Multimedia Development

 For this weeks readings I looked at the theory of flow state, this was very interesting and taught me a lot about game engagement. A flow  state is when a video game player is hyper focused and fully immersed in the game they're playing. Flow is a skill used by game developers to keep players highly engaged with the game for as long as possible. This is achieved by presenting your player with a challenge. The type of challenge you present to the player has to be dependent on their skill level, this is because the player will become disinterested if they can complete the tasks too easily while on the other hand they'll grow frustrated and likely quit if they struggle with the challenge because it isn't matched to their skill level. So once you have provided a sufficient challenge to your player you have gotten them into the flow state, to keep them there you must do a few things, the difficulty of the challenges must rise as the players skill set and understanding of the ga

 This week I completed the GDD or game design document. This is a record of all the different aspects of your game, it features a list of sections including: Name Overview Backstory Enemies  Player defense & Weapons Goal & Victory conditions Art Style  Audio  Map Target Platforms Unique Aspects Similar existing ideas The main purpose of a design document is to get the ideas behind the game down on paper, it can also help if you need to communicate your idea to other people.

The genre of this game is a 3D platformer, I'm making a game in this genre because a lot of games I played growing up were in this style and I have very good memories of these, I took inspiration from games like Temple Run and Subway Surfers. The game will be based in college and the aim is to make it to the end of the level while avoiding enemies and dodging obstacles. You have a HP bar that slowly decreases as you run through the level, however you can gain some HP back by picking up collectables such as coffee cups and energy drinks along the way. The HP bar can also be decreased by enemies you meet, these can be lecturers, students or the cafeteria staff chasing you down for your covid cert.  The level design will be based in a typical college consisting of corridors, courtyards and cafeteria areas. The camera angle will follow the player from behind as you navigate the world, you cannot stop the character from moving once the game starts but you can hop from side to side as we

 The MDA framework is an approach to understanding games by bridging the gap between game design, game development and technical game research. The intention of this methodology is to make the study and design of different games a clearer and stronger process. It was introduced and taught at the game design and tuning workshop at the Game Developers Conference between 2001-04. You should be working towards a final framework from the start of development, this is because seemingly small decisions you make early on can make a big difference to your end product. In MDA the mechanics are the components of the game decided and designed by the developer, these could be as simple as running and jumping or as detailed as a gun swaying as you aim down your sights. The dynamics are the different behaviors that emerge from the combinations of your game mechanics, an example of this could be drawn from monopoly, two mechanics in monopoly are moving spaces and buying properties, this leads to the g

 So last week I brainstormed 4 different game ideas for my multimedia project this semester, this week I'm going to pick one of the ideas and focus on this. The game I'm planning on sticking with this semester is the 3D platformer, they are popular and fun games so I'm excited to make my own. Temple Run So my goal for this week is to look at game mechanics and decide which mechanics I'll need in my game. Since my game is a platformer I am going to need to have running mechanics, that goes without saying, also the player will have to jump over obstacles and enemies so I will need jumping mechanics. I remember in temple run you had to slide under trees, I think this would be fun to add to the game so I would have sliding mechanics. There are going to be enemies on the course that the player can jump over but there will be bigger enemies too so for these the character will be equipped with some sort of long range weapon, not specifically a gun but maybe a gun. Also there w

 I read an article this week called "How to give bad feedback without being a jerk" by Adam Grant. He opens by discussing the sandwich method of feedback, this method involves opening and closing with a positive comment and giving the bulk of bad feedback in the middle. Grant found that there were a lot of problems with this method, firstly you can come off ingenuine with your positive comments if they're followed by negatives, another problem was that people tend to only remember or fully take in the beginning and ending of a conversation so this meant that the feedback wasn't being received to its full extent. Grant followed this with four steps to successfully give constructive criticism. If you explain why you're giving the feedback and tell them you have high expectations that you believe they can reach, they now feel like you are supporting them rather than attacking their faults. Another step is to take yourself off a pedestal, if you express that you ae st