WEEK8: TEST

Game Overview & History

This week I really wanted to crack having systems that interact with each other. I found this great presentation by Randy Smith and Harvey Smith and decided to copy the example they gave and use it as a small test project.

Even though it is very simple it’s amazing the effect just having a few interacting systems can have. It makes everything feel so much more alive.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Once I got that example up and running I set about altering it and working on my own version. I ended up doing a lot more planning up front, which really helped. It’s surprisingly difficult to come up with a simple, but still sufficiently complex system. I found a very useful exercise was to break everything down into Nouns (game objects) and Verbs (actions). I have uploaded a screen shot of the document I used for planning.

This week I have also been thinking about they games I really enjoy and what they have in common. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to really focus on games interacting systems this week. I’m going to write an article that goes into more detail later on but for now, the games I like tend to feature:

Release & Industry Impact

A Player Toolkit With a Variety of Functions (not just murder)Short Session Based High Vulnerability to EnemiesHighly Hostile EnvironmentNo Upgrades Between SessionsSingle Mistakes Often Mean FailureHigh Quantity of Interacting SystemsOverall it was a really useful exercise as I would implement a change or additional actor and have no idea how it was going to pan out. Even though the scene was set up the same way by altering my actions as a player there was a different chain reaction, which was really exciting and made me think i might be headed in the right direction.

.single-share-action-btn:hover { transform: translateY(-2px); box-shadow: 0 6px 20px rgba(37, 99, 235, 0.4) !important; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #0369a1 0%, #1d4ed8 50%, #4338ca 100%) !important; } .single-share-action-btn:active { transform: translateY(0); box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(37, 99, 235, 0.2) !important; } .share-section, .entry-share, .post-share-bar { display: none !important; }