HW 10 Interfaces

1 Tv remote
2 Microwave buttons
3 Cell phone
4 Keyboard for computer
5 Crosswalk button
6 Traffic lights
7 Console game controller
8 Maps
9 ATM
10 Prescription glasses

An example of a good interface could be Civilization iv where all of the actions can be accomplished using pointing and clicking with the mouse. All of the interface things are clearly labeled with images representing what it does and overall it is just a very clear and easy to understand interface while also having many many different things going on at once.

An example of what I would call poor user interface is Mount and Blade. The game utilizes too many different keys to accomplish tasks. Until you are an experienced player any battle is practically impossible to win because you must constantly be remembering how to do seemingly simple tasks. There is very little response shown on the screen and the user is expected to control their own character completely like most rpgs but in addition they have to command their army or else they will just stand around and die.

HW 9 Balance

Fairness:
The game will be fair to the player by starting out easier and getting more challenging. The game is more stealth based so in the beginning levels the player will be able to get a feel for the mechanics without the enemy AI being too much of a threat, then as the game progresses it will get more difficult to keep it from being boring. The player shouldn't get caught all the time but it will still become more challenging to keep it from being boring.

Challenge vs Success:
The challenge in the game is not to get caught by the mother  and to find opportunities to kill the other children without being seen. The success in the game is rewarded by getting to progress to the next level and continue in the story.

Meaningful Choices:
The user controls everything the character does and can choose where he goes and how he achieves his goal in progressing to the next level. The story is pretty set so the player cant control things in that but they do control how the character proceeds through the story.

Skill vs Chance:
The skill level of the player will decide how well they can hide and how effectively they can proceed through the levels and navigate the environment. There is definitely some aspect of chance in any stealth based game and you can get lucky or just unlucky with getting caught.

Head vs Hands:
Our game involves more thinking and planning than quick reactions. there will probably be times as well where the players reaction speed is important to not getting caught as well. The controls should be pretty standard for a pc game with arrows or wasd for walking and crouching and maybe mouse click or a key to interact with objects.

Competition vs cooperation:
Our game is a single player stealth  game and therefore this aspect does not really have much relevance to it.

Short vs Long:
Our plans for our game are such that it would be pretty long with increasing difficulties through the levels leading through a story. Though I fear that time restraints may keep it from being as long as we imagine it.

Rewards:
The player will just be rewarded by proceeding to the next level and possibly some encouragement from our Venus weed lady. There will be no tangible rewards just a feeling of accomplishment for the player.

Punishment:
When the player is caught they must restart the level they were playing from the beginning and can even get thrown out of the orphanage causing them to have to break back in. They won't lose their earlier progress but anything they did on that level will be lost.

Freedom vs controlled experience:
The player gets a lot of control with where they go and where they hide and how the go about killing the other kids but ultimately they have to follow a sort of pre-determined story arc through the levels that we make. We will hopefully make lots of options in each level for the player to choose where they hide and what weapons they have access to. I think having at least the impression of a lot of freedom will add a lot to the experience of the game.

Simple vs complex:
The end product of the game will be pretty simple and straightforward but the design and programming of the game will be very involved for us as beginners. The game will hopefully have lots of different options for the player to proceed through, but will still be simple because each level has the same goal and challenges just at increasing difficulty.

Github repository

Here is the link to the github repository for our project
https://github.com/kstepka/flower-below

Simple Unreal Scene

For my scene in unreal i kept it very simple with a moss flooring and a few rocks, a bush, and a statue. I had the most fun playing with the lighting, making it yellow and positioning it to be more eerie. I added a translucent "small statue" prop from the starter content to jazz it up a bit. My knowledge of unreal is pretty limited at this point but it will be very fun to figure it out more throughout the next month.

First Meeting

Our group decided to meet up in the sweet shop to discuss what we want to do for our game. We talked a lot about types of games we want to make and different ideas everyone had. We have yet to decide on a final idea but have decided on some themes that we all agree on i think. We have a very balanced team where someone is capable of doing all the things we need. Currently our ideas are all probably too complicated to actually accomplish during the timeline but i think we will quickly come up with something we all like and is realistically doable.

Two games I like

One of my favorite games is Fallout 3 by Bethesda.
I really like the grungy post-apocalypse aesthetic and the immersive user controlled story line.
Here is a link: Fallout 3

Another game which I like is Sid Meier's Civilization IV.
I like the way that you can control and experiment with a simulated society. It is fun to mess around with but also to try and do your best to make a utopian society.
Another link: Civ IV

Have a great day!

This is a picture of my pet bunny :)

Here he is sleeping. He is a very handsome boy.