Alpha

 This week I worked on the alpha version of our games and did some testing.  I spent a lot of my designated three hours trying to fix the camera. by having it rotate using the left and right keys the player wouldn't turn with the camera. I attached the camera to the player and positioned to right behind the player so it moves with the player but no longer rotates, hopefully, this will mean it will rotate when the player rotates. 

I then worked on the player controllers, I have the player moving left to right but it doesn't rotate. also, it goes flying off the side of the grass as soon I hit play. I'm finding it difficult to get the player controller down and I don't want to move on to anything else before I get that sorted. 

Once I get the player control down I just want to add the flowers and have the player be able to pick them up. This whole thing is proving to be a bit more challenging than I thought so to get the game done and working well I am going to simplify it but I definitely need to spend a lot more time on my game. 

First Playable

 When I went to work on my project this week I realized I wasn't happy with how I had started my prototype. I spent all last week worrying about how my prototype looked but after I received feedback from my lecture and he explained we will be marked more on how functional and good our gameplay is rather than the aesthetic of the game it made me reconsider my prototype as it will essentially be our final game in a few weeks. The assets I chose had already come with preset shadows, positions, and functions. This is not what I wanted so I decided to work from scratch as that would be easier than trying to change to a preset setting. I used the assets from one of the earlier unity tutorials we did called "Feed the animals" as it was just basic textures and characters. I used the woman farmer as my character, she is a bit younger than what I had planned but I don't think that matters. I used the grass texture and basic ground object that came with the asset package. I also imported a basic sky background. Now that my prototype has been stripped back I can focus on the actual functionality of my game. I started by using something iv learned from the most recent unity tutorial I did. I created a game object named "focal point" and attached it to my camera. I then made the camera rotate around the focal point so the player can control the camera movement around the player with the left and right arrow keys. Now I am going to work on the actual player's movement before incorporating the other components of my game like flowers etc. I think this week I have made the most progress and I am now clear n what I have to do over the next while to get this project done before the submission date. 

EverGreen Prototype

 This weeks project task was to spend three hours creating a prototype for the game we will be creating. I spend most of this time researching to find the best assets to use. I found his quite difficult as there were not many free options that suited my game.

 I eventually found a little garden pack with flowers and a few other bits I can incorporate into my game like a wheelbarrow and fence. Once I was happy with the asset pack I struggled to find a grass texture that was the same cartoon style as the gardening assets I found. I was hesitant to purchase the asset package incase I couldn't find other assets to suit them but I bought it anyway because It is very close to my original game vision. 

This is the asset pack I chose to purchase (here)

Next I set out to find a character that resembles my Mrs.Evergreen character for my game. This proved to be a big challenge so during the week I am going to have to look into and try create the character myself. 

Game Design Document

My Game Design Document can be found at this like here.

I have used Dundoc to set up my game design document. I used the starter game temple that was available. The document will have live updates so it will expand as I progress with my project.  I like having the GDD so my information is all in one place. Dndoc is well laid out and easy to navigate. 

This is what the dundoc looked like when I first created it. (screenshot)

Game Vision Statement

Evergreen

In this blog post I will be discussing my ideas and the vision I have for my new game "EverGreen" through a "Gave Vision Statement". I will be describing my ideas and the design of my game. I chose this name after brainstorming many other names. I looked at other gardening game names to make sure I didn't chose a name that is already being used. I settled on Evergreen because it's short simple and related to nature/gardening. "In botany, an evergreen is a plant whose "foliage remains green and functional through more than one growing season."

Introduction: Evergreen is an arcade/simulation style games suitable for all age groups and abilities to be played on a computer for now but will be developed to be played on a phone/tablet in the future. The player must help miss evergreen to keep her secret garden alive by planting and water her beautiful flowers. This relaxing game is a fun escape form everyday stress and is fun for all the family. Suitable for a wide range of age groups and abilities. It is a fun and simple game to play.

Background: When researching and brainstorming this Idea my original inspiration came from my mother but as I began to develop it I researched other games that have a similar concept . I looked at "Hive and Honey" by Onerat Games (here) a bee and garden simulation game for the pc, "Alice green fingers" by BigFish games (here) a buy and sell gardening simulation game also made for the pc and  Minecraft by Mojang Studios (here) a world simulation game where you can design and create your own world, made for the pc and now can be played on any smart phone or tablet. The games I listed above are the games I kept in mind when deigning my idea, I took inspiration from the game play and design. 

Description: When you the player first opens the game you will be met with Mrs.Evergreen a kind old lady with her gardening get up on. She will then explain the rules to you in a speech bubble, how the game works and what your goal is. You will start with a blank slate of grass. You will be able to control Mrs.Evergreen and help her plant a flower, water it so it will grow to its full potential but make sure you remember to water your flowers properly other wise they will dray up or get flooded and die. Your aim is simple so just enjoy planting the pretty flowers and watching your garden expand. The only time limit you may face is getting the flowers watered in time other than that this game is simply a relaxing escape to your secret garden. 

Key Features: 

• Relaxing music: there will be no change in music tempo or volume at any time during the game I would like to keep a calm environment and not add any pressure with different sounds. 
• Simple Controls: the game will be easy to control so it is able to be played by a wide variety of age groups and abilities this will be an inclusive enjoyable game. I also want the controls to translate well from playing on a computer/laptop to playing on a smart phone or tablet. 
• Game Play: I want the game to be played at a relaxed speed, but not so slow its boring but I do not want Mrs.Evergreen running around the garden like a crazy lady.  

Genre: When I think of this game it seems to fit in to a wide range of genres at first I  thought it was an arcade game but it didn't have some of the features most arcade games have like short levels, high scores and lives. It didn't have the pressure of an arcade game. So now I would describe it as game with a mix of simulation and arcade game features. I would describe it as a fun gardening simulation game for now but as it gets developed I think I could find better words to use to describe it.

Platforms: I think the game concept is applicable to multiple platforms, The game will be developed to play on the PC at first but I think it would easily translate to a game you could play on your phone or tablet as the controls are simple. I intend for this to be a single player game as adding a second player will add a level of competition and that defeats the relaxing, simple aspect of the game.

Concept Art:

(Image one two three and four)

 

Game Idea Research

Critical Analysis:

In our readings this week (here) we learned about critical analysis and how it can be used to break down the atomic elements of each game and analysis it to find what works and what doesn't. I thought it would be useful to start why each of the three game ideas that I spoke about in my "Game Brainstorm" blog wouldn't work and what I can take from each game idea and incorporate it into my final design. In my develop paragraph I will go on to explain why I chose the game idea I did. 

Princess Peach

Game one: My first idea was basically "a princess who travels across her kingdom dodging evil little minions collecting Books from an old secret library full of knowledge and spells along the way" I toke inspiration for this idea from the Mario franchise as they have created my favourite games But when my lecturer read my idea and gave me feedback he mentioned that it was a bit ambitious to create in just a few weeks and that I might not get it done on time. Thankfully I wasn't going to pursue this idea because I would have been setting myself up for failure but iv full dibs on the idea incase I decide to pursue it in the future. 

Game two: My second game idea was based on a building blocks game in the style of Minecraft where you can pick up and place down blocks. I wanted to incorporate puzzles in the game somehow. I want to take the Minecraft controls as inspiration for my finale design.

wii sport resort

Game four: I really liked the idea of game four but I do think a lot of my other class mates will have similar style and similar concept. It is just a simple airplane game where the player controls the plane and collects something a dodges something else, this will definitely be my back up idea if I can't execute my hopefully finale design. 

Develop:

The game I decided to continue to create and develop is game three. "The aim of the game would be to plant seeds water them and grow flowers to then sell them maybe, with the money you could buy different seeds.The player will be able to control the gardeners movements to walk around, place the seeds where they want, pick up the watering can, collect the flowers ext". I wasn't expecting to like this idea so much, It has no real aims, time pressure or bad guys. Its slower pace and you can't really loose but when I got my feed back and my lecturer mentioned we used games as a distraction I gave it more thought. We use books puzzles and tv as a form of escapism, to relax and enjoy, not everyone enjoys the loud violent games and that's the audience I would like to cater too.    

Game Elements

• Character: A young women gardener.

  

  Gardening

• Objectives/Goals: To take care and grow plants.
• Rules: Keep the flowers alive.
• Information: It's a single player game and they see the complete game state.
• Sequencing: This game will be in realtime and the player can take their actions as they wish as it is a single player games so there is no turns. They must just react when necessery.
• Player Interaction: There will be no player interaction.
• Theme/Setting: The Games location is a simple broad patch of grass with a sunny blue sky. The player is a gardener who's aim is to plant and grow flowers.

Plan:

I plan to create a step by step nine weeks plan when we first start creating our game ideas. This period of time is going to fly in with all my other assignments so I want to have a schedule so I don't fall behind or run out of time. I have simplified my idea and I will have done a lot of prep and plan work before I actually start to make my game so this shouldn't be a problem .

Game Brainstorm

In the four game ideas I have pitched below their is inspiration taken from some of my favourite games as a kid. I have not yet worked out he logistics of each game these are just ideas/starting points. I have read through two or three of my classmates blog posts on this same subject to make sure my ideas are original and realistic. 

Game idea one: 

As I mentioned in my "Favourite game" blog post (here) the Mario franchise created my favourite games as a kid and probably to this day. I liked the basic 2D games they made but when when I played Mario galaxy I was mind blown seeing the Mario characters in a 3D world, it was a game changer. Obviously a game in space with huge animated bad guys and lots of different words is a bit too ambitious for a beginner but I really like the basic idea and rules of Mario. The simple concept of controlling where you run, dodging or killing bad guys and picking up coins. I kept this idea in mind when coming up with my first game idea and want to Create a game with this is mind. I would like to have a protagonist in my game based on a strong female character. I would also like a few obstacles/bad guys and a motive/aim/reward.

My main protagonist will be a princess with blonde long hair (I'm basically making a game about myself because why not?). It will be based in history maybe the 8th century with knives and castles. She travels across her kingdom dodging evil little minions collecting Books from an old secret library full of knowledge and spells  along the way making her more powerful. Her aim is to reach a castle to claim the thrown from the king, or something along those lines. I would like to make the game continuous she will constantly run forward but the player will control her direction and be able to make her jump. I imagine this game being played on a pc where you could use a mouse and arrow keys to control the game. This concept is basic but I think it would be fun to create and play. 

Game Idea Two: 

My second game idea I want to draw inspiration from puzzles, when we first started talking about games we like to play and want to make I mentioned some of my favourite games to play on my phone are 1010, sudoko and candy crush but when I read the first document of our Reading Week03 task labelled "What is a game anyway" I realised these are more puzzles than games. The quote read "Costikyan  says they are not games, although they may be contained with in a game". This gave me the inspiration for a game that is fun to play but still has the challenging  and rewarding aspects of a puzzle. My inspiration was draw from Minecraft, a game I used to play when I was younger. My brother was obsessed with it mining and hunting for food and supplies but I just liked to put it in creative mode and build my dream world with the endless supplies. I was also scared of the monsters and the sound effects in survival mode. With this in mind I would like to create a game inspired by the building and creativity of Minecraft and add some puzzle in there. I want to have a simple background works of just grass and sky, the character can be just a regular Joe. To start the player will be given a picture or blueprints to a structure like a house or a tree simple things to start and it will get harder throughout the levels, It will stay somewhere on screen for reference. Then they will be given the materials to make this structure starting on level one with maybe only four or five "building blocks"or shapes like a roof or a window, more will be added throughout the levels. The aim of the game is to pick these up and place them in the right order to create the picture they were given at the start. I like the freedom in Minecraft of picking up and placing the blocks where you want and being able to move around the world, this game idea has a similar style.

Miro board I created to brainstorm

Game idea three:

For my third game idea I thought about our reading week three task "What is a game anyway?" the interviewee in Annakaisa Kultimas paper who said to look around during everyday life. So for this game I drew inspiration from my mother. From a young age when I image imagine my mother I picture her in my back garden gardening. During the spring summer months my Mam thrives because one of her favourite hobbies is gardening. She loves buying planting and potting flowers. She does our back garden up every year, she loves sitting out the back in the morning to drink her coffee. So with all of this in mind I would like to make a gardening game. The aim of the game would be to plant seeds water them and grow flowers to then sell them maybe in a market or the character can own a florist. With the money you make you can then buy different types of seeds the need differentiations levels of care and sell for more money. The controls of the player will be able to control the character/gardeners movements to walk around, place the seeds where they want, pick up the watering can, collect the flowers ext. The players can simply pick things up and place them down. Im not that sure how I would add pressure to the game, the better you do the more money and seeds you can get but I can't think of how their could be a danger or consequence. Maybe the flowers could drown if overwatered or die if they don't get enough water. This idea is very simple and sounds a bit childish  but I think it would be very calm and satisfying to play which I would much rather than a loud violent game.

Game idea four:

I struggled a lot coming up with a fourth game idea. I knew what my first three would be as soon as I saw the task but I couldn't seem to think of a third one. I decided to ask around, I started by looking at a few of my friends blogs to get an idea of what was expected of us, I read Seans and Mellisa's blogs. They both had amazing ideas but the one the got me and almost made me nostalgic was Seans first game idea paragraph where he discussed the Nintendo wii and wii sports. This was a huge thing in my house hold, every Christmas we played the wii and my favourite game was wii sports resort my favourite thing to play was the airplane game where you went through the hoops and flew all around the wii sports resort island. I would like to make a game inspired by this where the player controls a glider or airplane up in the sky. They have to dodge birds, hot air balloons, thunder clouds etc and collect something like coins to buy more parts for their plane and make it better as something to work towards. The plane could purposely go through gusts of wind to get a little boost. Like my other game ideas I feel like this is a bit simple and happy but they are the games I like to play myself and I think they would be fun to design and create.