The end of the year is a hectic time. Mission three is proving difficult and there aren't enough artworks to post on this website. Coding is really difficult but sometimes I can make it sort of work. The trick to it is writing out the code given in the lessons and then frankensteining it into a different project. Like I said, it doesn't always work but it certainly gets the job done most of the time. I'd say this probably isn't how you're supposed to do it, but from what I see of actual coders this is a pretty common occurrence. I think I'll be able to exempt myself from the final exam, I just need to finish up this portfolio and complete mission three, which will definitely be difficult, but at least there's only one coding exercise to take care of. I realize it's been a while since I've talked about the gaming industry, so I think it's worth mentioning that game production seems to have recovered fully. The few games that came out during the pandemic really skyrocketed a few indie developers reputation. Games that were really subpar in retrospect were very popular since there was almost nothing else to play. At least things are back to normal.
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Understanding the coding of this mission was fairly easy for the most part. I think I could make a very barebones prototype of some kind of simple game at this point. Movement is really simple, especially if you use some common tricks to give more of an illusion of movement rather than full mobility. Hud is also easy to wrap my head around as long as it's fairly simplistic. The one thing I still struggle with is integers. It always feels like I get what the instructor is talking about when he references some specific numbers, but when I put them into practice they never seem to work. The same goes for the symbols associated with integers. I can never remember the command for "same as" or "equal to or less than". Regardless, coding is becoming slightly more understandable with each new lesson. Eventually I'll have enough resources to make something of my own. The WebGL upload error persists on this computer, so I had the challenges checked in class.
Now that we've started over with coding, everything seems so much easier to understand. I still don't think I could code an entire game or anything, but I think I could make a few minor things work in Unity. Unity in general has become a lot easier to understand thanks to this coding tutorial. The Linkedin course was alright, but it was a little difficult to work with in some regards. In gaming news, Elden Ring has just come out and it's the biggest thing since sliced bread. Not surprising, given FromSoftware's reputation. They're what I aspire to be one day, a well respected game company known for quality and pushing boundaries. Although, they haven't pushed the boundaries much since their success with Dark Souls. It's to be expected, I guess. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Sub Terra is a cooperative board game centered around escaping the board as a group. As such, all mechanics are present to push players towards teamwork. I tried my best to explain all mechanics within the graphic, but here are some points I missed: Players have individual abilities meant to be used in combination with other player's abilities, creating a synergy between the group. The rules specifically limit the actions each player can make individually, meaning the group's combined actions will amount to more than splitting up. The "hazards are drawn" step in the state diagram takes place after all players have taken actions, not after a single player's actions (sorry if that was confusing). Out of all the mechanics, I definitely think player is the most important relative to the game. Unlike most games that focus on the chance or skill aspect, Sub Terra wants the player to make decisions relative to the other players on the board until eventually the shared goal is reached. Each player's experience is different depending on what class they picked, but at the end of the day the game is about creating an experience together rather than apart. I give Sub Terra a 10/10, very well designed game with mechanics at the forefront while aesthetics take a backseat (something that's rare in board games today).
Needless to say, the first project we were given in Game Design was a disaster for me. Mr. B said to make a post after every major project, but what is there to say? I'm incredibly disappointed in myself. I want to be a game designer more than anything, but I do these quizzes and projects pretty poorly apparently, even to the point where he says "you? game designer?" Is it really that bad? Am I really that disillusioned? I just can't do anything right. I even take time out of my extracurricular schedule to study game design and process, but I guess I'm "learning" nothing from it. Is there something wrong with me? Does information just go in one ear and out the other? I don't understand, why can't I ever do well in this class?
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Cole ThomasInto video games and the likes. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
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