Homework 11

Chapter 15

1.      A goal with no obstacles is not worth pursuing. 

True, if there is no obstacles from the goal then the player is left without a challenge.

2.     What is the relationship between the main character and the goal? Why does the character care about it? 

The characters relationship to the goal is they must be the same.  The character should feel an emotional need or desire to obtain the goal.  There must be a meaningfulness between the character and goal to make the player  want to go after the goal.

3.     What are the obstacles between the character and the goal? 

               The obstacles in our game our the enemies and the exploration for the balls.

4.     Do the obstacles gradually increase in difficulty? If yes, how? 

               As of now they do not but if we where to continue the game they would.

5.     Great stories often involve the protagonist transforming to overcome the obstacle. Does your protagonist transform? 

               Our hero is only transformed by the feeling of accomplishment for having saved the world. There really        isn't any involvement of the development of the character in our game.

6.     How is the game world simpler than the real world? 

               There is only a few interactions and everything within the world are easily seen to be artificial.  So our   world is defiantly simpler than the real world.

7.      What kind of transcendent power do you give to the player? 

               Our player has no transcendent power other than the character controls.

8.     What is the weirdest element in the game story? 

               The enemies are pink blobs and don't really make sense.   But its part of the theme we based the game             off of.

9.     How do you ensure that the weirdest thing does not confuse or alienate the player? 

This doesn't affect anything in the game really.  This is just a trivial aspect of the game.

10.  Will the players be interested in the game story? Why? 

No. Only because the game story won't be developed far enough along.

Chapter 16

1.       In what sense does the player have freedom of action? Does the player "feel" free at these times? 

               The player has free actions most of the game.  The strict and slightly awkward movements don't leave you completely free though.  For the action that are given the player has freedom to do whatever they please.  There isn't any freedom options for the player to be had which does result in a constrained game. 

2.      What are the constraints imposed on the players? Do they feel constrained? 

               The constraints on the player are on just about everything.  There aren't any player options implemented in the game other than movement and weapon choice(hopefully).  So the player may feel constrained but this is overcome by the simplicity of the game not needing any of these options.

3.      Ideally, what would you like your players to do (lens #72)

               I would like the player of our game to explore the levels for the dragon balls and enjoy the environment around them along the way.  I would like them to come up with strategies to kill the enemies faster and more efficient.  All to reach the final level.

4.      Can you set constraints to "kind of" force the player to do it? 

               The constraint in which we have in place is that you cannot advance to another level untill you have found the dragon ball.

5.      Can you design your interface to "force" the player to do what you (the designer) wish him/her to do? 

               Absolutely.  If you can think like a player you can have foresight into his next actions.  Then you can develop a game to work towards the goal by the environment changing and simple goals leading to a bigger goal.