Iteration Five: Conversion and trader rates

Note: Any aspects of the game that are unchanged I have left out of these blog posts so these are shorter and quicker to read making them more information dense.

This week I have been working on different conversion rates and the production rates from each source of each planet.

The reason being this week (yet I had many play tests this week with about 2 iterations) from making the game too easy to win and exploit, every one struggled to win in any form. What I mean is, I rose the cost of energy from the trader too much, and because players could only earn one currency per mass, and each energy from the trader cost 5 currency, every one struggled to make more than one trip around the game world.

Everyone who has play tested my game has said they like the idea of it. However in the previous iteration I have made it far too difficult.

Energy Resource Transactions

Another aspect I changed was that it costs two energy to move and one to stay still during the turn. This was because I found one player only moving one space at a time and they racket up plenty of resources. There fore to remove this aspect and make people more around the world more I implemented the rule earlier in the paragraph. However... When testing this rule in the next iteration I had made a few errors. Firstly I changed an aspect of the game based upon one person, which is a pretty bad idea. Secondly, it was not much of an improvement from the previous iteration. The player was able to move around more and gain more resources, but not very much.

Due to this massive request I will revert the movement cost back to how they were and find a way to make the game more challenging yet make the difficulty curve less steep. In the next iteration movement will cost will be a lot lower, and the cost for being waiting in the same spot for a turn will be removed, but I will find another way to keep the player moving around the game map.

Trader

With the trader, every one though the cost of the energy resources was far too high and this made the game vastly too difficult. In face each game, lasted only a few minuets. To counter act this, I lowered the transaction for the trader. I lowered the conversion from 5 currency to three currency for one energy resource. The trader has another entity attached to it some where off the board, so all resources that it exchanges stay in the game. In the new iteration, many people still found this expensive but they preferred the lower price from this iteration to the last iteration iteration. I will fix this in the next paragraph which many people suggested.

Buyer node source

With this iteration I introduced another converter into the game. A number of players thought it was strange how they just gain currency from 'mass' resources and they also thought there was little reason to move around the game wold.

To fix this and give the game more context, they player once they have mined all the resources from a planet source, they can visit the nearest buyer node and can convert their tangible 'mass' resources into another tangible currency resource. This slightly improved the game, however the game was still too difficult. This was because again the conversion rates were not high enough. The player would convert all of their mass to tangible currency resources with a rate of one for one, due to the cost of the energy being

More energy resources or higher mass to currency conversion rates

Many players kept asking for more energy resources or higher mass to currency conversion rates so they could travel more before they become stranded. Due to this I increased the quantity if resources the player starts with. This alteration was met with praise, and I shall keep it in the game for now.

In the latest iteration (no. 5) I rose the quantity of currency the player gets in exchange for the mass resources, from one for one, to one for three. This way the player will be able to purchase at least one energy resource from the trader for every mass the collect.

However this was met by another challenge. Some players complained that they would not get enough mass to make another trip and many others thought the game needed to be less predictable.

Planet Mass production rates

I thought to make the game less predictable, I would introduce an element of randomness to the game. By this I mean the resource connections and the rate at which each planet source produces mass resources. I change the rules so that, every turn, each planet source in the game (four planets) were equal distance from each other, and they produce one mass a second, however every turn for each planet I rolled a die. When the die shows a positive number an extra resource is made. This worked to make the game less predictable, and many people liked it because there was a 50:50 change of a source making two resources a turn. I will keep this feature and play around with it for the next week to refine it more.

Another issue I fixed was how many mass a planet could hold until it resets, I lowered this to 7 because people thought this was too high. So far people like the change, but I may reduce it to keep people moving around the map more. And I need to add more spontaneity to the game with the resource production. Like more sources that are more valuable.

What Have I learnt this week?

In future, I will not change an aspect of the game unless many people request it (I have been doing this most of the time, unless some one found a major game breaking flaw), and I will alter as few aspects of the game as possibly in each iteration. This will make it easier to see which feature works and which needs tweaking or tearing every time.

Another thing I will do in future iterations is, I will either use dice to keep track of resource counts... Actually I will just use the machinations visual scripting tool for play testing because, there are more sources to take care of, and more multipliers it has become more difficult of resource counts. Also it will dramatically speed up game play and if a player does not like an aspect of the game I can easily change it. In face I need to start using the tool more often during play testing.

Another Note: This link below is the the blog post that contains the references I need from books or other sources.

http://josepheasterdissertationblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/bibliography-references.html

Bibliography References

References:

Theory:

Adams, E. (2012). The Designer's Notebook: Machinations, A New Way to Design Game Mechanics. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/176033/the_designers_notebook_.php?page=1. Last accessed 19th October 2013.

Adams, E and Dormans, J (2012). Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design. Berkeley: New Riders NRG. p60 - 62.

club sound. "Melt down 1.wav." Freesound.org. club sound, 28 Aug. 2010. Web. 31 May 2014. <http://freesound.org/people/club%20sound/sounds/103687/>.

Electronic Arts, (2011), Mass Effect 2, console game: PS3, Electronic Arts, USA: California

GALAWANA. "Galawana Studio." Galawana Studio. GALAWANA, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 May 2014. <http://www.galawana.com/unity3d-camera-shake/>.

Gaming Minds Studios, Kalypso Media, (2012), Port royale 3: Pirates & Marchants [Windows]. Germany: Kalypso Media.

Kiymaz, Y. (2010). Solving the Pivot problem in Unity. Available: http://solvethesystem.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/solving-the-pivot-problem-in-unity/. Last accessed 7th Dec 2013.

LavaMind, 1994, Gazllionair, computer game: PC, San Francisco, LavaMind

Ninjutsu Games. "Asset Store." Asset Store. Version 1.3.0. Ninjutsu Games, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 May 2014. <https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/8797>.

Stargate. Dir. Roland Emmerich. Perf. Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson. Live Entertainment, 1994. Film.

Stout, M. "So What Are We Doing Here?." Gamasutra. Mike Stout, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134949/learning_from_the_masters_level_.php?print=1>.

Trefry, G. "Chapter 7: Managing." Casual game design designing play for the gamer in all of us. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann ;, 2010. 139 - 154. Print.

Unknown, Unkown. "Wikia." Mass Effect Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2013.  <http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Combat>.


2D Art (sprites, UI and fonts and textures):

Brannum, Rebecca. Personal interview. 29 Apr. 2014.

Hastings-trew, J. "earth texture map." Planet Earth Texture Maps. james hastings-trew, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://planetpixelemporium.com/earth.html>.

Hastings-trew, J. "mars texture map." Planet Mars Texture Maps. james hastings-trew, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://planetpixelemporium.com/mars.html>.

Larabie, R. "Asset Store." Asset Store. Version 1.0. Ray Larabie, 12 Aug. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/4235>.

Lorc. "Ray gun icon." 1238 free SVG and PNG icons for your games or apps. Lorc, n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://game-icons.net/lorc/originals/ray-gun.html>.

msgdi, msgdi. "SciFi Muzzleflash + Laser Pack by msgdi." Unity Asset Store. msgdi, n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://u3d.as/content/msgdi/sci-fi-muzzleflash-laser-pack/3Rr>.

"Asset Store." Asset Store. Tasharen Entertainment, 24 May 2014. Web. 26 May 2014. <https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/2413>.

Unknown. "Unknown."Unknown. Unknown, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://cdn.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/15333_2d_broken_glass.jpg>.

Unknown. "Unknown."Unknown. Unknown, n.d. Web. 28 May 2014. <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF8AKTzEeAPVW9sl2WJEvDaZgt0Z7nIWoHGhOAH99Z_aiHJrz1uaYHQDIIOsXA8GUSoeVM7ET080LNrEurpxMJA29Rx5hnOlxJoPkz-4q_dSOlFfq5FStWhUnVKosiX6VzQsrx4NL-VUoO/s320/crack.jpg>.

Unknown. "Unknown."Unknown. Unknown, n.d. Web. 27 May 2014. <https://s3.amazonaws.com/colorslive/png/509299-PqhI_Cl78RheIJQS.png>.

Unknown. "Unknown."Unknown. http://wallpaperpanda.com/, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://wallpaperpanda.com/wallpapers/die/jA8/diejA8qik.jpg>.

3D Art:

crocobaura. "3D obj Satellite." 3D obj Satellite. crocobaura, n.d.  Unknown. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/337131>.

Duane's, Mind. "Asset Store." Asset Store. Unity, 5 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/1807>.

ghdalstjr130@gmail.com. "Asset Store."Asset Store. GAPH, 7 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/13998>.

niva3d.com. "3D 3ds spaceship space ship." 3D 3ds spaceship space ship. niva3d.com, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/531813>.

Audio:

alienistcog, alienistcog. "dull-clangs.aif by alienistcog." Freesound.org. alienistcog, 22 July 2011. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://freesound.org/people/alienistcog/sounds/124711/>.

Bengtsson, J. "Third Cog Software - Cfxr." Third Cog Software - Cfxr. Joachim Bengtsson, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://thirdcog.eu/apps/cfxr>.

Connum. "electric_sparks.mp3 by Connum." Freesound.org. N.p., 3 Oct. 2005. Web. 9 May 2014. <https://www.freesound.org/people/Connum/sounds/11709/>.

junggle. "btn050.wav by junggle." Freesound.org. junggle, 16 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 May 2014. <http://www.freesound.org/people/junggle/sounds/28860/>.

mckinneysound's. "Categories > Horror/Sci-Fi > Lasers/Weapons."freeSFX.co.uk. mckinneysound's, 27 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.freesfx.co.uk/soundeffects/lasers_weapons/>.

mckinneysound. "Categories > Horror/Sci-Fi > Lasers/Weapons."freeSFX.co.uk. mckinneysound, n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. <http://www.freesfx.co.uk/soundeffects/lasers_weapons/?p=2>.

Pettersson, Tomas. "DrPetter's homepage - sfxr." DrPetter's homepage - sfxr. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html>.

peridactyloptrix. "Hover engine by peridactyloptrix."Freesound.org. peridactyloptrix, 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 May 2014. <http://freesound.org/people/peridactyloptrix/sounds/213384/>.

"Search for sound effects."freeSFX.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2014. <http://www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/engine+power+down>.

Sweeper. "SoundBible.com."Electrical Sweep Sounds. Sweeper, 28 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://soundbible.com/1795-Electrical-Sweep.html>.

First and second Iterations

This may be a concise post.

This week after I refined my design document I set to work on my first iteration. At the start my game had a source, a drain and a few entities. This idea for the game was, the player (single player game) could move up to five spaces per turn and every turn each source produced one resource. Also the game world was constructed on a single grided sheet of A4 paper, 8 by 6 spaces. When the player moves, this takes up one energy and hey have up to five each turn. Also when the player i adjacent to a source, they can gain one resource per turn and they loose when they run out of fuel. The win condition is when the play gets as many resources as they can.

However, after a few play tests I needed to take it back to the drawing board because, I needed to include a trader, and a converter. This was the feed back from players. Also there was no threat in the game and because the game world was too small is was too easy to win the game. There was little challenge. I had simplified the game too much by stripping too much out.

Second Iteration

In this iteration, I doubled the size of the game world to spread things out since the all of the players asked for this, along with this I spread out where each node type was, making sure it they were not too near or far away from each other.

I added two new resources into the game. Energy and currency. The energy tokens are there so the player can easily visualize how far they can move across the game world. Also when the player gains resources, they also gain one currency token for every resource they gain. When the player visits a trader, they can trade one currency token for one energy. The loose condition when they run out of fuel.

Also the player can purchase a converter, that converts three mass to one energy or the other way round for three currency. Also, the player can collect all the resources in one go from a source. Also when a source has been cleaned out, it remains inactive for 5 turns.

Results:

One player found a few major exploits.

If he moved one space per turn gradually nearing a source planet, he would gain tonnes of resources from each planet very quickly with little effort. This drained away the sense of achievement. Because he could do this he could go to a trader and buy more energy resources and farm each source planet. This meant when a source was deactivated, it would do nothing to affect the difficulty of the game. This also made the converter irrelevant due to the exchange rates.

Suggestions:

One suggestion was to make the game multi-player. I may include this in a later iteration, but this is not my main priority. This would be to add some more strategy and accomplishment to the game.

Another suggestion was to add an artificial threat, like a space pirate that could attack the player so they loose some resources. I may include this in a later iteration but I have to fix the exploit at the moment.

Another suggestions was to penalize the player for moving one space at a time.

the last suggestions was to raise the trader exchange rates making the energy more expensive. As well as this, the converter should be set to a lower conversion rate then the trader. E.g. 3 resources one way for one of another, whilst the trader could be five currency for an energy resource.

What I will change in the next iteration?

In my next iteration I will make each source planet have a maximum number of resources they can hold, after this quantity, the resources are drained and reset to zero for that particular node source. This will add a negative feedback loop to the game. Also I will have to experiment with the trader and converter rates.

Dissertation Proposal Feed Back

This Monday when I received feedback on my dissertation, the comments towards it were positive, but that doesn't mean there is  not room for improvement.

The good points were that it was highly intelligent and well considered. Also the project seemed well scoped and reasonably challenging. As well as this the markers liked the idea of the core mechanics involved and were interested to seeing where this would go.

The negative points though were, I had not included regular play testing sessions into my mile stone time line. This was a fair comment since this will be crucial to the development of my game and I will make adjustments accordingly.

The other comment about my mile stone time line was about how it lacked the creation of art assets and GUI assets and implementing them into the game (digitally). This was silly of me and again I will make adjustments accordingly.

It was also pointed out I should build simple deconstructions of mechanics from managing game an internal economies from other games that I would like to include in my game. This is a good idea and I have already started doing this with the bank mechanic from 'The Settlers of Catan' (Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., 1995). This is a good idea since I can view all of the elements in the selected mechanics and how I can incorporate them into my game to further my understanding of them.

For the rest of the week I will be concentrating on refining my design document and refining the mechanics. By the end of the week I would like to have a basic paper prototype produced. However due to only received feedback on the proposal recently and getting group project work out of the way it seems more likely I will have a prototype produced some time next week.

I find this annoying since since I am behind on my project time line, however at least I am doing it now.

References

Klaus Teuber (1995). The Settelers of Catan. Germany: Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co.

More possible job positions.

I have been looking for more possible job positions in the games industry as a games designer.

I have found 5 job adverts for possible positions at different companies (mostly indie companies) at varying levels, such as junior and senior (or lead).

The items in green are skills I already possess. The items in red are skills I need to learn or improve during my dissertation.

All of these jobs are available in the UK (a few of which are in Suffolk). From the table above I have a lot of work to do since I have a lot of skills to improve and gain. A number of these jobs require a jack of all trades where as some are more design focused. For example 'Shiver Entertainment' requires artistic skills to a degree. Since art is not one of the strong points I will have to improve this to a passable standard but not as a main focus, more of a polishing off type of thing.

Some of these jobs require coding skills (that I already have, but may require improving). I can already code in Unity3D but I might need to improve these code skills to do things more efficiently, or learn a new method. Again this will only be needed when I implement my designs into Unity when they are polished off and is not my main focus since design is what I am concentrating on.

A number of jobs required paper prototyping skills. I have done this with many projects in the past so I know how to do it. However I will need to improve this skill since this will be key to the design of my artifact and many design jobs require this, since it saves programming time on a faulty mechanic.

Another jobs requested, excellent communication skills. As much as I am articulate, my communications skills when explaining concepts are not as clear as they could be. As a designer communications with different departments is crucial in development. Thus I will have to improve this. One way I could do this is through breaking down each idea into simple elements in the design document, and replicate this verbally when I need to. This is crucial in the industry because if a team member get's the wrong idea or some thing is not clear this cold complicate the design and development process in the game's creation.