Homework 11

A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing

I agree with this statement.  There isn't a any real reason to play a game if you aren't overcoming obstacles or beating something.

What is the relationship between the main character and the goal? Why does the character care about it?
Our hero wants to free his people from the clutches of the earthlings, killing them in a stylized manner is the best way to go about doing that

What are the obstacles between the character and the goal? 

Level hazards, Earthlings.

Do the obstacles gradually increase in difficulty? If yes, how?
We have a plan to make them more difficult but we are still throwing around a couple ideas

Great stories often involve the protagonist transforming to overcome the obstacle. Does your protagonist transform? 

No, there aren't any powerups or ways to increase the hero's stats or anything.

How is the game world simpler than the real world?
It's in 2D, and you can solve your problems with violence

What kind of transcendent power do you give to the player?
The player is able to pick up objects and look ahead, so they can decide the best course of actions

What is the weirdest element in the game story?
Probably the fact the earthlings are the bad guys, and you're killing them

How do you ensure that the weirdest thing does not confuse or alienate the player? 

We'll have flashing texts and an emotional scene where the earthlings kill the hero's parents.

Will the players be interested in the game story? Why? 

No, it isn't our intent to have a really good story. We're focusing on GAMEPLAY
Chapter 16

In what sense does the player have freedom of action? Does the player "feel" free at these times?
The player is free to choose what weapons they want to use, but the game is pretty restrictive in how you progress

What are the constraints imposed on the players? Do they feel constrained?
They are going to be constrained by the level design, the control schemes and the environment. They probably will feel a bit constrained but they won't care because of the nature of the gameplay

Ideally, what would you like your players to do (lens #72)
I want the players to pick up strange and somewhat pointless objects, and figure out how to use those objects to kill the earthlings in some sort of comedic manner

Can you set constraints to "kind of" force the player to do it? 

YES, the player can't go forward without committing righteous revenge killings

Can you design your interface to "force" the player to do what you (the designer) wish him/her to do? 

Thats the plan, our programmer is still working out the UI

Homework 8

1. Is the space in your game discrete or continuous?
2. How many dimensions does your space have? 
3. What are the boundaries of your space? 
4. How many verbs do your players (characters) have? What are they? 
5. How many objects can each verb act on? What are these objects? 
6. How many ways can players achieve their goals
7. How many subjects do the players control? What are these subjects? 
8. How do side effects change constraints. 
9. What are the operative actions in your game? 
10. What are the resultant actions in your game? 
11. What actions would you like your players to do that they cannot presently do? (based on your current knowledge of Blender)
12. What is the ultimate goal of your game? 
13. Are there short and long term goals? What are they? 
14. How do you plan to make the game goals known and understood by the player? 
15. What are the foundational rules of your game? 
16. How are these rules enforced? 
17. Does your game develop real skills? What are they? 
18. Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they? 

1. The game has continuous space and discrete space. You can go anywhere in the level, but each level is seperate from the rest of the game

2. It's in 2-d

3. The boundaries are the beginning and end of the level, the ground and the ceiling(which kills you if you float too far)

4. The PC can jump, walk, float, throw weapons, fire weapons and swing weapons.

5. player can act on the enviroment with certain weapons, and on the aliens with regular weapons

6. there are different ways to get around the level and hazards, but they ultimately lead to the same ending spot

7.  Just the main character

8. you can move forward by killing enemies.

9. Swinging and throwing weapons, moving and jumping, and picking up objects.

10. Killing enemies, rescuing captives, overcoming terrain hazards, not dying.

11. I would like the players to be able to chain together melee combos

12. Ultimate goal is to destroy the alien mothership with technology recovered from rescuing survivors

13. Short term: Kill all the aliens and beat the level. Long term: rescue survivors who'll help you destroy the mothership

14. With flashing text "KILL ALL THE ALIENS" "RESCUE THAT SURVIVOR" or "TRY NOT TO DIE"

15. You can move in 2-d across the level, can't move through solid objects, you have to rescue a certain amount of people before you successfully clear a level, and you die if you are shot or stabbed and have to start over

16. With Beta testing and solid programming

17. Not really

18. Nope