Beta

This week, I've finally managed to finish my game and conquering my fear of scripting. Since my research on adding tweaks to my game, such as adding fog, night modes, start and pause screens, I've ended up with a pretty cool game.

My start screen.

Sticking to my aesthetically-pleasing fanatics, I've managed to place a white grid with an opacity of 35% onto my start screen with some simple "play" and "quit" buttons, inspired by yellow subtitles from movies. I've taken a lot of inspiration with my start and loading screens from a YouTube called Brackeys, and he's definitely helped me a lot with the coding aspect of Unity, whereas Jimmy Vegas helped with the terrain aspect. I originally wasn't planning on putting much effort into my coding since it seemed so difficult, but adding little tweaks like these and some hidden effects into the game really helped me bring it to life. 

My pause menu.

Following Brackeys pause menu tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JivuXdrIHK0) as discussed earlier on this week, I've followed every step of it and it's helped me create my very own pause menu (with some tweaks). I've ended up using a different font and shadow as he did, and spent much longer trying to complete the tutorial considering he uses Microsoft visual studios which somehow isn't compatible with my Mac. I've also added a darker screen effect just like he did. 

Mountains.

Messing around with the terrain tools, I've eventually added my own secret mountains that can be seen in the background! (so happy!) Although my game is finally fully finished, I do feel I'll be adding plenty of tweaks to my game such as adding in more objects, changing up the start and pause menus, and possibly editing the map to make it smaller and using much higher quality trees. However, I did struggle trying to find tutorials that help cater to my games, as there are plenty of Youtube videos dedicated to creating Halo/Fortnite-type games, or some simple 2D games, rather than creating more educational-based games. I've created a fabulous (in my opinion) game, and I hope others can see that too once it's released and ready to be played by others next week!

Alpha.

Since last week, I have continued on with the development of my game, by altering the sky to give it a more nostalgic feel and giving it an endpoint (congrats, you win, here are other ways you can help save the planet!)

You win!

By adding this skybox, the lighting completely changed the feel of the game and the map. The grass and trees look more alive, and in the distance, there are buildings and a sea. As part of the endpoint, I have added this image to raise awareness on global warming;

How to help the earth.

If everyone started doing these simple tasks, the world would be a better place. I do however think my map is slightly too big and I need less trees and include a barn or a house someplace to include a hidden item of plastic.. or two. As of now, the size of the map is 600x600 (a simple square), but I should be cutting it by half, surrounding the area with mountains and playing around with more than one tree-type. I'm quite happy with how my game looks so far and I cannot wait to finish it!

First playable.

This week I've finally started working on my game and let me tell you it was not easy (resisting the urge to purchase an assets pack from the unity store to have much better graphics was quite tricky). I've begun laying out the terrain and quite frankly am still confused by it all. I'm still stuck on this one big square when I want it differently shaped, surrounding it with water (somehow this was hard to find) and scripting the plastic.

Beginning.

I've somehow managed to create this dull look with just the original sky, but may make it darker and more spookier with some alternative settings. I despise the coding for a single. piece. of plastic. absolutely horrible. This took me more time than perfecting the terrain (somehow?). 

Finding plastic.

The constant research for different aspects of creating the game is making me lose motivation to continue, but it's actually turning out really well because of them (who knew Indian men from youtube were so cool?). I will admit that originally I had really high expectations for creating this game and I did think it would be a piece of cake but my god it's somehow turned into a piece of work. I'm quite happy with how the game looks and what it's turning into, but I do think I need to work on how the game starts and how it looks by creating a menu and several levels. I'm super excited to see how the game will turn out!

Prototype.

Since my 'Game Vision Statement', I have elaborated on my idea by developing some prototypes, such as drawing out a basic map of the game and some start and end points. 

A photo of my map.

➪ Considering the game is meant to raise awareness on global warming and our doom because of plastic, I wanted to go for a more greener feel, with plenty of trees, grass and scenery. I'm also considering creating a barn to promote organic products, and a home made from more sustainable materials. I'd also like to surround the land with trees rather than the player being able to jump into the water, but still be able to see water in the horizon. I won't be creating a player for the game, therefore it will be in first person perspective.

A screenshot of my starting point.

➪ To start the player off, I'm going to add very harsh lighting and vignetting so when the player starts off, they would be particularly slow and can only see the spot they are on, with a message saying "Find 10 pieces of plastic" so that the player's environment could improve. 

A screenshot of my ending point.

➪ Once the player has collected 10 pieces of plastic, they see a beautiful "nostalgic" sky with a lively environment. They will also receive a message to let them know they won and can continue to explore the area, and will get a pop up message on different ways to be more sustainable and help our world.

➪ What I am struggling with, is reducing the vignetting effect and altering the light by bringing brightness in for every piece of plastic collected as this involves scripting. I'm also struggling with coming up with objects to include in my map, I am however open to suggestions if you'd like to comment them down below!

Game Vision Statement.

Introduction
⇨  As for my game, I envision a very typical spawn-in game where the player collects a few coins and wins, but putting my own twist to the game. I originally was planning to create either a Sandbox RPG-type game, where the player spawns in and can freely explore their surroundings with some side tasks (they choose whether or not they can complete them), or a more stealth-type approach, where the gamer has to hide from one big target to avoid punishment, as from my experiences I much prefer these gaming styles, but thought this would be a better route, as it is based off something that is more meaningful to me.

Game idea
⇨  As part of my idea, I'm considering basing it off a character who spawns into the game, who starts collecting plastic off the ground to save the planet, as we only have a few months to live before the world has irreversible side-effects. To start off, I'm going to call it "Pepe saves the planet", Pepe being the name of the character, who's main objective is to attempt to save the planet. This would be a more educational-type game aimed at anyone and everyone who wants to make a change. There is also no age-restriction on the game as well, which opens up to the vast majority of our population. I am thinking of having the game play in first-person view, and adding really harsh vignette to it, and for every piece of plastic picked up, the vignette effect starts to fade away, and once all pieces of plastic are collected, the vignette is completely gone. I also plan to have the scenery look more lifeless i.e. dead trees, brown grass, overall an unfriendly environment to begin with, and for every piece of plastic collected, the scenery improves until it eventually becomes a bright beautiful sky with trees and grass full of life. I'll be getting my inspiration for the scenery from various games on Roblox and Minecraft, as I'm quite familiar with plenty of their game modes. I'm also contemplating setting the game in a forest, as in today's world, plenty of our animal's habitats are being completely obliterated by bulldozers damaging our forests and harming our environment for our high demand in wood and meat. At the end of the game, I plan on creating a pop-up message/window that's rather aesthetically pleasing and sticking to a beautiful day's colour palette (white's, brown's, green's and blue's) listing out ways one can help save the environment, such as going for reusable straws, avoiding use of plastic, promoting sustainability by shopping at charity/vintage stores, or even going vegan for a few days. I'll be using the programme "Unity" to create this 3D-based game, as I am quite familiar with the lay-out of the application, and if I am ever stuck on a specific aspect of the programme, I can always look up tutorials that will most likely solve my problems for me. This will be the games only objective, and as simple as it sounds, I hope gamers can understand the message and take something from the game. This game is a great opportunity to educate everyone about the effects of global warming/climate change, its side effects, and ways to prevent it from happening again. (https://www.ted.com/speakers/greta_thunberg)

Inspiration
⇨  I originally got inspired by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenage environmental activist on climate change whose campaigning has gained international recognition. When she began her protest outside of the Swedish Parliament last year at the age of fifteen, she sat next to a wooden sign that was painted in white with the words "Skolstrejk for Klimatet" shown in black paint. She also had leaflets available for people who passed by explaining what is was she was protesting for, in which she responds; "I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future". As her protests have gained recognition, she was then invited to give speeches at several forums which enabled her to expand her horizons. Thus far, she has initiated four themes; that our humanity is currently facing an existential crisis due to climate change, that our generation of adults are responsible for the climate change, that it also has a disproportionate effect on the younger generation, and that not enough is being done about the situation. I got a lot of my research for my game idea from different articles online that helped me go more in-depth with my creative thinking, and I hope this, in turn, creates an amazing game for people all around the world to enjoy.

Reusable coffe cups.

Game Brainstorm.

For my first game idea, I was thinking of doing a Sandbox Role-playing video game (RPG). This kinda video game allowed players a large amount of freedom and usually contains somewhat more open free roaming, and is purely simulation driven (so the player isn't confined to a single path restricted by certain objects such as fences, rocks, walls, etc.) Instead of featuring levels and specific areas, sandbox games most likely occur in a world in which the gamer/player has full access to from start to finish. The games would include structured elements (such as tasks, specific prescribed story lines, mini games) that the player can choose to do or ignore, and because of this non-linear nature, it creates challenges for game developers (I like the idea of pushing myself to create better content anyway). Some examples of 'sandbox gaming' would include Grand Theft Auto, Terraria, Garry's Mod and The Sandbox. What I was thinking of doing, is creating this alternate world in which the player somehow wound up, where the grass is blue, the trees have glowing pink leaves and creating inter-dimensional creatures that wow the gamers (my projects and work is usually always pretty and have hidden meanings to today's world problems, I'd like to try something new and create something beautiful out of galactic species that make the viewers feel like we may not be alone in this universe.) I also plan to have interactive- characters (that possibly say a few words when being clicked on), some unique scenery and hopefully some side challenges. The character will be in first person view, and may or may not have it's own body and/or weapon in hand (like in Minecraft when one can go into first-person view). I know this will be difficult to achieve, but I am open to the idea of working harder in order to create a brilliant game that I'm proud of.

⇉  A second game idea I had in mind was creating a stealth-type game, where the game tends to emphasize sneaking around and avoiding an enemy to avoid conflict. In stealth games, players have the option to be able to engage in loud combat, but are often punished for it, or can obtain their goal with or without stealth, but stealth is encouraged as the player is at a disadvantage over many of their enemies. An example of this would be playing "Stop it, Slender!" on Roblox, where the players have to hit 3 generators and find 8 pages before Slender-man can get to them first. The players are given a 100% battery camera (which acts as their life bar) and the ability to run (which also acts as a bar that regenerates once it's used up). Other examples include Sky rim, The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed, and Hit man. I really like the idea of "Stop it, Slender!", and rather it being a multi player game like on Roblox, it'll be a single-player one with a different goal and different creature following the player. The game featured several maps, all made from different designers, but I think for the purpose of my game I'll create a single map, preferably someplace spooky, like a forest (as it'll be a much easier map to create, I'm also open to the idea of creating the inside of a hotel as a map, or even an asylum). I might also take the idea of finding 3 generators to activate in order to be able to access the rest of the map in hopes of finding hidden objects for the player to find so they can win the game (in my case, I think I'll create different coloured keys), and might add some visual effects to the first-person view such as adding vignette, grain, and have the game in black and white.

⇉  Another game idea I had in mind was a platform game, where the gamers (also known as platformers in this case) have their game play primarily centred around jumping or climbing to navigate the character's environment (they may have enemies or obstacles to avoid and fight, or may even be straight up jumping as part of a puzzle). Examples of these can include 'Obby's' (where each short level, the player has to solve by jumping through a course, just like in "Wipe out"), 'Flood Escape' (where players are put into a designated room and have to climb and jump to get to the top without drowning), and 'The floor is lava' (where players must get to a high place and avoid touching the floor as they will potentially die). Generally the player's characters is capable of jumping many times their very own height, and is sometimes offered some control over their movement mid air. Some settings tend to be somewhat exaggerated with uneven terrain so that gamers can leap to or even fall off. I also particularly like this idea, as it's nostalgic and brings back childhood memories, and also gives me the ability to create various rooms and different challenges for the players to try (this gives me the opportunity to dive deep into scripting, and learn more about gaming than other game developers). I am leaning more towards a recreation of 'Flood Escape', but with a more interesting setting, such as in a lab and its hydrochloric acid flooding the room, or potentially in an asylum and it's oozing black liquid to create a more sinister feel. I'm going to come out of my comfort zone and create a character for this game mode, rather than it being in first-person view, as I'd like to learn more about character design too.

⇉  My last idea was a good ol' typical shooter game, where the main objective is to shoot (whether it's at an object or another player). Players typically use ranged weapons to partake in the fun, which take place at a distance. Most shooting games involve rather violent game play (I'm not a violent person, so this in turn would be challenging for me and way out of my comfort zone), however, there are also non-violent objectives such as what the game 'Splatoon' partakes in (most likely going to be my approach). Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game, centred around fictional characters, also known as "Inklings" (a kinda squid-like creature that transforms between human and "cephalopod" like forms). Other examples include Call of Duty, Counter-strike, Fortnite, and Destiny. I most likely won't be taking inspiration from any of these games as they are so complex and detailed, so I'll be going through a more safer route considering I am highly inexperienced in the 'shooting field'. I do like the idea of a more family-oriented approach like 'Splatoon', however I won't be making it into a multiplayer mode, rather it being a single-played mode, and create a "Mii" with scenario's from "Wii sports resort". I'll be creating tasks where the gamers would have to shoot at designated objects in a specific timeframe in order to achieve a prize. This gives me the opportunity to go more in-depth with scripting, play around with different terrain's and even alter the lighting to make it similar to 'Wii's sports resort'. I will keep it in first player view, but have the body and weaponry visible to the player, in order to make the gamer feel like they're in the actual game. I'll also mess around with the audio, and make it feel rather soothing where the player looks in one direction and hear more naturist sounds in one ear more than the other when using earphones and playing the game.