Game analysis

Game Play Analysis

I chose Fortnite because It’s a really fun game to experience. It’s one of the most popular games out there if not the most popular game.

Formal Elements
The BasicsREMINDER: PLACE YOUR RESPONSES IN THIS COLUMN (DELETE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE YOU WRITE)
Name of the gameFortnite
The platformConsole,Pc and mobile
Time played (should be at least 30 minutes)4 hours
If you could work on this game (change it), what would you change and why?I would change the employees that work for the company running the game
PlayersNOTES
How many players are supported?100 in a game, 16 in a lobby
Does it need to be an exact number?no it does not
How does this affect play?the more people the more fun it is
Some types of player frameworks:Single Player – like Solitare.Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you.
Objectives/GoalsNOTES
What are the players trying to do?they are trying to kill each other
Some common objectives include:Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister).
Rules/Mechanicsyou can build cover, you can edit cover, its a battle royale so there is zones that close in as the game progresses, and last one standing wins
There are three categories of (what the book Rules of Play calls) operational rules:Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.Progression of Play – what happens during the game.Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state.
ControlsNOTES
What controls are used?keyboard and mouse, or a controller
Was there a clear introductory tutorial?not really you have to play the game more and more to understand it
Were they easy to understand or did you find yourself spamming the controller?^^^
Resources & Resource ManagementNOTES
What kinds of resources do players control?Players control how much materials they have, ammo and heals
How are they maintained during play?you have to kill people to get more loot
What is their role?Those are the three most important elements in the game. you cant win without those.
A resource is everything under the control of a single player. Could be the money in Monopoly or health in WoW. Other examples are:Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)Time (game time, real-time, or both)Known information (like suspects in Clue)
Game StateNOTES
How much information in the game state is visible to the player?you can only see from so far as a player on the map.
A snapshot of the game at a single point is the game state. The resources you have, the un-owned properties in Monopoly, your opponent’s Archery skill all count towards the game state. Some example information structures are:Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information.
SequencingNOTES
In what order do players take their actions?usually someone sees another player on the map, they shoot at them, and then they fight.
How does play flow from one action to another?usually there is multiple elements that can change how the basic sequences works. and more than 60% of the time is happens. Theres usually another player that comes into the fight and third parties. So you have to learn how to play against that.
Some structures include:Turn-based – Standard board game technique.Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn.
Player Interaction
Some examples:Direct Conflict – I attack you.Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.Trading – I’ll give you this for that.Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off.
Theme & NarrativeNOTES
Does it have an actual story structure?no not really
Is it based on a historical event (or similar)?^^^
Does the theme or narrative help you know how to play?^^^
Does it have emotional impacts?^^^
Also, look for en media res (does it start in the middle of the game)?
The Elements in MotionNOTES
How do the different elements interact?
What is the gameplay like? Its a cartoon looking game
Is it effective?
Are there any points where the design choices break down?Yes because they recently switched their graphics engine and it requires more high end hardware. This leads to more frame drops and stutters in game.
Design CritiqueNOTES
Why did the designer make these particular choices?Their goal is to make the graphics look better
Why this set of resources?
What if they made different decisions?Then everyone would be happy
Does the design break down at any point?yes because everyone wants to go back to the old graphics engine
Graphics & SoundNOTES
Does the game art pair well with the mechanics?Yes it does.
Did you find any bugs or glitches?yes but there arent many
What about sound?the sound was fine
Can you spot any technical shortcuts?
Various Stages of the GameNOTES
To wrap up, some things to keep in mind (as if there aren’t enough already) as you play:
What challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?
Is the game fair?The game has a lot of luck involved in it but it also requires a lot of thinking. for the most part yes
Is it replayable? Are there multiple paths to victory or optional rules that can change the experience?
What is the intended audience?
What is the core, the one thing you do over and over, and is it fun?

Introduction to analysis

I stayed inside and played video games

Image from bananatreelog.com

Make a balanced diet is going to be really important during this time. The practicing self care part of the guide is really just to keep your mind in a healthy state so that you dont stress out easily. The cope with stress and anxiety section just explains that stress and anxiety is completely normal during this time and is common. And the last part just explains how to maintain a daily schedule.

  • Play game(s) of your choice for the analysis part of this week

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • Today I learned a few things from the covid guide. The schedule part is really important to have especially during this time.

changes week 13

SUMMARY

  • I stayed inside and played video games

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

Screenshot from Sololearn.com

Unity – C#

  • The applications written in #C use the .NET FRAMEWORK

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Extra Credits Channel
MDA image from Wikipedia

MDA Notes

  • Mechanics
  • Dynamics
  • Aesthetics

Eight types of aesthetics

  1. Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure): Player enjoys memorable audio-visual effects.
  2. Fantasy (Game as make-believe): Imaginary world.
  3. Narrative (Game as drama): A story that drives the player to keep coming back
  4. Challenge (Game as obstacle course): Urge to master something. Boosts a game’s replayability.
  5. Fellowship (Game as social framework): A community where the player is an active part of it. Almost exclusive for multiplayer games.
  6. Discovery (Game as uncharted territory): Urge to explore game world.
  7. Expression (Game as self-discovery): Own creativity. For example, creating character resembling player’s own avatar.
  8. Submission (Game as pastime): Connection to the game, as a whole, despite of constraints.

  • Mechanics are the base components of the game – its rules, every basic action the player can take in the game, the algorithms and data structures in the game engine etc.
    • Dynamics are the run-time behavior of the mechanics acting on player input and “cooperating” with other mechanics.
    • Aesthetics are the emotional responses evoked in the player.

Brainstorm Ideas for Each of the Eight Categories

  • At least one idea per category, but feel free to add more you your favorite categories
  • Write a short sentence for each idea with these three elements included in each description
    • Someone or thing fighting/struggling against Someone or thing for Someone or thing

DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE

  1. Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure): The player enjoys memorable audio-visual effects.
    • you player can sense when someone is around it
  2. Fantasy (Game as make-believe): Imaginary world.
    • a different galaxy that has multiple alien civilizations
  3. Narrative (Game as drama): A story that drives the player to keep coming back This could be a super hero type of theme where he keeps coming back until he reaches his goal
  4. Challenge (Game as obstacle course): Urge to master something. Boosts a game’s replayability.
    • There can be an option to replay a level so that the person can get better at it
  5. Fellowship (Game as social framework): A community where the player is an active part of it. Almost exclusive for multiplayer games.
    • The player will make the community intact and alive so that the game does not die out
  6. Discovery (Game as uncharted territory): Urge to explore the game world.
  7. Expression (Game as self-discovery): Own creativity. For example, creating a character resembling player’s own avatar.
    • people will have the ability to customize and create their own characters
  8. Submission (Game as pastime): Connection to the game, as a whole, despite of constraints.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Worksheet from bananatreelog.com

STUDIO (CREATIVITY)

Screenshot from Construct.net
    • coding a video game is a lot harder than it looks

CONTROL ROOM (PRODUCTION)

Screenshot from Construct.net
  •  Using a web-based service like GitHub means their service acts as the server.

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned that coding a game is really a lot of thinking and time consuming

Mind Like Water

SUMMARY

  • I stayed inside and played video games

Unity – C#

  • #C is an elegant object-oriented language that enables developers to build a variety of secure and robust applications that run on the .NET Framework.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Construct.net
  • Javascript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Its everywhere from webpages to servers.

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

Screenshot from editor.construct.net

OUTSIDE (PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

Image from bananatreelog.com
  • Every single day it is I try not to stress myself as much as possible. I wake up and I do school. Once school is over I go over my assignments that I have to do. Then I create a little schedule in my head of how I´m going to do them on time. And I play video games at the same time while I do work sometimes.
  • I learned that Java script is one of the most popular servers used in servers and websites and it´s also one of the most important scripting languages in the world.

Game Design – Week 10 – GTD – Getting Things Done – Part 2

SUMMARY

  • I stayed inside and relaxed

Javascript

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Screenshot from Animated Book Summary And Review at YouTube

You are going to learn to develop your own version of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) process in this ‘room.’

  • When teens have things to do they tend to not do them right away (the average teenager). Having a schedule is really important because it balances your time with school and time to yourself. It can take a while to find a way to get things done without stressing yourself too much. That’s why kids tend to dislike school because it’s too stressful.

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Screenshot from Animated Book Summary And Review at YouTube

Examine Two GTD Maps: Basic and Detailed

  1. Detailed map by guccio@文房具社 icensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
  2. Basic map from BiggerPlate.com embedded below

GTD-based Trusted System

OUTSIDE (PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

STUDIO (CREATING MAPS)

CONTROL ROOM (PRODUCTION)

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned that javascript is used for making websites, cookies, validate forms and so much more.

Developing Quality Workflow

What is Workflow?

Image Creative Workflow from Behance.com, https://www.behance.net/gallery/27919515/Creative-workflow-GIF

Work•flow /ˈwərkflō/

“The sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.” – lexico.com

What is a quality workflow?  How do we develop it?  Below are elements of the production cycle that most creative people move through as they create something.  First, we must identify the stages of project production. What is each stage and what are the quality checks for each stage.  Read on and find out!

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. FILL IN THE QUESTIONS BELOW FR EACH STAGE OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
  2. PUBLISH 

Stages of Creation Development

Inspiration

How do we find ideas to develop?

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? we can use the internet or youtube for that
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? going to the internet and finding inspiring youtube videos
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? check-in with the teacher and see what they say
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY? Mr.Leduc

Intention

How do we clarify our specific goal(s) for a project?

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? we use our thoughts
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? we think of why we want to do something
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? we tell if our intentions were good from the outcome
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY? myself

Pre-production

How can we brainwrite, brainstorm, storyboard, and plan our ideas at this phase?

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? we use our brain
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? we think
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? you use your idea and see how you do from Mr.Leduc
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY?Mr.Leduc

Production

How do we communicate with each other and execute our plan for this phase? This is where we actually make the project.

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? our voices
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? we talk to each other
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? you revaluate the things you talked about
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY? we do

Post-production

How do we communicate with each other and execute our final stages of the project for this phase? This is where we publish the project.

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? we go back and check our work
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? you check one part and the others check the others
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? check-in and see what the teacher says
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY?Mr.Leduc

Presentation/Performance

How do we share our project with our learning community, advisory members, and the world?

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? you use the internet
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? you submit your assignment to a website
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY?you check-in with Mr.Leduc
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY?Mr.Leduc

Feedback

How do we conduct a feedback session at the end of the project development cycle?

  • WHAT TOOLS SHOULD WE USE? evaluate your work
  • WHAT PROCESS SHOULD WE USE? you check over it
  • HOW DO YOU MEASURE QUALITY? you judge how good you did
  • WHO MEASURES QUALITY? Mr.Leduc

Week 9 – GTD – Getting Things Done – Part 1

SUMMARY

  • I stayed inside and relaxed

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

Image of David Allen at TED Talk
Screenshot from David Allen TED Talk

In this ‘room’ you are going to try Getting Things Done (GTD).

STEP 1: MAKE A LIST

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
At the moment I don´t have anything I need to do

STEP 2: NOTICE WHAT YOU NOTICED

Screenshot of David Allen TED Talk
Well I have to get school work done so I do my school work first before I enjoy myself

STEP 3: SET A TIMER

https://giphy.com/gifs/time-clock-konczakowski-d3yxg15kJppJilnW
  1. Set a timer for your first task
    1. Decide how long you think it will take before you start
  2. Start working
  3. Repeat this process for 45 minutes for as many tasks as you can complete, then take a 15-minute break
    • Get up and get a drink of water
    • Get up and go for a walk
    • Every 20 minute blink your eyes 20 times while looking at least 20 feet away
      • This is good for your eyes

Start steps 1 through 3 again, repeat for your school day

OUTSIDE (PRODUCTIVITY & THE BRAIN)

David Allen image
Oct. 2020 Lucidchart interview with David Allen
Image from FastCompany Magazine, https://www.fastcompany.com/3026827/the-brain-hacks-top-founders-use-to-get-the-job-done
Image from FastCompany Magazine, https://www.fastcompany.com/3026827/the-brain-hacks-top-founders-use-to-get-the-job-done
  • Reflect on GTD and getting to the top of the colorful list above for a minute
    • How can the GTD process help you tame the crazy-busy dragon of modern life?
  • The walk was a bit cold but it felt nice

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • I learned that I need to prioritize things that are important and one problem that I need to fix is procrastination

Logic, Flowcharts, and Coding

SUMMARY

  • I had basketball workouts and I played video games.

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

  • Set a timer
  • Spend up to 15 minutes in this ‘room’ on either ONE of the scripting languages below, Javascript or C#  (NOT BOTH)

PlayCanvas

Screenshot from Sololearn.com
  • https://www.sololearn.com/Course/JavaScript/
  • You can make simple games with javascript. You can code a simple game called paddles. You have to know the dimensions for each object in the game to get the right sizes for everything.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

Image from https://monkeyblogmonkeydo.com/2010/07/19/so-duh-pop-quiz-classic-video-game-flowchart-edition/
  • A flow chart is a chart to simplify things
  • your first flow chart should not be that difficult
  • your flow chart has to be in order
  • the flow chart has to have a series of steps
  • the steps have to make sense
  • make sure to have an objective in the game

Mr. Le Duc’s Flowchart Shape Guide

More Flowchart Creation Resources

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • https://app.diagrams.net/#G1DMLJss_6FkP8H_S2-G9QacO1IEtgjJSn
  • I need some practice on these but I understand that there are multiple commands that you need to put into the flow chart

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

  • Set a timer
  • Spend up to 35 minutes,
    • 20 minutes watching Elizabeth Gilbert
    • 15 minutes walking
  • Watch Elizabeth Gilbert discuss creativity and genius
  • Go for a walk outside and think about what she said, if you can safely
  • Write anything you found interesting and useful in your reflection
  • DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE

STUDIO (GAME DESIGN)

  • Set a timer
  • Spend up to 60 minutes in this ‘room’ on either ONE of the game engines below, (NOT BOTH)

PlayCanvas

Screenshot from Daniel Wood’s YouTube Channel Playlist

Unity

Screenshot from Unity.com

WHAT I LEARNED and PROBLEMS I SOLVED

  • one thing that I learned is how games are thought up and how they are made and designed

The basics of game designing

SUMMARY

  • I stayed inside and played video games

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zhbTigv5oDELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s
  • The video was just showing how unreal engine works and how to use it as a designer.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

  • When you are making your first game you need to make it small. You don´t need anything complex in your games at first you just need the basics to run the game.

Game Genres from the Simplest and Most Difficult to Create

  1. Racing Game
  2. Top-Down Shooter
  3. 2d Platformer
  4. Color Matching Puzzle Game
  5. 2D Puzzle Platformer
  6. 3D Platformer
  7. FPS
  8. JRPG
  9. Fighting Game
  10. Action Adventure
  11. Western RPG
  12. RTS

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • As a game designer when you play games your job is to analyze what things went right and what things went wrong.

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

  • school is my nemsis and I try my best to defeat it by getting it over with.

STUDIO (GAME DESIGN)

minecraft vr

WEEKLY ACTIVITY EVALUATION

The basics of analyzing games as a designer

SUMMARY

I stayed at home.

PRACTICE ROOM (TUTORIALS)

  • I decided to go on the topic of unreal engine 5. The latest version of unreal engine at the moment is unreal engine 4 in most games. unreal engine 5 is going to be implemented into the next-gen PlayStation 5. This is because the PlayStation 5´s graphical processor will be able to handle it, unlike the ps4.

CLASSROOM (THEORY & ANALYSIS)

  • It´s important to make your first game small. when your first making your game you have to keep it simple before you can add other things such as power-ups.

Game Genres from the Simplest and Most Difficult to Create

  1. Racing Game
  2. Top-Down Shooter
  3. 2d Platformer
  4. Color Matching Puzzle Game
  5. 2D Puzzle Platformer
  6. 3D Platformer
  7. FPS
  8. JRPG
  9. Fighting Game
  10. Action Adventure
  11. Western RPG
  12. RTS

LAB (THEORY PRACTICED)

  • A game designer has to experience games as a designer. As you are designing the game you have to realize what the exciting parts, scary parts, relieving, etc….

OUTSIDE (CREATIVITY & THE BRAIN)

  • Well, I’m the protagonist and school is my nemesis. My goal is to get past school and prevent everything I don´t to happen from happening

STUDIO (SONGWRITING)

  • a horror game in vr would be very immersive.

WEEKLY ACTIVITY EVALUATION

  • Spend 3 minutes on this activity
  • Give feedback on this week’s class Content and Process
  • The data you submit helps you demonstrate 21st Century Employability Skills
  • DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s INSTRUCTIONS, AFTER YOU ARE DONE