Prop Mechanic

I have decided that my final prop mechanic will be split into three different puzzles (gates). My first gate will be one that shows the player that the prop (heart book-bag) is what is causing the door to react. The second door is a puzzle which using the symbols on the bag/heart to solve the 3 step puzzle lock. The symbols must align in order to unlock the door. The third door is the music door, or the Simon says door. The player must listen to the tune that the bag/heart plays, and then they must repeat the pattern on the door.

Biome Game - Mechanics

For the upcoming biome assignment, we were assigned to create 10 different game mechanics that could correlate with the prop we choose to have for our main character. Below are 10 different mechanics that seemed appropriate for the biome that I was creating.
The Flute allows you to play an instrument that can put monsters to sleep. You will be given a certain tune to play and you must play what you see.
Backpack Jetpack: Allows your character to reach higher ground that he would not be able to get to otherwise.
Super strength: Allows the player to move objects that would otherwise be too heavy to move.
Rune appears: Make runes appear and then your player can connect them to the right spot to open the passageway.
Repair: Repairs things such as triggers that connect to bridges.
Magnetic Force: You hold a forceful magnet that can pull and push metal and magnets away.
Fix the Bridge: Fix and move planks to create bridges.
Jumpy Mushrooms: Hold a special power that allows you to bounce super high up on mushrooms.
Illuminate Path: Allows you to light up the pathway when you get lost.
Ground Appears: Call the ground below you to rise up.

Jungle Ruins - ULTIMATE POWER

Here is my finished game commercial. I had a lot of fun with it and it was a great experimenting with Adobe Premiere again.

Commercial

For my commercial for my battle arena game I would like to do something similar to the forbidden bridge. I feel like this commerical has the same humor I would like mine to aim for. However, I would have the opposite appeal of having the statue/temple be the one trying to sell the game.

Boss Battle

• For my boss batle, I decided to get my inspiration from "Paper Mario, The Thousand Year Door." My final boss has taken the light from the town village, and left it in a shadowy mess. This concept reminds me of the final boss with the Shadow Queen in Thousand Year Door. She starts off as a normal sized human being, or so it seems. She then transforms herself into the shadow queen, large and powerful. The shadow boss hurts Mario with her giant shadow hands, which are detached from her body, while Mario attacks by jumping on her hands and body.
• The boss will rush towards the player at times, were the player will have to dodge. As time goes on and the boss loses health, he becomes outraged and moves faster. I would also have a mechanic were the player can jump on the hands to cause damage to the boss, and only get hurt if the player is overlapped with the hand on the side or bottom. I would love to implement the concept of having three bosses in my game, however I am not sure if I will be able to do this yet. If i did approach it this way, I would have the two less significant bosses attack first, and once they were defeated (they would be easier than the final boss), then the final boss would turn into his transformation.
• Every time the boss strikes there will be a "whoosh" sound, and when he hits, there will be a large echoey bang. I want it to really feel like the player is fighting something greater than them self, so fighting something that sounds like it is a demon might make the fight more exciting for the player. At the end of the battle, the boss will turn back into his human form, and he will have no choice but to restore the village of it's light.

Battle Arena Game

My battle arena game turned out as planned, programming the water rise was difficult at times but in the end it came together well. I managed to get my statue to spit out water with voice over, with enough time for the player to escape. The bridge also has parts of it fall over time which makes the play area smaller and harder to maneuver. Programming this level was definitely good practice for the upcoming boss battle assignment.

Jungle Battle Arena

My game is "jungle" themed. Each unit represents 125 unreal units. For my game, there is a great statue that is hidden in the map. Every time a car passes by, the statue gains strength. Eventually when it is built up enough, the water overflows into the level. This changes the level map and can potentially destroy some player lives.

Particles

In programming class we learned about particles because that is our next step in 3D class. Below is my concept idea for my weapon and particles.
 

Adventure Game

We finished our top down adventure games, and this definitely was a great learning experience. I learned how to program enemies to move in particular patterns, key and door blueprints, huds, weapons, health systems, and so much more. Most of the time was spent figuring out issues and squashing bugs with classmates, but so much was learned along the way. The next step will be to program our boss level.

My game entails a young girl who is determined to save her village from a mysterious cult that is trying to take over, only to eventually find out that the evil cult leader is actually the village chief in disguise.

Adventure Game Pre-Production

For my adventure game, I will be creating whimsical, colorful, soft visuals for my environment. I've decided to
use blue-purples, red-purples, and blues for my color scheme.
In my game, my character is trying to save the trees from being taken by the Cult of the Night. The trees possess a great amount of energy, which these cult members are trying to steal away.

Setting: Night, different universe, soft terrain. There will be different color trees that light up surrounding the different areas. The player must defeat two of the cult members in order to defeat the strongest and most powerful one, and protect the trees from being stolen.
The map splits into three different ways. You start in a small village and learn the story through NPCs, one of who gives you a bow of light. As the player, you must choose one of two doors, while the third one is locked by a two key gating system. You must fight and earn a key from each of these bosses/cult members, and then you can move on to the final boss.

Color Palette

Color and Light References

Rough Map

Main Character

Enemy

Bosses

Spiky Block

My spiky block challenge!

For our platformer games we learned how to create "spiky blocks." For our in class challenge, we had to create spiky blocks that shook, had some sort of eye color change, and made some kind of noise. For my small challenge level, I created a few "mini" spiky blocks, and put in two "mega" spiky blocks. 

Game Analysis

Here's the link to my adventure game level analysis, we are creating adventure games for our upcoming project and so we analyzed a top down adventure game to help us out before we start.

Mary's Game Analysis

Platformer Level

Platformer level is finally completed. It was a great learning experience, in programming we learned to make spiky blocks similar to "thwomps" from Super Mario. By learning blueprint classes I successfully made my own thwomp-like creation. The snow monster in my level was something that I enjoyed playing around with. I also learned how to create my own checkpoint, so that when you pass a snowman, you decorate him with eyes, a nose, a mouth, and a scarf. After this, you automatically appear back at the snowman's location. As simple as many of these elements are, there was a lot that I learned about timing, design, and ultimately what makes a game enjoyable for its players. There is definitely a lot that I learned that I can apply to any future projects.

Ice Monster Blueprint

Level Proposal

Sewer Loser

       My level design incorporates different design ideas that I have encountered in platformers that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Some of these platformers include Super Meat Boy, Fez (although untraditional), and a series of mini game platformers I have enjoyed as a kid including Super Mario Bros and Warioland 4. I analyzed what made these games fun for me, and tried to incorporate that into my level design.

        Sewer Loser Plot - Unwillingly, a young maintenance worker took a job on the other side of town only to find some terrifying things going on in their sewer system. Has he truly found a place like this, or did he hit his head too hard? He must collect as many lost items that have fallen into the sewer as he finds his way out. His journey includes unfriendly alligators, locked gates, haunted spikes, and more. As he goes along his way, he learns what he must do to overcome more difficult obstacles.

Game Tutorial Analysis

When a player first begins Ori and the Blind Forest, a short story intro/tutorial is given. This short intro itself does not guide you, instead it hints the player to figure out the game on his/her own. In other words, the intro is a "playable story." In between the story the game lets you walk and control the characters. During the story, the characters will pause in their tracks, prompting the player to jump in and take over. In this short story tutorial, you learn a few simple mechanics on your own. You learn how to walk, and as you are walking it brings you to a small obstacle, a log. The player must figure out the "jump" mechanic to continue the story and tutorial. This story tutorial continues its pattern, and makes the player feel as if they are a part of the introduction story. This is a great approach at a tutorial because instead of the player simply reading a story or getting a quick tutorial, the game incorporates both, which leads to a fun "story tutorial." After this initial introduction, the player is free to start the level off. However, the level is blocked off from the rest of the game through the use of a series of gating mechanisms. In order to open up other areas, this tutorial must be completed.

The level layout contributes extremely well to the tutorial. The layout does not confuse the player on where he must go. Instead, it directs the player to the left and the player is introduced to his surroundings and different types of game elements along his way. The player is free to see them, however he cannot interact with certain elements yet. It is not until he reaches the end of the level that he learns a new ability, and then must go across the map again (to the right) and defeat the enemies that he could not defeat yet.

The pacing is exciting because the player rarely must wait around and do nothing. The player is either entertained by the interactive story, or completing the obstacles with objectives and instructions on the screen. This tutorial keeps the player intrigued by not giving too much information away, but just enough to keep him hooked. There are useful instructions that show up on screen such as how to use a weapon, but as soon as an enemy is in the player's path, he is on his own to figure out how to defeat him.

The player is only handed as much information as he needs to figure the rest out. Tips on how to do certain button/keyboard combinations are given, however there are no instructions on how to beat a specific enemy or what creatures to touch. This is part of the fun of the journey.
Obstacles including enemies and spiky thorns are presented, as well as unsafe water which the player must avoid at all costs.

The player must figure out obstacles such as how to use enemies to break down wall barriers. The player does not need to defeat any other enemies until his weapon is armed, for this is when the enemies spawn and he must return out the way he came. The tutorial begins with simple directions on how to push items, jump higher, etc, and grows in difficulty as the tutorial goes on.

The player is given positive feedback when he collects the right item or defeats an enemy. The player is given "Life Cells" and "Energy Cells" when either of these events happen. When the player is hit by an enemy or steps on a trap or dangerous object, he has a slight knock-back, flashes red, and loses a certain amount of life cells.
This game is extremely story based, and there is often text displayed on the screen with a narrator telling the story of the Blind Forest. It adds a lot of enjoyment and wonder for the players who choose this game.