Things by Louis Haigh

(games and design related stuff by me)

[louishaigh-blog]

Unit 7 Post Mortem - Done and Dusted

Our final project for the year is over. So how did it go?

Generally, I’d say really well. As far as first-time experience developing a game in a team goes, I think my team has had a pretty good time. However, no project goes 100 percent smoothly, and ours was no exception.

Early in the project (primarily during Alpha and early Beta), the biggest roadblock we encountered was coming up with a consistent and defined direction for our game thematically and aesthetically. This primarily came down to trying to incorporate all of our four artist’s areas of proficiency into our project equally.

After getting feedback from both teachers and people in the games industry in response to our game pitch presentations, we decided to focus in on a colourful, light-hearted and squishy art style. Not only did this fit the rest of our game, but it also gave us a stronger direction to take the rest of our game in.  

Another aspect of the project that was a challenge was managing time and scope. Weighing up what elements of our game were unnecessary and therefore on the chopping block when time during Beta was tight definitely reinforced the saying “kill your darlings”. I feel that saying holds a lot of weight when related to game development, and I think the whole team has learned from this part of the project.

Besides those two hurdles that we had to overcome during the project (as well as the inevitable bugs and technical issues that are encountered during game development), much of the project ran very smoothly.

I can safely say that this is mainly due to my team just working really well together. All of my fellow team members were extremely cooperative (and as importantly in my opinion, up for a laugh), which made decision-making and discussing elements of our project very stress-free.

In addition, clear communication and hard work from everyone on the team really helped this project come together. Overall, I’m extremely happy with how our game has turned out, and the challenges that we did run into provided us with valuable lessons to take with us in future.

[louishaigh-blog]

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - The pinnacle of the franchise

I am a huge fan of stealth games, and one of the “big three” franchises in the genre is the acclaimed Splinter Cell series (along with Metal Gear and Hitman). Chaos Theory, the third game in the series, is generally considered the peak of the series, and. in my opinion, has yet to be surpassed in pure polish, quality and dynamic stealth gameplay. 

So let’s take a look at how this game set an extremely high bar for future entries in the series, that really has yet to be reached since. 

The same sneaky action as before, only better :

The general moment-to-moment gameplay in Chaos Theory is very much comparable to the previous two games in the series, in that you spend most of the game sneaking through levels, trying not to alert enemies by staying in the shadows, avoiding cameras and traps, and taking them down silently. What sets this game apart as a milestone for the franchise, however, is how it polishes, smoothes out, and innovates on almost every aspect found in the previous games. 

Even on the most basic level of the controls, Chaos Theory is less stiff, and much more fluid than the first two games. In terms of additions to gameplay, the list goes on and on. One of the notable additions is Sam (the sarcastic protagonist of the series, voiced by the legendary Michael Ironside) now having a combat knife he can use to silently kill enemies at close range, cut through fabric and other thin obstacles, and bypass circuits found in missions to activate/deactivate electronic devices in the environment. 

Another important addition is the OCP (or Optically Channeled Potentiator), a gadget attached to Sam’s silenced pistol that temporarily deactivates electronic devices from a range. This becomes extremely handy in the more challenging levels, and is really fun to mess around with, while not being overpowered. 

The last big addition I want to mention is weapon customization. In previous Splinter Cell games, you simply had to make do with the equipment you were given at the beginning of levels (and the occasional items you would find throughout missions). In Chaos Theory, however, the player can choose what weapon configurations and gadgets they want to bring into a mission. 

This includes the classic underbarrel launcher for Sam’s rifle (that fires airfoil rounds, gas grenades, sticky shockers and remote cameras), as well as a shotgun attachment for close range combat, a foregrip for more steady aiming, and a sniper rifle conversion for long range combat. These options give the game much more replayability, and let the player tailor their playstyle more missions. 

In closing :

Chaos Theory is up there with my favourite games, ever. It’s a standout example of challenging, tight stealth gameplay at it’s finest. Hopefully, after the 5 year hiatus the series has been on, Ubisoft will unveil a new entry they’re working on, that’ll bring back what made the series special in the first place.

[louishaigh-blog]

My thoughts on the PlayStation Classic

Sony, following the trend set by Nintendo with the Nintendo and Super Nintendo Classic consoles, is soon to release their own PlayStation Classic mini-console, complete with 20 ‘classic’ PlayStation games. I’m unsure as of yet as to whether I’ll buy one, but as the original PlayStation was my first console, I’m certainly opinionated when it comes to the lineup of games chosen by Sony. So let’s have a look at some of the games that are being included, and whether I think they deserve to be or not...

Battle Arena Toshinden :

A cult classic fighting game that I’ve sadly never had the chance to play, it’s also notable for being the first weapons-based 3D fighting game (a subgenre of fighting game that the Soul Calibur series would later popularize). In addition to this game, Tekken 3 is also included on this mini-console, so having multiple fighting games that fit into different niches is really pleasing, as a casual fan of the genre.

Intelligent Qube :

Probably one of the more underappreciated gems on the PlayStation, this game really intrigued me when I was younger, but I didn’t fully grasp the game’s puzzle mechanics until I came back to it in recent years. I think this game really deserves to be on the PlayStation Classic, if only to give more people a chance to play it. On top of that though, it’s just a really cool and unique puzzle game, that I don’t see too many people bring up.

Cool Boarders 2 :

Definitely one of the weirder games included on the console, but I’m still glad it’s included (mainly because it’s the only sports game). Aside from the memorable dudebro voice that exclaims “COOOOL BOARDERRRS” at the start of the game, it is actually a pretty good snow-boarding game for it’s time. I’d liken it to the PS1′s equivalent to 1080 Snowboarding on the Nintendo 64. 

Metal Gear Solid :

Probably the best game on the PlayStation. That’s all that needs to be said.

And the rest?

As far as the rest of the games go, I’m mostly pretty happy with what Sony has chosen. Games like Resident Evil, Syphon Filter, Abe’s Oddysee, and Final Fantasy VII are all givens. But there are some weird inclusions as well, like the PS1 port of Rainbow Six (which isn’t actually that bad, but probably shouldn’t be on this mini-console), and Jumping Flash (a launch title on the PS1 and a very early example of a 3D platformer). 

All in all though, I’m pretty happy with the lineup, and probably will consider picking up a PlayStation Classic. The PS1 is probably my favourite console ever, so it’s an understatement to say that I’m excited.

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of Unit 6 at AIE - Production Planning

Unit 6 may have been the most intense unit of this course I’ve experienced thus far. Planning is not my strong suit, and (as implied by the name of the unit) a lot of planning was involved. 

Part of the challenge of this Unit was learning to work efficiently with others to come up with a game idea that could be developed in about 8 weeks, and planning out every aspect of the game’s development (doing research, calculating scope for the game in terms of hours, and writing design documents). 

One of the more interesting aspects of this was working with my team (of which all the members were randomly assigned) to come up with a game concept that is both achieveable, and something we all wanted to work on. This took some time, and a lot of discussion to nail down. Being involved in this project definitely gave me an idea of the teamwork and cooperation skills I’d need to put forward throughout the rest of the end of year project. 

Another challenging element of this unit was just generally coming to grips with my role in the team I was assigned. As the producer, I’m responsible for much of the time management and scoping on the project. It took me some time to get accustomed to this role, and while I found the role to be somewhat frustrating at first, I’m glad I was assigned to me in retrospect, mainly because experiencing a variety of roles is never a bad thing, and having a better understanding of other areas of game development will absolutely make me a bettter team member. 

Finally, likely the most challenging part of Unit 6 was doing oral presentations, as a team, to pitch our planned game and get constructive feedback on the direction of the project. This really tested our teamwork skills, not only in preparation for the presentations, but also in how we dealt with the feedback we got from the presentations. Major changes to the game we pitched (especially in terms of theme and gamemodes) had to be made based on the response we got. 

Overall, I’d say I learned a ton from Unit 6, especially when it comes to teamwork, time management and planning skills. A pretty valuable unit of the course, all around.

[louishaigh-blog]

Fallout 4 - Both the best and the worst Fallout game

Fallout 4 might be one of the most confusing games I’ve ever played. The introductory hour seemed somewhat promising, but as I kept playing, some of the many cracks started to show....

And I’m not just referring to the inummerable bugs and glitches encountered while playing the game, which is sadly to be expected of Bethesda games at this point (even though the game has had tons of patches since it’s release, which was in 2015). 

I’m talking about how the game is trying to be a faithful Fallout role-playing game (faithful to Fallout 3 and New Vegas, at least), but is also trying to be a dumbed down, FPS action RPG. So let’s discuss what this game tries to achieve, what it does right, and what it doesn’t.

Shoot first, role play second :

Starting with the positives, one of the big improvements this game makes over previous Fallout games is the combat system (which is a relief, considering how much more combat-focused this game is).

Weapons feel more impactful, have much better sound effects, and handle far better than in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

So, while the combat is much better in FO4, the opposite can be said for the story, characters, and dialogue system. All of these elements are just not up to par with the rest of the series.

The story itself isn't awful, but it lacks the emotional investment of previous games, and the writing comes off as quite dull much of the time. In addition, the characters are mostly uninteresting mannequins. Some standout mannequins include Preston Garvey (possibly the most annoying, useless Fallout character ever), and Paladin Danse (generic by-the-books soldier stereotype.

But what really makes the narrative suffer is how the dialogue system has been overhauled. Instead of the classic system, in which you scroll through a list of many potential interactions you can have with characters (which are also affected by your character's skills), Fallout 4 has a dumbed down 4 option dialogue system.

This system severely limits the interactions you have with NPCs, and much of the freedom previous games gave you to role play as essentially whatever character you want when talking to characters is gone. 

Moreover, possibly one of the worst additions in this game is the protagonist (male or female) being voiced. This ruins whatever remaining freedom was left in the game for players to role-play. Not having a voice in previous Fallout games made you imagine what your created character sounds like, and that is just straight up gone in Fallout 4. 

Shooting first is still fun though :

While the role-playing aspects of this game may be severely lacking, and the game does suffer as a Fallout experience because of this, I can’t stress enough how fun the combat and exploration can be in this game. Raiding bandit camps, exploring caves full of mirelurks, and happening upon the countless side encounters when out exploring the open world are the parts of Fallout 4 that really shine, and I’m glad at least some of this game showcases what makes the Fallout series so good. 

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of Unit 5 at AIE - Testing and Quality Assurance

So, this post is pretty late, but here is summary of most everything that went on during one of the most chaotic and ecclectic of the five units I’ve completed thus far at AIE... 

Overall, this unit involved learning skills related to the various kinds of testing and QA practices used in game development.

With regards to the testing types, the main ones we used and learned about were Regression Testing (which involves testing the latest version of software, to ensure that additions and alterations made in the latest version do not compromise previously existing features), Smoke Testing (testing all the vital functions of the latest version, to ensure basic functionality), and User Testing (using unbiased testers to gather user data relating to the effectiveness of the software from a consumer’s perspective).

Gaining a solid understanding of these kinds of testing was definitely a challenging prospect, but by the end of the unit, they became second nature, as did wrangling with all the thorough documenting that comes with comprehensive testing.

Along with learning about these kinds of documentation, we also dipped our toes into learning how to make a sell sheet (essentially a single-page flier of sorts that are used to sell and advertise a product) for one of the games we tested.

This was also relatively challenging, as I had to learn how to format PSDs to work as a printable sell sheet (that compensates for colour ink bleed, and is an adequate size for a sell sheet, for example) 

Finally, we also learned how to make business cards using Adobe InDesign. Although I didn’t get my card I made printed, I still put a decent amount of effort into ensuring the formatting and size were correct. 

In general, I really enjoyed this unit. It felt like a bit of a varied mix of different topics that were all equally interesting and useful to learn about, and I definitely got a lot out of learning about each of them.

[louishaigh-blog]

Doom Eternal : Why I’m Stoked for It

I wasn’t the biggest fan of 2016′s Doom, in all honesty...

While I appreciated the blood, sweat and tears id Software put into making a Doom reboot that would blow fan’s socks off in both it’s faithfulness to the series and it’s innovations, the game just didn’t live up to my expectations, and I got bored with the game pretty quickly.

So why exactly am I so excited for the upcoming sequel, Doom Eternal, given my disappointment with it’s predecessor? Here’s why...

New tools to play with, and improvements to old ones too!

One of the most important things in any Doom game is the demon-slaying tools at the player’s disposal, whether that be guns, powerups, or neat abilities (and one of the aspects of 2016′s Doom that I felt was most underwhelming). 

Classics weapons like the Plasma Rifle, Rocket Launcher and of course, the Super Shotgun (with a new underbarrel attachment called the Meat Hook, that the Doom Slayer can use to pull himself towards enemies) return, along with some awesome new additions to the Doom Slayer’s arsenal like the explosive bolt-firing Ballista and the adaptable Combat Shotgun.

As well as the new and improved weapons, the Doom Slayer’s armor has also seen an upgrade, and it’s not just the snazzy new look. The new armor also has a shoulder-mounted cannon (that fires grenades and flames) and an arm blade as a new melee weapon. 

And these are only the additions we know about. It’s likely there’s even more in store that id Software hasn’t revealed yet.

New demons to shoot, and some old favourites returning!

Arguably as important as the Doom Slayer’s arsenal is the hellish abominations he has to face off against, and Doom Eternal likely won’t disappoint in this area.

The classics we all know and love, like the Imp, Mancubus, and Hell Knight will all be returning with updated designs. Alongside these will be a few newcomers, namely the Doomhunter (which resembles a Quake-esque demon cyborg), an as of yet unnamed tentacle demon, and the Marauder.

The Marauder is perhaps the most interesting of the revealed new additions, due to it’s unmistakeable resemblance to the Doom Slayer himself, implying some sort of unrevealed plot connection to him. I’m also curious to see how he functions in-game, and what strategies players will need to employ in order to take him down. 

Of course, no Doom sequel would be complete without the return of everyone’s favourite Hellish paramedic, the Arch-Vile. The extent of his role in Doom Eternal isn’t yet known, but the fact that he makes an appearance at all is enough to have me excited.

The Doomguy returns to Earth!

The last thing I wanted to mention is the change of setting. To me, one of the weaker aspects of the previous Doom game was the lack of interesting or unique locations. The setting being Mars again (and the most boring version of Hell yet for parts of the game) felt somewhat tired and uninspired. 

Doom Eternal, on the other hand, is going back to Earth (for the first time since Doom II) and it looks great so far. This isn’t just Earth with some demons flying around, this is a full-on Lovecraftian-esque horror nightmare depiction of Earth after an all-out invasion from the forces of Hell, which is brilliant. 

So, to conclude, I think anyone that enjoys challenging, brutal first-person action should be keeping an eye out for Doom Eternal in 2019 on Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch (that last one has me extra excited). 

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of Unit 4 at AIE - Narrative Design

Another unit wrapped up for this year! So what did we get up to?

Essentially, this unit was based around a (mostly) solo assessment, involving each student designing and creating their own ‘vertical slice’ of a game (essentially a polished, fully realised, but small section of a game), with a focus on developing a narrative arc that this experience would fit into.

The slice was also to adhere or stay close to 60 seconds in length. Quite a challenging assessment for budding game designer.

I think it’s important to note, before I dive into what I ended up creating, the influences I had in mind going into this assessment.

As a huge fan of horror (and sci-fi horror in particular), and having gone through a phase recently of rewatching films such as Event Horizon and Alien, as well as revisiting games such as Doom 3 and System Shock 2, I jumped into this Unit with the intent of building a sci-fi horror experience for my vertical slice, with an emphasis on lighting, sound, atmosphere, and a ‘haunted house in space’ vibe. And that’s pretty much what I did. So how did it turn out?

Pretty well, I think. I’m actually quite happy with what the result of this unit was. I have definitely found an element of game design through this assessment that I can safely say I’d love to pursue further down the line, and that’s level design.

The above image is only one of many, many level layouts and draw-overs I made in the pre-production stage of the development of this vertical slice. I planned rigorously, and I definitely think it paid off.

I also iterated heavily in the early Alpha stages of my slice. Even after I’d pretty much transferred my on-paper design into Unity by greyboxing my level with ProBuilder, I kept adding and taking away from the level, chipping away until I was happy with it. The image above is an overhead screenshot of my greyboxed level, towards the end of Alpha.

Things started to become more challenging, however, once I entered Beta. Having to change all of my greybox placeholder assets with meshes made by me in Maya was one of the more challenging things I had to do this unit. As someone that isn’t necessarily the best at modelling (mainly due to inexperience), I can safely say I struggled a bit in this area.

As well as the aforementioned problems, I was also struggling with reconfiguring the lighting I initially had in place in the greyboxing stages to work with my Beta assets. This required a solid amount of messing with Unity’s lighting system, and altering the properties of a lot of my materials I used for my assets to complement the lighting I wanted in my level. As seen above, it still needed plenty of improvement.

And then there was Gold. This is when things really seemed to start coming together with my level. I went through and refined all my Maya assets (which improved the visual fidelity of my level significantly), as well as further refining my lighting to look as good as possible (keeping in mind my still rudimentary understanding of how Unity lighting works). And with my design of my level pretty much done by Beta, I could just focus on polishing up my visuals, as well as finishing up my audio (which I also put a lot of time into towards the end of the assessment).

And so that’s pretty much it. Although I struggled with some aspects of this assessment, and there were plenty of ideas and concepts that I initially wanted to implement that didn’t make it into my level (due to time constraints primarily), I am absolutely happy with how my vertical slice turned out. I would also say that this unit has probably been my favourite of the course thus far, and I’ve definitely learned a lot about narrative design that I’ll be taking forward.

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of Third Unit at AIE - Programming and Prototyping

Of the three units of my game design course I’ve completed thus far, this unit has definitely been the toughest, both in terms of the challenging nature of the content we’ve been learning and the density of said content...

For Unit 3, our primary project was to develop and code our own game prototype. Being relatively inexperienced in regards to game development, and having no prior experience with programming whatsoever, I was kind of terrified. 

At first, it was daunting. Even gaining somewhat of an understanding of what code actually is, and how code is used in game development seemed difficult to achieve.

However, learning code (C# being the programming language we learned) while simultaneously developing my own prototype game is probably one of the better ways I could’ve learned how to code. 

I would hesitate to describe this aspect of the unit as a trial by fire in retrospect, but it certainly felt that way in the early days of the unit.

When it came to planning out my prototype, I put much effort into ensuring that I had a good grasp on what I wanted to do for my prototype (after learning from previous work how important the planning process is). After some deliberation, I decided to make a stripped-down arcade rail-shooter in the vein of Star Fox and Space Harrier. 

                          Side Note : Star Fox on SNES is still so awesome  

I wanted to keep the scope of my game as small and achievable as possible, figuring a simple space shooter wouldn’t be too difficult or complicated to design and code. After the planning phase, however, I hit a pretty big roadblock in my progress. Being sick...

Not only missing a lot of classes, but not being well enough to make progress at home set me back in a big way. Having not even started working on my alpha build for my space shooter when I’d recovered also put my anxieties about this unit into overdrive. So I decided that in order to catch up with the rest of my class and get on top of my work, I’d have to compromise.

Because I didn’t really know how to program enemies (nor did I have the time to learn how to do so), I altered the concept of my prototype from a single-player arcade rail-shooter to a one-versus-one space dogfighting game. This seemed much more achievable in my eyes, and ended up being the right decision.

                                       An early version of my prototype

Through coding exercises we worked through in class, I knew the basics of programming projectiles, ship physics and damage models, meaning I had all the tools required to make this prototype a reality. And thanks to many late nights and early morning train rides to class spent working tirelessly (and tons of help throughout the unit from my fantastic teacher), I managed to finish my prototype.

Even if I was unable to develop my prototype into something more than an extremely basic (and slightly buggy) 1v1 space shooter game, I’m nonetheless proud of what I achieved, considering the hurdles I had to overcome.

In addition, I feel like this unit has been the most rewarding of the three so far, primarily due to the amount of stuff I’ve learned. Let’s hope next unit is as rewarding (and maybe not as stressful!).

[louishaigh-blog]

Why I keep coming back to Minecraft

Essentially since Minecraft entered a playable state open to the public,

I have been playing the game. Of course, I haven't been playing the game constantly for the number of years it's been available, but I don't think I've ever not had the game downloaded and ready to play in some capacity, on one device or more. So why is this? Why am I STILL playing Minecraft?

Discovery/Exploration:

One of the consistently engaging aspects of Minecraft since it first released in a

playable state has been the potential for environmental exploration when a player generates a world. The fact that a player can create a new world dozens of times and get a completely different world map with completely different biomes, terrain and underground caverns to explore is honestly still amazing to this day. This random generation isn't just for show, either. It dramatically affects the spawns of potentially useful items, mineral deposits underground that the player can mine, and mysterious, monster filled structures such as Strongholds and Dungeons. 

This aspect of the game means that the game has potentially unlimited replayablility, and every time I've come back to Minecraft and created a new world, I'm greeted with the exciting prospect of this world being completely different to the last one I discovered.

Sandbox Elements/Building:

Few games give it's players as much freedom as Minecraft does. The essence of Minecraft is being dropped in a sandbox with nothing but a tree-punching fist, and letting you do whatever you want. This design philosophy on it's own is attractive (because games that actually succeed in giving it's players complete freedom are a relatively rare thing), but combine that with the fact that players can also build whatever structures they please in an intuitive, fun and easily understandable way, and you have yourself potentially endless amounts of replayability.

Consistent support from the developer:

Another point that I think is worth mentioning is the amount of support Minecraft's developer, Mojang, has given the game, both in terms of frequent updates, patches for bugs and glitches, and ports to consoles and other devices. And why wouldn't they? I think most developers would put that much effort and time into supporting their game if it was one of the most popular games of the 21st century, if not ever. Reversing that logic also makes sense, though. Maybe part of the reason why Minecraft has stayed so popular and maintained a dedicated fanbase for so long is because of the constant updates and support offered by the everyone's favorite dev, Mojang?

Regardless, everytime I boot up Minecraft after an update, there is always something new to be found. New features, enemies, animals, items, and building materials keep the game alive for much of it's player base. And being someone that has essentially been playing the game since the beginning of it's lengthy lifetime, I probably notice how much has changed (and how much is still changing) more than most. Witches, fishing, desert temples, and villages were things I hadn't even thought about being added to Minecraft 7 or so years ago.

Another thing that Mojang has been great about is ensuring that Minecraft is available on every bloody device in existence (besides the Sega Dreamcast, sadly). I honestly don't know how many versions of Minecraft I've bought, and I'm quite scared to find out.

I have consistently been playing the Windows 10 and Wii U versions for the past year, and am considering getting the Pocket Edition of the game for my Android phone as well (because why not). The fact that the game is on as many devices as it is is honestly amazing to me. Few games reach as many audiences as Minecraft does. Whatever kind of gamer you are, whatever device you play your games on, Minecraft is most likely available for you.

Taking all of this into consideration, it's no wonder I'm still playing Minecraft to this day. Hopefully, the game will maintain all of these selling points in the years to come, and in turn keep me playing!

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of Second Unit at AIE - Teamwork is key

Phew, second unit done and dusted. As challenging and intensive as this unit was, it flew by even faster than the first!

The main focus for the past 6 weeks was on Level Design Fundamentals, which entailed working in a group to design and create a level for a competitive multiplayer game called Mother Duck made by our teachers. 

We began by finding a location in Melbourne to take reference from for our level, and settled on recreating a section of Federation Square. We took dozens of photos for use either as a reference point when modelling our level and it’s assets or to use directly for making textures in Photoshop. In retrospect, I definitely should’ve made more of an effort to take pictures of possible level assets and textures in both greater quantity and quality.

We then went through the process of designing the rough layout of our level on paper, and deciding which real-life elements of the location we wanted to carry over into said level. This led into greyboxing our level, to get an idea of the scale and general design of the level that we were all happy with.

After blocking out our design in Unity, we began modelling our assets in Maya. This part of our assessment was definitely one of the more challenging (and beneficial) learning experiences I went through in this unit, being someone that had never used any sort of digital modelling software before (let alone a program as complex as Maya). 

In addition to modelling, I also learned how to create textures for our assets (yet another highly beneficial skill). This part of the project probably challenged me the most, both in terms of understanding how UVs work (essentially the map for how a texture is applied to a model) and how to use said UVs to create a texture that can then be applied to a mesh.

The last part of the assessment was importing all of our completed assets and textures into our level, and adding finishing touches (primarily visual tweaks and post-processing effects). Through this process I learned how much post-processing can contribute to the visual fidelity of a level.

To conclude, I’d say that the most important thing I took away from this Unit is how important both teamwork and communication are in a group project. This level wouldn’t have been possible if my teammates weren’t as helpful and communicative as they were, so shout out to them!

[louishaigh-blog]

The impact of haptic feedback on the games industry...

While playing through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the first time recently, I noticed something that I, and likely most other people that play video games these days wouldn’t even think about... 

...my controller was vibrating. Of course, a game having this feature may seem like a bit of a given these days, but the fact that a game from 1998 even had haptic feedback piqued my interest in it’s implementation, and just how far back it’s usage actually dates. Turns out, it was long before Nintendo fans were galloping across Hyrule Field on horseback as the Hero of Time, Link.

The feature’s usage in games originated from the arcade, with the earliest known example being the 1976 Sega racing game Fonz. The game used haptic feedback by having the handlebars of the machine vibrate when collisions with other vehicles occurred in-game. The feature was well received, and from then on, more arcade games implemented the feature, including classics such as Daytona and Operation Wolf, that also had the controller players used vibrate in response to gameplay.

So, how did haptic feedback get from the arcades to home consoles? Nintendo is the answer. The company released the “Rumble Pak” controller attachment in 1997 for the Nintendo 64, marking the first time gamers could experience haptic feedback at home. Of course, other companies followed suit, with Sony and Sega releasing their own spins on Nintendo’s accessory for their respective consoles at the time.

From then on, haptic feedback has been a staple feature of both video games and the controllers we use to play them. So why is that? Why the rise of physical feedback? My answer is simply that over time, games have been continuously finding ways to become more immersive, advanced, and engrossing for their players, and the Rumble Pak was a stepping stone in that process. Having a game affect the player with physical stimuli by having the controller they use react to gameplay is a powerful tool to enhance the immersion of said player. 

We are still seeing revolutionary technology on the level of what the Rumble Pak was in it’s era being released to this day, with the same purpose of further engrossing players in virtual worlds. In my eyes, much of the appeal towards newer technology such as virtual reality is owed to earlier products and revolutions such as the Rumble Pak, that introduced consumers to the prospect of enhancing their video game experiences. 

[louishaigh-blog]

Post-mortem of First Unit at AIE - How has it gone so fast?

First Unit over already?? The past six weeks of this game design course have flown by faster than I’ve been able to notice. So what did I get up to?

Well, we began the unit by doing some analytical work on board games, and even created our own pen and paper board games. This really helped me get a great grasp on the process of conceptualizing mechanics and design, as well as working and cooperating with team members to make a product.

It also helped me understand what designing and working under constraints is like (in this case, the limitations of having a game work with pen physical pieces and paper). We also gathered up feedback on our board game in order to iterate and improve on it’s design, which really helped me understand how to take feedback (positive or negative) and apply it in a constructive way.

Additionally, we individually worked on analysis pieces based around a video game chosen from a pre-selected list. I chose Resident Evil 4. Diving into and studying the hell out of that game expanded my still-blooming analytical mindset towards video games, and also helped me look at video games from a developer’s perspective; asking questions about why the developers made the design decisions they did, and what the intended impact of these design decisions was on the player.

In addition to this kind of theory-based conceptual work, we also got started with using the Unity game engine by trying to replicate environments portrayed in video game concept art using Unity’s modelling and level-building tools. This part of the Unit was definitely where I struggled the most. Getting a solid grasp on how this software works with absolutely no prior experience has been rough, but has also been a great learning experience for me. I’m still working my way up this mountain, but I’m slowly but surely improving my skills. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll be a Unity aficionado!

Finally, the last major project we worked on in the first Unit was writing our first Game Design Documents (essentially a document outlining all of the general and essential details of a game). This assignment stretched my understanding of all the elements that go into developing a game, as well as showing me how exactly game devs organize their ideas and concepts that are going to be implemented in a way that benefits not only them, but the rest of their team, by having the document be as readable and digestible as possible.

So overall, this first unit was a blast! Challenging for sure, but in the best way possible. I’m thoroughly looking forward to delving further into the realm of game design, and developing my skills as a budding game dev!

[louishaigh-blog]

So, about cross-play...

It’s an odd topic in the video game scene, and one that I’ve always found especially interesting.

In terms of cross-play between PC and consoles, the primary reason cited as to why so few games used to support it is simply because in the majority of cases mouse and keyboard provides PC players with an almost objective advantage with regards to accuracy, precision and overall control over console players confined to a controller. 

An early outlier in terms of success with regard to cross-play between console and PC is Final Fantasy 11. Released in 2002, and the first MMO in the franchise (which would be succeeded by FFXIV years later), the game succeeded in combining online play between the PS2 and PC.

Another early example, but one that received much less success and praise was the multiplayer shooter Shadowrun, released in 2007. The game had cross-play between PC and Xbox 360, which resulted in an obvious disparity in terms of player performance in competitive multiplayer matches.  

There are other examples of cross-play out there from this era, although, like Shadowrun, these game’s didn’t garner the greatest of reception or praise.

Nowadays, however, it seems that developers have worked out what games should and shouldn’t include cross-play, and are ensuring that they are including the feature where it belongs, and where it can benefit players, rather than inhibit their multiplayer experiences. 

Rocket League is likely the best recent example of this, with PS4 or Xbox One users being able to enter matchmaking with PC users (and vice versa). In addition, the Nintendo Switch version also supports cross-play with Xbox and PC. Games like Rocket League are perfect for cross-play. Games where PC players don’t have any sort of edge over console players, that thrive on building a devoted online community.

Microsoft has also shown support for cross-play in recent years, with games available on Windows 10 as well as Xbox One such as Ark: Survival Evolved, Killer Instinct, Gears of War 4 and Sea of Thieves being prime examples.

Just this year, Epic Games announced that Fortnite Battle Royale would include cross-play between PC, Xbox and mobile as well. More and more, we are seeing cross-play pop up, which is a great thing for gamers. This means more players being part of the same, unified online player base, which can only contribute to a healthier community for multiplayer games.

Blizzard has stated that they are enthusiastic about providing cross-play between Xbox One and PS4 for Overwatch, so let’s keep our fingers crossed! 

Make it happen Mr Kaplan!

[louishaigh-blog]

The beginning of something beautiful...

Hey, I’m Louis, and I recently began studying Game Design at AIE. That means I’m gonna be making things, and posting them on here, so expect some cool gaming and design related stuff from me! Look out for essays, breakdowns and analyses of various games and ideas as well! Thanks, people!