Unity Tutorial 04

The first thing I would like to note is that I prefer to perform the task in the form of a video tutorial more than text form so I was glad that we returned to a more understandable form of tutorials where at least you can see examples what you get on the screen in the process of doing it. To go through these three training videos, I continued to work on the same map as I had before. The first lesson was about how to create all sorts of different varieties of dynamic cursor and how to create and add more UI elements in to the scene. Also how to work with text and how to attach actually command button to a action. The remaining two videos were about how to create a weapon and animation,how to add sound to a swing,and how actually make that to work through scripting and layering. I went through all three videos tutorial, and did everything gradually, step by step , and I was glad that by the end of these tasks I had everything turned out and worked without errors.

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Games GDD

I have read the article, and found it interesting. The first part was about generating ideas and how to start that process. It mentions few different methods that can be used once the basic concept is generated, like starting with a game system, or aesthetics, narrative, market research or clone-and-tweak method.  Some other methods are to play a lot of games and think about them critically, or keep a collection of all the ideas.

Then, it talks about prototyping, and how it is important when designing a game, especially that it reduces the risks of badly designing. The more iteration you do, the better the game will get. When prototyping, don't try to design something beautiful and perfect - instead make it quickly, cut corners and don't include anything that isn't absolutely necessary. This means, you should protoype in paper, even though it has some limitations.

After that, the articles gives some examples.

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Unity Tutorial 03

I went through this tutorial from beginning to end, step by step, I carefully repeated all the exercises, but at the end my watches did not work. I checked everything one more time, but this did not lead to anything, the clock did not work. In the end, I checked everything with the already given script, but the error was not found. Therefore, I copied the script given in the task and it all worked


                              

Games MDA

I spent about 3 hours reading through the material. First of all, I didnt know what MDA stands for, so figuring it out was interesting. From the article, I found out that MDA stands for Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics. Each of the three words has a definition mentioned in the article.
Mechanics - the rules of the game.
Dynamics - Describe the playing of the game when rules are set in motion.
Aesthetics - The player experience, so the effect that mechanics and dynamics have on a player.

Rules -> System/Behaviour -> Fun.

Properties of good game models:
Formal - Well-defined.
Abstract - Widely applicable.
Proven - Known to work.

There are 8 types of fun -
Sensation,
Fantasy,
Narrative,
Challenge,
Fellowship,
Discovery,
Expression,
Submission

I think the article was interesting because we are future game developers, so we should know the languge used. All diffeent professions have very specific language of communicating, so the gaming industry should have it too.  This will help us in the future communication with developers and understanding what they mean.

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Unity tutorial 02

Like in the previous post, I watched and followed the tutorials, but I came across some coding problems thought I am not sure, because Unity shows that the code is correct. The problem is after creating the gem and adding the rotation and collection script to it, it worked fine, but after installing the raycast script, the gem started to fly all over my world. I checked twice in unity, and the unity shows me that the code is correct but... it doesn't work. So I finished the tutorials with one unsolved mistake.

screenshot of my second steps in unity

Unity tutorial 01

I went through jimmy Vegas' tutorials and followed them step by step. I had some difficulties during the first three videos, as I couldn't find the standard assets. In tutorial, the standard assets were included in the installer, but in newer versions, you need to get them from the Unity asset store. The rest was fine, easy to follow and I quite enjoyed doing my first steps in game development as I have never done anything like this before.

screenshot of my first steps in Unity

Game Idea Research

My game idea is a survival/strategy city building.  I played Age of Empire and Civilisation since I was young, and I always liked this kind of games so I decide I will go with that idea. I would also like to do something like Formula 1 or Fifa, but I know it requires a lot of skills, so I decided to stick with my second idea. So my second idea is based on crafting, but I really like attention to details, so I would like to try to make a game full of small details that other games are missing. To expand my knowledge, I had a look at Forest Village and game mechanics. This is official webpage where I was checking information and mechanics. Also I been played this game for roughly 50 hours in total.

The mechanics I would like to include in my game are:
Building structures
Gathering resources
Maintaining body condition
Basically, all the surviving skills.

https://forestvillage.gamepedia.com/Life_is_Feudal:_Forest_Village_Wiki

Game Elements

The article I read was "Formal Abstract Design Tools" by Doug Church, from 1999. I really liked the article as he is mentioning a game that I played long time ago.  The Mario 64, or similar type of games that were popular at the time were based on fun, because popularity of games were just rising at the time, so designers weren't quite thinking about the financial aspects of creating. All games at the time were built on all the things mentioned in the article, but now, in 2018, everything has changed, the purpose of a game has changed, at least from business point of view, its more about the money than entertainment. The principles discussed and language used is still working for nowadays games, but on a very basic level. 

From the article I learned about 3 principles of a game, which I think are fundamentals for game development. Those are: 

INTENTION: Making an implementable plan of one's own creation in response to the current situation in the game world and one's understanding of the game play options.

PERCEIVABLE CONSEQUENCE: A clear reaction from the game world to the action of the player.

STORY: The narrative thread, whether designer-driven or player-driven, that binds events together and drives the player forward toward completion of the game.

I will use the knowledge learned from this article in designing my own game, while adding my own twists and aspects to it. 

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