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Assignment 3 Postmortem

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Assignment 3 Playtesting

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Assignment 3 Development process

Choosing One-Page:

My One-Page was chosen as the game we would design and create for assignment 3. This was done after a vote between all the members in the group. The group also decided to cut and change aspects of the game to make it easier to design and so we could focus more on the playtesting aspects of the assignment.

Sorting Roles/Taks:

We sorted roles to complete the game by using our own experiences in Gdevelop and just coming up with what we needed to complete and equally distrubuting tasks. I was tasked with item pick-up, shooting and sprite/background design.

Additions in Gdevelop:

I worked on making the sprites look exactly as they did in my one-page by using editing softwares to create sprites that could be used in Gdevelop. Such as adding the lava sides and changing the trees to make them look like they are apart of the world. Also adding sprites for the gun and nitros which are the two key power-ups for the player. Another addition was changing the gun to make it a type of one-shot weapon that can clear the way for the player, however I made it that the player only has 3 shots before the player must pick up another gun. Also worked on creating a title/start screen and a Game over screen. The start screen is a simple screen with some art in the background and the name of the game while gameover is a simple black screen with game over in red.

Something i would like to implement further would be changing the road to fit in with the hellish design of the game.

Learnings in Gdevelop:

I learnt how to adjust the gun to only shoot in a single direction and to make sure the bullets travel forward. Additionally, i learned how to implement pick-ups to the game and how to make the player lose the pick-up after using the item. I also learned how to edit sprites in a photoshop type program so that the background of the sprite is clear. Lastly i learned how to use the scale action in Gdevelop to scale sprites so they are the correct size when they spawn in.

Readings:

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Assignment 2 Design

One-Page:

One-Sheet:

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Racing Post Mortem

Further Prototype changes:

Developed the second scene further, which is basically just changes to the backgorund to make it destinct from the other scene. Additionally more sprites for enemy cars were added. Changed the amount of items that appear on the road for players to pici up. Additionally if the player has already picked up 3 items they are unable to pick up another. Added a condition that the player 3 lives before they have to restart. Each life is shown in the bottom corner. Score and time were added to the top corner that shows the players points total and how long they have been playing for. Lastly a boss battle arena was made. However no boss has been created for the arena yet.

Reading Aspects:

Development Change:

A change i would implement to the development of the game would be to plan out all the concepts i would like to introduce before continuing with developing the game. This is due to me creating more ideas as the game continues which can be both a good and a bad thing. The more ideas i create at the start of the game can help me lay out which parts to design in which order. this will also stop me from confusing myself with all these ideas and help to make sure the game is actually balanced. However, i can add to my ideas as i progress as the more details i add, the more gameplay mechanics i might come up with. i would just like to have alot of ideas thought out before hand.

Design Change:

A change i would implement to the design of the game is to make it feel like more of a race with twists and turns to the road to make it feel more realisitic. Additionally, making the highway look different with cracks or holes in the road could be interesting and make the game feel harder. Making the road also more hellish would allow the player to feel like this actually takes place in the hellish setting. Twists and turns could allow the player to see more of the background details. Furthermore maybe allowing the player to have a map in a corner of the screen to see how far you are from the finish.

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Racing Development Post

Improvements made:

Added sprites for different models. Sprites include, player cars, enemy cars, backgrounds and items. Changed the enemy cars to make them all travel in the same direction. Added obstacles in the way that the player has to dodge. Additionally, some obstacles are actually power ups for the player. The player can drive over these and they are added to a new space on the screen that holds items. The player can also select the item. However i have not yet added the player being able to use these abilities yet. Lastly another scene was created and canging between the scenes was added once a certain amount of points has been reached by the player.

Learning in GDevelop:

Learning how to make a endless road that the player can travel along. Also making enemies spawn in only certain conditions and travel in certain directions. Also added sprite behind the player that acts as a dust cloud due to the cloud driving. Also changing the scene to the next scene once a certain amount of points have been added. This is extremely helpful for other games that require a fair amount of scene changes.

Readings:

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Racing Elevator Pitch

Pitch:

This game is similar to an old racing game where you go left and right dodging other cars on the road to see how many points you can acquire. The difference is in this game instead of being a never ending car dodging game it will be changed to look more like a mad max/death race. Where you play through different levels and are racing against other cars. Additionally behind you is a massive bulldozer that will shred any cars that is hit by it so you cant slow down for anyone. At some point the main car will also be in races with only one other car where you are able to crash into eah other and the objective is to push them off the track, kind of like a boss battle before getting back to the main race.

Focus of the Game:

This game focuses on racing against other racers in a death race where only one racer can survive. As stated before the racer gains points with each racer that is eliminated and once he reaches a certain amount of points or reaches the finish line first. During the race you could get split up with only one other racer meaning you have to defeat him to get back on the correct race course.

Setting/Style:

The setting of this game wouldm is a post apocalyptic world. The cars would be similar to a mad max style with each car being destroyed and turned into weaponsied vehicles. The landscape would change with each level but some levels would consist of desert, destroyed city, overgrown jungle etc.

Controls:

The controls for the game are pretty simple using only the lefty and right arrow for moving left and right. Later on other controls like speed up/down will be added using the up and down arrow and maybe a gun type weapon will be added and use left click on the mouse.

Audience:

The audience for this game would likely be teenagers to ealry adults (13 - 25) who like the aesthetic of racing in a post apocalyptic world. Due to death being prevelent in the game younger kids would not gravitate towards it.

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Asteroids Postmortem

Further Prototype changes:

Further development of the game include it now has an end screen for if you die allowing you to restart or end the game. the game has a total of four levels at the moment, the first 3 are similar to asteroids except for the enemy ship also following you. The last level is the boss battle where the player vs the enemy where they have to shoot different objects in the map to neutralize the enemy shield and then the player can shoot the enemy directly. A specific design was created a where you would face one ship in a specific boss battle, the map has a large balckhole in the background which is pulling in similar . Different ship parts also float around the map allowing the player to fly into them and combine with their ship giving them a boost, similar to a power up. This ship addons only last for a limited time. Additionally, a shield was added to the player that an be replenished the longer the player goes without being hit. this allows for the enemy ship to be chasing you and the debris hitting you without the diffuculty being extremely diffucult.

Reading Aspects:

In chapter 4, story and worldbuilding were two sections that i drew heavily from when in the development process. Specifically the stroy fo a prisoner escpaing from high security space station and having to escape from security guards trying to gun him down. This leads to a fight across space which allows for worldbuilding of different planets and different objects floating through space like bropken ships or destroyed planets/moons. Additionally, chapter 6 has a section called "turning ideas into a game". This section outlines different questions you should ask when brainstorming your game. Some questions like "what is the role of the player ?"/"what is there goal ?", i used to figure out who my character should be (prisoner escapee) and their goal is to escape to another part fot eh universe where this group has no control over. Other questions like "what obstacles are in the way ?" were also answered using security guards chasing the player down.

Development Change:

A change to the development of the game would be to focus on the main sections of the design rather than trying to develop multiple parts at once. to cut time i would try and link together multiple parts in an condition/event. This would sometimes cut down time for parts of the development but would usually lead to me having to redesign what i wanted or it would be harder if i had to add something later that would clash with something already there.

Design Change:

A change i would make to the design of the game would be trying to seperate the game from Asteroids a bit further. At the moment the game is similar to Asteroids with more stuff added onto it. The player still has to dodge/destroy debris(Asteroids), but there are ships following him through the levels that are trying to shoot at the player. This increases the diffuculty of the game but does not differentiate it from asteroids enough for my liking. I would probably have made the enemy ships more of a focus and used them as obsticles for the player instead of asteroids. This could have evolved the game to become more like a rouge/defense game where the player has to go through a hoard of enemies to then escape.

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Asteroids Development

Improvements made:

To improve upon the base game made in class, I added a more detailed background allowed for the player to really feel like they were in space and gives more things for the players to look at. Additonally, more debris design were added when the player starts a new level. The design of the players ship was alos changed to resemble a standard space ship instead of a black triangle. Furthermore, enemy space ships were added that could appear and try and shoot at the player adding a further obsticle to the game. However, boss battles between the player and a single ship has not been added yet which would consist of the player having to battle a large ship that could shoot out little ships that you would have to shoot down. Also so far a winning condition has not been added which i would like to add with the player winning after escaping the enemies.

Learning in GDevelop:

I learned how to change the background of the scene so that i can have different colours if necessary for different scenes. Additionally i learned how to implement top down interface for games allowing me to create more games using this design such as space invaders or pac-man. I also learned how to design projectiles like guns that fire and hit different items which destorys them.

Readings:

In chapter 10 there is a section about game balancing and this has played a major role in the design of my game. Playing asteroids recently i thought that the gameplay of asteroids at the start is pretty balanced but it becomes much harder due to more asteroids which i thought was a bad way to increase diffuculty by increasing the amount of asteroids. So through my game i wanted the asteroids to stay around the same amount but add in enemies for the player as they would be much harder to destroy than the asteroids and could shoot back. So enemies in my games would replace the major increase in asteroids found in the original. the enemy would start out with less speed and fire rate but that would increase through the levels until the enemy became the final boss battle for the player.

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Asteroids Elevator Pitch

Pitch:

This game will function similar to Asteroids with you dodging moving debris. However, there will be another ship in the game. This ship will function as another enemy that will kind of chase you around the map. The ship will only appear once a reasonable amount of the debris has been destroyed. Additionally, the game will consist of 4 levels with 3 of the levels having a different type of debris. This is because you are running around the galaxy trying to escape this other ship without getting caught. The last level will basically be a kind of boss battle with the other ship that has been chasing you. There will be no debris in the last level, just you and the boss.

Focus of the game:

The game focuses on a prisoner escaping from captivity and tries to make his way through a debri field while other ships are chasing him. At somepoints the ship will run into an enemy ship which will try and blow up the enemy. the goal is to get through the debri and boss battles and escape to a new life.

Setting/Style:

The setting is similar to asteroids but with more detail and different types of debri such as garbage, or ice rocks and maybe some alien lifeforms will fly through your vision.

Controls:

The game controls similar to other asteroids games with the arrow keys being used to control the movement of the character. The space bar will be the key that allows the player to shoot.

Audience:

The Audience for this game is likely young kids to young adults (10 - 25) this is because it has both action and adventure aspects and the space theme resonates heavily with younger generations.

Selling points:

Each level will have a different design to the map and debris. The map will evolve and add more obstacles that the player cannot hit as well.

Another ship that basically is an obstacle that the player can shoot and knock off the map but will respawn just as the player does.

The 4th level will act as a boss level where the player and the other ship will verse.

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Platformer Postmortem

Further prototype changes:

Changes that were made to the game include changing the background color for each level and adding some more detail to the background to make the levels feel more distinct from each other. A weapon was also added for the player where the player can fire energy balls at enemies or charge up a massive energy blast. These attacks we linked to left and right mouse buttons respectfully. Furthermore checkpoints were added that the player can run past and the game will create a soft save. This allows the levels to be longer and allows me to add harder level design without the player feeling frustrated if they are sent back to the start of the level. I also changed the size of some of the slimes to make it harder for the player to manouver around them. Lastly another enemy two enemy slimes were added, a green slime and a red slime. The green slime can only be killed by being jumped on while the red slime can only be killed using the energy blasts. The normal purple slime can die to either.

Reading Aspects:

One aspect of the reading that influenced the development process of the game was "play" from chapter 4 which is a major part of games. As stated in the book play is not too serious and it induces laughter and fun. This is similar to what i felt when i was younger playing different mario games, trying to reach the end of each level. So i wanted that to be a key aspect of my platformer design, where the player does not have to focus super hard on the game while still providing a challenge that the player can have fun overcoming. Character also played a role in the development process because as soon as i saw the design of the player in class i immediately thought of a backstory/goal for the player to reach the end of the game. This apsect was not implemented throughout the game as it would take too much time so a blurb was written at the start that i hoped would connect the player with the character.

Development Change:

A change i would make to the development of the game would be to not stick as close to the original design made in class. When first designing the game in class, i was not thinking about how to make my deisgn unique from other platformers. This led to my design being similar to other platfromers like mario etc. Additionally, it forced me to think of ways to make the design different after already creating a game. this led to me having to look over the code and desing of the game, then change things so that it would line up with my vision. This caused alot of time to be waisted when instead i could have further added more stuff to the game.

Design Change:

A change i would make to the design of the game would be to look up different sprites i could use for the main character and enemies. If i looked for sprites for these characters i could have made the game more unique. Instead i only used the provided sprites which severely stoped me from creating unique things in the game. Some of the things could have been different enemies other than slimes, more customization for the main character, a more interesting background design.

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Development Post

Improvements made to original game:

To improve upon the simple design objects we added to the background such as bushes and clouds. Additionally more platforms were created to give the player more choice in the way they would like to make it to the end. However, with more platforms added to the game means i had to add more enemies to increase the level of diffuculty for the player.

Additionally a new mechanic of the player dying when coming into contact with enemies while not jumping lead to the player dying and needing to restart the level. This was added to give a greater level of diffuculty to the player because the only other way they would die would be if they fell off the map. Another feature was the coin system which allows the player to pick up coins as they travel across the map. This was added to give players something to collect while travelling and later in development might have rewards added for collecting all coins on the map.

Learning in GDevelop:

In GDevelop i learned how to create different sprites and tile sprites. Sprites created were the player, enemy and left/right bumpers. Learned how to create conditions and events for my sprites which allows the game to run how i would like. Such as the main character jumping on the slime kills the slime but hitting the slime without jumping will kill the player. Additionally, making the enemy move left and right across the platform without falling off by using events that when the enemy hits one of the bumpers it will turn around.

Readings:

In chapter 3 there is a section on procedures which plays a key part towards platformers as pressing the jump button allows the player to activate the jump animation and jump in the air, but their is a procedure in the background that checks if the player is colliding with something such as the enemy slime. If the player does collide with the slime while jumping the slime will die and bounce the player again. Furthermore a similar thing can happen when the player runs into a slime as the prodcedure in the background is checking whether the player is colliding with a slime without jumping. Additionally, in chapter 3 there is a section about players and how single player games usually, include puzzles or other play structures to create conflict as there are no other human players. This was used in the game with how the platforms were laid out as it made the player think and analyse which platforms would be the best to jump on to get to the end the quickest or avoid enemies the most.

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Platformer Elevator Pitch

First Design:

The First Game we are designing is a simple 2D platformer that can later be improved on. The game resembles an older platformer like mario with the character trying to make it to the end of the platform by jumping over or on on the enemies (slime) to kill them so that you can make it to the end.

Focus of the Game:

This game is more of an adventure game with a slice of action throughout. This means it focuses on fast movement and dodging or killing the enemies to make it to the end as fast as possible. Players will primarily focus on movement and traversing the landscape with a slight focus on combat with dodging or killing enemies. Physics will play apart in trying to challenge the player and make them problem solve to make it through the level.

Setting/Style:

The setting will be an alien planet enhabited by different creatures. the levels will revlove around the character running around the planet and exploring while also trying to find his crashlanded ship without dying to the alien lifeforms. The character design are simple with bright colors with most of the enemies being around the size of the main character.

Controls:

The game uses arrow keys for movement with forward and back being assigned to left and right arrow keys. Up arrow allowing the character to jump. I would like to add a fire mechanic that will be binded to space bar and allow for shooting.

Audience:

The audience for this game would be younger children - teenagers, around 5 - 18. This is because the game is focused on adventure with only very simple action making it easy for young children to understand but still complex with later levels for teenagers. the setting/style also adds to this with a very fun and bright background/character design to engage younger audiences. Lastly the controls are also straight forward allowing for an easy learning curve.

Improvements:

Improvements i would like to add to the game later would be a checkpoint, restart button, restart once you fall off the map, more movement for enemies to increase difficulty, different types of enemies and some collectable that the player would grab while traversing the level.

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#About Page

Hello, my name is Nathan Cribb and I’m currently studying a Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments. I’m currently in my second year of university and am looking to major in Software technologies. My interests in game developing at QUT are specifically game design and level/set design and specifically 3d modelling. I have always loved looking at the design of the environments in games and 3d modelling areas and rooms in my free time.

In this unit I hope to learn about new skills that could hopefully add to my game development knowledge. Additionally learning a new program like GDevelop would help add to my knowledge and help me adapt to other programs. Finally, learning to develop 2D games like platformers could allow me to branch out to learning more knowledge about that genre of games.

In the future I hope to work in either game development or movie development. Hopefully designing and creating scenes using 3d modelling for different games or working on vfx for movies. However, my business degree could allow me to work on the business side of these two industries (movie/games).

At the moment I have not worked on any professional or work-related designs except for assignment work related to university and the completion of my cert 3 in Screen and media which I sadly lost the work due to a technical issue. However, the type of work included working on different 3d models, animation and posters for the cert 3. 

Some of my favourite games include Cyberpunk 2077, Baldurs Gate 3 and Ghost of Tsushima.