Exercises

24/09/2024 - 14/10/2024 / Week 1  - Week 4
Reema Arif Hamza / 0362792
Games Development/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Exercises

Content

Week 1: Module breakdown and Introduction to games development
Week 2: Lecture on Game Ideation
Week 3: Lecture/Tutorial on 2D Game in Unity
Week 4: Was sick and didn't go to class. 

Instructions

Exercises

Week 1: Critical Analysis 

Our task is to complete a critical analysis of an existing game from this website, it features games made by other students using unity. I chose to play Conjure by Kezia Lynn.


Fig. 1.1 Conjure Title Page, Week 1 (24/09/2024)

Conjure is a supernatural game set in the town of Shadowvale. Lilith the friendly neighborhood witch goes on an investigation to find out what caused the calm town to be overrun by strange creatures. In each stage players interact with characters, collect items, follow the story, and kill creatures. 

Storyline

  • At the start of the game players are given a prologue, which helps to preface all the storyline elements.
Fig. 1.2 Prologue, Week 1 (24/09/2024)
  • Players can interact with a variety of characters. Their dialogue often builds up the mystery of the weird creatures called Hollows (half-man, half-ghost) roaming the town. 
  • The dialogue with certain characters prompts players to look for items to give or trade. Players then explore their surroundings and try to find these items.
  • One scene was pretty terrifying. A tribal man in the forest said he was hungry and would trade you for something. Further along a lost man asks for help out of the forest because the tribal people were staring at him weirdly. After shooting the man you can collect meat to trade for another item. It was such a weird scene about cannibalism which truly scared me, it was completely unexpected. 
Fig. 1.3 Dialogue, Week 1 (24/09/2024)
  • Overall the storyline was very consistent and all the game elements felt cohesive. 

Gameplay

  • Challenge: The game has monsters called Hollows which attack players. However, just one attack from players is enough to kill the monster. There also isn't a limit to how much attacks you can produce. Therefore, the monsters don't pose as much of a challenge for players. Another challenging aspect is trying to find items for the story, this part challenges players to look at their surroundings. 
  • Strategy: Players have a limited number of hearts (which reset at each stage) so they need to conserve their health. Most monsters are in a fixed area though so players don't need to strategize much.
  • Chance: There are no randomized elements which alter the players chances. 
  • Choice: The game follows a set story there is no element of choice. 
  • Luck: There is not much luck involved in the game. 

Art & Design

  • The game design uses a flat illustration style with muted colors. Overall the style was consistent for all the characters, and scenes. 
  • The use of muted colors allowed the playable character's purple robe to stand out. 
Fig. 1.4 Design, Week 1 (24/09/2024)
  • The creepy forest in the second stage produced an eerie feeling to match the storyline.
  • Attack animations was a shooting star which matched the character's setting as a 'witch'
  • The sound effects were appropriate and added to the player's experience. 

Pros

  • The storyline was interesting and immersive, it was fun to interact with the characters. 
  • Players can see what's in their inventory above them, and can see how much health they have left. 
  • The art for the game was consistent and detailed which added to the player's experience. 


Cons

  • There were a couple of bugs: In stage 2 when you fall off the boundary, you're stuck and unable to restart. In stage 3, the boss fight, you are unable to see or attack the boss properly.
  • The monsters weren't as challenging as they could be. I think more resistance would enhance your fighting experience.


Conclusion

Overall, the game was interesting to play and the art was well made. The story was immersive, the cannibal scene especially scared me. There were a couple of bugs and the monsters were a bit too easy to kill. Other than that it was a fun game to play. 


Week 2: Create Our Own Game Idea

During Week 2 we were given a group activity to create our own game idea. Using the SCAMPER method we learnt in class, we had to create the story and gameplay. 

My group consisted of:
  • Me
  • Alefiya Hassanally
  • Chong Hui Yi 
  • Joey Lok Wai San 
  • Low J-Yin 
  • Wong Kai Xin 
We weren't avid gamers so we talked about games like Cooking Fever, Plants vs Zombies, Subway Surfers, and Candy Crush. We decided to take the concept of Cooking Fever but add the story/aesthetic of Plants vs Zombies.

Below is the final presentation of our idea.



Week 3: Chapter 1

During Week 3 Tutorial, we created a 3D game on Unity. We then followed a tutorial PDF and made a 3D car game with obstacles. This exercise helped us learn how to import things on unity, and the basics of player control script. Below is a screenshot of the final result.

Fig. 1.5 Car Game, Week 3 (09/10/2024)

Week 4: Chapter 2

I was sick and didn't attend class. I followed the pdf instructions shared to the class to continue. Chapter 2 consisted of implementing basic gameplay, we made a 3D game of a person throwing food at animals running their way. 

This exercise involved a lot of coding so it took a while to learn and understand what exactly we were doing. It was very useful because we learned a lot like collision detector, spawn manager, prefabs, how to launch projectiles, and loads more. Below is the final result.

Fig. 1.6 Animal Feeding Game, Week 4 (16/10/2024)

Week 5: Chapter 3

During Week 5 tutorial we followed Chapter 3 in which we made a runner game. We learned how to make a scrolling game, with sounds/effects, how to adjust gravity/force for player's jump, make the background scroll on a loop, and create obstacles that spawn. Below is the final result.

Fig. 1.7 Runner Game, Week 5 (23/10/2024)

Week 7: Platformer Game in Unity

During Week 7 Tutorial we created a basic platformer game in unity. We learned how to create a platformer game, make a player with horizontal control, ground, a door and door trigger, and coins. 

Fig. 1.8 Platformer Game Basics, Week 7(6/11/2024)

Week 9: Sprites in Unity

Was unable to attend class, followed the online stream for instructions. We learned how to add in sprites into our game, create a game manager to manage our inventory (coins), and create a condition that you need to collect 3 coins to get a key, which can be used to open the door.

Fig. 1.9 Sprites, Week 9 (20/11/2024)

Week 10: Player Animations

During class we learned how to make our sprite sheets into animations, how to add parameters and transitions between animations, and how to code those animations.

Fig. 1.10 Player Animations, Week 10 (27/11/2024)

Week 11: Coding Boss Battle

During class we learned how to create a HP bar for our player and enemy, code it to reduce after receiving damage, randomize damage and knockback effect. Doing the same for our enemy and adding in their Hit and Death animations. 

Fig. 1.11 Boss Battle, Week 11 (04/12/2024)

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Week 1-11: No Feedback

Reflection


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