Spike's Digital Media Blog

  Today I added a health item pick-up and a greyboxed map separate from the test level. Not the biggest lap forward but every little helps. Next week I will probably move on to adding menu functionality and a working ammo system probably with some assistance from Josh as I have no clue where to start.  

  Adding a score counter on Harlowe 1.2.2 - Twine Forum (twinery.org) https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1OY8kQE4iESdbn_iC2p3YzbaHhmvbt3s2le4ROmwIH8g/edit?usp=sharing https://twinery.org/forum/discussion/8832/how-do-i-keep-count-of-something Today I decided it would be best to plan out my text game on a map/ wireframe type thing which I will use to plan each option and outcome rather than randomly making them as I have done thus far, this will allow me to put more thought into what I add  and have an easier time when I get round to implementing each section. I also decid ed to add a treasure mechanic for replay value where depending on your choices, you will have more or less treasure by the end  so you can revisit the game to get a higher score as the ending will always be the same. It is also easier for me to implement than some other mechanics such as a combat system or more complex stuff with variables I may not be able to complete in time. cwalljasper and Lily (2017)...

  Today with some assistance from Josh, a lot of progress has been made. There is now a dunctioning Health bar, reusing alot of the nodes from the Health bar, a score counter, a funbctional time and also an Early version of the death screen for if you do not escape the level. This is what enables all UI elements in the level This is for the Player receiving damage and having the death screen widget appear These nodes cause the death screen widget to get the Timer reference for the final time and also adds button functionality This is what causes the text block for the score to display its number This casts the time value to the final time counter on the death screen Unfinished Pause functionality

Evgeny Morozov Full Name: Evgeny Morozov Date of Birth: 1984 Nationality: Belarusian-American Education: American University of Bulgaria, Stanford University, Harvard (History of Science PHD) Description: Evgeny Morozov is a Belarusian former citizen of the USSR who emigrated to the USA as writer and researcher and academic who has works in most major American news sources and publications. His main theory/ stance is that of Net-Skepticism, often criticising the idea that the internet has made people 'more free' or bought democracy where there previously was not, instead the internet is an extension of the power of state and corporations that allows people to post on its own benevolence. The term he has coined for this reliance on internet and technology to 'liberate' and 'create democracy' is coined as 'Technology Solutionism' or 'Internet-Centrism' and he generally excercises caution in placing faith in these new, rapidly developing technolo...

 This blog will be going over some of my inspirations for 'Invasion of the Gibbies' and what informed my creative decisions when it comes to this game/project overall. ( Dani, 2021) Muck Muck as an inspiration is very surface level, only because of the game's aesthetic and that the Gibby model will be human shaped with googly eyes, other than that and the fact that this game is also first person that is where the similarities end entirely. I feel a style to this will give me adequate time to work on the game's mechanics as they should take precedent. (EPIC GAMES, 2013) (EPIC GAMES, 2013) Gears of War: Judgement Gears of War: Judgement and the Gears of War series as a whole were big inspirations for the gameplay of Invasion of the Gibbies because not only is it an Unreal Engine creation but also because of its horde mode which was one of the first big games to give these wave-based high-score arcade style modes a go in shooters  as a resurgence in 2008 with Gears of War ...

This is a better close-up of my Gantt Chart. My methodology behind it is that I will first create a functioning game and when that aspect is complete and hopefully bug free I will then work on models/ visuals/ sounds. I think this will lead to a better outcome as with previous projects I've focused too much on visuals and not enough on mechanics sometimes leading them to become underdeveloped, usually in terms of focusing too much on the level design. Edit 21/02/24: I need to make sure Pause and Game Over are working by next week as it will make testing easier. They are mostly finished, they just need interactivity added.

  Today I worked on a level design for the game while creating through my prospectus, which was helpful as I had not considered it so far, the yellow represents areas where you can escape the level and red represents barriers and fortifications you can build using points earned. I tried to build in some symmetry for the level so the player has a method of easily knowing where to go and can more easily plan their movements around. I also planned the barriers so that they don't completely isolate the player and enemies can always be able to get to you too which keeps the challenge there so the player cannot 'farm' kills with no repercussion for points and are always in danger.  I also worked on other things needed for the project, user personae, a risk assessment and a Gantt Chart which will help me plan properly and inform the direction I take the generation of this project.

  Today was mostly spent working on my prospectus, I have added a risk assement, equipment list, Gantt Chart and an ethics statement. I've also done some more general polishing to my game's core mechanics and fixed the error from last week with Body and headshot damage on enemies being the same. Rather than there being a damage multiplier on the Enemy Blueprint it has been moved to the FireWeapon Function on the Blueprint for the player so that when an asset has the 'Head' tag associated with it takes a predetermined larger amount of damage than a bodyshot (Fig. 3.). I also added an admittedly crude 'Ragdoll' to the enemy before it despawns after being killed (see Fig 1.) and I fixed an issue with the enemy where if the enemy lost sight of the player it would stand-still. To remedy this I removed the enemy's sensing ability so that it just goes straight for the player now. This removes any stealth capabilites from the game but that was never/ WILL NEVER be c...