Escape Game 

Escape Game

Assignment Overview 

In this project, you are tasked with creating a game based on the theme of "Escape." The concept of escape can be interpreted in various ways, such as physically escaping from danger, breaking free from constraints, or even escaping into a different reality. This project will allow you to explore creative storytelling, game mechanics, and audience engagement. 

Your game should stand out in both visuals and gameplay, compelling your audience to engage with your work. You will research, design, develop, and present a vertical slice of your game. This project will help you develop skills in project planning, teamwork, creative problem-solving, and critical evaluation—all essential for a career in the games industry. 

Learning Outcomes 

On completion of this unit, learners will be able to. 

Understand the Audience for a Creative Media Production: 

• Identify and analyze the characteristics of your target audience. 

• Use your research to shape your game’s design and mechanics. 

Plan and Implement a Creative Media Production for an Audience: 

• Make independent decisions in planning and developing your game. 

• Select and use appropriate media and processes to communicate your ideas. 

Evaluate Creative Media Production for an Audience: 

• Critically evaluate how well your game meets the needs of your target audience. 

• Reflect on your learning and set SMART targets for future projects. 

Unit Criteria 

Unit 09: Characteristics & Contexts In Media & Communication   

LO1: Understand the characteristics and context for a chosen media and communication activity.  

1.1 - Analyse the characteristics and context for a chosen media and communication activity. 

1.2 - Interpret research activity to develop ideas for creative production. 

LO2: Be able to use knowledge of the characteristics and context of a media and communication activity. 2.1 - Use knowledge of characteristics and context to plan and develop creative solutions for a chosen media and communication activity.  

2.2 - Apply practical skills, knowledge and understanding of characteristics and contexts to produce creative solutions for a chosen media and communication activity. 

LO3: Be able to use evaluation in support of creative media production. 

3.1 - Critically evaluate creative solutions against identified characteristics and context for a chosen media and communication activity.  

3.2 - Critically reflect on learning to inform personal development. 

Task One: Planning & Pitching Your Game 

Begin by mind mapping ideas and spending time researching into different types of games that fit into the theme of ‘Escape’. Once you have an initial idea you will need to spend time developing both your idea and your planning documentation ensuring they meet the needs of your intended target audience. 

Unit Criteria: LO1 (1.1, 1.2) & LO2 (2.1)  

Task One Breakdown: 

Choose Your Concept: 

• Mind map ideas around the theme of "Escape." 

• Identify your target audience and analyse their characteristics. 

Research and Develop Ideas: 

• Conduct research on games with similar themes. 

• Document your research findings, focusing on how they will inform your game design. 

Pitch Your Game: 

• Prepare sketches, mood boards, and a project plan. 

• Present your ideas to your tutor and classmates, incorporating feedback to refine your concept. 

Task Two: Pre-Production & Design 

Move onto to developing your idea and working on your initial concepts and thinking about how you can create a short ‘vertical slice’ that fits the intended theme.   

Unit Criteria: LO2 (2.1, 2.2)  

Task Two Breakdown: 

Develop Your Game Design: 

• Create detailed wireframes and concept art. 

• Finalize your game’s mechanics, narrative, and aesthetic. 

Production Plan: 

• Draft a production plan with clear milestones and task assignments. 

• Ensure your design can be completed within the given timeframe. 

Mock-Ups: 

• Produce mock-ups or stills to demonstrate your game’s style. 

• Present these to your tutor for approval before moving to production.

ask Three: Game Development  

Develop your game idea, working towards completing a ‘vertical slice’ that shows of the main premises of your game.  

Unit Criteria: LO2 (2.2) & LO3 (3.1). 

Task Three Breakdown: 

Develop Your Vertical Slice: 

• Begin the development process, focusing on creating a functional vertical slice (3-10 minutes of gameplay). 

• Use feedback from peers and tutors to refine your game. 

Regular Updates: 

• Provide regular updates on your progress, documenting challenges and solutions. 

Testing: 

• Conduct playtesting sessions to gather feedback. 

• Make necessary adjustments to improve gameplay and user experience.
   

Task Four: Presentation Of Final Game 

Develop a trailer that showcases your game to the best of its abilities. Your presentation should be engaging and reflect your personal style and capabilities. 

Unit Criteria: LO3 (3.1, 3.2) 

Task Four Breakdown: 

Prepare Your Presentation: 

• Create a presentation that showcases your game’s development, including screenshots, renders, and gameplay footage. 

Present Your Work: 

• Present your final game to the class, discussing how you addressed the theme of "Escape" and engaged your audience. 

• Reflect on your creative process and the decisions that shaped your project. 

Task Five: Evaluation & SMART Targets 

Upload all your work onto your website, ensuring it is professional and easy to navigate. Submit the link to your website along with your final evaluation. 

Unit Criteria: LO3 (3.1) 

Task Five Breakdown: 

Evaluate Your Project: 

• Write a detailed evaluation of your game, focusing on how well it meets the needs of your target audience. 

Reflect and Set SMART Targets: 

• Reflect on your learning experience and identify areas for improvement. 

• Set two SMART targets (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) for future projects. 

THE FLAMES

This lesson, we were walked through creating a fire effect in Unreal Engine using the Niagara system.

I came in pretty late to this lesson, having to catch up using the Powerpoint document, so it was all pretty straight forward for me. There won't be much to talk about.

First, we were told to create the flames themselves. Obviously. Here's what I ended up with.

THE SMOKE

To make the fire more realistic, we followed up with adding smoke. Once again, pretty simple, mostly involving just copy and pasting Flames and changing a few values.

THE DEBRIS

For a much smaller detail, we were told to add debris. Little particles the same colour as the fire, flying out of it. Very small, but it does add quite a bit.

HEAT DISTORTION

Also small, yet a much more noticeable detail, we were told to add heat distortion. I was kinda surprised how simple this was. I sort of figured it'd involve a lot more complicated of a process, but it was handled in the same blueprint relatively the same way.

A LIGHT SOURCE

Finally, we added a light source to the initial flames effect. The value we were told to set was very small, and the level template is well lit, so this effect isn't very noticeable. In the screenshot, I had to drag it under the map so it'd have any darkness at all to light.

SMOKE PORTAL

This lesson, we were walked through creating a smoke portal in Unreal Engine using the Niagara system.

Like last time, I came in pretty late. Regardless, I got ahead of everyone else pretty quickly using the lesson's Powerpoint.

This effect system seems really fun to play around with. We went well beyond what we learned last time and the effect created is really cool looking. These computers don't seem to like it all that much, though. We were even warned to pause the timeline while messing with the gas emitter so that it won't crash the computers. Even still, so much as saving this took a long time, so I had to pray that it didn't crash between my irregular saves.

The same effect but with the sprite renderer on the particle emitter turned off, so it's just the smoke. The initial particle emitter is supposed to set a sort of path for the gas emitter to follow, which is a really cool function.

Here's what the portal looks like ingame, with a few additional changes.

And while I was going back, I realized one of my settings was off, so the portal looked off. That explains it.

Here's the fixed portal.

After messing with lighting to add colour to the portal, here's what it looks like.

ADDITIONAL PARTICLES

Finally, to add a little more depth to our portal, we were walked through adding little particles alongside the smoke. It was simple, and mostly involved copying the initial particle emitter, changing some settings, and making it visible. It's sort of similar to the fire debris effect. It's a very subtle effect, but it's cool.

CRYOGENIC SMOKE

This lesson, we were walked through creating a cryogenic smoke effect in Unreal Engine using the Niagara system.

Unlike last lessons, I was actually able to get in on time, haha. Regardless, I did peek at the document since I do also like seeing written instructions.

First, we were instructed to download a free model from the Epic Games marketplace. Specifically, a model from Paragon. They released the models from this game for free on there at some point. I downloaded the Revenant model since I found the design cool. We were recommended a bigger, chunkier model, so I probably could have picked better, but whatever. Maybe I'll go back and find another one later if this one doesn't work out.

Of course, we were also told to make a new, blank level within our project files. I actually didn't know you could do this. It's obvious, but I guess I just never thought about it.

This time, the tutorial itself is a lot shorter, and we were finished within a few steps.

And here's what that looks like ingame.

I really probably should have picked a bigger model.

New model. Doesn't look too much better, but it works.

TOON SHADER

This lesson, we were walked through creating a toon shader effect in Unreal Engine. This topic was specifically requested by one of my friends, so that's cool. I've been actually thinking about shaders and how those work recently, so I'm eager to learn about them.

First few steps in and we have this. Looks like an old Noir film. Just in case I wanted to make an old Noir film game on Unreal, I guess I know how.

After a bit of work, it looks a little bit more like what it's meant to.

And finally, a few more steps later, I have a base for the shader.

Pretty good so far.

It's really good as it is, but it's still not quite finished. I still have to isolate the skybox.

With this change, the shader no longer affects objects at a certain distance, such as the skybox.

And with that, the shader is finished.

I can mess with the ShadowTint to get some pretty cool looking effects!