Homework 8: Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Questions and Answers

1.) Is the Space in your game discrete or continuous?

As you know, we are designing a platforming fighter where the player will have control of a astronaut fighting different enemies as he transverses towards an objective. The space of gameplay will be continuous as he or she can freely move within the boundaries.

2.) How many dimensions does your space have?

The player will have only 2-dimensional movement accessibility, but will be playing in a 3-dimensional world. Elements of the world may have full 3-dimensional movement. 

3.) What are the boundaries of your space?

The boundaries will be defined as an invisible rectangular box  placed on the surface of the moon with access to the backside being blocked off by some object, the end of the course being the ending objective, the ground for the bottom, and the top leaving the moon's gravitational field.

4.) How many verbs do your players (characters) have? What are they?

Verbs are considered the actions of the player and the player will be able to:

Move

Jump

Strike

Throw

All together, that is four actions, or verbs, that the astronaut can perform. My teammates may mention more actions.

5.) How many objects can each verb act on? What are these objects?

The two main objects that the verbs will act on are the ground or surfaces of different platforms (for jumping and moving) and aliens or enemies (for the striking or throwing). Jumping may be able to be used on the enemies as well.

6.) How many ways can achieve their goals?

The number of paths to reach the end of the level depend on said level. One level may be very linear, only having one or two paths, or the level may have more and different paths may be shortcuts to the end. However, there are virtually infinite ways of disposing of enemies with the variety of weapons.

7.) How many subjects do the players control? What are these subjects?

The player only has one subject that he or she can control which is the main character, the astronaut. Have more subjects to worry about would not make much sense in our fighting-platforming game.

8.) How do side effects change constraints?

As the combating astronaut, the player will have to achieve an objective that usually will be placed at the end of the level. The path(s) to get there will have enemies waiting to assault the player creating a constraint of a blocked path. Once the combating astronaut defeats an enemy, the path will become available for the player to travel on.

9.) What are the operative actions in your game?

The player will have access to the four operative actions of moving, jumping, striking (swinging), and throwing which will be used in combination to achieve the objective. The enemies will have similar operative actions that will be used against the player.

10.) What are the resultant actions in your game?

The player's operative actions will create the resultant actions of providing an advantage over an enemy, fighting and defeating an enemy, and reaching the objective in which the level will end. The enemies primary resultant actions will be blocking the player's path and ending the astronaut's life, causing the player to start over.

11.) What actions would you like your player to do that they cannot presently do? (based on your current knowledge of blender)

Everything that we want the player to do is currently able to be performed within the blender game engine with the exception of running the game in a custom engine.

12.) What is the ultimate goal of your game?

The ultimate objective is to defeat all enemies of the Lunar Space Colonies.

13.) Are there short and long term goals? What are they?

There are short term and long term goals that the player will focus on achieving. The short term goals will be the individual level objectives as well combating and defeating the enemies that block the player's path. The long term goal is the completion of the entire game which will be independence from whatever oppresses the moon colonies, whether it be aliens or earth.

14.) How do you plan to make the game goals known and understood by the player?

The player will be notified via text of what the goals will be. The player will quickly understand once the game starts and he or she transverses the level.

15.) What are the foundational rules of your game?

The foundational rules are as followed:

1. The player will have to stay within the boundaries of the levels.

2. Any actor of the game will not be able to transverse through objects.

3. The player is restricted to 2-dimensional movement only.

4. The current level must be completed before moving to the next one.

16.) How are these rules enforced?

The mechanics of the game engine will ensure that all of the foundational rules are enforced to where it will be impossible to break them.

17.) Does your game develop real skills? What are they?

This game, as with any other fighter or platformer, will develop reaction time and hand-eye coordination. 

18.) Does your game develop virtual skills? What are they?

Currently there are no virtual skills for the player to develop, but we may implement a weapon upgrade system to where a sword may do more damage after a certain amount of enemies perish from it.