According to Overmars' criteria, the game I made, "Evil Clutches", isn't actually very good. It has no difficulty curve, as the spawning of enemies is random, there is no procedural goals, with the only goal being getting a higher score, and in fact it doesn't even have any end besides failure. While decisions do exist, such as moving up or down and when to fire, but there aren't a lot of decisions and the majority of them aren't skill based, as again, the spawning of enemies is random. Also, there are no lives, so a single mistake can completely ruin a players run. The balancing between player and game, being the only balancing, is actually not that bad. The fireball isn't completely overpowered, and the bosses attacks aren't too difficult to dodge. But, there are no in-game rewards for doing well, other then a high score. There is no progression, no new levels, no new items, no power ups, no end, its just missing a lot of things that make games fun. I suppose its fun for a bit, when you just start playing, but it gets repetitive very quickly. Not even frustrating, just repetitive. The immersion and story are also lacking, as to get any background you literally have to go into the help options, and the world consists of a single room, with a single background, with only one other real character in the room, who you can't interact with on a high scale then shooting them with fireballs. Overall, while actually kind of fun to make, as the game maker engine with the drag and drop mechanics to create and "program" a functional game, with the many different actions interacting with each other, the game its self isn't, according to the criteria laid down by Overmars. Also, I found the game maker engine to be, while not necessary hard to work with, having potential for great complexity and intricacy, and the ease of this project was most likely due to the lack of complexity in the game its self, rather then the engine.
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Over the past year and a half, we have been building up to one, very special thing. This thing is the very thing I signed up to this class to do in the first place, though I have found I've had a lot of fun on the road getting to it. This thing, is creating video games. And so, before I delve into the actual creation of a game, it is appropriate to reminisce on the tools that are have been taught to me to get me ready for this experience. First off, the elements of design. These "rules" of sorts are basic guidelines to creating a product with an effective look and feel, specifically a look and feel that you want. This will be useful when creating a 2D game, as we will be starting in 2D, as it will be necessary for me to create sprites, as well as potentially packaging and other art work to go along with the game. Secondly, we have learned many different techniques to going about coming up with ideas for games, as well as the process of putting those ideas into action. These will be useful, quite obviously, for coming up with ideas for the my game and putting them into action. The work we did in Photoshop and Illustrator will be invaluable in creating the necessary art work for a 2D game as well, as those programs focus on a 2D plane. Basic scheduling and time management will be useful, as well as team working and leadership skills. As much as it saddens me, 3D programs will not be useful in this situation. Though, potentially with the use of rendering to create animations and cut scenes may be useful, if they are done in a specific way. But that is stretching it.
Certifications seem to be an important and pivotal point in any career you go into. Not necessarily for the edge that they give you in interviewing, though that can be extremely useful, but for the experience they give you. Just like any test, they tell you if you have learned the information necessary to continue in that field. Certifications can tell you if you need to improve your knowledge in a certain field, and tell you where you have already learned what is necessary to succeed. And, importantly, it tells your employers the same information. I personally would be very interested in doing a certification at DSA, due to DPS paying for them, and because I think it would be a great opportunity to see if I have the knowledge it would take to succeed in my career path. Just from looking at the 3ds Max Certified User certification (which is kind of redundant, but whatever), I can see that I would need to brush up on the UI settings, but besides that I would be pretty well set to achieve this certification. But, for the 3ds Max 2014 Certified Professional certification, I would need to learn scripting, something I have absolutely no idea how to do or even what is, as well as going far more into depth with Animation and Effects. See, without even taking the test I'm already learning how prepared I am. And, from looking at this, I'd probably actually already be able to achieve the first level of certification, and a good ways into the professional certification. In short, yes, I'd love to try and get a certification while at DSA.
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AuthorI am 17 years old, and currently enrolled in Durham School of the Arts. Within the Game Design field, I'm looking to become a game writer or a programmer, preferably a combination of the two.
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 School Archives
June 2018
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