the group as a whole, the meetings would act as a time where the group could come up with idea's and have a look at what we had done by ourselves. We could also help each other during this time by giving positive and negative feedback to each other.
There was a lack of concentration and focus within some members of the group, for example some of us had finished our required amount of pages almost a week before the deadline whereas one or two still had work to finish on deadline day, as well as being a weakness this was also a threat to the finished design document. There was also a problem during some of the meetings, one or two members would focus more on idle banter with no relation to the work rather than working on their objectives.
During the group work I feel took parts of the document that we where best at, serving as a strong point throughout the assignment. We each focused on a set number of sections with relation to one another.
Plan of Action (SMART)
For the next group assignment i participate in I would like to continue the current method we use, for example holding regular meetings and sharing ideas. I feel it would be be a good plan of action for me to attend all of the meetings that I am able and maintain a note form diary which will consist of what exactly went on in these meetings, any decisions made or idea's created.
I also feel a good plan of action for me is to plan my work out more, and complete each section of work in order, instead of going back and forth between sections. I also need to proof read more thoroughly than i currently do, to prevent any basic grammatical errors created by something so simple as a typing mistake.
Completion / Review / Conclusion
Overall I felt the assignment was successful. It was handed in on time, with the work which was required completed, to a professional standard. However, I felt we could have accomplished more if every member of the group put the same amount of effort in, instead of doing the bare minimum or even less than the minimum to get by.
I feel the project went successfully because we played to each others strengths and weaknesses and we all got on well as a group which made meetings enjoyable and the project become a fun experience.
The regular meetings we had helped a lot with the project and would defiantly like to continue this method, it kept the communication constant and made sure everyone knew and understood each others ideas.
For this piece of work we were asked to create a design document for a game that didn't exist, a game of our own creation. For this we needed to come up with a basic idea for a game then flesh the idea out in a more detailed fashion, this included creating the metrics and the mechanic's for the game. We were to treat the design document as if we were actually going to be presenting it to a professional company. The actual game was not needed, just the design document made to a professional standard. Each person in the group was required to do at least 4 pages of work, with there being 6 people in our group, we needed to create a 24 page document as a minimum. Between us we created far more than the 24 pages required, however we where let down by 1 member of the group only contributing 1 page of work. This meant that the rest of the group had to make up for this lack of effort.
Reflection and Issues Identified (SWOT)
There was both strengths and weaknesses within the group and the work. One of our strengths was the regular meetings that we held which often included the group as a whole, the meetings would act as a time where the group could come up with idea's and have a look at what we had done by ourselves. We could also help each other during this time by giving positive and negative feedback to each other.
There was a lack of concentration and focus within some members of the group, for example some of us had finished our required amount of pages almost a week before the deadline whereas one or two still had work to finish on deadline day, as well as being a weakness this was also a threat to the finished design document. There was also a problem during some of the meetings, one or two members would focus more on idle banter with no relation to the work rather than working on their objectives.
During the group work I feel took parts of the document that we where best at, serving as a strong point throughout the assignment. We each focused on a set number of sections with relation to one another.
Plan of Action (SMART)
For the next group assignment i participate in I would like to continue the current method we use, for example holding regular meetings and sharing ideas. I feel it would be be a good plan of action for me to attend all of the meetings that I am able and maintain a note form diary which will consist of what exactly went on in these meetings, any decisions made or idea's created.
I also feel a good plan of action for me is to plan my work out more, and complete each section of work in order, instead of going back and forth between sections. I also need to proof read more thoroughly than i currently do, to prevent any basic grammatical errors created by something so simple as a typing mistake.
Completion / Review / Conclusion
Overall I felt the assignment was successful. It was handed in on time, with the work which was required completed, to a professional standard. However, I felt we could have accomplished more if every member of the group put the same amount of effort in, instead of doing the bare minimum or even less than the minimum to get by.
I feel the project went successfully because we played to each others strengths and weaknesses and we all got on well as a group which made meetings enjoyable and the project become a fun experience.
The regular meetings we had helped a lot with the project and would defiantly like to continue this method, it kept the communication constant and made sure everyone knew and understood each others ideas.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Individual Assignment 1
Description of work done.
For this assignment I was asked to write a short report of around 1000-1500 words. This report was a discussion on the state of the industry, I was asked to choose from 3 different topic areas. I chose to write my report based on the question "Are sequels ruining the games industry?". For this report I wanted to equally discuss both sides of the argument before fully disclosing my opinion on the subject matter. Before starting the report I researched into recent sequel's, using resources and my own experience playing the sequels. In my report I wanted to highlight the recent boom sequels in the games industry have been having and their positive effect on the industry as a whole.
Reflection and Issues identified.
Upon reflection I believe my report had both strengths and weaknessess. I belive that the presentation of the document was one of my strengths, I included all of what was asked of me which included a front page and all references I used. I believe I thouroughly explored the topic that was asked of me and I did as much research on the topic area that I needed. However I do feel that I could have explored the discussion in writing better, the main issue I had was setting out the document. After reflection I feel that I had just listed reason after reason even if I feel that I had explored the reasons.
Plan of Action.
My goal of this assignment was to research into one of 3 given topic area's. The topic area I decided to choose was the question "Are sequels ruining the gaming industry?". I was asked to throughly research the area and present my findings in the style of a report. To achieve this goal I began researching into recent sequels such as Mass Effect 2, Assassins Creed 2, Final Fantasy 13 and Modern Warfare 2. I looked at their advertising campaigns and their reaction from the people who play the games, I also researched into older sequels such as Sonic 2. I decided to use my own experience playing these games as research as I thought this would be beneficial to the report. I feel that completing this report would give me a better understanding of what sequels can offer the games industry if done correctly.
Conclusion
During my work on this assignment I feel that I gained a greater knowledge on how the games industry thinks when it comes to sequels. It was an experience I benefited greatly from because I had to work by myself which gave me a chance to exercise my indepence. As much as I enjoy working in a group I do sometimes feel that my independent work ethic isn't as improved as it should be. I also feel this assignment improved my research skills as well as my writing and presentation skills. As I normally do not take care of the finalisation of a report such as correcting the references and adding in pages such as a cover and a contents page.
For this assignment I was asked to write a short report of around 1000-1500 words. This report was a discussion on the state of the industry, I was asked to choose from 3 different topic areas. I chose to write my report based on the question "Are sequels ruining the games industry?". For this report I wanted to equally discuss both sides of the argument before fully disclosing my opinion on the subject matter. Before starting the report I researched into recent sequel's, using resources and my own experience playing the sequels. In my report I wanted to highlight the recent boom sequels in the games industry have been having and their positive effect on the industry as a whole.
Reflection and Issues identified.
Upon reflection I believe my report had both strengths and weaknessess. I belive that the presentation of the document was one of my strengths, I included all of what was asked of me which included a front page and all references I used. I believe I thouroughly explored the topic that was asked of me and I did as much research on the topic area that I needed. However I do feel that I could have explored the discussion in writing better, the main issue I had was setting out the document. After reflection I feel that I had just listed reason after reason even if I feel that I had explored the reasons.
Plan of Action.
My goal of this assignment was to research into one of 3 given topic area's. The topic area I decided to choose was the question "Are sequels ruining the gaming industry?". I was asked to throughly research the area and present my findings in the style of a report. To achieve this goal I began researching into recent sequels such as Mass Effect 2, Assassins Creed 2, Final Fantasy 13 and Modern Warfare 2. I looked at their advertising campaigns and their reaction from the people who play the games, I also researched into older sequels such as Sonic 2. I decided to use my own experience playing these games as research as I thought this would be beneficial to the report. I feel that completing this report would give me a better understanding of what sequels can offer the games industry if done correctly.
Conclusion
During my work on this assignment I feel that I gained a greater knowledge on how the games industry thinks when it comes to sequels. It was an experience I benefited greatly from because I had to work by myself which gave me a chance to exercise my indepence. As much as I enjoy working in a group I do sometimes feel that my independent work ethic isn't as improved as it should be. I also feel this assignment improved my research skills as well as my writing and presentation skills. As I normally do not take care of the finalisation of a report such as correcting the references and adding in pages such as a cover and a contents page.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Group Work 1 Little Big Planet
Description of work done.
For this piece of work we where asked to get into groups to create a usability testing presentation and report. The report needed to be 10 pages long and consist of how we went about the testing, what we where testing, how we where testing it. We where asked to create a questionnaire and user profile for the prospective tester's to fill in before, during and after the usability testing. For the testing we needed to pick a popular game from one of the following systems; Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Game Cube, Playstation 2, or another console of our choice within reason.
We chose a section of the game for testing, it had to be suitable such as the user interface. We decided to use the first two levels which act as both an introduction and a tutorial for the game. We asked 10 people to test these two levels, we asked them to answer questions about how they found certain part's of these levels and how they felt whilst playing through them. We gathered the results together and proceeded to gather a fair few of the overall usability of the game.
Reflection and Issues Identified
I feel we have many strengths as a group, mainly because we normally work together, in more than one module. We know how we work and what we are good at, we can manage our time easily and can spread the work evenly through the group. We also enjoy working together as a group which keeps moral up, thus making sure that we can do the best of our ability.
I feel our strengths overcome our weaknesses. The one weakness that can't always be prevented however is with presentations. For obvious reasons Mark can't always participate in presentations which isn't always fair on the rest of us and can make presentation's difficult since neither me or shauni are the strongest of speakers and it can be very pressurising. One more weakness that can be noted is that both Mark and Shauni live in halls, and I do not, while this doesn't hamper communication, it can sometimes become a problem when we actually need to do the work.
For this piece of work we where asked to get into groups to create a usability testing presentation and report. The report needed to be 10 pages long and consist of how we went about the testing, what we where testing, how we where testing it. We where asked to create a questionnaire and user profile for the prospective tester's to fill in before, during and after the usability testing. For the testing we needed to pick a popular game from one of the following systems; Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Game Cube, Playstation 2, or another console of our choice within reason.
We chose a section of the game for testing, it had to be suitable such as the user interface. We decided to use the first two levels which act as both an introduction and a tutorial for the game. We asked 10 people to test these two levels, we asked them to answer questions about how they found certain part's of these levels and how they felt whilst playing through them. We gathered the results together and proceeded to gather a fair few of the overall usability of the game.
Reflection and Issues Identified
I feel we have many strengths as a group, mainly because we normally work together, in more than one module. We know how we work and what we are good at, we can manage our time easily and can spread the work evenly through the group. We also enjoy working together as a group which keeps moral up, thus making sure that we can do the best of our ability.
I feel our strengths overcome our weaknesses. The one weakness that can't always be prevented however is with presentations. For obvious reasons Mark can't always participate in presentations which isn't always fair on the rest of us and can make presentation's difficult since neither me or shauni are the strongest of speakers and it can be very pressurising. One more weakness that can be noted is that both Mark and Shauni live in halls, and I do not, while this doesn't hamper communication, it can sometimes become a problem when we actually need to do the work.
Outside of working in timetabled lecture's we do meet up and do work when we can, we did the presentation together in Shauni's room, and we also practised presenting it in a hired room, we found this was very useful.
Plan of action.
Our first action was to create a questionairre, for this we needed to research. We used the internet to find previous examples of questionairres for usability testing, and also previous studies and report's of usability testing to help us gather an informed view on how to take on this project. After this we played the level's through ourselves and make notes on what would be a useful question to ask. After this we made the questionairre and started the usability testing by inviting people to play the levels and then filling in the questionairre's.
After the testing was done we gathered the data and compiled it together to gain an overall view, there where 10 tests done overall. This formed the basis for our report. The next step was to create the presentation, in which we included a video clip of one of the tests which we had recorded. The next task was to create the report, this was shared equally among the group. After we had completed our parts we then compiled and formatted it.
Conclusion
Overall, I felt the work was successuflly completed. My only one issue was performing the presentation, because one of our team member's was inable to join us in performing it because of his disability, while I understand this is not his fault we still needed to combat it, our original plan was for me and Shauni to perform the presentation, covering Mark's part's like we had done in a previous presentation. We where comfortable with doing this even though it was not ideal. A better solution that we actually followed through was to talk about the presentation and report in a more casual manner with the tutor, this proved successful.
I feel that we work very well as a team and can combat an assignment with a positive mindset and can achieve the best of our ability.
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