Beta

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Alpha

I spent just over 3 hours working on my project today, this is probably the week I have struggled the most with my project and annoyingly enough once I figured things out it seemed like silly little mistakes. I kept making minor mistakes that would take me forever to figure out. 

Overall I am still pretty happy with my progress so far I think the little mess ups here and there are what help me to learn and grow in this. My car drives smoothly along the road and is easily controlled, I have worked on adding more obstacles and making sure the car stops and the game ends when it hits them. I have added a timer to my game now too so that players can see how long they were driving for and maybe try to beat their score next time they play. 

I still need to add a couple more things like music to my game which I will be doing over the next week. I still haven't actually found the music I am going to use yet but I want it to be something upbeat and fun. I also want to continue working on the visuals in the game and maybe add in more obstacles and items to bring the game to life. Another thing I would like to include into my game might be a Game Over visual for when a player crashes into an obstacle

(screenshots taken from my game in Unity)

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First Playable

 I have begun developing my game and this is really very exciting. From the unity tutorials I've learned so much that I am finally getting to put to use and am still constantly learning new things that I can implement into my own game. Over the coming weeks we will get to see these different aspects come together and hopefully create a project I'll be really proud of. 

I spent my time last week getting assets together and figuring out my scene, this week was more about starting to put it in action and the actual mechanics of the game, technically you can call it a working game at this point but I don't think it'd be the most enjoyable game to play right now as its still very early on. The car drives and the scene is there but theres still plenty more work to be done. I wont lie to you this hasn't been the easiest project I have ever done and its taken me plenty of googling, deleting and restarting to get where I am and I don't think that is going to change any time soon. 

(Screenshot from my game)

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Game Design Document

https://www.dundoc.com/project/

 

( Image found at - https://images.app.goo.gl/d6bsztWwEQq48Bh98 )

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Game Idea Research

 The game idea I have decided to focus on is a driving game, I am choosing this one because I think it's the type of game that anyone can enjoy and most people would have some experience with something similar. I also think having done the first unity tutorial, this is something realistic that I can do while I'm still learning and getting used to designing my own game. My idea for this game, visually is to have it look like a race track has been pulled from the earth and is floating in space. I have found a series of youtube tutorials which I think will be super helpful for parts of my project heres one of them!- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMRhUK7bY7w.  I found this article called The Scientific Secrets To Designing The Perfect Racing Video Game, In this article it gives tips on how to improve the users experience and what to factor in when designing the track they will be driving on, for example they say to make the road a third bigger than it would be in real life to make it a little easier for the player but also to allow for the best camera angles on any twists and turns. 

The three game mechanics I would like to have in my game are:

Steering-

The player will have to navigate their way around the race track which will include many different twists, turns and ups and downs. I have some experience with this from the unity tutorials we have done so far but I'm hoping for this to be a little more complicated than the first driving game we made.

A Timer-

The timer will be in the corner of the screen and keep track of how long it takes you to get around the course and keep track of this so you can keep trying to beat your score each time!

Example of a game with a timer in the top right corner, found at-https://images.app.goo.gl/mY7ykCTqoyibYpWq5

Obstacles/items - 

While having to navigate your way around the course, there will also be items you need to avoid and some items you need to collect. The items to avoid will make it harder to get around and slow you down, I would like to make it so that the items you "collect" can boost your speed for a couple of seconds, similarly to the speed boost ramps in Mario Kart. 

Speed ramp in mario kart, found at-https://images.app.goo.gl/XcTqfULtRsz7G8KZ7

I am really looking forward to creating this game and spending more time developing this idea into something I will hopefully be really proud of in the end. 

Thanks for reading :)

Game Brainstorm

 I’ve mentioned in my blog before that I'm not much of a gamer myself, so I think it's going to be pretty hard for me to come up with good game ideas. My plan here is to think of something that I know I would enjoy playing and to do this I’ll try to pull inspiration from my very limited gaming experience. My skillset in game creating isn't the most impressive (hopefully it will get better with this module) so I need to think of some games with a fairly basic concept that I can figure out.  

Game 1- 

My initial idea for a game is inspired by the game Subway Surfers, I used to play this a lot when I was younger and have recently downloaded the app again. I would love to design a game like this where you are running through a map, dodging some things and collecting items. Of course, I would want to make my game as unique as possible so I’m still not sure what setting or theme I would want to give my game. I have a few different scenes in mind, maybe a beach setting dodging people coming towards you, sandcastles and crabs while collecting things like beach balls, shells, sun cream and coins. Similar to subway surfers if you trip up slightly you will be chased, of course not by a train inspector but by the beach lifeguard. In subway surfers they have hoverboards and I’m thinking my version of this could be a surfboard. My other setting idea for this would be to have it set in a busy city where you are running through the roads, dodging cars instead of trains, collecting coins and other bonus items and you would be chased by a police officer instead of a train inspector. This game would also get faster the longer it goes on like it does in subway surfers as to make it more difficult without having to make additional levels. More info on subway surfers here- https://subwaysurfers.com/

  

subway surfers Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/QTpK14G1AFBKAYmt6

Game 2-  

For my second idea I’m thinking of a driving game. I would like it to be a little more creative than just driving through streets. I'm thinking more like Mario kart. I’d like to have my scene set up as a big race track and to make it even more difficult I would want it to be floating somewhere like in space so that you don’t only have to worry about winning the race but also about staying on the track (just like in the rainbow road race track). I don’t know if I would do it just the road the way they have it here or if I would do it like a floating chunk of earth so it's only on the edges you have to worry about falling off. I don’t want the game to be too difficult as I myself would like to be able to play it and I’ve never been particularly good on the rainbow road. I’d also like to be able to include a big jump somewhere on the track as I always found these to be pretty fun parts of the races.  More info on mario kart here- https://mariokarttour.com/en-GB

 

 mario kart Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/vxPDCuCi2wNtSB3DA

 

 Game 3-  

I recently remembered a game my brother and I used to play when I was younger, and it struck inspiration in me. For my third game idea I’m thinking of a game where you build rollercoasters in a Themepark. You are given different rails that you can put together in different ways to make all different rides. You would have different options of seats, colours and tracks which you can put together however you like. I got this idea from the game Rollercoaster Tycoon (pictured. Below). I used to love playing this and getting to be creative with putting the tracks together, trying to make them bigger and better every time.  After you build your rollercoaster your character will get to ride in it, and you can save it and carry on building more and more to expand and construct your Themepark to be your dream Themepark. More info on Rollercoaster Tycoon here- http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/

 

rollercoaster tycoon Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/jYeyEaRcaGLwjNHz5

Game 4-  

For my last game idea, I’m thinking of some sort of farming game. I’ve seen lots of these types of games over the years. In the game you would be given a patch of land and some starter seeds. You can then plant the seeds and they will grow overtime, when you harvest your crops you will receive coins and more seeds, you can use this to then buy more seeds and animals and continue to grow your farm. One game, along with many others that has inspired this idea is Farmville. I feel like this is a timeless sort of game, people don’t really get bored of it as its always growing and expanding. I would love my game to be as advanced as the other games out there like this but of course mine will be a simplified version of those. A simple plot of land where you can grow crops in exchange for more seeds and coins, to use for more land and equipment.  More info on Farmville here- https://www.zynga.com/games/farmville/

 

farmville Image source:https://images.app.goo.gl/M41mD1xUNseeMd48A

As of right now I'm not sure how advanced I’ll be able to make my game so I'm not sure which of my ideas (if any) is the most realistic. I’ll be really proud of myself if I can pull together any of the ideas I've listed here and I’m genuinely really looking forward to making one of them a reality, to learn and grow my game creating skillset.  

Thanks for reading :)