Analysis

 

Image source: QuestionPro

Thursday's lecture has given me a better insight on how to work on the annotated bibliography. They can be viewed as a collection of the notes  taken from the reading that summarizes the paper.

The main objective is that our annotated bibliographies will be the main source of content to write about in our topics. So we will not be looking at the paper's we have read by that point. From my experience, it’s not the 'writing part' of the annotated bibliography that is quite difficult but rather the ability to effectively dissect and pinpoint what you need from the paper.

So this week I decided to spend more time taking down what I need from the paper. If the paper seemed of interest, I made sure to highlight the questions that it aimed to answer, after which I followed the method Shaun showed us by reading through the abstract/ introduction and conclusion. Then I moved to the body of the text, and rather than trying to read the entire paper, I selectively looked for areas where paper answers the question set out in the introduction or abstract and tried to include some examples to back up the points mentioned.

It’s still a exhausting process, especially when you’re not used reading an academic article like you would with the morning newspaper or your favorite novel. It’s a skill that comes with time and persistence.

Click here to checkout working document.

Feedback Strategies

Ice Cream Sandwich by Eric Petruno

Looking back, when I try to give someone feedback you could say that it would generally come out in the form of praise. I'd try to put the constructive criticism in the middle much like a constructive sandwich. The reason for this approach is because I don't want to demoralize anyone for their efforts because I really think that giving up is one of the worst things someone can do. Especially if its on the behalf of one comment. However, sometimes the constructive comment can get lost in between the praise. The person may think that they're on the right direction and nothing is gained from that conversation. I tend to be more sincere with people I know well, because they would understand that I'm trying to help. 

After being introduced to the Fixed and Growth Mindset as well as reading an article by MindShift - The Difference Between Praise and Feedback it has helped me become more aware about how unnecessary praise can have negative consequences in the future, particularly when dealing with young children.

 This article has interested me in particular because I sometimes mind a friend's child. He's five years old, and it's the first time I looked after someone so young. Naturally, I don't want to screw up and be a bad influence on the kid. He started school this year and just recently got his first homework. Might I add, he  passionately expressed his displeasure for tracing letters. I just looked at him surprised, thinking Man...how lucky you are that that is all you have to do. I also remembered that around this age, it can be easy for a child to get either get motivated or discouraged. That is why encouraging effort not results is the way to go.

Another article that I found interesting was Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback by Marshall Goldsmith. Marshal talks about how feedback can be a limiting tool as it tends to focus on the past, emphasizes mistakes and can more often than not be demoralizing. So he proposes, feedforward where the people on the receiving end choose one thing they want to change in their approach to anything. The person providing the feedforward would give a few suggestions without referencing the past. This is a strategy that I've rarely seen used in my experience and would like to experiment with in the future. 

Game Idea Research

Today I took a peek at another blog because after publishing my first post on game design, I felt quite lost. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going or if I was doing the ‘right thing’.  Although I did mention that I've played a few games, they are usually between long periods of ‘breaks’.  I do appreciate games, however I was never really an avid or consistent gamer. During my exploration I noticed how well some people were able to articulate their ideas. They either had more game experience, a wider range of game terminology or were just simply better writers. I realize this is something I need to improve on over time.

 

The game idea I decided to expand on is the life of an animal. My aim for this game is to create an immersive environment for the player to explore. In order for that to be my main focus, I will need to carefully reflect on the game mechanics in order to make it simple yet engaging enough for the player to actively explore the environment around them. Another aspect to consider is if I'm hoping to incorporate a certain level of detail to the environment, I will need think about the size of the  actual map of the game. Lighting is another element of the game I will need to practice with Unity. Since the game is set in nature, I find it important to be able to create a picturesque and atmospheric ambience in the game. The Unity User Manual as well as a video by UGuruz on Youtube will allow me to get started with lighting. 

 Lost Ember is a game I recently discovered. I never played the game, however from what I've seen it does hold similar elements to what I am going for. Here's a sample  image which roughly reflects the game idea.

Lost Ember- Mooneye Studios

 The following are my current thoughts on mechanics for the game:

 

Movement/Interaction

 So far, in Unity we learned to add basic movements to our game objects as well as learning to rotate our game objects so they wouldn't seem as rigid and constrained in their movements. I hope to expand a little more on that while also being realistic about my limited knowledge and skills in using Unity. What I hope to achieve is to make the animals appear a little more life-like by including a walking animation so they don't look like their dragged across the screen. If this is achievable within the required time frame for this project,  I hope to add small interactions between the player and the animal NPCs. For instance, if the player were to approach a flock of birds, the birds would be able to ‘sense’ this and disperse. This basic unity animation tutorial by MrQboll on YouTube may help me get started with that.

 

Hunting

 Well for starters, the initial part of the hunt is the chase. If I'm able to achieve having the  player’s action provoke a reaction, the npc they will approach should be able to flee. In which case the player will have to chase after it. In order to allow the player to reach the target, said target would have a decrease in speed over time. To kill the target the player will have the option to pounce (jump), slash (claws), and bite the target once in range.

 

Foraging

 The player has also the option of searching through vegetation for plant based food. Plants which are edible will be highlighted with a coloured ‘aura’ surrounding it. Plants will provide short buffs to the player, such as increased movement speed and attack damage. There will be a wide variety of plants and berries to choose from and some will be harder to obtain - the player will have to get passed an obstacle.

 

Transformation and Obstacles

 As mentioned in the previous post. I want to be able to give the player the option of experiencing their surroundings as different animals - and potentially different perspectives (depending on the size of the animal). Currently, I'm considering a fox, a bird (swallow), and perhaps a fish. The player will have the option of switching between the three animals to overcome obstacles - each related to the animals’ natural habitat e.g turning into a fish to cross a river. However, the player will start off by playing only one animal. Once  they have overcome an obstacle they will have access to the second animal and so on until they reach the three animal cap. This will avoid the player from rushing to the game and make it more of a challenge.

Unity Tutorial 02

Image by NK8007 Unity Logo

The difficulty bar has increased a bit for this tutorial.

 Lesson 1.4 wasn't too bad. I learned about how Unity has a player input system for moving objects. The concept of horizontal and vertical axes representing the universal game control arrows and W,A,S,D keys was easy enough to grasp. As I explored this feature, I've grown to appreciate that Unity has made things easier. I'm relieved that I don't need to worry  about programming the player's input in the game.

 Making the car move and rotate instead of sliding was satisfying as I realized I was able to perform an action with code! The player view is fun to use especially when testing out and experiencing the game yourself (even if it is just simple game mechanics). 

I'd say the most of the difficulty lied in the first challenge of this unit. The first few steps weren't bad. Although I admit I had to reference from previous scripts in the tutorial as well as taking a peek at the hints later on. Having to make the plane's propeller spin was naturally, the tricky part of the challenge. I was unable to type anything past transform.Rotate and had to look up how to finish that line of code.  It was an interesting experience. Going through some C# sharp tutorials will help me understand the code better.

 

Working on this challenge gave me some insight on how much I was able to bring forward from my  tutorials. 

Game Elements

 

In the previous academic writing post we looked at what a game is and how defining that can produce different meanings for different people. 

This week’s academic writing will be based on what makes a game or the parts of agame. For the purpose of making this easy to understand, I will refer to these parts (as the title suggests) ‘Game Elements’.

Image by Niuco

Based on the article by Ian Schreiber, similar to the definition of a game, classifying a set list of game elements can also differ depending on the person as this ties with what a game means to an individual. Therefore “no classification is perfect.” However, there are certain elements that are similar between all of them.

The following is a list of common foundational game elements that Ian has provided in his article:

Players – The name is self- explanatory. One should consider the amount of players in the game, whether the player is able to leave during the game and what impact that has on the game state. There is more information on this on Ian’s course website. 

·         Objectives – This refers to the main goal of the game and what the player needs to achieve in order to ‘win’. There are large amount of categorized game objectives. A common goal would be to defeat or destroy an opponent or structure.

·         Rules – As mentioned in the previous post, this can be seen as an obstacle for the player ( what constricts them to play in a certain manner in order to win).There are rules that  set –off automatically without the need for player interaction. There are also rules which provide choices to the player to shift the game state.  The rules are divided into three main categories:

 

Setup – Refers to what one must do at the start of a game. 

Profession of Play- Rules for the events that occur during the game.

Resolution - Refers to the circumstances in which certain events cause the game to end.

 

·         Resources and Resource Management – Refers to the player’s ability to manage anything under their control e.g.  More obvious examples would be the current items in their inventory, however it could also signify information they’ve gathered in-game and their ability to withhold that information from others.

·         Game State – Refers to the condition and changes of the game at any given time. This includes everything from the player to their resources, un-owned resources and the environment they can interact with.

·         Information – The amount of information in the game state that is available to the player e.g Do they know about an incoming attack from the enemy’s side or is the fog of war obstructing their view? This can largely influence the gameplay.

·         Sequencing – Sequencing entails the order and flow of the players’ actions e.g. “It’s my turn, and then it’s your turn.”

·         Player Interaction – As the name suggests, this refers to how a player interacts with other players such as conflict, trading 

·         Theme (Narrative, Backstory, Setting) – This  element provides a more emotional impact to the player rather than direct impact to the gameplay itself. Players may grow more invested in the game because of this.

·         Games as Systems – The game elements mentioned above are interrelated. Changing any aspect of  the game elements could potentially change the game itself.

 

Once the game elements have roughly been defined, it is common to begin creating prototypes of certain aspects of the game. Prototypes can be done in a variety of ways to explore the user experience and put certain parts of a game in action. An example of prototypes in game design as discussed in a video by LiveLessons are paper mock-ups or even physical representations of game elements through objects to experience how game play is put to practice. This is then followed by basic digital prototypes, once an understanding of the gameplay has been reached. Throughout the prototype process one may need to revisit and review certain game elements. This is where critical analysis plays an role in game design.

Critical analysis tends to be a misunderstood term. It can often be perceived it as a negative concept. However, in terms of critical analysis within a game it is important to have an in-depth and impartial view of the game – focusing on the logic and reason behind how the elements of a game are implemented. Otherwise it can be difficult for a successful game to emerge from game design. In order to do this, it is important to question the reason behind the game elements and examine the game in terms of the player’s experience.