January 2023 – ratssss

SUMMARY

Role

Producer

Intention (SMART Goal)

By March 1, as the Producer, I will have evidence of creating a dynamic boss fight by following Mediums Boss Tutorial for Session 4.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

Charlie Cleveland

He was the director for Subnautica. It was a very popular game with the fresh idea of making a survival game set underwater with a good touch of horror with how the the enemies can act.

Prototype: 3:04

Thrill of the Unknown: 20:03

Hunt for Red October: 28:08

Random Attributes: 46:56

James Cameron: 51:08

SpeedRuns: 54:23

How to Make Your Game Reach More People: 1:12:26

Prototyping (Again): 1:18:13

Crafting: 1:25:51

Intro of Subnautica: 1:35:59

Training Source(s)

Intro: 0:00

Overview: 1:48

Starting Scene: 3:56

Setting Up the Script: 5:07

Spawning Enemies in Random Areas: 7:40

Moving to the Next Stage: 11:52

Adding a Boss Shield: 15:19

Increasing Difficulties: 17:41

Health Pickups: 20:21

Outro: 25:18

Project Timeline

Add Boss Projectiles

Add Other Attacks

Add Smaller Enemies

Make a Better Respawn System

Fix Compression Issues

Add Borders Around the Arena

Evidence of Team Planning and Decisions

PRODUCTION – ACTION

The (FILM, SOUND, or GAME Creation)

Game Link

Skills Commentary

Slideshow Link

During the session, I worked on making the boss shooting and the code for switching between things like the main menu and the win screen. I also bug-fixed a lot of minor things that came up and added the walls for the level.

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

Due to us just padding our the game this session, I didn’t do anything really creative only bug fixing and dealing with issues when they came up. For instance, the bullets would spawn in but wouldn’t move and after looking I realized the force was not added so after some quick fixes I added it.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

I communicated with Liam, Hunter, and Robert regularly to work on the game more efficiently. Since Hunter was the main level/ menu artist, I asked him to make sprites and artwork we needed when it came up.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

I didn’t really use the tutorials I found at the start of the session like normal. The ai shooting one though I used a lot this session and I’m happy I did. If I am being honest I really didn’t use much info and media literacy in this session due to how it was structured for my team.

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

I was able to learn many different things to help with future projects like how to make enemies shoot at the players and learned from issues that my team ran into what makes good level design.

Reactions to the Final Version

“The boss and player projectiles were too small” – Neliy. Although I was not there, I heard our game was well received and the main issue came up with art which was not my role in this session. With the SUCCESS model, our game mainly hit categories for gameplay and not for the story since we didn’t have enough time to add a basic intro slide like in the last production session.

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

This session allowed us to make a lot of progress with the game. I will say that there were issues with how the team chose what person would do what thing but I am happy with how far the game came from last school year. I do realize that I didn’t work enough as I would like but I’m happy

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Robert

Summary

IN ONE TO TWO SENTENCES, DESCRIBE WHAT GAME YOU ANALYZED FOR THIS PROJECT AND WHY YOU CHOSE IT
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s ALL UPPERCASE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE

Game Play Analysis

Formal Elements	MMO,RPG
The Basics	Level up and gain more gear, Do harder content and get more cosmetics
Name of the game	Final Fantasy 14
The platform	PC, Console
Time played (should be at least 30 minutes)	200 hours (Maybe?)
If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why?	Change the Dark Knight to DPS since it doesn’t make sense it’s a tank class.
Players	NOTES
How many players are supported?	thousands
Does it need to be an exact number?	For raids 8, Dungeons 4, Alliance raids 24
How does this affect play?	Makes players work together to do harder content and get better stuff.
Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you.	PvE
Objectives/Goals	NOTES
What are the players trying to do?	Gain More Power, Collect Cosmetics
Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister).
Rules/Mechanics
There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state.
Controls	NOTES
What controls are used?	W.A.S.D and Hotkeys, Controller
Was there a clear introductory tutorial?	Yes and the entire first part of the game is just and overly long boring tutorial (besides the Coils and Crystal Tower)
Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller?	They have a combo system so you can see what you need to press and then weave other stuff in as you see fit when you know what you are doing
Resources & Resource Management	NOTES
What kinds of resources do players control?	Tank,DPS,Healer
How are they maintained during play?	If no one follows their roles the party wipes.
What is their role?	Tanks draw and keep agro taking all the damage, Healers heal everybody , DPS deal the damage to the boss and enemies
A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue)	Money and Health
Game State	NOTES
How much information in the game state is visible to the player?
A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information.
Sequencing	NOTES
In what order do players take their actions?	They normally have an “Opener” where they get as much damage in as possible and then do there combos.
How does play flow from one action to another?	Real Time
Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn.
Player Interaction	Direct conflict and Trading
Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off.
Theme & Narrative	NOTES
Does it have an actual story structure?	Yes
Is it based on a historical event (or similar)?	Some of the area’s are inspired by real world places
Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play?	Not really
Does it have emotional impacts?	Yes
Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)?	ARR (the first part) starts years after a massive war.
The Elements in Motion	NOTES
How do the different elements interact?
What is the gameplay like?	Can require a lot of focus and skill sometimes and can be frustrating in some cases
Is it effective?	Yes
Are there any points where the design choices break down?	The Rathalos fight since it doesn’t follow the same Three group system making it a really annoying and aggravating fight most of the time
Design Critique	NOTES
Why did the designer make these particular choices?
Why this set of resources?
What if they made different decisions?
Does the design break down at any point?
Graphics & Sound	NOTES
Does the game art pair well with the mechanics?
Did you find any bugs or glitches?
What about sound?
Can you spot any technical shortcuts?
Various Stages of the Game	NOTES
To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play:
What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?
Is the game fair?	NO
Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience?	Very much so.
What is the intended audience?	People who like wasting their lives on a game.
What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun?	It depends on the player and what their mood is since their is so much to do.

This analysis form was adapted from https://notlaura.com/a-template-for-analyzing-game-design/

Resources

Playing Like a Designer – I: Examine Your Experiences by Extra Credits
Playing Like a Designer – II: How to Analyze Game Design by Extra Credits
Game Analysis Guidelines by MIT
Level 3.2: Critical Analysis of Games at learn.canvas.net

Month: January 2023

Session 4 Production Project