First playable

 I find it very difficult to design my game for example the logs in the first part of the obstacle game is very hard to make as the player will fall off immediately. I found making the terrain quite difficult at first but after tutorials on Youtube I made mountains surrounding the start of the obstacle. I made a testing prototype to see what works and what does not. In the testing prototype many of the assets did not work and I’m glad I made this because otherwise I would have ruined my first playable and I would have to restart. I’m meeting my targets by watching YouTube tutorials and the Unity tutorials I have previously done. I am also learning by my mistakes I find that some of the tutorials on YouTube give me errors therefore they are not all reliable. I found this week to be the most productive week in my learning for this module for my project and now I find Unity to be much easier than in the beginning. The challenges I keep having to face are the scripts. For the following week I will try to figure out a way to implement the camera mechanism I strive for and if not then the current mechanisms will remain.

Prototype

This is an image from my prototype. I came to the conclusion that my original plan to implement Roblox controls into my game is impossible as I cannot find any information on how I can do this. I tried coding it myself but I had multiple errors therefore I restarted my code and I used tutorials on youtube to help me. I went back to the Unity tutorials to help me aswell and I found that this helped the most. The player character has perfect controls now and they can use either WASD or the arrows to play my game. I am more happy with this as the user can choose whichever controls are more comfortable for them. 

 

Game Design Document

I am worried my idea will be too complex but I will try my hardest to fulfill my ideas and make this user experience calming and fun. Here is my GDD for my game that will go by the name “Lucy”…

https://tudublin-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/b00136778_mytudublin_ie/EbngjURH1CpDvxMIDq-ivrIBj7I6tQzqT_fBzJO3bb5pfw?e=Qt2a5U

primary source: 

the main character:

Lucy

Game Vision Statement

Introduction

After receiving feedback from my professor in the Multimedia Development module on my ideas I have learned that my ideas are very complex. I won't have enough time to make any of my ideas except the pizza delivery one but that game idea was not satisfactory to me therefore I will take the bones of some of my ideas and form a new one that is less complicated and time consuming. I had difficulties before writing this blog post as I had to rush a structured idea before the deadline tonight.

In this blog post I will be discussing my Game Genre, Gameplay, Resources required, Link(s) to sources and Image(s).

• Game genre

The game genre I chose for my final project will be a survival/ obstacle game. In order to survive you cannot fall. This game might also be described as a platformer game where the player jumps higher than they would in real life and have to jump around these platforms to navigate the end to the stage. The target audience for this gameplay are dog lovers/ animal lovers. Games like this are usually appreciated by children or children about to step into their teenage lives as people that are around eighteen wouldn't play these games. 

• Gameplay

The player will enter the game and start it as a dog. In my original idea I wanted the player to choose their dog but since this would be time consuming to create many dog breeds I will choose one. The player will use the space key to jump and use the “W” key on the keyboard to move round. This is similar in Roblox as you control your character's direction with the camera and use the “W” key to move forward. There will be sound effects such as the dog barking or thumps every time the dog jumps and lands but there may also be background music if it will be possible to include it. The inspiration behind this project will be my own dog that is a chihuahua therefore I might use her to be the main character. The dog will be surrounded by the woods with natural light shining through the trees. The obstacles will be logs, rocks etc. The colour scheme and aesthetic will consist of nature therefore greens, blues and browns. There will be checkpoints for the player whenever they fail to complete a stage in the obstacle course successfully as restarting the game completely would discourage further enjoyment. The background won't change as the player reaches every checkpoint as I feel like this will be more complex and I wouldn't be able to achieve this in eight weeks. I will implement as many stages as possible until the deadline therefore I cannot estimate how many stages I will make.

• Resources required

The resource’s required for my game will include Unity Hub. In my module we have been learning to use this for weeks now and we can finally put it into use ourselves without tutorials. I will try to record my best friends dog as makes sounds like barking therefore I will have sound effects coming from the dog character in the game but if I cannot do this I will try to find suitable sound effects from the internet and Harvard reference. Although the dog sound effects might become secondary I can make primary sound effects such as thumps whenever the dog lands from a jump mechanic, running mechanic etc. I will try to do my own background music for the game and if not I will not use any copyrighted music as i’m sure it wouldn’t be allowed. I will use the Unity Hub tutorials we have been doing for weeks as I have mentioned before to implement some codes for my own game and youtube tutorials from creators that also use Unity Hub for codes that have not been included in the Unity tutorials.

• Link(s) to sources.

https://gamequiche.com/2015/02/24/dog-hotel-mobile-free-to-play-review-mans-best-friend-just-got-friendlier/

https://imgc.allpostersimages.com/img/print/posters/chase-swift-corgi-jumping-over-obstacle-at-dog-agility-competition_a-L-8665233-14258389.jpg

https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/799459371333562095/

https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=unity+hub+tutorials

• Image(s). Find at least one image that you think you could use, something that really represents your game. As always, include image information.

Park, A. (2015). Dog Hotel Mobile Free-to-Play Review -- Man’s Best Friend just got Friendlier. [online] GameQuiche. Available at: https://gamequiche.com/2015/02/24/dog-hotel-mobile-free-to-play-review-mans-best-friend-just-got-friendlier/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2021].

I chose this image as one of the pictures that really represents my game as I will have a 3D obstacle game like this as I mentioned before. My game will be similar to this but the obstacle will be very different.

Allpostersimages.com. (2021). [online] Available at: https://imgc.allpostersimages.com/img/print/posters/chase-swift-corgi-jumping-over-obstacle-at-dog-agility-competition_a-L-8665233-14258389.jpg [Accessed 24 Oct. 2021].

This is another image that fits with the visual idea I have in my head. Hopefully I can make my game similar to the colour scheme in this image and the one below it.

Pinterest. (n.d.). Super Backyard Ideas For Dogs Diy Obstacle Course 63 Ideas | Backyard obstacle course, Kids obstacle course, Diy backyard. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/799459371333562095/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2021].

I like this obstacle course and it would be aesthetic if I added a forest around it therefore this image is maybe the closest to what I have in mind for my game.

Game Idea Research

For week three we have brainstormed ideas for our final game. This week we have to choose one of the four ideas we have discussed and elaborate on it further. I choose my "Escape game" idea. This game idea is something i definitely would like to work on for the rest of the semester as I like playing escape game myself. Franbow and Little Nightmares are my favourite games and both of them are extremely similar. This idea will be difficult to execute but I already have some experience with game making so I am hoping that experience will help me in this case.

           An image that represents my game:

link: https://www.change.org/p/ginette-petitpas-taylor-make-canada-an-animal-testing-free-country-by-2020

Change.org. (n.d.). Sign the Petition. [online] Available at: https://www.change.org/p/ginette-petitpas-taylor-make-canada-an-animal-testing-free-country-by-2020 [Accessed 16 Oct. 2021].

I chose this image as the image to represent my game as I would like to do an opening scene in the game similar to this photograph where many new dogs are brought into a factory or testing centre and one of them breaks out and escapes aka the main character.

During the beginning of week 4 I have conducted research online to gather a variation of game mechanics that I may like to include in my final project:

Movement mechanism 

Turn mechanism

Instant death

Avoiding unkillable objects

Timed / race

Jumping

Camera controls

Auto saving

I will choose three mechanics from the above list and discuss them in more depth.

Research Links & Harvard Referencing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYCXxuQI8CA

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). 10 Modern Video Game Mechanics We Take For Granted. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYCXxuQI8CA [Accessed 16 Oct. 2021].

https://inventwithpython.com/blog/2012/07/30/need-a-game-idea-a-list-of-game-mechanics-and-a-random-mechanic-mixer/

inventwithpython.com. (n.d.). Need a Game Idea? A List of Game Mechanics and a Random Mechanic Mixer. - The Invent with Python Blog. [online] Available at: https://inventwithpython.com/blog/2012/07/30/need-a-game-idea-a-list-of-game-mechanics-and-a-random-mechanic-mixer/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2021].

Timed / race

The main theme evolving my final game will be animal testing therefore the main character will have to run away from unkillable enemies. This will be timed as it's a race each time, If the player is too slow to run away they will be taken away and have an instant death. This means the movement mechanism mentioned in the list plays a big part in this.

Turn Mechanism

In my final game to go to the next stage you will have to complete an action or collect an item to move on. The race's mentioned above will be part of the turn mechanism as they cannot go on to the next part of the game unless they run away successfully. They will have to complete many turn mechanics until the end.

Camera Controls

I feel like camera controls is another idea I would like to implement into my game. The player will have control over their view. This can subconsciously pull the player into the game more. This can help with the escape parts in the game as the player won't feel restrained.

Auto Saving

I would like to try and implement auto saving in my game as I personally know forgetting to save a game manually is not pleasant and it takes away the motivation to catch up to where you left off. 

Game Brainstorm

 Game Idea 1.

Hidden Object Game

My inspiration:

Gab Smolders is a youtuber I discovered at a younger age when my interest in hidden object games grew. I first encountered these games in primary school when my teacher would play some with us every friday. 

Link to Gab Smolder's hidden object game playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxV8JnoT5Qjqjtai_aH6iUghbGYnlhuU

I will use Unity to create this game and present it as my final project if I pick this idea. Preferably I would like this game to be 2D in the same way most of these games are made. Not "Terraria" kind of 2D.

My idea for the storyline is:

The player is a detective and there has been a murder with multiple suspects. This idea isn't fully developed yet as I would add more onto it in the next phase of the project. The victim is a woman found in her dorm room. The body is found by her own mother. Her roommate and also the victims best friend is missing. Other confirmed suspects would be the victims boyfriend and his ex. The objective is to find the killer towards the end of the game when you have collected all the evidence against the unknown killer and put him behind bars. In this game there will be mini games for example to open a door you have to decode the combination.  

I will aim for the game's appearance to be dark and it won't be set in the modern era. I have seen tutorials on how to create a game like this and some of them involved Adobe Photoshop. In my opinion this game would be the hardest idea to make into a game out of all the other three down below. The game will be set in an older era from around the 1930s-1990s in New York. The victims body is found in a dorm room because she attends NYU there. I will have to make my own suspenceful music and overall sound effects. I will have to hire voice actors for each character and try to do the sound effects like for example driving a car, wind and the sound of a busy street at night. I feel like this idea will be difficult as there is lots of art involved with it.

Game idea 2.

Escape game

My inspiration: https://www.roblox.com/games/6205205961/Escape-Running-Head

Roblox is one of the most popular gaming platforms in the world right now and as one of their creators I looked through my colleagues games to find inspiration. I looked at their popularity and I found this one. It had 6.1K players at the time I took this screenshot as i am writing this post it now has 7.6K. Games that involves the main character escaping are extremely popular. This is idea is a game where you're a dog that is running away from evil humans because they want to test products on you. I really enjoy psychological games and I feel as this would emotionally connect the players as animal testing is an issue we are trying to fight against in real life. Many people have pets and they can't imagine them going through this nevermind putting themselves in their shoes. The game will be set in places like the factory where they imprisoned the animals, a forest, a rescue shelter, streets of New York and then finally in the end the dogs home. The game will be set in the modern era as it's a modern issue. The game will have characters like rescue shelter workers, the evil humans who imprisoned the dog and it's owner. 

I will use Unity to create this game and present it as my final project if I pick this idea. This game would be 3D in a 2D point of view like "Little Nightmares". The game's appearance will be very dark and little colour will be used. I want the game to seem very depressive as the animal struggles for freedom. I will have to make my own sound effects for this game. I can try and record my dog barking but with some emotional scenes I might have to use some from the internet and harvard reference them if I can. I will have to hire voice actors for the humans in the game.

Game Idea 3.

Dog Championship

Inspiration:

Deadspin. (n.d.). Seriously, Nobody Wants To Host The 2022 Olympics. [online] Available at: https://deadspin.com/seriously-nobody-wants-to-host-the-2022-olympics-1641262594 [Accessed 10 Oct. 2021].

My inspiration for my third idea comes from my love for dogs and the Olympics.

My idea for this gam consists of different breeds of dogs from around the world to compete in the Olympics and if I still had to time to make more of the game I would add in the Winter Olympics so the player would have an option between the two. The player would choose their country and their breed and compete against the other breeds like people do in real life.

I will use Unity to create this game and present it as my final project if I pick this idea. It will be a 3D game and the appearance of it will be bright and colourful. In my opinion the only difficulty with this idea will be getting the sound effects of all the different breeds. This is impossible therefore I would have to take them from the internet for my final project and Harvard reference if I can. With this difficulty I am leaving this idea as my last option out of all the other ideas. Each contestant will have the Olympic uniform on for each task with the flags of their countries over their heads. I will make my own music for the background of the game. The music will change depending on what scene you are on for example when you win you will have upbeat victorious music but if you lose the song would be representing the failure therefore it would be less upbeat and more silent. I will hire a voice actor to announce the beginning of the rounds for example "Welcome to the Doggy Winter Olympics". There will be other sound effects like crowds cheering but once again I might have to take this off the internet as I can't recreate this and other sound effects like the horn when a race begins for example.

Game Idea 4.

Limited time speed game

My inspiration: https://www.roblox.com/games/192800/Work-at-a-Pizza-Place

Here is another inspiration I took from one of my colleagues from Roblox. This game is very popular and if you ask any Roblox player if they heard of this game they will say yes. In this game you choose the role and work under that criteria. If you pick "Cashier" you will manage the orders, If you pick "Manager" you can give people bonuses etc. There is a pizza delivery role that I loved while playing this game. I took inspiration from that and I made it into an idea where you have a time limit to deliver a specific order and if you fail the level you can't go to the next one. I will have the main camera face the delivery vehicle just like in the lessons we did for Unity this week. This game will have a bright and colourful appearance and I will create it using Unity hub. The game will be 3D and every level will be set in different places around the world like Rome, Sydney, Rio De Janeiro etc. It will be set in the modern era but I might change this as the fast food industry we know today started during the 60s therefore I feel like the main character the player would be playing as would look cool in 2000's fashion or a hippie look. For the sound effects I will try to make as many of my own as possible. If I use a scooter as a vehicle option for the game I might have to take some sound effects from the internet and harvard reference them. I might have to hire voice actors for this as there will be multiple main character options such as a girl delivery character and a boy delivery character. I can make my own music for the background of the game.