Lately we have had to look at gender in the video games industry and in the gaming community and so our task was to review a female orientated game on a female games site. The game i chose to play was a game called cake mania a flash game that is about cooking cakes for people and selling them off.
The game has fast game play for a cooking game, the player has to make them to the requirements that the people want and then sell them off to the characters that come into the shop. The game is pretty straightforward in terms of complexity and interface where you point and click where you want your character to be in the game.
The game is very interactive, most of the content you buy in the shop can be used, the player has to interact with customers to find out what they want and sell it to them, cakes can be customized with different icings and some can be stored or sold if you make a mistake and have to start again. The conflict in this game is shown in the time limit you have for each customer to get there cake done as quickly as possible failing to do so will make them less happy with the service as shown as a star bar in there speech bubble, if it runs out the character will leave the shop and the player may not acquire the right money to pass the level.
The goal of the game is to collect enough money for the player to pass the level and eventually pass a chapter, this is where the game changes scene, for example your first shop is in a city, once you have passed all the city chapters you move out of the city to set up in a different location and level so your not stuck in the same shop until you complete the game.
The site that hosts this game, games.com also a is a female themed games site, one example are the amount of female games there are on the site, and there are not many male themed games on the site apart from games that seem to be gender neutral. Games.com seems to use quite neutral colors such as white and orange however most of the games it hosts are games that are made for both male and female or games like cake mania that are generally make for females.
The whole theme of this game is for women from the story of the game of baking glossy cakes to the style of how the game is presented, I would have to say that the game is aimed at a young generation because most of the colors of the game tend to be bright and glossed out aiming at a younger generation.
In the survey done by todays gamers national games survey 2009, we can see that from 8-12 and 13-19 years there is a big percentage of girls that seem to play games for example 8-12; 99% of boys play games for about7 to 6 hours while 96% of girls play games for 4 to 6 hours. We can see that there is a market for female games at a young age because there is fairly a large population who do play games.
In conclusion the game is generally a point and click business game that has been made for a younger generation of girls from 8 to 16, its a game that offers power ups in terms of additional cook ware to help the player out, the player's goal is to acquire money to run the business and to pass the level and the goal of the player is to complete all the stages in the game at different locations in the game world, the only real difference about what makes this game a female game to a game a male would play is its about cooking glossy cakes and that the whole theme and color and art of the game is aimed at young girls, you can argue that if you made the game with with a different art style and a different theme and story lets say a game for epic meal time, http://www.youtube.com/user/EpicMealTime#p/u/1/m9FRSghXhDM, you could argue that you would have a male themed game. So i would say that what makes the game a female game is the style of it.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
New Face
As you can see the blog has been given a new face, I wanted to change the blog to give it a more personal touch and i think that its still an ongoing challenge to get the best background for the blog.
I think that what i have got now should do until i can find some time to add more to the image however i have to make sure that the size is right and that people who look on the blog with bigger screens dont see stuff i wanted them to see like background clipping.
I hope that people enjoy what i have put down I think that its a world away from the generic templates blogger gives you and the more i learn about the layout of blogger, the more i can hopefully change the blog from a generic template.
I think that what i have got now should do until i can find some time to add more to the image however i have to make sure that the size is right and that people who look on the blog with bigger screens dont see stuff i wanted them to see like background clipping.
I hope that people enjoy what i have put down I think that its a world away from the generic templates blogger gives you and the more i learn about the layout of blogger, the more i can hopefully change the blog from a generic template.
Retro Games Review
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong was released in 1981 and it was one of the first platform games created in this time, the player controlled a character called the hero that would later be rehashed into Nintendo most popular character Mario. The Objective of the game is to get the hero up the series of broken platforms whilst dodging crates and hostile NPS’s and to save the the damsel in distress from the hero's pet donkey kong.
Donkey Kong was released in 1981 and it was one of the first platform games created in this time, the player controlled a character called the hero that would later be rehashed into Nintendo most popular character Mario. The Objective of the game is to get the hero up the series of broken platforms whilst dodging crates and hostile NPS’s and to save the the damsel in distress from the hero's pet donkey kong.
Firstly Donkey kong was one of the first Nintendo games that came out as a massive hit for the company and the designer Shigeru Miyamoto, he would later go on to create some of the most iconic and unforgettable characters such as Mario, and the Zelda franchise both highly known and played games epically for the Mario series due to the fact that later in the development of the game super mario bros, jumpman the main character of donkey kong would later become the one of the worlds iconic game characters Mario.
The Goal of donkey kong is quite straightforward, the player navigates up the broken set of platforms that have collapsed in a way so that the player can climb up or can use ladders that can quickly get them to the top to complete the objective of saving the damsel of distress, while climbing up the broken platforms and ladders, the player interacts with various objects that are being thrown down by donkey kong in an attempt to hinder the player progress.
One thing we can see in this early game is a basic choice that the player can take, they can use the ladders that could get them there faster with a more higher risk of being hit, or they could take the much slower route of climbing platforms both reaching the ultimate goal of the damsel in distress.
In Costikyan’s article I have no words and i must design on page 11 he states;
”Suppose we have a thing that’s interactive. At some point, you are faced with a choice: you may choose A, or to do B the state of the thing will change depending on your position.”
Costikyan explains about choices in games and how the choices you make in the game will effect the outcome of the game, he later goes on to say;
“But what makes A better then B? or is it B better then A at some times but not at others? what factors go into decision? what resources are to be managed? what is the eventual goal?”
Costikyan is asking the question of the risk each decision that the player chooses, he asks about what decision should be taken and what should the factors of the position the player take in there decision on what too do.
This can apply to the choice of using the ladder or climbing the platforms in donkey kong, the player could advance quickly up the level using ladders that would affect the outcome of the game being that the player completed the level quicker however the risk is that he is more likely to get caught by an object. Or he could take the other choice of using the broken platforms and slowly but safely make his way to complete the level, the player can decide on the situation he is in to make a decision about what route they want to take.
Dokey kong has a basic story attached to it, the story themes about the player dubbed the hero in the game to take back the damsel in distress or his girlfriend from donkey Kong who was his pet guerilla in the background. Although there is no advanced in depth story for donkey Kong there is a basic story line in it and that is the struggle of the player to get his girlfriend back from donkey Kong.
Costikyan has stated that there are two different types of struggle there is a internal struggle that deals with the relationships between the characters and there personal struggles between themselves good examples are films that are based on a family conflict, and external struggle that tends to be more like the action films we see because the external struggle is more about the struggle of characters that are not personally connected and involves the rest of the world in some respect.
Costikyan quotes that,””
So we can see that donkey kong is an internal struggle between the hero and his pet and the hero desperately trying to free his damsel in distress from his former known pet.
It should also be noted that donkey kong is one of the leading games in its time for basic narrative in game that was personified through basic cut scenes, this is another important part of the game because it allows the player to be immersed in the game.
The mechanics and the dynamics for donkey kong are quite straightforward, there are few major rules in the game apart from the life bar and trying to avoid the hostile NPC's and making there way up the platforms to the damsel. However there are dynamics in the game where the player has to make sure he has a game plan and stay on the ball to not get caught out with the choice of two routes and randomly wondering NPC's that can catch the player out it is important that the player plans and reacts to the game world he is presented.
Mark LeBlanc in his article tools for creating dramatic game dynamics on page 440 he states that,
”When we talk about mechanics, we are referring to all the necessary pieces that we need to play the game. This primary refers to the rules of the game, but can also refer to the equipment, and the venue, or anything else necessary to playing the game.”
This small statement describes that the mechanics of a game the example in terms of donkey kong would be the rules and the levels that are necessary for playing the game, an example of one of the primary rules is that the player has a set of lives he can lose if he is hit by a object or hostile NPC. There is also another mechanic of the fireball wondering NPC's that can catch the player out if he is not looking where he is going.
LeBlanc on the same page later goes on to describe about the Dynamics of a game, he explains his idea as a “behavior” of the game he states on page 440 that it is,”the actual events and phenomena that occur as the game is played” The way LeBlanc uses the word phenomena is to describe the unusual or unaccountable results of the game being played, Donkey kong may have a set levels but what happens on these levels wont happen twice because the player changes his plans or tactic to deal with the dynamic change of the threat or situation.
In conclusion donkey kong has a interesting but basic story that keeps the player interested and immersed in the game, however its not its strong point, I would think that the goal of the game is also quite basic in terms of moving up a series of constantly changing platforms to keep trying to grab the damsel quite mundane. I would think that the point that made donkey kong quite successful is its ability to challenge the player using its mechanical and dynamic aspect of the game, the ability to give the player two ways of getting to the top both having a different effect, the levels that are changing to give the player a different challenge each time and the wondering NPC's that force the player to react to the threat and change how he plays the game. I think that donkey kong rides a lot on the giving the player a challenge but allow the player to choose how he can challenge the game.
References
LeBlank tools for creating dramatic game dynamics
Coystican I have no words and must design
New Face to the blog
This is still a work in progress at the moment, I am still trying to iron out any problems that may occur but im happy at the moment with the background texture, and I am trying to get the blog to match it.
Individual project
Just a small update on the individual game that I am doing;
- Finished the creep pathways for the game, and have now finished the the the alpha level layout for the path and the road level.
- Finished the turret scrip where the player can now place them, i still have to script in the AI for them but that's not going to be very difficult.
- All art assets have now been finished for the individual project, still have to figure out a way of adding them now to the level but i feel that it will not be too difficult to implement it.
- Now have the task of getting the hostile creeps done already writing the script hopefully get this done by Friday.
Sound workshop with Matt Applegate
From November to late February, most Friday's we have had a sound workshop, Matt has showed us multiple techniques in sound design and sound use. The first workshops that we had with Matt he showed us sound in films and TV, the first scene's from the first Star Wars a New Hope.
What he showed us was the use of sound to help the audience perceive what is going on and that different sounds ques are used for different characters. The first examples of the sound used in the film to show the audience the mood of the scene is the introducing combat scene, The sound que here really introduces the combat theme of the film and reinforces the epic space battle going on in the film.
The next way music is used in film is character ques and helping the viewer separate the bad characters from the good characters, the example of what we saw is that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader both had different sound ques in the film when they went onto the set, The reason in why this is done is mainly to reinforce the view of the good or bad character and to introduce them when they walk onto a scene.
Matt also shows us how they have developed the sound effects for the film, such as the lightsabre and the blaster or laser from the films and how really easy it is to create the sounds from stuff you would find at home, for example the lightsabre effect that we hear in the film is only really a microphone that is waved too and from an exposed cathode ray TV this gives the trademark sound of a lightsabre from the film, however the laser sound in the film is much easier to set up, the way they they made the sound way really just passing a microphone through a slinky to get the film effect.
In later lessons Matt shows us how sound is used in retro video game, there are some really good examples of how sound is applied and the best game that used sound well was Super Mario Bro's, this is because of the way the game uses different sound ques for different scenes, for example there is a main beat for the level that is constant throughout the whole level until completion, however different items you get may change the beat of the game, a good example of this is the invincible star item, when the player gets this item the beat will change to a very fast paced track that changes the general beat of the game. This technique is really helpful to speed up the game and again reinforce what's going on and what the player is doing.
A more modern example of how this sort of beat is applied is in the game portal 2, where using different assets like using the propulsion gel moving platforms and the gravity lifts add different beats and sounds to the general music of the game what proves to be very effective in allowing the player to know what he is useing just by listening to the que of the item.
Finally one of the last workshops that we do, we start to look at sound in more modern types of games, the two games that we look at is left 4 dead 2 and dead rising 2, both zombie games, but not quite on the horror aspect of the genra. First of all we start to look at left 4 dead 2's sound and it is quite interesting on how valve use different sound ques to hint to the player what is about to happen, for example the game will make a sound que for a wave of incoming infected and then seconds later there would be a wave, each special infected have there own que when they appear on scene like sound ques from a film. This type of sound hint dropping really hints to the player what is about to happen and how it can help the player better prepare for what is about to happen in the game.
Left 4 dead 's main element of music is mid southern America and this helps in reinforcing the general there of the south american landscape and characters, however at the same time its hard to take left 4 dead 2 serious with the music it has.
Dead rising 2 however is quite different from left 4 dead as its more black in terms of comedy, for example the menu theme for dead rising 2 sounds quite man made, using the same note and pitch to create a sense of uneasiness and a man made horror hinting into the story before the player has a chance to find out. However the general ambiance in the malls and buildings are quite different to the menu theme as its general store music that plays throughout the levels that sort of counteract the horror to more comedy, Dead rising 2 is not a full fledged horror game but more or less makes fun at the american view of commercialism and over the top media.
The workshops here have been really helpful in showing us all better ways of using sound design and sound ques in our game, I think that I do have a much better idea of how to use sound, how sound deign can used to hint such things such as story and character.
What he showed us was the use of sound to help the audience perceive what is going on and that different sounds ques are used for different characters. The first examples of the sound used in the film to show the audience the mood of the scene is the introducing combat scene, The sound que here really introduces the combat theme of the film and reinforces the epic space battle going on in the film.
The next way music is used in film is character ques and helping the viewer separate the bad characters from the good characters, the example of what we saw is that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader both had different sound ques in the film when they went onto the set, The reason in why this is done is mainly to reinforce the view of the good or bad character and to introduce them when they walk onto a scene.
Matt also shows us how they have developed the sound effects for the film, such as the lightsabre and the blaster or laser from the films and how really easy it is to create the sounds from stuff you would find at home, for example the lightsabre effect that we hear in the film is only really a microphone that is waved too and from an exposed cathode ray TV this gives the trademark sound of a lightsabre from the film, however the laser sound in the film is much easier to set up, the way they they made the sound way really just passing a microphone through a slinky to get the film effect.
In later lessons Matt shows us how sound is used in retro video game, there are some really good examples of how sound is applied and the best game that used sound well was Super Mario Bro's, this is because of the way the game uses different sound ques for different scenes, for example there is a main beat for the level that is constant throughout the whole level until completion, however different items you get may change the beat of the game, a good example of this is the invincible star item, when the player gets this item the beat will change to a very fast paced track that changes the general beat of the game. This technique is really helpful to speed up the game and again reinforce what's going on and what the player is doing.
A more modern example of how this sort of beat is applied is in the game portal 2, where using different assets like using the propulsion gel moving platforms and the gravity lifts add different beats and sounds to the general music of the game what proves to be very effective in allowing the player to know what he is useing just by listening to the que of the item.
Finally one of the last workshops that we do, we start to look at sound in more modern types of games, the two games that we look at is left 4 dead 2 and dead rising 2, both zombie games, but not quite on the horror aspect of the genra. First of all we start to look at left 4 dead 2's sound and it is quite interesting on how valve use different sound ques to hint to the player what is about to happen, for example the game will make a sound que for a wave of incoming infected and then seconds later there would be a wave, each special infected have there own que when they appear on scene like sound ques from a film. This type of sound hint dropping really hints to the player what is about to happen and how it can help the player better prepare for what is about to happen in the game.
Left 4 dead 's main element of music is mid southern America and this helps in reinforcing the general there of the south american landscape and characters, however at the same time its hard to take left 4 dead 2 serious with the music it has.
Dead rising 2 however is quite different from left 4 dead as its more black in terms of comedy, for example the menu theme for dead rising 2 sounds quite man made, using the same note and pitch to create a sense of uneasiness and a man made horror hinting into the story before the player has a chance to find out. However the general ambiance in the malls and buildings are quite different to the menu theme as its general store music that plays throughout the levels that sort of counteract the horror to more comedy, Dead rising 2 is not a full fledged horror game but more or less makes fun at the american view of commercialism and over the top media.
The workshops here have been really helpful in showing us all better ways of using sound design and sound ques in our game, I think that I do have a much better idea of how to use sound, how sound deign can used to hint such things such as story and character.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Escape Studio's, Paul Wilkes talk
Today I went to see Paul Wilkes talk at the Waterfront today, his talk today has been helpful, he didn't talk specifically about the video game industry, but what he he did tell us was some really good tips on how you should arrange your CV, what the industry wants from your portfolio and the best way of approaching games companies.
What i have learned about what games companies expect and they are quite surprising and encouraging at the same time, Paul talks about the main mistake some people make in there 3D portfolio and that is trying to make something way above there skills, or try to make something unreal. When you apply to a job in 3D or art and if you do become an employee it is more then likely that you will be in a junior role and as such will not be given the responsibility of creating the main character or any valuable models in the game, the most likely thing that you will be given is creating small time props and objects in the scenes.
In any portfolio he said you should play to your strengths and not try to challenge yourself to create something that is way above your level of skill, again it is likely in the junior role that you will not be given any important assets to create and will be given the more simple tasks that would be in your skill level. So household items and life objects would be much more preferred in portfolios then items such as characters and complex assets that may of not been up to average to the person viewing your portfolio.
Paul goes on about contacting companies in the first place, and again this was quite relevant and different from what i thought was the best way of contacting companies. First of all he said that most companies that he knew recruited from specialized job sites and professional sites, he talked about how rarely a company would hire someone who is directly contacting them most likely because they may just not have the human resource capacity. I thought that phoning and emailing was the best way and it seems that i was half right about how to approach this situation. Paul said that getting onto job sites, making sure you have a good portfolio site keeping up to date on what you do, and avoiding sending mass emails is a generally good way of getting interest from companies.
Finally Paul talks about how to present your CV in a professional manner. First of all he says that you should only include what is relevant to what you are applying for, do not add any unnecessary information and keep it clear so that the person reading it can get all the information that is required to get you the interview, this also leads me to a point I already knew but I thought was very important THE CV IS THERE TO GET YOU A JOB, in other words its not your life's story your personal statement does not need that, you can just write about your education and any other necessary information you think would help. You should also not be negative in your CV and again you dont have to list everything that you have done when you started to work, yes... Working at Sainsburys for 2 years is not really a professional job no matter how i could argue against that.
This is more of a light summery of all the points Paul went through today as more of his talk was about other professions within the 3D digital community. However i feel a bit more informed about what i need to do after these 3 years are up, all in all i am glad that I went to the talk by Escape and i feel a little more confident about what to do and what to expect in the future. I would like to thank Rob Kurta and the art and humanity department for giving us all the chance to take in this advice.
What i have learned about what games companies expect and they are quite surprising and encouraging at the same time, Paul talks about the main mistake some people make in there 3D portfolio and that is trying to make something way above there skills, or try to make something unreal. When you apply to a job in 3D or art and if you do become an employee it is more then likely that you will be in a junior role and as such will not be given the responsibility of creating the main character or any valuable models in the game, the most likely thing that you will be given is creating small time props and objects in the scenes.
In any portfolio he said you should play to your strengths and not try to challenge yourself to create something that is way above your level of skill, again it is likely in the junior role that you will not be given any important assets to create and will be given the more simple tasks that would be in your skill level. So household items and life objects would be much more preferred in portfolios then items such as characters and complex assets that may of not been up to average to the person viewing your portfolio.
Paul goes on about contacting companies in the first place, and again this was quite relevant and different from what i thought was the best way of contacting companies. First of all he said that most companies that he knew recruited from specialized job sites and professional sites, he talked about how rarely a company would hire someone who is directly contacting them most likely because they may just not have the human resource capacity. I thought that phoning and emailing was the best way and it seems that i was half right about how to approach this situation. Paul said that getting onto job sites, making sure you have a good portfolio site keeping up to date on what you do, and avoiding sending mass emails is a generally good way of getting interest from companies.
Finally Paul talks about how to present your CV in a professional manner. First of all he says that you should only include what is relevant to what you are applying for, do not add any unnecessary information and keep it clear so that the person reading it can get all the information that is required to get you the interview, this also leads me to a point I already knew but I thought was very important THE CV IS THERE TO GET YOU A JOB, in other words its not your life's story your personal statement does not need that, you can just write about your education and any other necessary information you think would help. You should also not be negative in your CV and again you dont have to list everything that you have done when you started to work, yes... Working at Sainsburys for 2 years is not really a professional job no matter how i could argue against that.
This is more of a light summery of all the points Paul went through today as more of his talk was about other professions within the 3D digital community. However i feel a bit more informed about what i need to do after these 3 years are up, all in all i am glad that I went to the talk by Escape and i feel a little more confident about what to do and what to expect in the future. I would like to thank Rob Kurta and the art and humanity department for giving us all the chance to take in this advice.
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