Video Game Presentations

We gave our video game presentation last Friday during lab, and I think it went very well. Though our project is a simple concept of a internet game, it has a lot of different components that make it fun to play and inviting to investors. We tried our hardest to give an example of every situation which would show the audience all the different aspects of the game. Of course, our presentation could not be perfect and we forgot to mention a few things, or some ideas were simply not received by the audience.

The first thing that we had trouble getting across to the audience is the concept of health in OU Adventure. At first we tried to come up with a way to incorporate food into the video game, because the 'drunk food' scene on many campuses, especially ours, is a large part of a bar-goer's night. We decided first that Beer in the game would be the player's health, and when he lost health in fights he would drink more beer to regain life. But then we decided that it was kind of a dumb concept, and then we put grub into the game for the health aspect, changing the beer items in the game so that they instead fuel your 'mana', or in this case, beer muscles.

Another factor of the game that was difficult to get across was the different course of gameplay. At first, when first conceiving the idea for the game, we thought that the game should be linear in playability, like many level/mission based side-scrollers. We figured it would make the most sense if it played out like a normal night for a fratstar, starting at a house party, then accidentally finding himself in a townie bar, then ending up at The Crystal for last call (boosting hi-score), then finally battling the notorious elements of Court Street past 2 in the morning, trying to get home safe and sound (and without a broken phone or missing credit card). But then we played with the idea of making the level selection up to the players. We wanted more freedom in the game, so that players got a sense of control and possibly more enjoyment because of that.

The easiest element to explain to the audience would have to be the mechanics. Our controls are so simple, you can do it with one hand on the keyboard. Of course, you can always purchase our frat-tastic usb controller. For the most part, the controls include the movement feature, a jump button, an action button, and a punch (attack) button. These concepts were the easiest to explain to the class, and set the tone for clear understanding throughout the presentation.

We were very enthusiastic about this game design, it was more than a class assignment to us.

Reflection of My Classmates Heroes and Villains

Unfortunately, the only classmate whose Hero and Villain I could review is Arielle Busch and her partner's.

Red Bullet and Stevie are a funny duo, Red Bullet being the oversized, jacked up, high school jock, and Stevie being the nerdy student who is always picked on... just a classic conflict in every high school across the world.

Let's take a look at what separates these  two characters into their different genres by their appearance. The lighting between the two drawings is most significant to their motivation and their evil or good perception by the audience...

Stevie is bright colors, which is a symbolism of purity and innocence. They drew a ceiling florescent light directly above Stevie to shine down on him and reveal his complete characteristics.

Red Bullet takes up a large amount of space, and we know this not only because of the background setting but the shadow that he casts. The shadows, which aren't present in Stevie's portrait, denote a bully appearance immediately. Also, the dark hue of red in his jersey and the eyeblack strips under his eyes set a darker mood, revealing less of his actual personality and more of his intentions.

 Stevie has a lack of color, he is almost completely white. We know that if anything, Stevie can be close to harmless, and possibly very intelligent. The colors and shape formed for Red Bullet can tell us that he is potentially very harmful and probably uses his body more than his mind.

Reflections of my classmates Soundscapes projects

Here are a few of my classmates' Soundscape projects and my reflections of them:

Andrew Widlicka's blog http://awid7.blogspot.com/
My reflection of Andrew Widlicka's project

Alex Welsh's blog http://alexscreativityblog.blogspot.com/
My reflection of Alex Welsh's project

James Watson's blog http://jameswatson14.blogspot.com/
My reflection of James Watson's project

They are bomb!