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Project 2 Pixel Art – Game Maker - Evaluation

The evaluation of you project forms the final part of unit 5, 6 and 7

LO 3.1 - Project 2 Pixel Art –Game Maker

The effective evaluation must be a detailed self-reflection on the creative process of your work. Make sure you use your screen grabs, to illustrate the points you are making. In your evaluation, you need to address the following:

General Project Based Questions

• Describe you project

My project was a platform game using Mary Anning who was a paleontology as a character and the setting of ww1.We used game maker to create the game which we also used photo shop and the drawing tools inside game maker itself to create assets. The game was retro themed game being 256 by 256 in our groups we worked together on our games sharing assets and ideas. This allowed use more time to work on our own as we did not have to design 4 copy of barbed wire or dirt.

• Explain the pre-production, production and post-production techniques and processes you used to create your media product.

The pre-production was used to come up with the scenario of the game and the details of where the game was going to take place in that would allow for multiple levels and we agreed on the location taking place in the battle of Somme getting referenced pictures of different object used in the world war such as barb wire or trenches.

[pic][pic]

Once I had references I looked into sounds I could use for a ww1 pixel games I I choose BFXR as the program as it used to create retro sounds which would fit the aesthetic of the game (being pixel based).We choose game makers to create our game on as we had existing experience and is simple to use while still allowing for more in-depth work such as coding. We also explored into the reason why she would be enemy of the Germans and started to come up with ideas for a story to give this reasoning.

Productions during production we created the character assists for the main character and the enemy, once the character spirit for Mary Anning her enemy’s that are Germans who see her as a English soldier and are trying to stop her while Mary Anning is trying to get back to the allies side of the war which is through German trenches, occupied towns and forest. I focused my efforts on the Church

Which was the finale level containing a boss fight a German entrenchment and natural object such as fire and platforming. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]

When done we created the rooms and background of the game.[pic] Once these where done I began to work on the interactive element of the game such as enemy movement following paths and firing mechanics. I did this for both the character and enemy For Mary Anning I gave her multiple mechanics for moment such as jumping and movement while including a reset option on r

[pic][pic] [pic][pic]. For the player I added the ability to fire in multiple directions using the left and right mouse to fire in there respected directions

With space being the shoot up mechanic. Depending on the direction I wanted I change the direction the object is created in [pic]

Left mouse being 180 to fire left right being left at 0 to fire right and space being 90 to fire up. While for the enemy soldiers (not the mortar) I had it set to fire reputably having it set to and alarm triggered when it created sending a bullet flying in the direction I had specified which is towards the entrance. While also giving them to destroy themselves on collision with the player attacks.

[pic][pic]

The Player and npcs fire their own versions of bullet when the enemy bullet collides with the player it will damage the player taking one of their lives ,when she hits 0 live it is game over for the player. While the player throws a hammer a reference to Mary Anning being a Paleontologist. It also destroys Germans on collision it also get destroyed if it escapes the room, Collides with a platform or the floor. It damages the finale boss and need to hit it multiple times to kill it.

[pic][pic]

To give the player objective I created 2 walls which had prerequisites to opening them the first door requires a gold key to be grabbed before it opens. It works by when it collides with the player it destroys itself and the wall that is blocking the path forward. [pic]The next one requires the mortar to be destroys which give the player releave as it will stop howzet shots being fired on the player which I created by having the howzet on an alarm.This alarm creates an object above the player out side of the screen as it is destroyed by platforms so the player can take cover.The howzet directions is set to 270 so it continues dowards toward the player but is dodgable.When the mortar uisdestroyed a trap door is destroyed giving the player a way of progresing.When the mortar dies it also summun th efinale boss in the next part of the stage continueing the game.

[pic] [pic]

Next I worked on platforms setting them solid allowing them to work for the game. This takes was simple as it just involved in setting them to solid while also setting the collision for the player being precise so the player does not get hit unless it collides with the spirit. Once I had completed these spirits, object, rooms, paths and mechanics I began work on sound s for the game using BFXR for the sound of the game I focused on retro sounds as it would fit with the pixel aesthetic .I began working on BFXR to create the sound For movement in the games and other actions such as the hammer throw.

[pic] [pic]

Then I choose a background track in the end I choose we are the resistors by Eric Skiff. To import them I ether creating them an object that had no I mage (to not appear in the game) or I added it to a mechanic or action the ether the player of npcs may take. To stop the background track from loping I had it ask is this already playing if yes it would not play if it answer no it will begin to track.

[pic]

Then I moved into post once I had made sure that the game runs.

Post production in the post production I had bug testing and one bug that was difficult to figure out how it was happening was the player randomly teleporting when it collide with the player. The solution I found was having it reverse the direction of the player and this prevent them forcing their way into bricks. Another glitch that player found was Bullet flying through walls I went back and had a look and during the construction of the room I had somehow deleted the wall. So I filled it back in with a new wall stopping bullet flying from one section of the map to another.

[pic]

The feedback that I received was that the game was too difficult to be fun for general players and the slippery of the movement provided an unnecessary difficulty making the platform element of the game to difficult. I fixed this by increasing the friction on Mary Anning.

[pic][pic]

Next I worked on creating promotional materials for the game. The first one I created is a top trump of Mary Anning. It contain information about Mary Anning when she was alive such as her birthdate to when she died and what she did that made her famous such. Regrettable I only found out after the creation of this top trump was that Mary Anning Is the woman that the tongue twister “she sells seashells by the seashore” is about. I also released My Barbed wire Pixel Art on twitter as more promotional material

[pic] [pic]

• What were your goals and expectations?

My goal was to have a completable game that would last more than 5 – 10 minutes’ was also expecting the game would be enjoyable to play for player who enjoy platform games. Another goal I had for the game was to be Difficult but once you learn how it works and functions it become easy.

• What is challenging, different and interesting about your media product?

This product was interesting to create because I had to work with the limitation of randomly drawing out our main character and the time zone that it is set in. This created challenges and different from what I usually do. The challenge can across as I had to learn about Mary Anning and ww1 and trying to find a way of linking the two together. It was also challenging as it had the limitation of 256 by 256 screen meaning I would have to limit the size of object and make object clearly what they are with less pixels to work with meaning I would have to be more creative in how I make them While making them clearly who they are to represent. I did find it interesting trying to come up for an attack for Mary Anning and after discussion in the group we decided that her Paleontologist hammer would be her way of attack and I choose to use it as a range attack.

• Who is your ideal target audience?

My ideal target audience are player who enjoy games that are platformers and above the normal level of difficulty that platformer are like. As we were using pixel art for our game design I would also involve player who enjoy retro games are a part of our ideal target.

• Does the finished project present and promote your idea to your chosen target audience?

I believe so but I found the game can take longer than 10 minutes which I found to be an improvement as it allow the player to enjoy. It also felt like a platformer and from the feedback the player agreed that it platforming element fit in with the rest of the game. I found the game difficulty was rather difficult too difficult and once I had lowered it it fit the aimed difficulty of the game.

• Why should the audience consume your media product?

The reason why the audience should consume my product is that it is focusing on a historical character who does not get much attention in the media.

• What is the message of your media product?

The message about my media production is that history is not easily forgotten even The reason this is the message is because she change how we seen our own planet history but was just a corner mark in the history books with the only thing related to people know being the “she sells seashells by the seashore “and most don’t even know it is about Mary Anning.

• How did your creative decisions help communicate your message?

• My creative decision of having Mary Anning taking out a mortar in the church is here helping win one of the most bloodied conflict in the last century as the mortar would have wreak havoc on the allied assault which would cause havoc on advancing allied troops. And this can help get my message across hidden within the game itself.

Specific Skills Based Questions

• What audio/visual/interactive problems did you encounter during the production and post -production process?

The problem we were given in this game was that our character scenery where both drawn randomly from a hat and we were to create it in as retro themed game. The visual problem I had was having to work within the limits on the pixel for our character as it did not allow for more detail so I had to focus on them to try and make them clearly who their meant to representing with limited pixels. The audio problem I had was working on the background track and preventing it from looping over each other when the player goes from the main menu to the game. The other main interactive problem was trying to figure out how to shoot in multiple direction (back forward up) another visual problem was trying to make platform m stand out from the background.

• What did you do to solve audio/visual/interactive problems you encountered?

• To solve the first problem I researched Mary Anning and WW1 and looked for a location in our groups and we decided on the battle of Somme in ww1 as it would allow multiple levels and gave us an area to focus on as I choose to focus on the church level of the game. This gave me more insight and allowed for more ideas to come for the game. To solve the next interactive problem of firing on multiple directions I settle on using the mouse and space to fire in each direction allowing the player to have three different ways of attack and allowing them to hit target they got past.

Next I began working on the audio problem of the game and began to look into how sound work in game by the use of experiments. Looking at the different drag and drop option and in the end found I could solve it using the ask question option by having the game ask if the sound is already playing and if it answer no it would start playing the music if not it would not until the song ended preventing it from repeating over each other.

To solve the visual problem of the platform needing to stand out from the background I solved this by filling the middle of the platform with red giving the player a clear location of where the platform is located and giving the outside a different shade of yellow from the background allowing them to see the boundary of each background. Solving the visual problem of limitation of the pixel I had to be careful on how I design the enemy and main character while keeping key features such as the German cross that they wore during world war 1.While having to look at barbed wire to come up with a believable version that is pixel based. For Mary Anning I had to figure out what detail to keep an get rid of in the end I kept her long dress her fossil bag and her Paleontologist hammer which I converted into her weapon for my product.

• How effective was your finished project in solving audio/visual/interactive based problems at the end of your creative media project?

I found my product was very effective at solving the problem that the creative media project presented to me in ways of using spirit and option in the drag and drop of game maker to solve. Such as the audio looping I could solve with a simple drag and drop question. The visual work I could solve through using the program inside game maker to create spirit or edit them to set there collision as it allowed work in pixel. Game maker allowed me to solve the interactive problem with just drag and drop and using complex order of drag and drop it allowed me to enact more complicated moves such as spawning in new object and having them fire in certain locations and going in that direction such as with the mortar.

• How could you make it better?

If I was to come back to this project I would create additional features such as German reinforcement to give the player another reason to escape. The other major thing I could think of is giving clue that are not obvious such as different shaded brick to help guide player who are stuck and allow them to continue and enjoy the game more. The last major thing I would do was adding more animation to the game for npcs such as a firing animation or mortar moving depending on where the player is.

• What audio/visual/interactive skills have you learned during this project and how can you develop them further for your FMP?

In my final major project

I had learned audio skills such as using BFXR and I have developed this skill to create many different retro sounds and I could develop them further to create audio tack as my FMP.

I have learned how to make pixel art and I could create a gallery of people out of pixel art or by recreating character in pixel form such as Mario or other mascots of gaming as my FMP

The interactive element of the game that I have learned is how to create a game in game maker and I could use this knowledge I gained and I could gain more in terms of programing npcs to have more complicated actions such as reaction to the player and I could make a FMP using the three types of npcs studying them and trying to create my own (mechanics, rule sets and AI)

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