Unity 2D UFO Mods

1. Which step in the list above was the most challenging for you?

- The most challenging step for me was getting the player to collide with the new pickups and then making those disappear and then add score. At first they both had separate codes, so I had two lines for "void OnTriggerEnter2D(Collider2D other)", one for each pickup. I was able to fix this problem after a lot of trial and error by removing the second one and adding it to my first with an "else if" line of code to go after the "if" code. I learned that you don't always need to give something it's own set of code, and can use "else if" on similar things.

2. Link to Download

Unity Check-In

• What stage you're at in your Unity adventure (which tutorial video are you on, or if you're on the second assignment, which step are you working on?).

- I've recently completed the second assignment.

• What challenges have you encountered so far?

- I encountered an issue where I couldn't get the new pickups to disappear and the player would just move over them, I fixed it by replacing a separate piece of code with a "else if" line.

- I also had some difficulties setting up the pop-up for a tie, or making sure the game would only check the score after all pickups were collected.

• What's the most interesting thing you've learned so far?

- I've learned that if there's a problem, with enough googling and trying things you can eventually fix it.

EDIT: I can't seem to make the text in this post any larger for some reason, sorry about that.

Unity 2D UFO Tutorial

1. Have you done any scripting or coding before? When / why / for what?
   
   I've done a little bit of coding before while working on re-creating the game "Asteroids" in game maker as an assignment for Game Design last year.
   
2. What did you think of all of the detailed explanation as the narrator looked at the code documentation, explained how he was choosing each piece of code, etc? 
   
   I found the explanations pretty useful in understanding what code did what and why he chose the code.
   
3. On a scale of 1 (super clear) to 10 (super confusing), rate how well you understand what the code in the scripts does. Were some sections easier to understand than others (controlling player movement, controlling camera movement, rotating pickup objects, collecting pickup objects, counting pickup objects, displaying score, displaying win message)? Explain.
   
   I would give it a 3, I have better understanding of the code, but there is still code that doesn't entirely make sense. Understanding the rotating pickup objects, counting pickup objects, and displaying the score/win message was quite easy, while the movement was a little more tricky.
   
4. What part of this 2D UFO game-building process did you find most rewarding or enjoyable? Explain.
   
   Learning code was fun, but the most rewarding part of the process was to see the final product at the end and have it work with no bugs or glitches that mess it up.
   
5. Between about 10:00-12:00 in the collectibles pickup video (7 of 9), you set the tag of the pickup items so that the script knows when it runs into a treasure. What could you do if you wanted to have two different kinds of treasure that were worth different points?
   
   I could give the treasures different IDs, so that in the code there will be separate code for each type of treasure. With the other treasure having a separate name I include an "else if" line of code for when the treasure isn't the first one. For example:
   if apple do +5 points
   else if orange do +10 points
   Something like that.
   
6. Describe one way that you could add complexity to this game.
   
   I could add obstacles that would make it more difficult for the player to obtain all the pickups, or make the pickups move around randomly so they're not just sitting still.
   
7. Include a link to your build folder so I can try your game. This involves a few steps:
   
   Link to game download

Game Designer Skills

After going through the list I feel as if these three skills are ones that I feel confident in.


Brainstorming
- I feel confident in brainstorming ideas for games, worlds, settings, plots, architecture, and more. Although I can't think of a lot of things on the fly, I eventually come up with ideas for things. I have some experience brainstorming through coming up with ideas for characters, buildings, or figuring out possible solutions for puzzles or challenges.

Games
- I've played many different games along with many different genres of games; including board games. Through all these years of playing games, I can use the knowledge I've gained from playing them and apply them to creating games. Through 13 years of playing video games, I believe I've developed a familiarity with them and their various genres which will help me in creating games of those genres and developing worlds for those games to exist in.

Architecture
- I've always been interested in architecture and building/creating worlds, cities and even just buildings. I've played a lot of games that all have different architecture styles along with different settings and styles of worlds. In games where I can build and create, I enjoy building and designing building in-game, spending hours building and creating whatever I feel like, which gives me some experience in architecture; whether it be through actual building or just seeing different environments around me while playing games.


One skill that could prove to be particularly challenging for me would be Business, I don't have that much experience in business, so it could prove to be challenging until I were to take time to learn about it. Although this skill might be challenging now, I'm sure if I put time into any skill I could improve on it.

Another year of school.

Neato

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 3

- What difficulties did you have? 

      During the process of making my game, the only real difficulty was creating the power-up and all the aspects of it. I had some difficulties creating the charge for the power-up and creating the effect of multiple bullets at a time.

- How did you solve them?

      I solved the charge problem with multiple sprites for a battery of some sort, making it change depending on a global value (global.charge) which would increase for each red asteroid destroyed, up to a total value of 9. As for the multiple bullets, I searched online on how to do it and found code that enabled the player to shoot 3 bullets at once during the power-up.

- What did you change in your game to make it unique? How do these changes affect gameplay?

      I made a custom model for the player along with making the asteroids more unique by adding a random rotation to them as they're created so that even if there is two of the same asteroid, the rotation will be different making them seem unique.

      A big part of the game that I made unique was making a power-up that requires you to destroy 9 small red asteroids which spawn upon destroying the large asteroids. As you destroy them, the "battery" in the top right will slowly charge up and once fully charged it grants you the ability to shoot 3 bullets for a total of ten seconds. During the power-up the player is also invincible so they won't die during the power-up.

Download

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 2

- What difficulties did you have? 

At one point I somehow made the game unable to launch due to an error in the code.

- How did you solve them?

I looked through my code quickly to discover a few extra brackets, removed them and then the game launched fine.

Extra Stuff

-Made my own custom player sprite, and made the asteroids rotate randomly upon creation so they would look more unique.

Download

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 1

What difficulties did you have? How did you solve them?

I didn't have difficulties with anything while I made this.

Download

GameMaker - Catch The Clown

Download

Blender - Character Modeling - Part 1

Blender File Link

PS. Started on Part 2 before uploading this.

Indie Game: The Movie

1. What are some of the differences between "big games" and "independent games"?

- Big games could have hundreds of people working on a single game, while independent games very often have less than 50 people working together on a single project.

- Many big games are made by big companies, already giving them some fame and people find out about them easily. Meanwhile it's harder for an independent developer and their game to gain recognition fast since not too many people have heard of them before.


2. What are some of the difficulties the developers in the film have to overcome?

- Some difficulties the developers had to overcome were due dates. For the developer of "Fez" he had to delay the game multiple times because he couldn't finish it in time, or he wanted to redo / add things. Similar to the "Fez" developer the "Super Meat Boy" devs had to work extra hard in order to make a playable version of their game for a gaming event.

- The "Fez" developer had to deal with his one co-worker leaving him, and then having to go into legal stuff that if went wrong could mean that "Fez" couldn't ever be released.


3. What do you think is attractive about developing an indie game? What do you think you would like about working on an indie game? What do you think you might not like?

- The thing that's attractive about developing an indie game is that it's your game. You put your ideas and imagination in to it, so it's a game not only for the people but just as much for the developer too. By creating your own game, it becomes a part of you.


4. What is some advice you might have for someone trying to create their own game based on what you learned in the film?

- Some advice I have would be to try not and set a due date for your game, it seems that if you set a due date you become stressed over that day. What if your not finished? What if you find more things you need to fix up and polish? If you delay the game multiple times people will begin to lose interest or lose hope in the game. But if you just relax and work as hard as you can until the game is finished you won't have to stress over that upcoming due date for your game that you've been working on.



5. What is the best part of completing the creation of a game for the developers?

- The best part is just a feeling of accomplishment, a developer could have spent 3-5 years making this one game with maybe two others, and for that project to be finally finished and be able to release it as a full game to the public would be amazing.
 

Blender - Mushroom Animation

Mushroom Animation

Term 2 Interim Self-Assessment

Daemon, D
Block: 2
Grade Level: 11

1. Give yourself a mark out of 5 for each of the following: 
a.    5/5    Attendance (consistent attendance, on time to class)
b.    5/5    Achievement (assignments completed and posted)
c.    5/5    Attitude (positive, cooperative) 
d.    3.5/5    Effort (uses class time wisely, consistent effort in all aspects of class work)

2. Please list two specific (with examples) skills or concepts you have learned so far this term:

• I can: Create basic things using scratch.
• I can: Create mushrooms using blender.

3. Please list one specific topic or skill you are going to work towards improving in Term 2:

• I will work to improve: Completing assignments faster, and spend less time playing on my phone
• How you will improve this: Work harder on assignments, and spend less time on my phone.

4. Any additional comments you would like your teacher or parents/guardians to know?

• Yes

Blender - Mushroom

Blender - Mushroom

Scratch Level 2 - Racing Game

1. What difficulties did you have with programming this game? How did you fix them? Be specific.
   
   - I had some difficulties with getting the high score to work, but eventually I fixed it by... I'm not sure how I fixed it but it works.
   
2. What changes to the tutorial game did you add? Why and how?
   
   - I added a countdown before the game starts. Making it so you have to wait until after the countdown to move.
   
   - I added many of my own little graphic details like the border around the road, the yellow lines on the road, and my custom start/finish line.

Kodu Pac-Man

1. How close is your game to the original? What is different? What is the same?
   
   - My game is somewhat similar to the original Pac-Man
   
   - Instead of collecting little white dots, the player has to collect 90 apples in order to win the game.
   
   - One thing about the original Pac-Man and this that are the same is the map layout, I attempted to make it the same as the map of Pac-Man.
   
2. What extra or creative details did you change or add to your version of the game? Why did you create these changes?
   
   - I made a power-up the player can receive by going to the middle of the map and it allows them to shoot for a limited time. During that time the player can eliminate the "ghosts" but that's their only chance to do so.
   
3. What difficulties did you have? How did you fix this?
   
   - One difficulty I had was that I kept accidentally deleting the floor of my map. I don't know how I did this, but eventually I stopped doing it somehow.
   
   - The "ghosts" would get stuck on corners and would occasionally run into each other and get stuck. I managed to fix this by cleaning up the paths and making the corridors two blocks wide instead of only one. Editing the corridors also helped get the player stuck on less corners too.
   
4. What feedback did your beta testers have for you and how did you implement their suggestions?
   
   - My beta testers led me to improve my game by fixing up the paths and editing the map, allowing easier movement for the player and bots.
5. What would you improve with your game? What would be the next steps with your game?
   
   - I would improve the power-up, possibly add more and a different variety of them.
   
   - The paths of the AI and the map would be improved so there was no potential of a player or bot getting stuck on a corner.
   
   - The next steps with my game would to improve controls, power-ups, bots, and map layout.

The map layout.

The map layout with the paths used by the bots

Player Code: The two pages of player code which are the regular code for controlling the player and victory/loss conditions, along with switching to page 2 if the player picks up the power-up.

Player Code (Power-up): These two pages of code are for the player once they pick up the power-up, allowing them to shoot the "ghosts".

 Bot Code: One bot starts out moving, but as the player collects more apples more bots begin moving around the map. (Example: When the player reaches 10 points, this bot will begin moving.

Blender - Intro

Blender - Intro