Game Studies / Project

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28/03/2021 - 08/07/2021 / Week 1 - Week 15
Ngu Kah Shin / 0347666
Game Studies/ B' in Creative Media / Taylor's Design School
Final Project



 INSTRUCTIONS 
 

  INITIAL READINGS & RESEARCHING  

Recommended reading by Dr Charles:

  • Freyermuth, G. S. (2015). Games / game design / game studies: An introduction
  • Swan, M., Binns, B., Gillespie, J., Joint Matriculation Board., & University of Nottingham. (1987). Design a board game. Harlow, Essex: Published for the Shell Centre/JMB by Longman Group UK. 
  • Tinsman, Brian. (2011). The Game Inventor's Guidebook: How to Invent and Sell Board Games, Card Games, Role-player Games, and Everything in Between!. Krause Publications.
  • Herte, M. (2020). Forms and Functions of Endings in Narrative Digital Games (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003037538
  • Grace, L. (2019). Doing Things with Games: Social Impact Through Play (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429429880
  • Kristjan, J. (2019). We Deserve Better Villains: A Video Game Design Survival Guide (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429196553 
  • Mortensen, T.E., & Jørgensen, K. (2020). The Paradox of Transgression in Games (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367816476
  • Breault, M. (2020). Narrative Design: The Craft of Writing for Games (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429200762
  • Silva, A.D.S.E., & Glover-Rijkse, R. (Eds.). (2020). Hybrid Play: Crossing Boundaries in Game Design, Player Identities and Play Spaces (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367855055
  • Schlichting, M. (2016). Understanding Kids, Play, and Interactive Design: How to Create Games Children Love (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429021183
Other Additional Information provided by Dr Charles:

  PROGRESS WORK  

First rejected idea (card game)
Fig 1.1 Working document 1 (rejected) PDF


Working document for second, final idea:
Fig 1.2 Working document 2 (approved) PDF

As I was in charge of the art direction of the game, I made this little timelapse video for you to watch while I explain the thought process that went through my head as I designed the whole thingamajig

Fig 1.3 video timelapse MP4



  FINAL OUTCOME  





  REFLECTION  

After a series of trials and error with our first game idea which was a card game designed by my other groupmates, we eventually decided to not go with that. For this project, I helped come up with he concept of the game and was in charge of the art direction. Because we have 2 computer science students and another groupmate who was exceptionally good at coding and AR stuff, we thought this could be a more interesting amd walkable route. 

Fundamentally, the art style of the sprite design has to be rooted in the overall aesthetic that we intended for the game. As mentioned, our art style selected for the design is based on a top-down RPG pixel art style. However, since an important mechanic in this game is to interact with certain objects in order the progress,  ideally some sprites are given additional traits or characteristics to make them stand out, so that the player will know to interact with them. some prompts that we used were highlights around objects that are interactable followed by prompts to select a certain key to interact with the object.  The environment design is filled with other items which are unclickable. The purpose of all the posters, papers, boxes, and other knickknacks is to make the classroom appear more lived in and to provide possible clickable things to keep the users engaged.

The whole process was very fun yet stressful. I feel like my group could have done better if we didn't have so much work from other modules, or if we had a longer time span to finish out work. Nevertheless, this module focuses on the basis, concept and structure of the game, rather than the end product, as reassured by Dr Charles. Not to mention, he was super duper supportive and encouraging throughout the whole semester. Thanks, Dr Charles!

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