Unit 12 - Game Maker
Research - Comparison Of Game Genres
There are many genres of games and each have their own style and loyal fan base. This project is to research 3 of these genres. Explore their style and the motivation of the users in playing them. This will enable me to design my own game, choose a genre that I have found most interesting and develop a Game Design Document. Below I have researched some games genres and compared there styles and differences.
First Person Shooter
On the left is the cover art for Wolfenstein 3D released in 1992, it is one of the oldest FPS games ever created. The FPS genre has massively grown in popularity since then, it involves a first person perspective of a character with a weapon moving around in a fast paced environment while encountering enemies. This was essentially what the very first FPS games were like. Until FPS games became more known for its multiplayer aspect.
Platform
On right is the over art for the original Sonic The Hedgehog which is a platform game released in 1991. The platform genre is definitely one of the oldest game genres created. Games within this genre are usually identified by navigating environments that require timing and jumping in order to reach a destination while avoiding and/or disposing of enemies.
Role-Playing Games
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which each participant assumes the role of a character, generally in a fantasy or science fiction setting, that can interact within the game's imaginary world. Games like Dungeons and Dragons, Battletech and Star Wars were all popular examples of the genre of early online role playing games.
Research - Game Design Document
Research - Asset Table
Below is my current asset table I've made in Excel. I'm using it to help keep track of all the assets, scripts.. etc that I will create. I will update this table along the way during the development.
Unity - Level Design
As discussed in my game design document I will create my environment in Unity and aim to re-create the scenes of the Vietnam War environment.
I created the basic foundation for the terrain. As you can see I filled the terrain with a grass and san texture to give it more realism. I also added a variety of trees as well.
Maya - War Bunkers
The next step would be modelling the smaller assets within the environment. In this case I am modelling the bunkers and I will place them around the terrain. On the right I have an image from Google displaying some example bunkers. I like these examples because they are small and simple looking. I will design my bunkers like the ones seen on the right image. I will model a total of five different bunkers as well like on the right, all different from each other.
Bunker 1
This is the first war bunker I modelled it is similar to one in the image above however I duplicated it and then connected them together. I also added and roof and stairs for realism.
Bunker 2
The next bunker is smaller and more circular. It is a simple design with just the front of structure left open for the entrance.
Bunker 3
The third bunker is a more boxy design with the entrance at the front and a small open window for the soldiers. This bunker has a lot of open space so I will fill it with smaller assets like crates and enhancements.
Bunker 4
The fourth bunker is also a box type design. However unlike bunker 3 this bunker has more open space.
Bunker 5
The fifth bunker is more of an area for storage such as enhancements for the player.
Maya - Environment Assets
Crate
Crates are just one of many assets that will scattered around the environment and will mostly be placed inside the war bunkers.
Oil Barrel
This oil barrel will also be an environment asset placed around the terrain and in bunkers.
Unity - Asset Placement / Particle Effects
After all the assets and bunkers were modelled and textured I place them around the terrain.
Helicopter Model
To save time I downloaded this transport helicopter into my terrain to add to the environment.
I then placed them around the terrain mainly in the water to make them look as if they have crashed.
Crashed Vehicles
I then imported the ParticleSystem package into Unity and added effects like fire and smoke to the destroyed vehicles.
Particles
Unity - Enhancements
The image on the right shows an ammunition box. When the player goes up to it the player's weapons receives full ammo.
Ammo Box
Health Box
This is a health box. When the player goes up to it their health regenerates back to 100.
Unity - Shoot Mechanics
GunScript
I then created a script called 'GunScript' to code the shooting mechanics. As you can see on the right image the statistics for the weapons is shown at the top such as damage and rate of fire. Further down the coding for the left clicking allowing the weapon to fire is shown. When left click is held down the gun can continuously shoot.
Near the bottom I also added the muzzle flash at the top of the gun so there is flash when firing. Further down the code also allows the shots to impact the object it is being fire at (almost like bullets being fired out of the gun and then dropping to the ground afterwards). The 'bullets' can then disappear after impacting the object.
Crate
The next script is for the impact of the bullets in the crate. The crate actually has a health as seen in the coding in left side.
Shooting Test
On the right is short video showing the shooting mechanic in my game demo and also displaying what I have made so far within it.
Final Game Demo
Research - Game Inspiration
In this section I researched 3 different games all based during the Vietnam War and talked about how the game operates. In each researched game I talk about my likes and dislikes of the game. However in each of these game I mainly admire and talk about the environment and how it can relate to my game demo.
Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam
The first game I researched was the DLC extension 'Vietnam' for Battlefield Bad Company 2 (2010). While technically not a game but a DLC, I think that this is a very good representation of the types of environment form the Vietnam War. I like how there is a lot of emphasis on the jungle atmosphere. On the left is the trailer for the DLC from November 2010.
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
The second game is Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. If you watch the trailer for the game on the right side, you can see that the game has more urban type environments with more buildings. I quite like this as it is different form the typical Vietnam scenery. However my game demo focuses more on the jungle type scenery. The video on the right shows Rising Storm 2: Vietnam (2017) in action.
Crysis 3
The third and final game is Crysis 3. Although this game is based in the far future of a post apocalyptic world, I really admire the environment of Crysis 3. In Crysis 3, all the nature has taken over the urban environment which gives it more of a post apocalyptic look. I like this theme because it is similar to the scenery of the Vietnam War. On the left is the gameplay trailer for Crysis 3 (2013)
Project Evaluation
The theme of the project was to plan out the creation of a game of your own choosing. The unit wanted me to create a game design document and then develop a demo of the game within the Unity engine. I thought that this unit had a lot of freedom as I could create whatever game I wanted in my own way.
The area of the project that I found the most interesting was definitely the level design of my environment. My game demo was based during the Vietnam War so I wanted to create an environment that was jungle themed. I found that with Unity’s level editor it was easy to create the landscape of this theme. In addition creating the smaller assets within Maya also proved helpful to the realism of my level.
Some new techniques that I experienced during the project was the programming/scripting. I had to do a significant amount of coding for my game demo in order for the mechanics to operate properly. However I found this the hardest and most time consuming area of my project.
The main aspects of animation and games I researched during this project was game planning, level design, asset creation and scripting.
These aspects influenced my project as firstly game planning required me to design a document specifying the development process of my game demo. The level design aspect need me to create an environment realistic to the time period of the Vietnam War. The asset creation aspect allowed to further the realism of my level by creating smaller assets for the environment. Lastly the scripting allowed to design the procedures for important features of the game demo such as the shooting mechanics.
I feel that the most successful part of my project was the level design. Going to what I mentioned earlier about this aspect, I feel that I successfully created a realistic example of the environment of the Vietnam War as I was able to create the jungle type atmosphere that I originally wanted to make.
I did encounter some problems in my project. Some aspects of my game design document didn’t make it into the final game demo such as enemy soldiers, ammo/health, reloading, HUD and menu screen. All these areas are quite complex and require more scripting, an area in which I am not very skilled at.
These problems affected the project as they didn’t get to be included however I have learnt that my project only needed to be a demo and I successfully created the outlook appearance of a FPS Vietnam War shooter game.
If I was given the chance to complete the project again I would probably turn my game demo into a survival RPG game rather than a shooter and also include all the above problems that weren’t included in the game demo. I would of also perhaps expanded my level and made it even bigger as level design and asset creation is more of an expertise of mine.