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).
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Flow is a state reached when a player's experience balances perfectly between challenge and time. Darkest Dungeon definitely achieves flow but it has a very, very steep difficulty curve. The game is a turn based roguelike RPG (role playing game) that's enjoyment derives from a mix of collection, narrative, and self improvement. It caters to a specific audience, so flow can be achieved for people who enjoy those types of "fun", but it's not quite as likable for those who are less into these kinds of games. Darkest Dungeon utilizes exacerbated victories and failures. Every minor loss the player takes feels devastating, making every victory feel extra special. The tutorial to hard missions are pretty par for the course. Boss hunting takes place when you're very comfortable with the game play of the game and you want high level items or achievements. "Wolves at the Door" is an event programmed to happen when the player is doing really well and has completed most of the boss fights. It's very difficult and also incredibly high stakes since losing will lead to a major setback in your leveling. The Darkest Dungeon (the levels within the game, not the overall game) is where the final levels take place, making them super difficult. Almost all mechanics introduced throughout the game make a comeback in one way or another along with levels that are specially designed to stop the player from cheating the system. "Telltale Heart" is the final level of the entire game, a multistage boss fight that not only utilizes every mechanic that's been introduced but also introduces its own mechanic in the later stages. The DLC (downloadable content) was developed way after the game was released and was made with super experienced players in mind. As such, they are incredibly difficult and introduce game changing mechanics that even some veteran players aren't really a fan of. Finally, Darkest Dungeon has a thriving mod community. Mods can be anything: beautifully crafted level packs, enemies, reworks, classes, etc. Of course, these user created elements are, for the most part, completely unbalanced, making the game a total cakewalk. There's even mods that intentionally tilt the scales in your favor, which I definitely did not download after dying to the Darkest Dungeon levels for the 61st time.
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?
It feels good knowing that I won't have to update this stupid portfolio for a while. The last couple units for DDA have been pretty easy, just messing around with light and camera settings (thank goodness we didn't have to do animations). Still, I feel like I never really got the hang of it. For some reason every time I take a test relating to camera angles I inevitably fail. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong, it's just like canvas hates me. Then there was the PBM. Talk about a train wreck. Just one thing going wrong after another. I did the best I can, but due to some comically bad timing on technical errors I might be completely screwed. I wonder if my Youtube account will ever be fixed. Anyways, here's hoping I manage to graduate high school after this complete mess of a year. At this point I don't think I'll ever have a good school year.
Finally, we've reached the ending of the year. The work isn't letting up, but at least it's almost over. I feel like the cameras unit wasn't too bad, but I didn't do well on the quizzes and assignments for some reason. As far as the class over all, I feel like I learned a lot even if I wasn't the best student. In terms of the games industry, the infamous Resident Evil Village comes out tomorrow on my birthday. As much as I'm a fan of Resident Evil I do not have the $80 to get it, but I have no doubt it's gonna do well in stores. I don't have any opinion on how it looks yet because I've deliberately avoided getting the demo and watching people play it so I can go into it fresh. As a franchise, Resident Evil is on thin ice. Capcom is notorious for killing off their franchises with very little apparent reason. 7 may have been successful but that's not going to stop their extremely cautious release style. Many other games are coming out too but nothing that really catches my attention. All the stuff I'm excited for has yet to have a release date.
Man, third quarter has been a drag. The good news is it's almost over, finally. I feel like almost nothing new has happened but we did get into lighting. I thought it'd be easy but for some reason I keep messing it up. This should be really simple, so why am I struggling? Still, it's definitely far from the hardest unit we've done. You know, all this 3Ds Max work is really making me wonder what game design is going to be like. I would've thought that we'd be making 2D games first, because I'd imagine those are much easier to make as well as program, design, and create art for. If we're doing all this work in 3Ds Max then maybe it will all be 3D? That would be a complete pain, so let's hope not. But if it really is going t start off 2D, then what's with this formatting? In fact, why did we even have to get through digital design at all? I can't imagine using Photoshop very often in a game unless you're going for an incredibly weird art style. Heck, I don't even think Illustrator would be used that much. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking. I'm not complaining at all, I'm glad I learned those skills and it was a fun class, but how exactly does it relate. I mean, yeah, they both use computers, but they should really be separate. Anyways, that's enough rambling for one post. Cole out.
I no longer know whats happening anymore, but now I only have one late project in this class. Hopefully with its completion I can keep up with everything else that's going on from this point forward. I can't seem to get a hold of bitmapping. I know I'm doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. The model always comes out looking wrong. In the meantime, Fromsoftware has announced a new game with some interesting shake ups to their standard difficult combat genre. They're proposing that their new game will be fully open world. This is quite the interesting development, as many see this as a bold risk that could payoff in spades or result in a horrible monstrosity that won't make back it's budget. Personally, I've always thought their Souls games were somewhat open world, so I believe they can absolutely pull it off. Their talented game designers to boot, which gives them a high chance of success in my opinion. A startling amount of people are making a big deal out of the Super Mario 3D World port DLC, of all things. Why Nintendo would choose to put in such a high quality product into a port of 3D world is completely beyond me, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to get it. Despite having a Wii U, I never got the original 3D world because I wasn't as big on platformers back then. Anyways, that's all I've got for now.
I can no longer keep up with all the work. I'm never getting enough sleep these days, and when I do get t it's filled with horrible nightmares that make it impossible to relax. I'm behind in basically all my classes. I have no idea what's going on anymore. Anyways, enough about me. The games industry is seeing some interesting advancements, notably a new Mario game got releases that I somehow didn't hear about. Another Nintendo direct is coming out son, as well as another Smash Ultimate dlc announcement. I'm excited to see who it is, although I'm really hoping it's a character I actually care about and not another Fire Emblem character. Basically, Nintendo's on fire right now. Sony and Microsoft are still kind of meandering, nothing super amazing has come out right now. I think this is quite the bumbled launch for both of them. In DDA news, I have no idea what's going on. I must've missed something, because mapping isn't clicking for me at all. It should be so easy, but I'm still missing stuff! What the heck? Well, no point in complaining about it, I just have to get it done. I just wish I could have a break.
What are these grades I keep missing related to my portfolio? Did I miss where these were introduced? The heck? Please tell me what is going on. Anyways, I'm really wondering how the Gamestop stock could affect video game purchase. It probably won't, but it's always interesting to see. The RE8 demo is out. I've chosen because I do not want to be spoiled. I tend to shy away from demos. Hitman 3 has come out and it's amazing. The fact that IOI has obtained a 007 game is quite interesting to me. I'm not sure it quite matches the feel of Hitman, but I do think they could pull it off. The real question is; will it in any way be related to Goldeneye? Because, of course, Goldeneye was one of the most successful games of its time, and it makes me wonder if they are attempting a remake. Then again, a remake was already and it sucked. Can you even remake a game twice? It has yet to be seen. On to the main topic of schoolwork. I greatly appreciate this semi break. Lord knows I hate 3D modeling. The only problem is that it requires artistic individuality, which I lack. I really hope my art conveys the feelings I was going for and doesn't come off as boring stereotypical nonsense (which sadly it is). The amount of personal problems just keep piling up over here. This is getting ridiculous.
I missed my earlier blog post. Dang it. And at a time when I could really use a grade boost too. Hopefully these quizzes will be enough to boost them though. Anyways, with 2020 behind us many journalists are reviewing the top games of 2020, and I am seeing some interesting results to be sure. Usually there's at least one overlapping game that every journalist puts somewhere on their list that I use as a sort of baseline. But this time, it seems that people just can't agree. The Last of Us 2 was incredibly controversial, either ending up in people's best or worst list but never the same. Hades, although largely successful and very popular, seems quite forgotten by most people. Spirit Farer, a game that had huge build up and was even at the top of one list, was almost completely ignored by the public. This year truly divided us all. Anyways, 3Ds Max work has been a pain with my corrupted copy and whatnot, but it's not necessarily hard. I could probably get through most of this stuff with relatively good grades (here's hoping). A lot of stuff is happening in my life, but this isn't really the place to talk about it. I thought modifiers would be the absolute worst to deal with, especially since I couldn't even access them for most of my time, but they're actually pretty easy. Takes me back when I used to make incredibly bad scratch games. Well, I pray 2021 will at least be tolerable. Two of my favorite games are getting sequels (Hitman and Darkest Dungeon). Please please please let them be good.
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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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