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.

Mageball Post 7

So today I did recording with Bryan and Andrew. It was really fun and we managed to get through the entire process without any problems. Bryan was a big help and Andrew was talented as always. The next stage is for the team to hear this while the game is playing and see if there are any changes we want to make to them before putting it in testing. The lines we recorded were only a small number of the ones I made, once the tester give positive feedback will put in more.

Other then that, the lore pages are my next big task. Already I've created the history ones, now I need to work on the places.

Mageball Post 6

Well, we're halfway through the semester more or less and already there have been some major changes. It's been decided that we're dropping the third level out of neccesity. Mostly due to time and the fear that we won't get a chance to get all the art done for that level in time, so it's just focusing on Fire and Ice Level. This means that I'll have to put my narrative designs for the forest level on hold (in case we ever revive it) for now.

I managed to get to the wrting center on Friday and with the editors help I managed to correct some mistakes I made. They were really impressed by the lore of the game and looked ready to go out and try it out. They even said the annoucer lines sounded like real line an annoucer would say.

With that done, the main plot and tribes have been put into the wiki. Next up is the locations, which I'm going to be working on later tonight by making a map and sending data over to Sam and the others.

Finally, we have our annoucer: Andrew Ascone, our audio guy. We have to start recording lines as soon as possible, so I'm waiting for him to reply to me his best times are. I'm edgar to get announcing into the game and seeing how the testers react to having that added feature.

So far the game is looking good and geting a lot of good feedback . Hope it continues.

Mageball post 5

So now that we've been green lighted, most of the team is now working around the clock to get the game ready in the following months. While I don't have the major work load my fellow teammates have, I am nonetheless busy. Right now I must continue to work on lore pages while talking with the artists to make sure our narrative and art are reflecting each other.

This week, we're starting to look for a voice actor for our announcer. We've sent invites to four people already and so far two have responded positively for tomorrow. The script itself as well as the announcer's personality have changed a bit. We're using less puns and more narrative focused quotes to help bring in the story of the world more.

Hopefully we'll have an announcer by Sunday and we can start recording some lines and put them in testing.

Mageball Post 4

Things have been a big calmer lately. For the last week I worked on the announcer script and my teammates seem to enjoy it very much. I also managed to finish the new storyline changes and the tribe societies, giving them each a unique difference. Now they're no longer similar to the Avatar likenesses that we had problems with before. Instead, we went with a sort of Elves and Dwarfs kind of likeness, except they're all human.

Other then that, my slides were made for our greenlight project and I hope that we'll be able to get pass the next stage in production to other games such as Quiblyball.

Mageball Post 3

Earlier this week I started working on Lore Pages. The idea was that a section of the game would have lore access so that those who want to learn more about the Mageball world can do so. It would feature the history of the two tribes and their culture, info on the stage areas, spells, and more. That's on hold for the moment so I can work with the Art team on art assets and creation of the Announcer Script. In the game, the Announcer will be the one to not only give play by play action, but also give small snippets of information about both teams and the world they live in.

Mageball Post 2

Date: Friday 18

So the main story has been fleshed out and approved by my teammates. The two teams and now tribes who were once ready to go to war with each other due to an incident, but a wise mage named Thaddus managed to convince the two to realize their error and showed them how similar they were using Mageball as the tool to do so. The game takes place after that day, ten years, and now it's a world wide sport that's loved by all. The next part of the narrative is to continuing to flesh out tribes while working with the art team to plan out the art assets that we can use to help tell the story.

Mageball Post 1

Date: January 11, 2013

So I've met my new teammates for Senior Game Mageball. On this team I am the narrative designer and I've been given free reign on this project mostly. The team doesn't have a lot for me to continue by since their game barley had a narrative when it started and now it's up to me to work with them in creating one. I'm already in the process of creating the world and the culture of the two teams. More to be developed in the future

Champlain Blog post 13

While I wasn’t able to attend the workshop on Wednesday due to my job, I was able to read the two readings on the wiki and this is my response to them.

!Q 1. How can Henry Jenkins's idea of "narrative architecture" apply to game design even in games that lack a strong, conventional narrative plot line?

Jenkins talks about how narrative can be told not just through dialogue or narrative or some grand big story, but through gameplay and art itself. This is something I’ve always believed in personally. All parts of the game tell a story in more than one way. Take for example the game Bioshock. The entire world you travel in is the ruined underground utopia that carried philosophical beliefs of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism. You get the feeling that this wonderful, grand city was once something amazing, but now it’s a ruined waste land with insane druggies trying to kill you. The large scale buildings, the advance technology, the big streets and advertisements for wonderful powers and abilities, all speak of the underwater city’s rise and downfall.

Another example would be Fallout, where you have a desolated wasteland that’s been ruined by war. There are radioactive areas, a tower that broadcasts news and information, towns with various people and their own quests. You don’t even need to follow the main story in the game and spend hours exploring the level. Each new area gives new insight to the world around you and the people you interact with will give you a sense of their own backstory and how the towns they live in are like.

Besides art and level design, gameplay is another key element that can be used to tell narrative. Take the game Journey, where your goal is to get to the top of the mountain and you have to rely on help to do so. However, you can’t speak and can only communicate through sound. The single goal of the game is one big tale of how you and another face impossible odds to reach the top of a mountain. That itself is a tale and how you get to the top is the process of how the story unfolds.

Designers can use anything from level design to music to help relay the game’s world, lore, characters, and more. Narrative is not limited to just one means of telling, but in all forms.

Q2 : How might I position either my capstone game concept or one of the concepts to be produced in the spring as part of a larger transmedia enterprise?

Our game I can see being part of a transmedia enterprise, but it might be considered a bit controversial in some aspects. Please keep in mind that as I write this that this is an idea and nothing more and that the issue being brought up is serious and should not be joked upon. I am not an expert in psychology nor the understanding of kidnapping and the damages it can bring up. Again, this is just an idea.

After 9/11, many people went to various therapies that had them watching the towers fall down or just hear the sounds of planes in order to help overcome their fears of what happened that day. It’s been proven to work and similar tests are done, like watching fire for those scared of fire or hearing gunshot for those who have been near shootouts. My idea is something similar

What our game, Pale, could do is be a psychological test to help people who have been kidnapped or stalked by strangers, and are attempting to face their fears. Being surrounded in a lone place with only one way out while trying to avoid possible danger is something that can help people open up to what happen and face the reality of that feeling. Granted, there doesn’t need to be a person in the game chasing after them, it could just be sound effects to give the illusion of the presence. The way the player controls their character in the game could reflect the player/patient’s emotional and physical state of being. Psychologists can use to see how they are reacting, and help them understand their patients more.

The game could be changed by locations, objects, sounds, and more based on each patient’s memories of how the location of where they were kidnapped. In return, they could be placed in other areas to see if it’s the location that they fear more, or the thought of being chased.

Games have been used for psychological treatments before and in the purpose of what Pale gives is the sense of you, the player, in an unknown and possibly dangerous location that you must escape from. It’s a primal fear we all have, but at the same time it can be used to face this fear and discover how to overcome with or come to terms with a scary situation.

Champlain blog post 12

Well, it's time to get transferred to a new team soon. There are a couple I want to work with such as Eeb and Flo, Magnosphere, and maybe Mageball. I just hope I did enough advertising of myself to get noticed by the team. All of the teams have at least one member that knows me well so my odds are increased a bit.

The only main thing I have worry about now is the final core paper I have to do. it's not due for another two weeks or so and I'm going to start on it tonight and work my way towards the finish. It's mainly me talking about how the game I worked on came to be and what are my final thoughts on it. Why did not pass? What could we have done differently? What worked and what didn't. Things like that.

I'll answer some of those questions below:

1. The genesis of the idea for the game: To create a classic horror game that was more geared towards scaring the players with atmosphere and sounds rather then violence and blood.

2. What your game’s genesis taught you about how game concepts originate: That it takes more then just one idea to fuel a concept. There are more steps and factors that have to be thought out before it can even begin.

3. How your game would be received by your target audience: When we tested the game, a lot of people were pleased by how it was more focused on scaring the player and the way we made it caused survival horror fans to compare it to other such games such as Slender.

4. What your game’s arguable appeal suggests about the values at the core of
successful games: That is the little things that need to play out with the overall look that make it stand out from other games.

5. What your work in developing your game’s mechanics and systems has taught
you about this important facet of game development: Simplicity is something that works wonders because it can do so much. We realized that complex mechanics were hindering us so we went with something geared towards simple ideas and concepts. It worked.

6. What the arc of your game’s development has taught you about the nature of
conceptual development and the challenges of collaborative work: That the scope has to start of small in the very beginning. Our biggest weakness is that we started this project thinking too big and it caused us to have to lower our scope late in the game. Designers have to plan out their games as small as possible and then make it grow over time.

There will be more in my finished work, but for now this is just a taste of it.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 11

I was going to do a post over the break, but it slipped my mind while I was enjoying the vacation. I'll post another one this Friday to even things out. Anyway, my team's game was cut and we're officially out of the race for greenlight. We did work on it more during the break to see if we can get one last shot, but Vinny told me that Bemis already shot that down.

I feel that overall, we did good as a team despite some mess ups and a few communication issues. We all knew what we wanted and we had an idea what direction we wanted to take it. But the problem, I believe, is that it required too much execution for the short time needed for it to be done and we started our narrow scope at a very late time.

There were bugs, some stuff we had to cut, and overall additional gameplay that we tried to add, but didn't make in time. I heard from some of the others that while we did improve the game more and more each time, it felt still incomplete and that maybe we choose to high a genre to apply.

I don't regret working on this project, I've learned a lot from it and from my team as well. I just hope that next semester I'm put in a team that will use my abilities to the fullest.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 10

Well, tomorrow is the day we get our answer if were going to be in the presentation or not. We're going to challenge for stage four and I feel we might pass it, but thankfully we're in stage 3 so if Bemis and Eric think were good enough we should be fine. Our testers love our game and it's given us confidence that things are have been getting better so we should be okay. There are a few things that we are still glitching on, but they are easy fixes we can fix.

I just hope tomorrow will work out and everything will be great.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 9

Well, I'm going to keep this short because I'm busy with a lot of other things, including this project, but here it goes. We've managed to come up with what changes we want our vertical slice to be and we've changed the level a lot for a better. We just need to finalize some stuff, test it, and then challenge this week.

We're then going to challenge for stage 4 the follow week as most of the requirements for that week are already being worked on as I type this. With luck, we'll be ready for the presentation soon.

Champlain College Capstone Project Blog Entry 8

Well, the presentation practice was so and so. It's clear they get the idea of what we are making, but we didn't show enough of it. We need to make it clear the context and direction this game is going to and I've been asking people for their thoughts on what we need to do.

I have a plan that might be able to help us get to the level we need to compete with the other games. Thanks to the new rule about Stage 3 people able to challenge for the presentation, we stand a better chance now. The first thing we need to do is create a new level layout. It's too clustered and me and Vinny can work out some path ways to make six rooms, plus the locked door. Instead of eight keys, we'll cut it down to four. The randomizer will be used too, either by the rooms or the keys themselves and we'll have the maniac appear after the player gets one key.

We'll set up some sounds and moments where the player see a shadow or hears a faint noise to draw suspension from the atmosphere. Lighting will have to be carefully planned and the textures will need to be double checked. A start and gameover screen is definitely needed at this point and we can easily put one in.

Creating the right atmosphere is the biggest thing and we need to make it scary. I just hope we can do it in time.