Unit 68 Computer Game Design

I think that there are not significant differences between old video games and new video games. The only significant difference that separates the different generations of gaming are the improvement of the game’s graphics. Although, in my opinion, the graphics have been wrongly criticized in the old video games, it is only because of the significant improvement in graphics in previous games that have made people seem that the graphics in old video games seem poor (aka, the graphics in ‘The Legend Of Zelda’ compared to the graphics in ‘Skyrim’). The similarities that both gaming generations have is the variety of characters that have been produced, the storyline (if there is one) and all the different genre for games that make old video games and new video games not that seem not that different as people say it as. Old video games are by no means bad, it’s just the significant improvement of the graphics that have made recent games better.

The way that the game plays in the new retro games isn't that different from the old retro games. For example, in the popular old retro game 'Super Mario Bros', the storyline of the game is to conquer all 8 worlds and rescue the princess at the end. To this day, the recent 'Super Mario 3D Land' had almost the exact same storyline, conquer the 8 worlds to save the princess. Of course, the gameplay genre changed from 2D Flat to 3D Flat and while they are both of the platform genre, the latter game is more free roaming, but the enemies, bonuses, items and coins have the same purpose that they have. The bonus levels unlocked at the end of the game are also very similar, since they are of a higher difficulty and more enemies. So there are more similarities then differences in video games from the 1980's and video games from 2010 onwards, and where would present games with their graphics and there ideas come from if games from the 80's didn't exist? They probably wouldn't exist, and, in the best circumstances, would have graphics from the 80's in the present, with the present games and their graphics coming around 25 years later.

My participation in the High Game Pitch Concept

Above shows two potential level designs for our video game 'SuperBlock'. The first shows a pyramid type level that acts as a volcano with lava boulders erupting out of the volcano and crashing down the mountain. The player has to climb up the volcano via glowing green pads. Once the player reaches the top, the level is complete, the volcano will calm down, and the 'SuperBlock' jumps into the volcano, starting a 'Freefall' level. However, if the boulder hits them, then the player falls down either 1 space, 2 spaces or 3 spaces depending on the size of the boulders. There are also glowing red pads, which also bring you down a random number of spaces (maximum 3) and different power-ups and power-downs, scattered around the pyramid.

The second level example shows 'SuperBlock' avoiding different 'enemy blocks'. If the player gets hit by the blocks, the level starts over until the time limit runs out. There are also power-ups and power-downs in the level. Once the time runs out, the level is completed. There are also different modes of this level, one with fewer control pads and another in 3D/2D.

An animation that was created by me was included in the animation. It was a 2D perspective that showed the character climbing a pyramid, although it wasn't shown as a pyramid, hence why the image showing a pyramid was created for the 3D level in the game.It was one of five animation created and included in the presentation. I also created two pieces of music that was also not included in the presentation. The music links are shown below.

Evaluation for 10 page document

Overall, I am happy with my 10 page document which was transferred into a presentation. The positives of the 10 page document are that each page has a detailed description on each part on each page, a paragraph to be precise. The information specifically is very well described, in that I make my points clear and easy to understand. The images that also come with the presentation are linked with the game, for example the character design is the main character design and the pirates are the enemies in the game and what they could look like in the game. The presentation look itself looks very crisp and sharp, giving the presentation a good look, making the potential game investors interested in what is to come, gaining their attention and increasing the chances of the potential investors investing money into the game. The negatives of the 10 page document are that some of the images could be clearer, especially with the background colour could be darker. The text itself could be a little clearer to read but in keeping with the theme and design for the 10 page document as a presentation, I kept it as it was. Overall, there seem to be more positives then negatives, so as a result I am happy with the end result of the 10 page document.

Evaluation on Game Pitch High Concept

Overall, I am relatively happy with my participation in the team. I admit that other people in the team such as Luke and Michael did more work/ more important pieces of work, that was mostly because they had more experience on different pieces of software (Unity 3D). I still feel however that I was still involved in the teamwork. I also helped with the recording in our individual parts of the presentation. I felt that the overall presentation was very good. Everyone sounded confident and their punctuation was easy to understand.