Game Idea Research

Game Idea Research

For my last project blog I brainstormed some game ideas for my final game- an adventure game, a cooking game, a survival game and a jailbreak game. After heavy debating I have decided to further explore the survival game idea.

Initially I was going to do a classic deserted island survival game, but I have decided to spice things up a little bit by turning it into a fantasy based open world  survival game. The game would be in a fantasy setting full of unfamiliar, almost alien like plants and animals and surroundings. The surrounding area would be open and diverse to give the player opportunities to explore and decide where to set up camp; a dense forest, a mystical lake to fish and get water, a volcano area to gather things like stone and gemstones to make tools and weaponry.

A game I was inspired by and enjoy playing a lot that is of the survival genre is Don't Starve!

Dont Starve promotional image 

Source: Flickr

I was thinking of adding some hostile mobs to the game to add some challenge- but also allows the player to hunt and gather meat to cook. They would be further out in the land and not around the starting point so the player has time to prepare. A fun idea would be to have some tame able mobs to become pets that could fight for the player!

The fantasy element and unfamiliar flora and fauna could rise to add a hunger and poison mechanic- the player would have to cook things appropriately and keep in mind anything that could be potentially poisonous when eating food. Antidotes could be made using some flora to combat any poisoning.

Here are some game mechanics I feel could work for my game concept!

• Hunger and Poisoning mechanic- since my game is a survival game, there has to be survival elements and risk to add challenge and realism to the game. A mechanic where the player grows hungry over the course of the game would be beneficial. For example, when the player is at a certain hunger level they cant regen health, and their movement slows, and their attacks grow weaker. When hunger reaches 0, it triggers a game over since the player starves. Poison would occur when the player doesn’t cook meats or certain plants; this would cause the player to gradually take damage over a period of time until it wears off or an antidote is taken. The game Minecraft actually has a mechanic a lot like this, and it goes into detail about it here!

• A health system- Both player and mobs would have a certain amount of HP in their health pool which can lessen when attacked, when poisoned, or heat/cold damage is taken. Mobs die and drop meat when their health reaches 0, but when the players health reaches 0 it triggers a game over.

• A temperature mechanic- To add realism to the game, I think a temperature mechanic could work. One of my planned areas for the game is a volcano, which would be hot, especially near the lava. The player would take damage if they stepped in the lava. The same goes for the cold, if a player for example gets in icy water they will take damage. Making pieces of armor that are heat and cold resistant could be a fun idea. One of my favourite games, The Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild has a temperature mechanic, which you can read more about at this link!

Unity Tutorial 03

Unity Tutorial 03

This week I tackled the third Unity tutorial which involved making a functional clock!

I had some difficulty with my laptop last week, and because of that and poor time management I was unable to complete the 2nd tutorial (though I will complete that one soon!)

I found the beginning of this tutorial straightforward and easy to follow- it took me a little thinking to wrap my head around why I had to create loads of new parents for the hour indicators but I executed it successfully and built my clock with little problem.

However, when it came to the C#... I struggled. A lot.

At first, I understood it a little bit and followed the coding. However, the further I went on typing the code the more difficult and confusing I found it. I didn't like how the tutorial made you type out a big line of code and tell you immediately after that you can type it in a much shorter simpler way.

I managed to get down to the public bool continuous part, but noticed that my Unity wasn't responding to my saved code to add the Continuous option. I'm not sure what I did wrong here, but I played around with it for quite a while but it wouldn't work no matter what I did. 

Because of this I didn't end up with a functioning clock.

In the future I hope to get a better understanding of C# so I can know where I went wrong, and to help me in the future.

Screenshot of Unity and Coding

Source; My Laptop

Games MDA

Games MDA

This week’s reading taught me about the MDA framework- standing for Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics. This framework was initially unfamiliar to me; I had not heard of this framework before doing this reading so it was very informative and helped me grasp the concept of the MDA framework.

I did the readings on the MD 2019 CDM site, which you can read by clicking the link. 

Mechanics refers to the constraints of how a game works- it determines the actions a player can take in the game and how these actions affect the game. From my understanding- mechanics refer to elements of the game that determine and affect the gameplay. Examples of mechanics in games I have played include respawning, day and night cycles, reloading ammo, drowning, hunger and temperate mechanics.

Dynamics refer to how the game plays when the mechanics are implemented. For example, in the case of a temperature mechanic- how do players overcome this? What strategies do they come up with to overcome this? In my personal experience, a game that demonstrates this well is Breath of the Wild. In order to climb icy mountains, the player must stay warm or they will take damage. There are multiple ways to do this- get warm armour, carry around a torch, or a fire weapon. Strategizing emerges from dynamics.

Aesthetics refer not to the look of the game but to the player experience of the game. This emerges from the dynamics of the game- if the dynamics are difficult for players then the players will feel frustrated, if there are very basic and repetitive dynamics the player will feel bored. Essentially, it’s how “fun” a game is, but fun is a very broad term so it is slit into several sections.

This site goes into more detail about the MDA model!

I personally have never looked so far into what elements make a game “fun”, so seeing it broken down into the eight categories gave me a new insight on the term “fun”. I feel that this will be helpful in not only giving feedback to others on their project but also help me understand any feedback I receive properly.

I feel that this reading has given me a lot of understanding about the MDA model and it will help me in my game development in future.

Screenshot of views of games 

Source: MD 2019 CDM site

Game Elements

Game Elements


My readings for this week gave me a lot of insight on not only what you should include when giving feedback and critique to a game, but also gave me an idea of key elements to think of when designing my own game.

There are so many elements to be considered when reviewing a game. What works well and what doesnt work well? Giving critique should go beyond saying “its fun" or “not fun". To properly give feedback on a game, I have learned that you must take into consideration the type of game it is you’re reviewing, and then looking at the formal and abstract elements of the game, analyse and test the game to give valuable informative feedback.

Rock paper scissors elements

Source: Wikimedia Commons

One interesting point I have found from my readings is regarding the rules of a game (you can read it here). Though some games have defined rules, there are a lot of implied and unwritten rules in games. How far do rules have to be defined? How would defining rules benefit the player experience? The example I found to be effective of communicating this was the one regarding spawn camping in shooter games. I used to play a lot of shooters when I was younger, and I was definitely subjected to spawn camping. It is implied that you shouldn’t do this through the community- but it is not defined. Some consider it cheating. There’s no way for the player to really know since this rule has not been explicitly defined. Undefined and implied rules may cause arguments and confusion amongst players, so from my reading I will be sure to look at rules when giving feedback on games.

Another point I liked in my readings was that of information provided to the player (which you can read here). In games such as chess, the information about the status of the game is clear for the players to see- while in games like Clue the player is not given this information and must find it for themselves. Using this as reference can pose many questions when reviewing a game. Does the player have enough information to know what they’re doing? Or is there too much information which makes the game too easy? Does a lack of information benefit the gameplay? I have overlooked information in regards to reviewing games- but my reading made me realise how crucial it can make the player experience.

One reason why it’s so hard for us to properly give feedback on games is due to our lack of of a design vocabulary. As this article by Doug Church says, many professions and subjects have defined terminology for things within them, while game design lacks this. This is why people find it so hard to describe what a game is, and find it difficult to give feedback. This article discusses the Formal Abstract Design Tools (FADT) as a framework to discuss and build this vocabulary we lack. The discussion of Mario 64 along with the use of FADTs to discuss the game was actually very useful in my understanding. I at first found the concept a but confusing, but as the article went on and used the FADTs to discuss games it made more sense to me.

Overall I found these readings very beneficial in my understanding of exactly what a game is and how to review one. It helped me understand the importance of aspects I would have brushed away before, and it introduced me to the concept of FADT which I find will help me with giving feedback on games in the future.

Feedback Thoughts

Feedback Thoughts

The article "Why Rejection Hurts So Much" by Guy Winch (you can read it here) offered some interesting points and advice for dealing with feelings of rejection. I particularly found the fact that in the brain the feeling of rejection is recorded to be very similar to physical pain interesting- I never knew that before I read the article. I can see how it makes sense though. Rejection does hurt, emotionally especially. Not even necessarily romantic rejection- rejection in terms of ideas or working in a group. Rejection makes people feel self critical which can affect their relationships and work. For example, in school I was consistently rejected in a variety of ways such as in storywriting for english class and in art class.

Things like "that's not good you shouldn't do that again" or "do something different" with no sort of feedback or constructive criticism. The rejection of my ideas with no feedback made me very self critical- and something this article thought me is to not do this and instead look at my positive traits and what I can offer to people. This is a very useful tip and I will make use of it in future!

Feedback silhouettes 

Source: Pixabay.com

The article "Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head" by Sabina Nawaz (you can read it here) talks of a businessman who becomes overly self critical and as a result slows down his work and becomes less confident. This article proves useful in giving tips to help you out of the mindset that you arent good enough. One of the things I took away from the article was to look at the positive- and if you dont receive a positive feedback, ask explicitly for it. Focusing on positive feedback instead of negative is a very good idea as it tells you what you should replicate in the future and helps raise confidence. The idea that you need 5 positive voices for every negative voice is something I havent heard of until now.

I think that constructive criticism is the best way to go- have a positive and something the person could improve on rather than criticising them personally. Constructive criticism has helped me a lot in my art journey to improve- hearing positive and things to improve on motivated me to work harder, while hearing feedback like "that sucks" made me feel bad about myself and not want to draw more. 

Feedback is very important to word correctly- and in my own experience it's good to include a positive in feedback. I will definitely take the advice from the articles on board when receiving and giving feedback for projects in the future.

Game Brainstorm

Game Brainstorm

For potential ideas for my final game, I took to pen and paper to write down some ideas. While I was brainstorming I was thinking back on the Unity tutorial I completed and what type of things I could achieve in my game using what I learnt- and what I will learn in the future!

I came up with several ideas ranging from different genres- some that are more story based and some based more on the gameplay and collecting items. I tried exploring different concepts regarding the terrain and map- some ideas that take place outdoors and some that are based more in the indoors. 

Here are some images of the brainstorming I did!

Game ideas brainstorm

Source: Myself

First idea: Cooking Game

My first idea for a game was to be based in a restaurant! The player would play the role of a chef in the kitchen- whipping up some dishes for the customers eating there. The player would have to run around the kitchen collecting different ingredients in order to make a variety of dishes, which they would then have to deliver to the customers. To add variety to the surroundings I would like to add different sections to the kitchen such as a storeroom/pantry, different stations dedicated to things like vegetables, meat, desserts etc. 

The end goal of this game would be to complete the service by serving all the customers. If possible, there could be a timer to complete the tasks to add more difficulty to the game. 

I was partly inspired by Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen for this game since I'm quite obsessed with all of his shows.

I'd like to learn how to randomise dishes and ingredients that appear in the game to add more to the replayability and difficulty to the game.

I haven't played many cooking games myself, but the game series Overcooked seems to have a similar idea. I haven't really seen much content for this game- but exploring it and watching some gameplay may inspire me and help me to create this cooking game if I decide to go for it for my final idea. You can read more about Overcooked here.

Overcooked 2 artwork

Source: Flickr

Second Idea: Adventure Game

My idea for this game would be for the player to be in an unknown location with no recollection of the past- so more story based. I was thinking of making the terrain a bit more sinister like a spooky forest to play into the amnesia factor. The player would have to collect items to trigger memories of the past, and the goal would be to find out the memories of the character and to escape the forest. This game would be more heavily based on story- and also use outdoor terrain. 

I was inspired by the Slenderman game for this- where you run around in a forest collecting notes.. except without the horror element. You can read more about the Slenderman game I was inspired by here. 

In terms of terrain I could make several structures within the forest and make different areas in the forest to add variety and more story elements. I could make some cabins and abandoned buildings for example. The items collected wouldn't be notes- they would be a variety of different objects to make it more interesting. 

I'd like to learn how to make more advances structures such as cabins and buildings for this game.

Slender Logo

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Third Idea: Jailbreak Game

My third idea of a game would be a jailbreak game! The objective, much like the title, would be to escape the jail. To achieve this, the player would have to collect various items to craft different tools in order to escape the prison. The prison would have various different parts, such as a cafeteria and courtyard. These locations would give the player several different items to collect such as rocks and spoons to craft things. I was also thinking that if possible, I could implement a feature where if a guard spots you with any contraband it would trigger a game over. I also am thinking of different ways for the player to escape, such as cutting fences and digging their way out, which would make the game more re-playable.

I'd like to learn about triggering a game over by having certain items in the player inventory when crossing a certain point in this game.

There is a 2D game series called The Escapists (you can read more about it here) which you are playing the life of a prisoner trying to escape. It's similar to my idea but I plan to change things around so it isn't the same if I do decide to use this as my final idea.

The Escapists artwork

Source: Flickr

Fourth Idea: Survival Game

My fourth idea would be to make a survival based game where the player is stranded on a deserted island and the goal of the game is to survive for a night. The player would have to collect resources gathered around the island- such as firewood from the jungle and rocks to make weapons in order to get food. The main objectives would be to build a base with a shelter, a fire pit, and to set up a food and water source. There would also be optional tasks- more cosmetic ones to decorate the base such as flags and trinkets.

Perhaps I could include a timer element here- if the player doesn't complete their base in a certain amount of time, night comes and they don't survive, leading to a game over. Perhaps a day and night cycle would be useful here- something I would have to look into and explore.

I drew some inspiration from the survival game Don't Starve; I enjoy this game a lot and I love building my own base using all the tools in the game. The game is combines both 2D and 3D elements and has lots more story and survival elements- looking further into the game (and playing it more myself!) will give me ideas and inspiration for other potential mechanics to include in my own game. You can read more about Don't Starve here!

Don't Starve promotional art

Source: Flickr

Unity Tutorial 01

Unity Tutorial 01 Thoughts

Through these Unity tutorials I have learned about the interface, tools and objects available, terrain tools, textures, materials, assets, terrain objects, making scripts and test playing the world.

Powered by Unity Logo

Source: Commons Wikimedia

First off I found the tutorials very helpful! It was easy enough to follow and I felt that I got some good information and understanding out of it as I followed along.

I really liked how customisable the interface is- messing around with the different window and sidebar positions. Though I would like to explore more of the customisation in future, for the sake of the tutorials I left them as default so I wouldn’t get confused when working through them.

The most enjoyable part of this tutorial for me was the terrain building! I had a test around with the different terrain tools such as changing heights (I made quite the dramatic mountain peak at one stage), smoothing, and creating jagged textures. I followed the tutorial and made my own mountains, which I definitely found enjoyable.

I also enjoyed playing around with the grass and tree textures- I loved how customisable they are in terms of colour and heights and density. I had a good chuckle changing the grass to completely unnatural colours.

I found it rather difficult at first to wrap my head around applying textures- duplicating the textures and renaming them to add into the normal map. Though after a few rewinds of the tutorial I understood but I feel that I need to practice and familiarize myself with it more.

I also found it difficult to understand the C# scripting- I am only familiar with HTML and CSS coding from my modules so it was quite intimidating (and still is) to me. I just copied the tutorial here- but I feel like I don’t fully understand this yet but hopefully I will begin to as I practice and explore scripting more.

I’m really  looking forward to getting a start on my game so that I can build my own world according to the ideas I come up with- and I’m also  looking forward to working more with textures and terrain to shape my world.

I’d personally like some further explanation on C# since it is completely new, and rather alien to me. I feel like it will be important in the development of our games through scripting so I’d like to become more comfortable and familiar with it.

Thank you for reading my blog!