Kamikaze - Now Ready for Download!

What a crazy week this has been. I am proud to announce that with the help of David Burke, Colleen O'Keefe, and Alyssa Harn, our game Kamikaze is 99% complete and ready for download!

It's been a long road and I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about how this project got to where it is today.

As indicated by its art design (and even moreso with the shameless ripping of the OST) Kamikaze is inspired by Wayforward's Mighty Switch Force series.

While I'll admit I never got the chance to try the game itself, I was captiviated by the gameplay footage I saw over YouTube. Through its optimistic voice actress, bright colors and downright awesome soundtrack, it made you feel good about playing it. Like you wanted to high five the main character.

I made it my goal to make something similar. I too wanted to make a game that made you feel good about playing it.

Like this, but not as good

The whole theme of crashing planes for Kamikaze originated from my incompetence as a programmer. I didn't know how to make health bar systems, so with time running out to turn in the project for class, I implemented a system in which enemies would not shoot at you and instead fly right into you. Thus, the prototype 1945 Kamikaze was born.

Although the prototype was relatively fun and fulfilled the guidelines given for the project, it was far from a "finished" game as there was no real ending. The planes would just keep coming and coming until you ran out of lives and submitted your high score.

Soon, it became time to propose an idea for a final project for class and I saw the opportunity to bring my original aspirations to make a feel-good game to fruition. I sat down later that night and created what would be the iconic heroin for my game: Kami Kayes

Kamikaze? Kami Kayes? Get it?

She was adorable and I was proud. My art in the past has been notorious for being dark and revolting, even a little creepy; it was nice to make something that would make people smile.
I posted her to Facebook and people ate it up, I was surprised by how many liked my original line work.

I knew of course, I wouldn't be able to accomplish the task of making this game on my own, so I proposed my idea to class. It was easy enough, I'm an experienced performer so I was confident that I would get support after speaking. Although I got a ton of good feedback from the audience nobody really stepped up to help. About to give up, I sent one final message over Canvas to David Burke. To my surprise, he contacted me back the next day and we became partners.

We worked together very well, I handled the artwork and general direction of the game, and he took care of the programming. We completed one level, then another, then another! I enlisted the help of a good friend to do the voice acting, I recruited another classmate to design the splash artwork. I had a real project going and I was at the head of it. It was simply exhilarating.

Time passed by, the deadline came closer, but we were not daunted. In a last minute effort, we implemented the boss and polished the game for release.

We were truly blessed on presentation day, our instructor had offered us the best spot in class for display: the computer connected to the projector. The players who participated had loads of fun and the onlookers seemed genuinely impressed with our work.

This is only the beginning. I have big plans for Kami Kayes and Kamikaze, one that involves a possible mobile app and one hell of an impressive portfolio piece. Overall it's been a fun experience making this game and I am excited for what the future holds.

Revaluating Gamers: A Critical Analysis

   In the 2010 Ted Talk, "Gaming Can Make a Better World" speaker Jane McGonigal argues that games can be implemented in life to solve real issues. While I support the thesis of her claims and am inspired by her scientific evidence that her Better Life project can extend one's life, there are a few quotes by her that are extreme and need to be brought under scrutiny.

"we achieve more in game worlds"

This opinion is shared by a lot of gamers, but I feel as though it's unfair. Yes, while it's true that we can blow up tanks and save the world in games, one must keep in mind that it's virtual. Once you turn off the console, it doesn't matter anymore. One could argue the same for a life in the context of "once you die, it doesn't matter anymore," but it's all about the experience and real life provides the full thrill of experiences that gaming will never achieve. When I'm at a party dancing on top of a table, you better believe that shit is real, I am in the moment with full HD graphics, intense motion sensing, and unparalleled NPCs and when I fall asleep I feel most accomplished knowing that I was the one doing these things, not some avatar.

When I spend the day playing video games, I always fall asleep wishing I had accomplished more, and I know there are more out there like me who feel the same.

"[gamers are] motivated to do something that matters."

The things in video games don't matter, I can reset the game and it's like none of my actions had actually taken place.

"when we're in game worlds many of us become the best version of ourselves. The most likely to help at a moments notice. Stick with a problem for as long as it takes"

Absolute bullshit. The people in pvp games can be some of the lowest, vile people you meet and they can act this way because video games provide anonimity to it's users. People don't really have to take full responsibility for their words and they feel safe on the other side of a screen to do horrible things.

Not to mention if you enter pretty much any MMO and ask a simple question over world chat, you are more than likely to be subject to haughty comments and general smart-assery.

And lastly, gamers do not always stick with a problem for as long as it takes, rage quitting is a prime example. Heck, I just came from a League of Legends match where my teammates (myself included) felt like surrendering halfway through the match.

"we never have those feelings (cynicism anxious depressed) in video games."

See the previous example

"what about games makes it impossible to feel like we can't achieve everything."

If you're just doing this with video games, you're doing life wrong.

This is where I start to agree with Jane, people should be applying this to their every day lives, and they don't have to treat it like virtual reality to do so.

"It's [world of warcraft] just better than reality."

I challenge anyone who believes this to go clubbing in San Francisco with me for a night.

It's a silly movie, but its lesson has given me so much

Snowboarding, parkour, jet skiing, making love, these are all just some of experiences that video games cannot provide the full experiences or reward of.

Going back and rereading this, I feel as though I may come off with a sense of arrogance or cynicism towards video games to some audiences. For those who believe this is true, I only fight against the notions of video games being better than reality with such passion because this life that was given to is truly beautiful. It seems anyone (with some exceptions) who would rather waste a day indoors on a nice day is ungrateful to our gift of life.

If you have two legs and can breathe properly, do yourself a favor and drop the controller for a second to go outside. Video gaming has its place. I love playing Team Fortress 2, but everything needs balance. Meet up with someone you haven't heard from in a while. Think to yourself "what's one thing other than video games that I really want to do right now," and then do it!

Some Games I Played

This is The Only Level: The rules are simple: guide the elephant to the pipe on the bottom right. The gimmick is that after completing the stage, a rule would be added that the player would have to figure out how to overcome. So it'd be the same level, but different rules, hence the name. Examples include refreshing the page, clicking and dragging the elephant to the end, and only having one jump per life. This game was my favorite out of the 5 I had played because of the addicting wonder of what level would happen next.

Redder: Redder was good at what it was, but a tad cliche. A space captain crashes onto a planet after running out of fuel and ventures forth to find fuel to get off the planet, blah blah blah, it's all be heard before. Operate switches to move the blocks blah blah, collect all the pieces blah.

What you see is what you get, all the mechanics and puzzles are well thought out, it's just a shame that it wasn't executed in a more creative way.

Super Puzzle Platformer: Another really fun game. I found I was consciously telling myself to stop playing this game so I could continue to write the review, so that in itself speaks volumes about the game. Incredibly creative, fun, polished... it's a game that you'd have to try for yourself.

This of course, is all my opinion. My partner didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did, she said she was confused  and didn't know what she was supposed to do. Perhaps this isn't a game that everyone can pick up and know how to play, but definitely one worth giving a shot.

Passage: It's a game about life, it's a game about death, it's a game about relationships and loneliness, and yet, not a single line of dialogue is spoken. The rules are, use the arrow keys and see what happens.

From what I've gathered, the game is a unique experience for everyone who plays it. Some have the girl follow, others go alone. Some go left to right, some explore. Some get chests, others pass them by. Loads and loads of metaphores, Passage stands as  a shining counter-example to anyone who would say that games can't be art.

If you think this scene is unnerving, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Judith: Fucking. Creepy. I chose to discuss this game last for a reason. Although Judith may not stand strong in terms of fun game mechanics, its storytelling is spine-chilling and compelling. It's low-rez style may seem cheap at first glance, but it's really more of a backdrop, using the audiences imagination to fill in the blanks. This is utter brilliance, for as every decent horror storyteller knows, the mind of the individual audience member can conjure images far more terrifying than anything an artist can depict.

Spoilers, but the ending is very mreh and left me feeling confused and apparently I'm not alone in feeling this way (read the comments, major spoilers), but all events leading up to that moment were intense enough to make the game as a whole worthwhile.

Heist

Originally I wanted to call the game Riddlediff for giggles, but later changed the name to Heist, as you can tell from the crossing out.

I've been told that my newest game is like a lot like chess, pacman, checkers, among other things, but its wonderful simplicity leaves me wondering why it hasn't been thought of before. Introducing Heist, a board game inspired by the Animal Crossing Video game in Nintendoland.

 

The rules are as follows:

The board must look like this on start-up. Yellow goes in center, red pieces in the center of each edge, and the purple pieces going on top of the red pieces on the top and bottom The board is 9x9 squares.

Yellow wins by collecting all four reds. (A red is collected by either moving over, or on top of the piece)
Purple wins by capturing the yellow

Red pieces do not move

Purple must move 2 spaces and can move cylindrically around the board once every other turn (think pacman)

Yellow must move 3 spaces every turn, but cannot move cylindrically around the board

Yellow always goes first.

Development:

The origins of the game are humble if not a bit interesting. I was working a game making lab session during class with someone who wasn't particularly imaginative, nor contributing much and with time ticking away, I went into what I like to call "improv mode" and started making things without thinking about it. Since materials available to use the game were limited, this would prove especially challenging. I had paper, pens, and colored note cards.

 

The first thought that came to mind. "Just draw circles, start writing and hope for inspiration."

After this first idea got me nowhere, I decided to draw a grid and tear some of my colored note cards into tiny squares. The thought of Nintendoland's Sweet Day minigame came to mind and I hoped to create a game in which one player would be controlling multiple pieces simultaneously to capture another player. The game started out originally with 4 purple pieces, but this proved to be unbalanced, so after some play tests, this number was cut down to 2.

The orignal board was asymmetrical. This would be fixed later

The game was fun and challenging, I was very proud of my creation... that is... until my step bro and I tested it at home.

A game breaking bug, the purple could be used to form an impenetrable wall.

The player would get the first red piece and the two purples would go into this formation (the light purple indicates areas that the purple can move to ie places yellow can't land without being captured next round)

 The only way around was at the bottom or top, but as the yellow moves to such areas, the other player could do this.

Nothing to do but go back up and the cycle repeats.

I felt utterly defeated, this was a game breaking glitch and I had no idea how to fix it. I tried the idea of making it so that the yellow could move on top of a purple and stun that piece for one round, but the yellow became overpowered.

Even when cornered, the yellow could always find a way out and always win.

About to give up, I tried one last option, making the board bigger and poof, the  game was balanced again. I brought it to class the next day and it worked like a charm.

Munchkin Cthulhu

An equpiment card, monster card, and class card respectively.

In class in early September, I brought Munchkin Cthulhu to play.
The story is no mystery in Munchkin Cthulhu as the box proudly exclaims "Kill the monsters, steal the treasure, stab your buddy and go mad." The game is about killing monsters to level up. The first player to level 10 wins the game. There are two stacks of cards, "regular,"  and "treasure," which the players sit in a circle around. Players take turns by drawing a card from the regular stack. If the card is a monster, the player's equipment and class determine whether they can defeat the monster. If the player is victorious, they get a number of treasure cards as indicated by the monster card and they level up by one. If the player is unsuccessful, "bad stuff" happens as also indicated on the card. "Bad stuff," can range from losing a turn to turning over all equipment. What's interesting is that other players can use cards they have gained  to aid either side in the fight.

Although the game is humorous, emotions can run high as players backstab each other in order to achieve victory. People who you think are your allies can quickly become enemies with one play of a card and revenge always seems to ensue. Munchkin Cthulhu can be very rewarding as one's character becomes increasingly powerful with the acquisition of new equipment and abilities, but it's definitely a game you want to avoid if you want to keep your friends.

My first game design

 The first game I designed ended up being very similar to air hockey.  It started out with a simple premise, flick a bouncy ball with your finger off the edge of the table on your opponents side. As time progressed and we continued to refine the game, we made sturdier side-boundaries and added rules like adding another ball in every five seconds. The best improvement was the replacement of using fingers to flick the ball with paper cards.

The final rules of the game are as follows:
- The game is played by 3 players, 1 on each team and the third as a referee.
- The field must be 12 inches by 21 inches
-Players must hit the bouncy ball with cards.
-Hitting a ball into the other player's goal scores a point
-The first to 20 points wins
-  A players starts with a ball each round. The round begins when both players simutaneously hit the ball towards each other.
-The ref keeps track of score
-The ref adds one ball in every 5 seconds.
-Players may not reach over the half-way line.

Picture time

Here's Alyssa designing her card.

Card design prototypes. We ended up just going with a simple one-fold-on-the-bottom design.

Playing the game

Taking notes on the session, deciding what to add next.

Assignment #1

For my first game, I'd like to design something that involves improv and telling personal stories between the players. It would probably be a lot like truth or dare and there would be a stack of cards and a different "challenge" is written on each card like " make as many sexual innuendos as you can within 30 seconds" and the player would receive a point for every successful laugh in the audience, or "all virgins gain a point."

There are many possible avenues and spin-offs for my game to evolve to. For example, If the game isn't fun as just a card game, I could turn it into a board game where points would be moving forward an additional point instead, or perhaps it could turn into a drinking game where the points become sips and you can either take them yourself or pass it to another player.

There really isn't much of a story to my game, I just wanted to design something that would bring people together and make them laugh or bring up conversations. This would be an ideal game for a group of friends who are looking for something fun to do while they're kicking back and having a beer at the end of the day.