Puzzle Game Break Down

The Walking Dead: SEASON ONE Episode one.
Escaping the grocery store. 


Primary mechanics of gameplay change depending on the given situation, but in this particular challenge they include:

• walking
• talking
• picking items up
• examining items
• utilizing items in ones inventory

After deciding who will and who wont eat, you explore the inside of the store finding a radio needs batteries, an old man needs pills and the front gate is locked and you need to get beyond
it to get keys.

Let's focus on the radio and the locked gate. The radio simply requires you to collect batteries found in the store, and then they are brought back to the radio. You interact with the various elements of the radio, pulling out the antennae, and then putting the batteries in. Pressing the radios on switch starts the radios cut scene.



To get the pills for the old man, earlier mentioned, you need to find the keys for the doors inside of the store. Looking around inside of the store, you find no keys but you do find a family photo. this is enough to change the interaction at the gate. Your protagonist character now mentions to a NPC that one of the nearby corpses looks a lot like one of the people in the photo so they are likely the one holding onto the keys. 



To distract roaming enemies, you must search the store, and finding a remote you can bring it to the NPC by the gate so that he can create a diversion for the enemies outside of the gate. It isn't enough to make it safe for you to go beyond the gate, so you need to increase the diversion. As well it is mentioned that the gate's lock combo is unknown.


After a side mission you have another item in your possession, an axe , needed to break the lock on the door. this forces you to complete the side mission before you can check the cadaver for the keys. This axe allows you to break the lock on the gate, so that you can reach a brick that has been right outside of your reach. now you can use the brick to break glass surrounding your earlier attempt at a diversion making it loud enough for you to check the body where you believe the keys are located. turns out that is where they are. Now you can enter the pharmacy and get the pills needed for the old man.


Most of the players actions seem to be lead by NPC conversations, and very visible hud elements showing the player what they can interact with. Cut scenes are interrupted with actions input screens. The player is encouraged to let the story unfold around them, and as it does the player is likely to pick up the elements needed to fulfill the story. 


Types of puzzles used in this challenge would seem to include:

• Ordinary object usage
• unusual object usage
• Excluded middleAnd most importantly
• People Puzzles

The puzzles make you feel smart, because they are somewhat common sense. they allow you to ask yourself- what would i do to get out of a door? How does a radio work? and these simple problems can be solved in common ways. This gives the average player a feeling of accompli
shment. Nothing to too far fetched to be too confused by.

Personal Project

For something to do during my very limited free time as a challenge to myself, I am going to do a 3d illustrative piece, based off of an abstract silhouette character design I recently made.
A bit calvin and hobes esque, this is a piece focusing on a kid in a dino costume, lecturing his stuffed animals. About what ? I'm unsure, but I like the idea. I want to focus on the architecture of the real world, and see if i cannot make something "simple but interesting". So to do this, I am making a child's bedroom. I think the hardest part is going to be set-dressing this project since children aren't known to be clean.

Here is the design which inspired the idea:

 

when I look at this character, I don't see him being the nicest of kids. but not the strongest either. His ratlike nose, and large head, make me think he is more the verbal bully, who often oversteps his bounds with schoolyard friends, making bigger more physical bullies beat him up. To counter this, he relies on his wits, and has developed a rather active imagination. I believe he is scolding his stuffed animals, because they are readying for the attack.
This explains his dino costume, complete with footie pajamas. This is his war paint.
I'm going to call this kid Victor. He looks like a Victor to me. sad to say I don't think if he is going up against the bigger kids, armed only with stuffed animals is he going to be the victor of any fights, but the name still suits him... even if it is because of irony. 

Mechanical Brainstorm

Dive sheil

spring loaded back mounted shield, which protects hero from fall damage

shoulder  cannons

expanding back cannons, which fire from shoulder mounts at enemies

BackHook

a back mounted grappling hook of sorts which pulls the wearer to the ledge they attached to. 

JumpBoots

using countering forces, these are boots which thrust the wearer forwards and up, providing them with jumping capabilities not possible through human jumping.

Ionic blaster

an  expanding forearm mounted gun, which collects energy as it rotates. it then fires this off.

Power gauntlet (breaker)

a two piece gauntlet



bat wing flier: back attached bat wing- which extends and flips open. perhaps laser mesh between bones?

Swat Helmet: helmet with automated guard. scifi. visor might be glass or slatted metal. perhaps helmet rotates outwards like a camera aperture

jump barrel armor: chest plate which drops down to legs, sending player upwards

spider bot: thrown like a gernade, this ball, has legs extend from inside of its body, and walks

gun blade: sword that splits along the center, and has a handle which snaps down, turning it into a very dangerous bladed gun. because fingers are for losers. 

Watch the awesomeness that is what me and the rest of my sophomore year of game art students created. this is a montage, created by me, of a series of the epic levels we all created for a racing game.

You know you want to play it. Admit it. It looks fun, right?

Attract trailer research

are you ready to make a pretty video?



For better or worse my level is done (not seen above), and I'm now going to make an attract video similar to what is in the embedded video. Basically this is a video meant to make one want to play the leverl I made.

So looking at the video above, I realize there are certain elements I will need to capture to make an equally awesome video.

some major selling points of awesome in this video are the feelings of speed and scope. you can "feel" the car going quickly. The video also shows a lot of the awesome vistas of the game. It looks good because it shows how cool playing this level would be, showing the major buildings, and how one might play the game.

Car HUD

Like any good car, a speedometer is a necessity for a vehicle based game. Since i'm making one of those I have been researching ways in which to make a HUD. this display would show game important information, and in a vehicle game this is usually approximately 4 things.

Speed
Lap time
total level time
and if one's car can be destroyed some type of health indication.

Often times a gps map is a nice addition, but given the limited time remaining to create this display, for the time being I will not worry much about that.

so first as homage to my modeled vehicle, I looked up honda civic dashboards from the 90s:

Though these are nice enough in design, it seemed complicated to implement in game format. maybe by looking into HUDs from other games, I could see how one might work.

Hmmm.... looks like there are many ways to do it, but the hud rarely seems to show gas and rpm. I guess that makes sense, as those aren't really displaying necessary information for going fast. So with that in mind, what might I do for my own personal HUD? the honda i made, ha a dashboard display, most notable for its thre piece display, but making one of those for my hud, may be showing more information than i really need it to. perhaps better would be to build my hud based on my  level theme.

so that's what I've decided to do. So, now i bring you the stuff of some people's nightmares; MY HUD!

Particle Effect

Following a bit of cannon fire, which is relatively hard to see, I drive to the point in my level where my main particle effect of extreme damage is activated. A massive cloud of dust spray and dirt clouds fog your view, after a Ferris wheel crashes down and  opens the level.

This effect, though hard to see while in action, has a good deal of actions all happening at once. There is a gpu particle effect, of dust spraying upwards, with collision so they collide against and spray on the falling wheel, and landscape. This was a fun and annoying effect to achieve, tweaking values continuously inside of the velocity and scale of the cylinder location module.

the other main element is the explosion of dust in an expanding and fading ring. this has a color change over life, and a scale by life. as it expands out over its surface only cylinder location, it grows larger and moves up wards slightly, as it becomes whiter, and less opaque as its alpha values increase.

needless to say... particles are fun... and annoying.

So i have a very particular particle effect which occurs in my level. I have a very large object hit the ground and this then results in a displacement wave of dust, which would come in many forms. firstly there would be the dust plumes

https://youtu.be/sK50So-yYRU?t=28

https://youtu.be/sK50So-yYRU?t=28

when an object crashes down, it sends dust outwards and out, which results in said dust sort of "mushrooming" up. this creates the main shockwave effect, of a growing and shrinking ring of dust explosions.

second, the object falling proceeds to roll. this is going to create a dust trail in its wake, as the ground below the object is displaced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSqlEjHVwYg&list=PL8_R6XQMdqJ5YZP639tAhv-ExqNIttCit&index=5


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfL8PtDxOP8

finally, the dust would float in he air, drifting downwards as it attempts to settle.

http://eat3d.com/free/dust_particles




 

Fern Finished

Finished Fern randomizer. Just showing off the goods.

Basically same thing as the last video, but now it has the right  mesh, the right textures, and it grows and it is more optimized.

 OH! I also added the capability of adding more layers by just inputting a number. that has to be run at play start, since you can't spawn BP in the construction script, but it is a pretty cool little addition.

Fern/ radial mesh randomize tool

Not finished yet, it still needs some cleaning up to do, as you will see with the collision sphere, it could be better, just a quick little tool to help me make more interesting ferns more rapidly. With this implemented, with the right mesh, I should be able to have a two level fern with 10 leaves. pretty sure there could be other applications, but not yet sure what they might be.

I'm still not fully sure what is the most optimal way to use the "stream" variable type. As it stands I have five of them to hold the various initial locations of the ferns, so they don't rotate every time the construction script runs. This seems like a smart way to be able to have randomization, but also be able to have some expected results, so that one might be able to create expected silhouettes.

my GDC experience Ch 04

So to end wednesday night with a bang, I went to my first, and only party of this years GDC. There were parties happening everywhere, but I chose to attend the Epic Games party at a local bar. For those into this kind of scene, there was an open bar and dancing, and perhaps best of all confetti and a light show.

I no longer party as much as i at one time did, so although this was a fun experience, it was a bit louder than i would have liked, especially to network. I prefer the quiet one on one style talking i was experiencing in the CA lounge.  I guess that is a major pro versus con idea that attendees should weigh. Don't just go to parties because it is a cool environment, but really weigh what benefit going to said party may provide you. loud clubs aren't the best place for me, but for some they may be great.

Thursday and friday were more of the same awesomeness. Again, booths and booths of information. So much happening always. Thursday I had some time, so i spent most of it in line.

I stood in line for an hour for an 8 minute demo. It may sound a bit crazy, but it was wonderful. For one I spoke with an artist from gearbox about many of their awesome achievements. We joked about games looking so similar (space... the more space... then gritty space) and he told me about some cool programs to check out when working on projects. Eventually, the line did end, and then i put on a newer oculous prototype, and watched a video created by weta in conjunction with unreal and nvidia, meant to push the power of the systems. Having smaug walk around me threatening to kill me, is something i may not forget for some time to come. 

Most of the rest of my time, I spent walking around the expo floor. There was literally too much to see to describe. There were amazing things from all the popular engines pushing their work. Colleges vying for attention by showcasing their best work. Small companies doing amazing things with PBR, pushing render times to be instantaneous, and mobile games competing with last generation graphics, attempting to make their mark in the industry as viable gaming resources.

 To end thursday, which was kilt day, a couple of lead artist and designers at bioware, came to talk to CAs interested in working with them, and how to maybe better get ones foot into the industry.

Friday, came and went in a blur. I didn't get much time to take photos with a full day of work, but it followed suit with days prior. amazing talks, amazing people, and amazing fun. In the afternoon, before closing the GDC store discounted all of their stock, and it was swarmed with people eager to get souvenirs. To say goodbye to our Fellow CAs, was bittersweet, and we did so in a post mortem, where I met even more friends, and future colleagues, and won some free swag.
Saturday morning, I hopped on the Bart train line- got to the airport, and said goodbye to San francisco. Hope to see you next year.

In closing.... I think everyone even partially interesting in working in games NEEDS to go to GDC. This is an experience one cannot explain, but it is great. Yes, travel costs alone were a heft chunk of money, but it was worth it. I have made friends that i know i will have for a very long time to come, I have met people in the industry and am keeping on contact with them, and i am more driven in my art, then possibly ever before. I have more direction and purpose, and I think that is easy to lose as things get hectic. Being surrounded by so many creative and technical minds, all of whom I look up to was inspiring. If asked if i would do it again, the only response I can muster is an emphatic yes.

my GDC experience Ch 03

Wednesday was a huge day for the conference.  I was busy most of it, but i did have enough open time to explore some of the expo floor, and go to one talk.



Just so happened to be the unreal talk. With unreal's CEO Tim Sweeney

In a packed room, I sat toward the front of the room, eager to hear about how unreal would be handling it s new free business model. Being as I'm an artist, but would love to make games myself, I love the way unreal works, and was glad to hear that its visual scripting system would now be more accessible, whereas unities plug-in would still cost 100 dollars. as long as i don't make anything especially profitable, unreal 4 would be free to use. Adding to this excitement, who should come in and unveil their new product but:

Jen-hsun Huang, CEO  of nvidia. The Titian X is supposedly a marvel in GPU processing. I don't fully understand it's specs, but they do sound cool.


The expo floor! Perhaps one of the main reasons to go to any conference is the ability to go to their exhibition floors and career pavilion. GDC is no different. this is the place where things happen that you cannot watch on the vault. Even if you could, who else has a PC running an nvidia X graphics card?
I could have spent all five days of the conference down in the exposition hall, and still needed more time. There was so much to see, and still supposedly this was a slow year. there were several places vying for attention in the VR headset world, mobile games were the center of attention for many as the graphics of the little computer in your pocket can now rival the top line consoles from last gaming generation.

Many tech giants were pushing what they are known to do as well as promoting areas where they may not be as well known. For instance Nvidia is working and pushing a cloud based gaming console called the Nvidia shield. Houdini was promoting their Houdini Engine, which would allow for better portability of effects through the different artist programs. 

Mocap will make the non animators life so much easier. just saying.

After a day heavy in expo exploration,  the evening was exciting and filled with the Game choice awards. 

This event was filled with humor and awards for games. 

For instance it was joked Gabe Newell would speak, but for obvious reasons he did not. Gamer humor.

Monument valley I believe took home the most awards, but GOY went to Shadow of mordor. good job :D

Explosive Fun

I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but i like it when things go boom. Blame the child in me who never grew up. Nonetheless i like it when i am given an opportunity to make thing explode.
so here I give you my cannon:


A surprisingly simple toy, it detects your position, detects how far you are from it, and then upon you getting close enough, it activates an inactive particle effect, waits for a specified amount of time, then spawns an actor with an impulse force behind it.

A timeline runs an animation on the cannon, adding kick back, and basically you have a cannon.



The ammo of the cannon, fire works, have three states based on their impact.
one is the slow burn. it ignites and hesitates before a force is applied.
two is fire away, the firework, fires off, no hesitation,
and lastly, with enough force, the fire work will simply go boom.

My GDC experience 2015 chapter 02

The first two days of the conference are the quieter days. Only a few thousand people in attendance. During these two days, most of the action is happening in talks and sponsored events, since the expo floor isn't yet open nor set up.
 Throughout west hall, many small showcases had been set up.  Ubisoft had a booth., as well as microsoft, and a collection of board games were set up for attendees to play and critique. Indie developers were set up and in a small collection. there you could play some of their games such as mushroom 2 and that dragon cancer. The wild rumpus was a popular place of interest, with prime, main floor real estate, and a relaxed atmosphere where many people congregated to play some experimental games and relax in massive bean bag chairs.

Running through the whole event, there was an underlying feeling of professionalism. Everyone was there to network, and engage with the industry, but being as everyone was passionate and respectful about each other, it wasn't too serious. Signs promoting employment, didn't take themselves too seriously, though their missing commas did annoy the grammar nazi in me. 

My monday was my most art intensive knowledge day. I sat in the talks labeled the art direction boot camp. these talks focused on the simple ideas of being a good art director, such as being a cheerleader for a project first, and making the team excited to work on it, a "boss" second. Other talks focused on taking the stress off of art directors thinking of themselves as the top or bottom of the pyramid, and attempted to sell the idea of working more as a key component in the middle of the process, funneling everything into a working project.  

Other talks focused on adding women to games, and how thinking differently can set a project apart from others. a simple concept, but it does raise good questions such as how can one take a tired trope such as zombies, and make it interesting- or as the art director of ninja theory discussed, how they took hell and make it bright and colorful, because reality equals pain. A good thesaurus can go a long way for creativity.

 My monday evening was more hanging out with the various CAs. It was really surreal for me to play card games and talk about life with people who are professionals in the industry, getting paid to make the games i enjoy playing.


My tuesday started well.

there are perks to living in a hostel. though you may sleep across the hall from a man who sounds like a blender full of rocks is shoved up his nose, you may also wake up to free bread.

 As a CA every morning begins with a morning meeting.  Today an acapella choir made of CAs sang for the other CAs.
Here cool concepts of the conference are brought up such as the use of the gender neutral bathrooms, and the introduction of a gender neutral pronoun "E".

I didn't have much time to attend talks on this day, having a full day of work shifts, I only attended one talk about level design.  The speakers were, Steve Gaynor and Kate Craig, who worked on the game "Gone home" and they, discussed creating non linear experiences in linear environments, and creating realistic feeling environments by using iconic images that people associate with a given space. In other words to create a child's bedroom, it may be too time consuming to create every asset one might see in entering the room of a real life child, but by modeling a teddy bear, and having a bed, the age of the child starts to become a given, and the rooms purpose is also expressed; simply with two assets.

This night many of the more experienced CAs came together and provided portfolio reviews and resume critiques to those who may be looking for work. There was discussion on how to best present oneself, and even a bit of talk on how to shake hands with potential contacts. Some of us were warned that QA can be a black hole in some places, being a void where many aspiring developers cannot find a foothold to get out and grow, and we agreed overall that cover letters are a universal annoyance for most- including recruiters.
 It was explained that sometimes, a form of... creative lying.... may be necessary, but to think of it as lying isn't the best look on the idea. An interview is a game, and if the game isn't played, the interviewee becomes a victim, not an asset to a company. so if one responds to a call by saying "I need to check my availability for this month, I am booked solid," Knowing full well there is nothing going on for them this month, much less this week; it isn't lying so much as it is doing what is necessary to be wanted and appreciated.

Branding was also brought up as a reminder that we are always promoting our personal brand. every action we do affects our personal brand. we were advised to buy our domain names and get professional emails. If someone is asked what others think of them, it shouldn't be a question one responds to with shrugged shoulders but rather an answer given with confidence, knowing they have sculpted the vision that others see of their brand.