The icing on the cake

Progress over the last week or so has not been quite as quick as it had been at the beginning of term, and while my project creeps slowly towards the finish line like a humble tortoise, from an outside perspective, not a lot seems to be getting done.

So, why is this?

Well, To put it simply, I’m making it look nice.

With the basic mechanics of two simple games in engine and working fairly well (Short of a few finer touches) I have been doing all I can to develop the style of each of these.

After viewing a video by a superior game designer who recently graduated from the MA, I am quite happy to agree that the style is interchangeable within a game (To a degree, playing call of duty as a toaster may not appeal to everyone.), and it is in fact the mechanic that makes it what it is.

In this presentation displayed at the recent UCLAN MA graduate show, Mr. Steven Thornton described how the creation of a good game was 3 simple layers.

These are:
The Genre
As I understand it, this is a very basic summary of what kind of thing you are trying to do, for example a platform game, although this should not weigh down later decisions to heavily.
The ‘Hook’
A unique and interesting game mechanic or selling point created to set the game apart from anything it could be compared to.
The Setting
The point of today’s post, the setting is largely unimportant, and in my case I looked at everything from a duck pushing Lilly pads to a hairy factory worker moving storage containers.

As you can see from this, I have two of three. I have a puzzle game (Genre) in which you push blocks to gain acsess to teleports (Hook) set in a….
Yet to be finalised.


So to round off, back to my original point, why am I taking so long?

Well, in an effort to get a grade higher than 56%, I am working just as hard as I did in the previous semester, however I am making sure to better document the development of my work, showing the idea generation process aswell as proving that I have tried more than one design.

As my previous work was largely lacking in developmental work (And to a point, presentation) this is currently my main area of concern, so that I can rectify this.

And please anyone with an understanding on a design course (Josh), if I need to improve on something else, please let me know ASAP so that I can begin doing this.

I can now at least confirm I am set on ideas and am currently choosing and creating the best design for the games assets.