IGB220 - Kavin Senanayake

Kavin Senanayake n10876740

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 3 Post mortem

I have successfully made my 4th and final game on Gdevelop for IBG220! The game we built was a continuation of my assignment 2, Johan the brave, and it was very fun seeing the game I had designed come to life. It wasn’t an easy process and it taught me a lot about game making as a whole. Now that I have acquired the skills to develop games in gdevelop and I have worked with a team in creating a game, I believe that if I were to develop another game I would be able to create something even more polished and exciting. 

The final version of the game wasn’t fully complete as several aspects of the game were not fully developed. However, if given more time and utilizing the skills that we acquired over the weeks of learning about game development, it is very likely that we would be able to complete the game as we had envisioned it. 

The reading that was required, “GAME DESIGN WORKSHOP: A PLAYCENTRIC APPROACH TO CREATING INNOVATIVE GAMES (FOURTH EDITION) - written by Tracy Fullerton was helpful in improving my understanding of game making. The chapter that I found to be the most beneficial in terms of helping me understand how to develop better games was chapter 7. Chapter 7 was extremely insightful in terms of what prototyping is and how to effectively use it. We had prototyped many ideas to implement into the game such as:

- dragon boss arena 

-dragon boss wind attack 

-dragon boss fire burst attack 

-dragon boss tail skewer attack 

Prototyping allowed us to see if these ideas would fit the theme of our game and would be fun to play against. We were very ambitious and had lots of ideas that we wanted to implement but we were limited due to the limitations of Gdevelop and time, we could not publish a game that represented those ambitious ideas.

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 3 iteration and changes

From the play testing sessions, we had learnt a lot about what the play testers felt about the game and the changes that we need to add into the game.

A lot of the goals that we had set out for the game were not included in the game. The dragon boss was not complete and a lot of the ideas that we had for the dragon boss was not working. We wanted to include a fire breath that the player would have to jump over but we instead opted for a fire attack that rained down from the sky. The fireballs wouldn't do any damage and once we fixed that issue, the hitboxes were misleading and wouldn't hit the character properly. We managed to add a health bar and health to the dragon so that the dragon could be killed however we were only able to add this change into the game on the last day of the playtesting session so only one player was able to see how the final boss would play out. Below are the changes that the play testers had issues with that we would want to change into the final product.

The player can only walk in one direction

player can only attack in one direction

running animation is broken and the player only runs while falling

The ledge grabbing was confusing and it was not evident that the player could ledge grab and it seemed as if the player was on an invisible platform

The ability to throw swords was not evident

checkpoint looks like a flower and should be changed to be more evident

enemy AI isnt great and needs work since they get stuck easily

The platforming encourages backtracking which isnt fun

art style is clashing

dragon does not have animations and is only a PNG

dragon does not do any damage and does not die

knight looks scratchy since it was not scaled down properly

sound effects are too loud

need larger variety of enemies

need visual cues to show off controls in the beginning

needs a win/ title screen to show the game is over

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 3 Playtesting

The development of the game has been concerning as most of the goals that we have planned to complete have not been implemented into the game due to time restrains and other assignments.

Discord was our main source of communication and we would meet up once in person at the workshop on Thursday 4:00-6:00. However, only Yuki and I were able to come to the classes every week whilst Liam had to miss out on a couple of classes and Dave not showing up to any of the classes at all. This did prove to be an issue as this did bring a lot of miscommunication errors.

For example, we had all come to an agreement that there will be 1 dragon boss at the end of the level, however there were 3 dragons made instead. The concept art was used as the final art style which lead to a detailed dragon that was different that we had envisioned for the final dragon boss. This was resolved by designing a new dragon only consisting of the dragon head.

During the playtesting stage, the game that we had developed was in an unfinished state unfortunately so we couldn't show off the games selling points to the fullest extent. The boss wasn't working so we only had the platformer and throwing attack to show off to the play testers. Only Yuki and I were able to go to the playtesting sessions to interview the play testers so I was in charge of the script, making the survey and talking to the play testers during the play testing session while Yuki took notes.

I had developed a script based on the template that was given to the blackboard and I also created online surveys that were also based on the templates given on the blackboard. I rewrote the script to be more casual and fit the theme of the game that we had created. The first survey was to gain an insight on the play testers and how often they play games and the second survey was to gain an insight on how the play testers feel about the game that they played.

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 3 development progress

We decided for the theme of our game will keep consistent with a simple hand drawn aesthetic to keep the game simple and easy to make. We would discuss about the art style in discord to make sure that the art styles are consistent. Since Yuki was in charge of the player animations and Dave was in charge of the dragon boss, I was in charge of making the background and the tiles.

I have also made a title screen for the game where the player moves from the bottom of the road to the top next to the castle. This would show off the title of the game and give off a basic visual story for the player to grasp that they are a knight that is on a journey to a castle.

I have also created a basic slime enemy that I plan on working more on but for now I have not heard much from the group members to grasp whether or not it will be added into the assignment.

[kavinsenanayake]

Group formation and Assignment 3 Team discussion

I managed to form a group for assignment 3. Two of my members, Yuki and Liam, agreed to work together under the same goal of wanting to do a platformer. The third member Dave, is friend of Liam’s who was in another class but said that they were going to swap over to the Thursday 4:00-6:00pm class. Yuki and Dave both excel in the artistic side and came to an agreement to split the animations. Yuki would focus on the player animations while Dave would work on the dragon animations. Liam excels in coding and was in charge of the coding section of the game. I was in charge of creating the backgrounds and other artistic decisions as this assignment will be based on my assignment 2 design. I was also given the role of project manager was in charge of designating roles to other group members and organizing who does what and keep everyone on line so that we can hand in the assignment on time. I usually don’t do leadership roles so being the project manager of the group is a new experience for me. It was decided that we would use discord to discuss and share information about the assignment. 

The game that we agreed on making is a 2D platformer where the player is a knight that is set on a journey to slay a dragon. The dragon will be a final boss that will have 3 attacks: - fire breath  - gust of wind  - tail slap  The player will have to avoid the incoming attacks and will have to kill the dragon to complete the game. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 2 Final design

For my final assignment 2 design, I wanted to recreate a hand drawn aesthetic into my posters. This was done through the use of hand drawn boxes and arrows as well as the scrunched up paper background. 

The game would include a score system that shows the players highscore that is increased when the player collects gold coins. Bats and slimes were added into the game to add variety into the obstacles that the player will have to face. 

The selling point of the game is the final dragon boss that has 3 attacks. The player will have to evade all incoming attacks and chip away at the dragon’s health to win the game. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Assignment 2 progress

For assignment 2, I have decided to create a poster for a platformer game. The theme of the game will be about Knights and Dragons. The main selling point of the game is that the player will have to face off a legendary dragon boss that can attack the player with a fire breath, gust of wind attack and a tail slap attack. The player will have to avoid incoming attacks and slice away at the dragon to win the game. The design on the poster that i have in mind will have a simple cartoon aesthetic. This was decided as the drawings are easy to make and are also aesthetically pleasing as it gives the game a softer charm which is what I was looking for in the game’s overall feel. 

The title of the game that i plan on creating is called Johan the Brave featuring Johan the Knight who is on a mission to slay the dragon. 

Above is the full scale drawing of Johan and below is the sprite that might be used for the game. 

This is the full scale drawing of the Dragon that the player will have to face off at the end of the level. The dragon is using one of its special attacks and will be featured on the poster to show off how menacing the dragon is and that facing off with the dragon will be a fun challenge. 

The drawings have been designed in a way to replicate the feeling of old videogame art boxes so that that the game feels nostalgic and fun to play. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Racing Post mortem

I have successfully made my 3rd game on Gdevelop! This game was more difficult to make than previous games I have made in the past. However I think I have learnt alot from this experience. Since developing this new type of game, I believe that I have further improved my skills with Gdevelop.

I have implemented many features into the game, speed demon, such as a game over title screen that is displayed when the player crashes. More obstacles have been added to make the game more difficult such as traffic cones and potholes. I have also included a life system so that the car can take more than one hit

I have successfully created my second game on Gdevelop! From my experience with creating my first game, I believe I have improved my understanding and skills on Gdevelop and feel much more confident in creating games on this engine now. In the prototype game, “Galactic defenders”, I have implemented multiple things into the game. A life system was included and a game over screen too if the player had run out of lives. A large variety of enemies/obstacles were included with varying animations and sizes that would spawn in randomly. These asteroids would harm the player and would reduce the number of lives the player has one until they have no more and then is transported to a game over screen. The player can also attack using a gun that can be used against the asteroids.

Now that I have completed this game and finished developing it, I believe that I could have improved the game much better and made a more fun game with lots more features. Utilizing my skills that I have acquired over the past few weeks working with Gdevelop, I believe that I could definitely produced a final product better than the one I have created now.

Features that I would include a title screen that shows the player what the game is called and what the game is about, whilst including imagery of the control layout so that the player can pick up the controls faster. A larger variety of enemies would have made the game more interesting. Introducing aliens that can attack or chase the player could bring in a new level of difficulty and a new challenge that would lead to a more fun experience. Removing the 10 stock of lives to the traditional 3 would make the game more challenging and would force the player to play more cautiously. Introducing a point system that was created in the first prototype would work well with the current prototype as it would give an incentive to shoot asteroids and make a high score.

[kavinsenanayake]

Racing game development

This week i followed the tutorial slides and made my 3rd game on Gdevelop. The game i created was a racing game which the player controls a speeding car and has to maneuver between incoming objects. The game would end when the player crashes. A point system has also been implemented so that the player gains more points the longer they stay alive.  

Sprites have been added into the game to give the racing game more variety in obstacles that the player must avoid. The blue and gray car were programmed to traverse in the same direction as the player but at a slower pace whilst the green and pink cars would drive on the opposing lane. Each car was allocated a lane and appears randomly so that each level is different from the last. 

New animations were added to further enhance the player experience. An animation of an explosion was added so that when the player collides with an object, the player would explode and then die. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Racing game elevator pitch

Speed demon is a top down infinite 2d racing game where the player is outrunning a racecar gang. The player will use the arrow keys that lets them change lanes to avoid incoming traffic. The game will include powerups that will change how the game can be played and will have a point system. 

Selling point

racing gang will try steal/destroy your car that you stole 

avoid obstacles and enemies 

powerups 

[kavinsenanayake]

Asteroids postmortem

I have successfully created my second game on Gdevelop! From my experience with creating my first game, I believe I have improved my understanding and skills on Gdevelop and feel much more confident in creating games on this engine now. In the prototype game, “Galactic defenders”, I have implemented multiple things into the game. A life system was included and a game over screen too if the player had run out of lives. A large variety of enemies/obstacles were included with varying animations and sizes that would spawn in randomly. These asteroids would harm the player and would reduce the number of lives the player has one until they have no more and then is transported to a game over screen. The player can also attack using a gun that can be used against the asteroids. 

Now that I have completed this game and finished developing it, I believe that I could have improved the game much better and made a more fun game with lots more features. Utilizing my skills that I have acquired over the past few weeks working with Gdevelop, I believe that I could definitely produced a final product better than the one I have created now. 

Features that I would include a title screen that shows the player what the game is called and what the game is about, whilst including imagery of the control layout so that the player can pick up the controls faster. A larger variety of enemies would have made the game more interesting. Introducing aliens that can attack or chase the player could bring in a new level of difficulty and a new challenge that would lead to a more fun experience. Removing the 10 stock of lives to the traditional 3 would make the game more challenging and would force the player to play more cautiously. Introducing a point system that was created in the first prototype would work well with the current prototype as it would give an incentive to shoot asteroids and make a high score. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Asteroids playtesting and pitching insights

The prototype of the platformer “Into the Abyss” was playtested by 3 volunteers. This was decided so that there was a variety of different views that would help with the development for the game. I observed the playtesters and asked them questions after the session to see how i could further improve my game and what ideas I should implement into the game to improve my current and future prototypes.

Questions

what do you like about the game?

what do you dislike about the game?

what should be added in the game?

what should be removed from the game?

Responses

Player 1

Controls are fun and smooth 

Game is very basic 

more enemies such as aliens that can chase or shoot at the player

less lives to make the game more challenging 

Player 2 

fun shooting the asteroids 

game very static 

introduce more level designs to play around with 

movement isnt satisfying and feels slippery  

Player 3 

i like how easy it is to pick up and how the game ramps up in difficulty 

no point system 

a point system to reward the player for shooting down asteroids 

The single difficulty should be removed and instead include different levels of difficulties such as easy, medium and hard

Review

The three playtesters seemed to enjoy playing the 2D asteroid shooter prototype that i created which is a positive as that means that the game successfully accomplishes its task in being a fun game that is fun to play. The information that i have gained will significantly help in improving my current prototype and future prototypes that i will be making in the future. I have learnt alot of what makes a game fun and enjoyable to play and will utilize the data from playtesters to make sure that my games are even more enjoyable. 

improvements 

larger variety of enemies (some that are affected by the environment and some that chase the player) 

different ways of shooting (missiles, machine guns etc)

different level designs so that each playthrough is exciting and not repetitive 

different difficulties (easy, medium, hard)

focus on movement so that it is responsive and not difficult to be precise

[kavinsenanayake]

Asteroid shooter development

For this week I created my prototype 2D asteroid shooter game. I followed the tutorial guide and I was able to replicate and create my own version of the game in Gdevelop. 

I was able to successfully implement a ranged attacking system via a shooting system where the player can shoot bullets at incoming asteroids. The asteroids will kill the player if the player is touched and then will be transported to a game over screen. A life system was also implemented into the game that allows the player to take 10 hits before taking them to the game over screen. 

The asteroids were programmed to spawn randomly with different shapes and sizes that would spawn rapidly but not on the player as to result in an instant game over that is impossible to avoid. 

[kavinsenanayake]

Elevator Pitch

Title: Galactic defender 

You play as a spaceship in a 2d asteroid shooter that defends earth from alien attacks and asteroids. You are earths only protector and it is up to you to protect earth from invasion.  

img src:(Discovermagazine, 2021)

The player must protect earth from waves of attacks of asteroids and alien attacks that progressively get harder. The game will utilize a keyboard and mouse control system that will be inherently easy to pick up but difficult to master. 

Genre: action

Selling points:

Upgrade system and unlockable weapons that change how the game can be played 

Large variety of enemies with varying sizes and speeds 

Player can choose to shoot machine gun with left click and missiles with right click 

Discovermagazine. (2021). Asteroids: What They Are and Where They Come From [Image]. Retrieved 6 September 2021, from https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/asteroids-what-they-are-and-where-they-come-from.

[kavinsenanayake]

Platformer Postmortem

I have successfully created my first game on Gdevelop! I have learnt a lot about using this engine and its limitations. Gdevelop is an excellent engine for beginners who are learning the basics in developing games. In the game, “Into the abyss” I have implemented different things into the game. I added walking and jumping animations that can change direction. I included a point system via collecting coins. Using a scoring system, I have made it visible for the player to see how many points they have collected. The score follows the character on the upper left part of the screen. I have also added enemies into the game to increase the difficulty factor. These enemies travel a predetermined path that will kill the player if touched however the player can kill the enemy if the player jumps on them.

After developing this game, I believe that I have learnt a lot and that if I were to redevelop the game I would do it differently. I would have made the game have a clear distinct goal to achieve that is easy to identify as soon as the player starts the game. A title screen with instructions on the screen that shows the control layout would be a necessary inclusion so that the player can visually understand how the game works and what the goal is. I would also introduce a larger variety of enemies in the game such as enemies that can fly, enemies that charge at the player and enemies that shoot at you. The enemies would also have animations that make it clear that the enemy is active and responsive so that the player can read the enemies easily and respond accordingly. Longer and more complex design should be implemented so that the gameplay isn’t too simple and boring. I would introduce different alternative paths for the player to explore and choose from which would further extend the game level more. As players can be killed by enemies, instead of restarting at the beginning I could introduce a checkpoint system so that not all progress is lost once the player dies. Moving platforms can be added so that the level isn’t too static and offers more variety and challenge for the user. I would further develop movement in the game by introducing a dash and a grapplehook swing. It was initially intended to implement a grapplehook however after many attempts, my understanding of the gdevelop physics engine was not enough for me to create a feature that I was happy with.

[kavinsenanayake]

Playtesting and Pitching Insights

The prototype of the platformer “Into the Abyss” was playtested by 3 volunteers. This was decided so that there was a variety of different views that would help with the development for the game. I observed the playtesters and asked them questions after the session to see how i could further improve my game and what ideas I should implement into the game to improve my current and future prototypes.

Questions

what do you like about the game?

what do you dislike about the game?

what should be added in the game?

what should be removed from the game?

Responses

Playtester 1:

I like the simplicity of the game, very beginner friendly with an easy objective that is straight forward and easy to follow 

The game is basic and the level is short 

Longer levels and checkpoints should be added 

The player should have more than 1 life and a lives system should be added 

Playtester 2:

I like collecting the coins 

Game was too simple 

More enemies and different types of enemies should be added 

less bushes in the level because the enemies can hide behind them and are hard to see 

Playtester 3:

I like killing the enemies 

Not alot of variety 

Different ways to attack and moving platforms should be added to make the game more exciting and difficult 

Platforms that block the player from walking through them. The platforms should act as platforms and not as walls so that it is easier to move around

Review

The three playtesters seemed to enjoy playing the prototype which is a good sign that the game accomplishes its job in being fun to play. The information that I have gained from these playtesters have been very beneficial and will be essential in improving future prototypes in the future. The level design was short, very basic and static. This will need to be further improved to make the level design more interesting and more engaging so that the player experience is further improved on, the improvements that should be added in the 2nd prototype is listed below.

Improvements 

inclusion of a life system (3 lives before game over)

add larger variety of enemies (more on the ground and in the air)

Make level more complex and less static (moving platforms)

implement different ways the character can move (Grapplehook, rope swing) 

[kavinsenanayake]

Platformer development post

For this week I created my 2D prototype platformer. After following the tutorial’s guide, I was able to design my own level in Gdevelop. I was able to successfully apply a walking and jumping animation on my character as well as on the enemies. The enemies can kill you when you touch them, but they can be killed if the player can jump on them. The enemies go back and forth in a fixed setting so that they aren’t idle and bring life to the game. Coins and a point system were added to further enhance the player experience and further expand on the game. For aesthetics, a sky background, clouds and bushes were added to fill in the level and make it more visually pleasing.

The game was initially designed in mind with a grapplehook mechanic in mind however due to limited resources and a partial understanding of Gdevelop, I have not been successful in developing this mechanic. The grapplehook mechanic that I wish to implement into the game is possible on gdevelop however there are very limited resources on explaining well on how to do so. Further reading and understanding is required for me to understand how the engine works so that I can further expand this idea in my game.