Unit 5,6 and 7 - Creating an original 2D Game Project

Understanding Creative Media Companies

L.O

Was to understand the differences between different types of companies in creative media production and how they contribute to the industry.

To know the difference between horizontal and vertical integration and what they mean for the creative media industries.

In today's lesson, I learned about different creative media companies and roles. Some of them are developers, publishers, and distributors.

Developers- These are the creators who design and build the content. In video games, for example, developers write the code, create graphics, and develop gameplay mechanics. They are responsible for the actual production of the media.

Publishers-Publishers are companies that take the finished product from developers and market it to consumers. They handle funding, marketing, and distribution. 

Distributors-Distributors are responsible for getting the media product to the market. They manage the logistics of delivering the content to stores, online platforms, or streaming services. Distributors ensure that the product is available for consumers to purchase or access.

In summary, developers create the content, publishers market it, and distributors deliver it to consumers.

Horizontal Integration

A company that owns other companies across different media.

Vertical Integration 

When a parent company operates or owns more than one of the stages of production in a single industry. 

Sony music-Publisher

Sie worldwide studios-Developers

PlayStation Store-Distributor  

The Walt Disney Company 

 In the context of Disney, developers are the creative teams that produce animated films, live-action movies, and television series. This includes writers, animators, and directors who bring stories to life.

 Disney acts as a publisher by marketing and promoting its films and shows. They manage the branding and distribution of their content across various platforms, including theaters, television, and streaming services like Disney+.

Disney has its own distribution channels, but it also partners with other companies to distribute its content globally. This includes handling the logistics of getting films and shows into theaters and onto streaming platforms.

Developing Contextual Awareness  

Intro  

The objective of this lesson was how to create a level in a game with grid paper, text levels, simple shapes, and color coding. 

First, using grid paper allows the drawer for easier scaling of the objects and blockers.
The simple shape-based drawing makes everything easier to draw.
Color coding is for distinguishing various blockers from each other.
Text labels are easy-to-understand directions of the level design.

Genre- a classification assigned to a video game based on its core gameplay rather than visual or narrative features.

Verbs- are actions that a player can perform in a game.

Verstalie verbs- are action words that can mean different things in a game. For example, "run" can mean to move fast, escape, or start a chase.

toolkit, game maker s (no date) The Secret of Mario’s Jump (and other Versatile Verbs), Youtube. Available at: https://youtu.be/7daTGyVZ60I?si=jDb6naK1YLPSnE5c (Accessed: 20 January 2025).

INVISIBLE TUTORIAL

We learned about the invisible tutorial and it's like showing the player through the level design.

The invisible tutorial is seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, showing all the necessary information without using text.

For an effectively invisible tutorial, you should hint at mechanics by safely giving the player time to figure it out.

KINDS OF TUTORIALS

-Training 

-Narrator

-Pop-up text

-Pause screen

toolkit, game maker s (no date a) Half-Life 2’s Invisible Tutorial, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/MMggqenxuZc?si=vRJWZ4zYxy98ouc2 (Accessed: 20 January 2025).

Level design workshop

Intro 

The lesson objective was to develop your understanding of how 2D games have evolved through applications of critical analysis.

Furthermore, demonstrate your understanding of 2D platformer context and design elements through practical implementation.

This is the first level we did together. We added a platform and a pipe and added details for the background.

And this is the second level. We added the pipe, and the character comes from the previous level, coins and enemies, and some doughnut blocks.

This is how it turned out. It was really easy to make, but we didn't think properly about how to make a beginner-friendly level to be more easy for the player.  Everyone said we had some mistakes and that would be that we put too many details for the player on the second level and it was supposed to be only to teach him how to play it, and the hard parts to be put later. 

I feel like we did good for the first time trying, and I really liked doing the level and trying to figure it out how to put the objects in places.

INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION 3

L.O

The lesson objective for today was to begin developing your understanding of Construct 3's basic tools - objects, behavior, properties, events, and actions.

Firstly we learned some of the basic tools.

Objects- add and object like a sprite, keyboard, or text.

Event sheet window - adding code for the system.

Properties window- for managing your projects.

Layers window- used for organizing objects together.

For my player, I chose the action to go left and right and double jump. These actions and behaviors will make the game much better and it will allow you to understand how things work.

Here I added the background by making it by myself, I drew the patterns with the colors I wanted. And for the platform, I chose the action to be solid.

The first thing I did on the event sheet was coding the movement of the player.

The hardest part for me was trying to understand how the behaviors and the even sheet are working and what does it do to the game. It was hard going from the layout to the start page and then to the event sheet, I would say it took me a lot of time learning how to use them, it's like every time you add something to the event sheet like an action the games gets better and better.

I am happy now that I managed to understand almost every part. I think I need to practice more on the event sheet for the part where you add the actions for the game because for me it is a bit confusing.

Construct 3 Guided Tutorial Part 2

First thing I did I add a HUD layer.

I clicked on the left and I pressed 'new layer' and I named it HUD from Heads up display.

I also changed my background and the colors of my platforms.

By double-clicking on the background. I changed my background my drawing the patterns I wanted.

I put health bar, enemies, coins, and count for coins.

I went to the event sheets on the group 'collectible' and I added the coins and everytime I collect them it will show on the bar. 

For the health bar I chose every time i run into spikes or enemy to go down and it will reset back if the time its going to finish.

For the enemies, I added enemy behavior to move from the right to the left and I added a barrier but I made that barrier invisible, But the player is only staying and moving in that section because of the behaviors. All this I Have done it on the event sheet. On the event sheet, I added every behavior and action for my game.

It was a hard process and took a lot of time, I have a lot to do to make the game better and better, like going back to the event sheet and keep adding actions. I enjoyed doing this game because I learned new skills on how to create a game from 0 and how to improve the game. 

Final outcome 

Planning for a game

Reflective Journal 13th Jan 2025

In this session, I and my team played four games and we gave feedback. One of us stayed and took the feedback and the rest played different games with different patterns. We stuck to the schedule from the last week pretty well because our prototype game is almost done. The game prototype wasn't really as I imagined, I had more expectations like doing more levels and making them more difficult as the game developed.

I wasn't surprised by the feedback, I was happy to receive it, because it will help me and my team to make a better game. Most of the people said it's fun to play and beginner-friendly. 

About the schedule, I think we are going to change some bits, for example, someone who's better at putting the enemy and spikes in the right place,.