Game Design Document

This week we created a short GDD presentation on our multimedia project.

 In my presentation I talk about all aspects of the e-magazine that Chloe and myself are creating.

We are creating an e-magazine based around young creatives living in Dublin. Our magazine will consist of a variety of mediums such as photography, audio and film.

All information is presented below,

Enjoy!

GDD - Presentation

Screen shot from presentation

First Playable

Prototype: After doing some rough sketches on what I wanted my game level to look like, I had a good idea how I was going to design my level on Unity.

I downloaded some snowy mountains off the asset store and I downloaded a snow texture for the base of my website. I then downloaded a penguin character off the asset store, unfortunately all the normal penguin characters were not free to download but I found a toy collection which was perfect for my game as it had a cartoon look.

So far I have come across some difficulties in my game. Setting up the terrain and adding texture was a breeze. I then added some rock textures and trees and a bright sky box to make my game look more realistic. I made a dip in the terrain, this is where I would add water to my game which is a very important part of the game I am making. I looked over the Jimmy Vegas tutorial where he went through adding water to a scene but I struggled to find the water asset that he used. I browsed the asset store and I had no look finding a free water texture that worked for me. Besides this small problem my game has been going to plan and I think its beginning to take some shape. I have to still add controls and a timer to the game. I must also create the ice caps in which George must jump across in order to return to safety. 

This is a screen shot of my game so far   

I have been meeting all my targets.

Growth mindset

Part One:

For this weeks growth mindset I watched a video by Carol Dweck. In the video Carol spoke about what is the problem with easy. She speaks about how she thinks that people have made mistakes with child rearing and in the educational system as kids were told that they should feel good when things are easy for them and they got everything right. This is not a case in Carols book. In Carols book easy means that you are not learning to your full potential and she stated that if it was easy, well then you probably already knew how to do it. She spoke about making challenge the new comfort zone which I found very interesting. She spoke about how kids should feel cheated when the work was too easy for them. This is didn't really understand or agree with but I did understand her point when she stated that kids should be given harder work or be asking for challenges. She wants challenge being the new comfort zone, not easy being the comfort zone. I found this video motivational to step out of my comfort zone and try do tasks that challenge me instead of taking the easy route.

Part Two:

For the second part I made a Motto using Cheezburger.



I think this motto is important to live by, especially in a college environment. We should never look down on someone who is struggling, it is important to offer help to those who need.

Tech Task - Meme Generator

I found this tech task really fun and enjoyable. I love looking at memes I find them really funny and relatable most of the time, but never thought of creating my own. Imgflip meme generator was a really straight forward and enjoyable way to create memes and it only took me a few minutes.

Link to my meme



I created this meme as it is one I've seen a lot online lately. It is also very relatable as I have a strong tendency to ignore all my responsibilities, especially when I have a lot due.

Week 8 Progress

Looking back at my progress in this module, I am over all happy with how far I have come. At the beginning, I was very unfamiliar with writing for a blog as it is something I never had any interest in doing. Now I really enjoy writing on my blog and it almost comes naturally to me.

Before this module I had no idea what Unity was and had no idea how it operated. At the beginning it was like looking at another language and I didn't know where to even begin. I found the Jimmy Vegas tutorials so helpful and after watching a few I slowly began to get the hang of things. Although I am no where near where I would like to be in terms of using Unity and I am still very unfamiliar and confused with the coding side to Unity, I will continue to learn and try my best. 

Although I think I have made good progress I do have some regrets. I got slightly lost in this module and failed to submit blogs on time due to having poor time management skills and from struggling in this module. I now have my head down and know what has to be done in order to succeed.

Looking forward, I will strive to complete deadlines for this module on time. I will continue to work hard on my game and hopefully I will be very happy with the final result. I am finding this process enjoyable even though I have had some bumps along the way.



Image link

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I find the whole Feedback system very beneficial. The feedback reading tasks each week are enjoyable and in some way motivational. Although I have not received much feed back on my blogs, the feedback I was given was very constructional and helped me when moving forward with my project idea. I enjoyed reading my peers blog posts and ideas and giving my opinions on them. I hope that my feedback helped them when progressing in this module. I found Shauns feedback very helpful especially in times when I was struggling with this module.

One comment that Chloe left on my game design document was very beneficial she spoke about how the story of my game made the game more interesting. I think it is important that your game has a strong story line for the player to follow. As I am not very strong in the technical aspects of this game, I think my story could help my game.

I never got around to writing my introduction blog, there for people might not really had the opportunity to get to know me. I wish I had as it would of given my classmates the opportunity to get to know me before reading all my game ideas.  I gave a short bio in my about me section of my blog so hopefully that helps a little bit. I read a lot of my class mates introduction blogs and I found them very enjoyable and it gave me a good sense of who they were. I try to connect and get to know people through the comments but it has mainly just been feedback for my peers. I now have a good sense of there interests just judging on how they are creating their game.

Looking forward I wish to continue commenting and giving feedback on my classmates blog posts, and hoping that they will benefit from them. I hope that they comment on my blog posts more and continue to give constructive criticism. I find the feedback I've been given really motivational and make me strive to move forward in my game project. Sometimes I can feel a bit unmotivated in this module as I find it slightly difficult, but when giving kind comments and feedback from my peers it helps me keep going.



Everyone is doing a good job! Image link

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I found all of the reading week tasks very enjoyable and beneficial. After reading over previous blogs I has written my favourite one was week 3's blog - Game Elements. This was my favourite reading exercise as the more I read the blog, I began to appreciate the amount of effort and time that is involved in game design. I never realised how many disciplines were involved in game design such as design, art, audio and codes. A well designed game should look and play good and be enjoyable for the player.

I really enjoyed that weeks reading assignment. I liked learning about the making and elements behind Mario. I found the article easy to understand for someone who is still learning about gaming and game elements. From reading the article I now feel more informed about game tools and look forward to creating my own game.

image link

This Image was my favourite image I included in my blog. This image was from my blog post Project week 2. This image represents that you should not let people stop you or get in the way of your goals. I think this is something that is very important in college life.

Looking forward: 

I would like to continue updating my blog and writing actively. I am moving forward with my final project and look forward to seeing if my hard work and effort reflects in the final piece.