Game Art & Design

Gameplan Overview

I Hope that i'll be able to learn how to make games. This is mostly because I just like games. I believe having an industry recognized workforce credential could be useful for getting into jobs that fit the criteria said credential shows off. It's important to have a code of conduct when working in creative industries to make it so that work etiquette can be maintained. An example of this is keeping work civil.

Gameplan : What Remains

This text adventure feels like it's mainly an interactive story. The reason why I believe this is because the adventure is very linear but gives you the choice to explore to learn more about the world the adventure takes place in. 

The text adventure seems to have some hints of the adventure genre in it. I say this because of how the text adventure focuses a bit on exploration, but it doesn't have a way that can change the story that much. In addition, the text adventure during the barrel hill is very reminiscent of the action genre. This is because of how this part is stylized, making it feel like you're in action while staying in the interactive story genre.

Life Cycle Reflection

The character I created  may change the way I imagine playing What Remains when I start building in Unit 4 by making me imagine a place that cannot be saved, no matter how hard someone tries.  My character, despite their best efforts, won't be able to do anything to stop the fate of the valley. For example, my character could try to help everyone they can, but it won't be able to prevent what will happen to the valley. In addition, any attempts they make to fix the valley will all be in vain and may actually make it worse. In conclusion, my character won't be able to fix the valley even if they wanted to.

Copyright Reflection

It's important for game developers to respect copyright and licensing rules when creating games because failing to do so could lead to the developer getting their game removed or worse.  Refusing to respect copyright and licensing rules could lead to you being forced to take down the game using any copyrighted material or licensed material. In addition, it can also cause you to be forced to pay legal fees or pay for damage fees. It's important to know what type of license a licensed asset uses due to how it could be only a temporary asset or for only one game or be required to pay each time you use it. In conclusion, you should respect copyright and licensing rules in order to avoid having to pay fees or having to take down a game you worked hard on.

Unreal Navigation 

The main difference between 3ds max and unreal is that unreal is a game engine while 3ds max is just a 3d modeling tool. In addition, 3ds max doesn't have pre made objects, you have to make everything on your own. The main similarity between 3ds max and unreal is that they both are 3D. In addition, they both are hard to get a hang of at first. In conclusion, Unreal engine is probably gonna make me more stressed than 3Ds max, despite the pre made objects.

Learning 3D modeling helped me know how to Model, which will be useful when i need to model in the engine. This is because the engine will be heavily based on how well you can model. Even though i did take 3D modeling, i don't think i'm prepared enough for working in unreal engine. In addition, a challenge i had was when i used a glass material on a box which made it bright because of the lights. I had to find out which cube it was and delete it, which took a bit. In conclusion, Unreal engine will stress me out due to it relying on one's ability to model and how some materials could make an effect due to light.

Inclined Planes 

Use of multiple inclined planes makes it so you can direct a ball to a certain point. This is useful due to the fact how getting a ball to be still and not roll off without barriers is very hard to do. Although I didn't use it that much, turning snap off can give you the ability to point the planes in an exact direction, this can be useful for if you want to have something point towards an exact location.  When snap is turned on, it can help make it exact to a degree. Everytime something about my setup wouldn't work, I would tweak it until it does work.

Levers Reflection

The force that is applied by weight changes because of the fulcrum being the most stable part of the lever, thus allowing the edges to have the most force applied to them. Scaling the weight of an object can make the outcome fling things if it's floating above the lever. In addition, too much weight can cause the physics to be unable to load correctly. Customizing materials can make it so you're able to design an area more clearly. For example, say you want to decorate a house with specific details, making a material that matches what you're trying to make can be helpful, and can also help with visuals in gameplay.

Wedges Reflection

2/11/26

Just moving the wedge only can change the direction an object with physics is going. On the contrary, changing the shape can possibly slice objects in half. The best way to control chaos when multiple objects are going in the same funnel is to make it so they go one at a time. Experimenting with physics can help you think about how to make sure an object won't fall off something. In addition, experimenting with physics can help you get an idea of how an object of a certain mass will interact with an object of a smaller or larger mass.

Wheel and Axle Reflection

Wheels reduce friction because of wheels commonly being round, which rolls easily. In addition, compared to sliding, objects with wheels can move much faster. Changing the lazy susan's size or rotation speed makes it easier for you to pinpoint where you want an object to go.  This makes it clear that being precise in design is very important. Adding sound effects to  a virtual world can help set the tone for games, or maybe just make a rube goldberg feel realistic.

Pulleys Reflection

2/12/26

If a pulley is too close to an object, said object could activate the pulley in a moment we don't want it to be activated. The rotation and position of a pulley affects the outcome of the machine massively, assuming we're also talking about rotating the objects on the pulley. For example, in the second Image above, you would need to move the boot in order to make the book fall. If I had a choice to redesign today's pulley setup, I would probably change the one shown in the first image. This is because I personally feel it's a bit bland.

Screws Reflection

The screw is considered a simple machine due to how simple its movement is. The screw could also be considered a simple machine due to how it moves an object in one direction, where most other simple machines would move an object towards the direction the object is facing most of the time. Extending a spline ramp is precise in leading an object towards where you want the object to go, but it could activate other machines in the process. Making it smooth can prevent objects from activating other machines, but the object might not go where you want it to go. Using splines, screws, and dominos can make for more creative chain reactions because of how you can use the splines of dominos to make a massive chain reaction leading to possibly another chain reaction. In addition, you could use screws to change the elevation of an object, which can lead to more unique chain reactions.

Rube Goldberg Design Reflection

The rube Goldberg machine made by west Bragg will be themed around transporting sliced watermelons to a bucket. I plan to include Moving the watermelon, which will be on top of a shelf, with a very long chain of events. Following this, I will include slicing the watermelons and then transporting the watermelons. The watermelons will be transported by a car and then dropped into a bucket. It'll be pretty funny to see the watermelons drop into the bucket I believe.

Analyzing Games Reflection

Replay value can be determined by whether or not the player gets more fulfillment from replaying a game. For an example, rocket league has an immense amount of replay value due to its competitive nature. This can be attributed to how every round you play can be harder or easier. Replay value is how much a person can replay a game without getting bored of said game. This is very evident in rocket league, since every round is different, players will rarely get bored of the game.

Analyzing Mechanics Reflection

Simple mechanics can lead to complex gameplay based on how the mechanics are implemented. For example, tetris's mechanics are easy to learn, but hard to master. It's useful to understand game mechanics when analyzing and reviewing games because being able to understand how a game mechanic works helps a reviewer make an accurate analysis of a game. This knowledge can help someone explain what works in a game because they will know how game mechanics work, and this can help reviewers explain what game mechanics or what thing about a game mechanic doesn't work in the game. This works well because of how a reviewer would have enough knowledge on how the game works and thus can make a decision on what works in the game.

Exploring Mood Reflection

Mood and atmosphere is important in games because it helps set the scene of the area a player is playing in. Mood is used to invoke a certain feeling in a player in games. This can be attributed to a game's atmosphere, which is how games set the mood of a game. Atmosphere and mood are different from game mechanics because they rely on the environment a creator is trying to display. For example, in hollow knight, the atmosphere changes based on where the character goes, the environment could be a desolate landscape, or very vast floral and grass.

Analyzing Fairness Reflection

Fairness in games can be affected by multiple factors, one of these factors is unintended imbalance. Unintended imbalance can happen because of an aspect of a game isn't tested enough and is more powerful than it should be. An example of a way they could fix this is by making it either a powerful item, going into risk vs. reward, or tweak it until the aspect is fair enough. For example, minecraft's trial chambers hold an item necessary to craft the mace,  and these chambers act as a sort of gauntlet before you can get that item. This mace is very risky to use, as it forces the user to be falling from big heights to get the most use out of it, risking taking fall damage.

Building Rube Goldberg Reflection

Reflection

The original design of my Rube Goldberg changed quite a bit because i didn't think i would be able to implement some aspects of the original design. The most difficult machines to implement were the wheels because of how i needed to make it so the melon fell off of the truck,  not immediately when it got there, and not to never fall off the truck. If i had more time, i would definitely make the truck part less luck based. The way i dealt with working alone during the creation of the Rube Goldberg is that i documented changes that i made the day during the end of class.  The tools i used most in the rube goldberg were the pulley and ramp, and the skill i used the most was spline editing. I'm most proud of how i managed to actually record the rube goldberg, i was expecting it to turn out worse. I honestly wish i would've not made the two paths i made so far apart.

This rube goldberg is focused on transporting a melon towards a basket. It starts by having an orange spawn a ball that triggers a pulley. This pulley then pushes dominoes that trigger another pulley that also pushes dominoes. At this point, the rube goldberg splits into two paths and the dominoes trigger two balls to spawn, The first ball goes through the first path, going up a ramp then pushing down dominoes. These dominoes push another ball to push down more dominoes that'll trigger a melon to spawn and get cut and fall into a truck. The second ball rolls towards a pulley which triggers another pulley, this other pulley spawns a ball that pushes down a long chain of dominoes which will eventually push the truck while the melon is on the truck. Once this happens, the melon will be forced off the truck on a lever and the truck will be blocked by a box. The melon will then be led to the ramp by the lever and then follow the ramp to the basket.

Unit 4 introduction

Being able to move with mouse and keyboard allows a player to observe their location, and allows me to observe how assets act in a game. Static meshes are meshes that don't do anything that can be coded to do something like being able to stand on it, while blueprints are code that help a game function, for example giving a player character their main functions. 3 interactive elements in level one include being able to push buttons, being able to move a ball, and being able to collect items. these elements can help make gameplay feel more realistic. I will use level HOC, which i can access via the content drawer. A platform doesn't keep the player character on it, and the player falls through it.

Collision detection reflection

We need collision objects because if we don't have collision, the player character will just fall through the floor. Collision detection is really expensive for the computer to calculate. In addition, because it's so expensive, we would want to keep collisions simple. The hardest part to understand about collision detection is why is it so expensive for a computer to calculate collision detection. This is because i don't think that calculating collisions should be that expensive, especially if you use simple collisions.

Islands reflection

It's important to create player immersion when designing a part of a level with static islands in order to help a player be immersed in a game and allow them to be invested into a game. The most challenging part about creating the moving islands was making it so it wasn't too difficult. This is because i had made one of the islands smaller than the others. If i had more time, i would probably make the animations for the islands less bland. This is because i feel that i could've done better on the animations.

Pro reviews reflection

What surprised me the most when comparing two professional reviews of the same game is that both reviews had very similar views. I personally thought that the two professional reviews would be way more different than they were. Viewing two different opinions as a game designer can help me deduce what i would want to work on for the game i'm creating. Professional reviews help game designers know what they might need to work on, and can also serve as what someone thought could be improved in a game. Reviewing two different opinions as a game reviewer can help me learn how to actually review games critically.

Power ups reflection

I really don't like the jump boost, it is the lamest power up the kit could've started with. I wish I could've made a power up  the more destructive variety. This is because I find being able to power trip for a moment is fun. Although, this probably wouldn't work out with this platforming game, as there are no enemies. Maybe I could add a power up that allows you to fly since the animation for it is already in the game.

Coins Reflection

I believe players can find it satisfying to collect coins because i think they might find it nice to watch a number increase. It's sorta like collecting, there isn't much reason to do it, you just do people you like to. I feel like making bigger coins worth more could make it more satisfying. Think about it, would you rather collect 10 single coins or 1 coin worth 10 coins. More coins means more satisfaction, and the amount of coins has to be worth equally as much as any challenge is thrown at the player.

Door Key Reflection

It's important to make sure that the  key is in game mode because game mode is able to track if the player has the key easily. It was hard to understand how the key would connect to the door. This is because i had trouble understanding where the key goes in the blueprint. The key was very hard to understand why it wouldn't be collected and why it wouldn't unlock the door. I figured out that the reason why it wouldn't work is because it wasn't in game mode.

Pickup Indicator Reflection

It's better to keep the logic for updating the timer HUD in the HUD because it makes it simple to keep track of. In addition, since it's going to be updating the HUD, it's better to keep the logic where it belongs. I had some trouble creating a new event because i didn't quite understand how to make an event from scratch. It was a bit difficult to make sure that i got the correct nodes as well. This was because i mistakenly thought that the guide did something else to get to the nodes i needed to get.

End Goal Reflection

Widgets pass data between blueprints by holding on to a variable to change in a blueprint. Widgets use the variable to change said variable accordingly. It's a good idea to organize blueprint code so you aren't looking forever for a part of the code you need to edit. This is because not organizing the code could lead to there being a lot of code in a certain direction, which would lead you to searching forever. Organizing blueprint code is a good habit to build as well,  since it makes it easier for you to find and edit code.

Overview Reflection

My hero's story won't connect to the valley. I would need to change my hero to match the story of the valley. This is because my hero was very detached towards the story of the valley. The mood of the valley would affect my world design the most. three keywords that'll describe the mood of my level 2 world is Chill, Mysterious, and monotone.

Level Setup Reflection

Experimenting with lights helped me understand that atmosphere is important for games because it helps set the mood of a game. Lumen is such a game changer compared to baking because it's more reliable than baking lights. The reason that this is the case is because baking lights tends to take a lot of time. A problem that could happen when the right game mode isn't used in a level is the player not actually playing the game. This is because the game mode holds global code for the start of a game and any changes that may happen during a game.

Sculpting Tools Reflection

3/11/26

I felt that the flatten tool would be the most useful when shaping the world. This was because it was very simple to use, and combined with ramp could make it very useful. The biggest challenge i had with trying to make my landscape look realistic was making sure that the mountains aren't too steep. I could use reference images to automatically create a landscape. In addition, i can use a reference image to make the landscape i create as accurate as possible.

Landscape Sculpting Reflection

The easiest part of the reference image to recreate was the mountains of the landscape. This was because the walls wouldn't allow the player to climb up them, and the landscape would only have to be similar to the reference image. The most challenging part of the landscape to make was the river. It was so difficult because i had to make everything else a higher elevation compared to the river. If i could improve one part of my terrain, i would definitely improve the hill that's barely visible in the screenshot provided. I want to improve it because i feel like i could have done better on it.

Paint Landscape Reflection

Painting with layers allows variety in a world's appearance. For example, if i were to just apply a material to the landscape,  the landscape would look the same all together. I chose to put grass on the ground and on the sides of mountains. When painting with gravel, i put it on the tops of mountains, on the seafloor, and spots close to the sea floor. Adding water affects the atmosphere by giving the world a coastal like atmosphere.

Paths And Checkpoints Reflection

I used paths to guide the player through the world by making them not follow a linear path. I used natural barriers to keep players on the expected path. A choice that makes my checkpoints unique is that they each have a different theme. I did this because i wanted each checkpoint to feel greatly different. Checkpoints can make a level easier or harder, a player would at minimum experience the level tedious if you don't put any checkpoints.

Trees and plants reflection

The foliage settings that made the biggest difference in realism was density, align to normal, and radius. Adding vegetation makes the world feel more lifelike. Without vegetation, the world feels very bland but with vegetation it makes it feel like you're exploring a very lifelike world. You can use forests and plants to shape gameplay by making vegetation lead to where you need to go. In addition, vegetation can be used to shape exploration by hiding secrets within the vegetation.

Build a Castle Reflection

I decided to make my castle less of a castle in it's current state. This is because i want to make it look more unique. I organized my assets by putting assets in a folder with assets they're connected to. This helps organize because i don't need to look for forever for just a certain part of a level. The atmosphere i want players to feel when they enter the castle is foreboding.

Lights and Flickering Reflection

Part 1

Adding lighting changes the feeling of the castle by making it feel more or less eerie.  The choices i made to balance visibility and mood was by only placing down a few braziers. This also was because for some reason this computer didn't like me placing too many braziers. The light can be used as a decoration to set the mood of an area as well as making more lifelike worlds. In addition, lights can be used as a gameplay tool by leading the player to where they need to go.

Part 2

Flickering lights can help make the castle feel more eerie.  I believe it's important to add variation between different light sources in order to not have every light source be very bland. Think about it, would you enjoy a good game more if it has good atmosphere and scenery? If i wanted to push the atmosphere further, i could probably add dynamic shadows to some of the check points i added. I say this because one of the checkpoints that i made has a light similar to the braziers in the castle.

Castle Village Reflection

Details i added to make my village feel lived in was missing items. This can be shown as proof that someone did live here sometime. Coins can affect how players explore a level by leading them to where they need to go in the level. Gems encourage players to explore the level as a whole. This is because gems would commonly be hidden from the player. The gems also are found in secret areas hidden from view a player wouldn't usually find in a playthrough if they aren't extensively looking for secrets. A game can have hints as to were gems are by either leading the player to the location of the gem with coins or giving a hint via the environment.

Creative Expanse Reflection

The changes i made in the creative expanse connect to how props and buildings can be used to convey a story without worlds. This is proven by how at the market, there is visible damage to the gates to the market. I can balance decoration with gameplay flow by making it so the player always knows where they're supposed to go. I do this by using coins, and i mix decoration with gameplay flow by hiding secrets in the decorations in the level. This makes it so it rewards players for exploring the level while keeping the gameplay flow primarily constant and keeps the decorations from hiding the way the player is supposed to go.

Challenges Intro

My  Current world design Sorta supports the challenges since multiple of the areas where challenges will go are very open. I am going to adjust the map so the area with many trees has a tower in the middle of it, which will be where the challenge before approaching the castle will take place. I think the challenges should be hard excluding the first challenge.

Sweeper Arm

Adding Ragdoll Physics makes the player character actually look like they get harmed when the player fails. To balance Difficulty, i would make the sweepers fast or slow depending on the platform the player will be on. This makes it so the player has a chnce on small platforms and doesn't have no challenge on big platforms. This first obstacle sets the tone for the rest of the challenges by showing the player how the challenges will work. It shows the difficulty of the challenges early.

Narrow Path

Adding Pendulums changed the feel by making the level feel more foreboding. This is because the pendulums are very big.  Adjustments i made to balance challenge and frustration was adding parts of the challenge that are very obvious skips, allowing a player to skip a part of the challenge. Polishing the environment changes how players experience the challenge by changing how the challenge works. Depending on the terrain in a challenge, it could make the challenge easier or harder.

Boulders

The size and speed of the boulder affects how dangerous it feels due to it feeling like it can actually end someone's life. I balanced safe zones and danger by making it so there are points where the boulders can't hurt you all the time, but the safe zones aren't so safe. after playtesting, i would increase the size of the boulders spawning but decrease the frequency. The boulder hill hazard feels different because once you enter, you aren't safe anywhere. Adding destruction effects made the boulders feel incredibly powerful. In my particle system, i chose to add a rock basalt material with a bigger size but lasting less than the normal rock, this is due to the size of the boulders. Visual effects can help communicate that a hazard is gone by showing it being destroyed.

Timed Gate

The timed element of this challenge will make the player have a feeling of urgency. Adjustments i'll make to open duration is making the time the door is open last longer based on how long it would take someone to complete the challenge. This will make it so the challenge is fair. Timing based obstacles can increase tension without feeling unfair by allowing the player to retry without consequence. This increases tension mainly due to how the player will be rushing to get past the challenge.

Abandoned "Village"

I made my abandoned village a mix of multiple obstacles the player has already encountered. I hand made the interior and exterior of it. Since there is going to be many obstacles in this challenge, i gave the player a good amount of time to get through it all. In addition to the path length, it has to last long since it's possible to make many mistakes. This challenge adds tension by  making player want to hurry since the path's very long, people won't want to go through it again.

Enemy Tower

Ranged attacks made it so i had to position the enemies in a way where they don't immediately start firing when you spawn. I might lower the tower's sensing distance since it could immediately shoot when you just spawned. I also might increase the firerate to make it feel more like a robot. Adding a visible enemy to the tower adds immersion because it shows the player that something doesn't want them there. In addition, it can also show that possibly the area was abandoned because of the enemy.

Predict Movement

Changing Projectile speed affects the predicted aim point  because the predicted aim point will either be sooner or later depending on if the projectile speed is higher or lower. It also changes the player's dodge options since if the projectile is faster, the player won't have as much time to react. I would tweak Aim Offset And  sensing interval because i would decrease the size of the projectile substantially. In addition, Aim offset being high

Attacking Tower Reflection

The per tower variable that has the most impact on fairness is the time between throws variable. This is because if there is a tower that has very fast attack speed, you need to be able to hide behind something in order to make it more fair. An advantage that the event on component hit had was that the second the projectile would hit the player or a wall, it would immediately trigger the on component hit event. The vfx changes player readability by telling the player if they got hit.  I would iterate on timing and color to improve it by making the projectile look like it was broken into pieces.

Guarded Marketplace

Overlapping sight cones kept things fair when one cone will constantly fire at you and one won't but will be more of a threat. The fence helped guide the players at the beggining of the challenge so it's more clear on the direction you need to go. The wood acted more like blockers in order to help guide the player as to where the cannons are located. An adjustment that improved fairness the most would be the amount of blockers. This is because it allows me to make extremely fast cannons without making it feel unfair.

Adjusting Feedback 

A change i made due to peer feedback was changing the boulder section so the first safe spot was on a corner. This is because the corner made it so you had no idea if a boulder was coming and you wouldn't have enough time to make it to the next safe spot before a boulder would appear. The feedback challenged my boulder challenge because i thought it was pretty fair since there's space you can walk in between the boulders. However, the hitbox of the player is bigger than the space in between the boulders, which is why it wasn't fair. The part of my challenge zone that feels like it improved the most was my boulder challenge.

Decorate World

I decorated the boulder challenge slightly, all i did was add a house. I expanded the last challenge a bit, by making more unique cannons that do different things. I decided to expand it so it was more of a challenge. The changes i made affect the way the way players experience the challenges because it makes the challenge seem like it was supposed to act as some sort of defence system. I balance decoration with gameplay by making it so the decoration doesn't interfere with the main challenge.

Module 7 reflection 1

I believe sound has the biggest affect on how players experience a game. This is because being able to hear the noises coming from a hazard helps make  the hazard feel real. The most important connection i learned between levels, widgets, and controllers is that levels rely on controllers in order for a game to work correctly, and that widgets rely on levels so they can be shown and interacted with properly. Storing And Switching between widgets in the player controller makes the ui system more efficient since it allows the Ui seem like it's changing which allows it to seem like the menu is changing and also makes it so you don't have to worry about trying to find where you put the widgets and how to change them. The most useful takeaway from these lessons was being able to store and switch between widgets.

Module 7 Reflection 2

5/06/26

Distance based sounds make my game feel more realistic because you won't hear a sound if you're far enough from what's making the sound. Random Timing and sound variation makes ambience feel more natural because it doesn't make it seem like the same sounds are being played repeatedly.  Small audio details that make me feel the most impact include sound effects that are activated due to a player's actions. The most useful takeaway from these lessons for me was that sounds help express realism when used correctly. This is the case because sounds in each lesson is used to simulate realistic environments. 

Module 7 Reflection 3

Controlling music transitions through blueprints makes the player experience during a cutscene makes the cutscene more fluid which allows the player to be able to experience the cutscene without interruptions. Planning separate scenes for each area changed the way i thought about pacing because i had to think about what would work best within the cutscene and how fast the camera should move. The technical adjustments that made the biggest difference were making sure the camera wouldn't cut off. The most useful takeaways i got from this was that being able to make fluid cutscenes is important for games. This is because it helps the player become more invovled and interested in the game.

Red Thread

The thing that connects different parts of my creative work is mostly just trying to make something unique. The design of the enemies in the 2nd level represent me most clearly. I believe this because instead of choosing to also do a tower, i decided to do floating cannons. My red thread could evolve as i continue learning and creating to make more unique obstacles and other things.