Story in games

Level 3 Games Design 

Unit 74

Story in games

Borderlands

Borderlands' story is a deep one that carries you throughout the game. The game starts off you you choosing 4 characters and when you start you are met with a voice in your head that will talk to you through out the game. you will also meet many different Npc's in the game that give you missions and progress the story like a character that you meet at the start of the game called clap trap that follows you throughout all 3 games. The story is about a place called "The Vault" and your objective is to get to "The Vault" and defeat the evil that is inside.
The artistic style for Borderlands is Cell Shading.

Pokemon Fire Red

Pokemon Fire Red starts out with you in your house on your 10th birthday when he gets his first Pokemon and his journey to defeat the gyms and the elite 4 begins and also you will be fighting team rocket along the way and so when defeating team rocket and all the gyms you will fight the elite 4 and when you do this you fight your rival blue and go on to get your team in the hall of fame.
The artistic style for Pokemon Fire Red is Pixel.

Smite

Smite has the story of gods fighting and some as the war continues more and more gods join the fight to save their worlds and also to stop the war so that less lives are lost.
The artistic style for smite is Exaggeration.

Mario

Mario's story starts off with a plumber and he lives in the mushroom kingdom and he fights a king called Bowser and he is called King Koopa and he captures the princess called Princess Peach and so when going through many different castles to eventually find and save the princess
The artistic style for Super Mario is Pixel Art.

Zelda Twilight Princess

Zelda Twilight princess is a story based on Link and he starts in his village of kakorico and when one of the kids goes into the forest Link gets his sword and goes after him when he goes into the forest to save the child he comes across a fountain that holds a spirits of light and his story begins to save all the spirits by defeating evil beaings that Ganon controls and so after a while you end up in another dimension and this is where all the evil comes from and when in this word links form becomes that of a wolf and he meets Edna that helps him escape a dungeon and helps him throughout the rest of the game and so when you get to Ganon she has control over princess zelda and so you must purify her and take down Ganon together.
The artistic style for Zelda Twilight princess is Cel-Shading.

Halo 1

Halo starts off with you escaping from a battle in an escape pod and you crash on a near by planet that has already been taken over by the Covenant and your aim is to destroy the Halo because it has also been taken over by the Covenant and so when you are taken off the planet by the Marines you are then sent to more areas to capture the planet and eventually you destroy the Halo.
The artistic style for Halo 1 is Cel-Shaded.

Phantasy star online

Phantasy star online's story starts with you getting a mission from the commander of a space craft and the aim is to get to different planets and defeat the boss at the end at the end you fight a boss that is the cause of all evil on the other planets.
The artistic style for Phantasy star online is Exaggeration.

Shadow of the colossus

This game has a backstory of the main character losing their loved one and trying to find a way to get them back and so they are given the quest to kill all of the Colossus so that they can save his loved one but when he has killed them all he was tricked and becomes a colossus himself and when this happens an army tries to kill what you have become and fails.
The artistic style for Shadow of the colossus is Photo Realism.

Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 has a similar story to the first one except you are part of a resistant that is fighting against a man called handsome jack who is obsessed with "The Vault" and your objective is to stop him
The artistic style for Borderlands 2 is Cell Shading.

Super meat boy

Super meat boy is a game that starts with Meat boy and his lover chillin and when Dr Fetus appears he kidnaps his lover and so every map you try to get to her and she is taken away again until you defeat him and save her.
The artistic style for Super Meat Boy is Cel-Shaded.

Games without story

Is there real a game that has no story to it? this question is real difficult to answer because of games like League of legends that doesn't have a story it's self but the characters all have their of stories.

I think that one game that has no story is Pong because this simple game is just hitting a ball back and forward until one person scores a point and when you get enough points you win another game that i don't think has a story would be Ark Primal Survival because what you do in this game is you become a dinosaur and you try to survive and because of this you are making your own story.

Comparing TV and Games Stories

The stories with TV programs are good but you get become bored with them and they can also be stories that you don't like but with the Game Stories you can get more interactive and this can make you care about the characters more but not only that you can go off track and find more parts of a story but Books and TV stories have a set story that must be followed and it feels like you have no control over their stories. While Game stories are great some of them can be boring or can just be the same thing over and over again but with TV and Books they try to keep you hooked on the story and also they will try to get you interested in the story games do this too but games it depends because you could be putting all this work into doing the quest and if the story is bad you could lose interest in the story.

Linear and Non linear games

The difference between Linear and non linear games would be that Linear games are based on a story and you are forced to follow that story an example of this would be games like Super Meat Boy because it set you on a track to get Meat boy's lover while Nonlinear games would be like Undertale where you can change the outcome of a game and it feels like you control what happens to the characters Another example of Nonlinear would be Borderlands because it may give you a strait story but it allows you to take different paths to it and find out about more of the story

Difference in games platforms

Level 3 Games Design

Unit 20 Computer game platforms and technologies  

Differences Between Platforms

Arcade

When it comes to arcade machines there are many different types and they can only have one game per Arcade machine and so they are designed differently from one another so that they can run their certain game. Arcade machines can both be Co-op and single player games depending on what game the arcade is made for.

• One game for one arcade E.G Pacman machine can only play Pacman.
• Designed to play that game only
• Controls for that one game
• Can be Co-op
• Not portable or easy to move
• Built in screen
• Expensive and not easy to find
• Need to pay to play

Some of the games that you can play on the arcade would be games like PacMan, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong there were also games like Tetris, Pong and Frogger and so as you can see the games have a wide viriaty of games. There are also different controls for these games for example in a shooter game there will be a gun that you can aim with and you can also get a racing game with a wheel and also a seat that blasts musicn to make it seem real.

PC

PC can play many games and can also run many games but it depends on what kind of computer you get because if you get a computer that can't run a game then you wont be able to play that game and you would need to get a better computer.

• Made to play many games
• Controls include keyboard, mouse and controller
• Some PC's can be portable
• Most games are Co-op/Multiplayer
• Needs a Monitor

There are many different types of games and styles of games for example there are platformers like Mario, Sonic and many others but there are also games that are FPs's like Call of duty, BattleField and many others there are also a lot more styles that I didn't say.

Console

There are many different Consoles for example you can get an Xbox one or you can also get a PS4 there are also many different old consoles like the Game Cube or the N64 and these console where when consoles started to change for the better and gaming became more of a thing.

• Made for many games
• Uses a controller
• Consoles are portable but can be awkward
• Needs a TV
• Most games are Co-op/Multiplayer

Consoles have many different games and some of them like Halo and Little big planet are to specific consoles like Halo is an xbox only game and Little big planet is PS4 only and also like PC there are lots of different types and styles of games.

Mobile

The Mobile isn't only to a phone it also can mean any portable games console like the DS or the Game boy and also the Gameboy colour and this was the first console to be held and play more than one game.

• Small and portable
• Can play Multiplayer
• Most controls are touch screen
• Designed to play many games
• Built in screen

The Mobile is different because they need games that are set to them because if you have a game that uses to much memory like Halo it could make it run slow and start to lag and so they need to be careful on how you make the games for them.

How games affect us

Level 3 games design

How do games affect our lives?

gaming affects us in two different ways both positive and negative and i will be talking about both of them.

Positive

1) There are many ways that games affect us positively for example scientists have shown that gamers have a better reaction time than other people the test they did was they put up words on a screen for a tenth of a second and then they pointed an arrow to a letter and the people had to say what letter it was and the test shows that gamers where quicker. This is the article i read to get my information

According to the study's results, delays in decision-making ranged from 13 milliseconds to 2.5 seconds. Both gamers and non-gamers experienced a rapid decay in memory of where the letters had been, but one thing was for sure -- gamers were quicker to the draw than non-gamers at every time interval.
I got this from: http://www.dailytech.com/Study+Gamers+Have+Better+Visual+DecisionMaking+Skills+Than+NonGamers/article31748.htm#sthash.4aC1zEwl.dpuf

2) Some games can make people become more social than non gamers but they are only social online and behind a screen but programs like Skype, Team speak and Discord can make it so they can talk with their friends online and while playing games this can make it so gamers are more comfortable around people.

3) There are many games that can help you in life for example Brain Training can help you with your studies because it has games that include solving maths problems and also games that can help you memories things.

Negative

1) One of the negative ways that games affect people is it can cause violence because of games like GTA where you run around and steal, kill and brake the law, if a child plays a game like that then they could grow up to be violent or worse they could become a criminal and this can also affect older people in the same way if they are not careful.

2) Some games like Mirrors edge can cause some damage to children because they could try to do what they do in the games like trying to run up a wall in this case and so many games can be dangerous. Shooter games are another one that can be bad for children because if i child plays call of duty a lot then they could think that it is like real war when it is not and they could also think they if they die in war then they would just re-spawn but that is not the case.

Both

Games can be both good and bad in some ways because it depends on what type of game you play for example games could keep you out of gangs and can stop you from doing the wrong thing or something that you will regret but at the same time some games can persuade you to join gangs and do the wrong thing and so it depends on what type of games you play and what games affect you in different ways.

Conclusion

My conclusion is that games can be both good and bad it depends on what you play and so if you play the right games like Brain Training then it can help you in life and it could be fun while doing it but if you play games that show violence then you could go down the wrong path in life and it could affect you negatively when you get through life.

Game Review

Level 3 Games Design

Game Review

There are many different games out there that are hyped up and only show the good parts and i am here to tell you the good and bad parts of a game.

The game I am talking about is Borderlands and all three of the games that are out at the moment.

Borderlands 1

Borderlands one is based in a desert environment and you have to fight many enemies and complete many quests to get through this challenging game.

There are many quests to be completed and there are also many side-quests in the game that give you great loot and make the game fun.

The game also is Single player and multi-player so you can play it with friends or experience the game on your own

Genre: Action, FPS, Adventure

My Personal experience with the game is overall positive but i could be byass because i have spent a lot of time playing this game and learning to love it and all the characters, i think my favourite character is Clap Trap because he always makes me laugh and over all i think he is the most interesting character in the game. When i was playing through the game i found myself getting bored but after like 30 minutes away and i just wanted to keep playing more and before i knew it i was already half-way through the game and i was still loving it.

The Positives to this game are:

• It can take long to complete but the story keeps you going all the way through and the story is interesting and so when going through the game it feels like you are finding new bits to a puzzle.
• There are many hidden things within borderlands and you can spend hours just looking for all the mystery's this game has to hold.
• There are normal side quests that can be completed but there are also hidden side-quests that you can do and some of the hidden side-quests add to the plot of the game.
• The game is most fun when playing it with other people but when playing alone it is also enjoyable to see just how far you can get in the game.
• The multiplayer works the same as the single player so if you are finding it hard to continue then you can always ask a friend for help
• The bosses of the game are creative and usually have an easy way to help you kill them like spots that deal critical damage
• The game rewards skilled players because almost every enemy has a weak spot and if you can find it then you will be rewarded a critical hit that does more damage.
• When you first start off the game the tutorial is very helpful and it tells you what the buttons you need to use are.
• I found myself playing this game a lot and completing it at least 3 times.
• If you think the game will be easier with more people you are dead wrong because the more people there are with you the harder the enemies get and i think this is a good idea because if it wasn't like this then Co-op would be to easy.
• There are 4 Challenging DLC in the game that you can complete after the game has ended and it adds more content to the game.
• There are 4 characters that you can play as in this game and each one of them is different in their own way for example they all have different abilities and a different style to their game play.

The Negatives of borderlands are:

• The game feels like it is the same thing every time because you go to a place kill everyone and then fight the boss and so it can become very repetitive.
• The game can be annoying with the amount of enemies that are in your way when you are trying to get through the game quickly or are just over levelled for an area.
• There are no shared items in the game so in multiplayer it can become a race to see how can pick-up items the fastest and this can make the game less enjoyable when in a group or just playing online
• The multi-player on borderlands is OK but when you are with people you don't know it is unlikely that they will help you when you need it and so when online with people you don't know be more careful just in case you go down because they might not revive you.
• Hacking is a big problem in borderlands 1 because of how easy it is I found when I started playing online there was a lot of people with hacked weapons and armour that just made the game boring for me.
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