Boss Battle Research

For my boss inspiration, I looked to the game Metal Slug 5. Most of the bosses have the same tropes, but the boss I looked at the most was the tank shown in the video at 3:56.  This boss is fairly stationary, but has different types of bullets- bullets that are slow and fly straight forward, bullets that fly around chaotically, and bullets that actually follow the player.  This is paired with the ability to call in other enemies to distraught and damage the player.  

For my boss, I want to have a military theme, (the military attacking the monsters that have been attacking the city) So I think a large tank that summons other smaller, weaker tanks/ground units while the actual tank itself is fairly stationary might be interesting. These units could also spawn more ammo and health as needed. Hopefully, I want to have the tank lose parts off of it as it receives damage.

Battle Arena Idea

The idea for my battle arena is a big band jazz club! I'm excited to use inspirations from the late 1930s-1960s for the theme of the level and I'm drawing inspiration from the popular jazz song "Sing Sing Sing" 

Spinout 2017 Trailer

Here's the trailer I made for the 2017 sophomore Spinout game!

Arcade Racing Game Trailer

For my racing trailer analysis I choose to look at SEGA Rally Online Arcade. 

While it doesn't have an especially interesting name, SEGA Rally Online Arcade has a pretty fun trailer.  First off I really like the choice of music. The well recognizable William Tell's Overture allows the audience to already know where the big points of interest will be in the trailer as it goes along to the music. Also the audience already knowing the music piece allows them to focus more on visuals.

The visuals in this trailer are all centered around the cars. In just about every shot, there is a car in the middle or close to the middle of the frame, giving the audience a clear focus for the short shots. Most of these shots also continue the direction of action from one shot into another allowing for smoother transitions between shots. 

Just for example, these two shots near the beginning of the trailer have a nice transition of action from one to another because the first ends with the action going in a direction that the next shot picks up on making a smooth transition. Also, most shots that have weird or new angles, usually only have one car in view, making it easier for the audience to focus. 

I only ever found one shot jarring, and that was because this shot (as shown above) didn't really have a clear focus until you saw the tunnel, and by then it was too late to appreciate it.  I figure they were trying to get a feeling of speed using the diagonals in the car and by being so close to it, but it ends up being too blurry without a clear focus. 

Overall I think the tone of the trailer is fun and much more inviting than other more "macho" racing game trailers with loud music. Tone is important to an audience and with this being an online racing game, this trailer promises a good time for everyone.  It shows just a regular racing game without a ton of gimmicks, but thats ok -- it's just a game for your friends to have some quick fun.

Steam Particle

Here's my final Steam particle shown in the video above. These Steam particles I made for my level in the mining caves where they burst from the pipes and obscure the players view. Particles for me are a tad difficult, but I think I accomplished some pretty cool things for this project.  First off, I created my own subUVs:

 

This was the first time I had ever attempted to draw anything for something like this, and I was fairly pleased with the results. Although, I did take me a few tries with the second smaller set to get a result I liked - the first attempt for example had shapes that were too recognizable on an individual level, so it was really easy to see when certain particles repeated.  Here's the full final particle system: 

I ended up using both sets of subUVs along with a GPU emitter for the small water droplets that fall from the source of the steam. With the water droplets, I had to exaggerate their size because of how dark the mine caves are in my level where they are placed along with how fast the player is going, its hard to pick up on the smaller water droplets. 

On both subUVs I also put a damping node in their material so that when the cars pass through the smoke or when it hits the ground it fades slightly at the edges so the transition isn't so harsh.

I also made a very simple steam for my train using the same subUVs in a slightly different way!

Particle Effect Research

Pressurized Steam 

I plan to make a particle effect that mimics the steam above for both my barrel (when the whistle blows to have steam come out of the whistle) and for my racing level for the pipes within the mines. 

This steam will blow out of a single point and grow larger as its life goes on.  For the emitters, I know I'll first need some sort of subUV set like the one down below:

I've been having a hard time finding a steam subUV thats free use that looks like the shape and effect I'm trying to make, so if I don't find one I'll have to make one myself.

I also plan to have another emitter make the cone of more dense steam in the middle, also having that effect be pure white and less transparent than the subUV emitter to give it a nice look of intense steam with some falloff.
And for the last emitter I want to have some denser water droplets that are too condensed to be steam and fall around the base of the effect. This gives the particle system the effect of steam pressure caused by heated water rather than just pressurized gas. I also want to add some sort of sound when the steam is in effect, as I want it to be triggered in my level by players driving through certain parts of the mines.

Heres my progress so far:

As I mentioned earlier, I've been having a hard time finding subUVs for the particle system so for now i've been working on base animations. Truthfully, I'm new to particles and it isn't coming very easy to me, but I do like the base effect of what I'm getting here just with the most basic material.  I'm still messing with the size by life module to make the sprites smaller when they are born but becoming larger over their life. Eventually, I think I will have to make my own subUVs, but I think its good practice and hopefully will help me get the effect I want.

Particles certainly are a learning experience...

Explosive Barrel Final

Here's my final for the explosive barrel project! I'm very please with how it came out, since its fairly similar with how I originally imaged it.  I also added some different noises such as the wood breaking noise and the train whistle!

Here's my code:

Gold Rush Grotto Racing Idea

My Vector images of the Racing map Idea I'm going to make. I got the theme idea from my Explosive Barrel project and my 3D vehicle project.  Both of them have a Industrial revolution/Train theme to them, so I decided to put a little spin on it by making a California Gold Rush level. 

Many of the obstacles match the theme, such as the carts and before mentioned barrels, as well as the rock formations around it. 

I also knew I wanted to have some choice as to where the player could go, but I didn't want it to be too much of a change for the sake of time and extra design. Instead, I choose to make the main road in the middle very thick for all 16 cars, but the path splits in half forcing the players to choose a direction and now race/fight with a significantly less amount of players, without knowing the fate of the other side, then reunite in the middle for the end of a lap.  One side had more obstacles but a speed boost, and the other has less obstacles and no speed boost, making a simple risk and reward that the player can explore and find in the 3 laps there would be. 

Also Here are some storyboards of how a race may go:

Here are some Visual Elements I want to bring in along with a Color scheme:

Exploding Barrel Design

Next up we are designing a exploding barrel! I decided that I wanted to keep the train theme I had going for my vehicle in 3D, and in doing so I forgot the most important part of the train in my vehicle design - the train whistle! I figured that making the whistle in this project would be beneficial to my 3D project and hopefully I will have fun making it! My overall end goal is to make the barrel light up and whistle before exploding. If I have the time or if i can figure it out, I think it might also be fun to make it blow out steam.

My Platformer Level

This is the final I turned in for my platformer level! I'm pretty proud about how some of the mechanics and level design came out in the final, as I had to change issues as they popped up.

I was still having issues with restarting the placement of physics objects upon player death, but I still want to figure it out for my resubmit along with some other minor issues.

But overall I am proud about how it came out considering I started this project having never programmed before or designed a platformer level.  I look forward to learning more and improving in both areas as the year goes on!

Platformer Rough Design

When thinking of what type of themes/mechanics I wanted to implement into my level, I remembered how much I enjoy Mario platformer games and themes. One of my favorite game mechanics from when I played Mario Galaxy 2 (although this was probably implemented in a previous title) was the red and blue platforms that would change when the player jumped. And I wanted to pair this with the aesthetics of a level similar of Toad's Factory from Mario Kart Wii.

And so my graph paper version was built with these inspirations in mind:

The main difference being that Red and Blue platforms no longer work in a 3D space like in Mario Galaxy 2, but are rather used as both platforms and obstacles that block your way.  These platforms would also interact with other obstacles, allowing the player to block certain obstacles like the "Thwomps" or make a path for the Rolling Rock so it can make a place for the player to jump from.

And although I liked this version, I found two issues - The rolling rock would fall with the placement it has now (being held by a changing platform) and the rolling rock doesn't really fit the aesthetics of a factory so when I did my illustrator version I fixed the minor changes.

 I also decided that having a more temple-like theme might fit better - having a brown and red color scheme inside, and when you leave the temple/cave at the end it would be a much more refreshing green/blue color scheme. I also drew inspirations from some concepts from the upcoming Yooka Laylee. 

I feel much more confident about this design, however I look forward to critic and seeing how I could improve the design even further.

Platformer Analysis: Limbo

Limbo does an excellent job of setting the player up for what they are to expect for the rest of the game. Within the first few parts of Level 1, Limbo successfully teaches the player all its game mechanics at a basic level without having to remind them of controls or what they should be doing. 

Section 1: The very beginning of the game is spent waking up at the spawn point and then walking through a long patch of woods. This allows a player to get a handle for the characters movement and how the physics work, along with experimentation of controls and set up the atmosphere of the game.

Section 2: The very first obstacle you see is a gap with spikes. This is reinforcing the jump mechanic, but if you do fall in, your player dies as you only have one life. BUT you also find out that the spawn point isn't too far away, so death is as punishing as its more about directing the player that what they did was wrong for a certain situation. This becomes much more prevalent as the game goes on.

You also find a shack-like area that introduces the main mechanic of the game other than movement over obstacles - moving and interacting with certain obstacles. Here you learn how to push or move the box to your advantage, and  hot to climb certain objects. By descending the rope you find at the top you find a platform and below you is another pit of spikes- the only obstacle the player has seen yet. This lets the player know that the pit is dangerous without experimentation because they already are familiar with the obstacle.

Section 3: This section teaches the player more about the different types of objects in the world and their multiple uses.  Also, if you were to go into the water alone, the player will realize they can't swim and will drown, but again- the punishment isn't too severe as they will spawn fairly close to the boat if they die. The player rides the boat to shore, but finding the next jump too high, they have to drag the boat ashore and use it to jump up to the ledge. This action is teaching the player a lot about problem solving- a skill needed for the puzzle game, using an item for a use its not normally used for.

Section 4: When walking along you come across another type of item - bear traps. Upon walking on it the player will be rewarded with a fairly gruesome death. Respawning not to far away, most players then try to jump over it, but find that there are two traps right next to each other, making it too far of a distance to jump and be rewarded with another gruesome death. However the player can see that the bear traps have handles on them- the same type of handles they found on the very first box the moved.  This teaches the player they can move dangerous obstacles as they can space them out and jump over them individually.

As the first level moves on these obstacles become more challenging and force the player to use more critical thinking as they go- using a players base knowledge of how physics works in an environment as a base.  For example: Its easy to see that rolling the rock to the left will push the tree down and create a pathway, but you also have to account for where it will fall and move accordingly. 

 

The player will also encounter the first boss of the game on this level, the giant spider, and will have to put all their skills to the test as you have to run just fast enough so that the spider can't catch and kill you, but also using the spider at some points to help you with certain obstacles.  This makes the player very anxious and really puts them to the test as to what they've learned during this first level- effectively creating a fun, spooky, and well designed first level.