Honours Project Podcast: Why he was 'Alone' (TWA)

Another podcast, just like last time I reviewed the popular Iphone game Tings, this time I take a look at the popular minimalist platformer Thomas was alone and briefly explain what is the situation with Thomas, listen bellow:

Podcast: Why he was 'Alone' (TWA)

My Exhibiton Plan

The Original Plan

The original plan for my showcase is bellow. From the start, I wanted my character to pop out of the side, although had no idea of how to go about doing it nor did I know it was possible for printing companies out there to print your work straight onto a foam board. this is exactly what I need in order to create the 3D effect that I am going for and I am happy that I thought about this way early on within the project.

The plan was basically to have a large A2 poster to promote the game, as well as having 6 images of the game itself. Then a personal statement and business cards as well as a sketchbook. Then a card print out of the character was going to pop out from the side so that the showcase holds some originality as well as interest. 

Pros:

• There is a lot of content and a large breadth of work on display.
• It is simple and if set up right will give a polished and minimal look.
• The pop out character is a large point of interest.

Cons:

• The character may stick out too much and block the way of the public.
• Two stands may be obstructive for the users. 
• 6 images of gameplay and no production work is not ideal. 

This plan will surely change and be updated in the future, although it is always good to be reassured that you have a rough plan of future endeavors. 

Honours Project Podcast: Big Tiny Wings

It's that time again, a podcast of my thoughts, this time on the popular IOS game Tiny Wings which was launched back in 2011 with much success. I talk about the good and the bad of what my generally feeling of the game is in terms of it's aesthetic appeal. Listen bellow:

Podcast: Big Tiny Wings

Unity3D Destony Development + Inspiration

Design Concept

The original idea of collecting falling objects actually came from Totem Destroyer, which is a game in which you have to remove certain blocks by left clicking to help the trophy land safely. This inspired the concept of my game although I wanted to create more freedom with a platformer game and a concept of saving a fragile sense of positivism.



As you can see the concept is really similar, here is a small description of the game and you can also play it trough the link bellow:

http://armorgames.com/play/1871/totem-destroyer

Totem Destroyer is a physics-based block elimination game, where players must attempt to remove a certain number of blocks in each stage to progress. Blocks can be destroyed by left-clicking on them, and the level quota is always displayed on the upper right side of the screen. You will have to start all over if the golden idol touches the ground at any time.

Name: Totem Destroyer
Developer: Gabriel Ochsenhofer
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Progress Report

Finally, the game actually runs. Here is a short video showing the development of the game as it currently stands. This is the first time that I have actually gotten to the stage of the game running to a decent standard so I am actually really excited to have reached this stage although there is still much more work to be done.

My Thoughts

The progress of the game so far is at a level in which I am happy about and a level in which the game could be showcased right now and I feel as an artist programming alone, this would be of some achievement to be proud of. The character jumps and the blocks have psychics which work and the overall game have a very polished look to it comparing it with my first ever flash prototype which just did not have the same level of polish.

Pros:

• The character has been optimized to feel systemically good when playing with.
• The visuals have been polished and look quite unique.
• The gameplay is bare-bones yet of a decent standard and is very playable.
• The walk animation suits the character well and is not choppy or too fast or slow.
• The background is not too strong and brings out the game assets very well.

Cons:

• The character has limited animations and could be improved with more tweaking.
• The dark boxes have no animations and are somewhat plain.
• The environment is very static and could do with a parallax effect or some other effects.
• The game only has 1 level and it could bring a lot more variety if there were further levels in the game/
• The music does not fully suit the atmosphere of the game and is somewhat too fast passed and lacks emotion.  

Possible Improvements:

• It is certainly early stages and a proud milestone, although there are many improvements that need to be made, such as the character jump animation, the blocks being more animated, sound effects and music to be implemented and improved as well as more levels and a main menu and opening and ending sequence. 

Thomas is not Alone

Thomas was Alone, but now he has company as many admire the game and speak of it's great use of narration, simple albeit strong game design and a generally a successful atmospheric game. Thomas was alone has probably been the biggest inspiration for me in starting this project.

Mike Bithell explaining his game at the London unity User Group 6 (LUUG 6):
http://video.unity3d.com/video/3605775/luug-6-thomas-was-alone

Mike Bithells blog during his development which holds a lot of useful as well as inspiring information which is all relevant considering that he produced the game alone and was using Unity.

The blog can be seen here: http://thomaswasalone.wordpress.com/page/2/

Bellow is a video from his blog which shows his development as he starts to built up the game.