Chess Alternative Cooperative Game

"God Save The Queen"

OBJECTIVE
Two players cooperate to rescue the Queen on the opposite corner of the board and bring her back to their base, the Home Corner.

GAME PLAY
The pieces move from one corner to the next, sliding across the lines of the board. Each player chooses a character type from four different pieces, each with different attributes, and places them on one corner of the board. The Queen is on the opposite corner, guarded by five enemy pieces that share the same move attributes. Once one of the player pieces reaches the Queen, it must move back one space at a time while the other player helps guard the two.



PIECES
Player Classes
King: moves three spaces, but cannot move cover any spaces from previous move
Rook: moves two spaces, but spaces have to be different directions
Bishop: moves two spaces, but spaces have to be in the same direction
Knight: moves three spaces, but must be L-shaped

Enemies
Pawns: move one space at a time, but can go any direction.

Non-playable
Queen: moves one space, but does not move until a player rescues her

RULES
Players may jump over enemies. In order to kill an enemy, the player must move to the enemy’s occupied corner using the player’s designated move attributes.

Player rescues Queen once they are placed on a corner adjacent to the Queen’s position. That player must now move back to the Home Corner by moving one space at a time, regardless of their class. The Queen must move to any adjacent corner after the player made the move. The second player must keep the escorting player and Queen safe from enemies by either blocking or defeating them. The second player’s move attributes are still the same

Only one player is required to rescue the Queen. The second player must help the first player and Queen from being defeated by enemies. If the rescuing player is defeated, the second player must deliver the queen to the Home Corner.

The game ends when both players are defeated before saving the Queen, resulting in Game Over.

The game ends when either one or both players escort the Queen to their home base, resulting in Game Win.

Cartoon Network Game Creator Exercise

A) What options are available to you as a 'game designer'?

As far as game design, my options are limited with character and game objective, but the Clone Wars Game Creator offers many different elements to make the game level unique.

B) How are these options provided?

These options are provided step-by-step. Once you make the layout (game level), you go on to background, game type, character/vehicle, and then the most time-consuming part: customization of the game level. These systematic steps help the creator start from the big picture and later tweak to their liking.

C) What types of elements are provided for you to use to 'build' the game?

You may start with a pre-made level and work from that, or you can start from scratch. Other options are backgrounds (pretty much ground color), game characters and vehicle options (with different attributes/weapon types/specialties), walls, floors, and enemy placements to mix up the game level and difficulty of the game.

D) What limits are set on the level of the game play able to be customized

The game play is limited to a bird’s eye view; there is no other option available. The designer is allotted only a small amount of space for the level, and there are only the set number of available elements, nothing more.

E) What does the process of using these game creators teach about the notion of the 'difficulty and achievement' balance? Explain using an example from your research.

Regarding the seemingly infinite amount of elements, such as enemies, that one can place in their level, it is up to the game designer to think of a target audience and also consider difficulty, re-playability, and overall a “fun” and “good” game experience. Some people may be inconsiderate and place many enemy spawns so the player cannot survive. Others may make the game “too easy,” like the one I created.


In Response to My Clone Wars "Find The Door" Game:

Response from a Female Classmate:

1) Is the game level fun to play? (be honest!)

-I thought it was pretty fun to play.

2) If so, why? If not, why not?

-I liked it because right when you start the action of the game was ready to go. It was very busy which kept your attention to the game. I also liked how there were other tasks you had to take beforehand before the door would end up opening. There was a lot of action with the enemies too.

3) What could be done to improve the level?

-Only thing I would say as for as improving the level is making the pathways a little bit more tricky when collecting the orbs while getting chased.

Response from a Male Classmate:

1) Is the game level fun to play? (be honest!)

Not very, though it would make a good bonus level. If I was short on power-ups, I would like to see a level like this.

2) If so, why? If not, why not?

It's way too easy. I finished in 12 seconds by the third try. It's also very confined. There only appears to be one short path from beginning to end. However, I was able to create a game within the game by first trying to see how quickly I could finish, then trying to see if I could achieve the goal without firing any weapons.

3) What could be done to improve the level?

Include less power-ups. The game would have been more fun with none at all.
Move the exit farther from the starting point, and add more paths. There is a lot of space in the level that I was unable to explore.

This Week's Gamasutra Article

I found an interesting article about a college course that requires students to study Portal:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30093/New_US_College_Course_Requires_Collective_Portal_Playthrough.php

Who said games are just for frivolity and fun?

Gamasutra Job Postings

I checked out a couple of these job postings; I will research these companies.

Technical Artist for Sanzaru Games Inc. in Foster City
http://jobs.gamasutra.com/jobseekerx/ViewJob.asp?JobID=vKg3NzoTS1b1cN1eHbYPvaRXginR

Game Designer for Mighty Play in San Francisco
http://jobs.gamasutra.com/jobseekerx/ViewJob.asp?JobID=XVmM0nGuEb1DUzCIQ4wLe59wZShB

2D Game Artist for Watercooler Inc. in Redwood City
http://jobs.gamasutra.com/jobseekerx/ViewJob.asp?JobID=C%2FvyCrxse%2FfB98HF8hvXVFPDx0Bg

Videogame Cultural Studies Evaluation: Atari

1)

TITLE
Centipede

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980

GENRE
Shoot 'Em Up

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and button

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Play 3 times before Game Over

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Gameplay is both patterned and random. It is patterned because the enemy (centipede) comes from above and descends towards the character, much like Space Invaders; random because the centipede parts come down faster if they come in contact with a mushroom, making the enemy movements more unpredictable and the game more fast-paced.

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
One of the developers of Centipede was a woman, which was a huge milestone at the time. Incidentally, Centipede had a huge female fan base. Centipede was made available on the personal computer in the early 1990s, part of Microsoft Arcade.


2)

TITLE
Asteroids

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1979

GENRE
Shoot 'Em Up

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Buttons

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Play 4 times before Game Over

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Gameplay is random; the asteroids and enemy UFOs fly across the screen without prediction. The hero is not constrained in one two-dimensional box; the player may move from the edge of the screen and come out to the opposite end, giving the player more flexibility and fun in gameplay.

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Asteroids was a huge hit. The game was so popular and demand so high that Atari put the production of Lunar Lander on hiatus to make more units. Atari sold so many Asteroids units that it exceeded the records made by Space Invaders.


3)

TITLE
Battlezone

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1980

GENRE
First Person Shoot 'Em Up, Simulator

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and button

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Play 3 tanks before Game Over

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Gameplay is random because the player does not know when the next tank will spawn

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Battlezone paved the way for first person shooters. It was ahead of its time, using "3D" vector graphics. Different versions of the game were made for military training.


4)

TITLE
Adventure

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1979

GENRE
Action-Adventure

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Joystick and button

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Almost indefinitely, since when you die the game will reset, but certain aspects will be saved, such as placement of items.

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Gameplay is patterned. It is patterned because each colored dragon guards certain objects, therefore the player may predict where the dragons will be. The gameplay itself is pretty straightforward.

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Adventure is considered the first action-adventure game. The game's creator, Warren Robinett, was also considered the first to introduce the Easter egg, a fun extra in which many game developers still implement today.


5)

TITLE
Tempest

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1981

GENRE
Shoot 'Em Up Tube Shooter

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Joystick and button

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Play 3 times before Game Over

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Random

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
It was the first game to allow players to choose the level of difficulty. Tempest had the illusion of being 3D, with the enemies coming from the center and growing larger as they come closer to the
player in each segment.


6)

TITLE
Crystal Castles

YEAR OF PUBLICATION/RELEASE
1983

GENRE
Isometric maze puzzle

USER INTERFACE OF ORIGINAL GAME - JOYSTICK & BUTTON COMBO
Trackball and button

HOW LONG CAN YOU PLAY BEFORE BEING DEFEATED?
Play 3 times before Game Over

IS GAMEPLAY PATTERNED OR RANDOM?
Patterned, the player knows where the enemies are located and can predict their movements.

PUBLISHER/MANUFACTURER?
Atari Inc.

ONE PIECE OF HISTORY FROM DOT EATERS ABOUT THIS GAME:
Crystal Castles was the first arcade game to have an actual ending. The rasterized graphics show an isometric, psuedo-3D environment, in which Bentley Bear walks through to pick up the gems. The environment also allows the character to move up and down to different heights, giving variety to the environment and challenge.