Game Design – Week 10 – GTD – Getting Things Done – Part 2

Image from BiggerPlate.com

Teens are overwhelmed, partly because they don’t yet have the skills to manage the unprecedented amount of stuff that enters their brains each day.  – from LifeHacker.com

“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”

“You can do anything, but not everything.”

― David Allen, (GTD) Getting Things Done for Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World

SUMMARY

  • I learned how to create a system to manage workload

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

PlayCanvas – Javascript

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Animated Book Summary And Review at YouTube

You are going to learn to develop your own version of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) process in this ‘room.’

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot from Animated Book Summary And Review at YouTube
  1. Detailed map by guccio@文房具社 icensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
  2. Basic map from BiggerPlate.com embedded below

GTD-based Trusted System

Paper and pen or pencil is what I use because I can constantly have it physically in front of me, and can take it with me if I want. I don’t think a GTD system using my phone or computer would work for me, because that would mean my GTD system is within something else, and not its own dedicated object. I specifically use notecards, as I have a stack of hundreds of blank notecards on my desk, making it very accessible.

STUDIO (CREATING MAPS)

Image from zenkit.com

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned the importance of having a system to remind me to get things done.

Game Analysis: South Park: The Stick of Truth

Funny South Park XP wallpaper.
“Funny South Park XP wallpaper.” by AndersSteenNilsen is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

Summary

  • I chose South Park: The Stick of Truth for this analysis. I chose this game because It’s one of the best games that I’ve played in a while, as one of the more unique games that I’ve played recently.

Game Play Analysis

Formal Elements_______________________________________
The BasicsREMINDER: PLACE YOUR RESPONSES IN THIS COLUMN (DELETE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE YOU WRITE)
Name of the gameSouth Park: The Stick of Truth
The platformI played the game on PC, but I believe it’s also available on Xbox and Playstation
Time played (should be at least 30 minutes)12 hours
If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why?Make the tutorial a little more in-depth. There were really important things that I learned about the game halfway through playing it
PlayersNOTES
How many players are supported?1
Does it need to be an exact number?Yes
How does this affect play?It’s the only option that makes sense for this game
Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you.Single Player PvE
Objectives/GoalsNOTES
What are the players trying to do?The goal of the main storyline is to get the Stick of Truth for your faction, and stop the government from nuking South Park.
Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister).
Rules/Mechanics
There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state.
ControlsNOTES
What controls are used?M+KB for PC
Was there a clear introductory tutorial?Yes (but it’s too quick and basic)
Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller?The general gameplay is pretty easy to understand
Resources & Resource ManagementNOTES
What kinds of resources do players control?The player character has certain gear and weapons that effect gameplay. You can also use class specific abilities, “Magic” (special kinds of farts), consumables that effect your stats in combat, and a companion that you fight with that has fixed gear and abilities.
How are they maintained during play?In combat you maintain your resources by using consumables, and using other moves directed to keep you fighting. You maintain your consumables and get new gear, money, abilities and items by looting defeated enemies and things in the environment.
What is their role?The progression of the different resources you control makes your character more powerful, in order to fight more difficult enemies as the game progresses.
A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue)
Game StateNOTES
How much information in the game state is visible to the player?All of the information about the player themselves is relevant to them. Some information about the enemies is restricted, like the moves they can use and their effects, but most of the non-player information is available.
A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information.
SequencingNOTES
In what order do players take their actions?combat is turn based, with each side having a turn, an then everyone on the other side having a turn. Before entering combat, the player can stun some enemy AI with their ranged weapon, and if you hit the enemy first before entering combat, you get the first turn.
How does play flow from one action to another?The player uses their actions until they run out, then they defend from enemy attacks, and the cycle continues until you win or lose.
Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn.Turn-based
Player Interaction
Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off.Direct Conflict for the most part
Theme & NarrativeNOTES
Does it have an actual story structure?Yes
Is it based on a historical event (or similar)?Some side quests are based off of, or continuations of things from episodes, but it’s mostly a standalone story
Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play?Not much with combat, but it does help you progress through the game
Does it have emotional impacts?The game is meant to be comedic
Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)?No
The Elements in MotionNOTES
How do the different elements interact?The player progresses through the story in an open world, having it available whenever they decide. When you get to certain points some things happen that you can’t control, and you have to play through them. When you meet enemies in the open world, you switch to the combat screen once they hit you or you hit them.
What is the gameplay like?The heart of the gameplay is the story. The game feels like an interactive episode of South Park, and the developers did a really good job with it,
Is it effective?Yes. The fact that it’s a game feels like a bonus, because it does all of the great things that the show does with jokes and storytelling that the show does, while creating fairly simplistic and enjoyable combat and interaction.
Are there any points where the design choices break down?No
Design CritiqueNOTES
Why did the designer make these particular choices?To make the game that any South Park fan will enjoy playing.
Why this set of resources?Every resource in the game is something that exists in the South Park show, or that would exist in it
What if they made different decisions?I can’t picture the game with different decisions being made
Does the design break down at any point?No
Graphics & SoundNOTES
Does the game art pair well with the mechanics?Yes. The art style is the same used in the show, and the game is made in perfect parallel to the show.
Did you find any bugs or glitches?None in my playthrough.
What about sound?Again, same as the show. It would have felt wrong if it was different
Can you spot any technical shortcuts?I didn’t spot any
Various Stages of the GameNOTES
To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play:
What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?
Is the game fair?Yes. The difficulty is fairly low, but high enough that there are some parts you’ll have to replay multiple times.
Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience?Yes, but there are only enough story paths to make a second playthrough interesting
What is the intended audience?South Park viewers
What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun?The story, and it’s a very fun story

This analysis form was adapted from https://notlaura.com/a-template-for-analyzing-game-design/

Resources

Books

Game Analysis Resources

Game Design – Week 14 – Intro to Analysis

“Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner” by classic film scans is licensed under CC BY 2.0

“Analysis gave me great freedom of emotions and fantastic confidence. I felt I had served my time as a puppet.”

Hedy Lamarr

SUMMARY

  • I played and reviewed a game, analyzing what about it makes it fun to deepen my knowledge of how to design fun games.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Image from bananatreelog.com
  • Overall, what the guide is saying is be organized an learn how to chill when necessary. All of the stuff about limiting how much, and when you do certain things comes down to having an organized life, and all of the dealing with stress stuff are suggestions on ways to chill and not worry. I think overcomplicating stuff like this is counterproductive.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned how to analyze different aspects of a game to further understand what makes a game fun or not fun. This consisted of picking apart real examples of how certain games do this (or a certain game). I didn’t run into any problems, apart from this weeks post taking a super long time when you said it would be chill.

Game Analysis: Stellaris

Outer space

Summary

  • The game that I chose for this project is Stellaris from Paradox Interactive. I chose this game, because it’s a game that I’ve previously been interested in but have never played. One of my favorite games is made by Paradox, and the layout of this game didn’t seem to different from games I’ve played before to be challenging to get into, but different enough to not be boring. The theme of making an expanding empire in outer space was intriguing to me as well.

Game Play Analysis

Formal Elements____________________________________
The BasicsYou are in control of a galactic empire, starting out on one home planet or within a home star system
Name of the gameStellaris
The platformPC
Time played (should be at least 30 minutes)5 hours
If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why?I don’t think I’ve played the game enough to say anything too in depth about changes I would make. Maybe make the options for buildings on planets more diverse. I felt like there was only one or two different buildings to preform each function, which seemed out of place in a game with this much room for creativity.
PlayersThis game is mostly built around playing against AI, but Multiplayer is available. You would be either playing with friends, or would have to join a Stellaris PvP Discord server, as there is no in-game matchmaking.
How many players are supported?Up to 32 in Multiplayer (but I’m sure that rarely ever happens).
Does it need to be an exact number?No
How does this affect play?The game is mostly single player oriented, as the developers knew the majority of players would not be playing multiplayer.
Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you.Depending on how you and the AI make (or don’t make) alliances, it could be One against Many, or Team Competition, or Free for All. There are a variety of ways to play, and a variety of final goals to achieve.
Objectives/GoalsYou win by either being the only faction left standing, or by having the highest score at the end of the game. You get the highest score in a variety of ways, generally being the territory owned by you or your subjects, your strength, the strength of your alliances, and your performance in crises (I had to look this up, as games take way longer than the time I had to play).
What are the players trying to do?Claim, and conquest as many star systems and resources as possible, while creating colonies, a fleet, and buildings on your colonies to become as strong as possible. In the end you want yourself or your alliances to control everything by the end of the game.
Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister).Capture/Destroy, Territorial Acquisition, Collection and Build.
Rules/Mechanics
There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state.In the setup you work to claim as many empty star systems as possible before other empires can get to them. As the game progresses, certain empires will take over others and expand by force, eliminating the others. In the resolution, only one civilization is left, or one is strongest.
ControlsNOTES
What controls are used?you look around the map by pushing the mouse to the sides of the screen. Most other controls come from clicking on the UI or objects in the game to interact with them.
Was there a clear introductory tutorial?I played in tutorial mode, but I still had to learn a lot of the functions by myself. Tutorial mode just told you what things were the first time you clicked on them, not how you should proceed through the game.
Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller?The controls were easy to understand, but it was hard to find all of the things you could, and should, control.
Resources & Resource ManagementNOTES
What kinds of resources do players control?There is a bar along the top that tells you how much of each resource you have, and how much of it you’re gaining or losing per month. They include Energy, Minerals, Food, Alloys, Influence and Consumer Goods. Other resources include pops (population) and ships. Ships include fighting or “Navy” ships, construction ships, science ships, colony ships and starbases.
How are they maintained during play?They are either extracted from planets, moons, asteroids or stars that have them, or produced on a colony (technically your one home world isn’t a colony, but the same applies)0.
What is their role?You need them to build stuff, maintain happiness among your citizens and to enact various policies.
A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue)
Game StateNOTES
How much information in the game state is visible to the player?All of it for the player specifically is visible, while information on the game state of the other space empires is limited based on diplomatic relations.
A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information.Info per player and fog of war.
SequencingNOTES
In what order do players take their actions?All players can make actions at the same time.
How does play flow from one action to another?Time is a constant flow, unless the game is paused. You are not limited in the amount of actions you can take, unless those actions require resources that you don’t have.
Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn.Real-time actions.
Player Interaction
Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off.All of these are possible, except for Information Sharing with the AI (to a degree).
Theme & NarrativeNOTES
Does it have an actual story structure?Every playable civilization has their own story, but after the game starts, there is no predetermined storyline.
Is it based on a historical event (or similar)?No. It is set between 2200 and 2750 (but you can shorten the end date, or extend it infinitely). Earth is playable, but it has apparently changed a lot in 200 years.
Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play?Not really. Every civilization is just beginning to expand into space at the start of the game.
Does it have emotional impacts?Mostly no. It’s not meant to at least, although players may decide to do or not to do things for emotional reasons (but who has morals in a video game?)
Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)?No.
The Elements in MotionNOTES
How do the different elements interact?They generally create a continued expansion and exploration through space, which likely turns into conquest. The whole time you’re trying to manage problems on your different worlds, resources and diplomacy.
What is the gameplay like?Most of the actual gameplay consists of building and managing, while combat is only occasional. I enjoy games like this, but to others it can be boring.
Is it effective?I think it’s a well developed game for what it’s trying to do. I think it also flows better and feels better to play than a lot of other strategy games.
Are there any points where the design choices break down?Not that I experienced, but I didn’t play the complete game. I usually am only definitive in how I feel about a game after about 30 – 50 hours playing it.
Design CritiqueNOTES
Why did the designer make these particular choices?I think most of the choices the designer made were made around the general theme of space, or the general theme of grand strategy. Paradox makes a lot of grand strategy games with a similar feel, with most of the differences having to do with the theme.
Why this set of resources?Those would be the theoretical basic resources that the developers thought a space empire would use.
What if they made different decisions?Certain small differences could have been made in the intricacies of play, but if you put a Paradox dev team in a room and tell them to make an outer space game, you’ll always get something very similar to this. The main difference would probably be the art style (which all of the art in this game is beautiful, very impressed with this aspect in particular of the game).
Does the design break down at any point?Not that I’ve seen. Based on other reviews of the game, it can slow down significantly late game.
Graphics & SoundNOTES
Does the game art pair well with the mechanics?YES. The art is absolutely incredible, and it all works very well with the futuristic space theme. Usually art in Paradox games is so-so, but I was very pleasantly surprised with this game.
Did you find any bugs or glitches?No. The game has been out for a while, so I imagine the dev team has fixed most of them.
What about sound?The music is ok, but it all sounds similar. The sound effects are good but nothing special.
Can you spot any technical shortcuts?Not yet.
Various Stages of the GameNOTES
To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play:You’ll probably have to kill everyone eventually.
What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?Stagnation after all of the empty systems have been taken, which is solved by Military conquest.
Is the game fair?I imagine you can get unlucky and get stuck in an unfair game, but it was quite manageable in the game that I played.
Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience?Yes. There are lots of different civilizations you can play as, all with their own traits, backstory and ethics. You can choose to make the game take longer or shorter, or to make the galaxy larger or smaller.
What is the intended audience?People with a lot of free time. Games take a long time. Also, people generally interested in strategy games would probably enjoy this game in some way.
What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun?Probably the process of taking over the galaxy in general, and all of the different random situations you’ll be put in to have to do it.

This analysis form was adapted from https://notlaura.com/a-template-for-analyzing-game-design/

Resources

Books

Game Analysis Resources

Game Design – Week 13 – Changes

“The successful free to play games are selling positive emotions. Not content.” – Nicholas Lovell

“It should be the experience, that is touching. What I strive for is to make the person playing the game the director.” – Shigeru Miyamoto

SUMMARY

  • I learned about Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics (as well as the different types of aesthetics) and learned more about Construct 3 and JavaScript. I also learned how to use GitHub to collaborate with a team while making projects on Construct 3.

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

Screenshot from Sololearn.com

Construct 3 – Javascript

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Extra Credits Channel
MDA image from Wikipedia

MDA Notes

  • Mechanics

Mechanics are the core components of any game. If a game is created with poorly designed mechanics, the effects will trickle down to the rest of the game. Mechanics with Dynamics and Aesthetics in mind will result in a more complete experience for those playing the game.

  • Dynamics

Dynamics are the experiences that we engage in from the mechanics. This is basically how things in the game interact with each other, and the player experiences those create in the moment. Games that don’t heavily rely on story (or aesthetics in general) need fun dynamics to stay engaging and fun to the player.

  • Aesthetics

Aesthetics are the experiences the player engages in from the complete game. This can come from the story, art, music, dynamics, progression/ loot systems and many more. There are eight distinct types of aesthetics, and most good games use a combination of different aesthetics to create an enjoyable game for the player.

  • Eight Types of Aesthetics
  1. Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure): Player enjoys memorable audio-visual effects.
  2. Fantasy (Game as make-believe): Imaginary world.
  3. Narrative (Game as drama): A story that drives the player to keep coming back
  4. Challenge (Game as obstacle course): Urge to master something. Boosts a game’s replayability.
  5. Fellowship (Game as social framework): A community where the player is an active part of it. Almost exclusive for multiplayer games.
  6. Discovery (Game as uncharted territory): Urge to explore game world.
  7. Expression (Game as self-discovery): Own creativity. For example, creating character resembling player’s own avatar.
  8. Submission (Game as pastime): Connection to the game, as a whole, despite of constraints

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • Set a timer
  • Spend up to 15 minutes
  • According to Wikipedia:
    • Mechanics are the base components of the game – its rules, every basic action the player can take in the game, the algorithms and data structures in the game engine etc.
    • Dynamics are the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player input and “cooperating” with other mechanics.
    • Aesthetics are the emotional responses evoked in the player.

Brainstorm Ideas for Each of the Eight Categories

  1. Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure): The player enjoys memorable audio-visual effects.
    • Sandbox game where you use a variety of explosive weaponry to blow up various objects and structures.
  2. Fantasy (Game as make-believe): Imaginary world.
    • Survival game where you have to survive in the wilderness, while avoiding detection from evil robot AI’s that have taken over the planet.
  3. Narrative (Game as drama): A story that drives the player to keep coming back
    • A game that focuses on a family trying to escape from a war torn country, where multiple powerful factions want them dead. The player would play one of the parents.
  4. Challenge (Game as obstacle course): Urge to master something. Boosts a game’s replayability.
    • A grand strategy game with a ranked multiplayer system. There are no good ones. Could possibly be replaced or made along with a system for increasingly difficult AI or situations.
  5. Fellowship (Game as social framework): A community where the player is an active part of it. Almost exclusive for multiplayer games.
    • A multiplayer city building game, where 5-10 (could be more or less) players work together to build a country from designing multiple cities over a long period of time. Could be a finite empire building game, or could be a game with scripted (but random) challenges and opportunities for expansion that everyone has to work together to overcome.
  6. Discovery (Game as uncharted territory): Urge to explore the game world.
    • A game where you’re an astronaut from the future, and are exploring a fallen civilization which is (or was) more technologically advanced than humans, but is now dominated by tribal scavengers who bear no resemblance to the worlds former inhabitants.
  7. Expression (Game as self-discovery): Own creativity. For example, creating a character resembling player’s own avatar.
    • A game with a character/ creature creator similar to Spore, but it’s a (nearly) infinite procedurally generated world (like Minecraft but without the block style) and it’s Multiplayer. You would create a species and try to get them to survive as long as possible until you’re eliminated by another player, then you would just start again.
  8. Submission (Game as pastime): Connection to the game, as a whole, despite of constraints.
    • A game where you are a business owner who expands their business and starts new ones, generally getting more and more money and income over time. Very much a turn your brain of game focused on abnegation. Could be open world, with the player usually being viewed in 3rd person. A mix of GTA and the Sims.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Worksheet from bananatreelog.com
  • This method for reducing stress and worry seems to focus on the fact that we tend to worry too much, in an irrational way. Thinking rationally about what we are worrying about will naturally make us less worried. Thinking about these things in a rational manner will also help to find solutions to reduce that worry.

STUDIO (CREATIVITY)

Screenshot from Construct.net
  • Construct Manual Sections
      • Home
      • Getting started
      • Overview
      • Interface
      • Project primitives
      • Tips & guides
      • Behavior reference
      • Plugin reference
      • System reference
      • Scripting
  • I learned how to navigate Construct 3 and use its basic functions. One thing in specific that I learned that I thought was important was how to change movement from the arrow keys to wasd using custom controls.

CONTROL ROOM (PRODUCTION)

Screenshot from Construct.net

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned about Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics, and how a game developer should treat all of them. I also learned about the different types of aesthetics in a game, and how to manage using multiple aesthetics together. I also learned about how to navigate GitHub and Construct 3 in order to collaborate with a team. I didn’t encounter any problems while doing this.

Game Design – Week 11 – Updating Workflow – Mind Like Water

“‘Be shapeless and formless.. like water’ (Bruce Lee)” by Akinini.com is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“Have a mind like water.”

― David Allen,  GTD

SUMMARY

  • Write your weekly summary here, last, at the end of the week…
    • Only one to two sentences of WHAT YOU DID
  • DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE
  • I expanded my knowledge of coding
  • I learned about how different activities affect chemicals in the brain
  • I made a very basic game in construct 3

Construct 3 / PlayCanvas – Javascript

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Construct.net

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

Screenshot from editor.construct.net

OUTSIDE (PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Image from bananatreelog.com
  • Making checklists and having an overall structured day seems to be a generally good idea. Checklists themselves help with dopamine, as well as help manage things you would usually spend too much time worrying about. Exercise, and being healthy in general help tremendously in being able to be happy consistently.

STUDIO (CREATIVITY)

Screenshot from Construct Begginer’s Guide
  • I made a game mostly following the guide, where the player tries to shoot all of the monsters before they get him.
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is c3-game-1.png
while alive
after alive

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned how to use construct 3 in a very basic way, adding sprites and a background, as well as making actions. A problem that I solved was making a way for the player to die, and adding a death effect, which wasn’t in the tutorial.

Game Design – Week 8 – Logic, Flowcharts, and Coding

Code washing

When asked the most important thing I should teach my students, the MIT student I was interviewing simply stated , ‘ teach them logic.’ – Mr. Le Duc

SUMMARY

  • I extended my knowledge of coding and game development. I also learned how to create simple flowcharts and deal with the challenges of creativity

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

Unity

Screenshot from Sololearn.com

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Image from https://monkeyblogmonkeydo.com/2010/07/19/so-duh-pop-quiz-classic-video-game-flowchart-edition/
  • Screenshot from TodaysTuts’ YouTube Channel
  • The flowchart library contains all of the symbols in a flowchart
  • The oval represents the start of a chart
  • The terminator represents the end of the chart
  • The square with rounded corners represent a process or action
  • Make sure the chart flows from top to bottom or left to right
  • The diamond represents a choice or decision. Yes paths usually should go down, while no paths should go to the right
  • The document symbol represents a document that is created or a report that’s generated
  • Clicking on text or arrows brings up a menu on the right to edit their properties

Mr. Le Duc’s Flowchart Shape Guide

More Flowchart Creation Resources

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

STUDIO (GAME DESIGN)

Unity

Screenshot from Unity.com

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned how to develop an abstract idea into an outline for a game, and how to do so in a way that best sets up the game to be fun and engaging. I also learned how to deal with the pressures of doing a task that requires creativity, and how to manage that creativity in a useful way. I didn’t run into any problems doing this, because it was all straightforward and clear

Game Design – Week 7 – Tools, Time, and Rooms

CreativeCommons image Tool Stash by Meena Kadri at Flickr.com

SUMMARY

  • This week I learned the process to go through when making and testing the beginnings of a game, and came up with some ideas for what those games could be

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

  • I learned that minimum viable product for a game is a very good indicator of if the game will be fun, and that it’s very important to get this out as soon as possible. It tells you if the core mechanics for your game will be fun, or if they need to be rethought.

Game Genres from the Simplest and Most Difficult to Create

  1. Racing Game
  2. Top-Down Shooter
  3. 2d Platformer
  4. Color Matching Puzzle Game
  5. 2D Puzzle Platformer
  6. 3D Platformer
  7. FPS
  8. JRPG
  9. Fighting Game
  10. Action Adventure
  11. Western RPG
  12. RTS

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • When play testing you need to look back while you’re playing and realize why what you’re doing is fun or not. It’s also important to do this with other games that you play, not just your own.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

  • Go for a walk. Think about your life as a narrative for today.  A story of today. You as the protagonist. What/who is your nemesis? Are you trying to win/accomplish something? What? Write notes here about what you thought… and experiment with your blog.  Maybe change the theme? Have fun!
  • If this day is a story, my nemesis would be my cat. I’m trying to get my homework done, and he’s meowing at me to open seemingly every door in the house. He secretly knows when I begin to actually get focused, and he’s using every tool in his limited kit to sabotage my life.

STUDIO (GAME DESIGN)

  • Idea one: A game where you are a circle that can travel instantly in a straight line to wherever on the screen you click. If you run into a smaller circle, you absorb its mass. If you run into a larger circle, you lose (kind of like agar.io). The goal of the game is to scramble to get as large as you can, eventually becoming the only circle on the screen. Once you do that, the screen zooms out and another level starts. This would not be multiplayer, and only a small number of the other circles would be able to move (5-15) controlled by ai. It would gradually get harder with the ai moving faster at each level.
  • Idea two: A 2D Platformer that focuses on climbing up, with every different color of surface has a different function.
  • Idea three: A boat racing game where you can design custom boats and race them, trying to balance speed, acceleration, maneuverability, durability and how deep the boat sinks into the water, with different routes and shortcuts available to boats that can drive in shallower water. Boats would also be able to ram one another, with bigger boats being able to sink smaller boats due to increased durability.
  • Idea four: A top down shooter where you have to exterminate mutated Bears from overrun cities in the apocalypse, with different types of bears having different abilities.
  • Idea five: A 3D Platformer where you can only move by jumping, and have a certain number of jumps at the start of each level. However, you can also throw objects as well as push objects to cause different environmental reactions.

Week 9 – GTD – Getting Things Done – Part 1

“Day 092/366 – To Do List” by Great Beyond is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Your toughest work is defining what your work is! –  Peter Drucker

SUMMARY

  • Write your weekly summary here, last, at the end of the week…
    • Only one to two sentences of WHAT YOU DID
  • DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

Image of David Allen at TED Talk
Screenshot from David Allen TED Talk

In this ‘room’ you are going to try Getting Things Done (GTD).

STEP 1: MAKE A LIST

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
  • Band Rhythm assignment
  • History Italy assignment
  • This blog post
  • English paper part 3
  • Spanish infant obesity assignment

STEP 2: NOTICE WHAT YOU NOTICED

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
  • This blog post
  • English paper part 3
  • History Italy assignment
  • Band Rhythm assignment
  • Spanish infant obesity assignment

STEP 3: SET A TIMER

https://giphy.com/gifs/time-clock-konczakowski-d3yxg15kJppJilnW
  1. Set a timer for your first task
    1. Decide how long you think it will take before you start
  2. Start working
  3. Repeat this process for 45 minutes for as many tasks as you can complete, then take a 15-minute break
    • Get up and get a drink of water
    • Get up and go for a walk
    • Every 20 minute blink your eyes 20 times while looking at least 20 feet away
      • This is good for your eyes

Start steps 1 through 3 again, repeat for your school day

OUTSIDE (PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

David Allen image
Oct. 2020 Lucidchart interview with David Allen
Image from FastCompany Magazine, https://www.fastcompany.com/3026827/the-brain-hacks-top-founders-use-to-get-the-job-done
Image from FastCompany Magazine, https://www.fastcompany.com/3026827/the-brain-hacks-top-founders-use-to-get-the-job-done
  • This system allows for easy control of what needs to be done. It helps prevent helplessness and falling behind. It can also help keep a positive attitude in the face of a lot of work.

OPTIONAL EXERCISE – Literally, read the article and go for another walk 🙂

 Katia Verresen homepage
Katia Verresen, kvaleadership.com

“I coach C-suite executives and rising stars from the earliest startups to Fortune 100 companies. My passion is to help ambitious leaders achieve their full human potential.”  – Read more about Katia…

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Write only a few sentences of WHAT YOU LEARNED
  • In one or two sentences, describe a PROBLEM YOU SOLVED
  • DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE

WEEKLY ACTIVITY EVALUATION

  • Give feedback on this week’s class Content and Process
  • DELETE THIS WHOLE SECTIONAFTER YOU ARE DONE