Final Project Documentation
Summary. – For my final project I thought I’d expand the idea that inspired my first project. The original idea for my first project was to create a puzzle type of game. I named it “Find The Correct Path”. In this game you would be presented with a map of various images and a wide variety of colors.
https://youtu.be/9sZZ7__YV8s
The map has only one correct path. This path will be hidden in plain sight. The player is supposed to find this path by having to take a leap of faith in every tile/image. The purpose of this technique is to force the player to pay attention to every detail of the game in order to succeed. The player will gain knowledge and eventually learn where the true path lies. Eventually the player will be able to beat the game with no trouble at all. After three levels you will finish the game. Finally, at the end of the game the player will learn that the path to success would not be possible without the failures they had to go through.
So, for this final project I thought that the first step would be to extend the map and add some elements to the game, so it won’t seem so repetitive. At first glance it looks similar to the first game. The idea is to encourage the player to learn about the map and the mechanics of the game. Every mechanic is based on the first game. Some techniques have evolved to keep the player interested and invested into the game.
https://youtu.be/C1gM8jA0uIg
https://youtu.be/5aNzsGuVsIg
https://youtu.be/CbVKs8j5pLo
Inspiration. – My inspiration for this project was the classical games that I got to play when I was a kid. A few games that come to mind are: Mario Bros, Pac-Man, and Tetris. All of these games had something in common. These games were simple, yet very addicting to the player. One of the mechanics of these games was to learn the movement of the player and learn what your limitations were within the game. So, I took this idea and added it to my project. I wanted to create something that is very simple, but that would be addicting at the same time. One of the mechanics of the game is learning how to control the movement of the player. For example, when the player tries to move their avatar, it will feel heavier than any other avatar from any other game. The explanation behind it is quite simple. The rigid-body for the avatar is set to move really slowly and the “drag” function is set to the slowest number possible. This basically means that the player will take longer to “move” when the player presses down a key and it will “keep moving” after the player has let go of the key. The objective of this technique is to force the player to spend time getting acquainted with the movement of the avatar (as part of the game).
Another technique that was inspired by these games was the use of knowledge as a tool to beat the game. For instance, in Mario Bros there was some bricks that were hidden in plain sight. These bricks would sometimes be placed in various places within the same level. So, I decided I would make use of different elements to hide objects that would help you pass the level. One of these examples is a hidden item, hidden in plain sight. This item will unlock a new level and you would be able to skip the rest of the level.
Research.- The research process was educational. Most of the things I needed to know were available in the Unity’s website. The tutorials provided by Unity’s website covered the most common steps to help build a game from scratch. The research done for this project was more extensive than any previous projects, due to the complex ideas that go into building this game. One of the topics of research was about how to create a script to destroy items on collision. The main reason for this script was to clean up the different items falling off of the map and endlessly falling into infinity. The unity software has a limit on how many items it can handle at once. The script was basically used for cleaning any items falling outside the map and destroying them on contact.
Another research topic was about “on trigger collision”. This topic was very important because it opened up possibilities for different action within the game. There were multiple uses for trigger collision but I ended up using it for a few things: Destroy items on collision, load the next scene on collision, and play sounds on collision.
Process.- One of the techniques I had used in the first project was to make some of the tiles hollow. While in the process of building the map I discovered that some of the tiles were solid but others were hollow, so I decided to incorporate that in the way the game is played.
Right after the player falls through the tiles, the player is able to respawn at the beginning of the map. The reason I added this script is because I thought respawning was less painful then losing the entire game (Game Over).
Another element added to this game was images to the different materials. The purpose behind this, was to make the game my own. I think every piece of art needs a signature from the artist that created it. I think the images I choose have a theme in common, it’s all centered on comedic subjects.
I wanted to introduce an idea to the player, while they are playing the game. The idea of having fun even when you are about to lose (Eventually you’ll figure it out, and appreciate the process).