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Looking at fair ground games

Looking at fair ground games as they do you unconventional ways to play the game.

Most fairs have coconut shy's they use the the player throwing ability to determine if they win anything or not. The aim of the coconut shy is throw balls at coconuts and knock them off and if the player knocks one or more off they get to keep them.

Most places of entertainment have a hook a duck game where the player has to hook one or more ducks to win a prize and the more ducks you hook the bigger the prize gets.

Carnivals normally contain a hammer bell game where the player has to hit a certain point with a hammer and the game will see how hard the place is hit and it is shown by how far the player gets the bell ringer to the bell and if the bell rings the player gets a reward.

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other games to look at

Is a 2d platformer that has obstacles for the player to jump over and avoid. This is similar to my game as I have obstacles for the player to avoid and are 2D .

shovel knight is another games that is similar to mine as it is also 2D and uses platforms and obstacles. The game has some different mechanics that I cold look to take away from like having a speed boost in the air, another difference is my game also has a slide mechanic.

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Other game setups

custom controllers like this are popular as the have the ability to be modified as some game have a lot of binds and a having the controller custom allows the user to add 4 extra buttons that can be bound to what ever the player wants.

Joysticks have a very specific type of game that they are used for like simulators and any games that require flying they are good at this as they let you realistically control the aircraft and bind any particular function to it.

steering are some of most unique forms of control for simulators as they have the ability the let the user proportionally control the game in different ways and make use of pedals to add to the immersion.

The steering wheels are mainly used for racing games as they allow the player to have more control over the game make the game feel more immersive. some games that the steering wheel is good for is Beamng drive, Asseto Corsa and f1 2023.

Star wars Episode 1 pod racer has it's own unique form of control as it has a a custom made chair with the controls built in this version of the game is normally found in arcades but it exists as a alternate form of control.

There are different forms of custom setup and how far they can go, most people would go for one out the images but there are crazyer options like the millerty training simulator that are 1:1 with actual aircraft

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Game specific controls

Guitar Hero is a musical game that has it's own controller to play as it is shaped like a guitar and has the right buttons to represent the string and a strumming bit. The controller does not really have any other use for any differently games unless the player wants to try a challenge.

Donkey Kong bongos has it own controller which is 2 bongos and the player has to hit the right one at the right time. This is game specific as it one the only games that has 2 buttons connected. Other games have been made around the bongos but they are quite limited.

sega bass fishing dreamcast is a game that has it's own controller that is very limited on what games it can be used by as it has very specific controller. The controller features a reeling in function that is normally found on fishing rods.

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leftfield game collection

Lost on Mars is a unique alternative controller game that aims to immerse players in a retro sci-fi mystery. The player has to use complicated controller and complex controls to play game to look for the missing mars mission. Explore, take photographs, scan objects, and uncover the story of the lost Atlas III mission.

Bringing pop-up storybooks to life, Bib Goes Home combines the charm and beauty of hand-drawn illustrations with the interactivity of games. Orogionaly made as part of the Operas and Bridges Game jam at V and A Dundee. Then cleaned up in 2023 by Ally.

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EGX, the games show organized by our corporate siblings, returns to London next week and we're returning with it. Once again, we're bringing a load of games with strange and interesting custom controllers or unique physical experiences. Pool on a bendy table! A game about growing a plant by directing light! Morse code! The many buttons of Tenya Wanya Teens! Something involving neckties? You'll find these and more at RPS Future Of Play during EGX London, running September 22-25th.

To me, the best part of games events is getting to play unusual games and experiences that might not exist outside events—or at least are more fun to play with weird controllers or while jostling your pals. You'll find nine such things at RPS Future Of Play next week. In truth, I don't yet know all of them, and that's exciting to me. The lineup is:

ByteDance - a "game/art-generator" full of swirly patterns.

Game Of Me - oh wow what is this? Projection mapping and a game and physical artefacts and... okay, cool.

Tenya Wanya Teens - a two-player competitive game made with Katamari Damacy director Keita Takahashi, about brushing your teeth, weeing, playing guitar, and more as the controller many colour-coded buttons shift around.

Tie Simulator 2020 - a game played by using a keyboard as a tie, I assume as a serious sartorial study.

Trapped In The Debris - a game controlled by rotating an ornate brick to free an ancient spirit.

Unknown Number - a "first-person talker".

I look forward to learning what they all are. And you can too!

EGX London 2022 will run from Thursday the 22nd to Sunday the 25th at ExCeL in the Docklands. Tickets are available now, ranging in fanciness from individual afternoon tickets to four-day passes.

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A look into odd controllers

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What is a alternate control in games

Alternate controls where the player is able to control the game is a different and unique way or have it own controller not many other games can use, it does not need to be anything new but just a new way of using it like how WASD was invented by someone using something new and it got a lot of recognition and became the norm form there.

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I have made a video of what the game is and how it plays. The game is controlled by using space bar and left control to make character do the relevant actions, the space bar controls the jump function and left control key is the slide function.

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Project update

After taking a look at my project I have realized that I will not be able to complete the project as intended as I do not have time to access the pedals and get them implemented as controls. The game is playable with 2 keys and would work with 2 pedals, If I had more time I could allows them to control the speed of the player. Another potential options was have pressure plates that control the games 2 main functions like a dance mat.

This almost what I aimed to do as the only thing that I am missing is the use of different controls/controllers. Over all I have not had to completely change my idea and have stayed with the same concept from my proposal.

On this project in particular I have chosen to focus more on the mechanics rather than anything else as environment is not as important in 2D game rather than 3D.

What the next steps would have been if I had more time

one of my main next steps would have been the first one would have been getting the score system cleaned up instead of just using a print string I would have made a widget rather than a string of numbers.

The second thing I would do is add prompts to tell the player the controls and what they are supposed to do when they see the obstacle or what sort of obstacle that it is.

The game that I have at the minute is a endless runner where the player can slide and jump over obstacles, I am happy with what I have got as the core mechanics that I want to work are and have animations.

The one main thing that I need to add is ability to close the game with escape.

Final goal

My final goal for this project is to have something that can be played with the bear minimum controls and mechanics working and could be turned into what I want it to be if there was more time.

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Visit To the XR Lab at University and Professional Development Centre

when the XR lab I played a VR game Frog dissect that allowed the player to dissect a frog and the proses behind it. The game allowed the player to use the tools required in the right way to have a look at what's in the frog. I also played a space game called victoryXR that lets the player sit in a space ship and fly to the planets of solar system and tell you facts about the planets.

Also whist there we were shown around and could see the green screen room where it just a room covered in green screens that can be used to motion track or used for photography.

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I chose to make the game 2D as it crosses out the chance 360 degrees of movement limiting the potential movement to just be left and right an from there I decided that I want to have the character endlessly running, 3D endless runners do exist like temple run but having it 3D complicates thing as there is still space to move left and right like with temple run you can strafe across the path. Having a 3D game has it's benefits as you have different obstacles and other sort of moves like dodging and gyro movement. I could have looked at having a 3D game but having it 2D forces one lane of play and makes the game more simple and more likely to have something useable in the time frame.

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Other creation process

I looked at how many buttons and controls that I wanted to include I ended up going with 2 as it allows the player to have different things to rather than just 1. I added animations for the action that character does I did this as it makes the moves look cooler and encourages the player to use the function the way that they are intended, when i comes to games that use running the players always like using the moves as it allows the game to feel more like a movie and player can imagine the game better and stays in there mind for longer and helps the player return to the game. A game that does this is subway surfer as it allows the player to feel more like they are running down the track as they can do flips over obstacles or slide under them.

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Other ideas that were looked at

I got to the Idea of 2D endless runner though the process of elimination one of them was 2d platformer, I did not choose this as the game would end up being very basic and boring like a cookie clicker, there is cases where one button games are good like for example flappy bird. I wanted to have a few functions for the character like jump to add some depth to the game so it not just sit there and watch and I wanted some other form of movement so the player has options of the movement that they want like temple run having slide to avoid obstacles and change the run for the player as it makes the game less predictable.

I choose the idea of making the game a endless runner as having it this way sorts out a lot of the basic one way movement and allows the player to focus on the moves rather than always making sure that they are running in the right direction. an example of game doing this is jetpack joyride not allowing the player to slowdown but just speed up.

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Looking Score systems

I want to get a score system in game that calculates score over distance so the player score is counted as a continues steam so the player can see a very accurate number of how far they traveled so the score is many digits.

I have a basic score system that calculates the distance that the player has travelled. This is the best way the player can see there score and the best way to calculate it.

The way the system works is fairly strait forward as it uses basic math to find the distance by finding the velocity and the time player has taken to travel the distance.

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Why playtesting is worth every penny

Play testing is very good for anyone making a game as to allows people and player to review the game before it I made into it's final build and potentially gets sold to the public. Play test allows for any bugs to be found and overall player feed back like if there anything that needs changing. There are different types of play testing like a Alpha test phase this is the earliest phase that is open to the public, then Bata test phase where the game is more accessible to more players and is to see if the game is ready for release it also helps the game get reviews before release. The earlier testing it normally there to see if the core mechanics and gameplay work the way that they are supposed to and make sure that they are refined the way that whey need to be this is also known as law layer. The middle layer is to make sure the back end systems are working present and correct. The top layer is the testing is look at the gameplay mechanics to make sure that they are functioning correctly and for user experience.