From Beginning To...

Annoying paywalls emergence - exploiting game mechanics to achieve an unintended result. Researching has proved exhausting. I am attempting to expend my energy efficiently by skimming titles and abstracts to determine whether a paper may be useful to my research, but even so, my brain is finding it tough to process information. I feel like I have made good progress, regardless of mental fatigue. Not only did I find some good publications from credited and cited authors, I have found textbooks that are highly regarded, cited and commended. Ernest Adams has several books on Game Design and Game Development. There are several chapters that not only relate to my topic, but have valuable information regarding my research question. I was able to find a pdf of one chapter from Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design, but the other books have escaped me so far. I have been in contact with the authors requesting digital copies of the books for research purposes. Game Mechanics: Adv...

  Criticism can be the hardest thing to give and take. Too nice, and it gives no constructive feedback to improve. Too harsh, and it can put someone off the whole idea, crushing their spirit. Just right, and it can turn a good idea into a fantastic one.   I believe that criticism should never be negative. That's not to say that we should never acknowledge faults, but the way to deliver the message should be constructive.  Make sure to address the positive aspects of the idea, and then suggest some improvements. I believe that encouragement is just as powerful as "tough love", but has much better repercussions on the persons psyche, resolve and mental health. I was pleased to find that other people agree with me. One such person is Joel Almeida  who wrote the article:  A Simple 5-Second Habit to Rewire Your Harshly Self-Critical Brain .   We tend to hold ourselves to unrealistic perfectionism. This can lead to disinterest and impatience. Or we can c...

  Now that I've started learning the basics in Unity 3D, I have to begin thinking about what kind of game I want to create. The first thing I did was think about my favourite genres of games to play. I decided on RPG's, Platformers, Dungeon Crawlers (this may fall under the RPG category, but I consider it a different experience entirely), and Stealth Action. Four genres, four game ideas to flesh out. Brainstorming works best on paper RPG's are my favourite video game genre as a whole. I love the player progression, customisation, the lore and the world building. There are usually many different ways to go about situations, and one can vary the way they play the game each playthrough to get a completely different experience. While I love to play these games, creating one may prove difficult with all of these factors in mind. However, it is still possible. - RPG   When necromancers kill your parents, you are left with nothing in the world except the desire for j...

Game Design is genuinely this dramatic. Image Source:  Know Your Meme   I have finally begun learning how to design a game.   With the help of Johnny Vegas and his fantastic, well paced Unity tutorials ,  I have made a start on my first game world. From simple controls such as panning and zooming, to adding programming scripts to objects, Vegas covers everything a beginner like me needs to know to get started.   After figuring out some basic controls, the first thing I placed in my world was terrain. This was a simple 100 X 100 plane with no outstanding features - yet. To give the terrain some detail, I attached a stone texture to it. The textures are quite customisable, and one is able to change the metallic qualities and smoothness for a variety of different looks. I also learned how to create a Normal Map for the textures. From what I can gather, a normal map is used to fake the lighting in bumps and crevices.   It was time to start creating ...

Pieces from a board game. Image Source:  PHere What is a game?   A game has many definitions. One such definition used by Ian Schreiber is "a play activity with rules that involves conflict." Each game has a set of fundamentals that make it a game. They have ends and means; objectives, outcomes and rules defining how to get there. Decisions are made by a player, who seek objectives within the space given.   Schreiber states that there are six properties in a game: It is "Free". Playing is optional. It is "Separate", here meaning fixed in space and time in advance. It has an uncertain outcome. It is "Unproductive". It does not create real life goods or wealth. It is governed by rules. It is make believe.   These properties lend structure to a game, and help to distinguish the border between the game world and the real world. It is not necessary to play a game, therefore it is optional; the first decision made by the player is to...