Game Mechanics

Game mechanics are a tough thing to understand. Even after playing many games, taking classes, and building games, the mechanics are tough to define. I have recently played Wizorb and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. These two games both have what seems to be an rpg element where you walk around towns and talk to people. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past comes to mind when I am playing those games. Ninja Royale feels like that right now. You have a guy who wants to help a city, there will be some parkour, and eventually some sort of boss fight. What Wizorb and M & M have is that the game isn't actually an RPG. They are strategy games. There is a whole other game than just walking around cities, talking to people, and saving the town. The important questions we have to ask are:

What do you have to do to save the town? Why are you being forced to do it that way? Why are you saving the town?

We want to make our game unique. These games did something unique. You think it is going to be another RPG/Hack and Slash. They turn it on its head by creating a new mechanic or new gameplay style. How can we make a game within what looks like another RPG?

The idea I had was to use these spirit wards. In Japanese culture they many ways to ward off evil. I want to take this a step further and create a game out of these wards. I am still fleshing this out, but this could be the reason why the character has to parkour. These spells are in all the usual places so the character has to get creative and go around them. The character can also use these spells to protect himself or others. Anyways I am still working on it.

Normal and Other Maps

I found a great page on normal and other maps:

http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap/

This page covers what are normal maps, how to make them, and how they work with other maps like ambient occlusion, etc. It also gives you a few ways on how to make them. You can use all sorts of programs like a free program from Nvidia that works with Photoshop. You can use CrazyBump which is awesome, but it costs money, and I also use Blender.

CrazyBump comes with a free trial and it takes a 2D image and creates normal maps, specular maps, ambient occulsion, and displacement maps. These are crucial in making great looking textures.

With the Nvidia plugin it will only create a normal map, but with a bit of Photoshop skills you can make the other maps. Using Photoshop to fine tune texture maps is highly recommended.

I really like using Blender because I can pretty much make most of the maps I need. It can be a bit cumbersome at first, but for a free program, it's great.

Lighting without Lights

Currently I am working on creating pseudo lighting using texture maps. I am learning texture maps like ambient occlusion maps, light maps, and shadow maps. I am hoping that these maps will help Ninja Royale look great without using too many lights. I am currently making my maps in Blender then I export them to Photoshop and put them together.

5 Indie Games

5 Indie Games:

• Apparatus - Build machines to perform simple task. This game is shows you building a machine, but I take it as building. What if the avatar had only a few things it could build and have to parkour off of that to get to a certain place.
• Sanctum - This is an FPS tower defense game. The character has a tool that can build towers at certain places. I like this because it shows that our character could run around with a tool that can manipulate crates, girders, and even walls. This game could also show a survival mode for the avatar.
• Toki Tori - This is a 2D puzzle game where Toki has only a certain amount of abilities that it can use to cross gaps, teleport, etc. to get to where it is going. This is important because maybe the avatar has only so many uses of its abilities or it shows the inventiveness of each ability. It also has a great color palatte!
• Quantum Conundrum - This is an FPS puzzle solving game. This may not be an “indie” title, but it has an indie feel to it. I think the art style is simple and great. I like how you can pick up objects and have them interact with the environment. I also like how you can switch dimensions. This could be a fun mechanic to try. Like maybe you switch into different types of ninjas, parkour types, or acrobats, but each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Rochard - This is a 3D puzzle platformer. This game has a great art style and personality. It is quirky and the physics make sense. The main character has a tool that allows him to control objects to help him through levels.

Now a lot of these games use many ideas that I don’t want in the games, but these are fun indie titles that have some great mechanics like: building, tools that control the environment, puzzle solving, and interesting physics. I would love to make Ninja Royale a game where the ninja has great control of himself and his abilities while being able to control his environment. Controlling his environment could include be solving puzzles like rotating symbols, using a tool that controls certain objects, or even controlling parts of the landscape itself.

Ultimately, I just want the avatar to parkour something it has created or modified. This gives the level a unique personality for each player.

Be Creative!

Remember this list!

33 Ways to stay creative.
1. Make lists.
2. Carry a notebook everywhere.
3. Try free writing.
4. Get away from the computer.
5. Be otherworldly.
6. Quit beating yourself up.
7. Take breaks.
8. Sing in the shower.
9. Drink coffee/tea.
10. Know your roots.
11. Listen to new music.
12. Be open.
13. Surround yourself with creative people.
14. Get feedback.
15. Collaborate.
16. Don’t give up.
17. Practice, practice, practice.
18. Allow yourself to make mistakes.
19. Go somewhere new.
20. Watch foreign films.
21. Count your blessings.
22. Get lots of rest.
23. Take risks.
24. Break the rules.
25. Do more of what makes you happy.
26. Don’t force it.
27. Read a page of the dictionary.
28. Create a framework.
29. Stop trying to be someone else’s perfect.
30. Got an idea? Write it down.
31. Clean your workspace.
32. Have fun.
33. Finish something.

Primary and Secondary Emotions

The Fight or Flight Response is the working title for my game about confronting emotion and how the player deals with it. I want this game to be unique, but I want to be smart and use real psychology to back it up. The game has non-violent combat, but the player will combat emotion and that can be tough combat. Something I have been researching are primary and secondary emotions.

Primary emotions are the emotions we feel first when we encounter a serious situation. Things like fear, anger, sadness, and happiness are usually primary emotions. These emotions are instinctive. They can be emotions experienced quickly which makes it difficult to really understand what is really going on.

Secondary emotions are those felt after the intense situation. For example, the player crashes unscathed onto an unknown planet. He is glad he survived almost certain death and without a scratch! After those initial feelings of happiness leave he will be sad that he is alone and without help.

Understanding these concepts will help me better understand the human condition during a traumatic event. This even could help me better write the episodes the character goes through in the underground. For example, the player will choose dialogue options or collect certain items during an episode. Depending on what the player chose, the game will decide how they dealt with the situation. Not everyone will choose the same thing. This will change the outcome of the game.

I am still working with this idea and other psychological issues the player could go through. If you have any suggestions, please comment!

I got my some of my research through this web page:

http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/primary_secondary.htm