Table of Contents
Unit 1 - History, Careers & Ethics
Unit 2 - Game Theory
Unit 3 - Pre-production & Prototypes
Unit 4 - Game Production
Unit 5 - Post-production
Video Presentation
Unit 2 - Game Theory
Unit 3 - Pre-production & Prototypes
Unit 4 - Game Production
Unit 5 - Post-production
Video Presentation
Introduction
This year I've learned many things about game design. Some of the important things I've learned are the design pipeline of games the game theory and how games should work, what happens during the pre-production and production phase, and how to code and make games in unity using C sharp.
Unit 1 - History, Careers & Ethics
Career Reflection - A career path in the gaming industry that interests me would probably be the role of a game designer. I like the role of the game designer because the job of the game designer involves coming up with a good game that involves good game mechanics and developing storylines and characters. I also think that game designer fits with certain things that I'm best at and interested in such as coming up with creative solutions and new innovative ways of thinking of how a thing might work. The game designer also interacts with other game teams such as the artist or the programmers.
Ethics Reflection -Some important ethical game designs would be based on how people have interacted with games and what they expect from certain games. For example, someone who is into fighting games might want a fighting game with fun fast-paced gameplay with interesting mechanics and unique aspects to each fighter. Good game ethic would be to understand players inviting players into play sessions to understand the pros and cons of what you have done with the game and what you can improve on. Some other ethical game design would be of how to make different levels of the game more interesting or different sections progress and difficulty and a good Flow State.
Ethics Reflection -Some important ethical game designs would be based on how people have interacted with games and what they expect from certain games. For example, someone who is into fighting games might want a fighting game with fun fast-paced gameplay with interesting mechanics and unique aspects to each fighter. Good game ethic would be to understand players inviting players into play sessions to understand the pros and cons of what you have done with the game and what you can improve on. Some other ethical game design would be of how to make different levels of the game more interesting or different sections progress and difficulty and a good Flow State.
Unit 2 - Game Theory
Game Mechanics Reflection - Game mechanics and Flow come together to create a good player experience by doing both and good succession. An example of good game mechanics would be being able to come up or improve upon existing mechanics in other games and putting a Twist or a personal touch to make them unique to make the player want to play and have an interest in the game. Good game mechanics also make the players feel good and understand how the game works. Good game mechanics can also be improved upon with different tasks and levels that require the player to be skilled and that certain game mechanics inducing more challenge and fun. To achieve a good Flow State is to have the difficulty and skill level rise as the player becomes more experience with the game and its game mechanics. A flow state starts at an easy good pace for new players to understand how the game works and what will happen during the game. And as time goes on the player can have more fun with being challenged and their knowledge of how much they understand the game.
Artifact 1 (Explore Game Mechanics Project) - From this project (image below), I learned how a game’s Flow and game mechanics help make the game more fun and interesting.
Artifact 1 (Explore Game Mechanics Project) - From this project (image below), I learned how a game’s Flow and game mechanics help make the game more fun and interesting.
Artifact 2 (Game Genre Project)
Unit 3 - Pre-production & Prototypes
Design Pipeline Reflection - The design pipeline in the game industry a split up into three categories, pre-production, production, and post-production. The first of the three pre-productions is where ideas are made specifically about the game and the game design. Other things are also done here like the storyboard of the game or the hiring of the people that are going to work on the game. A big part of the pre-production phase is the making of a prototype of the game to test out the mechanics and ideas. The second phase of the three in production. And production is where all the design, development, and testing happens. The testing of the game usually happens near the end of the production phase. The production phase is probably the longest phase of all three. The third and last part of the game development cycle is post-production. In post-production testing, deployment, and marketing happens. In this phase, the game is done and is being shipped out to stores and online game stores for two players to play the game. Post-production is also used as a point where the game developers can tweak and fix bugs that players find during the game. Game developers can also add updates and DLC to the game.
Artifact 3 (Snake Ball GDD) - In the button below I learned how to make a GDD and what it is used for.
Artifact 4 (Concept art for Snake Ball)-In the button below I learned how to make concepts for a game and how to find inspirations for it.
Artifact 5 (Designing Different Levels) - In the button below I learned how to make level designs for Snake Ball
Artifact 6 (Snake Ball Prototype) - In the button below I learned how to make a Prototype for a game
Pre-production Reflection - During class, I've learned a lot about the pre-production phase of game design. In the pre-production phase, there's a lot going on such as things like the art Bible or the game design Bible. I also learned about certain things game developers do like make prototypes for the game. Gamedev also finds inspiration for the game they're making and makes concept art for the game. During pre-production game designers also make different level designs for the game.
Unit 4 - Game Production
Production Reflection -While working in unity I have experienced many things such as making code and making game objects in unity. While working in unity codeine was probably the most confusing and hardest part in unit 4. In the first part of the unit for we learned how to make game objects and make different levels. This part of the unit4 was the easy part. The second part of unit 4 is learning how to code with C sharp. Learning how to code is a very difficult thing to learn. And while I was coding I faced many obstacles such as understanding what every method of code meant and how to use it effectively. And codeine has a very specific way of challenging you to figure out how to make the game work. The instructor teaching me how to code was very easy to understand and explained everything and went step by step on how to code. But sometimes I wouldn't miss type or accidentally make a letter capitalized and it would take me an hour or so to find the mistake that I made. But all in all, codeine is a very useful skill to learn if you want to be a game designer.
Artifact 7 (Wack-A-Food Game)- In the button below learned how to make food aperea and how to have the player destroy the food.
Artifact 8 (Catch Basket Game) - In the button below learned how to make a game by myself and make it fun for players.
Artifact 9 (Soccer Game) - In the button below learned how to make a sprint boost button and how to make the enemy multiply when they are destroyed
Unit 5 - Post-production
This unit will not be completed this school year due to the problems incurred with remote instruction.
Video Presentation
Conclusion
The things I learned during this course were the pipeline of game design, Game Theory, working in unity, and coding in C sharp. My skill-set has evolved a lot since last year because of all the knowledge from this year especially the knowledge of making games and how to make a good game with game Theory. My skill-set has advanced from learning 3D modeling animation and working in Photoshop to learning how to use the unity game engine and how to code in C sharp. During this course, I have learned how to be more responsible with my work and how to work in an environment where there are not many times you can ask a teacher for help and expect a full understanding of what it's happening. Another thing that I have learned what's how to cope with a different situation with online school and how everything depends on how responsible you are with your work.