Author: bmmst136

Posted on

Game Design: Question Set 1 – Bryce Mathews

  1. Using Kobold’s guide as inspiration, every game should have an identity. James Ernest’s segment on the distinction between rules, mechanics, and the key to “good” games explains that games are not the sum of their parts. Each game has an identity that justifies its mechanics. If a game’s mechanics are not in tune with the game’s identity, then players may not find it interesting. To support this, James claims that mechanics are identifiable, yet are not entirely transferable. All games have mechanics, but great mechanics work in tandem with the game’s identity. You cannot create a great game from analyzing the exact mechanics of another. I like my favorite games because every aspect of the game is made with identity in mind, mechanics are thoughtfully implemented to create a specific experience.
  2. Here is a small list of games from my steam library
    Furi – Onnamusha
    Ready Or Not
    Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game
    Dungeons of Hinterberg
    PC Building Simulator
    Balatro
    Resident Evil 4
    Valheim
    Noita
    ULTRAKILL
    GRIS
    RESIDENT EVIL 3
    RESIDENT EVIL 2 / BIOHAZARD RE:2 Standard Edition
    Resident Evil 0 / biohazard 0 HD Remaster (ROW Launch)
    OneShot
    Furi
    Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
    Resident Evil / biohazard HD REMASTER
    Resident Evil 6 Complete
    Kerbal Space Program
    Star Birds Demo
    3DMark Demo
    9 Kings Demo
    The Last Stand: Aftermath
    Nitro Express
    Risk of Rain 2
    R.E.P.O.
    Haste
    Demon Tides Demo
    Solarpunk Demo
    Am I Nima Demo
    Warfare Legacy Collection Demo
    Machine Mind Demo Demo
    Icaria Demo
    Mech Havoc Demo
    Heroes of Hammerwatch II Demo
    Sky: Children of the Light
    Awaria
    Stacklands
    Inscryption
    Slay the Spire
    Hades
    Rebel Inc: Escalation
    Darkest Dungeon
    Risk of Rain
    Factorio: Space Age
    Mullet Mad Jack Demo
    Retrowave
    Realm of the Mad God
    Frostrain
    Lethal Company
    Hearts of Iron IV
    Bitburner
    SIGNALIS
    Farlanders
    Against the Storm
    Unsighted
    Into the Breach
    Frostpunk
    OpenTTD
    Quasimorph: End of Dream
    Steam Engine Simulator
    Sonic Generations Collection
    Factorio
    Stoneshard: Prologue
    Hyper Light Drifter
    Enter the Gungeon
    The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
    The Complex: Found Footage
    Tomb Raider
    Space Engineers
    Destiny 2
    Destiny 2: Legendary Edition
    STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™
    Apex Legends
    Splitgate
    Arid
    Muck
    Dead by Daylight
    Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Deluxe Edition
    Oxygen Not Included – Spaced Out!
    tModLoader
    Craftopia
    Among Us
    Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Free Edition
    Uno
    The Forest
    The Colonists
    Absolver
    Scrap Mechanic
    Fallout Shelter
    Rust
    The Long Dark
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (NA)
    Sheltered
    Warframe
    ASTRONEER
    Oxygen Not Included
    Don’t Starve Together
    Plague Inc: Evolved
    Garry’s Mod
    Geometry Dash
    Terraria
    Unturned
  3. While my favorite games often blur the distinction between “acts” or definite moments in the player’s story or progression, my favorite games do one of two things. They either leave the story solely in the players’ hands, or they craft enough of a structure to entice the player to play the game and experience the story. A game like Minecraft has no definite strory, it encourages players to make their own. Progression in the form of better tools, weapons and armor encourages the player to seek better materials all while they shape the world as they see fit, creating a story of surviving and thriving. A more story-driven game like Pokemon entices the players with interesting premises and innovative gamplay to encourage the player to stick around.
  4. Both approaches are effective ways to create a game, as long as they service each other. I personally like to create ideas starting from it’s purpose. The metaphor can help guide the subsequent mechanics, story, and theme. With this approach you can ask whether an implementation sucessfully highlights the metahpor you are trying to show. But, the opposite approach is valid. Large games evolve from simple mechanics all of the time.
  5. I think it’d be interesting to collaborate with other classes or campus organization to create official art or garner support for the games we make.
Posted on

5 Games that can take place on campus – Bryce Mathews

  1. An interesting campus-wide game can be an assassin-type game. All players are given a mark, whether that be a specific target or a general description of a target. They are tasked with eliminating that player and taking a possession of theirs to prove the deed was done. After a certain number of rounds, or after a large percentage of the players are eliminated, the stakes can be raised. Bounties can be placed on the players with the highest eliminations, challenges to eliminations (you have to eliminate your target in a specific building) can be imposed, and the remaining assassins can fight their way to victory. 
  1. An idea for the entirety of campus could be a series of games similar to Mr Beast’s “Beast Games”. In one game in particular, groups of people are tasked with nominating a leader, who will then be tempted to betray their team for their own benefit. If the leader betrays the team, then they can receive a reward and stay in the game, while their subordinates are eliminated. This concept adds layers to the game being played and adds to the cooperation and “conflict” aspects of the game. 
  1. I personally believe that the floors in the dorm hall need more decoration. So I decided to make a game out of it. All floors are tasked with deciding on a theme for their floor, and are given a budget to make it happen. After a set amount of time, faculty, and a designated student from each floor votes on the winner. 
  1. An outbreak game would be an interesting way of getting students to collaborate, think critically, and explore ways to solve problems. A zombie outbreak infects one student, who has to infect as many other students as possible. Rules would be in place that prevent students from disrupting class, running in buildings, or disturbing others. For example, infections can only take place outside, and zombies must wear a red cloth. As the game continues, events could take place to enhance the experience. 
  2. A game that turns campus into a RTS (real time strategy game) could unite clubs, fraternities, and even the uncommitted together. Students are categorized into groups, with control over a building like Madison hall, or the rec center. The goal of each group is to maintain and expand their territory, eliminating the competition that they face in the process. At the end of the event, the groups with the most territory win.
Posted on

8/28 Flux Playtest Questions: Bryce Mathews

  1. The most frustrating moment or aspect of playing was taking the time to understand the game before starting. Rather than simply jumping, we felt the need to understand what each set of cards did, slightly hampering the experience.
  2. My favorite moment was winning a round after successfully chaining a sequence of card plays together.
  3. At times, everything could be taken from you if somebody just happens upon a specific action card. Progress can be lost easily. I often wanted to get an action card that let me retain the strategy I had in mind.
  4. Certain actions felt overcomplicated or underexplained. I would like to clarify the cards with a good intent and remove the rest.
  5. Yes. Although the ramp-up is slow, understanding what cards you need to play and in which way you need to play them can create an interesting and worthwhile experience/payoff.

Posted on

Animated Timeline of the Universe (4D Final)

Bryce Mathews

I enjoy education when it is entertaining, whether through visual effects or interactive media. For my project, I wanted to present a narrative to the class while also challenging myself. I decided to give a timeline of the future of the universe, including researched facts, animated sprites, and interactivity via a webpage.

I began by animating my videos in Aseprite, a pixel-art creation tool with built-in animation tools. For the challenge, I asked some friends to provide some relevant obstructions to my work: I was limited to 9 videos to tell a complete story, I couldn’t use orange, green, or violet, and I was limited to a 121 by 121 canvas. On top of learning the application, I feel that these obstructions “gamified” the experience more.

Using Aseprite, I created pixel animations detailing the 9 major events in the universe, ranging from 1-3 second animations running at about 10fps.

I needed a way to present and add more context. I had taken what I had learned from Dreamweaver and created a webpage that integrated the sprites (now GIFs) I had made.

The finished product is a basic website with animated sprites and a scrollable website for reading. Some key areas for improvement are: improved website UI, or more interactive features.

How do these fufill the requirements?

Animated Narrative: The project is a complete narrative of the universe’s future, with sprite animations as visual complements to the educational material.

Game Design/Play: To introduce a challenge, I forced myself to learn Aseprite and had friends choose obstructions that would define the project’s scope. Users must also engage with the text and video to learn or entertain themselves.

Video: Each sprite is its own video that enhances the text-based storytelling.

Link to Google Drive for HTML download:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oxC7-vocP0t2yOEpSg66HCCTeoC2cwnk?usp=sharing

Posted on

4D Studio: Projection Project

Bryce Mathews

I was heavily inspired by the use of projectors to display text over large surfaces, like building walls, to convey a message. Unlike graffiti or murals, projectors create non-invasive mediums for art. My project was inspired by Guerrilla Projections, projections that spoke calls to action. Instead of a still image, I used my video, “Time Stops for No One”. The video is a timer that ticks down from 24 hours, with the text “Time stops for no one…”. The goal of the video (and the projection) is to remind people of the constant passage of time. The projection bypasses the limitations of a traditional screen by making surrounding surfaces, like the wall and ceiling, canvases. Oftentimes, we get so caught up in our lives that we forget that our time is limited.

I projected the video in the dark areas of my apartment: my closet, bedroom wall, and bedroom ceiling. I also copied the video to other media devices, giving the impression that it is spreading to more people. Below are images of the projections and snippets of video that I took.

.

Closet Video: https://youtu.be/n3ru1GIQKq0

Cieling Video: https://youtu.be/Ii37kYdPngI

Multiple Screens Video: https://youtu.be/k7j2TjREZpA