Unity Free Tutorials

Unity free tutorials

As the weeks go by I would like to believe that I am getting somewhat better at using the Unity software to create my game. At first it was honestly so confusing and there was so much to learn about it but I feel like I am improving, slowly but surely. The most difficult part of Unity in my opinion is the c#, It sometimes doesn't work and can be a bit tedious.

The first tutorial I followed and done was this one

 by Jimmy Vegas himself and it was on how to create a basic scoreboard for your game. As I am creating a game that involves score counting I thought this tutorial would be a good one to do.

This tutorial went well for me as it was easy enough to follow and the result was a basic scoreboard. 

The code opened up mono develop and after a few attempts it worked for me.

The second tutorial I followed was the first episode of a series on how to make an air hockey game

This tutorial started at the very start assuming that you are a beginner using unity. I really enjoyed this tutorial as it was easy to follow and the guy talking was clear and explained everything well. He went through some coding at the start which I completed well. I enjoyed the freedom from our lecturer this week to allow us to find tutorials to follow that were specific to our game.

Game stories

Game stories

I am enjoying learning about games and what makes a game a game and the different rules associated with one. It is interesting to learn the different aspects of a game that draws the player in such as narrative and features. In reading "Challenges for game designers" by Brathwaite and Schreiber I noticed that there is a lot of information in the 19 pages of chapter 7 so I skimmed though the chapter and took bits here and there. I read the passage about Jason Rohrer where he talks about the time he played a game that nearly made him cry. His story is very interesting and fun to read and I found it intriguing how Jason gives away his software and games for free however he does receive donations on his website. The intelligent man living in New York city has a degree in computer science and has a fully implemented garden out the back. He is a man living the dream in the best city in the world. 

Five ways games appeal to players

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/168807/five_ways_games_appeal_to_players.php

5 tips to make your game more appealing

https://ruxar.com/making-your-game-appealing-to-letsplayers/

Tips for building a better game

https://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/10-tips-building-better-game-5126304

First playable

First playable

So to be honest I don't have a complete first playable game developed yet as I've been up to my eyes in other work and some personal stuff going on at home, but Im still going to post my thoughts in the blog. Regarding unity it's a love/hate affair at the moment! I can follow tutorial videos perfectly with no hassle but when it comes to the C sharp code for some reason sometimes when I do it It doesn't work for me and I end up being confused and frustrated with it. As my group project presentation and booklet are now done I can focus on my game and get a first playable version of it done this week. I am going to spend more time watching unity tutorials and learning different tips to improve my game as I want to create the best game I can.

Week 8 reading and writing

Week 8 reading and writing

So we are half way through the blogs for this semester and it's crazy to think how fast time has gone by. I remember sitting down on my computer at home getting ready to write my first blog with nervous excitement. 'Am i a blogger now' I thought to myself and I typed out my first few words introducing myself to Shaun and the rest of the class. At the start I wasn't completely confident in writing or how to engage the reader or how I should even be writing, but fast forward a couple of months and I feel more confident now. My spelling has massively improved, (before I had to look up some words on google to make sure I was spelling them right) I am getting more consistent in using capital I's and I feel like my typing speed has improved, practice makes perfect! From the beginning I loved the freedom and flexibility that Shaun has given us to write our blogs before the Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday deadline's. Overall I think that the reading and writing assignments are working well for me because they allow me to take my time when writing them to write good quality text. I enjoy writing and expressing myself and I feel that it helps with your spelling and sentence structure. So far my faveourite blog has been either the very first one where I introduced myself or the game design blog. In the game design blog I discussed what really is a game and different definitions for it. I included bullet points on what makes a game a game anf so on. Over the last while I have been using a new strategie to help me write my blogs better and help me get the best information for my blogs. Whilst reading the blogs I have been jotting down notes and bullet points on a notepad beside me and then when I am writing my blog I use the notes to write key points whilst also looking at the readings. I feel that my biggest accomplishment in this class is making time for myself to write blogs.  I am usually a last minuite kind of guy but this year I am allowing much more time for myself to do work and get things done.

I chose this image to put into this blog as it kind of represents my childhood, not all of it just a part of it lol. When I was younger and growing up the PlayStation was my main toy I used to play with with my friends and brother. I started off with the PlayStation 1 which I received for Christmas one year and then swiftly moved on to the PlayStation 2. I enjoyed playing games such as fifa and crash bandicoot with my brother and there was always fierce battles. Moving through to playstation 3 which I still have today and the console that I play on now is the , you guessed it, PlayStation 7. Only joking, PlayStation 4.  My faveourite game at the moment is The very popular Fortnite which is the biggest most popular game this year. With the playststion 5 supposedly coming out next year I’ll be sure to buy it and continue the journey. 

Game fun

Game Fun

When playing games people have fun of course but whilst playing a game no matter what the game is you are probably learning and you don't even know it. Your subconscious brain is learning and picking up new things all the time that you are playing and you don't even realise. I read Gamasutra's top games of the year in 2014 and honestly I have only heard of one of them. I am a playstation dude as are many others but some prefer xbox and pc. I played some pc games when i was younger before my parents bought me a playstation and when we had a terrible toshiba computer. (I think it was Toshiba) Pc games are very popular and many people play them. In 2014 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker seemed to be the game of the year according to Gamasutra. Its a game featuring puzzles and toys so if you are a bit younger you would enjoy it. 

When I was younger and in the peak of my computer playing days my favourite game was a game where you had the choice of 30 different materials like wood, metal, said, water and tnt and you could built random things and blow things up. After a bit or research I can't find the name of the game and I don't think it exists anymore. Those were the days where I would come home from a busy day of 4th class primary school and sit playing that game for a while before starting my homework. 

There are many types of fun and different games give different types to players.

8 types of fun

https://www.scirra.com/tutorials/434/game-design-8-kinds-of-fun

Ways to make your favourite game feel new again 

https://kotaku.com/10-ways-to-make-your-favorite-games-feel-new-again-1696774890

Be excited again

https://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general-discussion-30/video-games-i-need-to-be-excited-again-1462935/

Final GDD

Final GDD

So since coming back to finalising my GDD I have realised that I need to put much more information into it than I originally thought. The GDD is like a template of exactly what is needed in your final game. It lists everything from introduction to players to music to key features. On some of the topics that you must write about I found it quite difficult to write about them as I think some of the headings were more suitable for other types of games like adventure games. I also didn't know what to write for what software it will run on (well obviously unity) but what specific requirements will it run on. I found it overall ok to describe my game as i know what i want it to be/look like and how it is going to play. Here is a link to my updated Dundoc GDD.

https://www.dundoc.com/project/4764/game-design-documents

Game decisions

Game Decisions

Its week 6! The weeks are really flying in this semester and I'm really enjoying writing these blogs each week. The first reading is one about a book called "Challenges for game designers"by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber. This book challenges the readers to improve their brainstorming abilities and to sharpen their game design skills. From the 36 reviews on the website amazon.com the book has received 89% 5 star reviews. The vast majority of the users seem to love it. One reviewer says how the book is "crucial in understanding the fundamentals of how game design works" which would be very useful for me and my year group for this module. 

"Theory of fun for game design" by Raph Koster is a similar book however this one is not your typical how-to book. It gives readers a fun way to create and improve their designs through the book. 80% of the 79 reviews are in the 4 and 5 star bracket which shows it is a very good book. I would love if these books were discussed in our classes and we were given tasks to complete on them as they seem very knowledgable and informative. 

A link to another great game design book.

A link to things you should know about game design.

10 tips for game developers.