level 3 textures and boxes

Level 2 textures and boxes

level 1 textures and boxes 2.0

file size is an issue and we may lose clarity in the final one if its taking to long to run and the texture resolution must have to be reduced, but we will see.

Prototyping Report

Digital Prototype Report:-

# Of Testers - 5
#1 - Stephen Kent: No experience of facebook games, rarely plays arcade browser games/limbo/bejeweled.
#2 - Mark Gallie: Plays facebook games often also plays arcade browser games once a week.
#3 - Natasha Warner: Plays a lot of facebook games as well as arcade browser games.
#4 - Kat: Plays a lot of facebook games as well as arcade browser games.
#5 - Bex Sherwood: Plays a lot of facebook games as well as arcade browser games.

----------

The testers weren't able to get very far, and thus these results do not represent the entire level.

Q1 - #3,4,5 - No opinion. #1 - Strongly Disagree. #2 - Agree
Q2 - #1,2,3,5 - Agree. #4 - No Opinion.
Q3 - #1,2,5 - Disagree. #3 - Strongly Agree. #4 - No Opinion
Q4 - #2,4,5 - Agree. #3 - Strongly Agree. #1 - Disagree.
Q5 - #1,5 - Agree. #2,3,4 - Strongly Agree.
Q6 - #1,4 - Disagree. #5 - Strongly Disagree. #2,3 - Agree.
Q7 - #2,4,5 - No Opinion. #1,3 - Disagree.
Q8 - #1,5 - Agree. #2,3 - Disagree. #4 - No Opinion

Q1 - During the test, very few of the players got past the initial power-up and the general feedback was that the slow down power up should not have been placed there. Although due to the Questionnaire feedback, only one person thought the power-ups were well spaced. This should be addressed in further revisions.

Q2 - Everyone died during this prototype, and while none of them got very far, they all agreed that it was challenging overall.

Q3 - Three of the testers decided that the spacing of the obstacles was good, even though it was obvious that it was perhaps too challenging. (Due to the how none of them passed the first 1/3 after several attempts.)

Q4 - Everyone save for our first and most inexperienced tester thought the music was extremely fitting and appropriate.

Q5 - Everyone agreed that the sounds and beeps were appropriate in conjunction with the atmosphere of the game.

Q6 - The controls, a hotly contested subject due to a large and unknown glitch when it came to sliding. This glitch seriously affected the results of this test and once the glitch is corrected, we will have to conduct this experiment again.

Q7 - Only two out of the five testers gave an opinion on this and it was sadly negative. With this feedback, we have already decided to move the checkpoints.

Q8 - The feedback for this is balanced, the agree:disagree ratio is the same. Because of this, we have decided to keep our three lives for the default difficulty yet if we add more difficulties, we could easily add five lives.

The Digital prototyping was extremely useful. As the developers we know the game inside and out and so using people that had no experience with the game showed us just how flawed the layout and design was. Following the wealth of feedback, we have made some substantial improvements to our game:

• Removed a large number of obstacles and stretched the level so that the individual steps are longer. While our testers were happy with the overall layout, we observed that it was far too challenging and there were specific parts that were impossible to overcome without hitting the obstacles and falling behind. 
• Moved the checkpoints: Originally, the checkpoints were every 1/3 of the level. We have still kept three checkpoints, but moved them closer to the start and positioned them in much more rewarding places. 
• Revised the power-ups. The placement and effect of the power-ups have been evaluated and repositioned so that they are now more appropriate for the level difficulty/challenge.

-------------------------------------------------------

Paper Prototype Testing:-

Pre-Word: The paper prototypes were to simply test the logic of the puzzles and in no way reflects the physical challenge. 

# Of Testers - 3
#1 - Michael Craddock - Hardcore Gamer: Extensive experience with platform puzzle games.
#2 - Ryan Quinn - Hardcore Gamer: No real experience with platform puzzle games.
#3 - Dwayne Husbands - Hardcore Gamer: Extensive experience with platform puzzle games.

Test Number 1: Puzzle 1 (Treehouse)
#1 - Thought puzzle was of good length and thought, "It was a little bit" challenging. They also got that it was in a park.
#2 - Thought puzzle was of good length but thought there was no challenge. They also got that it was in a park.
#3 - Thought puzzle was of good length but once again there was no challenge. They also got that it was in a park.

Test Number 2: Puzzle 2 (Factory)
#1 - 24 button presses, 2 minutes, 38 seconds to complete. Thought it was too hard and the puzzle was of good length. Chose Industrial Building.
#2 - 35 button presses, 3 minutes, 57 seconds to complete. Thought it was challenging and the puzzle was of good length. Chose Industrial Building.
#3 - 13 button presses, 1 minute, 24 seconds to complete. Thought it was challenging and that it was of good length. Chose Factory.

Test Number 3: Puzzle 3 (Industrial Building)
#1 - 7 button presses, 1 minute, 56 seconds to complete. Thought it there was a "Small Challenge" and the puzzle was of good length. Thought it was in the Industrial Building.
#2 - 4 button presses, 3 minutes, 13 seconds to complete. Thought it was challenging and the puzzle was of good length. Thought it was a factory.
#3 - 5 button presses, 1 minute, 30 seconds to complete. Thought it was challenging but that the puzzle was too short. Thought it was Industrial Building.

The Paper Prototype opened up a lot of issues we hadn't previously thought of. During puzzle two, we realized that there was no real indication of what you had to do. Which lent itself to large amounts of confusion and was why there are massive differences in results. Through this feedback we have changed the puzzles by thus:

• Puzzle 2: We have added a sign stating: All other levers must be deactivated if they crate is to descend. 
• Puzzle 3: We found a glitch where the player presses lever 1 and 2 and logically, cannot complete the puzzle. Changed this by when 1 and 2 are activated, there is a natural hazard meaning they cannot cross the rotating cog and therefore will not fail the challenge.

Anything else needed?

Final Presentation Dialogue Version 1

Introduction:

Introduce Team –

Duck Run is a level two game design project. The brief describes the game as a 2.5D (3D world but restricted to 2D movements) platform game for your browser; follow Drake, the daring, dashing and delightful duck as he escapes from a zombie apocalypse! The world is falling apart; can you keep a level head and help him get through alive?

Throughout the process we have listened to user testing as well as the designers in our team and have come up with a series of changes and updates. While some differ greatly, others have made no real change to the brief. 

Changes:

We have removed the ability for drake to fly, we found that while doing this; the player skipped a lot of the level.

Our character concept has changed dramatically. We decided to opt for a smoother 3D model rather than the original “8 bit retro”.

As our design began to take shape, we realised that co-op just wasn’t fitting. Thus, we decided to design the game solely for a single player experience.

We decided that it was much more fitting if the final phase of the game was based in a rubber duck factory instead of the initial office building.

We also decided that we wanted to keep a single uniform zombie class. 

Demonstration:

Here we have some short recorded demonstration which highlights all aspects and controls of our game.

Running – Here we see the running phase, this is the longest part of our game. We have three running phases in total, each with a unique look, layout and feel.

Puzzle – After each running phase, we have a small puzzle. All three puzzles have different challenges and different themes.

Animations – Here we can see the character and zombie up close. We are all really pleased with how these look and feel they really emphasise the mood and style of our game.

Future Developments:

While our game is already in a complete state: There is plenty we could see add.

New game modes such as multiplayer co-op and levels could really increase our demographic as well as adding new life to the game.

We also feel we could add more power-ups and difficulties as well as all this, we have designs ready for new zombie types. 

Assets:

Here is a quick look at some of our graphic assets. We’ve made sure that these fit both the art style and our target audience needs to ensure familiarity across all three levels and puzzles.

Title

Changed the name of the game... Literally. Hopefully today we'll get a fully functional game up and running, and get ready for our presentation.

Well, that's not good...

So guys, we have a problem. I know you all know by now, but writing it here nonetheless. 3DS Max isn't working at uni today, so team meeting is a bit... Crippled. Anyhow, we meet up tomorrow, EARLY-like!

Because of this, we need to have as much ready as possible. Everyone bring any "tools" that might be needed. That means stuff to draw with/on, and all kinds of useful stuff you all use for the stuff you do.

James and Dan, talk amongst yourselves and ensure we have all models, drawings and textures needed for the first level. If you're confused about something, give me a call.

Nick and David, is all the code for those levels OK? What more is needed? Let me know. I know there was some puzzle stuff, and with the third puzzle superficially. Dan has that info, so call/FB him to get it :).

David, we might need to edit the audio a little, so any chance you can bring the audio file + the editing program tomorrow?

Hopefully I'll have all the animations for the PC and NPC done, if 3DS works for me at home...

General: Optimally we have the start menu for the demonstration as well, so that when we show it we can start the game from there, but we'll see... How shall we do it in terms of demonstrating both phases (running and puzzle)? Simply put them as two different games and play both separately? 

Can anyone else think of something that I'm forgetting?

Hey, so tomorrow meeting at 13:00. :) Let's get the running phase for level 1 completely done diddely done with. And then 'd like the puzzle phase to be completed 100% on monday. That way we have a finished level 1 to show. Hopefully this will make it easier for us to just copy and put in stuff for the next two levels and finish up fast.

I'm working on the animation of the playable character, and will try to have that with the neccessary code on sunday. Dan, if you can please have the model for the zombie on sunday, I'll animate it there so we have both of them. :)

David, based on feedback we might need to do something about the music I'm afraid. It's a file you made youself right? in any case, I really like it so I don't want to remove it or anything, but we might need to make it a bit more intense. Hmmm.... Hard to explain here, we'll deal with this on sunday.

User Experience Digital Prototype

We learnt loads. :D

Will put more detail up later, for now though. Nothing will be put up. : )

User Experience: Digital Prototype Testing

The digital prototype testing will follow the same rules as the paper prototyping:

• Pre-Test Questionnaire - Demographic, determines player experience.
• Digital Prototype - Digital representation of the game to allow the player in game experience.
• Post-Test Questionnaire - To test player experience and game play mechanics.
  

Pre-Test Questionnaire -

The Pre-Test Questionnaire follows the same path as the paper prototype as all it is doing is testing our demographic and if were to change it, we would have inaccurate demographic information across our tests.

Digital Prototype -

The digital prototype will demonstrate the running phases and test the overall feel of the game. It is imperative we create this as this is the only way we can test all of our gameplay mechanics working together.

Post-Test Questionnaire-

The post-test questionnaire is different compared to the paper prototype. The following questions are thus;

How much do you agree with these statements:

--The powerup were well spaced.

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The level was challenging

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The level was too cluttered with obstacles

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The music was appropriate

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The sounds were appropriate

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The controls were responsive and familiar

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--The checkpoints were well spaced

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

--It would've been fine if after 5 deaths, I was returned to the beginning.

Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagee, Disagree, Strongly Disagree

----------------

During the digital prototype, we will record how many times the player dies and record problematic places where the player dies often.

Heres the revised audio code and code for the pickups:

AUDIO:

//****************************************************************************************************
//VARIABLE DECLARATION
//****************************************************************************************************
public var levelNo: int = 1;
public var firstPlay: boolean = true;
private var pc: GameObject;
private var cam: GameObject;
var pcZ: double;
var camZ: double;
var ambClips: AudioClip[];
var FXClips: AudioClip[];
var clipNo: int;
var soundName: String;
//****************************************************************************************************
//FIND NECESSARY GAME OBJECTS
//****************************************************************************************************
function Start()
{
    pc = GameObject.Find("PC Prefab(Clone)");
    cam = GameObject.Find("PC Camera(Clone)");
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//AMBIENT MUSIC CODE FOR LEVELS 1, 2 AND 3
//****************************************************************************************************
function Update()
{   
    pcZ = pc.transform.position.z;
    camZ = cam.transform.position.z;

    if(pcZ > (camZ - 5) && firstPlay == true)
    {
        firstPlay = false;
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 1;
        audio.Stop();
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 2;
        audio.clip = ambClips[clipNo];
        audio.Play();
    }
    else if(pcZ <= (camZ - 5) && firstPlay == false)
    {
        firstPlay = true;
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 2;
        audio.Stop();
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 1;
        audio.clip = ambClips[clipNo];
        audio.Play();
    }
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//PLAY EVENT ACTIVATED SOUND
//****************************************************************************************************
function PlayFXSound(soundName: String)
{
    switch(soundName)
    {
        case "jump":
            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(FXClips[0], cam.transform.position, 0.1);
            break;
           
        case "slide":
            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(FXClips[1], cam.transform.position, 0.4);
            break;
           
        case "pickup":
            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(FXClips[2], cam.transform.position, 0.5);
            break;
           
        case "die":
            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(FXClips[3], cam.transform.position, 0.7);
            break;
           
        case "zombie":
            AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(FXClips[4], cam.transform.position, 0.5);
            break;
           
        default:
            print("Sound Manager: ERROR! invalid sound clip name.");
            break;
    }
}


PICKUPS:

//****************************************************************************************************
//VARIABLE DECLARATION
//****************************************************************************************************
private var pc: GameObject;
private var pcScript: PC_Movement_Puzzel;
var mesh: Mesh;
var sound: SoundManager;
var powerValue: int = 1;
var powerType: int = 1;
var collision: boolean;
var distance: float;

function Start()
{
   
    pc = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Player");
    pcScript = pc.GetComponent(PC_Movement_Puzzel);
    sound = GameObject.Find("Sound Manager").GetComponent(SoundManager);
    mesh = GetComponentInChildren(MeshFilter).mesh;
    powerValue = 1;
    powerType = 1;
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//POWER-UP LOGIC
//****************************************************************************************************
function Update()
{
    print(pc);
    print(pcScript);
    transform.Rotate(0, 3, 0);
   
    distance = Vector3.Distance(pc.transform.position, transform.position);
   
    if(distance < 1)
    {
        print("pickup");
        PickUpHandle();
    }
}

function PickUpHandle()
{
    switch(powerType)
    {
        case 1:
            sound.PlayFXSound("pickup");
            pcScript.SpeedUp(1);
            print("case 1");
            Destroy(mesh);
            yield WaitForSeconds(2.5);
            pcScript.SpeedUp(0);
            break;
           
        case 2:
            sound.PlayFXSound("pickup");
            Time.timeScale = 0.5;
            Destroy(mesh);
            yield WaitForSeconds(15);
            Time.timeScale = 1;
            break;
           
        case 3:
            sound.PlayFXSound("pickup");
            pc.godMode = true;
            Destroy(mesh);
            yield WaitForSeconds(15);
            pc.godMode = false;
            break;
           
        case 4:
            sound.PlayFXSound("pickup");
            if(!pc.godMode)
            {
                pc.pcLives -= 1;
                pc.pcSpeed = pc.pcSpeed/2;
                Destroy(mesh);
                yield WaitForSeconds(0.33);
                pc.pcSpeed = pc.pcSpeed*2;
            }
            break;
           
        case 5:
            sound.PlayFXSound("pickup");
            Destroy(mesh);
            break;
    }
   
    Destroy(this);
}

hey guys, heres the code iv done so far for the audio stuffs:

Sound Management:

//****************************************************************************************************
//VARIABLE DECLARATION
//****************************************************************************************************
public var levelNo: int = 1;
public var firstPlay: boolean = true;
private var levelManager: GameObject;
private var pc: GameObject;
private var cam: GameObject;
var pcZ: double;
var camZ: double;
var sounds: GameObject[];
var clipNo: int;
var soundName: String;
//****************************************************************************************************
//FIND NECESSARY GAME OBJECTS
//****************************************************************************************************
function Start()
{
    levelManager = GameObject.Find("Level Manager");
    pc = GameObject.Find("PC Prefab(Clone)");
    cam = GameObject.Find("PC Camera(Clone)");
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//AMBIENT MUSIC CODE FOR LEVELS 1, 2 AND 3
//****************************************************************************************************
function Update()
{   
    pcZ = pc.transform.position.z;
    camZ = cam.transform.position.z;

    if(pcZ > (camZ - 10) && firstPlay == true)
    {
        cleanUp();
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 2;
        firstPlay = false;
        Instantiate(sounds[clipNo], cam.transform.position, transform.rotation);
    }
    else if(pcZ <= (camZ - 10) && firstPlay == false)
    {
        cleanUp();
        firstPlay = true;
        clipNo = (levelNo*2) - 1;
        Instantiate(sounds[clipNo], cam.transform.position, transform.rotation);
    }
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//EVENT ACTIVATED SOUND
//****************************************************************************************************
function PlayPCSound(soundName: String)
{
    switch(soundName)
    {
        case "jump":
       
            break;
           
        default:
            levelManager.DisplayMessage("Sound Manager: ERROR! invalid sound clip name.");
            break;
    }
}
//****************************************************************************************************
//DELETE ALL EXISTING AMBIENT SOUNDS
//****************************************************************************************************
function cleanUp()
{
    var soundObj: GameObject;

    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound0(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound1(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound2(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound3(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound4(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
    soundObj = GameObject.Find("Sound5(Clone)");
    Destroy(soundObj);
}

Play Sound:

var clip: AudioClip;
var Cam: GameObject;

function Start()
{
    AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(clip, Cam.transform.position, 0.5);
   
}
var clip: AudioClip;
var Cam: GameObject;

function Start()
{
    AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(clip, Cam.transform.position, 0.3);
   
}

function End()
{
    Destroy(this);
}

Level Design: Level Prototypes.

The level prototypes have been refined once again.

After some basic play throughs of our digital level prototype, we quickly came to the conclusion that there were simply too many objects. Deleting quite a few of the objects has improved the experience while also maintaining a challenging game.

Not only has this been done, the level prototypes have also classified checkpoints and zombie locations, they also include separate textures for standard obstacles and zombies.

Testing for these will occur on Tuesday.

Level three

So, this is a picture of level 3 :)

Meeting.

So, just putting it up here for a greater chance of people getting the information. We're having a full team meeting tomorrow (Saturday 14th). It's really important that we have this meeting, so please show up. We meet at 1 0'clock in the ludo lab.

Post-protottype test.

We did some paper based prototype testing of the puzzles today. It was clearly quite good that we did this as we got some good insight on whether or not they actually work etc.

We found with puzzle one that the navigationy part was a bit too easy, so we're going back to the rotating platform being a windmill. This puzzle is supposed to be a skill challenge after all. It also seems like the two npcs would indeed be great to have there, and would really make the puzzle better.

In the second puzzle, the logics one, we found that we need to clarify a few things, such as a sign stating how the lower four trapdoors need to be opened in order for the fifth one to open, making the box fall down. The three people who tested for us, finished in 1.5min, 2.5min and 4 minutes, so we need to look at that when deciding on time limit.

The third puzzle was the most discussed one. It seems to work fairly well, but there was a problem where you can get stuck if the wrong levers are activated and you go forward. Instead of redesigning the puzzle, we will add an electrical hazard that activates when this wrong combination is used, which will effectivly halt your path. To deactivate it, the levers need to be activated in the correct order. This will combine aspects of both the logic and the navigational puzzle, which makes sense as it's our final puzzle.

Puzzle #2

Puzzle Design Images

Puzzle 1:- Park



















Puzzle 2:-Factory/Warehouse




















Puzzle 3:- Factory/Workshop

Level 2 prototype! Yay!

Wewtz!

Character Design - just ducking about

pre-textures and touch ups

Evidence that stuff is being done, even if at a slow pace.

obviously just a mock up, the backgrounds are not layered on separate planes and they are placeholder textures atm (will apply and save custom textures to a 3D's '.mat' file) additionally the terrain itself will be poly edited to make it less 'block-eey'

...still need to finish trees...god damn trees

Puzzles Update

Pretty much finished the modelling for puzzles 1 and 3 now, might need some tweaking here and there. I need Christian's revised design in order to finish puzzle 2 though. Here's some screenshots to keep you guys updated. WHEN ARE WE MEETING NEXT?
... - D.

User Experience: Post-Test Questionnaire

After completing each puzzle, the player will then complete a series of questionnaires. Each one has been made so that it fits each puzzle so as a tester, we don't have to worry about different questionnaires for different puzzles. When giving them the test, hand them a printed image of the puzzle as well, this will allow them to better remember the puzzle and the challenges they face. For example, say Tester1 is about to start the Questionnaire for Puzzle1, he would be given a copy of the Questionnaire AND an image of Puzzle 1.

Questionnaire:

Puzzle #:

Name:

Were you able to differentiate between things which were interactable and things that weren't?
1- I was unsure about the interactive parts of the puzzle.
2- The interactable parts of each puzzle were clear to see.
3- Other:



Were you able to understand the challenges, how they worked and how to overcome them, or did you struggle?
1- I struggled greatly, it was too hard.
2- It was challenging.
3- There was no challenge

Considering this is a minigame, do you feel that the Puzzle was over too quickly?
1- Yes, the puzzle was too short.
2- No, the puzzle was of good length.

Where do you feel this particular puzzle is set? (Location)



What parts of this puzzle can you imagine being the most interesting?

User Experience: Paper Prototype Testing.

Paper Prototype Testing:

Due to our three individual puzzles, we shall conduct three individual paper prototype tests. At the end of all three, the tester will then fill out a Post-Test Questionnaire.

During the Paper Prototype, there are a few things we must look out for. These are;

1. Frustration levels - Is the player becoming obviously frustrated by the puzzle?
2. Ease of completion - Has the player quickly overcome the challenge?
3. Enjoyment - Is the player obviously enjoying their time?

Due to the nature of each individual puzzle, there are a few things we must take into account for each individual one.

Puzzle One:

While each puzzle is meant to be a challenge, Puzzle One represents a relatively easy task. The main challenge for this puzzle is the jumping between each branch and then overcoming the treehouse.

For this puzzle, we are simply trying to test and see if the player can analyse the scene and pick up what everything does. It is expected that the player will know what to do and how to do it and only during the virtual prototype can we figure out if this is a challenging puzzle.

Puzzle Two:

Puzzle two represents a logic problem. This challenge is completely different to Puzzle two and this particular puzzle will benefit most from this paper prototype testing.

What we are looking for is how many times they attempt to complete the challenge. During the prototype, try to jot down everytime they fail, this will give us a good indication of how hard it is.
Also, because of the nature of the challenge, the person who is carrying out the test must also time the challenge, this will help also correlate how hard the puzzle is.

• A: If the player is spending lots of time evaluating the puzzle and is also failing it a lot, the puzzle is too hard for them.
• B: If the player is spending lots of time evaluating the puzzle but hasn't failed much, the puzzle is about right for them.
• C: If the player hasn't spent any time evaluating the puzzle and is also failing it a lot, the puzzle is too hard for them.
• D: If the player hasn't spent any time evaluating the puzzle but hasn't failed much, the puzzle is far too easy for them.

Puzzle Three:

Puzzle Three represents a combination of both Puzzle One and Puzzle Two, thus it shall benefit from both a paper prototype and a virtual prototype.

Much like in Puzzle Two, there are various things that the tester should look out for. For ease, I shall simply copy Puzzle Two's paragraph.

What we are looking for is how many times they attempt to complete the challenge. During the prototype, try to jot down everytime they fail, this will give us a good indication of how hard it is.
Also, because of the nature of the challenge, the person who is carrying out the test must also time the challenge, this will help also correlate how hard the puzzle is.

• A: If the player is spending lots of time evaluating the puzzle and is also failing it a lot, the puzzle is too hard for them.
• B: If the player is spending lots of time evaluating the puzzle but hasn't failed much, the puzzle is about right for them.
• C: If the player hasn't spent any time evaluating the puzzle and is also failing it a lot, the puzzle is too hard for them.
• D: If the player hasn't spent any time evaluating the puzzle but hasn't failed much, the puzzle is far too easy for them.

Puzzles

ATTN: Nick

Below is the code needed for the puzzles sections. I am about halfway through making the basic assets for these sections and I plan to have them finished and uploaded by this time tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

LEVEL ONE
--> Platforms which rotate back and forth continuously, around a pivot point which may be on one side or the other (these are the tree branch platforms).
--> One of these rotating platforms must kill the player if he is standing on it and it is in the DOWN position.
--> Another electrical hazard which kills the player character when touched.
--> A platform which rotates 90 degrees around a pivot in the center, when a switch is pulled.
--> A fire hazard which kills the player character when he touches the ground in one area, but is turned off by a switch.
--> An NPC squirrel who will jump down, but only once the fire goes out (can probably use leaper code for the jumping) and who will patrol back and forth in a limited area.
--> Another zombie NPC who patrols back and forth in another area, in the same way as this squirrel, but does not jump.

LEVEL TWO
--> Two panels which unlock a door when both have an object on top of them. This could mean the player character or another object (i.e. a crate).
--> Four switches which open or close four trapdoors, and when they are all open, a trapdoor above them opens and the crate falls down onto the panel below.

NB. I don't have the logic behind which switches activate which trapdoors at the moment; Christian has it, so leave this for now and we'll get this to you by the weekend.


LEVEL THREE
--> Platforms which move vertically up and down.
--> One such platform, which moves FURTHER down once a door opens below it (triggered by pulling a switch).
--> A large cog which rotates continuously in either direction; changes direction based on the activation of switches.
--> Doors which rotate up or down 90 degrees, based on the activation of switches (basically the same as the rotating platform above, actually).
--> Pistons which move up and down suddenly and will kill the player character if they are touched by the main part of the piston.

...I think this is everything. All together this is quite a lot of work so delegate some of these tasks, preferably to David or Craig because me and Christian suck at programming in comparison. As I said, I'll have the assets finished tomorrow, so for now just get the movement working for the puzzle sections, and just do what you can without models, and work on other things.

Level 1 running phase prototype.

Wewtz.

Update

Just letting you all know, that so far, today on April 1st, there has been 5 posts (6 with this one) and I want you all to read them all. If you see on the right hand side, there is a thingy that let's you see posts by date... Use it please.

James, seeing as you left for home, update when you do stuff etc. Would be really helpful. :)

Oh, and comment as well, with questions etc. Don't show up next meeting and say "Oh, it didn't say this and this," or "I didn't understand that". Please. :)

Communicate people! Awesome... Platoon, dismissed!

Audio - David, this ones for you

Ambient/constant:

- Chill music track for running phase
- Intense music track for running phase
- Puzzle music
- Electricity for electric floors
- Fire
- Water (Pond)
- Start Screen
- Game Over
- Win Screen
- Cut scenes (see below... I'll know times etc later. Can be the same song, perhaps a looped thing, so it can be adjusted as per length?)

Event:

- Jump
- Zombie enters screen
- Slide
- PC Death
- Power-up (same for all three for now_
- Levers
- Trapdoors
- Cogs
- Machinery
- Air vent

Cutscenes and Screens

Cutscenes:

The idea is that each cutscene is a series of pictures (doesn’t have to be many), which shows events. I imagine them sort of like comic book style, and the camera moving across them to give some motion to it. Add the dialogue in speech bubbles. Each picture, or frame, is indicated by numerical order.

OK, I realize the cutscene stuff is A LOT, and obviously don’t expect all of it in the end. The stuff I’ve written down is what should optimally happen, but maybe combine some frames or cut some stuff that we can cut? Also, if time is not available, simply keep it black and white/tones of blue and orange (with a dash of maybe red, green and yellow (I.e. a few simple colours)).

Also, we’re not doing an options screen, as we have no options. Only option would be sound on/off, which we do by adding a small button in the bottom of the screen or something, where you can turn the sounds off, similar to most browser games. For the instructions, anything in parentheses would obviously not actually show up. And also, the following are just suggestions.

Intro:

1. Purely text. “Drake, the most eligible bachelor duck in town, has been clubbing it out in his favourite underground club. After several hours on the dance floor, he calls it a night and heads home.”

2. Drake emerging from night club.

3. Devastated town.

4. Drake’s shocked

5. A Creeper zombie appears in front of him.

6. Freak out mode.

7. Horde of zombies appears from the back.

8. Drake runs.

Level 1 – Run to Puzzle:

1. Dead end (Trees, park and fences).

2. Building crashes down behind him, “phew”.

Level 1 to Level 2:

1. Looks around, apparently safe.

2. Out from a bush comes a Sweeper zombie

3. Sweeper runs into a tree.

4. Horde of zombies break through the fence

5. Drake runs

Level 2 – Run to Puzzle:

1. The rubber duck factory is before Drake, but it’s closed.

2. Drake spies a switch on the ground.

3. A huge tree smashes down behind Drake, blocking off the zombies.

Level 2 to Level 3:

1. Drake is inside a massive factory. Rubber ducks on conveyor belts in the background.

2. He walks a bit inwards, eyes staring at him from the dark.

3. A leaper zombie jumps him, but just misses.

4. A horde of zombies emerge behind him and Drake runs.

Level 3 – Run to Puzzle:

1. A solid looking door crashes down behind Drake

2. Drake sees a room with some levers, a huge Cog and some pistons.

Game End:

1. Drake emerges on the roof and sees the helicopter.

2. He is in the helicopter.

3. Drake cackles manically as he flies of in the distance.

4. A zombie with a moustache and a duck-beak is seen in the back seat behind Drake, the same duck whose picture can be seen at the end of the factory level (it’s Drakes dad)…

5. The End?

Screens:

OK, this is merely an idea on what should potentially be in the different screens. Give some ideas and pointers on layout and how they should look please.

Start Menu:

Should have the logo/title at the top and perhaps a background picture of Drake running from zombies?

· PLAY

· INSTRUCTIONS

· CREDITS

It would be cool if the clickable words are in some sort of cool font, like something related to ducks and zombies.

Instructions:

A couple of pages, navigated by “Back” & “Next” buttons.

1. Goal: Drake, the playable character, needs to get to the helicopter atop the Rubber Duck factory owned by his father.

Each level is split into two; a running phase and a jumping phase. In the running phase, Drake is running at a set pace, and you can only perform a ‘Jump’, ‘Double Jump’ or a ‘Slide’. Avoid zombies and obstacles at all costs, as these will push Drake closer to the zombie horde that is on his heels. Oh, and please do avoid falling into flames, electrified floors and things that generally look nasty, if you have Drakes well being in interest.

The puzzle phase gives you full control of you Drake, and under pressure of time, you need to get through the puzzle area.

2. Controls: (Potentially draw out this, so you show the keys W and then just write what they do?) A S D

· Jump – ‘W’

· Double Jump – ‘W’x2

· Slide – ‘S’

· Move Left – ‘A’

· Move Right – ‘D’

· Activate – ‘E’

3. NPC Types:

· Creeper: Basic zombie. Moves slowly between obstacles. If Drake hits one, it hurts him and slows him down. Jump over to avoid.

· Sweeper: Huge zombie. Moves at a high speed from right to left. Double jump to avoid. If Drake hits one, it hurts him and slows him down.

· Leaper: Does not run, but instead can only jump. If Drake hits one, it hurts him and slows him down. Slide under OR jump over.

4. Power-Ups:

While they may be a bit out of the way to obtain, a power-up can be critical to survival, either before or after a particularly hard area.

· Speed-Up: Moves Drake forward, and further away from the ever advancing zombie horde.

· Invincibility: Drake picks up a riot-shield and blocks and smashes off any zombies that might hit him.

· Slow Time: Time slows down, giving you more time to react to obstacles.

Game Over:

Perhaps a cute-ish/funny (I.e. not to graphically nasty) picture of zombies nom-nom’ing on Drakes head? “Unable to escape the ferociously slow and dim-witted horde of zombies, Drake is left at their mercy, which unfortunately is non-existent… GAME OVER!”

Win:

If going with the ending where Drakes now-zombie father is in the helicopter, perhaps a picture of Drake screaming, as the zombie attacks him in the helicopter? If dropping that ending, and simply going for a happy “he escaped” one, show Drake flying off, zombies grasping at the helicopter in vain.

“Having finally escaped the zombies and made his way to the helicopter, Drake sighs in relief, as he flies alone, off into the night… Or maybe not alone?” or “And so, our hero Drake has safely fled the zombie infested town, and is onwards to new adventures only a duck could foresee.” (Yeah, feel free to change these…)