Answer the following questions on a separate text file:
A) What options are available to you as a 'game designer'?
I can choose a background, select one of four characters, select one of four goals, and design the area with walls, platforms, enemies, traps, and power-ups.
B) How are these options provided?
They are provided as a six-step process, but you can go back to earlier steps to change them.
C) What types of elements are provided for you to use to 'build' the game?
You have a 2-D grid, 20 squares wide by 13 tall, in which you can place any of the level’s elements. They are split into 4 categories: walls and floors, objects, hazards, and environment.
D) What limits are set on the level of the game play able to be customized?
You can’t switch the actual gameplay itself from running, jumping, and attacking, you can’t switch the camera angle from a 2-D sideview, you can’t make a bigger or smaller level, and you can’t create new goals or objects.
E) What does the process of using these game creators teach about the notion of the 'difficulty and achievement' balance? Explain using an example from your research.
Well at first I didn’t realize that only one injury would destroy my hero, so all my levels were too hard. Then I tried to place all the enemies in one area, and put an invincibility power-up nearby. So while at first they appeared really scary and difficult, and could shoot you from very far away, you could become invincible, defeat them all at once, grab all the orbs, and escape. Hopefully another player would feel a sense of achievement when pulling that off.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Interesting News from Gamasutra
Gamaustra recently reported that Nintendo now owns the developer Nd Cube, the developers of the new Wii game, Wii Party. I thought this was interesting because Nintendo never owned Hudson (they're owned by Konami), and Hudson made all the Mario Party games. The Mario Party games came out almost every year, and there were three on the Nintendo 64 and four on the GameCube. However, there was only one on the Wii, Mario Party 8, in 2007. Even though it was the most successful game of the entire franchise, there hasn't been a Mario Party on a console since.
Then Nd Cube recently released Wii Party in Japan, basically picking up the torch but using Miis instead of characters from the Mario series. Now Nintendo has bought the whole developer, and then a few members of the Mario Party team at Hudson quit Hudson to join Nd Cube. So now Nintendo completely owns a company that has devs from both Mario Party and Wii Party, basically making the ultimate casual party board game team. I don't usually expect such a niche genre to have an all-star development team like that.
Then Nd Cube recently released Wii Party in Japan, basically picking up the torch but using Miis instead of characters from the Mario series. Now Nintendo has bought the whole developer, and then a few members of the Mario Party team at Hudson quit Hudson to join Nd Cube. So now Nintendo completely owns a company that has devs from both Mario Party and Wii Party, basically making the ultimate casual party board game team. I don't usually expect such a niche genre to have an all-star development team like that.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Video Game Cultural Studies Evaluation
VIDEOGAME CULTURAL STUDIES EVALUATION
TITLE -- Tempest
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
rail shooter or tube shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Level 6
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
The stages are in a patterned order with a fixed pattern of enemies per stage, but within each stage the enemies appear in random places each time.
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Tempest uses vector graphics, a style created on the fly out of lines, rather than compiling bitmapped images that already exist. Vector graphics were first used in 1977 in the game Space Wars. Tempest has a cult following and has been seen in TV shows such as Silver Spoons and American Dad, and films such as Night of the Comet.
TITLE -- Centipede
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Fixed shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
19000 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Centipede was created by Ed Logg (the creator of Asteroids and Gauntlet) and Donna Bailey, one of the only female game designers at the time. It was also the first coin-operated arcade game to have a significant female fanbase.
TITLE – Asteroids Deluxe
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Multi-directional shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball, fire button, and shield button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
19,660 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Asteroids Deluxe was created only a year after Asteroids, to satisfy the demand of the fans. Asteroids was huge, and everybody wanted a more difficult version.
TITLE -- Adventure
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1979
GENRE
Action-adventure
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Atari VCS controller, with one joystick and one button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
I beat the easiest mode!
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Patterned. It will have the same maze with the same dragons every time. However, one of the dragons may roam around randomly.
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Atari wouldn’t credit its games creators at the time, so Adventure’s designer, Warren Robinett, hid a secret message in the game: “Created by Warren Robinett.” This is arguably the first Easter Egg hidden in a video game. It was also the first game that let you collect multiple items and swap which one you’re using at any time.
TITLE – BattleZone
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
First-person shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Two joysticks, one for moving forward and backward, one for turning left and right, and a fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Only 9000 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
A version was created to help the military in training. Some developers refused to work on the game due to its association with the army, including the game’s original designer, Ed Robert, who only came on board after the management promised him he’d never have to work with the military again.
TITLE – Missile Command
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Strategy/shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Level 4 or so
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Missile Command was so popular the arcade machine was still making more money than its competition in the mid-1990s. It’s also a great example of the nuclear apocalypse paranoia that had engrossed popular culture at the time.
TITLE – Pong
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1972
GENRE
Sports (top-down view of table tennis)
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
One rotating knob
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
I can win a match by reaching 10 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random, either against a computer or a human opponent
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Pong was Atari's first game, and years later it got them sued by Ralph Baer.
TITLE -- Tempest
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
rail shooter or tube shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Level 6
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
The stages are in a patterned order with a fixed pattern of enemies per stage, but within each stage the enemies appear in random places each time.
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Tempest uses vector graphics, a style created on the fly out of lines, rather than compiling bitmapped images that already exist. Vector graphics were first used in 1977 in the game Space Wars. Tempest has a cult following and has been seen in TV shows such as Silver Spoons and American Dad, and films such as Night of the Comet.
TITLE -- Centipede
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Fixed shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
19000 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Centipede was created by Ed Logg (the creator of Asteroids and Gauntlet) and Donna Bailey, one of the only female game designers at the time. It was also the first coin-operated arcade game to have a significant female fanbase.
TITLE – Asteroids Deluxe
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Multi-directional shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball, fire button, and shield button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
19,660 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Asteroids Deluxe was created only a year after Asteroids, to satisfy the demand of the fans. Asteroids was huge, and everybody wanted a more difficult version.
TITLE -- Adventure
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1979
GENRE
Action-adventure
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Atari VCS controller, with one joystick and one button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
I beat the easiest mode!
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Patterned. It will have the same maze with the same dragons every time. However, one of the dragons may roam around randomly.
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Atari wouldn’t credit its games creators at the time, so Adventure’s designer, Warren Robinett, hid a secret message in the game: “Created by Warren Robinett.” This is arguably the first Easter Egg hidden in a video game. It was also the first game that let you collect multiple items and swap which one you’re using at any time.
TITLE – BattleZone
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
First-person shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Two joysticks, one for moving forward and backward, one for turning left and right, and a fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Only 9000 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
A version was created to help the military in training. Some developers refused to work on the game due to its association with the army, including the game’s original designer, Ed Robert, who only came on board after the management promised him he’d never have to work with the military again.
TITLE – Missile Command
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980
GENRE
Strategy/shooter
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and fire button
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Level 4 or so
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Missile Command was so popular the arcade machine was still making more money than its competition in the mid-1990s. It’s also a great example of the nuclear apocalypse paranoia that had engrossed popular culture at the time.
TITLE – Pong
YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1972
GENRE
Sports (top-down view of table tennis)
USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
One rotating knob
HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
I can win a match by reaching 10 points
IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
random, either against a computer or a human opponent
PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.
ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Pong was Atari's first game, and years later it got them sued by Ralph Baer.
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