Development Walk Through 5

For my last post of this development walk through, I will take you through the work I did for the UI for Unlocked. The picture below shows the flow through the menu system of the game. So as you can see you start the game in the menu, and you have four choices as to where you can go. Each button goes to a separate menu, and then those menus will branch out to many other different things. Everything is properly labeled to help people to not get lost in the flowchart. Unlocked didn't really need mainly different buttons in the mainly. All you need is an option to load a game or start a new game. Settings were not that important but still there is a need for some settings. Those settings included volume, sound effects, and video settings like brightness. It also was important to let the player customize the controls to how they liked, because every person like to do things different ways. The menus are simple, but Unlocked is not a complex game.

Another important part of UI is the physical part. This includes gamepads, VR, and keyboard and mouse. For Unlocked, the game is being made for PC only, As you can see below, I labeled each Key and described what that key did. I made the controls based on what the default controls are for PC. W,A,S,D allow the player to move around. The only other key that was needed was the left mouse click, and this allows the player to pick up and interact with objects in the game world. Again these controls are very simple, and that is perfect for Unlocked.

Key	Action
W	Move forward
A	Move left
S	Move backward
D	Move right
Left mouse click	Select object

You may be asking, where is the HUD elements? Well for Unlocked there is no HUD, This was done to make Unlocked as realistic and possible. In real life you don't have a crosshair in front of you or an ammo count. This game is a simulator and a HUD didn't make sense for the game.

So that is all of the UI for Unlocked, and also the end to this development series. I hope that you learned something from my work. It's nice to let people into your head and describe something you have worked on. As I complete my degree for game design and development, I hope to make more blogs like this.

Development Walk Through 4

I had mentioned in the last post that I would talk about rules, goals and objectives, and gameplay mechanics for Unlocked. That is just what I am going to do. So to start lets talk about the rules to Unlocked. So the player starts in the first room and there goal is to find a key. To acquire the key the player must step near it. Once they have the key they are then able to unlock the first door. They do that by going near the lock and clicking on it. There is no other way to open the door, not even cheating will help you. The second room is very similar, except this time you have multiple key cards that you can acquire. The player must find the right colored key card to open the door. If they have the wrong colored key card they can't open the door. The player acquires the key card the same way as the key in the first room. So, the player has the right key card and they walk up to the lock and same as before they click on the lock and the doors opens. Things need to be done in the right order for you to be able to progress. For the last room, the player must find the codes for the lock. These codes are hidden so the player must look for them. There is no order that you must find the codes in. So once the player knows the whole code they are able to click on the number pad. The player must click the right buttons in the right order to open the door. Until that is achieved the door will not open. There aren't many ways you can cheat in Unlocked, but it's important to know that there are rules to the game. The game is simple if you unlock all of the doors you win, if you fail to unlock the doors you lose. So for goals and objectives, I explained them just above. You move from room 1, 2, and 3 unlocking the different locks. No other path can be taken, it is the same every time. Lastly, lets talk about mechanics. So as you should know now you can walk around in the game. It's basic, you move right, left, forward, and backward. You do this at the normal walking speed. There's no jumping or flying, or anything that a normal human being can't do. The player is also able to click on objects which is one of the most important actions in the game. They have to be able to click on every lock to unlock the doors. That is basically all of the mechanics to Unlocked. For my last post, I will talk about the user interface of Unlocked, physical and virtual. I will post pictures to help you visualize my work.

Development Walk Through 3

The last blog I posted, I talked about setting for unlocked and what the map looked like. In this post I will take you through gameplay/mechanics, and other things that relate to how the game is played. For unlocked each room has different types of keys and locks. So those keys are the items in the game that I need to describe in the GDD. So to start the first room had a basic key, and key lock. The key is simply something that is used to unlock the door to the first room. This is something that the player needs to find, and that the same with the other rooms. Another item which is located in the second room is a key card. The player uses the key card to unlock the second door by inserting it into a key card reader. The next items I needed to describe was the combination lock and codes found in the third room. The combination lock is a number pad on a wall. The player must find the codes for the door scattered throughout the room. Once the player found the codes, they have to enter in the correct numbers in the correct order. When the player unlocks the last door they enter a winning room and are able to exit the game through a door. While on the topic of hows these items work I want to talk about the gameplay in our game. As I mentioned unlocked has three rooms with different locks and keys. So for the player to progress through the game, they have to successfully unlock all three doors by finding keys, key cards, and codes. The game is linear and the player always starts in the same room. For the GDD I drew out the flow of the game and how the player went from room to room.



As you can see the whole game is laid out for you and this is how you progress through the game. Once you do one thing and only when you do that one thing will you be able to move from room to room. Unlock does have rules though as the player can't just cheat there way through the game. This part of the GDD needs to be as detailed as possible and that's just what I did. For the next blog post I will talk about rules, goals and objectives, and the basic mechanics for unlocked.

Development Walk Through 2

For this walk through, I will talk about how I work through a game design document. The game design document is an important piece that goes into a game. It lays a foundation for what you game is going to be. For me I start with a template for a game design document. The template includes things like a title for your game, overview, setting/game world, characters, controls and menus, and many more. As I mentioned before, the project I am working on is called unlocked. Now for this game the template I usually use had to be changed as some of the things would be not be needed for the project. Characters and a story in unlocked would not be needed. First I started with the game overview. I did not need to do much here because I had already finished working on the high concept document, another important piece to a game. The high concept goes over things like what the basic premise is for your game, what type of people will play your game, what platform your game will be on, and many other brief information about your game. For the project, many of these categories didn't require much thinking. Unlocked is about unlocking doors so it for a wide range of people young and old. I had to think what makes unlocked interesting, really when you think about it unlocking doors sounds simple. For unlocked though it's more than that. Unlocked is meant to get challenging and many people love a challenge. So back to the GDD, the next section I worked through was setting. For unlocked setting was an important part because the game has no story or characters so our environments have to stand out. My other group member has been working on the programming side of the game and working inside of unreal engine 4. He was able to make some very cool looking rooms. I took what he made and in writing tried to paint a picture of what the rooms looked like. I like taking something you see and writing about it, and sometimes you feel like you actually in the place you are writing about. There are many other things that go into a GDD that I will talk about In my other walk through blogs.

Development Walk Through 1

Most of the time people only get to see finished projects and many wonder what happens behind the scenes. Over the next few blogs I post I will be taking you through a project I have been working on about a door lock simulator . One of the things I was working on was making buttons and 3D widgets inside of Unreal Engine 4. The first thing I need to do was create the button. For example, the project I am working on has three rooms and one of the rooms you need to find a key to unlock the first door. So I went online and found a picture of a key and imported it into UE4. I resized the picture and made it look a little better and of course, made it a button. After that, I needed to make a widget so I could put the key into the game. Inside this widget there is a add component button and that allows you to put in 3D boxes, cameras, trigger boxes, and other things. So I added my button to the work space and saw right away I had to change the draw scale because I could not see my object I just placed. Changing the draw scale allows you to see the object, you are then able to scale the object to however you think looks good. The object is one sided, but you can search side and are able to make an object two sided. This just helps you not lose where you object is. After this you are now able to place the object into the game. I did the same thing for the second room in the game, only this time it was key cards. Making buttons and widgets in UE4 is very easy, but also very important.

Simulation Review

Game Title: Arma 3
Year: 2013
Platform: PC
Publisher: Bohemia Interactive
ESRB Rating: M
Genre: Simulation, Military, Shooter

Arma 3 is a hyper-realistic military war shooter. Its is meant to mimic real war, so this game is not the easiest to learn. However, the game does have training modes to allow you to practice at the game become familiar with it and ultimately be able to fully play through the game. So as for the difficulty curve a feel it's just right. The game does have different difficulties ranging from easy to hard. I myself had to turn the difficulty down just so I was able to get used to the controls and how the game worked. After playing it for a few hours I was able to learn how to play the game and started to feel like an actual soldier. This game makes you feel a sense of life, and actually makes you play more cautiously, and if you only have one life. If you are not careful you will die in 2 or 3 shots no matter what difficulty. Of course if you do die you can restart from a checkpoint because this is still a video game. The game is meant to teach you about how the military works, from the weapons and vehicles they use, and the different tactics they implement. I learned a lot of important things that I think every person should know. I gained so much more respect for the people that serve our country, and other countries. What I truly like about this game is just how fun it is. You still feel like your playing a shooting game like Call of Duty, or Battlefield. It may not be as arcade like as those games but it is still fun. The game features a multiplayer mode so you are able to complete different mission with your friends, or if you want you can do whatever you want in a sandbox mode. This game features a lot of content and that's good for game not many people know about. The controls for this game are best if you use a keyboard and mouse. It is playable with a controller but I recommend you use a keyboard and mouse. The game features standard controls all PC gamer's should know. The game does tell you what each key does, so if you forget what any key does you can just refer the the controls menu. When you are playing the game text boxes show up and tell you how to do a certain thing as it to relates to what you are doing at the moment. The game does a really good job at keeping you informed and helping you get better at the game. As this game sits at the moment I would make no changes to it. It's realistic enough to feel like a simulation, and arcade enough to be fun. It's a nice blend, and in the end you are still learning about the military. This game needs to come to consoles where the majority of gamer's play, because it is an experience they need to witness. I recommend this game for any one that likes shooters but want a realistic experience as if they are a soldier in real life. This game is one of the best shooters I have ever seen.

Serious Games vs. Entertainment

What is the difference between serious games, and games for entertainment? Well, serious games are meant to teach someone how to do something through a virtual space. In most cases learning something through a video game actually helps you do something better in the real world. For example, there are many different driving simulators and people can actually learn how to drive in real life. Of course driving in real life is very different than in a simulation and takes practice, but you still learn valuable lessons. Some other serious games help pilots or even our military. Microsoft flight simulator is a perfect example. In flight simulator, you are put into the cockpit of a plane and all of the dials and switches you see in front of you all work. It is as if you are actually going to start flying the plane. Flight simulator is great practice even for seasoned pilots. As for people who serve in the military, our government actually uses simulators to train troops for war. This allows them to train for certain situations they may face without going into actual combat zones. The military can also use simulators to test new strategies.

On the other hand, there are games for entertainment. These are games you play to have fun. These include games like Call of Duty or Battlefield which are first person shooters, and put you in the role of a soldier. There are racing games, role playing games, action adventure, the list goes on and on. You’re not meant to learn anything playing these games. There is no way you could have fun with games and learn something. Wrong, I believe games for entertainment and serious games can mesh. For example, there are games on the steam market place, which is basically a huge library of games you can buy for your pc, that are classified as simulation or realistic or even survival. These games include the Arma series, Insurgence, Stranded deep, there are even truck simulators, and farm simulators. All of these games are fun to play and are realistic enough to allow you to actually learn something new. So for the people that feel serious games can’t be entertaining think again because you may just find that a serious game can become your new favorite game to play.