Reflection

2023

Week 1: 11/09 - 17/09

This week, I learnt about pixel art, different game mechanics and how to develop my own game in Construct 3. I also received the brief for my first project.

This week, I carried out research into pixel art and why games use the art style. After that I started to experiment with pixel art in Piskel. I created a tree in 16 x 16 and 32 x 32, a scenery object, 16 x 16 and 32 x 32, and finally created a character in 16 x 16 and 32 x 32. This task helped me because I now have an understanding of pixel art and how to use Piskel, these developed skills will aid my development of my own game. Furthermore, I carried out research on various games using the same mechanics as Flappy Bird and Subway Surfers, I play tested these games and carried out analysis on the pros and cons of each game. After this, I carried out further analysis on other mobile games of my choice. I analysed the Interactivity, Visuals and Sound design of these games to gather an idea of what I should use in my own game. Furthermore, I started to create an ideas log, this would consist of five ideas for games that I could make to meet the brief. These tasks went really well because I was able to experiment with different games and was able to generate my own ideas for a game which I will be developing later on in the project. The one thing that didn't go too well on Thursday was the amount of research that had to be carried out, although I have now finished this research in my own time. My target for my next research task is to take notes and spend a little bit more time refining the small details. I also started to develop three platformer games in Construct 3. This went really well because I was able to build up my knowledge surrounding Construct 3 and the overall development of a game. In addition to this, I was able to express my own ideas in Construct 3.

Week 2: 18/09 - 24/09

This week I have learnt about more game mechanics and tools that are available in Construct 3, this includes timers, global variables, collectables and health systems.

This week, I expanded my knowledge surrounding various mechanics available in Construct that I can use to elevate my game. These new tools that I used on Wednesday included timers, collectables, score systems and health systems. This went really well as I was able to understand the coding and theory that was needed to add these elements to a game. This was helpful as I will be needing to add various of these mechanics to my own mobile app game. Also, I researched and analysed the game mechanics of replayability and how I should utilise this when developing my own mobile app game. The one tricky element of Thursday was learning Harvard Referencing, thanks to Lizzy I am now able to understand the logic behind Harvard referencing and why and how I should use it in my analysis and research. Furthermore, I learnt about level design blueprints and how and why this document is needed when designing a level in a game. This task involved me creating a blueprint layout and utilising the blueprint of another student to create a platformer game in Construct. This task was extremely helpful as it allowed me to experiment with blueprints and learn that the person designing the level is not always the person who is creating the level. After this I carried out research and analysis about primary and secondary research methods, detailing different methods and assessing there validity. I also used critical writing to analyse the most effective method, primary or secondary. This was very helpful as I was able to understand the various methods of research, when each one should be used and what each method involves.

Week 3: 25/09 - 01/10

This week I began to write up a project proposal, high concept document, primary and secondary research and an asset list. I also learnt how to develop an endless runner game.

This week, I learnt how to develop an endless runner game that included many mechanics that are included in a game of this genre. These mechanics included scores, obstacle spawners, scrolling backgrounds, win conditions, increasing difficulty and moving obstacles. This went really well because I was able to understand the core mechanics that are required in a game of this genre, and I was able to use all of these mechanics to create a functioning endless runner game. This was a helpful task as I will be designing and developing an endless runner for my final project, so I was able to work out any weaknesses and improve on them before getting into developing my final game. The one problem that I encountered throughout this task was that the background kept spacing differently every time it loaded, this was later resolved by changing the backgrounds origin point and resizing the backgrounds so they overlap to fill in the white gap that appeared. Moving forward I will ensure that I remember to include this logic in my endless runner game to avoid bugs and rendering errors. Also, I started to fill out all of my pre-production documents, project proposal, high concept, research and asset list. This was helpful as I was able to effectively plan out my project, which allowed me to work out any errors or weaknesses and allowed me to finalise my ideas before I start to move onto developing my final project. Moving forward, I will ensure to create all of these pre-production documents for everyone of my projects. This will be helpful moving on as I will be able to efficiently plan out my projects. In addition to this, I set up a Trello workspace board, this allows me to organise all of my tasks from To-Do to completed this is very helpful as it allows me to manage my time for every project and ensures that I meet the deadline. 

Week 4: 02/10 - 08/10

This week I finished off my secondary research and also finished my experimentation, ready for the final phases of development.

This week, I finished off my secondary research for the Tap To Confirm Purchase project, this was very helpful as it allowed me to see what I should experiment with moving forward into my experimentation phase. The only problem I encountered during the finalisation of the secondary research was that I forgot to include a summary, but I later added this after a review of the report. This summary was very important as it detailed what parts of the research I was going to take on board for my final project and it also showed what I would not be experimenting with. Also, I completed my experimentation phase which involved experimenting with player selection screen, power-ups and boosts, character design and animation, and various shading techniques. These all went really well, but I encountered a few problems that are detailed in my experimentation tab of this website, all of these problems were later resolved and I have learnt from my mistakes so they will not be repeated when I start to develop my final game. I screen recorded all of my experimentation so I can evidence this to the exam board and reflect at a later date on my strengths and weaknesses of a certain subject. I also moved onto creating my Alpha Build of my game which included the basic functions and mechanics, but did not include any final artwork only placeholders. I screen recorded my Alpha Build phase, so my development can be reflected on.

Final Evaluation:

This project involved me designing and developing a mobile game that used the same mechanics or features as either Subway Surfers or Flappy Bird. I went through a lot of different stages of this project, these included Research, Planning, Experimentation, Outcomes and Evaluation. This project lasted for 5 weeks and I worked individually to achieve this project. The final game should also be based off of an existing TV show or Film. 

During the analysis and research phase, I gathered a lot of information around what is commonly seen in an endless runner game and how I should achieve replayability in a game like this. Here is an example of one of my researched games, this allowed me to understand the pros and cons of endless runner games and also allowed me to find out the most common features and mechanics in a game like this. 

Game 5: Minion Rush - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkVoNvYdKBs

Visual:

• Character, Environment and Colour Palette -

Minion Rush has been developed with consideration to the classic and easily recognisable characters of Despicable Me, this use of the recognisable character design has led to the game having over 500 Million downloads on the Google Play store alone. The Minions have a distinctive yellow coloured body, this use of bright colour creates a happy and joyous atmosphere which will encourage the player to continue playing because they feel cheerful due to the vividness of the environments and characters.

Interactivity:

• Controls and Perspective -

Just like Subway Surfers, Minion Rush adopts a back view of the playable character as they navigate past themed obstacles and collect bananas that can be used to unlock cosmetic items. The use of a familiar game style and controls allows for an easy playable experience that can be enjoyed time and time again.

Sounds:

• Mood and Sounds -

Minion Rush uses an upbeat soundtrack that fits perfectly with the mischievousness of Minions, this soundtrack can create a fun and enjoyable experience for the player as they can enjoy the recognisable sounds that can be heard in the Despicable Me movies, as they battle their way through the endless movie based environments. Various sound effects can also be heard when interacting with collectables and boosts, this lets the player know they have carried out a good action, this will make the player feel rewarded and create a sense of accomplishment as they have picked up another banana or boost that will change the overall feel of their run.

This was really helpful when it came to designing and planning my own endless runner game because I was able to find out the standard functionalities and game styles that are used for a game of this genre In addition to this, I was able to understand the importance of the featured mechanics and why I should consider using these in my final game. Following this research and analysis stage I have been able to collate my research so I could then go on to planning my idea. Going forward, I will make sure to research and analyse us much as possible, relevant to what I plan to develop, so it will allow for a smooth and well-planned planning and experimentation phase. During this phase, I was able to use primary and secondary research techniques, which all helped me to move forward with the development of my game. These phases were very beneficial because I was able to see what should be included in my game and allowed me to research different art techniques and ways of implementing different mechanics in Construct. I am really happy with my research as I had a large amount of research which helped me to efficiently plan and experiment with different techniques.

During the planning stage of my project I was able to create various industry standard documents that all helped aid when it came to finally program my idea in Construct 3, these documents included Idea Generation, High Concept and an Asset List. This phase was really helpful for the next phase of my development as I was able to plan out my idea and finalise any details that I would decide to include in my final version of my game. This allowed me to work out any issues or inconsistencies before I went ahead and moved into Construct which is really beneficial because I was able to realise the importance of planning and understand the limitations, not just practically but mentally, before starting development. These planning stages were pretty hard because I had so many ideas that I could not decide what idea I wanted to create, but I found the high concept and asset list easy because I have already created many of these documents in my GCSE Media course. The trello board that I created was really helpful for my time management because I was able to plan my time on each stage of the development process. https://trello.com/b/6uGDZDDG/tap-to-confirm-purchase. Moving forward I need to plan out every aspect of my game to allow for the project to run smoothly, just like it did in this project. To improve my planning I should also create a further set of documents, for example a level design blueprint. This further document would allow me to plan out the level further to make the development stage run a bit more smoothly.

The idea generation of my planning phase was helpful for me to come up with several ideas and allowed me to whittle down the several ides to a singular idea. This was really beneficial as it allowed me to visualise the ideas that I had come up with for the project and also encouraged me to look through each idea and come up with the final idea that I intended to create. This idea generation task significantly helped me to view my idea and plan what I should include in the themed game, it helped me before I moved into the experimentation phase, as I had an idea of what I should experiment with.