Assignment 1

Assignment one

Task 1)

Genera name	Description	Examples
First/third person shooter	Focuses on combat using projectile weapons like guns or missiles. Usually played by teenage boys or men. Popular in western culture.	COD is a first and third person shooter video game franchise. Originated on the PC with mainly WW2 themes and stories, fighting on the front lines of historic events. Owned by activation, infinity ward and Treyarch developing the game in two sub-storylines: infinity ward, making the modern warfare trilogy, focusing on current tech and weaponry; Tryarch, making world at war, black ops and black ops two. These start in WW2, sticking to the traditional COD, then branch off into fantasy history’s about top covert missions combining old combat styles and weaponry with futuristic types. These small differences give the games a very distinct feel, for example in my opinion the Tryarch “old” style warfare feels more clunky and heavy and the modern warfare by infinity ward feels sleeker and smoother (Tryarchs series also contains an exclusive spin off game, Nazi zombies, a zombie survival shooter).  They also have a lot of similarities with being the same genera, both are quite quick passed and contain scenes of violence or gore with the game involving war. Also, both are leaning towards bigger multiplayer aspects in the later game titles relying more on strategy and communication between a team of online players. Battle field is a much more realistic shooter, having better and more photo realistic graphics and realistic aspect such as bullet drop and lenses glare to add more of a tactical feel to the game. The game is on much bigger scale with bigger levels and teams with more features like vehicles such as tanks, jets, choppers, ATVs, buggies etc.
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena	Also knows as an action RTS, in which players control one character with powerful abilities, in a team of players to destroy the opposing team’s structures and push “lanes” and waves of AI creatures to ultimately “farm” your hero and win the game. Usually played by teenage boys. Popular in western and Korean cultures. Is big in E-spots.	One of the biggest MOBAs on the scene, developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS and inspired by the mod, defence of the ancients on world of Warcraft 3: the frozen throne. Based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft. The objective of the DOTA is for each team to destroy the opponents' Ancient, which is heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. In traditional MOBA style, LOL has two teams witch spawn on opposite sides of the map, connected by three lanes. Each team has one nexus, three inhibitors, and nine turrets (three in each lane). One minuet thirty seconds after the start of the game, AI called minions spawn and automatically charge into lane. They are sent in waves every three minutes after and get stronger each wave. They are used to push enemy turrets and are killed for gold and their XP to level your character’s abilities. Abilities can be passive, active or toggle-able; passive abilities are abilities that affect your champion (character) without using any manna and buffing stats like base damage or health regeneration etc.; active abilities are abilities that you have to manually activate to do unique attacks, these cost manna; toggle-able abilities are a mix of both other types, when activated they become a passive but cost manna over time e.g. a damage buff that uses manna each basic attack but can be disabled. You gain gold and XP over time and get larger amounts from minion and jungle keep (a neutral AI in the jungle between lanes, they give duffs to increase base damage and manna regeneration) kills, dragon kills (a mini boss AI that spawns at 2:30 and respawns after 6 minutes, gives gold and XP) and Barron Nasher (a world boss that spawns 15:00 and respawns every 7 minutes, it gives a buff that increases overall damage and health). Players spend their XP on levelling up their four abilities making them stronger. They spend gold on items with active or passive stats boosts. As players grow stronger they fight cooperatively to gain map control and kills to eventually destroy the enemy nexus and end the game.
Puzzle	Played a lot by women on hand held devises but generally for any gender of any age. Puzzle games are meant to test your problem solving ability and train your brain.	Candy Crush is a match three puzzle game developed by king for Facebook and later a mobile app for smartphones. The aim of the game is to match three or more candies to crush a required number of objects, e.g. chocolate. The game works with a life system, where if you fail to complete a level, you lose a life. You get a maximum of 5 lives at a time and you generate a new one after a certain duration of time. This stops you over playing the game and keeps the hit it gives of accomplishment from beating a level feeling fresh and satisfactory. This game is successful as it is easy and played to kill time plus is doesn't get boring as it limits your playtime. Portal is a much more advanced puzzle game. It has a back story with main characters and voiced scripts, the game is based on a test subject using futuristic portal making technologies to navigate around “test chambers” to complete puzzles to unlock the next stage and progress through the story. The levels get progressively harder and more challenging as you enhance your skills of “thinking with portals”, using momentum, timing and reflexes.
Racing	Driving vehicles to a location or round a circuit in a set time or faster than the rest. Usually played on console by males of all ages.	Dirt is a rally car racing game. It has a solo campaign where you go round circuits, aiming to get the best time and race other AI drivers round a track to get as close to first as you can. You earn money for each event and can buy new upgrades and cars to race. The game also has a multiplayer feature where you race other players round a track for XP and level ups to unlock better cars. Dirt is quite a serious and true to life racing game, one that is not so realistic is Motorstorm. Motorstorm is a racing game based in fantasy places and islands with extreme conditions and extreme vehicles to cause mayhem and destruction around the track; things like monster-trucks, volcanoes, NOs boost and car on car combat.
Platform	A game that involves controlling a sprite over and through obstacles to advance in the game. Usually played on hand held devices by all ages.	Mario is a plat-former based around an Italian plumber in a fantasy world, trying to save his princess from danger. Playing as Mario, you must venture though the world dodging and defeating enemies by jumping over or on them. There are also bricks you can smash your way through, some giving gold (collected and can be used to get extra lives and power ups) some giving power ups, each power up giving a unique power. Super Meat Boy is a platform game in which players control a small, dark red, cube-shaped character named Meat Boy, who must save his cube-shaped, heavily bandaged girlfriend Bandage Girl from the evil scientist Dr. Fetus. Players attempt to reach the end of each level, represented by Bandage Girl, while avoiding falling blocks, saw blades, and other fatal obstacles. The player can run and jump on platforms, and can slide down or jump from walls.
Role Playing Game	A game where the player must assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world, living out the tale or story. Played on all platforms but mostly PC and console by teenagers and adults of both genders.	In Skyrim, you design your character (race, facial feature ect.) and then play through the legend of the dragon born, someone with the gift of dragon speak. When Skyrim faces the destruction from the return of the dragons, it is your destiny to be its saviour and be the undoing of the dragons return. As you roam through the open world of Skyrim, completing quests and tasks to advance in the story line and level up your skills in crafting and combat until you are strong enough to defeat Alduin, leader of the dragon race. Fall out is an open world, free roam RPG game. It allows the player to solve the set tasks and problems in a multiple of ways in the fantasy time line where there was nuclear fallout after WW2, causing people to live in bunkers underground for hundreds of years until you venture out, discovering new civilisations of survivors and new and dangerous creatures and places.
Sandbox	The player uses tools to edit and roam freely through a virtual world letting their imagination and creativity run wild. Played on PC or Consoles by children.	Minecraft is an open world sandbox game, where the player must gather materials, craft and build tools and structures to survive against hunger and AI mobs that spawn in the darkness. The game uses blocks (cubes) to represent all materials and make the game feel like first person Lego and is one of the reasons it appeals to a younger audience. There is also multiplayer as players can join a server and survive and build cooperatively. Gmod is a sandbox physics game that has no objectives or aims and allows you to use props from other games to create structures and games within it.
Simulation	A game that tries to imitate and copy scenarios from real life. Used as a method of training and prediction or games. Played on PC by adults	The Sims is a game were you first create a character or a family of characters (name, age, gender, ethnicity, personality traits, aspirations and relations). Then, you buy these characters a house with a set budget, you then control the actions of these "Sims" on a day to day basis, getting them jobs, sending them school, home life and making friends or relationships. Almost any activity in real life is available in the game, it is realistic and true to life as it is simulating the reality of someone's day to day life. There are other more specific simulation games that simulate the lives of people in certain job roles. For example, Train simulator is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations putting players in charge of maintaining trail lines. Another, is Farming simulator were players are able to farm, breed livestock, grow crops and sell all assets created from farming.
Horror	A game usually set in a dark or eerie place, full of gore and jump scares round every corner. Played Mainly on PC by teenage boys and men.	Resident Evil, a zombie survival horror game. Players control the main characters through outbreaks of a biological weapon (T-virus) causing the dead to reanimate and attack/kill people, spreading the virus. The original games involved a lot of exploration and puzzle solving but recently has developed into a more action orientated game but keeping the gore and jump scares. Amnesia is a survival horror game were you play as Daniel, exploring a dark and foreboding castle, while avoiding monsters and other obstructions as well as solving puzzles and finding out who you are and the story behind the horrors in the castle.
Arcade	Retro style, simplistic 2D and low resolution, some remakes mimicking the games of the 1970s+. Classic arcade games are coin operated and made to be stationary and for public use.	Pac man was made in 1980 and is a 2D maze game with the aim of eating all the circles thought the maze and avoid the four enemy AI that chase you. Space Invaders was an arcade game released in 1978 as one of the earliest shooting games. The aim bin g to shoot down a fleet of invading alien ships as they speed it to land. This classic has been remade and adapted to modern day society and games but kept the basic idea. For example, space invaders extreme is a HD colour version of space invaders with an additional multiplayer mode of four person coop and online ranking systems. There are a lot more remakes of this game like a 3D version of space invades with a hack and slash feel, but still the same basic idea.

2) The good and the bad of

Pros of computer games	Cons of computer games
	Video games often demand a lot of time and attention of a persons day, with main story lines that can last up to 80 hours to complete, downloadable extensions onto the game and endless multilayer playability. this can cut into other aspects of someone's life and have serious negative affects, skipping meals, sleep, education etc. This can lead to sleeping deprivation, witch can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It also affects the brain and cognitive function. This constant tiredness can lead to a dependants on energy drinks to stay alert and on point when playing; But these drinks have their side effects like:palpitations, tremor / shaking, agitation / restlessness, gastrointestinal upset, chest pain, dizziness, paraesthesia (tingling or numbing of the skin), Insomnia, difficulty breathing and  headaches. Plus, because of the high levels of caffeine in energy drinks, they can lead to Increased blood pressure and heart palpitations with painful withdraw symptoms.
	Gaming alone comes with its health risks, excessive time spent staring at a TV or monitor can lead to headaches, blurred vision and even near-sightedness if frequent breaks aren't taken to relax your eyes. Furthermore, the lack of exercise and constantly sitting in one place for hours on end causes obesity and cholesterol build up in the blood witch can lead to clotting."Lack of exercise as 'deadly' as smoking" - Daily mail.
with multilayer functions, players can interact, communicate and get to know people they otherwise never would have had the chance to ( e.g. people from different areas of the world).Furthermore, in team based games, working and communication with others to achieve a common goal can develop team skills and communication.	With all this time spent on gaming instead of going out and socialising, people can become "shut in" losing contact with the outside world. instead of talking to people, meeting new people and sharing real experiences, they become dependant on the virtual socialisation of AI and players online.
	there are risks such as cyber bulling and abuse of player because of differences such as skill level, accents and ethnic backgrounds and this would be encouraged by the fact people can hide behind usernames. This "false identity" could also cause risk of players pretending to be someone the're not to gain trust or friendship of another online player and maybe even taking it further than virtual role playing and something much more dangerous (e.g. arranging to meet people under false pretences). A story on Oil millionaire's son , a 14 year old that was groomed through a video game- "The teenage son of a millionaire was stabbed to death by a ‘predator’ he met online who groomed him through video games" "Breck Bednar, 14, said he was going to a sleepover at a friend’s house on Sunday night.But secretly the teenager – who was said to be addicted to online computer games – travelled by train to the flat of an 18-year-old stranger who it is believed he had played with over the internet. Hours later, the church-going youngster was found dead by police at a flat in Grays, Essex – 30 miles away from the family home in Caterham, Surrey – after being knifed in the neck." -Mail Online.
gaming is a huge up and coming market growing massively every year. "The worldwide the game industry in 2007 was valued at $44.9 billion. This number was expected to grow 9.1% annually to $48.9 in 2011 and $68 billion in 2012, making it the fastest-growing component of the international media sector. In 2004, the worldwide industry generated more than $25.4 billion."- http://vgsales.wikia.com/ Gaming is making new job peritonitises and income to countries world wide and is a constantly evolving market meaning people will have to keep up with the new technologies and consoles to play the latest addition of there favourite game. Another way that games can generate livelihoods for people is E-sports, competitive game play/tournaments for cash prises and sponsors.	There are many prices pay for gaming, one being economical. Before you even buy a video game, you have to buy something to play it on, weather that be games console or PC and these alone can get quite pricey. For a standard console (PS3, X Box 360, wii) it costs around 100-150£, for a "next gen" console (PS4 X Box one wii u) it costs around 200-500£ and for a PC capable of running the latest games in a playable standard , around 400-1000£. This is a lot of money and we haven't even covered the cost of the actual games yet at about 20-50£. To get started playing games , you could easily rack up a price tag into the thousands, some families not being able to afford this making gaming more exclusive to the "better off" portion of the world.
	video games can cost time and even relationships as a price, massively cutting into your home life and work life and causing you to grow distant from those around you. Divorce online, a website dedicated to resolving unhappy marriages, claims that 15 percent of the divorces it has handled can be attributed to spouses that are addicted to online games such as world of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The release also offers comments from one disgruntled 21-year-old wife from London named Jessica Ellis, 24, who married husband Michael in 2008. "He was addicted to World of Warcraft but played other games now and then," said Jessica. "When it became serious he was playing up to eight hours a day and I threatened to leave. He then stopped playing World of Warcraft for a while and started playing Call of Duty instead but the amount he was playing just gradually increased until I could not take it anymore. It got so bad that he even organised to play on the day of our second wedding anniversary as we had decided to go out at the weekend instead. I was constantly trying to get him to cut back but he didn't think he had a problem or was doing anything wrong until I told him I wanted to leave but by that time it was too late.”- http://www.gamepolitics.com/
Video games create another reality that players can escape to, forgetting the troubles of the real world and living a virtual life that is usually a lot more interesting and exciting than their own	having such in depth and immerseive stories or from the sheer amount of time spent playing them, players can begin to lose their grip on the real world and confuse or mix it with the games virtual reality. This separation from reality can not only be dangerous for the players mental state but also put those around them in danger, especially games that feature extreme levels of violence and disturbing scenes. An example of where separation from reality has caused or put people in harms way: "Warren Leblanc, 17, repeatedly stabbed 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah after luring him to a Leicester park". The mother stated," her son's killer had mimicked a game called Manhunt, developed by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North, in which the players score points for violent killings"-BBC News England
video game content is age rated based on its levels of violence, strong/offensive language, use of pornographic imagery or nudity and sexual references.This is a system put in place to warn players of what kind of game they are getting into to protect and younger members of society as you cannot buy rated games without ID. Also, in some games where there are especially disturbing/offensive scenes, they have the option to be "skipped". The problem with these systems is that they can be quite easily ignored by parents that buy their children games. Plus, with online stores you can bypass the ID requirement and all you need is a debit card. Furthermore, society these day is so desensitised to crime, violence and sex that it has almost become the norm.	With games becoming more and more violent and containing themes of crime and scenes of a disturbing nature this not only desensitises society to violence and crime in general but can also encourage and influence violent/illegal acts, adding to the danger of separation from reality. A report about an incident outside of ASDA just after the release of GTA 5 ( a games based around the criminal activity in america) where a 23 year old man was killed.-"A 23-year-old gamer who queued up for over an hour to retrieve his copy of the game, is stabbed outside of ASDA in London After making his purchase, the man departed the store and made his way back home. Within just shy of an hour and a half of the game’s release, a gang ambushed the young man; many of his possessions were stolen, including his watch, a cell phone and the copy of GTA V he had just purchased, but not before being brutally beaten with a brick and then stabbed."- DailyMail.co.uk
some types of games are designed to be educational or "brain training". These games are ones used in classes to teach areas of maths, English, science etc. usually through a question/answer format with either a score or reward system to make learning in the classroom more fun. websites like http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/games/ a BBC website with games to teach GCSE standard subjects. Also, there are games advertised to the public that are educational, these are usually a lot more developed games with more functionality, depth and story than the ones used in schools. Often referred to as "brain training" games are available for all ages and vary on the difficulty of the puzzles. they are often on hand held and portable devices for people to keep there brain ticking when traveling or killing time.  Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?e.g. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training : how old is your brain,  A hit on Nintendo DS, it encouraged millions of users to keep their minds sharp with simple, daily exercises. There are more than a dozen different numerical and verbal exercises designed to be played for a few minutes each day. You can track your training and test your progress by checking your Brain Age score.	Video games can demand a lot of time and attention, this could take time and attention from the players education. e.g staying up all night playing through a game, not only taking time away from study and homework but also mean that the person is tired and not in the best mental/physical state to take in information at school. Also, players could skip whole days of school or study to play on video games.
hand eye coordination is the ability to do tasks involving your hands and eyes to work together. This motor skill is greatly benefited by playing video games as you control things like moment with your hands on controllers of mouse/keyboard according to things shown on screen in real time. environments in game change very quickly and requires the player to react faster than usual, giving them above average hand eye coordination ans speed. video games not only enhance you hand eye coordination but also your ability to notice changes in your environment as this is another large part of gaming." A video gamer driving down the street is more likely to pick out a child running after a ball than a non gamer" - Professor Daphne Bavelier.	Can cause  repetitive strain injuries, skin disorders or other health issues. Other problems include video game-provoked seizures in patients with epilepsy. In rare and extreme cases, deaths have resulted from excessive video game playing (sitting for long periods of time, may cause a need for aputation).
games usually require problem solving and/or strategy and planing to reach objectives. whether this is overcoming an obstacle in an adventure role playing game or team cooperation and strategy in an online shooter, all require aspects of thinking and strategy. Real time strategy games are heavily focused on this (hence the name). This genera of game but opponents up against each other, building facilities and units to siege and destroy the opponents structures and units. Players must be amazingly efficient with time and resources to build their empires and armies. Plus, when singeing they would have to think in a strategic mind set, almost militaristic and adapt according to the oppositions moves. In some cases video games ans simulator are used to test and train members of the armed forces to enhance and check up on their problem solving and strategic thinking without using massive amounts of time on practical training.

Psychological factors

Sound:

Games have sound effects and sound tracks. Sound effects are sounds of things in the environment around the player (e.g. gun fire in the distance to the left, foot steps behind you in the darkness). These are used to give the player an idea of his surroundings but also add depth to the environment and distance. Also these can be used to scare or get the imagination of the player going e.g. hearing something in the dark/behind you/on the other side of a wall.

A sound track is the background music through out the game. This music changes depending on the point in the game, if the player is doing something exiting and action packed, the tempo of the music and pitch would go up to invoke an emotional response from the player; in this case, his hear rate would increase and so would the thrill/adrenaline of the fight scene.

The combination of these makes for a depth and immersion of the player in the games reality and makes them think, feel and react as if they were there.

High score listings:

Some games give score points as a reward for completing parts of the game in a certain time or by completing certain objectives. These scores are then saved and listed, making you want to better yourself and your score. Also, some games have a score list from all over the world, not only making you want to beat you own record but everyone else's too.

Competitive games:

Competitiveness in games can be score based though listings or co-op scores though the campaign but also online with team based games etc. Today, this competition between players isn't just for bragging rights, but for fame and fortune too. Hole tournaments set up for the purpose of e-sports, organized video game competitions (especially between professionals). The most common video game genres are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter, and multiplayer online battle arena. Player vs player and team vs team for reasonably large sums of prize money, played in front of a crowd of fans, allowing people to make a living form competitive game play.

One of the main organisations for e-sports is Major League Gaming.

peer pressure:

as more and more people are playing video games, the rate that new players start is going to increase too because of peer pressure ans social norm. If all of someones friends are playing a game and they ask that person to get that game and join them, chances are that they will. As time goes on, teenagers playing video games is becoming more and more a part of "teenage life" and is just another stereo type of teenagers that more often than not, is true. Games are becoming a bigger part of everyone's day to day life and that is only going to increase.

Fun:

People play games because of the entertainment the games provide, the fun they have and the sense of accomplishment they get form completing something or an objective. Players strive to complete there next task or problem to continue to receive this feeling and can even become addicted to fun. This causes them to play excessively and fixate on the gaming and getting to the next does of fun and accomplishment. Games make it gradually harder for players to get there fix by increasing level length and difficulty, this means that players don't become desensitized to the feeling or bored and will happily keep playing. 

Leveling:

Leveling up has the same affect, players want to get to the next level, they want to better them selfless and their character or abilities to get that "high". Again, as you progress thought a game, leveling becomes harder and takes more XP meaning you don't get bored and want to get that next level fix.

3)

Types of visual styles and how they affect the game:

Brain storm of vual syles and effects on a games atmposphere: Bleak, atmospheric, gloomy, clinical, dark, lonely, empty, clustered, tense, depressing, sense of freedom/open, trapped/claustrophobic,  cartoon-ish, cel-shaded, comic, manga, exaggeration, fast paced, militaristic, arcade, photo-realistic, abstract, happy, upbeat , bright, relaxed, sick/twisted.

2D- A game with only 2 dimensional graphics, flat. Often, plat-formers like Mario are 2D as these games only need side scrolling functionality.

3D- A game with 3 dimensional graphics by manipulating images on a video display to interact with the player.

Games that what the player to be immersed or get different perspectives on the game in a 3D environment, like FPSs and RPGs 

Cel-Shaded- A non-photo-realistic designed to make 3-D computer graphics look flat by using less shading colour instead of tints and shades. This gives the game a comic or cartoon style. This graphic type makes the game quite bright, colourful and stand out.

Borderlands is a game that uses cel-shading, it is an action RPG and a FPS set in a fantasy future. The game has quite a comedic undertone and doesn't take its self too seriously, this is shown though this cartoon like style and gives the game a atmosphere of fun in its carnage. It adds bright and cheerful tone and makes the 3D models look more 2D as if in a comic.

Exaggeration- similar to photo-realistic but over the top graphics and colours of certain aspects of a character of surrounding. It can give the impression that the game isn't serious, a manga/anime or comic style.

Games such as Final Fantasy, an action RPG, use this style. They exaggerate things like the characters hair and outfits, making them big bold so that they stand out. They also exaggerate the size of the weapons used, like massive swords and use big and elaborate animations. This style can also be noticed in the level design, with huge cites and landscapes with exotic and bright colour schemes. This makes the game feel epic, large and slightly comical and larger than life.

Another game that uses this style is Batman Arkham asylum. It exaggerates the muscular physique of the characters, especially batman. This makes batman seem more of a dominant male force but also makes the gameplay feel more like you are playing through a comic.

Photo-realistic- the graphics are an attempt to reproduce a photo of a real life image as realistically as possible.

For games that want the player to have a real life perspective on the game environments and be immersed.

 

Skyrim is the story of an adventurer with mythical powers, learning their destiny as the dragonborn as they venture on an epic quest. The game is very open and free allowing you to choose your own path of action adventure. Full of beautifully lit landscapes and scenery, topped with huge and magnificent buildings and mountains.

 All this gives the game a very huge and epic atmosphere, a small person standing up to a big world and overcoming it. The graphics are very photo-realistic and the graphics are 3D, immersing you into the fancy world of tamriel, rich in character, story and tense action.

Grand theft auto five is another 3D open world game with a scene of freedom  in level design and gameplay, with a dark and violent plot involving crime and murder and the ability to free roam and cause havoc and chaos when, where and how you please. Full of fast pace and tense gunfights, car chases and heists. Like most rock star games, the world and level design is very open and large and the graphics are photo-realistic giving you a true to life experience.

Another rock star game is red dead redemption. Similarly to GTA5, it is a third person free roam open world game with a quite dark and violent plot. However, it is set in the nineteen hundreds in the west, so the scenery is quite bright dry and hot. Also it is photorealistic again immersing you into the life of an outlaw, full of murder guns and twisted plot lines.

Abstract- Opposite to photorealism, the graphics do not try to resemble and real life object or image and involve very unrealistic shapes and lines. Used in a lot of indie and arcade style games.

Geometry wars is an abstract style game, it is an arcade game where you must survive against swarms of enemies. It uses bright colours and fast moving shapes to give a fast paced and attractive game play that is massively entertaining. The game does not get hung up on back story and charter development as its just colourful shapes moving on the screen leavening only pure entertainment.

Pixel art- Graphics are designed on a pixel based level, pixel by pixel building up sprites and environments. Usually used in 2D games as there is easy and there is no need for more than one perspective of an object, but recently has been used in 3D games.

One of these is Minecraft, it is an open world sandbox game, the graphics are 3D, 32 bit and blocky making the game feel like Lego. The game is quite bright and cheerful with upbeat or happy music and friendly AI with cartoon-like graphics. There is no real set storyline or way of plating to it is very free flowing and full of endless possibilities and creativity. It can be quite tense in situations when on the edge of death but is usually relaxed and slow paced. There is no gore or violence aside from killing animals for food and mobs for loot and safety, then the model disappears. All this give the game a friendly and safe feel.

 4)

Idea:

My Game idea, is a 2D maze/puzzel game set in a fantsy existance in a medevil era. The player will be a knight, raiding a mysterious dungeon. You have to collect loot and items like keys by working the maze and defeating enemie to advance in through the levels and reach the end goal of a battle with the end boss and guadian of the dungeon and untold fortunes. My target audience teenage boys and men.

Story ideas:

A great darkness plagues the cities and towns of this fantsy land. The only thing standing between the lives of thousands and the gloom black, shodowing over the lands, are those that fight for the light.

Known as the knights of the light or the “phonex”, live to protect the realm and serve till death. After a loss of faith in thier order followed great attack on the house of pheonex leaving a single knight, whos sle task was to defend what light was left in the world. So the last remaing phoenex boldly ventured deep into the dark abyss to kill this evil at its heart and bring light back to the world.

This is the point in the story that the game is set, exploring dungeons to destroi the dark at its source.

-“Rise and Rise again and again. Like The Phoenix from the ashes. Until the Lambs have become Lions and the Rule of Darkness is no more” a biblical quote that i used as ispiration and will referance in the game.

Visual style of my game:

As the game has a medieval theme and it set in a dungeon, the lighting will be dark creating an eerie atmosphere as you will not know what lurks in the darkness. It will be quite exaggerated with the monsters you face and the look of the dungeons and the knight and his weapons. Also, it will be 2D and pixel art graphics this is because I feel these graphic and visual art types best fit a platform game and are easiest to create with the software available. Plus this will add an arcade or retro feel to the game with may help the appeal to my target audience.

Games with similar styles to this:

Limbo is a 2D game based around the place between life and death in a search for a lost soul. The setting and scenery are dark and dimly lit, giving the game a gloomy atmosphere and the lack of colour making it bleak. On this journey, you are alone in a quite empty place making you feel depressed. Also, throughout the game, the level design is very linear and forces you into dark places and corners giving a scene of claustrophobia.

Another game similar to this is the binding of Isaac, it is a 2D cel-shaded game. The game is about a crying child named. After his mother is given a message from God commanding her son be sacrificed as proof of her faith, Isaac flees into the dark, horrific basement to stay alive. Not only is the story line twisted and gloomy but so is the level design with dim lighting and gore. Throughout the game you are fighting through small clustered rooms, alone, again causing a feeling of being trapped. All round depressing.

Concept art and sprite ideas:

PICS WITH ANNOTATION GO HERE