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Assignment 3 overview

Overall, this project went very well. I learned a lot about guiding the player without directly telling them what to do, for example, using lights to guide the player and introducing obstacles before they can solve them. This creates intrigue and brings the player back to these areas when they have the required item. I was very happy with how the ‘main hub’ turned out, as there are a lot of routes heading out from here, there was lots of room for misguiding the player. I feel like I did a job with lighting and making sure the player knew which route they could go down at any given time.

Another feature I implemented was the ability to mark off their passage with a chalk ‘X’. This feature was introduced after players felt they were getting lost in the tunnels, so I decided to give them an opportunity to keep track of where they were going. This feature was more a psychological advantage for the player. It put a small part of the responsibility on the player, but mentally, it made them feel as if they had all the responsibility for keeping track of where they were going. However from a design point of view, it is clear that I am still guiding them with the design of the level.

One of the nice features I also included was little ‘side routes’ and other areas of the cave to explore that was not directly part of the main route. These little areas tend to be hidden, or small enough that the player won’t get off track, so that the player does not lose focus. This is more for the players who enjoy exploration in games, and those who have played through the level before. One of the main areas like this was a large waterfall room filled with stalactites that you would not see in normal gameplay.

However, one of the main things I learned from this project was that I need to budget my poly count and my lighting when working in environments this large. In the game, it does not have a steady framerate, even dropping below 10fps in some areas on the level. To combat this, I did implement some level streaming so that not everything was loaded at once, however with the sheer size of the map, I will need to learn more about optimization if I want to make this run smoother in the future.

Another point I learned was that getting other people to test the level is invaluable. Throughout this assignment I was getting people from my class as well as housemates to test out the game. Even if they did not give any direct feedback afterwards, it was clear that I could make some improvements in the level simply from the way they walked around it. A good example of this is when you walk out of the torch area, everyone was immediately drawn towards the initial route they have came from instead of the dark route as it was more obvious. Simply by moving the others over to where the dark path was, I immediately saw an increase in understanding from those who tested the game for me.

If I were to do this project again, there are a few changes I would make. One would be to budget my poly count better to reduce the strain on the computer, and another would be to add collectables, or something that would make the exploration side of the game a bit more worthwhile. Currently the game is a simple A to B sort of game, and it does not inspire as great a feeling of exploration as it has the potential to. By adding these collectables next time, it would give more reason for players to go back on routes previously explored and search for hidden routes that they could only unlock with items they found further down the game

FINAL SCREENSHOTS

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Work in Progress update

To start off with this project, I first started testing out my mechanics in an empty world to make sure I could get them working. Some of the main things I got to testing in this area included the items. The grappling hook was definitely the most interesting mechanic to work out, and involved using a line trace to see where if there was a rock, and then stopping the character so they lose their velocity and ‘teleporting’ them along the path towards the rock.

I also got working on the HUD and made sure that you could scroll through the items easily, or press 1,2, or 3 and switch accordingly. At this stage I am only using different colours to denote the different items, however this will be replaced with images near the end.

Another thing I decided to test before moving onto a real level was how, and if, I could make a river. To do so I used a spline to draw a static mesh of a plane. Then it applies the water texture. Overall, I am very happy with this mechanic however later I will have to work on changing the water texture as I do not feel like this material will work very well alongside the models I will be using.

The next thing I did was block out a portion of the level to get an idea of how I wanted the level structured. This, along with my sketches, gave me a good idea of how large or small certain areas should be within the level. To get an idea of the lighting, I also quickly made up torches using cylinders and point lights.

Also in this new level, I tested out some swimming mechanics. To do so I placed a plane down and applied a water material to it to act as the water surface. Then I placed a physics volume and a post processing volume underneath. This physics volume is set to a fluid, and so the character slows down upon entering, and has some buoyancy to them. The post process volume makes it seem as though they are underwater as the camera goes slightly blurry. I feel like when I get this in a large environment, it will look very good. Again however, like the river, I will need a better water material as I do not think this will work in conjunction with the other assets I am making.

Once I had some of the models to work with, I started removing the blocked-out parts and replacing them with the rocks. I am very happy with how the rocks fit together, and I feel like it gives off a very natural feel, as if the caves were carved out rather than built up. Also, I noticed that the torch light when inside the modelled cave part, gave off a very warm and calm feel. This helps the player feel as though they want to explore more and that there will be no ill consequences for finding their own way around the tunnels.

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Substance painter

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Trebuchet Zbrush modelling

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Trebuchet Reference Images

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Key Companies: Vlambeer

As I wish to start my own company at some point within my career, I decided to take a look into some indie companies already operating. Since I would like it to be a small company, I looked into Vlambeer, as they are a great example of a small indie company starting from the ground up.

Vlambeer consists solely of Rami Ismail and Jan Willem Nijman, yet despite the tiny team size they have made quite a name in the indie games scene. They have produced games such as Super Crate Box, Nuclear Throne, and Glitchhikers, among others. Despite having worked together for over 6 years (founding Vlambeer in 2010 and going to college together before then), they remarked that they did not particularly like each other in the beginning. In an interview with Eurogamer, Ismail commented “the hooded guy looks up and says 'Could you please shut the f*** up?' That was Jan, and I kind of hated the guy” (2012). Although that does not seem at first glance like a very important matter, what I find interesting about it is that despite how they saw each other on a personal level, they could tell that each of their skillsets matched up well, and that they could work very well together.

In the same interview, Ismail also commented “I was coming out of the type of indie development where you work on a game for a year or two and then commercially release it, and Jan was coming from working on a game for a few hours and then giving it away.” (2012) What I take away from this point is that you can use these different experiences to help create your own unique way of operating, as Vlambeer definitely have been doing.

One way that that point is emphasized is their openness on what they are working on. Whereas most companies like to hide what they are working on, getting employees to sign non-disclosure agreements, Vlambeer openly share the projects they are working on through social media. This backfired quite bad in the early days when their project of Ridiculous Fishing was copied by Gamenauts’ Ninja Fishing. As of writing this blog, Ninja Fishing has between 1 million – 5 million downloads, whereas Ridiculous Fishing only has between 100,000 – 500,000 (Google, 2015; Google, 2014). However, in saying that this was a bad thing, Vlambeer did get a lot more attention after this argument, as any publicity can be good publicity.

In terms of the company’s structure, Rami Ismael does a lot more of the business management and programming, whereas JW works on the design of the game. However, I can still learn a lot from both. In a talk Rami gave at gamelab 2014, he said JW made “300 games a year, of which 298 are absolutely terrible” (Indie Game Basics - Vlambeer). Doing this would help me create better and more interesting mechanics that I could then use in later projects. In terms of Rami, I would like to be in a similar position as he in terms of the industry. Running a company but also working on the projects themselves.

Because of the small team size, Rami can do this quite well. Having enough time to meet with ‘guys in suits’ as well as work on the games.

Some of the basic day-to-day work that Rami does includes travelling and giving talks, talking with the press, pitching game ideas to publishers and platform holders, as well as programming the games. He also has to keep in touch with JW throughout his travelling to make sure that the game they are working on is going well and that they both can agree on what they are doing. While it can be considered a lot of work, he pulls it off well and has been very successful in doing so.

From looking at Vlambeer, it is clear that I will need to network a lot more, in order to make my name and work known to people I could potentially be pitching to down the road. Also on that note, I will have to start practicing pitching ideas and making my ideas sound interesting.

References:

Google. (2014). Ninja Fishing. Retrieved from Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamenauts.ninjafishingfull&hl=en_GB

Google. (2015). Ridiculous Fishing. Retrieved from Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vlambeer.RidiculousFishing&hl=en_GB

Ismail, R. (2012, 11 05). Two years with Vlambeer: the inside story on gaming's greatest new studio. (P. Cameron, Interviewer)

Ismail, R. (2015, February 17). Indie Game Basics - Vlambeer. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KSbdIEA0U

Rose, M. (2014, August 12). Perfecting your pitch the Vlambeer way. Retrieved from Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/223170/Perfecting_your_pitch_the_Vlambeer_way.php

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Games that changed the industry (mechanically)

DOOM

One game that greatly changed the industry was DOOM (id, 1993). Not only did it draw a lot of attention to PC Gaming (as opposed to the more popular console gaming and arcade gaming around at the time), but it also popularized Deathmatches. Today, it’s hard to imagine a gaming industry without deathmatches. CS:GO (Valve, 2012), Call of Duty (Inifinity Ward, 2003), Halo (Bungie, 2001), and the vast majority of First Person Shooters all come with this game mode, and it has now also become very popular in esports. While not the first game to include a similar game mode (Snipes thought of being the first), it did draw a lot of attention to it from gamers and game developers.

DOOM is also famous for having enemies fight each other. While this is not generally used in games much, it added a lot of immersion to the already ground-breaking game. Another thing was its use of secret rooms, which brought in new weapons and extra armour (and other pickups).

Figure 1: DOOM enemies fighting each other

Minecraft

It’s hard not to talk about Minecraft (Mojang, 2011) when the topic of ‘games that changed the industry’ comes up. Selling more than 1.5 times the amount of copies Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar, 2013) did  (Tassi, 2016), Minecraft brought a lot of attention to the indie scene. Notable elements of the game that should be mentioned when talking about the programming side of it include its advanced procedural terrain generation (While certainly not the first to do so, it did inspire more games to include this). With the ability to create worlds so large that it feels infinite, Minecraft gives the player an equal amount of freedom to do as they will in the worlds. This combined with the crafting and mining system expands this freedom even further, letting the player change the world as they wish.

Minecraft brought about a rise in popularity of sandbox games, with games such as Ace of Spades (Jagex, 2012), Survivalcraft (Kalicinski, 2011) and Terraria (Re-Logic, 2011) gathering attention because of it.

Another influence Minecraft had on the industry was the fact that it inspired a lot of people to delve into modding. With mods ranging from texture packs to fully functioning story-based games with countless new mechanics, the Minecraft modding community has grown and inspired a lot of people to get hands on and create the version of Minecraft they want to play. Due to this, many more companies have opened up their games to modders to improve the experience of everyone playing.

Figure 2: Minecraft with a shader mod to improve lighting

Minecraft includes another aspect that usually gets looked over by those who have not played the game. The use of redstone in the game allows for players to learn the basics of electrical engineering and how computers work. This essentially allowed players to create their own mechanics in-game, without having to know anything about programming or how to write scripts.

Another thing Minecraft did was bring about a significant rise in play-throughs and livestreaming games. To this day, and since the games release, people have been making and livestreaming Minecraft videos on Youtube and Twitch, amassing billions of views combined. While not directly responsible for the outcome, Minecraft inspired a lot of developers to include streaming capabilities and saving replays in their games.

Minecraft has affected many areas of the world, not only gaming. Minecraft is now used in many schools to teach kids to be creative, as well as the use of redstone to create contraptions and inspire engineers of the future. Games have since been inspired by this to dive further into the educational value of games.

  Dungeons & Dragons

While not a video game, Dungeons & Dragons (Gygax & Arneson, 1974) is definitely one of the most influential games of all time. Still growing in popularity after over 40 years, D&D has brought a lot of ideas to the gaming industry. While chance games and dice games have been around for millennia, D&D introduces a detailed stat system to allow players to increase their chance of accomplishing certain actions. Because this balances out chance and skill very well, countless games have taken this mechanic and used it themselves. Games such as Neverwinter (Cryptic, 2013), Oblivion (Bethesda, 2006) Dark Souls (FromSoftware, 2011) and many other RPG’s all use similar systems.

Figure 3: D&D 5e character sheet containing character stats

D&D also inspired the use of levels to determine how powerful a player is. As players level up, they increase their chances of accomplishing tasks or actions, as well as improve their health and other such aspects. Below, you can see how this system has been used in Skyrim (Bethesda, 2011)

Figure 4: Skyrim's (2011) Skill Tree and Levelling system

References  

Bethesda. (2006). The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  Bethesda.

Bethesda. (2011). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  Bethesda.

Bungie. (2001). Halo. Microsoft Studios.

Cryptic. (2013). Neverwinter. Perfect World  Entertainment.

FromSoftware. (2011). Dark Souls. Namco  Bandai Games.

Gygax, G., & Arneson, D. (1974). Dungeons  & Dragons. TSR.

id. (1993). DOOM. GT Interactive.

Inifinity Ward. (2003). Call of Duty.  Activision.

Jagex. (2012). Ace of Spades. Jagex.

Kalicinski, I. (2011). Survivalcraft.

Mojang. (2011). Minecraft. Mojang.

Re-Logic. (2011). Terraria. 505 Games.

Rockstar. (2013). Grand Theft Auto V.  Rockstar Games.

Tassi, P. (2016, July 18). Here Are The Five  Best-Selling Video Games Of All Time. Retrieved from Forbes:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/07/08/here-are-the-five-best-selling-video-games-of-all-time/#45fd55c25926

Valve. (2012). Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  Valve.

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The Importance of Portfolios

Portfolios are important for any creative job. They allow you to showcase your skills and your achievements in an easily accessible manner for potential employers. In the age of information, it is essential to be able to display your work in such a manner as there is so much competition in the job market. In fact, it is becoming common for employers to require a portfolio to look through when applying for a job. The best way to display a portfolio nowadays is online. Setting up a website to display your work allows everyone access to see what work you can do, meaning that you open yourself up to job offers that you may not even have applied for.

However, a portfolio is not just a place to put all your work up, it must be organized and kept up to date. An unorganized portfolio, or a drab one can lose someone’s attention no matter the level of work on it. It is important that you display your work in a professional manner, displaying your best relevant work with clear navigation through the site.

How a portfolio should look is entirely dependent on what it is for. For an art based portfolio, images and drawings would be the main focus, whereas for a music based portfolio, an embedded player for your work would be included. For me as a game programmer/mechanic designer, I will need to include videos showcasing my mechanics, as well as examples of what else I can do with my programming skills.

Currently, some of the things I can include in a portfolio would be:

·         Calculating angles on a projectile bouncing around

·         Scrolling through items using the mouse wheel

·         Main menu and level selection

·         Timers

·         Level streaming

 Some of the things I would be looking to add to this include

·         Inventory system

·         Saving a game

·         High scores

·         Sound programming

·         LAN/Network games

 However, to open up my options for possible routes into the industry, I will also be adding another section dedicated to artwork to show that I do have a broad skillset and am not tied simply to one aspect of game development.

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Route to Game Programming

Roles of a game programmer:

 The title of ‘game programmer’ has become a very broad title. Back when games were in their early days, game programmers usually did most of the work on the game. Nowadays however, game programmers tend to specialise in different areas of game programming. For example, nowadays game programmers can specialise in

·         Creating Physics/Graphics engines

·         Creating Artificial Intelligence

·         Creating user interfaces

·         Scripting game mechanics

·         Sound programming

·         Network programming

·         Porting

Among other specialties.

 When it comes to what kind of programming I would like to do, I would like to go into scripting game mechanics, yet also get a general knowledge on how to do a little of the other parts of this. The reason I would like to work on game mechanics is because that is the core part of games, and while it requires a very logical mindset, it is still open to creative inputs. This is where it differs from engine programming or network programming, which requires an extremely logical mindset and thorough understanding of the technology it runs on.

Looking into current job openings for game programmers, some of the things that I have found they are responsible for are:

·         Developing game systems for multiple platforms

·         Creating large and complex features to be used across the board

·         Figuring out technical challenges across other programming-related areas

·         Writing clean code that can be easily read by other programmers

·         Debugging code efficiently and effectively

·         Document and review technical designs with other programmers and the team

·         Work closely with QA to help solve potential issues

·         Creating interesting mechanics that are fun to use

  Outside of the games industry

Because of how useful they are, programmers are highly sought after in more than the games industry. By working at my programming skills, I am also opening myself up to multiple job opportunities outside of the games industry as a backup plan. This includes web development, network development, software engineering and app development, among many.

  Salary

Programming is also a well-paid profession, with the salary ranging between £17,000 and £70,000, from jobs that I have seen available. The median salary for a job in game programming is roughly £32,000

  Typical job requirements

A lot of jobs look for knowledge in at least one language, usually C#, C++, Java, or Python. They also look for experience in Unreal Engine 4 and Unity, sometimes also CryEngine. A lot of employers also look for people with 3 -5 years of experience in the games industry, as well as examples of development in either Indie or AAA games. As well as this, they like you to have a good knowledge of both physics and mathematics, as well as good problem solving skills. AAA companies also like you to have shipped at least one console/PC title and senior jobs require previous experience leading or mentoring a team.

  My current skills and what I have yet to achieve

For me to get a job in this industry, I must put in a lot of work outside of the course. Whereas the course focuses heavily on 3D modelling, narrative, and the overall design of the game, these openings require experience on creating games through code. Currently, my experience with coding is quite limited. I have a good understanding of visual scripting in the form of Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4, and a basic understanding of C++, but I will need to put a lot of work into developing these essential skills further. As for experience with different game engines, I have had 4 years of experience working in Unreal already, and a very basic understanding of Unity, but I must put more work into Unity to build up a better understanding of it.

As for mathematics and physics, I studied both at AS Level in college, continued Mathematics to A Level, and keep a keen interest in both these areas. I would however like to further my understanding of physics to better produce accurate simulations inside projects. I am also a great problem solver and feel like I already meet this part of the criteria.

In terms of working on games, I do not have any experience shipping any titles, which I would like to do. I have however worked on a good number of games which have all relied quite heavily on mechanics, helping to deepen my understanding of how to create them. I have also worked on group projects as well as game jams to build my teamwork skills.

  How to enter this role and where it can lead

A lot of companies nowadays are willing to take on interns and junior programmers straight after gaining a degree. This is good for me as it will be an entrance point into the industry from which I can build upon. This job can typically lead to more senior programming roles and can eventually lead you to be lead programmer after some years working in a company. The market is also quite open for lead programmers to step straight into the role if they have proven their experience elsewhere.

Also, such a job will be a great stepping stone for me to learn how games are made in an industrial setting, helping me better understand this workflow, what games entail, and how I could then go on to start up my own indie company.

  My route to industry

So, for me to get a job in game programming from where I currently stand, I will need to put in a lot of work on the side of my course. I will start by following Udemy courses to gain a good understanding of how C++ works in Unreal. From there I shall apply this knowledge through multiple game jams where I can test out my skill and figure out even more that I can do with it. This will also be great as it offers experience working in teams and finishing deadlines quickly with a good quality of work.

From there I will also start learning C# for Unity in a similar manner. I shall take a few courses on it from Udemy to build a base of knowledge for working in the engine that I can then apply in game jams to improve my ability.

Through all this, I will also be working on my own game over summer that I can continue to learn from and expand my portfolio of work. This game will be mechanically heavy so I can get all the experience I can from it.

Next year, I also plan on entering Transfuzer in order to get my name out there and really get a start on teamwork within a company. My role shall be game programmer to make sure I get experience and a reputation in this field.

I also will network more to make connections within the industry. This includes attending events such as the Manchester Indie Drinks, Unreal meetups, game jams, and the Manchester Unity 3D Devs meetup. As well as this, I will also start using twitter so I can share my work and build up worldwide connections in the industry, as well as reddit so I can connect with players and developers. This will also be important to make sure my name gets out to people who enjoy indie games, as when I start up my own company I can already have a small following.

To get experience with shipping a game, I will also release the game I work on over summer on Steam to get an idea of what this process entails. This will also give me an idea of how to attract attention to my work to give the best results.

I will, at the end of the next academic year, start looking for junior programming roles within the industry. I have an advantage here of a dual citizenship meaning that I can also look for jobs within the US fairly easy. From here I shall progress and develop my skills to one day becoming the lead programmer on a game. This will provide great experience working for people, as well as leading a team.

Once I feel ready and have sufficiently prepared myself, I will then branch off and start my own company with the skills I have learned within the field and from working in companies already.

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End Goal after University

After I finish this course there are two possible routes that I would like to go down, one in fact that could lead to the second. The first one is a programmer as I have always been more interested in the process of making the game work, than making the game look good. The second place within the industry I would like to end up at would be the head of my own company. Doing so will require a lot of knowledge about the games industry as well as business management. To get there, there are a few skills I will need to gain.

One important skill is the ability to program. To do this I aim to focus a lot of my studies at Futureworks on improving my programming. Currently the only experience I have is through the visual scripting of Blueprints, however I have already started learning C++ through multiple courses on UDemy.com and Lynda.com. To further enhance this after Futureworks, I will look for a job as a programmer to learn skills from others in this area as well as gain insight into the business aspect of starting and running a company. To get a job as such though will require a lot of knowledge to begin with.

In the case that I am not able to get a job as a programmer straight off, I also wish to improve my knowledge of level design as this offers yet another route into the industry. To do this I will need to be able to concept ideas and communicate them with a team, as well as actually building the level within the game engine. Through the course at Futureworks I am already gaining valuable experience in this, however I also will study up on the theory of level design to further increase my knowledge int his area

When it comes to the business aspect, I need to learn a lot of skills required to start a company and run it. I will need to learn about funding, marketing, team management and many other key parts. To do this I will start networking so I am able to ask those in such positions how they went about doing so. I will also learn this in my spare time through extra courses and books.

As my aims are quite high compared to my current skillset, I will spend a time in the industry in order to gain my necessary skills. Preferably I will be able to work in both an indie team as well as an AAA company in order to understand how both work, before starting my own company.

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Portfolio Experiments

To begin the project, one of the first things I tested was the main mechanics of the game: Bouncing lasers. In doing this I found that the angle of which the laser bounced was a relatively straightforward blueprint, simply mirroring the vector after it hits the impact normal. In the testing phase, I had this limited to three traces in order to get a good idea as to if the ray would reflect properly. In doing this, I found that I would have had to limit the amount of these lasers unless I looked into how to use a loop in my blueprint, which I delved into later in the process.

In designing this mechanic, I started to think about what games already use such mechanics in their games, and I found that there is a great example outside of video games; snooker. Snooker utilises the angle of reflection in order to indirectly score, by getting the balls into the corner. In studying this, what I found interesting was how the objects reflect off spherical objects, which inspired the use of the disco ball in the game.

The second piece of the game I tested was the mirrors. For this, I simply used a cube for testing and applied the mirror to it. In the beginning, I turned on “Support global clip plane for Planar Reflections” in the projects Rendering settings, and then applied a planar reflection to the mirror cube. I did this in order to get really nice reflections without using too much processing power. This worked really well, giving much clearer reflections than simply applying a reflective material, or using a camera to render the image. However, I ran into problems with this when I started to change the number of players in the game, which happened later on in the projects development.

The next thing I added was a Start Menu. I added this early on as it gave me a good indication of how to move between the multiple levels and change the player count. I used a placeholder image in the background as I felt the mechanics of such a menu were the main focus. On this main menu, I had four options; Play, Controls, Options, and Quit. Hovering over each of them plays a mall animation to indicate it is the one highlighted. I found this process quite difficult to do as the menu did not want to accept input from the xbox controller, of which this game would be primarily played with.

After searching for an answer I came across this video that helped me understand how to get the gamepad to focus in the menu (MIX Training, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8kkVerNvBs&feature=youtu.be

Through this video, it is shown how to change the button images as the player scrolls through the menu, however I modified this to fit the animations that I had done previously

The next stage was to add multiplayer. To begin this, I set the player count maximum to four, and minimum to two. Upon clicking Play in the menu, it would bring up the “Player Join” menu. Once two players had pressed A to join, the “Begin Play” button would pop up. This menu was inspired by games such as Unbox, which allows the players to join in the menu as opposed to once the game had started. Although I very much liked this layout, I had many problems with allowing players to exit if they had already joined, and also because I had to create the players before the game begins, sometimes they would not disappear if not selected. In the end I had to resort to a different menu where the first player selects the amount of players due to the time we had to work on the project. If I had more time to work on this however, I would definitely spend time working on this menu.

When I began testing with more than one player however, this is where I started running into problems. One of these problems was that the players sometimes spawned underneath the map, as it was trying to set their location to (0, 0, 0). I managed to fix this by adding more PlayerStarts to the game though, and by changing the menu layout.

Another problem I ran into with this was the reflections. What I learned as I added more players was that the planar reflections were actually baked onto the object with respect to the first player’s camera. This caused the other players to see the same reflection that player one would see, no matter the angle they looked at the mirror

This problem turned out to be unavoidable, and so I had to choose between using a camera to set up reflections, or using a basic reflective material. Although I would’ve liked to have the camera’s set up to get accurate reflections, the amount of mirrors in a scene at any given time would’ve required too much processing power, and hence slow down the games frame rate significantly. Due to this, I had to use the reflective material in the end. Although it does not look as good, it was the best I could do within the time limit and with the problems I was facing.

After this, I then set it so the players could place mirrors when they wanted. Originally this was set using a timer, leaving the mirror on the surface placed for 30 seconds before disappearing. To do this, I set up the blueprint in such a way to allow multiple delays in case the player had multiple mirrors down at the same time.In the end however, this was removed as it felt better through testing if the mirrors stayed there as long as the player wanted them to, and only disappear once the player needed more of them.

I then set up the blueprint for the players to get hit, and change the score each player had. I did this in the player’s blueprint, and it gets information from the fired laser’s ray trace to determine how the hit player reacts. This was set up in a way so that if the player hit themselves with a laser, they would actually lose a point, whereas hitting a different player would add 1 to their score. Later, I changed this to reflect how many mirrors the laser bounced off before hitting the player. For example, if they bounced the laser off 5 mirrors before hitting a player, they would get five points for that kill. This was a very engaging mechanic during testing as it made players want to try difficult shots. This risk/reward system was very effective in keeping the players focus and made them want to keep playing to get these sort of shots.

When the player died, I originally wanted to set the player to spawn at the furthest spawn point from everyone else in the game. This would avoid players spawning in the middle of a group and not having a chance to move before being killed again. Such a mechanic was inspired by shooters such as Call of Duty, which spawns the player away from the action to give them time to prepare once again.

The blueprint in the orange comment box was all my attempts at implementing this mechanic, but in the end it was unsuccessful and took up too much time that I needed to use for other aspects of the game. For this reason, I had to scrap this idea and set the player spawn to a random spawnpoint. This is one area I would greatly like to improve upon over the next year.

 After this, I then worked on getting a laser in the game, to travel along the ray trace I had previously set up. To do this I created a beam particle system that used a small texture I created to project along the line trace. I added noise to this particle system in order to make the laser look more ‘alive’ and active. I also set it to fire immediately, but stay in position for a short time after it has been fired so the player can move around and see how they angle would’ve bounced off a mirror. When testing this in single player, this mechanic works very well, however once it is brought into multiplayer, problems arise with the direction the laser is facing. As it is rendered in regards to the player camera, having multiple cameras in the scene cause it to render at a direction that averages all the player’s cameras. I was not able to fix this bug as the project progressed, but it is one that I will look into more detail in case I want to implement such a mechanic into a later prototype.

After this, I was able to get some of the levels from Callum, the level designer in the group. With these levels I was able to test out mechanics in the actual gamespace, and what I found was that the mechanics all work well in context to the environment. I also added a level select screen to the menu and created some simple images for use in this menu.

This worked really well and each level had their own unique challenges.

Once I had the levels, I was able to design some other mechanics that could be used in the levels themselves. To begin, I got the 3D assets from Daniel, the modeller for the project and started making the mechanics that would allow these to work. One of the first I added was the disco ball. This was a really nice mechanic because it used the same idea as the mirrors, but depending on the angle it was shot, the laser would bounce off in quite an unpredictable fashion. To allow the laser to register the disco ball as well as mirrors I simply put a “Cast to Disco Ball” node into the already defined shooting mechanic.

Another level mechanic I added was the wall emitter. This would emit a constant laser beam throughout the game unless it was turned off by activating the Control Panel. I had some problems when setting this up, including getting the beam to travel along a defined line trace. For a while, the beam was amplified and firing off in the wrong direction, but I managed to get it working after some tinkering. A nice feature about this wall emitter is that the laser that is fired is of a random colour. This was to ensure that each game was a little more different than the last without having to change anything major in the game.

Using this idea, I also added colour to the player model. This was done by getting the Local ID of the player and setting the colour of each accordingly. I used red for player 1, blue for player 2, green for player 3 and pink for player 4. This colour is also used in the colour of the laser that each player fires, the light that shines upon each player, and the colour of the frame of the mirror that the player can place. This was a nice addition as it let players know who was who.

After this, I also added a Pause menu so that anytime throughout the game, the player could pause and exit to the main menu, desktop, or check out the controls.

One other aspect of the game that is important to note is the sound. The laser sound and the music belong to Ben Ovington, who gave us permission to use within the game. The sounds that can be heard when a player dies were all recorded by the group. I thought it would be interesting to randomize the sound effect played when a player dies so I put the sounds in arrays (specific to the player) and it chose from 1 of 4 different possible sounds. Again, this added variety to the game and made it so that each time you killed someone, a different reaction can be got, adding to the engagement of the game.

To add some polish to the game, I added a vignette to the player camera. This helped focus the players eyes in their own screen, keeping their attention. I also added a camera shake to the walking node in the player character to make it feel more realistic than the smooth walk that is in by default. Using the same principle as the walking shake, I also added a camera shake to the player for when they die. This bit of feedback helps indicate when someone gets shot, which is especially helpful when the laser is not always visible to the player.

One aspect to the game that really adds to the player engagement is the Mirror Egg and the Pickup that is in the level. The Mirror Egg is simply a blueprint that has physics simulated, so the players can move them around and line up some humorous shots. This helps add to the feel of the game that the sound effects already give off. As for the pickup, I also made its effect random as to add to the risk/reward system I had already going. The Pickup will do a random effect, either reducing or increasing player speed, the player jump height, the amount of mirrors they can place or the rate at which they can fire.

Player Character blueprints:

Pickup Box blueprints:

Main Menu blueprints:

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Project Plan

For this project, I will be working in a team to produce a split-screen shooter for up to 4 players. This game will be based off the ‘Reflections’ category, and as such, the aim if the game will be to bounce lasers from a laser gun off mirrors in order to hit the players. Direct hits straight from gun to player will not add to the points. To add to the challenge, the more mirrors the laser is bounced off before hitting the player, the more points they will gain. This will contain multiple levels, each containing their own challenges, and so the players will be able to decide which map they would like to play on. This will require a menu to be implemented, and as such, I will add a Main Menu where the players can choose how many players there will be as well as which level they would like to play on.

As we go through this project, we will get together every week to organize what needs to be done over the next week, and discuss our progress. This will give clear insight into how the game is progressing and if we will have to reduce the scope of the project, or if we can increase it.

Through this, I will be working as the technical game designer, creating the mechanics and making everything work the way it should work. This will require me to gather all the resources from the team and put it together into the working prototype. By the end of the project, I will be delivering the working prototype as well as a video detailing the work I have done within the game. I will also record separate videos for my portfolio to show some of the mechanics in greater detail. My research will also be uploaded into my Tumblr blog in order to show the work I have done outside of the project itself.  During the process of this game, I will be researching different methods of scripting mechanics as well as how current games use such mechanics in an efficient and engaging way.

Throughout the project, I will take on the responsibility of project manager, making sure everyone knows what needs to be done, as well as set deadlines to achieve these goals. As I will be collecting all the files from everyone, I also will be responsible for importing all the files into the one project and making sure that everything works together. I will also help out in any areas that need to be shared, such as the 2D imagery used in menus and other such areas, like the laser beam. I will be working on creating a particle system for the laser as well as scripting it to bounce off mirrors.

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Essay Research

What I’ve found is that physical and mental health are both affected by living in urban environments. This includes a higher risk of cardiovascular disease due to an increase in obesity, diabetes, and other high risk factors. (Yusuf, Reddy, Ôunpuu, & Anand, 2001) There is also meta-analysis that suggests that the frequency of schizophrenia is doubled in urban environments as opposed to rural areas, although this is debated among researchers (Krabbendam & van Os, 2005)

Although not directly related to the essay, one thing I found was that a quarter of architecture students in the UK reported mental health issues related to the length of the courses at university and the cost of tuition (Winston, 2016)

The design of the UK healthcare system is not effective in its treatment of mental health. It can take up to 18 weeks to see a psychiatrist (National Health Service, 2016), and this can actually be extended under some circumstances. In this time, it is likely that the condition would have worsened significantly. Also, funding levels for mental health in the UK has decreased over the past year, with 29 of 53 mental health trusts saying their “budget would be lower this year than last” (Bloch, 2016)

Michael Green was an interesting architect to look at for this essay due to his work building with wood. In a TED talk he commented that he has never seen people hug a steel beam, but he has seen them hug wooden ones. (TED, 2013)This is clearly a good sign as nature helps comfort people, and can definitely help with mental health. Another thing he does well is utilise natural light to make the buildings seem more natural. Natural light “produces positive effects, both physiologically and psychologically” (Phillips, 2004)

Another architect I found was Itai Palti, an architect working with Urban Design and Mental Health on a project called Conscious Cities, a project to make cities aware of what is happening within them and to react accordingly to help the people within. This could be reducing the surrounding stimuli that overload the brain and lead to a decrease in mental health. (Palti, 2016)

In terms of video games, one game in particular I wanted to look at was Batman: Arkham Asylum and how it portrays mental illnesses as something people can’t begin to understand. Throughout the game it portrays mental illnesses as villainous, hence adding to the stigma currently surrounding mental health.

I looked also at depression quest and Elude, two games which are very able to help people understand mental illness. Depression quest is extremely helpful in showing how options become limited as depression deepens, and Elude displays the closed, trapped feeling of it very well. Even minor details in Elude, such as walking up a slope being much more difficult than down it, help understand depression further.

For the essay, I held a survey to see what people thought on the subject; however I won’t use the results in the essay due to the inherent bias of the answers. Looking back after holding the survey I felt like some of the questions were weighted towards getting the results I expected, as opposed to being open for discussion. However, through this essay I did get a wide range of respondents, with an almost equal split of those who have/had a mental illness and those who did not. Even with the split, the majority of respondents agreed that not enough was been done to treat mental illness, as well as thinking that mental illness was a topic generally avoided by governments/public.

Bibliography  

Bloch, S. (2016,  February 14). NHS mental health funding falls in England - FoI figures.  Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35559629

Krabbendam, L.,  & van Os, J. (2005). Schizophrenia and Urbanicity: A Major  Environmental Influence—Conditional on Genetic Risk. Schizophrenia  Bulletin.

National Health  Service. (2016, November 14). Guide to NHS waiting times in England.  Retrieved from NHS Choices:  http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/appointment-booking/Pages/nhs-waiting-times.aspx

Palti, I. (2016,  January 1). Defining Conscious Cities. Retrieved from Journal of Urban  Design and Mental Health:  http://www.urbandesignmentalhealth.com/journal1-ipeditorial.html

Phillips, D.  (2004). Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture. Burlington:  Architectural Press.

TED. (2013,  February). Why should we build wooden skyscrapers. Retrieved from TED:  https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_why_we_should_build_wooden_skyscrapers

Winston, A.  (2016, July 29). Quarter of UK architecture students report mental health  issues. Retrieved from Dezeen:  https://www.dezeen.com/2016/07/29/quarter-uk-architecture-students-mental-health-issues-student-survey-education-architects-journal/

Yusuf, S., Reddy,  S., Ôunpuu, S., & Anand, S. (2001, November 27). Global Burden of  Cardiovascular Diseases. Retrieved from Professional Heart Daily:  http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/104/22/2746.full

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Design Essay Skeleton Plan

Is Modern Design Doing Enough to Help Treat Mental Illnesses?

Mental illnesses are often considered the elephant in the room, even to those living life with them. Too few people get the help they need from current help, but is there a way to change that through design? To do so we would first need to change the popular perception on mental illness. Current methods, such as medicines and care facilities can only go so far in treating them, as they tend to focus more on the symptoms of these illnesses rather than tackling them head on, Is there a way to change how these issues are addressed through the design of care facilities, help services, and other methods? 

If so, that is what we need. Through this essay, I will focus on how current design is largely inefficient at helping people dealing with mental illness

Layout of essay:

Intro

Explain why mental illness is such a big untackled problem

Explain a few mental illnesses in detail

Explain current design choices made in the treatment of them

Explain flaws and why they are inefficient

Propose better solutions

Conclusion

Research methods:

Surveys (Ask online on websites such as reddit)

Discuss with people dealing with mental illness, find out what they would like to change

Read up on current treatments

Possible routes to discuss:

PTSD

Depression

Schizophrenia

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Reflective Blog Part 2

What would you do differently next time?

If I were to do this project again I would definitely experiment with AI for the enemies. I feel like that would be the next step up from where I currently am with my skills. I would use it to ensure that the enemies don’t get stuck behind rocks or in corners, as they can sometimes do now.

Another thing I would do differently is add more challenges. I feel like this game currently is lacking a lot of possible challenges. Currently there are only two main challenges in the game; using boxes to get onto higher ledges, and avoiding enemies. There is also a sub-challenge of collecting all the coins in the game and finding the secret passages. If I were to do it again I would explore these two mechanics further and make more challenges than the ones I currently have. Perhaps that could consist of using boxes to block enemies in order to proceed.

Also, I would like to improve my modelling skills, and so if I were to do this next time, I would like to try creating my own models for the project. This would help build my skillset further and allow me to explore my own creative style fully, instead of relying on pre-made, pre-textured objects.

Next time, I would also like to expand and use multiple levels, rather than focusing solely on one. By creating multiple levels I would be able to explore more puzzles and improve my level design on a larger scale. Doing so would also give me an opportunity to explore loading screens and other such widgets of which will be useful in my later career.

  What went well and what did not?

I feel like the majority of this project went very well with only a few exceptions. To start with what did not go well, I still have a glitch in the game that I could not fix that allows the player to exploit the pickup mechanic and two boxes to fly around the map. I would like to find a way to avoid this while still allowing players to interact with other boxes while holding the box in hand.

Another problem was the player could get out of the map by bringing all the boxes to the very end and stacking them up. This wasn’t too much of a problem however as most players left the boxers behind when proceeding through each challenge

As for what worked well in the game, when it came to creating the challenges I felt like I did a great job in terms of the difficulty of each of them. I spread the challenges out in such a way that it gradually gets harder but has smaller challenges between the harder challenges.

Here you can see how I organized the areas of the map into the different challenges. The first challenge begins easy to give the player time to learn the controls in a Mario-inspired start. Mario begins the player at the left of the screen, which “informs the player where they’ll be going for the entirety of the game: going right.” (Extra Credits, 2014). Likewise, my game begins in a narrow path where the only way the player can move is forward, indicating that they will want to be moving forward throughout the game. I also started the player off with a simple challenge of avoiding the enemy to get them used to the control and capture their attention straight away. Novels use this mechanic too when they begin with action. “Start with a minor mystery.  While you don’t want to confuse your readers, presenting them with a puzzle can be highly effective—particularly if the narrator is also puzzled. This has the instant effect of making the reader and narrator partners in crime.” (Appel, 2011). Likewise, in my game, the player and the level help and interact with each other to get through the challenges, engaging the player with the world from the beginning.

Another thing that went really well with my game was the pickup mechanic. I had this separated into different segments as it was a rather large blueprint. I felt like this worked well because the player was able to pick up and move the boxes very easily, having no trouble figuring out how to arrange them and figure out how to get through the level. “When we succeed, our products become effortless, even pleasurable to use. Good design is not noticed, it just works. That is the role of good design” (Sears & Jacko, 2003)

The level itself also worked really well. The challenges involved were clear but challenging, and the landscape was interesting to play through. When creating the landscape, I decided to make the canyon as it would very clearly tell the player which direction they should be heading. It was a linear design that directed the player to the goal. At the end however, the player is allowed to explore the map in a non-linear fashion, finding the additional secrets throughout the level. I did this because players who enjoy open world games and players who enjoy linear straightforward games will both be able to enjoy it.

In terms of the landscape paint, I used a custom material that combined the sandstone, gravel, and grass textures. I used mostly sandstone as it was a warm colour as explained in the previous blog. The gravel, I used on the ground to give a worn down effect. This gravel is what I used to to form a path through the level.. This was implemented because I wanted to guide the player through the level without overtly telling them exactly what they should do, and making the player feel like they figured it out themselves. This illusion of thought is described by Nick Morgan as “what’s going on is that our conscious minds are simply acting, watching and reporting to ourselves on our repetitive movements over and over again” (2015).

Bibliography  

Appel, J. M. (2011, March 29). 10 Ways to Start  Your Story Better. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from Writer's Digest:  http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/10-ways-to-start-your-story-better

Extra Credits (Director). (2014). Design Club -  Super Mario Bros: Level 1-1 - How Super Mario Mastered Level Design  [YouTube Video].

Morgan, N. (2015, June 30). Why Conscious Thought  Is Mostly An Illusion, And What That Means For Public Speakers. Retrieved  November 3, 2016, from Forbes:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2015/06/30/why-conscious-thought-is-mostly-an-illusion-and-what-that-means-for-public-speakers/#6914d4bbae73

Sears, A., & Jacko, J. A. (2003). The  Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and  Emerging Applications. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Reflective Blog Part 1

How have your experiments and tests affected your outcome?

Throughout the course of this project, I experimented with a lot of blueprints and level designs, adding, taking away, or rewriting elements as I went along. A few of the main examples of this would be the Enemy pawn’s movement. When I began working on the blueprints for the Enemy, I tried to add a timeline to make the enemy move from one point to another on the map. What I found in doing so however was that the enemy merely floated between the two points. So I decided to experiment with different ways of moving the enemy, to give it a more natural feel. The second idea I experimented with for this was to allow the player to control the movement of the enemies, but have the controls move the enemies in a different way to the player. What I found in doing this though was that the player could too easily trap all the enemies in one corner and continue on unchallenged.

Coming back to the enemy’s movement after working on other blueprints, I decided to try out the “Add Force” tool in blueprints, and I found that worked really well in giving the enemy a natural movement. From there, I let the enemy calculate the direction to one point and add a force to let itself get there. Once it reached one end it would reverse and head for Point B instead of Point A

What I really liked about how this worked was it gave the enemies an element of unpredictability, as you could never be sure that the enemy would stay exactly between two points, if it hit a bump or an edge it may take a different route to get to the point. This is to make the player feel nervous and prepared as “the defensive system is upregulated during anticipation of a moderately aversive, unpredictable threat.” (Hubbard, et al., 2011). This in turn increases the player’s want to keep engaged with the game.

As for other tests and experiments, I experimented with the placement of objects, especially the lever, to see how quickly players would notice it. Originally I had the lever on the wall to the side of the starting area but I noticed that players tended to walk right past it when presented with the immediate threat of the first enemy. When I placed it up in front of the enemy instead, players spotted and engaged with it a lot faster and with a lot more comfort. I also placed a collectible coin up ahead to attract the player to this location “This can include designing visuals so the player is attracted to something in the distance, such as bright lights or colors. Power-ups or mini-quests can be placed in the level to outline the critical path as well” (Mitchell, 2012)

Another part of the game that I experimented with was the material I used on the enemy. Originally I used a simple rock texture to make it look like a boulder, but I ran into the problem with it blending in with the background and not being visible. I decided to make my own material then so that it would change colour and attract the player. The material colour lerps between red and white on a sine graph, relative to the time within the game. I added a basalt texture to the enemy as well in order to give it a more realistic feeling to it, despite its odd colour-changing appearance. I also used the normal map from the basalt texture in order to give it a higher resolution feel and to fit into the environment easier. The reason why I varied the colour of the object is so that the player will be able to spot them clearly.

Your rods and cones [photoreceptors] work well together, and this is good for you. Both have diverse skills, functions, and placement in the retina. Rods are great at sensing movement, especially in dim light situations. Unfortunately, they do not sense color or focus well. Luckily, your cones have high color acuity and focus very well, especially in bright conditions. (Backyard Brains)

I also decided to experiment with some camera settings to see if I could improve the aesthetic quality of the game from the player’s perspective. From the player’s camera, I added a vignette to the edges to focus the player’s attention to the centre of the screen. “The frame is subservient to the content it surrounds, disappearing as we focus on the image or objects in view, and yet the frame shapes our understanding of that content.” (Lupton & Phillips, 2008). I also turned up the saturation to make the colours more vibrant, as it makes the rock of the canyon seem more orange. “Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation” (QSX Software Group)

How creative do you think your solution is?

I believe that my solution was a very creative solution. While in most games involving a lever, the lever itself is stationary and only can be used when in a defined point on the map, I have allowed the player to use the lever whenever they want (provided they pick it up first). I did this so that the player felt like they had more control over the world around them, and that they weren’t simply trapped in a set maze. This extra control helps alieve tension and lets the player feel that their life is in their hands, not the level’s.

Our ability to control our external world is how we ensure our survival. When we are not in control of our immediate environment, we are subject to any adverse situation that may arise. The more out of control the situation, the higher the uncertainty of the outcome from our actions. (Toprac, 2013)

In terms of the puzzles implemented however, I feel like I could’ve been a little more creative. Overall I only have two different types of puzzles in the game, using boxes to get onto higher platforms, and avoiding enemies. That being said, I arranged them in such a way that creates a very nice pacing to the game. “Ask anyone who entertains, be that a rock star, a writer, a casino owner, or a sketch comedian, and they’ll tell you that almost all good entertainment has a pacing curve that looks just like [Figure 1]” (Extra Credits, 2012)

Figure 1: Screenshot from Extra Credits’ “ Pacing - How  Games Keep Things Exciting - Extra Credits ”

Figure 2: My own game’s pacing graph

References

Backyard Brains. (n.d.). Experiment: How Your Eye  Detects Color and Motion. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from Backyard  Brains: https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/eye

Extra Credits (Director). (2012). Pacing - How  Games Keep Things Exciting - Extra Credits [YouTube Video].

Hubbard, C., Ornitz, E., Gaspar, J., Smith, S.,  Amin, J., Labus J. S., & et al. (2011). Modulation of nociceptive and  acoustic startle responses to an unpredictable threat in men and women. Pain.  Los Angeles: Wolters Kluwer.

Lupton, E., & Phillips, J. C. (2008). Graphic  Design: The New Basics. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Mitchell, B. L. (2012). Game Design Essentials.  Indianapolis: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

QSX Software Group. (n.d.). Color Meaning.  Retrieved from Color Wheel Pro:  http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Toprac, P. (2013). The Psychology of Control and  Video Games. In M. Wysocki, Ctrl-Alt-Play: Essays on Control in Video  Gaming (p. 21). London: McFarland & Company Inc.