This week we watched a documentary on the history of games. This included games such as, Tennis for Two, Space Wars, Pong, Pac Man and Tetris. It revealed that quite a few of the games were responding to the public's interest and fears at the time. Oh and that Pac Man was created using the idea of a pizza with a slice missing. The work set for next week was to describe the first computer game you can remember playing.
The first game I remember playing was called Museum Madness. It involved moving round a museum fixing all of the robots which were reenacting important moments in history. Galileo had lost his mind and had forgotten all about his telescopes. All of the sea creatures were in the wrong exhibits, as well as most of the animals. The game was full of puzzles, how to make things right again. At the age of 7 I did not fully understand all of the different parts of the game such as environmental issues and the American civil war, it was fun none the less.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
Contextual Studies: Week 2
This week we were introduced to Roger Caillois, the author of 'Man, play and games'. He looked into what players experienced while playing games. After looking at different factors which come into games we were asked to read a quote from Roger Caillois and say how much we agreed with the statement.
While play can be time consuming it is certainly not a waste of time. People play games for the experience, to feel the excitement and exhilaration of the events which unfold. Be it a close finish to the end of a board game, or exploring long forgotten ruins on a computer game, all of this adds to the experience of what life has to offer. Part of a games job is to evoke feelings, whether this is fear, joy, curiosity or thrills they are all important.
The idea that nothing is ever learnt from games is untrue. While masterpieces may not be created, or wealth acquired there are some far more important things which can be gained. Children learn how to compete in a friendly way, or learn that you cannot always get what you want in life, in this case to always win. Adults can use games to greater extend their imagination to create stories, or new games which can then be sold for wealth. Games can help develop friendships with people who could become great friends, these people can help you out if you are ever in trouble and vice versa.
People who believe that a game is a waste of time must surely believe that life is just as pointless. When both are over, whatever happened during that time no longer matters. But do they feel this way? I think not.
While play can be time consuming it is certainly not a waste of time. People play games for the experience, to feel the excitement and exhilaration of the events which unfold. Be it a close finish to the end of a board game, or exploring long forgotten ruins on a computer game, all of this adds to the experience of what life has to offer. Part of a games job is to evoke feelings, whether this is fear, joy, curiosity or thrills they are all important.
The idea that nothing is ever learnt from games is untrue. While masterpieces may not be created, or wealth acquired there are some far more important things which can be gained. Children learn how to compete in a friendly way, or learn that you cannot always get what you want in life, in this case to always win. Adults can use games to greater extend their imagination to create stories, or new games which can then be sold for wealth. Games can help develop friendships with people who could become great friends, these people can help you out if you are ever in trouble and vice versa.
People who believe that a game is a waste of time must surely believe that life is just as pointless. When both are over, whatever happened during that time no longer matters. But do they feel this way? I think not.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Board Game: Week 3
Monday 17th October
After us all working over the weekend in order to improve the game enjoyment we had another play test. With more paths to choose on the board, and more effects on the player we all found the game much more fun. A possible problem is a player being greatly ahead of everyone else and winning by quite a considerable amount. This could be fixed is needed by using certain abilities to target the player who is currently first in order to make a more competitive game.
Tuesday 18th October
I showed some of the group my designs for the front and back of the animal cards which will be used for abilities and tokens. Feedback was that most of the images worked, however some colours had to be altered. Also it was suggested that a border around the cards could look effective. These were then passed on to be used within the animal token designs.
Wednesday 19th October
I continued to work on the back design of the cards, these are of the environments which have been approved earlier in the project. Working on the border which was suggested yesterday, each one in-keeping with the type of card.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
I finished the designs of the back of all the cards. Tested the idea of including all four images on the back design so players cannot tell which type of card they are picking up.
After us all working over the weekend in order to improve the game enjoyment we had another play test. With more paths to choose on the board, and more effects on the player we all found the game much more fun. A possible problem is a player being greatly ahead of everyone else and winning by quite a considerable amount. This could be fixed is needed by using certain abilities to target the player who is currently first in order to make a more competitive game.
Tuesday 18th OctoberI showed some of the group my designs for the front and back of the animal cards which will be used for abilities and tokens. Feedback was that most of the images worked, however some colours had to be altered. Also it was suggested that a border around the cards could look effective. These were then passed on to be used within the animal token designs.
Wednesday 19th October
I continued to work on the back design of the cards, these are of the environments which have been approved earlier in the project. Working on the border which was suggested yesterday, each one in-keeping with the type of card.Friday, Saturday and Sunday
I finished the designs of the back of all the cards. Tested the idea of including all four images on the back design so players cannot tell which type of card they are picking up.
Board Game: Week 2
Monday 10th October
The group worked out more of the mechanics of how the game is to work, instead of traveling in a single route we decided to use multiple paths in order to limit how much luck is in the game, to add more skill and to make the game more exciting. After playing the existing board game Dragonology we arrived at the idea of collecting a certain amount of animal cards and returning them back into the wild to win the game. Each
Tuesday 11th October
We then decided on the environments which will be included in the board as well as on the cards. These are, coast, river, woodland and grassland/hills. I came up with a simple design for the backs of the cards which used a picture of the environment each animal belonged to, which would help stop confusion about where the animal belongs.
Wednesday 12th October
I was tasked with coming up with questions which would be used to receive an animal card. This is the minor educational part of the game which would encourage children to be aware of animal's behaviors and traits. As these questions needed to be directed at a younger players they had to be fairly simple, yet challenging enough for them to pose some form of hindrance to the player.
Friday 14th October
We play tested the game and found it to be fairly boring with not much to do. The board did not feel quite right as it was still too linear. The group decided to rework the board spaces to include more variations of paths to make the player feel they are more in control of where they are going. We also decided to add more types of spaces including 'good luck' and 'bad luck'. Good luck spaces rewarded the player, e.g. move forward 2 spaces. Bad luck spaces penalized the player, e.g. miss a turn. We split the animal cards into tokens and abilities in order to stop confusion about when an animal ability was used up, before this it was impossible to tell what card abilities had been used and which hadn't due to the card only being discarded when it was returned to it's habitat. This meant that there were two new types of spaces, animal token, and animal ability.
The group worked out more of the mechanics of how the game is to work, instead of traveling in a single route we decided to use multiple paths in order to limit how much luck is in the game, to add more skill and to make the game more exciting. After playing the existing board game Dragonology we arrived at the idea of collecting a certain amount of animal cards and returning them back into the wild to win the game. Each
Tuesday 11th October
We then decided on the environments which will be included in the board as well as on the cards. These are, coast, river, woodland and grassland/hills. I came up with a simple design for the backs of the cards which used a picture of the environment each animal belonged to, which would help stop confusion about where the animal belongs.
Wednesday 12th October
I was tasked with coming up with questions which would be used to receive an animal card. This is the minor educational part of the game which would encourage children to be aware of animal's behaviors and traits. As these questions needed to be directed at a younger players they had to be fairly simple, yet challenging enough for them to pose some form of hindrance to the player.
Friday 14th October
We play tested the game and found it to be fairly boring with not much to do. The board did not feel quite right as it was still too linear. The group decided to rework the board spaces to include more variations of paths to make the player feel they are more in control of where they are going. We also decided to add more types of spaces including 'good luck' and 'bad luck'. Good luck spaces rewarded the player, e.g. move forward 2 spaces. Bad luck spaces penalized the player, e.g. miss a turn. We split the animal cards into tokens and abilities in order to stop confusion about when an animal ability was used up, before this it was impossible to tell what card abilities had been used and which hadn't due to the card only being discarded when it was returned to it's habitat. This meant that there were two new types of spaces, animal token, and animal ability.
Board game: Week 1
Monday 3rd October
After being given a brief to create a new board game our group decided to first choose who the board game was aimed at. We then agreed that it should be aimed at a younger audience, around 6+. This was because most teenagers or young adults rarely play board games and stick to video games instead. After deciding to aim the game at children we figured it would be a good idea to go down the educational route, with the theme being British wildlife. However, the board game would need to be bright and cheerful, e.g. Cartoons. With the game parameters and themes in place we went onto researching existing games.
Tuesday 4th October
I had the task of researching the history of board games, to find out what made these games successful and how they developed over time. I found that although a lot of games had an element of luck in then hardly any were totally luck based, with the exception of snakes and ladders. Pure luck was often combated by multiple counters to use, or different paths to take.
Wednesday 5th October
We started working on the mechanics of the game. Figuring out what the goal of the game would be. We decided on rescuing the animals and bringing them back to their own habitats. This would promote environmentally positive ideas for children to hopefully be influenced by in the future.
After being given a brief to create a new board game our group decided to first choose who the board game was aimed at. We then agreed that it should be aimed at a younger audience, around 6+. This was because most teenagers or young adults rarely play board games and stick to video games instead. After deciding to aim the game at children we figured it would be a good idea to go down the educational route, with the theme being British wildlife. However, the board game would need to be bright and cheerful, e.g. Cartoons. With the game parameters and themes in place we went onto researching existing games.
Tuesday 4th October
I had the task of researching the history of board games, to find out what made these games successful and how they developed over time. I found that although a lot of games had an element of luck in then hardly any were totally luck based, with the exception of snakes and ladders. Pure luck was often combated by multiple counters to use, or different paths to take.
Wednesday 5th October
We started working on the mechanics of the game. Figuring out what the goal of the game would be. We decided on rescuing the animals and bringing them back to their own habitats. This would promote environmentally positive ideas for children to hopefully be influenced by in the future.
Contextual Studies: Week 1
After the first contextual studies lesson we were told to write a paragraph on a game which had, in the past, immersed us while we play it. I chose Morrowind, a game which I spent many years playing when younger and still love the atmosphere and game play to this day. This is a typed up version:
Approaching the huge castle of Tel Vos I feel totally insignificant amongst it's giant towers and keeps, so tall they appear to reach up to reach up to the clouds above. There is only one door on the ground floor of the castle so I feel compelled to go in. Wondering what I might find inside I start to climb the stairs, the only way is up. Thinking of all the friendly people surely to be in this grand place I happily ascend, trying to imagine what could be at the top. Suddenly there is an angry cry and something attacking me! This is no human however, it is a powerful Scamp. Terrified and running for my life I continue up the stairs, spiraling higher and higher. Seeing a door ahead I run through to find myself on a parapet leading to yet another tower. Carrying on, I run into a room full of people, including some reassuring sturdy guards. Oh the relief of finding people to protect me from such a dangerous beast!
Approaching the huge castle of Tel Vos I feel totally insignificant amongst it's giant towers and keeps, so tall they appear to reach up to reach up to the clouds above. There is only one door on the ground floor of the castle so I feel compelled to go in. Wondering what I might find inside I start to climb the stairs, the only way is up. Thinking of all the friendly people surely to be in this grand place I happily ascend, trying to imagine what could be at the top. Suddenly there is an angry cry and something attacking me! This is no human however, it is a powerful Scamp. Terrified and running for my life I continue up the stairs, spiraling higher and higher. Seeing a door ahead I run through to find myself on a parapet leading to yet another tower. Carrying on, I run into a room full of people, including some reassuring sturdy guards. Oh the relief of finding people to protect me from such a dangerous beast!
Saturday 15 October 2011
Welcome to my blog!
Hi I am William Johnson! I am a student at Norwich University College of the Arts, studying BA Games Art and Design. This will be where I post my research and my thoughts on projects set.
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