Reading 8.

So I've taken a break from blogging last week to focus more on my group project, but this week I've been doing some research on creating an introduction and conclusion for both of my topics. I've come across an online article on how to write an introduction, conclusion, and the body of your paragraphs (https://lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduates/writing-guides/how-do-i-write-an-intro--conclusion----body-paragraph.html) that really helped me get started on it. 

↣ An introduction is usually the first paragraph of a chapter so I really wanted to grab the attention of the viewers by providing and discussing an interesting statement, i.e an explanation of strategic dominance in gameplay, or the fascination of game complexities. I've already written my introductions which are as follows;

Managing complexities

↣ Developers of game AI (artificial intelligence) are always fascinated with packing more complexity into the virtual brains they build. However, complexities usually have a price, or rather multiple; poor run-time, a lack of directability, poor scalability, and worst of all, a dim experience for players in which the AIs seem to act "randomly" rather than "intentionally". We will discuss sources of complexity and the different ways in which complexity can manifest itself.

Avoiding Dominant Strategies 
↣ Strategic dominance in game theory happens when one strategy that a player uses leads to much better outcomes for them than other possible strategies, regardless of which strategies their opponents use. In the following article, we will discuss more strategic dominance, dominant and dominated strategies, and strategic dominance in general. Then, we will see how leaning towards strategic dominance can help you make more strategic decisions, and how it can help you expect your opponents’ behavior.

↣ The conclusion is the last part of a chapter, so I had to do my best to summarize the topics and explain the significance of each topic. In order to do so, I had to restate my main points and keep in mind that my introduction and conclusion aren't the same.

Image found on pixabay.com

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!

Unity Free Tutorial.

This week, I've decided to do some research and find other Unity tutorials rather than stick to Jimmy Vegas' series, as I'd like to find tutorials that are more specific to my own game. I've come across a You Tuber called 'Sherry Dragonair' who showcases a video titled 'Making a Terrain in Unity - Beginner's Tutorial'. In this video, Sherry goes in-depth on creating a much higher-quality forest/terrain than Jimmy Vegas, and I quite enjoy how he gets straight to the point in a 16-minute long video, rather than creating a whole series on different aspects to the terrain. Although he doesn't talk in the video, I did learn a lot about the terrain tool, adding textures, forming the ground, etc. I'm quite the perfectionist and I know I'll be struggling with the terrain more than the scripting (because it's much easier to find, copy and paste code rather than finding map formation tutorials). I also know I'm going to spend hours struggling creating the terrain to look like a mountain to suit my taste, I did however enjoy adding the trees and messing around with the grass textures to create a more forest-y feel to the game, making it look more realistic. Adding just hints of grey to the mountain tops and some greenery around the trees make the map pop that much more.

Mountains.

Game fun.

Not long ago, I came across several articles related to MUD games (http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm). An ‘MUD’ is a multi player real-time virtual world that’s typically text-based. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Most MUDs can be traced all the way back to Trubshaw's 1978 game called “Bartle, 1990” and “Burka, 1995” and, possibly because of this legacy, the vast majority are regarded as ‘games’ by their players (https://users.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf). There are four things that people typically enjoy about MUDs. Achievement within the game, where players give themselves in-game-related goals, and set out to achieve them. This usually means collecting and disposing of big quantities of high-valued treasure, or cutting a through hordes of mobiles (such as monsters built into a virtual world). The exploration of the game is another one too, where players try to find out as much as they can about the virtual world. Another thing would be socializing with others, where players use the game' communicative services, and apply the role-playing aspect, as a setting in which to interact with their players (https://learn.canvas.net/courses/3/pages/level-7-introduction-and-readings). MUD’s also support a much more formal approach to design. This allows us to aim specifically towards specific design goals, and to expect changes that impact each feature of the framework and it’s executions. There are also three levels of abstraction, we can theorize the dynamic behavior of game systems. Understanding games as dynamic systems help us develop our techniques for designing and improvement, and allows us to control for any undesired outcomes, and tune for desired behaviour.

Gaming.