easily-distracted-devblog

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Victory Galactic Post Mortem

I'm quite proud of the final version of the game our team put together. However this version of the game is still not without flaw. Playtesting revealed that one of the largest issues our game had was learnability. As Fullerton writes in Game Design Workshop Page 80 "Rules need to be clear to players or in the case of digital games that adjudicate for players, they need to be intuitively grasped so that the game seems fair and responsive in given situations" I feel that a great number of our games core issues could have been fixed if we had stuck closer to this advice. While the basic movement was picked up fairly quickly by play testers some of the more idiosyncratic mechanics such as the launcher, foam and gravity wells were more difficult to communicate. If development where to continue one of the most urgent problems to fix would be the tutorial level. Our design ethos towards this level was to simply let the players interact with the mechanics and figure them out on their own. It may have been better to have explained the mechanics to the player in greater detail in the tutorial level.

Another of our more glaring issues would be the time thresholds required to unlock the skin rewards. As the time thresholds were chosen based on our own highly experienced playthrough of the game play testers were often not able to complete the levels fast enough to unlock the skins. This may have been exacerbated by the tutorial issues but overall it would be best if the time thresholds matched a beginners skill level. Additionally it may have been better to communicate that the player needed to complete the levels hastily in order to unlock the rewards as there was no explicit statement that this was the objective of the secondary gameplay loop. While I am happy with the majority of the visual design I feel that certain UI components and sprites could have benefitted from a redesign. I tried to keep everything to a certain visual style to emphasize the games elements as part of a cohesive whole however there where certain components that were kept as placeholders due to time constraints. Additionally some of the more abstract science-fiction concepts that were decided on as mechanics were quite difficult to create intuitive visual designs for. The mechanics that were the most difficult to communicate just through visuals were the Elastic Foam and the launcher.

The foam relied on soft curves in an attempt to indicate that it was not a hazard. However this did not seem to translate during testing. If production were to continue it may be beneficial to alter the design to something more identify able such as some springs, or perhaps animate and apply sound design that made it seem non-threatening. The launcher also had some difficulties not being read as a hazard. Perhaps due to its pointed and angular design. Other play testers believed that the launcher only fired in the direction it was pointing. In the future it may be beneficial to adopt a less abstract design. Overall I am still pleased with the efforts of my team and what we have spent the last several weeks creating together.

References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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Victory Galactic Devlog 5

At todays group meeting we discussed our playtesting documentation as well as what we still needed to do for the final version of the game.

So far the list is as follows: Tutorial Launcher Skins Ship skins Finish Implementing UI and link everything up Implement SFX Combine final version and export for playtesting. I got the ship skins and launcher sprites modelled and I've sent them off to Andrew for the final combine.

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Victory Galactic Devlog 4

Today at our group meeting we decided to go through a more collective level design process. I suggested that we try and focus our levels on allowing the player to move as fast as possible and encouraging the drifting around corners that I was fond of in the initial version of the game. Below are the updated level designs from this meeting.

Lots of the designs have been simplified and have had some of the tighter turns removed. Additionally all of the new mechanics where implemented into the modified level designs.

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Victory Galactic Devlog 3

Today I thought I'd work on polishing up the wall, foam and finish line assets for Victory galactic. I feel like the finish line is now better communicated the initial art was really just placeholder so this is a definite improvement.

For the wall sprite I tried to make them look like a laser barrier and communicate a need to not touch them.

The foam or bouncy walls where a unique design challenge but I made them a cool blue in contrast to the walls to attempt to communicate that they where safe I do think they might need improvement in the future but currently they fulfil the required function.

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Victory Galactic Devlog 2

When meeting up this week we all got to see each others level design layouts. Andrew went way ahead and programmed a whole suite of new mechanics including a gravity well that pulls the player toward its center, the bouncy walls that where proposed last week, some laser doors that turn on and off once you go over a certain point and a shield mechanic that allows the player to take more than just a singular hit from the walls. I'm not sure about the shield mechanic currently, I prefer the game to be more difficult, however it is probably a good idea that we make it a tad easier as I do have a design streak for making games that are punishing to an absurd degree (see facility 42). So I feel i must thank Andrew and my fellow team members for stopping me from devolving this game into a pain simulator. Additionally we all have taken a different approach to how we designed our levels I tried to emphasize speed in my design with the large blown out corners and long straights that you can see in the video bellow. It's now a matter of combining all of these levels together and trying to form them into a cohesive whole. During the workshop today I also had a chance to work on the skins for the game I haven't implemented the selection or anything these are just some basic designs.

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Victory Galactic Devlog 1

After grouping up it was decided that we decided that we would continue development of Victory Galactic for our final project in IGB120. We decided that we'd follow the original one page fairly closely. So we will be adding the proposed skins and speed running timers over the next few weeks. As Fullerton writes in Game Design Workshop Page 80 "In the real world resources are assets (i.e. natural resources, economic resources, human resources) that can be used to accomplish certain goals. In a game resources play much the same role". The speed running timers will be used to make time a valuable resource that is tied to a tangible reward and encourage the player into a fast paced playstyle. The primary thing we decided we are going to try and get done by next week to all have the basic outline of a level which which we'll all develop individually in the beginning and then modify together into a cohesive whole later. Additionally Andrew proposed that he could implement a bouncy wall mechanic that would repel the player upon touching it I'm interested to see what he comes up and how it turns out.

References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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Radian Eater Postmortem

Of all the games I've made so far in this unit I'm probably the least proud of this one. I feel like compared to the innovations I made to the other games the idea I used for this one was comparatively quite shallow. I also feel like I could have added some more mechanics Additionally I would have liked to have had some more unique thematic and visual elements as I feel like this games aesthetics where lacking in visual flair and original style. If I where to continue development upon this project I would perhaps pursue a different art style. Additionally the current gameplay is while somewhat fun definitely lacking in mechanical complexity. Additional mechanics that could be added in the future could be certain powerups to break up the one notedness of the gameplay. Or perhaps a variation in the type of hazard and pickups that the player is provided. Either way if development where to continue with this project I would recommend a brainstorming session (Fullerton Page 172) in order to come up with a group of ideas for the team to test. References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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Radian Eater Devlog

Over the last week I've been working on the infinite runner/racing game Radian Eater. I feel like last week I did a dodgy job of explaining the core mechanic which I think can be observed better in the above video. As can be observed the player must find balance between collecting points and not getting hit by hazards. Additionally I reworked the movement system for the game to solely rely upon a physics based x bounded force system. Making it so that the player can move in a really snappy and responsive way. Additionally graphical elements where created in the blender 3D modeling software. It was a unique challenge to try and communicate each game objects character (Fullerton Page 109) with a limited amount of graphical fidelity. The red falling triangles are the hazard in this game and cause the player to lose. Their primary objective (Fullerton Page 68) is to avoid these at all costs thus their design was made angular and red to communicate danger. The pickups that the player must acquire where designed so to communicate a lack of danger and an open need to pick them up. The player was designed to contrast against the hazards to ensure that the player always knows what they are controlling and what they need to avoid.

References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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Victory Galactic Postmortem

I'm overall quite please with how this prototype turned out and I'll most likely try and use it for my assignment 3 project. I would have liked to have added something akin to a speed run timer but that is definitely something that could be added in the future if I continue with this project. I felt like some of the level design could have used some work for the one track that was created for the prototype I only used 90 degree turns which were a bit painful to corner with such a drifty movement scheme. I feel like if I implemented some more curved turns I would have been more fun.

The other issue that this game has is the communication of the upcoming turn which can be difficult to discern when the player is moving quite quickly. This could be remedied by implementing a minimap. However I could just as easily try and take the design path of forcing the players to really learn the levels. Yet on the other hand allowing player to go fast is quite fun so I'm unsure as to what I should go with further testing would be required.

I'm not completely happy with the the borders for the level I do think that they more functional than aesthetically pleasing and could have been made more 3D to fit with the ship more. I liked the way I actually came up with the original Idea by simply messing around with removal of components then through design iteration reaching a prototype that I was happy with. Overall quite please definitely considering it for further development.

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Radian Eater Elevator Pitch

Radian Eater is a infinite runner in which the player is confined to a small vertical strip of space in which they are bombarded by 2 types of randomly spawning game objects. One of which is slower and provides points overtime the other is hazardous and will end their run. The player must find balance between collecting points and not getting hit by hazards. This balancing act will be the games core conflict. (Fullerton 2018 Page 85). The game will feature a fairly abstract art style composed mostly of basic geometric shapes. This games target audience would most likely be a more casual audience given it's simplistic style and reasonable difficulty. References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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Victory Galactic Devlog

Over the last several days I've been working on Victory Galactic there's only one test level so far but if I continue to develop this game I'll definitely add more. The background could also use some work as it is supposed to be taking place in space rather than an empty void. Other than that I implemented two speeds for the ship which can be applied using either mouse button but can also be pressed down at the same time to go even faster. Additionally I added wall that sends the player back to the start and a win state which can be seen at the end of the video.

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PogoStickMan Postmortem

I was quite please with the gameplay of this prototype I think that the difficulty and movement mechanics where certainly working as intended. I would have liked to have developed more to the level and possibly some more mechanics such as perhaps moving hazards or something of the like. I also feel that the environment designs were very grey and boring and could have benefitted from a change in color scheme but additionally I think on of the primary reasons for the drab setting is the lack of time I had to create assets. I believe that this game has the potential to become a descent platformer if more content were to be added to it. Such as extending the level further upwards.

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Victory Galactic Elevator Pitch

Victory Galactic is a top down physics based racing game controlled entirely with a mouse. The position of your mouse determines the direction of the space ship you control and either mouse button determines the amount of thrust applied to the space ship. The physics of this game are finely tuned for drifting around corners but the conflict (Fullerton 2018 Page 86) of the game is the careful balancing act of the ships speed vs the stopping distance required to turn sharp corners. The theming of this game will be set in space with the above spaceship to be used as the players primary avatar. This game will primarily target a more hardcore audience as the instant death and restart mechanics may prove difficult for less experienced players. References: Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop : A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.

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PogoStickMan Devlog

Over the last several days I've been working on the implementation of the basic mechanics and level design for PogoStickMan. The restriction of ground movement was quite easy to implement by simply taking the basic platformer framework I had already created and removing the player ability to move while touching the ground. I decided to go for a Fodian kind of level design with increased verticality allowing for mistakes to be salvaged by falling onto lower platforms. The spikes however are not so merciful and reset the player to the start of the level. In terms of aesthetics I decided to go for a grungy concrete jungle everything seems quite grey now. I think I might tweak the colour scheme at some point in the future perhaps to include more green and mould. Creating such an aesthetic is difficult at the moment due to my lack of assets currently generated for the game but if given more time I feel like I could give the game some better graphical fidelity. As you can see in the footage bellow I completed the animations for the character design of the main character. The animations where quite simple to put together once

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PogoStickMan Elevator Pitch

PogoStickMan is a Fodian platformer in which the players ability to move whilst on the ground is removed. The game will feature a grotesque mascot with a design related to the games core movement mechanic being part man part pogostick. The game would be set at the bottom of an urban, post industrial hellscape that the player would have to skillfully hop to the top of. I thought the level design could be inspired by games like Getting Over It that are a continuous climb upward with no checkpoints or levels changes but limited to just a vertical strip. I thought this game would be better suited to a more hardcore audience most, likely people with a good degree of experience within the platform genre and perhaps games in general.

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Hello World

I am Xavier Mackay. I'm currently studying for a Bachelor of Games and Interactive environments at QUT. I've had an interest in game development for most of my life but over the last three and a bit years I have been producing games under the alias Easily Distracted. 

I've mostly been using Unity 3D and Blender as my primary development tools over my game dev journey so far and I'm excited to start working with the software and learning about the topics in my degree.  

I recently released my debut Steam title PentaZorg back in December of 2023. I've released some far smaller projects previously for game jams and other small ideas, but PentaZorg is by far the game in my portfolio I'm most proud of.  

I’ve recently been heavily inspired by RPGs like Fallout New Vegas, Disco Elysium, and Baldur's Gate 3 but I also somehow managed to sink 120 hours into Age of Empires 2 over the last couple months.  

I’m interested in all aspects of game design but if pressed for my specialization I would probably say I’m most interested in systems technology or programming. Much of my knowledge is, however, self-taught from sources on the internet and I find much of my knowledge of game design to be somewhat lacking, and I’m thoroughly excited to improve my knowledge over the course of this degree. ... More posts soon-ish