Unity free tutorials

This week for the Unity free tutorials I chose two tutorials that I thought would be great assets to my game. The first tutorial I watched was 'How to make a mini map' by Jimmy Vegas. I began by right clicking my player and creating a camera. I then dragged the camera upwards to create a downwards angle on the player. From here I created a render texture to create the mini map. I then went to game objects, UI and created a raw image where I also edited the height and width. Lastly for this tutorial I created a small circle that would indicate where the player is on the map.

The next tutorial I watched was another one by Jimmy Vegas called 'How to create a main menu'. I started in the main camera section where I created a button from the game object section. I then created a play button and a quit button which I scripted for using Javascript to link the buttons. These are the main menu buttons which have two functions. From there I dragged and dropped the script to the game object and applied the script. Finally I was able to create my animated main menu.

I found these tutorials to be very helpful as they really helped me to create important aspects that I'd like to include in my own game. I find that choosing my own tutorials is helping me to further develop my game and get it to a decent standard.

Game
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Game Stories

For this week's reading we were given two articles called "Into the woods: A practical guide to the Hero's Journey" and "What every game developer needs to know about Story". Both of these articles sparked my interest and both were very informative about the topic of the Hero's story. The article that I enjoyed the most was the first one which explored Joseph Campbell's work. 

In this article we explored and dissected the journey that the hero of the story has to go through in order to fulfill a myth. Firstly the question is what practical use is the hero's journey to us as storytellers and game writers? It's important because myths are important, they're how we teach each other how to behave and who we are. Myths are also used to guide actions, The Cry for Myth by Rollo May is used here as an example. This example shows that there's an adaptive advantage to myths. It also goes into the theory of "kin selection" which states that evolutionary fitness gives genes the ability to promote survival and copies of itself. 

Successful tribes were tribes that found ways to encourage everyone to act for the good of the tribe instead of themselves individually. In this article the author also explained what would happen if a myth was taken away from a man. The man would become depressed and mentally ill. Storytelling and literature are the main medias used to tell different myths. Literature proves that there is in fact order in the universe. 

Joseph Campbell also summarized a list of elements of a good myth which included establishing the hero's world, the call to adventure, gaining the hero's prize and finally returning it to the community. Next we learned how to use the hero's journey to build stories which was explained in a number of steps. The first step is to pick a theme and myth which leads to the next step of creating the hero which would be someone who can embody that premise. The third step shows us some characteristics on how to create a good villain. Some of these characteristics include traits similar to the hero, he maybe an outlaw, clever and resourceful, cruel and not forgiving. Step four tells us to show the hero's normal world, the player must see the hero's world that he's trying to save. The fifth step is to disrupt the hero's world, this can be done by taking him out of his normal world and forcing him into action. Next is to enter the mythological woods for the trail of trials. Each level should show the incremental growth. Step seven is to confront the evil one or fight the bad guy. The eight step is to acquire the prize which is the thing worth fighting to acquire. The final step is the hero's return in this part he will return the prize to the community. 

The next part of the article discusses the three act structure and the game designers journey. The designer must pick myths that people would believe and put those myths into the game. The myths that are created have the power to change lives. Finally, the designer must take the hero's journey themselves. 

Links:

Movie Outline

Dan Harmon

Piper

Hero's 

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First Playable

This week using Unity I developed my game further. So far I'm finding Unity a bit difficult as some of the simpler aspects have stopped working since I updated the Unity software to the latest version. Despite this I still tried my best to further develop my game as I'd like to at least make it look how I envisioned it in my game design document.

This week I further developed my game this week by creating a couple of gems which will be hidden in the tall grass and trees within my game. I also successfully added in my chosen background music which I'm fairly proud of as not many things in Unity have worked for me this week! I chose a calm, mellow piece of background music that will loop throughout my game while it's being played.
The textures, materials, music and structures are working well for me.

The main problem I had with Unity this week is unexplained really somehow my game scenery has turned red. This happened as I was adding textures so it might have something to do with that.
My plan for the future week is to hopefully create and structure some more houses on the island as I mentioned in my previous post Unity crashed many times and erased my building structures so I plan on recreating them in the coming week. I also plan on adding some bloom aspects and some sound fx.

This is what my game looked like before it suddenly turned red.

Game image

Week 8 Progress

From browsing through my blog up to this point I can say that I'm very pleased with my progress so far. I've put maximum effort into each blog post every week and into my game design document. I think I've a good weekly routine it's very productive and don't procrastinate when doing my work. Each daily task is clearly laid out and well explained so I just note the requirements and get straight to work.

For the readings each week I begin by reading the entire post as a whole and then I read over it again and make notes on points that I think are important to include in my blog post. I conduct my unity tutorials in a similar way by watching the whole video first then watching them a second time, this time taking notes and pausing them as I work with the tutorials and try to do their content in my own game.

For the project part of the module on the weekends I generally start early every Sunday morning by doing the main part of the project. Once that part is completed I go on to give project feedback to my peers on their Dundoc projects then end by leaving friendly comments on others' blogs. If I've any spare time I would start these on a Saturday.

The class assignments that I enjoy would be the reading each week. I really found the weekly readings to be very helpful and informative as I learned a lot about games, what they consist of, how they work etc. I also just enjoyed writing up the blog post about them afterwards as it helped me memorise the information that I learned from that specific reading. If I've any spare time I try and do at least one of the extra credit options.

I'm happy to carry on this way into the second semester as I feel I've produced some good content by having a solid routine each week. I plan on sticking to this routine if possible in the second semester. Overall I'm very happy with my progress up to this point and I'm proud of myself for getting so far and putting my all into any and every task that I'm given each week.

Motivational image 

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Week 8 comments and feedback

I find that giving comments and feedback to fellow students helps a lot on both ends giving and receiving comments and feedback. From looking at the comments and feedback on my blog posts up to this point I can say that they're all very positive with constructive criticism and suggestions for my game. Many of the comments outline and praise what I've done well and also suggest how I could incorporate different aspects into my game. I've been inspired nearly every week by these comments from other CDM Year 2 students and it's helped me improve my overall performance and motivated me to do my best at this module and other modules in general.

I enjoy reading new blogs from my fellow peers each week and leaving a comment on either their blog posts or on their Dundoc project telling them how great they're doing and making suggestions for their games if they're stuck or unsure of what to include in them. From my personal experience I find the comments that tell me what I'm doing good and how I could implement different aspects or elements into my game to be the most useful as I genuinely find it helpful and become inspired from these comments in particular.

When I'm giving feedback and comments to other students in the class I always like to start by telling them what they're doing great and then stating what I liked in particular and end with making some suggestions with constructive criticism that I hope will be of use to them. My aim is to make the comment as helpful as possible. I'm often inspired by the amount of detail that others include in their posts and projects so I take that into consideration when writing my own posts on my blog or when I was creating my Dundoc.

What I enjoy most about the comments and feedback aspects of this module is that I've gotten to  know a lot more people in the year, bonded with them and started new friendships. I love reading a different introduction post or two each week as I get to know these people much better by learning about how they work, what they like and how they are as a person in general.

Looking back on my introduction post I can sense the nerves of writing my first blog post about myself. It seems a bit too structured and organised instead of free-flowing which is actually the type of person that I am, very laid back and easy-going so I don't think this comes across in my introduction post because I was nervous about people learning about me as a person as funny as that sounds! However it does state everything that I'm about and what I love in life (my cat).

I think my blog comments left by others on my blog are perfectly fine as they are. I find them to be really helpful and useful. I'm actually proud of my blog and the level of content that I included in it as I did my absolute best everyday of each week that we had a blog assignment to do. I think this learning technique should really be used in more modules as it's a fun way of learning while also getting to know your peers and developing new friendships with others.

Friendship image
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Week 8 Reading and Writing

The reading and writing assignments for me were very helpful. I found it to be a good, quick way of learning about different subjects from firstly reading the articles, making key notes and bullet points then writing about what I've learned in that article. I think it's a more effective way of learning and although I had to push myself to do it some weeks I ended up learning a lot. My favourite reading so far has been the article from reading week 6. This article taught me all about cozy games. I learned what they are, what elements they include, key elements and how to incorporate them into games. I really liked this particular article as it's relevant to my own game that I'm making, although it's a thriller game it includes many cozy elements. It helped me to expand more in my game design document too. I refer back to this article often when developing my game so I can remind myself of cozy game elements that I wish to include in my game and how to create them in the game itself.

I've used this technique of reading and writing more in my other modules now as I felt it made a huge difference in learning information for me as I sometimes forget what I've read so it helps a lot to write notes as I'm reading then summarize it to myself. I'm happy with the level of work I've put into my blog and my blog posts. I do struggle a bit with Unity but I'm trying my best to create the game that I've envisioned over the past few months. My biggest accomplishment for this class would be to create every aspect I've included in my game design document and create my desired game.

Animal Crossing

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This is my favourite image from a previous blog post of mine. I used this image when writing for the cozy game article in reading week 6. I chose this image as it's colorful and fun. It's also a perfect example of a cozy game. It also has a good representation of a 'cozy' environment. It's a very striking visual representation of a cozy game too as various cozy elements can be seen in this image. This image also resonates with me as Animal Crossing was and still is my favourite type of game to play ever since I was young. Looking at this image emitts a happy or positive feeling as all the characters can be seen smiling and looking rather happy. I also felt that a happy image was needed during this time as college was a bit tense!

I'm happy with the learning experiences that I'm getting out of these reading and writing exercises every week. They help me learn more efficiently and I find this technique very useful to have in my other modules too. Since I've started this type of learning in Multimedia Development I've incorporated it into my daily life. I think it'd genuinely be helpful to incorporate this learning technique into other modules and year groups as I think I would of benefited from this technique greatly in my first year of college as it's a new environment and there's a lot of ground work to cover at that time. 

Prototype

This week I attempted to create my game as laid out in my game design document. I began by creating some hills and coating them in a rough grass texture that I carefully chose to represent the creepy feel of my game. I then began to create a small forest of pine trees to surround the left side of the island that my game will take place on. From there I added in a wind element to make the grass and trees move gently to create a more realistic effect. I then downloaded my selected skybox from the assets store, I chose a darker toned sky that contained colours of red. black and purple. From here I edited the colour of the skybox until I was satisfied with the outcome. I also added in thick grass patches to random parts of the island, this is where the gems containing the clues and riddles will be hidden. I also created a single row of 3 houses, a path through the town and a small lake however Unity crashed multiple times after that and erased certain elements of my game despite me saving as I went. I found this to be very frustrating as I spent a lot of time creating the houses to look how I envisioned in my game design document.

Overall I find Unity slightly difficult as it's very tedious and the software tends to crash whether it be on my PC or on a MAC in the college labs. I met a few of my targets with the scenery apart from the houses and the lake that were erased. From here on I hope to improve my Unity skills and have the software cooperate with me as I create my desired game.

Screenshot of my game on Unity

Unity Free Tutorials

This week as we were given the choice of picking, creating and reviewing our own selection of Unity tutorials I chose a tutorial on how to create Bloom and Sun shafts by Jimmy Vegas and another tutorial on Fog Variants which is also by Jimmy Vegas. I chose these tutorials as they included content that I want to add into my own game that I'm creating. 

The first tutorial taught me how to add aspects of bloom and sun shafts into my game. First I created a bloom script and applied it where the camera was looking. I created it in basic mode and in the highest quality available. The tutorial also showed the effect that the intensity and threshold had on these elements and how they enhance how it looks on screen. Then I began to play around with the intensity and threshold to better suit my game until I was satisfied with the look. A lower threshold creates a brighter screen. This tutorial is recommended for fantasy based worlds however I wanted to add some of these elements into my own adventure based game. 

Next in the tutorial I learned how to create sun shafts. Here I began by dragging and dropping the sun shaft element on to the first person character and having it in a high resolution as it's recommended. I then played around and experimented with the threshold colour which would effect the overall sunlight colour. The tutorial touched on the blur iterations and discussed how this would effect the game itself and how intensity here isn't too important. I then learned how to create a script that allows you to save the game. I also learned how to edit and use the trigger function by creating a cube to trigger the script. 

The next tutorial I watched taught me about fog variants. The tutorial began by using the particle system. Here I adjusted the start speed, colour and created a lower alpha. I then learned how to change the emission to a higher one, how to alter the sphere shape, change the radius and create the start size to be bigger. This is used to create pockets of fog. There's an option of randomizing the fog particle direction which sends the fog going off in different directions and creates the creepy effect that I aim to achieve in my game. The tutorial also mentioned how a higher alpha would create a thicker fog so I played around with this until I was happy with how it looked. I then learned how to change and alter the direction up to 50 which caused the start lifetime to linger more and changed to a lower alpha. Next the tutorial taught another way of creating fog and this was through the lighting asset and fog settings within it. The mist blocked out everything in the distance which created a dramatic effect with a thick layer of fog. I then messed around with the density and changed to linear mode which showed the start and end point of the fog. Global fog was briefly introduced also. Finally I learned how to alter the height, width and colour of the fog to suit my game. It's recommended that you use a combination of all three fog effects to create a perfect image. 

I enjoyed picking my own tutorials as it allowed me to learn how to create more elements that I want to include in my game. I found these tutorials by Jimmy Vegas to be very helpful in doing so. 

Fog effect 

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Game Fun

For this weeks reading we read Kinds of fun, Kinds of Players by Richard Bartle and MDA Framework by Robert Zubeck and co. I found these articles to be very interesting and informative as they provided insight into MUD's and MDA's.

Kinds of Fun, Kinds of Players was a great article to read. It began by questioning the players who suit MUDs and the 4 approaches to playing MUDs. The MUD's preface states that most MUDs go right back to Trubshaw's game that was released in 1978. MUDs can be of considerable value in game applications and non-game applications. They're treated as if they're games and it's suggested that we think of them in that way. The real question that stands is are they games? Are they pastimes? Are they entertainments? Are they sports? Or are they simple a combination of all four of these elements?

The article goes on to tell us that MUDs have caused a heated debate and sparked the question of What do people want out of a MUD? While 15 people took a major part in the debate 15 more simply just gave their comments and thoughts now and again. Most of these were shown to be active wizzes. Although it's estimated that they'd probably prefer game-like aspects over social-aspects, this debate was well received and obtained mostly positive results. Some aspects of MUDs that people enjoyed include the game's exploration, imposition upon others, achievement within game context and socializing aspects.
The interest graph was presented next. In this graph the axis represented the players interest. Achievers were interested in carrying out actions like acting on the world while explorers were interested in having the game surprise them by interacting with the world. Socializers were interested in interacting with other players meanwhile killers were simply proud of their fighting and combat skills.

A stable MUD is described as being inclusive of all 4 principles of style of the player in equilibrium. The balance between the multiple types remains the same. We also learned that the point of balance here can vary hugely and it's solely dependent on the individual admins. Putting emphasis on the players is regarded as easy, this can be done by providing the players with a lot of communication commands and not much else. Emphasizing the world can be done simply by tilting the game towards the world rather than it's inhabitants. An emphasis on interaction can go a long way and can be done by restricting players freedom when choosing different courses of actions which is the mechanism to implement it. As for acting, if the graph is redrawn it becomes boring.

Next the article discusses how to emphasis the player over the world which can be carried out by adding in more communications facilities and decreasing the size of the world. You can emphasis the world over the player by having lots of mobiles and granting building privileges to many. To emphasis interacting over acting, one can have only a shallow level/class system and lower the rewards for achievements. Acting can be emphasized over interacting by providing a game manual and including auto-log facilities.

Next we learn about player interactions. Firstly we learn about achievers vs achievers. Achievers see other achievers as competition to be beaten and will often cite bad luck as reasons for not being as far advanced as their competitors, Despite this achievers will more often than not co-operate with each other in order to perform a collective goal.
Achievers and explorers are next. Achievers tend to regard explorers as losers . Overall the number of explorers has only a marginal effect on the population of the achievers. Achievers' attitude towards socialisers is poor as they barely tolerate them. They often regard them as contempt, pity and irritation, flame wars break out often enough from this. Finally we reach achievers thoughts on killers. They don't like the killers however they understand that they're there for a reason which is to make achievements meaningful.

The next article that I read was MDA Framework by Robert Zubeck. As I've read this article before I was familiar with how MDA's work and what they are however this is a good article that goes into depth about MDA framework. Each component of MDA framework is thought of as a "lens" or a "view" of the game. Mechanics give rise to the dynamic system behaviors according to the designers. The article also discusses the aesthetics of MDA's in games and provides examples such as charades which includes components such as fellowship and expression while Quake contains components such as challenge and sensation. Dynamic models work to create aesthetic experiences for both the game and the gamer. An example of this is the aspect of challenge which is composed and created by time pressure and opponent play.

Mechanics are various actions, behaviours and control provided to the game player within the game context. MDA is summed up as a formal, iterative approach to both design and tuning.

Overall I enjoyed these articles and learned more about these subjects within the gaming world.
I look forward to keeping these in mind as I create my own game.

Links:
MUDs
MDA framework
Achaea

MUD
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Final GDD

This week I finalized my Game Design Document. I put a lot of effort into my GDD this week and improved on what I was lacking this week. Although I found in some sections that I was unsure of how to answer, I tried my best to provide all content in all relative areas. I enjoyed using Dundoc to create my GDD as it provided templates and sections which indicated what I should answer and what I should write about. I found Dundoc to be extremely helpful in allowing me to produce the Game Design Document for my game and I'd definitely use it again if Ii ever create another game.

For the rest of the semester I plan to work hard on creating my game and making it to the best of my ability. I hope to be able to create the game that I've spent so much time developing and designing as I do encounter difficulty with Unity sometimes.

Dundoc link

Being positive
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Unity Tutorial 05

In this weeks Unity tutorials we learned how to use a sky box, how to alter lighting and create wind zones, how to pick up a weapon and add fade screens. Tutorial 09 began by showing us how to get and apply a sky box as a material to our game. We then went on to manipulating scene lighting.  Jimmy Vegas used urban light as an example here which is a dark and eerie light. I found this part to be very beneficial to use in my own game. Next we learned how to change the environment lighting and how to manipulate the colour to suit the relevant scene in the game it's being used for. The tutorial also went on to show us how to alter a dark scene by turning off the directional light and the sky box in order to create the darkness.

We then learned a bit about how to create wind zones within a selected area of the game. Wind zones are used to control wind and make the trees look as if the wind is blowing them. It's advised to be cautious when using turbulence as too high a turbulence can warp the trees which may not look good for certain types of games but may also work for some. We finally learned the value of low frequency and spherical wind zones.

In the next tutorial we learned how to pick up a weapon from an object and how to add fade screens. We first created a cube collider around the axe in order to take it from that point in the game. A C sharp script is used to take the axe out of the tree. Next we learned how to create fade screens by using a seam script. We also added in the fade screen as an animation from the animations folder and what an alpha is in game terms. An alpha is how transparent the fade screen is. Once we've created the fade screen as an animation we simply just add it into our game and press play.

Overall I found these tutorials to be very helpful especially learning how to create and add in a fade screen. I also found it very useful to learn how to alter the lighting and create a dark light scheme to add a dark and eerie effect to the game. I had no trouble creating these Unity tutorials however they're time consuming in order to get everything right. I look forward to adding some of these aspects into my own game.

Unity lighting
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Game Decisions

This weeks article talks all about cozy games, what they are, how they work and what they involve. The article begins by defining the word coziness. Coziness is defined as how strongly a game evokes the fantasy of safety, abundance and softness. Safety is a huge factor involved in cozy games. Safety is the absence of danger such as a threat or risk within a game. There's no impending loss and all activities in the game should be voluntary and not forced. 

Abundance is another key feature in cozy games. This refers to low level Maslow needs that are being met or fulfilled such as food or shelter. It also involves the appreciation of beauty by the player playing the game. Softness is the final key factor within cozy games. This refers to the strong aesthetic signals sent out by the game that tells players that they're in a stress free environment. The stimulus of a cozy game is always gentle and comforting. Cozy games grasp the player and introduces them to the intimacy of space and emotion. Softer stimuli involves humanity, authenticity and sincerity. 

The article then goes on to discuss the contributing factors that make a cozy game cozy. Fulfilling the players needs is important. The player sees the first game play as a form of safe practice while they see the second game play as a means of satisfying unmet needs. Cozy games also promote connectedness and self-reflection. The article then proceeds by talking about cozy negating factors which consist of responsibility, intense stimulus, unpleasant distractions and extrinsic rewards. An example of negating coziness is receiving a notification while playing a game. The experience is ruined by the loud noise which is an intense stimuli and it's also non-consensual.

Cozy adjacent is the next part of the article which involves themes and aesthetics. Some of the factors listed here are Cute and Home. The cute aesthetic also can involve threatening and needy things that can be cute without coziness. Home aesthetics talks about how home environments are often stressful or full of responsibility which negates the coziness. 

Next the article touches on why we should make cozy games. The benefits of these games are that they attract a better community and increase retention by minimalising churn. Blue Ocean products for unmet player motivations talks about the element of a flight or fight response theory. This theory suggests that when our sympathetic nervous system kicks in due to a received threat, we will run or attack. 

Next we learn the process of how to improve community relations. Here it's suggested that mechanics generate emotions within the player and that emotions attract players. Social norms also spread and the developers reap what they sow. Cozy design principles are the next subject. This discusses how cozy is an adjective which means it's an aesthetic goal that can be applied to any underlying type of game. Coziness is also player dependent. It depends on where the player is coming from before they start the game. Coziness can be encouraged not forced. 

Patterns of cozy aesthetics states that cozy elements are sensory clues that are familiar with the player from previous gaming experiences, intentionally evoke images of safety and softness and that contrast is shared refuge from less pleasant external environments which takes the player away from reality. Some ingredients of cozy aesthetics include abundance and smooth transitions. Abundance refers to elements such as food/drink/warmth that's provided by a kitchen or tavern environment etc. Smooth transitions include gentle gradients between colours or states within the cozy area. 

Cozy visuals are the next topic of discussion in the article. These involve warm toned colours with a gentle colour palette such as oranges or yellows. Warm lighting and low ambiance are also involved. Natural materials are another factor of cozy visuals which include stone, wool, wood and fur etc. 

Cozy audio is also important to include in a cozy game as it sets the mood. Music should be ambient with gentle acoustics, jazz and possibly dynamic. Soothing sounds include waterfalls, rivers, rain, cats purring and gentle fire. Possible cozy locations should be sociable but private, transition spaces without danger and also places that fulfill basic player needs. The article also lists some seasonal coziness elements. Suggested cozy items include hobby/crafty items such as cut flowers and physically comforting items such as blankets. An example used here is Animal Crossing a New Leaf. In this game there are numerous activities such as fishing, decorating and gardening. 

Finishing up the article finally talks about the topic of patterns of cozy characters. These characters should possibly have a soothing voice (Bob Ross is used as a great example here) and appear soft and cuddly such as Totoro. The mechanics of cozy social situations are important. Players should portray politeness, consent and protection from threats. The article also touches on the subject of gifting in games. Some factors to consider here is the persons interaction with the gift, the care delivering the gift and the effort sourcing the gift. A gift may not always be returned if the player sends one so it's important to have respect and be polite either way! 

There's also the challenge of too much coziness. This could include forcing intimacy or having a lack of dissent. 

Overall I found this article to be very informative and interesting. I enjoyed learning more about what cozy games are and what makes them cozy games. I'd recommend this article to anyone looking to create a cozy game similar to that of Animal Crossing. 

Items of interest:

Designing for coziness

Cozy

Games industry

Animal Crossing

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