Mageball Blog Entry 14

So the presentation of the game was a success at the Senior Show as was my demo reel. I managed to get the attention of some of the representatives from the companies. Now the next part of the team is to get a kick starter going so we can get some news out of the game itself. If I had to rate the overall outcome of Mageball and my personal experience, I would say it was one of the most successful games I ever had the pleasure of making and this team was one of the best teams I ever worked with.

Senior show live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-game-studio-at-champlain-college

Mageball Post 13

So with the final build made and the demo reel ready, there's not much to say other then this has been quite a year. I got to work with a bunch of other talented individuals who I am proud to know and got to befriend over the past few months on creating a really popular game that I think will go places when it's posted online.

I managed to create a well thought out narrative that has received high praise and managed to show it through more then just large amounts of text. This game is one of the best games I've had the pleasure of creating and I really hope the representatives from the various companies coming to see it will enjoy it as well.

I also hope that after the school year we'll be able to work more on it as I believe there is much to be explore about in Mageball

Website: http://mageballgame.com/

Mageball Post 12

So the game is almost completed. Hard to believe it's been close to four months already. I've had a great time working on this as the Narrative Designer and working with the team had good times as well. I still wish we had a chance to put in voice acting, if only to enhance the experience, but a decision is a decision. Right now, I need to focus on showing my part in this game in my demo reel. It's gonna be hard selling myself as a Narrative Designer since we're not usually the first people scouted.

Hopefully, the representatives who come to the Senior Show will be impressed on how I was able to create the entire lore of Myran and influence the direction of the two tribes and their nations.

Mageball Post 11

So the parchment background for the lore pages has been made and just two nights ago I managed to put the lore pages on the their own separate parchment. Thankfully, there weren't any issues in terms of size and shape with either the font or the parchment and the Planeswalker font only made it look more cool. The goal of the lore pages is to provide those who are interested more information about the world of Myran.

Each lore tells about the two tribes, history, and locations in their respective lands. One of the things I did was made it so that, if we continue to work on the game past graduation, is made it so that more stadiums can be made in various locations. I even have a plot ready should we wish to expand the number of tribes from two to three or even four.

During my demo reel, I will be explaining how I got the idea to use the art and level design to tell the story while also giving examples on both levels such as the White Deer statues and the iron equipment found in the mines.

Mageball Post 10

So with the narrative all done, I've been tasked to do secondary jobs such as gaining audio for the levels and GUI. I don't mind the job, and I do find myself with some more extra time on my shoulders, but still enough time to help the team out. The game is becoming more and more like something you would see on X-Box Live and I can't wait to show it to people when the senior show comes around.

I'm also going to ask Alex and the others tomorrow what other jobs he'll need me to do. I already spent two hours working on making the X-Box Controller Scheme, so I'm edger to do more things like maybe help at QA.

Mageball Post 9

Well, this week is it. I finally managed to finish the last of the lore pages for Mageball. It was very exciting to create a world from scratch and develop two amazing tribes who couldn't be more different from one another. All that's left is some editing and the pages will be ready to be implemented in the game. I also believe that the art work, which helps reflect the narrative of the world, will interest the players enough to want to know both tribes. They'll ask questions such as: why does the Ice Tribe has giant ice stag statues on their level? What is their significance? What are the "Drago Mines"? What's its history? These questions will propel them to move towards the lore page and find the answers they seek while learning more about the world of Myran.

The levels and art work have been well developed by the artists and level designers. Both levels reflect both tribes society, culture, and mindset as a whole, mostly thanks to basing both tribes on the likenesses of elves and dwarven from other fantasy games. The Ice Tribe are a lot like the elves, in which they worship nature while seeking wisdom and beauty in life, rather then conflict and destruction. The Fire Tribe, meanwhile, is more like the dwarfs in which they mostly live underground, mining and fighting of dangerous beasts for their lords. They have a tragic past, but have survived with teamwork and dedication.

I want to start showing off the pages I've managed to do in the blog, but I'll need to ask Alex for permission first before doing such a thing. With nearly all the narrative work down, I now must assist the audio team with their tasks by finding sounds we can use for the GUI.

Mageball Post 8

Well it's spring break now and I've been mostly relaxed while working on the remaining lore pages during the night. I managed to get the voice acting work into the repository, but there hasn't been that much feedback from anybody about them. The only one who has said anything is Alex and he's doubting the need to have the announcing now. I personally feel that we need to have the announcer inside the game because, if anything, it helps expand the experience of the gameplay by making it feel like a real sports game.It also is very helpful in helping get across certain narrative elements in the game across to the players.

Other then this, the development of the lore pages has been doing well. Unlike the history pages, these won't require a full page of development unless necessary. What I also have done is made nearly each non-playing area a possible place to be used as a stadium in the future should we wish to expand to other areas in the game. Not all places like the Shadow Plains and Avalon Valley can be used, but a good number of them can be.