Homework #12

I plan to deliver more objects to begin to lay an architecture for the outdoor environments of our game. Since our game is in a medieval setting, apart from trees and shrubbery, we will also need some livestock. I believe a reasonable weekly goal to set for myself would be at least one tree, one shrub, and one animal, perhaps in a form that allows me to go back and easily reshape the flora in a relatively easy manner. My deliverable by one week from now will be at least one tree, one shrub/other vegetation, and one livestock animal.

Homework #6

1. For each of the four elements of the Tetrad, explain how it is addressed by your game. If one of the four elements is not used, please state this. 
Technology: The technology at our disposal is Blender.
Mechanics: The character will be able to explore and fight using a variety of weapons.
Story: Our story is an alien invasion in a medieval time period. The player will be involved in saving the village.
Aesthetics: We are aiming for a look that is not overly simply but also not highly detailed.
2. Do the four (or less) elements work towards a current theme? 
The four elements are working towards a current theme, although we only have a very generalized idea of our theme at this point.
3. In your own words, describe the meaning of a "theme", and how does it differ from an "experience" .
Theme is the overall message or idea of the work. It may be very specific or quite broad. Theme is different from experience because theme is something the player will gather from the overall experience, which may have very little to actually do with the theme. 
4. What is your game's theme? 
While we are still very early in the game design process, I think it's safe to say the theme will have something to do with the village, like its sense of community or ability to work together to build things. We'll have to see where the story ends up going and what we want the player to get from our game. 
5. What are the elements in your game that are meant to reinforce this theme? 
The story will probably drive the theme home more than any other element at hand, as it gives us the most direct way to connect with the player. 
6.  What is it about your game that you feel makes it special and powerful?
That we have the challenge of working with two (usually) very separated themes in culture: the medieval era and aliens. It will be interesting to see how the story turns out. 

Homework #4

1. Do you love your project/game. If not, how can that be changed?

     I am enjoying the project so far. I think it is too soon to say whether I love the game or not, as we are still in the early developmental stages. I am in a solid group and am interested to see where the project takes us. 

2. Does the team as a whole love the project? If not, what can be done?

     So far it appears that everyone is enjoying the project. We all seem to have fairly good communication on what we want out of the game. I think at this point, everyone is doing what they can to make this a good experience, mainly in that we are open about what elements we are looking for. 

3. Are the team members communicating with each other?

    We are communicating both in person and via the Internet. 

4. Does the team have a regular meeting schedule? What is that schedule?

    We do not have a set meeting schedule yet, but it seems that we are meeting up close to the homework due dates. I am sure the more we learn about Blender and the direction the game is heading in, the more it will become necessary to set a regular schedule in order to check in on our progress and make changes as needed.

5. Describe the modes of communication between the team members.

    We are communicating via the team notebook in Google documents, Skype, phone, text messaging, and in person. 

6. Regarding game documents, what must be remembered while designing your game?

    It should be easy to follow a team member's thought process when reading the game document, and simple to give feedback. The document should be well organized and concise. 

Homework 3

For my first object in the game, I created a statue. I made two spheres, a planet and a moon. I subdivided and smoothed both of them over. I made a stand for the planet with a cylinder, and extruded the cylinder to make a connector for the planet and the moon. I imposed some images of continents and oceans onto the planet and moon, and added another lamp so the object could be viewed better.

This statue fits into my team's game because we will need many objects, including architectural nuances such as statues, to convince and immerse our players in the world we are creating. This statue could fit in somewhere such as a town square.  

HW1 Video

Here is a video of my home for the first homework assignment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq4h-pqWl_8&feature=youtu.be

Game Links

Here are two video games that involve cities/villages/etc:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_IV
The first is Civilization IV. This game takes you from humanity's humble beginnings in settlements and villages to the dawn of the space age. One way to greatly improve how you do in the game is to make the most efficient cities in terms of health, population density, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(2008_video_game)#Civilization_stage
The second is Spore. This game is a simulation of evolution, from the start of the game when you are but a cell in a vast pool of other cells and creatures who find you to be a delicious snack, to the end when you enter a galactic space-faring civilization. There are certain elements of the game which focus specifically on the building of villages and cities. This game was designed by Will Wright, the designer of the highly popular SimCity and Sims video games.

HW1 Image

This is my image for the first homework for DIG3725. It depicts a beautiful Tallahassee day...