Letter to Professors
Dear Professors Patrick Crandley and Mikiya Okada,
Throughout the course of my GCOM 420 game design projects, my teammate and I were able to apply the game design theory to my projects. For my team’s finished game, Gates of Darkness, we were not only able to implement MDA, or mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics into our game, but we were also able to figure out what type of core aesthetics our game uses. We want our players to have a unique experience when playing our game, and my teammate and I were able to choose and utilize three different core aesthetics that really defined what would make players come back to our game. These three core aesthetics were Fantasy, Discovery, and Challenge. The definition of fantasy is a game that allows you to, “step into a role that you are not able to participate in real life”. For fantasy, we really wanted the player to use their imagination and take the role of a character in a new world. To do this, we wanted the enemies to be based off of archetypes in most JRPGs or MMORPGs. The two prominent enemies in our game are slimes. Slimes are usually the weaker enemies that are found in starting areas in games. The enemies you fight in a game really affect the emersion the player experiences. The definition of challenge in a game is that it’s essentially an obstacle course. To challenge players, our game features a new way to fight enemies. In most JRPGs, once you select your action, you have to wait and watch your action play out. In our game however, once you choose which enemy to attack, you have to “time” your attacks. A circle will appear over the chosen enemy, and you will want to press the attack button when the circle is at its smallest. The smaller the circle, the higher your damage will increase. This feature will challenge players by requiring their attention at all times, and testing their accuracy. The definition of discovery is “the act of uncovering the new”. For our game, the player can discover what “items” do in our game. They don’t have any descriptions, so it’s up to the player to see what and experience what each item does. Right now, our game has three different items. The first is a generic health potion that heals the main character. The other two are items that are associated with the two enemies the player will fight. Depending on the health threshold of the enemy, the items will have different effects on them. We really want the player to test out these items and see what each one does. In conclusion, my teammate and I were able to apply the game design theory to our project. We were also able to utilize three core aesthetics to our game, which were: Fantasy, Discovery, and Challenge. |
Game Design Projects
Game Designed: Gates of Darkness
Designer Biography
Full Name:
- Marquis Jordan Hunter
- Art, Story
- Now I understand the creation process for games
- Learned what makes a game a game
- What makes a game interesting
- Angel Torres, Programmer
- Want to take an actual college course on game design
Game Design Learning Objectives
Brainstorming:
When coming up with the concept for our game, I knew that I wanted it to be a role-playing game with some kind of unique aspect that differentiates it from most role-playing games in the genre. While brainstorming ideas, I realized that I have always enjoying timing and rhythm aspects in most games. There isn't many rhythm based role-playing games out there so I decided that the rhythm aspect would be our game's selling point. For the game's initial inspiration, I wanted the combat and exploration to play similar to Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger is a highly respected JRPG for the way Square Enix changed the formula of most role-playing games. All enemies can be found while exploring instead of being invisible, and battles would be initiated on the spot instead of warping you to a special battlefield. I thought this was a really unique feature and I really wanted to build our game using some of it's unique aspects, but either changing certain aspects are creating new ones.
Creating a Unique User Experience:
Our Video Game Design and Programming teacher Mr. Huang had told us that we should have a unique type of concept that makes our game stand out against most games on the market. At first, I had no idea what sort of gimmick my teammate and I could utilize for our game because most role-playing games have the same concept going for them like multiple party members who each have their own strengths and weaknesses and turn based combat. I thought about it for a long time and decided that a cool concept we could add to our game could be timing or rhythm based combat. Usually in most RPGs with turn-based combat, you choose what type of action you want to perform for your turn and usually watch the animations take place until it's the enemy's turn. However, I wanted combat more interactive for the player and would require the player to be paying attention at all times. By timing attacks, you have the ability to do more damage and block incoming attacks from enemies.
Creating a Challenging and Fun Experience:
For our game "Gates of Darkness" my teammate and I strive to make an RPG that is not only challenging, but also fun and engaging for the player. Usually in most RPGs, you can attack and use skills, and our game is no different. However, attacking and using skills have a set damage output in most RPGs. Choosing to attack will give you a number based on what type of weapon you have equipped, the level you are, and the level the enemy is. Our game is dramatically different because instead of a set number based on the above-mentioned, the damage numbers in our game are based on how well you time attacks. Instead of the player being stationary and watching the action play out, the player will be actively engaged throughout every battle.
Game Rating:
In the United States, the ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board rates games by giving them an age rating. Games are usually rated from E for everyone, meaning all ages to M for mature, meaning the recommended age to play this game would be 17 and up. Some retail stores like Gamestop won't even sell M for mature games to minors without adult approval and a show of identification. If the ESRB were to rate our game "Gates of Darkness", I think it would get an E for everyone. The game's action is very comical and not violent at all. As of right now, enemies are very simple in design, but as the designs of the monsters improve, our games rating might have to change.
When coming up with the concept for our game, I knew that I wanted it to be a role-playing game with some kind of unique aspect that differentiates it from most role-playing games in the genre. While brainstorming ideas, I realized that I have always enjoying timing and rhythm aspects in most games. There isn't many rhythm based role-playing games out there so I decided that the rhythm aspect would be our game's selling point. For the game's initial inspiration, I wanted the combat and exploration to play similar to Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger is a highly respected JRPG for the way Square Enix changed the formula of most role-playing games. All enemies can be found while exploring instead of being invisible, and battles would be initiated on the spot instead of warping you to a special battlefield. I thought this was a really unique feature and I really wanted to build our game using some of it's unique aspects, but either changing certain aspects are creating new ones.
Creating a Unique User Experience:
Our Video Game Design and Programming teacher Mr. Huang had told us that we should have a unique type of concept that makes our game stand out against most games on the market. At first, I had no idea what sort of gimmick my teammate and I could utilize for our game because most role-playing games have the same concept going for them like multiple party members who each have their own strengths and weaknesses and turn based combat. I thought about it for a long time and decided that a cool concept we could add to our game could be timing or rhythm based combat. Usually in most RPGs with turn-based combat, you choose what type of action you want to perform for your turn and usually watch the animations take place until it's the enemy's turn. However, I wanted combat more interactive for the player and would require the player to be paying attention at all times. By timing attacks, you have the ability to do more damage and block incoming attacks from enemies.
Creating a Challenging and Fun Experience:
For our game "Gates of Darkness" my teammate and I strive to make an RPG that is not only challenging, but also fun and engaging for the player. Usually in most RPGs, you can attack and use skills, and our game is no different. However, attacking and using skills have a set damage output in most RPGs. Choosing to attack will give you a number based on what type of weapon you have equipped, the level you are, and the level the enemy is. Our game is dramatically different because instead of a set number based on the above-mentioned, the damage numbers in our game are based on how well you time attacks. Instead of the player being stationary and watching the action play out, the player will be actively engaged throughout every battle.
Game Rating:
In the United States, the ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board rates games by giving them an age rating. Games are usually rated from E for everyone, meaning all ages to M for mature, meaning the recommended age to play this game would be 17 and up. Some retail stores like Gamestop won't even sell M for mature games to minors without adult approval and a show of identification. If the ESRB were to rate our game "Gates of Darkness", I think it would get an E for everyone. The game's action is very comical and not violent at all. As of right now, enemies are very simple in design, but as the designs of the monsters improve, our games rating might have to change.