Final Self-Assessment

1. What was your favourite activity/assignment in the course?
My favourite assignment this year/course would definitely be the character texturing. It might have been (very very) hard, but I think the end product is absolutely amazing. The tutorials were comprehensive, and there was a ton of space to add creative details. I would say this is one of the more hands-on sections we did this year.
2. What is something specific you learned in this course?
I learned  a lot this year, specifically in how to use the basics of several projects. One thing that I think I wouldn't have been able to do by myself is definitely the basics of blender. I mean, look at it! It is intimidating, and I wouldn't have been able to understand how to handle it if I hadn't taken this course.
3. What is something you found challenging in this course?
I actually found the video tutorials to be harder to follow compared to the written ones because I kept having to stop the video to try the step for myself. Also, I found extra details to be challenging to do, since sometimes those extra features needed knowledge that I didn't have.
4. How do you solve your problems when you are stuck or don't understand something in this course? 
I start by just trying to figure it out with the knowledge that I already had (which usually doesn't work out), and then I ask the teacher.
5. What letter grade do you think you earned for term 3?
 I completed all the required work well this term so I think I deserve an A?
6. What letter grade do you think you earned for the whole course?
I've never missed work this entire year, and have done a bit of extra work, so I think I have earned an A.
7. Are you happy with your work habits and progress in this course?
Other than it being terribly hard to wake up in the morning sometimes, I think my work habit is pretty good. I didn't have a problem with progress either.
8. What is something you could improve about your work in this course?
I think I could improve my efficiency. I probably could have done more work this course if I was more efficient.
9. Any suggestions for the course or teacher for next year?
It's been a pretty awesome year! I learned a whole lot about all sorts of stuff. One thing I might have wanted to do would be to experiment with more programs such Alice and Unity but I guess the independent working plan would have solved that.

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 3

- What difficulties did you have? 
I didn't really have too many difficulties, since the videos were pretty easy to follow, plus the logic was sound so I could figure stuff out easily too. I did have difficulties while adding extra details, though, specifically when changing the bullet so that it would change colour, and also adding "special" asteroids every set period of time. The coding for the asteroids was also really hard, since there was a lot to consider.
- How did you solve them?
Most of the logic and coding is repetitious throughout the whole game, so I just copied what was done to another object to get my wanted effect. For example, for the colour thing, I just followed how the instructor had changed the asteroid shape, and it seemed to work well. The "special" asteroid was even easier, since all I had to do was create two new objects (a hidden object and the actual asteroid) and copy most of the coding. The only thing I had to figure out was how to loop the alarm, but that was also taught in Catch the Clown. For the actual coding of the asteroid, I got a lot of help, and, after trying quite a few ways, something finally worked.
What did you change in your game to make it unique? How do these changes affect gameplay? I didn't change anything that pertained directly to gameplay. Most of my changes were about graphics. As mentioned before, I added a special asteroid that would appear every few seconds that had more point value, and changed it so that every bullet shot out from the player object was a different colour.
Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxscHZjOTU0Y2dhZlk

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 2

Link to exe file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsMHBTYVAxU3o5UTA

Once again, I didn't really have any difficulties, since the videos were quite easy to follow. I did have a bit of a problem while parenting, though, where the child wouldn't destroy after it was shot at.
I realized that that was because I hadn't added a piece of code with nothing in it, and it was fine after
I fixed that.

GameMaker - Asteroids - Part 1

Link to exe file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsMHJpYURKMDhqQVk

I didn`t have a lot of difficulties while creating this, since the tutorial was quite easy to follow. I did get stuck, though, while adding the extra feature for the bullet to be a randomized colour when shot. Although I didn`t figure it out on my own, I learned that, other than the image being randomly selected, the image speed also had to be set to zero so it wouldn`t play as an animation.

GameMaker - Catch The Clown

Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsWWJmVTRxdDIyS0E 

What difficulties did you have? How did you solve them specifically?
I didn't really have a lot of difficulties, considering that the tutorial was easy to follow and there really wasn't a lot that could have gone wrong. There was a problem in which the sprite wasn't speeding up, though, but I backtracked and figured out that I hadn't checked the "relative" key. Plus, for the draw event option, there was more than on option to choose, so I just chose the first one and it seemed to work out.

Blender - Character - Part 2 - Texturing

Front and Back View

Texture Image

Blend File: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsNDZIYlJDVTJEYTQ

Indie Game: The Movie

1. What are some of the differences between "big games" and "independent games"?
Big games tend to be more commercialized. They're targeting a large demographic and trying to please everyone. Independent can much more specific with their target group. Independent games also tend to be much more personal for the creators.
2. What are some of the difficulties the developers in the film have to overcome? They have to deal with funding, negative comments, and themselves. It's quite hard to be able to keep on task and not give up when someone has been working on a game for several years and still see no end. They also have to do a lot of work by themselves, since there's no one else to help them with the burden.
3. What do you think is attractive about developing an indie game? What do you think you would like about working on an indie game? What do you think you might not like? Working on an indie game would mean less restrictions, more freedom to do what I want, compared to a large company were I would probably not be allowed to create a game that I want to create. At the same time, it would mean less resources, and less people to work on it, meaning one person on an indie team might have to equal five in a big company. Plus working in a very closed, very stressed out environment might lead to problems with other coworkers or just mental issues in general. I would have to give up a lot of things, including a diverse social life.
4. What is some advice you might have for someone trying to create their own game based on what you learned in the film? Don't give up. Sometimes it'll get really hard, and it'll feel really helpless, but you won't know until you finish it. Don't try to make it a commercialized game (appealing to majority) explicitly, make something personal that you want to do. 
5. What is the best part of completing the creation of a game for the developers? Probably being able to see the game, to see others play the game. It must really show them that the time and effort they put into the game has really paid off, and that others can enjoy it. Also seeing others realize the meaning of the game, why the game was created, really makes one feel glad that they did make it after all.

Blender - Character Modeling - Part 1

Link to blender file: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsdTd5VFdaYWdKS28

Blender Game Level Modeling- Level 1

Final Image:

 

Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6FcJkWYLvxsU01PU1JpbDVKRGc/view?usp=sharing

Texture images:

Term 2 Self Assessment

Term 2 Interim Self-Assessment
First Name, Last Initial: Linda, L
Block: 5
Grade Level: 9

1. Give yourself a mark out of 5 for each of the following:
a.   4.5/5    Attendance (consistent attendance, on time to class)
b.   5/5    Achievement (assignments completed and posted)
c.    5/5    Attitude (positive, cooperative)
d.    5/5    Effort (uses class time wisely, consistent effort in all aspects of class work)

2. Please list two specific (with examples) skills or concepts you have learned so far this term:

• I can: model simple objects in blender, like modelling a mushroom.
• I can: animate simple objects in blender, like making that mushroom move.

3. Please list one specific (with example) topic or skill you are going to work towards improving in Term 2:

• I will work to improve: on understanding the functions of Blender, like the properties panel.
• How you will improve this: do more projects using Blender.

Blender - Mushroom Animation (UPDATED: Feb.20/17)

I used the starter from the tutorial if that's alright?
Blender File: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxscUFVc0dlTUVranM

Blender-Mushroom

Blender File : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6FcJkWYLvxsanJIcjA5Z2NfOGM/view?usp=sharing
PNG Texture File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6FcJkWYLvxsZkYzT2dlVHhOdkE/view?usp=sharing

Scratch Level 2-Racing Game

Link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/133807118/#editor

Questions

1. I had quite a few difficulties while programming this game. The largest one was probably figuring out how to end the game with the background that said "orange/blue wins" and then hiding the cars so that they didn't show up on that background. I used the "receive message" block to change the background once one of the cars had won, but then I used a slightly different shade of orange/blue so I could change the car costumes using the "when touching (colour)" block. I used a slightly different colour because I already had a block for the cars to explode if they touched the other coloured car. I also was confused about how to start the game only after the countdown, but then I realized I had to use the "wait for _ seconds" block.

2. I changed the racetrack, because the loop was way too easy, by drawing my own with the brush tool. I added a countdown so that it seemed more like an actual game by creating a sprite with 5 different costumes and switching them every second. I added end backgrounds for each of the cars so that, once again, it was seem more like a game. Other than those, I also made the game multiplayer and changed the cars' costumes when they crashed into each other or went off the road.

Blender-Intro (UPDATED: Feb.20/17)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FcJkWYLvxsQ3dPLUdiMWhxczg

Scratch-Intro

Kodu Pac-Man

Screenshots of Gameplay

  

Screenshots of Important Characters 

Playable Characters (pg.1)

 Playable Character (pg.2)

 Playable Character (pg.3)

NPC (Rover)

Tree (Important Code)

Questions

1.  I tried to keep my version as close to the original as possible. In particular, I kept the lives and respawning, and also the powerups. Nothing really is different, but I did make NPC respawning different from the original and also made the entire game harder, since it's only one level.

2. As I said before, I tried to keep everything as close to the original as possible, but I did code the tree on top of the wall so when the character respawns, they get a certain amount of time on top of the wall, which can be seen as an immunity for a period of time. Also, I made it so that a new rover is created every 25 seconds, since it would be way too easy if the playable character just ate all three original rovers in the first 5 seconds and there were none left. This way, there's also an increase in difficulty as time passes, so this can also be seen as some sort of pressure to finish the game quickly.

3. Honestly, Kodu has a lot of bugs and I had to work my way around a lot of things. The respawning took me a long time to figure out, and then not every object would work as a respawning point. I also couldn't set it so that WHEN: Scored white EQUALS 0 points, DO: end, since the game would just end automatically when I started it, so I had to set it to BELOW 0 points. A lot of the times I would get confused on when to use the "once" tile. Plus, the rovers would just get stuck in walls if I used the code from the tutorial, so I had to google that and try something else. I never really figured out how to make the playable character's movements more controllable, and I realize that that's probably not a problem on my behalf.

4. I made the point system invisible because one of my testers said that the points got in the way of the character and she couldn't see what was happening. I did that by turning off score visibility for red in the world settings. Although it's not visible, when the character eats all the apples, they still win so it didn't cause too much trouble. Another tester said that the game was a bit too hard, and since I already had the respawning feature, I took out one beginning rover. Mr.Strudwick suggested that I make the respawning character more visible, so I made the tree as small as possible.

5. The next step would be to add more cool features and powerups, and also figure out a way to fix the movement of all the characters. Basically, to make the game more enjoyable to play.

Term 2 Learning Plan

1. I would like to try all the different programs I'm offered, in order to choose my favourite to continue and work on. Of course, we're already doing that, but I'd like to try things at my own speed. Everything sounds cool at the moment, but I'll look at the programs that are already locally installed and try my hand on those first, like Gamemaker, Alice, Unity, and Blender. I would also like to try programs and programming languages that aren't locally installed, like Python and Java.

2. I plan to experiment with every program first, and possibly do a small project for each. The internet is a wonderful place when it wants to be, and I can probably find anything I really set myself to find. To start, I can totally look at some tutorial pages and videos, like this video on Gamemaker basics,and Codecademy offers some cool (and long) tutorials for programming.

3. I think it would be best to work by myself for now, since I need to grasp the basics first, and having a partner might render it. Later on, though, if there's a good reason, I'd definitely do something with a partner.

4. Well, I definitely will have questions or difficulties, so my teacher seems like a good resource to ask for help. If I find a program that looks interesting, but needs to be installed, I would also have to ask my teacher. I can ask my teacher and friends if I don't get what I'm doing or I don't know what I want to do as a project.

5.As I said before, I'll be doing little projects here and there, and I'll know that they're successful if my beta-tester/a classmate thinks that they're fun and not buggy. If I have time, I would also want to try doing a (few) larger project(s) to improve more on the program of my choice. When I'm finished with something, I'll post on the blog, probably in the same format as the Kodu intro and PacKodu post.

6. Learning the basics of a program is fairly simple, but improving on it is hard, so to at least get a grasp on what I'm doing, I'll probably need at least 3-4 classes to simply learn the basics. Then, I think smaller projects will take around half a month to complete (depends entirely on how well I work with the program), and larger projects might take a month or months to complete.

7. AHHH LETS GOOOOO

Kodu - Intro

Screenshots

Of game

Of playable character (Kodu)

Of CPU(s):
Rover

 Octopus

Questions:
 1. The programming was fairly easy, or at least pretty logical. The rovers is naturally faster than the Kodu, and the octopuses are just really slow, so I didn't think that it would be a fair game or fair chase. To change that, I went to the character settings and changed the forward speed multiplier, turning speed multiplier, forward acceleration multiplier, and turning acceleration multiplier, and tested it several times to make sure that, even if the Kodu was being chased by one of the CPUs, it would still have a chance of getting away from them.The controls were pretty inflexible and Kodu had to be exactly on top of the apple to eat it, so I tried to make the Kodu mouse-controlled, but that didn't work.

2.  My original idea for the game was to make the apples and rocks the same size, then make some rocks red and some apples grey, thus increasing the difficulty of the game. Jenessa found that really hard, since I also had points taken if Kodu bumped into a rock, so I took out the taking of points and replaced it with "move slowly", and I also made the apples visibly larger than the rocks so the player would actually be able to tell which ones were apples.

Video Games: The Movie

Questions 

1. Video games became successful because of its interactivity. People had never been able to control a character on a screen, and that gave them a sense of control and power. Now, a few things that make a game popular is the story, gameplay, and graphics, which all contribute to the interactivity of the game and the immersion of the player. They help a person escape momentarily from reality. Also, with games like Pacman and Pong, another appeal is that with a concept that simple, gamers are constantly encouraged to do better than before.

2. Video game manufacturers got a little too overconfident. They thought that the consumers would just accept whatever the makers spewed out, no matter how awful. There came bad game after bad game, and when the notorious game, E.T., came out, it was the final straw. The gamers lost interest because games had lost/not improved on what they were originally liked for: creativity, interest, gameplay, etc.

3.Video games are definitely a form of art. After all, what is art? It's something that someone has put work and heart into for the appreciation of others. In fact, I think that video games are not only a form of art, but also multiple forms of art combined together to form a type of interactive art. Music, literature, and artworks are all considered "art", so why shouldn't video games, which contain all of these and have people who work hard to make them, be considered art? Many people work together for up to years to make games that people can enjoy.

4. The next evolution in games is definitely virtual reality. Although it is already happening, and is evolving at quite a rapid pace, the virtual reality that game-makers are hoping for is full body immersion. The problem with these type of games is that many gamers, while they like to immersed in the game, don't actually want to have to actually move. After all, a major reason people like to play games is that they can experience a unique story from the safety of my couch. Plus, as time passes, I think it'll get harder to actually come up with a unique concept that can attract an audience.

Animated Pixel Art

Link to PSD file:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6FcJkWYLvxsekJDS29Zbl9fQWM/view?usp=sharing