Game Design Document

 The Game Design Document or the GDD is a really good step when thinking about the game before actually designing it using unity because this way I will not forget the details about my game and it will be easier to record my thoughts for designing the game; therefore, I could change any idea I had every week I move forward with the project task and starting to think deep about my game after the feedbacks I receive.

Dundoc is a really good website for making the Game Design Document where it offers different templates to choose for the document with an easy outline.

Link to my Dundoc: https://www.dundoc.com/project/7793

                                   

                                   Truck Game                                                       Image taken by me

Games GDD

 The Game Design Document (GDD) is an important process when designing a game and thinking about every aspect to what will be included in the game such as, mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, obstacles, challenges, and characters since only thinking about these things without recording it somehow will be hard to remember when moving forward with the design of your project; therefore, recording everything in this document is a really good way that will make the designer and the team know exactly what is the game about and every other aspect included in the game. 

Sections to include in the GDD:

• Game Design
• Technical
• Controls
• Mechanics
• Setting
• Game Flow
• Graphics
• Style
• Layout
• Color Scheme
• Music
• Sound

Additional Resources:

1. https://milanote.com/templates/game-design/game-design-document

This link includes a template for GDD to use for your game design and shows a step by step to use the template.

2. https://kevurugames.com/blog/what-is-game-design-or-welcome-to-the-game-designers-backstage-rates-mistakes-and-victory-conditions-detailed-game-design-document-template/

This website explains what is steps that a game designer should follow in order to design a game successfully. 

3. http://www.cs.unc.edu/Courses/comp585-s15/DesignDocTemplate.pdf

When clicking on the link it goes to a pdf were it is a 3 page template that shows what should be included in the GDD and its outline.

Game Design Document

Unity Tutorial 04

 This unity tutorials for the reading week were very beneficial and and useful. Now I know how to make the player moves only left and how to use the space bar to make the player jump, which will help me when designing my game for the project. The object could be duplicated in the game using some codes mentioned in the tutorials. The unity challenge helps with practicing so as to know how to design a game by yourself and learn alone and figure a problem or an  issue if it happened while designing the game. Unity is really hard and confusing when trying it for the first time but when get used to it and practice it while following the tutorials. it becomes easier to use. Placing the camera in the right position was hard and complicated but at first, but now I can easily control it and now how it works along with the other tools. Designing the actual game would be hard and will take effort and time because it will be without instructions and your doing it by yourself but at the same time it will be fun and a nice experience. when designing the game and people could actually play it. 

Unity

Game Vision Statement

 Speedy truck is a racing car game for PC in a street that not only moves straight but also in a zigzag way that you should try to avoid the obstacles to win the game.

This game is about a huge truck that you move left and right using the arrow keys and can stop it to avoid getting hit by the obstacles, such as boxes, using the space bar. The street is not going to be straight, instead it will be in zigzag just to make the game even more challenging. When the game starts counting down, the truck will move by itself then boxes will start to come in its way; therefore, you must move left or right in the direction where the truck is not getting hit by the boxes because if it does get hit, you will lose and start the game from the beginning. There will also be a time limit for the game level, which is basically about 60 seconds to finish the game without getting hit by the boxes and not falling from the street. You will need to stop the car, move it left or right to not get hit by the boxes but in the 60 seconds time limit or else you will lose. The game will be set during the day and the sky will be clear.

The game includes various tasks that should be done and rules to follow in a specific amount of time to finish the game and win. The challenges or the mechanics of the game are staying on the street without drifting away from it, moving away from the boxes, stopping the truck whenever going left or right on the street to not drift away from the street and lose the game, and managing to achieve all these challenges in the 60 seconds time limit to win.

The genre is vehicle simulation game. There are similar games like this one that involves following rules and avoiding the obstacles to win including, Heavy Truck Simulator and Euro truck Driver. These games are similar in how you as the player can play it, which basically driving through the street going left and right to perform tasks, but there are different other things that are different; for example, the game could happen during night-time or daylight.

This game could be played on multiple platforms. It is suitable for windows, macOS, android, and Apple.

The game I am designing is simple yet challenging and the level is not the easiest. I thought about it that way to make the player face challenges and have fun playing the game. The game might be hard for some kids but that will make them excited to play it, enjoy it their free time trying to figure out the obstacles and how they could play to win the game, and thinking about it as a goal that you want to achieve. This will motivate children to think in a different way while playing the game instead of just playing it without any goal or benefit, which I think is important when designing and thinking about a game because this could create a growth mindset for kids.

Overall, I thought about this game with those mechanics and challenges that are included in the game to make it enjoyable and at the same time beneficial especially for kids to make them interested more in playing these kinds of games that are helpful not like playing other games that wastes time and could be harmful to them when consuming it. When you play the game, you will feel stressed and under pressure because of the time involved, which is a 60 second time limit. This is not a lot of time but that is the challenging part of the game where you must concentrate carefully while playing to try to avoid the danger and stay on the street at the same time without drifting away from it. It seems hard at first but when you know the rules, challenges, and obstacles, it will be easier to play it and practicing more and more you can win it easily without putting too much effort in playing it.

This link shows different truck games on PC, which are similar to this game design:https://www.pcgamesn.com/best-truck-games-pc

Truck Simulator

Games MDA

 In this week's reading task, it was mentioned when designing a game it is important to consider the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetic) tool. They three parts are relevant to each other and when designing a game, the designer must consider the three parts to know how the player will play the game and how will it be consumed. The mechanics of the game is the challenges that are included in the game that the player needs to finish in order to win the game. The dynamics describes how the mechanics work in the game while the aesthetics is the theme or mood of the game and how fun the game is where it can be sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression, and submission. This is the most common tool that is used when a designing a game but some researches disagree and found another tool called DDE (Design, Dynamics, Experience) to avoid any issues or weaknesses the other tool could cause.

MDA

Links of items of interest:

This link explains MDA tool used in different games.

1. https://medium.com/game-design-fundamentals/tagged/mda

 

This You Tube video explains MDA in an interesting way using visuals.

2. https://youtu.be/uepAJ-rqJKA

This link explains the MDA in among us.

3. https://medium.com/game-design-fundamentals/mda-among-us-b7f85a8e5ad

Learning Challenge: Lack of Sleep

 Video : What would happen if you didn’t sleep?

In this extra credit HEART challenge, I learnt that getting enough sleep is an essential thing in our lives to maintain our health and sanity. I never knew that not sleeping enough could increase the possibilities to have a stroke as mentioned that a person kept awake for 24 hours watching the world cup and died from a stroke. Lack of sleep could also cause Hallucinations, lack of concentration, short term memory, Hormonal imbalance, dementia,  and diabetes. We as adults should have from 7-8 hours of sleep a day while children need 10 hours of sleep a day. 

Sleep Deprived

Unity Tutorial 03

 In this tutorial task for unit 2, I had fun doing it. At first I was confused with the amount of code I had to do but then after a while, I knew what was going on while writing the code and what each thing would do to the player or the objects. I struggled in lesson 2.2 because when I wrote the code and then saved it, the game wouldn't let me play and it said that there was an error. I tried to figure out the error, but I couldn't find it. Then 5 minutes later, I revised the code again and I found that I added a semicolon at the end of a code which was not supposed to be there and that is why it wouldn't let me go into play mode. I managed to fix everything and then started with the last lesson. I honestly enjoyed knowing about how to duplicate the food and the players while playing and also the different challenges to create in the game so as to make it harder for the player when playing the game. I hope I will be able to apply what I have learnt and practiced from unit 1 and 2 in designing my own game to make it interesting, enjoyable, and challengeable.

Unity Tutorial 2

Growth Mindset: CATs

 This is the first cat I chose because of how the message is conveyed through this cat blog post. In order to develop, have a growth mindset, and become intelligent just use your brain.

Using Brain

Tech Tip: Google Map

 I love Dubai. One of the favorite places I have visited. Khalifa Tower is huge and I was amazed of how huge and tall it was.

Here is the Google Map:

Feedback Strategies

Articles:

1. The Difference Between Praise and Feedback 
2. How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk
3. How to get past negativity bias

The articles I have read were useful. I learnt that when giving feedback we should be careful of what we say and whatever we say it should be in a polite way and enthusiastic. The first article I chose was mentioned in it that when giving feedbacks to kids or praising them for what they did has to be with love and affection to make them feel appreciated. Instead of saying "good job", you can say "you are really good at what you do, you must be clever" and this way it makes want to learn more, have a growth mindset. In the other article, It mentioned that when giving feedback to someone with criticism it should be said in a way that encourages the person to exert more effort in what he/she and try harder in the future to become successful because if a negative feedback is given in a rude way, the person could feel upset, down, and never focus on becoming better or developing as the third article I chose from week 3 mentioned . I think giving feedback is important but we should be careful in how we say it because the person could be encouraged to learn more and put effort in the future to achieve his/her best or the person could be discouraged and never try to learn more and thinks he/she is never enough. In my school years, during a presentation I always ask my friends to give me feedback for how I spoke, what areas I need to improve, and if I presented well or not and they always tell me what things I was good in and what other things I need to improve; this encouraged me to improve my presentation skills and other areas I need to improve. I also did the same with my friends and always gave them feedback in what things they are good at and what not in a way that they feel they are doing well but need to put more effort in order to become successful. I will definitely be giving more feedbacks this year, especially in group projects.

Giving Feedback

Game Idea Research

 In this week's Project Task, I have decided to choose the racing car game idea I talked about in last week's blog post for the game brainstorming. The game I thought about designing is basically a truck moving through a street while avoiding the objects it passes by in a specific time given and the car can only move left and right and the player can use the space bar to stop the car and if the player hit a box or did not complete the race in the time being the game will be over and the player will lose the round. The first mechanic is that the truck should pass the street without hitting the boxes. The second mechanic is that there will be a time given to finish the race or the stage and if it ends before the player gets to the end of the race, the player will lose. The third mechanic is that the truck has to slow down whenever it has to move left or right to make a drift because if the truck turns away from the street, the player will lose.

Sources:

1. This You Tube link shows a racing car game that is similar to my game idea I want to design. It is about performing tasks in a specific amount of time.

https://youtu.be/azxraHJBoJ8

2. This link shows 20 different racing car games:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/best-racing-games-20261

Truck Racing Game

Unity Tutorial 02

 In this unity tutorial task, I have learnt how to make the vehicle move horizontal or vertical with the exact coding for it. I also now know how to change the speed of the car to make it faster or slower. I really enjoyed the result of what I did when I tried playing it and I was surprised that it turned out very fun and enjoyable. These tutorials at first were hard and complicated to comprehend but after practicing and doing more tutorials, it became easier and understandable. It really amazes me how the coding could change the state of the vehicle, how it can move, and in which way it can go. The challenge made everything clear since it is the same as the first four lessons of the unity tutorials. I am excited to develop my game idea, start designing it, and start with seeing how it could be played and designed using unity. I know I am going to mess up at first and will not know what to do but I could always go back to the tutorials to help me in designing my game and knowing what code to use and how to use it in unity for creating the game. This is really exciting and I am looking forward for the next tutorial tasks so I can start with designing my own game for the project.

Unity

Game Elements

 In this reading task, the papers were beneficial and explained a lot about how to design a game and what steps to begin with when designing a game. The game elements are important when thinking about the game and if the designer forgot one of them then the game would not be complete and there will be something that is missing because every game element relevant to each other. When designing a game, the first thing that is supposed to be done is drawing a design on a piece of paper. This will help the designer in viewing the game, seeing how it will be played, and trying the game in many different ways with different players. Also, another way for prototyping is to play the game using your body. This is an easier way to view how the game will be designed. Prototyping is a step that helps in evolving the initial idea, and helps the designer to keep on track. Missing one game element will ruin the game and could change the other game elements.

Prototyping

Items of Interest:

1. https://meliorgames.com/game-development/testing-a-game-prototype-step-by-step/ 

This is a link that teaches step by step in testing a game prototype. It is very beneficial and shows the importance of prototyping before designing the actual game.

2. http://gamedesigntools.blogspot.com/p/game-design-methods.html

This link shows various game design methods, which helps in designing a game in whatever method a designer prefers to do.

3. https://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/1415/the_game_design_process.php

This shows the process for designing a game in 6 stages and explaining what happens in each stage with details.

Learning Challenge: Sleep Issues

 Article: Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying

Sleeping from 6-8 hours a day is important. It is the ideal amount of hours to get enough sleep. I have always had an issue with getting enough sleep since I start doing assignments and studying at night so I be awake all night then sleep after midnight and sometimes 3a.m even though I had school at 7a.m. This was never a problem for mw because I got used to it but sometimes I wish I slept like normal people and wake up early but that never happens; however, in my second year of college my sleep schedule was getting better and better since I have to wake up so early to get the bus and then when I get back home I sleep at 1 or 12 which is better than sleeping at 3 or 4 every day. In this article, I learnt that if I don't get enough sleep because I be awake to study will get me low grades. It was my first time to know that kids who sleep early and get enough sleep can help increase language acquisition skills. I will definitely try to have a good sleep schedule to be able to enjoy my day better and become healthier.

sleep problems

Growth Mindset: Changing from Fixed to Permanent Mindset

 The Video: Sprouts: Growth Mindset animation

After watching this video, the thing I knew already is that having a growth Mindset makes life challenging and more fun since you are tend to learn new things everyday rather than having a fixed mindset and always be afraid to try new things and if you fail you will look stupid. I got curious when I heard that a study shows that adopted twins have higher intelligence than  the biological twins. People with growth mindset can accept feedbacks and take it as a way to better themselves and their skills. Parents should always encourage their kids to develop their skills and hobbies so they can have a growth mindset. A quote that Samuel Beckett said "Ever tried, ever failed, fail again, fail better".

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Tech Task: Blogger Templates

Hey guys, I changed the layout of my blog and adjusted some setting, including the width and the length of the posts with the sidebar from the theme option then customizing the theme you chose. I tried other themes and layouts but I like this one the most so I didn't do much to it.

Game Brainstorm

 I searched for games that I would like to create from scratch and what they are going to be about.

The first game is basically a shooting game. It is about a spaceship shooting aliens coming from space and if the aliens approach the spaceship without being shot, the player will lose. I find this game interesting since I am sure that everyone played it when they were kids. I always loved playing shooting games with my cousins and games that are similar to the game I want to create that is why I thought about this one that it would be simple and a good game to create because it is fun and not hard to play; however, the player has to be fast and never slow in order to kill the aliens because they move fast. The spaceship that the player will be shooting with and aiming at the aliens can move left and right to aim correctly at the aliens and kill them one by one and there will be levels. There are 5 levels; the first level will obviously be the easiest and the fifth level will be the hardest since the aliens will move faster and faster each level the player passes or wins; moreover, the player needs to move left and right faster to shoot the aliens and win the game while being surrounded by asteroids and planets. Playing it a lot when I was a kid made me remember my childhood memories when I always get excited to play it with my family and cousins because it is fun and we enjoyed our time playing it and that is the reason why it was one of the games that I thought about and crossed my mind immediately; therefore, I decided to search about it and think about what is it going to be like, what are the players going to play, and how many levels they are playing. Here's a link for the a YouTube video I saw that is similar to the game:

• https://youtu.be/Rmvb4Hktv7U

Space Shooting Game

Feedback Thoughts

Articles I read:

1. Why rejection hurts so much

2. Seven ways to crush self-doubt

 The two articles I read about rejection and how I should deal with it were beneficial. I have always hated when someone rejects me for any reason because I start doubting myself and lose confidence in myself. Reading the article on how to cope with rejection in many ways, such as knowing my self-worth, setting goals for improvement, not taking rejection personally, and the most important thing is to embrace my ability in whatever I do, made me realize that rejection is normal and it is a good thing if I dealt with it in a positive way since doubting yourself and start comparing yourself to others aren't a good thing for the mental health and could make a person never want to experience new things and challenging tasks. When I was 16, I used to play squash and participate in tournaments and sometimes I get rejected from joining teams so I feel down and not good at playing squash but then my coach hypes me up and tells me that this rejection is something that encourages me to improve and practice more to become better.

Feedback

Unity Tutorial 01

 In these tutorials, I learnt a lot of things, including how to use code and what to write exactly to change things in the game, how to create a game from scratch in an easy way, and basically how to use unity in a simple way. These tutorials were useful and beneficial. Creating my first game was fun and I really enjoyed doing it and trying new things using tools. The game is so simple, but I am willing to learn and watch more tutorials about using unity and creating more and more games that are harder with a more complicated code that the players will have fun playing it; therefore, to experience challenging work and become good at creating games. At first, I thought creating a game will need too much coding, but when I listened and followed these tutorials, everything was clear and easy to do. I hope in this module, I could create a nice game that everyone will like and play a lot. Also, I am excited to see other's games that they created and play each one of them since it sounds fun and I am sure that I will have fun checking out everyone's game and play each one of them.

Unity Games

Game Design

 In the reading articles that were provided in the reading tasks were very useful and beneficial. A game's definition can differ in many ways because it is how you view it and this of it. Creating a game is very easy with few resources and you don't have to be creative or put much effort when creating a simple game even if it is reckless but at least it makes sense and you are able to convey the game's instructions through it easily. In the reading task, we were asked to create a game using just simple tools, which were a pen and a pencil or even use Microsoft paint and the important thing when creating a game is to ask yourself some basic questions, including what is the theme, who are the characters, and what is their purpose. 

Great Team

Beneficial Articles:

1. Batchelor, J, 2021, 'What is a Game'. Available from: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-05-14-what-is-a-game [accessed 1 October 2021]

2. Robledo, R, 2019, 'What is a Video Game Designer'. Available from: http://www.animationarena.com/what-is-a-video-game-designer.html [accessed 1 October 2021]

3. Stefyn, N, 2019, 'How video games are made: the game development process'. Available from: https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/game-development-process [accesses 1 October 2021]